As 2021 comes to a close, it’s time for us to look back at the year in gaming that is 2021. Despite still being a rough year for everyone, good video games still came out to give back some much-needed enjoyment and escapism in our life.
The Gamer Malaya and Gamer Matters GOTY Awards, representing the collective of us at Gamer Matters and our Bahasa Malaysia sister site Gamer Malaya, continues the tradition of celebrating the best of video games, and appreciating the game developers that have provided us joy throughout the year.
(Except for one award, where we go through some of the worst games of the year, and why it sucks, with a view that the mistakes made here are lessons learned for everyone.)
Though this is technically the second year we enter the next-gen console era that is the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, global supply chain issues remained leaving only select folks having access to buy the new consoles, as well as new graphics cards for PC players.
As such, this 5th running of GM GOTY Awards does not have much representation for next-gen only titles, in particular PS5 games, as we still currently have no means to play them.
And us being a smaller-scale games media outlet, with the panel of the GOTY Awards deliberations consisting of only three people, our list of award winners does not reflect the overall best games of 2021 objectively– but the best games of 2021 in our book. It’s our list, we have our personal biases and preferences that may not line up with other outlets, or that other big game award everyone is watching.
With that, you can expect an interesting list of games being shortlisted, nominated, and winning these awards that may or may not be on your radar before.
As usual, our deliberation process is part of dia.log – The Gamer Matters Podcast. How we decided to agree on a winner are all recorded for those curious how we select our winners.
You can find the first part of the deliberation (as episode 99 of dia.log) on YouTube and in podcast form here:
Gamer Malaya And Gamer Matters Top 30 Games Of 2021
Here are the top 30 games of 2021, according to Gamer Malaya and Gamer Matters, in alphabetical order:
- Chivalry 2
- Deathloop
- Far Cry 6
- Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water
- The Forgotten City
- Forza Horizon 5
- Guilty Gear Strive
- Halo Infinite
- