2021

Going to start off by saying, I feel I didn’t really get to play many games this year, and when I did I found myself feeling very :/// about current gen games.
I had some help modding my 3DS as I was too busy to do most of it, and it was probably the best thing to come of this year gaming-wise for me.
I don’t know if my crankiness this year is attributed to outside factors reducing my patience and letting my over-critical self run rampant, or if perhaps I’ve finally aged out of being the target audience to most things and need to just stay in my bubble.
Regardless, there's a lot of salt and weird games in my gaming recap of 2021 ahead.
Also I’m not counting games like solitaire and sudoku even though they’re probably what hold the most gaming hours for me this year.
Possible mild spoilers for some games I discuss, and I kinda gave up on reviewing properly, so have fun deciphering these rants :P

Games Directory

• Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer
• The Sims 2 (DS)
• The Sims 3 (DS)
• Mario Kart 7
• Super Mario Kart
• Harvest Moon
• Dandy Dungeon
• Castlevania
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD
• Detroit: Become Human
• Another Eden

Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, 3DS

Well, theres not all that much to say here, but I’ll find a way to make this a paragraph too long, I bet :P
I wasn’t happy with New Horizons at all, and when I saw HHD come out years ago, I was always curious, as collecting furniture was one of my favourite parts of Animal Crossing. Playing this was fun, but its definitely a brain off kinda game.
It was nice designing spaces for villagers, though it really did feel like a spin off game (funny to say that, when a lot of people would debate how much of a game a casual one like AC in general is)
I played for a solid couple of months, had fun, and then slowly stopped playing as the repetitiveness set in.

I would like to make a side note here and say...

Fucking hell, why did ACNH essentially make this game as the DLC?
And only JUST add Brewster in?
And not even in his own Cafe, he’s back in the museum…

I stopped playing NH a while ago, and seeing all these updates that SHOULD’VE BEEN THERE IN THE BASE GAME coming out kinda makes me mad. I bought the DLC for my siblings as an early Christmas gift, but I don’t think I’ll buy it myself.
Why?
Cause I have Happy Home Designer on my 3DS, and it’s probably better lmao. I feel like AC has gone downhill ever since the mobile app came out and I just miss playing Wild World.
Nook's Homes
First Preview
Tom Nook's Theme

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The Sims 2, DS

This game is fucking weird.

It’s barely a Sims game, its actually a hotel management game.
A weird one.
You crash your car on the outskirts of this weird and isolated desert town, and then stuff happens and you kinda take over the managerial position for the absent hotel manager in order to pay for your car repairs.

I had this game on my DS as a teen, I used to play it when I’d hang out in my parents parked car, and for some reason I sat in there for hours in the summer heat and it’d be worse than a sauna.
I think it enhanced the vibe of all these weird npcs going a little loopy in the desert, if I'm perfectly honest.
The game is still weird, I got further than I did as a kid, but I’m at a late game stage where I don’t really care to go further, so I’m calling it done.

In terms of gameplay, I think it was a bad choice to have it be real time. I think an internal time system would’ve worked better at adding more of a constraint to the chores you have to perform and make the late game more challenging.
Having events like alien invasion or goonies attacking prompt countermeasure challenges, (spraying aliens with a water gun or dressing up as a superhero rat to stun and arrest goonies respectively) and having a time limit of one real life hour is too easy.
It takes barely 3 minutes to prepare and find them, attack them and get it over with. Theres also not really any stakes if you lose, so half the time I’d just ignore them lol.

I don't really know what else to say for this, its so fucking strange that it’s hard to describe, and the reason why I stopped was just cause I didn’t care to go collecting useless skill points that are only needed for this one mission, poor game design!

Also, you can’t even whoo hoo in this game smh.
0/10

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The Sims 3, DS

This is the worst Sims game I’ve ever played.
You can barely do anything, and most the furniture is ugly.

I made my OC Harland, and this was the first time I ever considered that I never made a last name for him until now, and then I made him a nurse that spent most his free time reading.

You can’t even whoo hoo here either smh.
0/10!

For some reason I played it for 5 weeks straight. Harland is now the best Dr in the world and he has read almost every book ever. As you can imagine, it was boring and it sucked.

No song recs cause its not immediately popping up when I search and I don’t care to look cause the ost was bland tbh.

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Mario Kart 7, 3DS

Hm. So. Last year I didn’t include games like this, but I really haven’t played much this year and I feel like being salty.

MK8 didn’t need to exist, all the tracks I thought were originals to that game were actually from here. There’s not enough difference to warrant 8 existing, apart from the DLC they added on the Wii U and Switch.
But even then… if MK8 was just an expanded port of this game, it’d still be the EXACT SAME.

