Top 25 BEST Games of 2021 - Including Our Game of the Year

2021 may not have seen as many releases of generation-defining games as several previous years have done, but it's hard to look back at the last 12 months and not be satisfied with their output. In terms of pure quantity of releases, and the quality of so many of those, this has been a great year for games, and with a number of excellent games spread out across genres and platforms, from big developers and small, there's been a little something for everyone to dive into and fall in love with.

Soon, it'll be time to look ahead at what 2022 has in store for us, but before that, here, we're going to take a look back at the last 12 months and talk about what we felt were the 25 best games of that period, before crowning one of them as GamingBolt's 2021 Game of the Year.

[Ilham-wteo]

This was done because I myself would have appreciated it if someone else had done it.
1:02 Ratchet and clank: Rift apart
1:45 Life is strange: True colors
2:25 Death's Door
2:53 Deathloop
3:45 Pokémon brilliant diamond and shining pearl
4:31 Guilty gear strive
5:15 Kena bridge of spirits
6:06 NEO: The world ends with you
6:59 Tales of arise
7:56 Subnautica below zero
8:52 Chicory a colorful tale
9:41 Lost judgment
10:32 Marvels guardian of the galaxy
11:27 Little nightmares 2
12:25 F1 2021
13:11 Shin megami tensei v
14:05 Jurassic world evolution 2
14:56 Psychonauts 2
16:03 It takes two
17:02 Halo infinite
18:07 Resident Evil Village
19:03 Returnal
20:00 Monster hunter rise
21:22 Metroid dread
23:34 Forza horizon 5

[LudoTechWorld]

An improvement I would like to see in your videos is the mention of the platforms the game you're talking about is available on. Not everyone owns every gaming platform (I personaly only plays on PC) and it's a bit painfull to have to check for that for each game I'm interested in :)

[aryan]

25. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart
24. Life is Strange: True Colors
23. Death's Door
22. Deathloop
21. Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
20. Guilty Gear Strive
19. Kena: Bridge of Spirits
18.Neo: The World Ends wIth You
17. Tales of Arise
16. Subnautica: Below Zero
15. Chicory: A Colorful Tale
14. Lost Judgement
13. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
12. Little Nightmares 2
11. F1 2021
10. Shin Megami Tense 5
9. Jurassic World Evolution 2
8. Psychonauts 2
7. it Takes Two
6. Halo Infinite
5. Resident Evil Village
4. Returnal
3. Monster Hunter Rise
2. Metroid Dread
1. Forza Horizon 5

[fabitoselajuega]

Not complaining here, but I don’t understand why Hitman3 was overlooked in so many best of year list.

[badaboom]

Rift apart is better than 95% of this list

[Spinosaurus]

Guardians of the Galaxy truly surprised me with how fun it was. I only bought it because I like GotG, they’re my favorite comic book group. I didn’t expect the story from the game to blow me away, nor the characters to be so much like their comic book counterparts, nor for the combat to actually be fun, nor for the world to be so gorgeously made, and also let’s not forget that excellent soundtrack

[Zeromus]

25. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
24. Life is Strange: True Colors
23. Deaths Door
22. Death Loop
21. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond/Pearl
20. Guilty Gear Strive
19. Kena: Bridge of Spirits
18. NEO The World Ends with You
17. Tales of Arise
16. Subnautica Below Zero
15. Chicori: A Colorful Tale
14. Lost Judgment
13. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
12. Little Nightmares 2
11. F1 2021
10. Shin Megami Tensei V
9. Jurassic World Evolution 2
8. Psychonauts 2
7. It Takes Two
6. Halo Infinite
5. Resident Evil VIllAGE
4. Returnal
3. Monster Hunter Rise
2. METROID Dread
GOTY: Forza Horizon 5

[shotpack]

Guardians of the galaxy is the best apology letter from square enix ever

[PotatoJonson]

It Takes Two is the best co-op experience I’ve ever had, split screen perfection!

[sugarray]

Halo Infinite is absolutely superb. A fantastic return to form for the franchise. Well done 343. 👌

[KPK]

FH5 is my GOTY 2021 too. Agree with most of the games in this list.

[staticshock]

I'm so glad Neo The World Ends With You was mentioned. It's such an underrated game.

[sebbyterasu]

My games of the year are:
Ys IX Monstrum Nox
Tales of Arise
Final Fantasy VII Remake Integrade
Persona 5 Strikers
Scarlet Nexus
Nier Replicant
Neo The World Ends With You

It has been a stellar year for JRPGS. Cheers for the new year!

[yep]

Stopped watching at Rift Apart! Seriously ? 25?

[bodacious]

Top 5
5. Mario party superstars, I’m a huge fan of the og mario parties.
4. Forza horizon 5
3. Ratchet and clank rift apart
2. Halo infinite
1. Metroid dread

[RotcodFox]

I cannot believe they actually think Halo Infinite is better than Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

[Paragleiber]

Racing games are my main genre and FH5 is certainly pretty good overall but it doesn't feel quite right to me to call it the best video game overall of 2021, considering how many issues there were at launch, some of which still haven't been fixed now. Leaderboards full of glitched times, a broken Eliminator mode for weeks, super long loading times between online races, bugged accolades, various types of connection issues when trying to group up with friends, overpowered AI in certain situations. Of course none of those things made the game unplayable and you could certainly still have a lot of fun with it from day 1 but I feel like the game of the year title should go to something more fully polished than Forza Horizon 5.

[scottd]

Returnal is the best game of the last 5 years

[TheGamerCritic]

In my personal GOTY list, most the games in my top 10 are below the #10 in this list, but I kinda like it. I like how different and diverse this years GOTY choices have been. Forza Horizon 5 isn't my personal GOTY but I can acknowledge that even as a non racing fan, it is INCREDIBLE!!!

[gremlin]

FH5 has gotten me so excited for Fable. It’s amazing what Playground games has accomplished here