2021 Picks: Monster Hunter Rise and Dorrani’s other GOTY Picks

I don’t know why it is so difficult to choose the best game of the year. Will I choose the game I play the most time? Or did I choose a game because it evokes a certain feeling that other games don’t?

I think this is actually a mixture of many factors. If I am honest and I believe you will agree that for many different reasons, this year is not the best year for the game. This leaves us with the best group, very close as a contender for the best game of the year.

For various reasons, the gap between the games I will mention is small.

Monster Hunter Rise-Nintendo Switch

When I think of my GOTY, Monster Hunter Rise is not the first game that comes to mind. It was released at the beginning of this year. Looking back on the past, it seems that it has become blurred for a few months.

I’m late for the entire Monster Hunter boom. I only started using it when I released Monster Hunter World on PC in 2018, but I was immediately obsessed with killing monsters and turning them into exquisite armor and weapons.

So when I heard that Capcom will release a new Monster Hunter game, this time it’s my favorite game console, Nintendo Switch, I thought “No, they can’t capture the scale of Monster Hunter World and make it run well in essence. On a glorious tablet, “I was so wrong.

Its gameplay is almost the same as World, but without graphics and frame rate advantages, it almost perfectly captures the essence of the game, and even introduces a large number of new features to make it unique.

The first reason I am so fascinated by Monster Hunter is that it requires skill. You need to learn, collect information, and then prepare accordingly, and then hunt according to the game plan. There are no cheat codes or difficulty sliders. This is all to hone your skills and meet the challenge, if you can’t defeat a certain monster, it’s too bad-try again. When you finally defeat a monster that you just spent 30 minutes on, its difficulty makes it even sweeter.

I do look forward to some new weapons in Rise of Monster Hunter, but none. Instead, we get 14 existing weapons, which have been expanded with some new movement inputs and introduced silk thread attacks, which use the main new feature in Rise, Wire Bug.

These actions are gorgeous and look like they were pulled directly from the anime series, and it feels great to weave them into your default actions. The satisfaction of killing a monster with one of these ribbon attacks is beyond the chart.

In addition, you will hear that the thing I often mention about melee games is weight. Can you feel the difference between the swing of a large sword and the swing of a light double-edged sword? When these weapons hit the enemy, do you feel the impact? For me, these are very important for a game that feels great, and Monster Hunter has always done a good job to make you really feel the weight of the battle.

During hunting, there are now many options: swing on new nematodes like Spider-Man, collect unique lives to help you fight, ride your Palimute, or even ride monsters to make them ride with the new flying dragon function.

You can easily get more than 150 hours of “Monster Hunter: Rise” from the main missions and side missions, and go hunting to collect materials for new equipment. There are many things to do, all of which can be done with friends in a four-person cooperative.

I just like challenges, being able to build my own character, use weapons and armor to build theoretical crafts, and fight with monsters that each have their own unique personality, and Monster Hunter can do all of this brilliantly.

Check out more comment discussions about the game that we have recorded.

Return-PS5

Returnal is a misunderstood game for most players. It’s just not for everyone, it may be the last game I recommend to my friends. This is an extremely difficult roguelike that attracts you with some of the best visual effects PS5 has provided so far, uses all the features of the new Dualsense controller to enhance its fast gaming and combat, and has some of the best audio design and music. After listening for a long time.

Tribute to the developer Housemarque, but at the end of the day, it’s hard to ignore that this is a £70 roguelike. I have played various games and know roguelike well, so I know what I’m doing, but I do think of those very casual players who only buy one or two games a year. They bought Returnal and played about Two hours, then died, wondering why they went back to the starting point without any performance. For players who are not familiar with this type, this is a costly realization, but despite this, I really enjoy my time at Returnal.

Eastward-switch, PC

I have nothing to say about Eastward. This is a game that makes me love indie games more and makes me want to try all games.

This is a stylish action-adventure role-playing game that will take you back in time and fill you with nostalgia with its modern pixel art style and retro sound effects. It’s easy to play, and if you want to relax and unwind for an hour or two before going to bed, this may be exactly what you want.

Check out this video to learn 5 reasons why you need to play Eastward.

Metroid Dread-Nintendo Switch

Metroid Dread is too close to becoming my GOTY. The most interesting thing is that this is a game that didn’t catch my attention until a week before its release.

A great story that shows how bad Samus is (you should read Alex’s article on how she is cooler than the master chief), level design that promotes exploration, and always gives you subtle hints to tell you the next step Where to go without holding hands, it features one of the most detailed mini maps you will see in a period of time.

Having said that, you will often get lost for a while after being driven out of an area by the absolutely terrifying EMMI! I’m sure that due to fear and adrenaline, my Joy-con will crack due to tightly holding my Switch.

I did play Metroid Dread on the new OLED switch and it was great there. When you play the game, Samus will find various upgrades, most of which are for your weapons. When these weapons are fired, they will basically turn the game into a disco light show on a darker background, and truly Rainbow bullets popped out of the screen.

Finally, sometimes the game will dynamically transition from side-scrolling to these movie 3D game sequences, which makes the game more fascinating, especially in boss battles, when you hit a perfect counter, it basically becomes a movie.

You won’t regret getting this game.

For more information about our selection of the best games of the year, please visit our GOTY 2021 archive page.