 Welcome to Game of the Year 2021. It has not been the best year for games for me. I have seen better years. Like for example 2017, nothing can beat that year still. Also I feel like last year was really good. But however, there were also good games in 2021. Don't get me wrong. So this is an annual thing on Esha gaming and I have two lists. That is in total 10 games. Five of them are not released this year, but I played them this year. Five of them are both released this year and played this year by me. So in total two lists and 10 games. Let's start with the games that were not released this year. I know for a fact that we are all playing backlog games several years after the initial release year. And that is just the way of life. Let's start with the first game. Okay, so I have played Atelier, a mysterious trilogy a lot this year. And for the first time I feel like I really really delved deep into Atelier theories. I made a review of this trilogy on my channel this year. I just ended up playing theories way more than I intended to. I mean I played it originally on PS4 way back. But now it ended up being re-released on the Switch. And I played much more theories on the Switch now than I did back in the day on the PS4. But I still haven't completed it. Atelier games they are so long and so big. But I feel like I had a really good time in this game. So that is just a game that I enjoyed a lot this year. Now the next game not released this year. I did play it a lot with my friend Katrine Beata. And she hasn't been on this channel for a long while. But we are talking about Elder Scrolls Online. It is a game that is now like a friendship game with my friend Katrine. I love her. She's so wonderful. I actually have my Xbox series, Serious X. Over at her place currently. Because we recently played again Destiny 2 together. But we have played Elder Scrolls Online a lot this year. And I even had ESO Plus. And we got to max level. And we did a lot of dungeons. And we really delved the deep into this game. It's an MMO. And yeah I play MMOs if I have someone to play with. And that is the case with my friend Katrine. So that is a PC game. I play that on the PC. And I also modded it really good. So I'm never uninstalling that to lose all the mod progress that I spent an entire day modding. Anyways. That was Happy Times. Good Times. Font memories. Always font memories to play with her. She's such a lovely girl. I want to have her more on my channel soon. I'm gonna force her someday, you know. Now the next game not released this year. But I have such fun with them. They are actually three games. I'm combining three games into one because I can because I can. Okay. I'm talking about Mary Skelter. It's not a new series by any chance or any means. But one of the games in the Mary Skelter series. They are new. This game came out this year. Mary Skelter finale. Or as Tarx Gauntlet says. Mary Skelter finally. Go watch Tarx Gauntlet everyone. Shout out to him. So I have enjoyed a lot of Mary Skelter. Now I am not very familiar with the first person Dungeon Crawler RPG genre. But this one has really made me love this genre. It's very addicting. Once you get into it. Very unputdownable. I can play that for several, several hours. And have really long play sessions with Mary Skelter. I have been playing the first one. The second one and the third one. Jumping between all of them. Because I know the rough story within each of them. So it's not gonna mess up my story progression in my head of how I think about what's happening in the games. Because I know what's happening in the games. But I'm playing them for the gameplay. Also the cuteness and the art style is out of this world. So good. ID Factory games. I love the ID Factory. Mary Skelter 2 is on the Switch. Mary Skelter finally is finale I mean. Is also out on the Switch. So all those games that you're seeing right now. They are on the Switch. And I have had a great time in them. Can confirm. Yes. Very good games. The next game. Not released this year. I actually had a very fun time in Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Recording. And I made a video about this game earlier this year. And it is called This Game Surprised Me. A bit of clickbait there. But it did surprise me. So it wasn't totally untrue. I was very surprised that this game passed me by. Since it's an old game. And it is now out on the Switch. Remastered. It's called Re-Recording. But I call the Kingdoms of Amalur. Very nice RPG game. Like Fantasy. Old school. But 3D. Action combat. Quest driven. Lore heavy. Open world-ish. Almost open world. RPG game. It's a very nice game. I very much recommend it. And I also recommend that you watch my video about that game. I have had such fun times in that game. And I'm still feeling not done in the game. I'm gonna go back to it. So that is also something that I highly recommend that you check out. Because it passed me by. So it can pass by anyone. Okay. Best played this year. Not released this year. I have to say Immortal's Phoenix Rising. It is an actual open world this time. A lot of things to do. Chests to collect. And I just enjoy a big map. With a bunch of stuff on the map. And I can roam around and do whatever I want. And collect and clear everything. Every single chest marker and things and walls. And also I got really into collecting all the rarer mounts in the game. Yeah you can tame mounts out in the wild. And if you cheat, like me, look up a map online. With where the more rarer mounts are. That is something that I did. And I did everything in the game. I had such a fun good time in this game. I know I have mentioned this game several times in this year. But it is a very strong and good memory. It is one of the highlights that I have played this year. But it wasn't released this year. So that is why it is on the first list. Now we are getting to the actual release as Outriders. Now that is a third person shooter. And it is also the first game that I played on my Xbox Series X. For that reason maybe that influenced my opinions or feelings on it. But it was that new console excitement feeling. The game is also very satisfying. Like the shooting feels very good. Very good indeed. And I played it all the way through. Completed everything. I think I did or at least came very close to doing all of the side quests as well in Outriders. It is on Game Pass. And I knew that after I bought the actual physical copy. But I don't mind. It was a good game. So I'm happy to have that. Also I can lend that out to friends when they get their Series X. I mean that is the probe with having physical covers of game. I mean physical games. Not digital. That is like you can lend it out when you're done with the game. Lend it out to friends and stuff like that. So that was Outriders. I recommend it. Very good. Now the next game. Tales of Arise. It is entire on the list. And it pains me to say this. I didn't get that magical Tales of feeling from Tales of Arise. Now I am an old school Tales of a fan. I am coming from Symphonia, Exilias. Okay so the thing I'm gonna try and explain it. I can't just say that the game sucks and not explain it. It doesn't suck. I take that back. When I was playing Tales of Arise I was actually thinking to myself this may actually be the prettiest looking game that I've ever played. Like really pretty. High contrast. Bunch of wonderful beautiful colors. It looks so crisp and sharp and good and it looks so freaking beautiful. And I'm playing it on the Series X. I'm gonna say that forever now. Series X I mean. I mean I get the story. Story is fine. It's very Tales story wise. But the humor is gone. Okay I'm just gonna say it like this. The humor is gone. There's nothing humorous or funny in the game. They're very serious. Very on to the story and it's such a serious setting. They're all super serious. What I'm missing is just the humor that I originally loved from the Tales of Serious. There's so much humor in yeah let's say Symphonia and Exilias 1 and 2. There's always something funny. Not even to mention Tales of the Abyss. Such a funny game. Like all the skits they were jokes. They were based on jokes and when you entered a skit you knew that now we're going to hear a joke. But that is not the case with Tales of the Rise. All the skits they are very serious and just explaining the story once again. But it is on the list because it is a good game. It's nothing very special. Maybe I had higher expectations. I'm just missing the humor. Blue Reflection Second Light. I have had a wonderful time in this game as well. That is what I say about all the games. I had a wonderful time. But I really did have a wonderful time. I have the best times in video games and we can all relate. Now this is a game that is made by Gust, the Atelier people. It was something about the setting that I felt was unique. At least I haven't played anything similar or that reminded me of this game. And it caught me by surprise and Gust even sent this to me. It is the Blue Reflection Second Light Premium box. I almost forgot about it. Yeah, they sent me this as an appreciation for talking about their game I think. And it is from my good friend Nathan over at Koei Techno. We talk. So yeah, package for you and from Nathan, Irene. Very happy about that. There's like a very naughty towel and also a bag. And inside of this there is the official soundtrack and an art book in Japanese. So that was Blue Reflection. Also made a video about Blue Reflection. You can check that out if you want to listen to more about that game. So the next game released this year. And it is officially my most played Nintendo Switch game for 2021. Can you guess what it is? It is Story of Seasons Pioneers of Olive Town. Because it is a