2021 in Review- Gaming

 With 2021 gone (Hallelujah!) it pays to take a look back at how the year went in terms of gaming. So without further ado, I'm giving you just a few examples of the Good, the Bad, and the downright Ugly of 2021 in terms of gaming. Here we go!

THE GOOD

1) The Tales series is one of the most celebrated JRPG franchises in the world, and in fact may well be considered the third most famous series of the genre, only below such juggernauts as Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. But with many hailing Tales of Arise as THE JRPG of the year, we may well be seeing the franchise get the mainstream recognition it truly deserves!

2) Hey, did anyone catch Arcane in Netflix? Of course you did, it's one of the most famous shows of the later part of 2021! This League of Legends really spat on the notion that video game adaptations always suck! Not only that, but the game saw a surge of new players joining the game, thanks to the show! Now let's hope the community doesn't drive them ALL away...

3) I'll be honest when I say that one of my personal highlights of the year was the release of Shin Megami Tensei V. The SMT series is one of the most unique franchises in video games, and it's high time it got the recognition it deserved outside Japan!

4) Other GREAT games of the past year include It Takes Two, Metroid Dread, Resident Evil Village, Bowser's Fury, and so forth...

5) Nintendo 64 on the Nintendo Switch! Sega Genesis, too! Do I need to say more!?

THE BAD

1) Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. Fun games? VERY MUCH SO! Great games? Yeah, I'd say that! Good remakes? Ummm... not really. They're not entirely "remakes" so much as they're just a slightly updated version of the original Diamond and Pearl games, which depending on one's view, could be good or bad. Yes I'm grateful to be playing these games, since I couldn't when I was younger (no money for a DS), but on the other hand, I can't help but to think about how Pokemon Ruby and Saphire were remake for Gen 6, and how much friggin' BETTER said remakes are compared to the originals. BD/SP didn't really add THAT much to the original Diamond and Pearl; it's the same game for all intents and purposes, with just some a few bells and a couple of whistles thrown in. It's almost a 1:1 remake, and that's simply not good. We expected better because we've been given better in the past.

2) Disgaea 6 seemingly stumbles while taking the franchise to 3D. With a far smaller pool of generic units than any game that came before it, the removal of Weapon Skills, Magichange, Mon-Toss, Chara World, TOWER ATTACKS, and the fact that you can unlock ALL the Humanoid units by chapter 5 of the game (less than halfway through!!!) makes this, arguably, the least satisfying game in the series so far. Nippon Ichi Software sought to make a game that was simpler than what came before, and they succeeded. Sadly, this means the game feels like a giant step backwards for the franchise...

3) I'll mince no words: The PS5 shortages shall be remembered for decades to come. The lack of a specific chip to make the processor has turned the PS5 into one of, if not THE most sought after console in history. But that leads to...

THE UGLY

1) PS5 scalpers. It was not unusual during 2021 to go on Amazon in the hopes of buying a PS5 and see one on sale, only to notice that the price was beyond unreasonable. A five hundred dollar console was being sold at prices ranging in the four digits; I once saw a single PS5 with NO games being sold at a whopping one thousand, three hundred dollars!