This was A Mario Kart, nice to just zoom around when I was in desperate need of a brain break between the most chaotic uni term I’d had all year, but MKWii is still superior in my eyes.

Not linking any songs but this soundtrack is better than the soulless ‘jazz’ in MK8.

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Super Mario Kart, SNES

Just here as a companion to the previous entry.

This game is still hard as shit and I’m glad they moved away from go-kart driving. Spinning out and bumping around sucks ass and popping wheelies in MKWii is more fun - but I still love this game cause I grew up on it and koopa looks pink and naked.

Listen to the soundtrack that I’m not linking here cause I’m lazy and will just hum it from memory :P

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Harvest Moon, SNES

This game was a big part of my childhood, I played it again this year and got pretty far!

It suffers from being a 90s game, which is especially apparent in winter sections where there is absolutely nothing to do, other than feed your animals.
It’s a very bare bones farming sim, cause as I understand, it’s one of the first mainstream ones ever, and I love it’s simplicity like that!
Trying to cover my whole farm in grass was an ambitious task, (and I mean doing this with no cheats too!) but I was determined.
I almost got there, married a woman and had 2 kids and it was fun, but the absolute lack of anything to do during winter, and seeing that I’m barely halfway through the month on my second year was just a bit rough.

I think I had more patience for this as a kid, and also I was so busy this year that I preferred to be boring and play sudoku in my spare time instead of Harvest Moon winter.

This is a lovely game and very chill, and I loved dipping back in to play on the comfortable portability of my 3DS.

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Dandy Dungeon, Switch

This was one of the best games that I played on Switch this year, and it’s one that I used to play on mobile during high school lol.

Its a nice wrapped up definitive edition, it’s very charming and cheeky, and I like its simple premise and execution.
I highly recommend playing it just because it is so simple and easy to get into, I think it’s a dungeon crawler lite, but I dont really know that genre so lmao. You just go through levels, plot out a path and bash up enemies.

It was a mobile game, so I mean it when I say simple, but its good fun and I recommend it. If the mobile version is still up it should be free, and I only bought it on switch because it was on sale.

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Castlevania, NES

This was the other best game I played on Switch this year, and its a NES game.
I was excited seeing the Castlevania collection, as I’ve always wanted to play the early stuff, but kept forgetting to go find ways to play.
Yeah yeah, its a sin to buy shit like this when I don’t agree with the way Nintendo are going about collections like these, especially when they're so ruthless in taking down ROM sites and barely providing legal ways to emulate their old library, whatever blah blah, but this is a neat little collection and convenient to have, and now I don’t have to set up a nes emulator on my wii.

Onto the actual game, I played for like 90 minutes and had the best time.
I don’t know if I’ve really just had that shit a time gaming this year, or if I’m just a cranky boomer gamer at heart, but this was awesome.

It was fun cracking the whip and the enemies looked funny, and the first boss fight I encountered was challenging in a refreshing way by being so simple. (no, that doesnt make sense, yes, I was just glad to play a game from back in the day and enjoy it for what it was)

I died entirely too much, but I was playing after Christmas lunch on my sister’s TV while chilling in the corner, so i couldn’t really see the TV properly and was tired, but I can’t wait to play through all these games next year.

Also the music is really good, especially by NES standards.
But, if you couldn’t tell already, I love these older soundfonts and am always impressed with how much depth they can convey in their little beeps and boops.

Yeah, I barely played.
Whatever, I had fun and it was one of the highlights of my gaming year, so its going on the list!

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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD, Switch

Ahh, Skyward Sword, what an awesome game to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Zelda series.
I’ve got the gold wiimote and the anniversary CD - Oh, wait...

This is actually the 35th anniversary.
And they’ve released… the exact same thing that they did for the last decade's one...

Not even a Zelda all-stars like Mario?
Not even a unique little game?

We’ve done this before.

Skyward Sword with an anniversary remote, but this time there’s no soundtrack CD that comes with it.

Ok…

That particular grumble aside, this is one of my personal favourite Zeldas- despite all it’s flaws -and I was excited to see it in HD and the potential new wave of appreciators.
There are some quality of life improvements that are very much appreciated, like reduced Fi sword-splaining, other dialogue being slightly less hand-holdy, and being able to look around with the camera.

I was very curious to see how the dual stick sword play would go, as I believe, like the last time we saw SS released, it could be the trial run to see how a mechanic works and refine it for the next game.
(think the stamina wheel in SSWii -> BOTW)
I didnt play SSHD for long, but I did play long enough to try out this dual stick sword, and I gotta say, once you get over the learning curve, it’s pretty good.
It felt nice to have incredibly precise control of the sword, and it was fun slashing through the enemies in a way and took me right back to all my playthroughs on the Wii.

However, I found the motion controls to be ASS here on the Switch. I don’t know why everyone complained about the motion controls on Wii, I played as a kid multiple times over the years and never really had a problem with them.
I’m willing to bet all the people who complained about the motion controls on Wii were people who didn’t calibrate the remote like it asked you to.
On Wii, I’d only have to recenter the pointer once every couple of HOURS, and by that time it was often long enough that I would be satisfied with the session and stop for the day.
On Switch, it was mere MINUTES between having to recenter.
In fact, often during normal enemy encounters, I’d feel like I had to recenter after defeating a single enemy.

Sure, it’s handy that theres a quick button to press and it recenters… but I shouldn’t have the motion controls be worse on a supposedly superior console.
I can’t say for sure if I’m just a grump about this, but when the Switch was announced and everyone was fawning over the motion controls and vibration, by the time I actually got to try one out at a demo, I was largely unimpressed.

Again, I am just really dissapointed by the way the motion controls were adapted here for a game that is centered around it.
If, by chance, you think I might be doing something wrong and there’s a way to calibrate the joycons better for optimal play, please let me know.
With my current understanding of the way both types of motion control works, I just don’t see how the gyro motion control could work better than the Wii without something like the sensor bar to guide it.

I will also say, although so far with my short time dipping my toes in, and enjoying the dual stick, this absolutely sucks ass with joycon drift.
I wont say anything for certain, cause I haven’t played through the whole thing yet- but although changes like being HD and camera control and less Fi ramblings are appreciated, we’ve been here before, and this is really the most bare bones of a remake/port to current gen.
I love this game so so much, and I think it really didnt get the chance to be appreciated for what it was, but, cmon.

The motion controls were so fun back in the day, and I loved most the main and side quests, the soundtrack was absolutely gorgeous, and I think this Zelda game makes the best use out of all its items.
Like, yeah you don’t use the slingshot as much after you get other items, but you can upgrade all your items and keep using them. There are multiple places to use the beetle and the whip ect, their use isnt just confined to the dungeon you find them in and the occasional secret to remind you that those items still exist.

I enjoyed the dungeons, and the scenery of the game was always beautiful; its exciting to see it in HD and I so desperately hoped that this would give a chance for those brilliant bits to be seen for what they were, and for old fans and new enjoyers to come together on that.
But it seems that BOTW2 has stronger references to SS, so I can't wait for that to overshadow this game yet again.
Tbh, this just reminds me of every grievance I have with the Switch in one beautiful game.
Whadda hell.

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Detroit: Become Human, PS4

As it’s probably easy to guess, I love stories about robots/androids because I find them fascinating. (Blame it on Data from Star Trek and Robo from Chrono Trigger :P)
I watched a playthrough with a friend in a massive binge session when this game originally came out, and it was super fun.
I know theres controversy with the creators, in all honesty I forgot what the deal was, but I bought this for like $4 in the bargain bin so, lmao.

While I wouldn't exactly call this a game, it is a pretty fun choose-your-own-adventure story.
The main point of this game is that there is a devient epidemic amongst androids, as they seemingly begin to show sign of autonomy and start protesting for more rights.
You follow three plotlines that are happening simultaneously: one of the special detective android, Connor - one of the caretaker who’s taken custody of a small child, Kara - and one of a different kind of caretaker android that eventually become Robo-Jesus and spreads deviance in order to gain more followers for his rebellion movement, Markus.

As I’m sure everyone who's heard of this game knows, the Connor sections are the best. Detective work and mystery solving are really captivating ways to draw players in, and I feel you get to see the best of both a concentrated pov and more at-large pov of how androids are treated through his sections.
His slow unwravelling into deviance is interesting, and I was glad to see an older gentleman, Hank, be his partner protagonist instead of yet another young and generically-attractive dude. The way Connor bounces off Hank during investigations, and seeing either a friendship begin or witness the absolute crumble of Hank’s mental state was compelling for the most part, and the chemistry between the actors really made their sections memorable.

Kara’s sections are a bit weaker, as you have to take care of a little girl named Alice during it. However, I thought there were still some stand out moments, even if they felt melodramatic and strange at times.
Most of her story is one of constant travel and seeking refuge, as she became deviant in order to protect Alice from her abusive father and run away to someplace safer.
In Kara's route, you also get the choice to gain a companion on your journey, Luther - and I think he is one of my favourite characters in the game, because he has such an interesting introduction/backstory and is still willing to selflessly help (if you go down the right path) due to seeing how much Kara cares about Alice.
While a lot of people may find Kara’s sections boring, I think they’re important as they showcase a much more domestic pov for the android racism thats going on, and helps flesh out the worldview at large - though the reveal that happens during the Jericho arc for her is fucking dumb and I hate it. I see what they were going for, but they could've done it way better...