farming game. It is a live simulator game. You can really delve into this game and put a ton of hours into it. And the time is just gonna fly by because there are so many things to do. Micro-managing. Managing your farm. And all the machines that are creating all of these materials. That you can then, you know, it's collecting and crafting. Collecting and crafting. Racing your livestock. Growing crops. Befriending the townspeople. Getting cats. I mean, upgrade your house. So many things, you know. So yeah, that is my most played game on the Switch. You can actually check your year. If you log into Nintendo.com I think. You can see which games you play the most. How many titles you started this year. It is a fun thing. Just gonna mention that. So yeah, that is a game that was very good. It does have some struggles. And I go more into that in my review and you can check that out. If you want to listen to more about Story of Seasons Pioneers of Olive Town. Now my game of the year. And it just is. It just is. I'm not gonna defend my choice or anything because this is my list and you know. You're just interested in hearing what I played and enjoyed the most this year I guess. That is Atelier Ryza 2. Such a fun game. Such a cozy fun game. So many things to do in the game. I don't know, it's just my type of game. Atelier Ryza 2 is a anime style colorful RPG game. Actually RPG. It's not a shallow game by any means. It's very complex. There's a ton of things to keep track of and learn and discover. It is also a rather long game. It's gonna take you some time to complete it and find all the recipes and do all of the quests. So it's gonna last you for quite a time. I highly recommend that this is the game that you pick up if you have never played a game in the Atelier series. Ryza 2 is the best one. By far because it's the newest. It's the best looking one. I also have Ryza on PS4. I'm gonna replay that game on PS4. But you know, I have my big save file on the Switch. But it looks of course sharper on the PS4 which all games does. We all know that. Atelier Ryza 2 has been my game of the year in 2021. Very happy to say that. That was my highlight of the entire year. Now I know some games are missing from this list and I'm gonna explain why. I am currently right now playing Shin Megami Tensei 5. That is why I didn't make it into the list because I haven't played it enough. I'm like 15 hours in which is nothing. It's such a big game. I've heard people can play that game for 100 hours. Or more. There's so many things to collect and do. And I'm currently just fusing my way through the game. Like collecting all of the demons. Fusing them to even stronger demons. Collecting all of the mimins on the maps. It's such a fun game and I can very much see how this is a game of the year for a lot of people. Such fun games. I recommend it. I talked about it in my last video on this channel. So yeah, Shin Megami Tensei 5. I'm so happy that I have that in physical because I know I'm gonna lend that out to my friends when I'm done with it. Push it on to my friends and make them play it. Very good game. Now we have some bonus lists and that are games that I played this year. That's it. They don't win any awards. I just played them. Trials of Mana. Played that this year. Spiritfarer. It is worth a mention because it is farming at sea. Such a cozy game. Now actually I... Yeah, wow. It says World of Warcraft in here. Because I started a bit of World of Warcraft. Wait tiny heads because she talked me into it. Of course she did. Pokemon Brilliant Diamond. Review coming. Actually coming. I'm gonna be the last one to review that game. I'm always the last one. I always say that too. Scarlet Nexus was released this year. But I didn't enjoy it. It was not how I wanted it to be. Metroid Dread was also released this year. I have something in my eye. And for PC I played a game called New World. That was also released this year. But I didn't play it for a long time. It was like the hype was really big. And I played it all day every day for some days. And then I left the game. Jesus. So all the games that are released in 2021. Worth mentioning. But I didn't play any of these. Not played. Didn't play. Resident Evil Village came out this year. Fire Cry 6. Death Loop. It takes two. Which actually won the official awards. Psychonauts 2. Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart. And yeah that is it. I didn't play any of those. Now I hope you have a wonderful Christmas. I'm gonna enjoy Christmas with my family. And my cats. And my video games. I am going to play a lot of IUD Factory games this Christmas. I'm gonna continue playing Mary Skelter finally. Just jump between the games that I feel like playing. Which is how I like to do things. Now thank you so much for watching. And I will see you later. Bye. If you hit like on this video I would be very happy.