For me, Markus was actually the weakest of all the sections - especially as I feel he had the most potential to say more in his sections, yet ultimately falls flat.
He starts as a well-off caretaker for a rich artist that has high support needs, and it’s clear that they have a relationship like a father and son. This directly contrasts with the domestically abusive caretaker situation Kara was in that birthed her deviance; which is part of the reason why I feel Markus’ section, especially at the beginning, is much weaker.
However, him being in a more affluent situation and living in a different bubble to other androids gave him a unique perspective of both human and android lives, which did make it interesting that he became a messiah of sorts and led androids to their revolution.
What I found really weak, though, was that he just kinda... Becomes a leader without really earning it. He didn’t actually experience the full weight of android racism, so it often felt like he hadn’t earnt the leadership positions he’d been so quickly thrust into, which in-turn made it harder for me to follow in a narrative sense.
Why were they all so quick to trust the new guy and follow him? It felt lazy as hell lol.
Especially when, as I’m playing, I’m thinking just briefly about it further than surface level to create more satisfying explanations- I wish there was a bit more refinement put into his story!
As the one to lead the revolution, I wish they touched more upon android ptsd and autonomy, as I feel him trying to work through the heavy emotions that come with deviance and realising how bad their situation is would’ve been both a better motivator for his protests, and a better companion plotline for Connor and Kara.

All three could’ve done with more refinement tbh, and before anyone tries to suggest that it be a much bigger focus on Connor, or even the whole game centered around him - no, that wouldn’t work lol.
I love the Connor sections, but they’re actually just not strong enough to stand on their own, and part of why they are so fondly remembered is because there was more action and they felt more refined compared to Markus and Kara.
I understand that it is incredibly difficult to commit to a huge branching story like this, but a little more time in the oven with better writers, or at least a producer or something that had a better understanding of the vision and could help keep everything tied together would’ve been awesome. Its still a decent game all these years later, but its also so fucking shallow at the same time.

Like imagine a more refined version of this game, one that tackles three important view points of android life and deviancy that all converge for the climax, and is more than the shallowest of allegories for racism or xenophobia.

This is rambly and I do really love the concept, and theres a lot I haven't discussed, but I think I should call it here.
Love the concept, wish more competent writing teams were allowed to explore this subject matter more and lean into how cool it could be, and the soundtrack is awesome actually!

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Another Eden, iPad

A friend recommended this game to me about half a year ago, and tbh I only had my interest fully piqued when the Chrono Cross event was announced.
This game was a pleasant surprise though, I enjoyed most my time with it even though I zoomed through the main story to unlock the Cross event. It may have been detrimental for me to zoom as fast as I did, but I also feel this is just a little too adjacent to the kind of games I like that I wouldn’t have enjoyed it much more than I already have if I went slower.

Its a nice little JRPG-lite mobile game, it has gatcha elements that I didn't really understand, and it was only until I was about halfway through chapter 15 that my friend told me how to use it. Up till that point, I’d been brute forcing my way through the game like a normal JRPG lol.
The graphics are cute, the music is Mitsuda inspired, and the story was nice; even though it got really goofy near the end.

I enjoyed the beginning a lot, travelling through time to figure out what force is tearing the timeline apart and how to stop it, but it seemed to really go off the rails near the end for me, and then the big impactful moment was kinda ‘undone’ in the after-scene to introduce the further chapters in part two of the game.

To be honest, I don’t know if I’m interested in continuing much further - the end was nice enough as far as I’m concerned, and when I finish the Cross event I think I’ll be happy leaving it at that.
I’m glad to have played it, and it was nice seeing how much Chrono Trigger in particular seemed to inspire this game - (I believe a significant amount of the team had worked in Chronoverse or were at least huge fans, between Kato writing again and Mistuda doing the main theme :P) - but I feel it wasn’t quite as good at CT lol.

Thats to be expected, as a mobile game and Kato having done the story for Chrono Cross and Radical Dreamers, but ehhhhh it was close to scratching an itch for the kind of stories like CT, but it just didn’t hit the spot for me.
Perhaps this is more because its mobile game, or I’m just far too in love with CT that its incomparable to other games, (or maybe cause I filled my party with guys who my friend described as ‘male cleavage’) but I think I’m happy with just this little stint I did in order for the rarity that is ne Chrono content.

Definitely worth trying out for yourself, I think I actually had more fun with side quests than the main one overall, as there were a large variety of side quests and character quests that added flavour to the world.
Enjoyable, but just a bit too adjacent for me to hold it in any higher esteem than this for now.

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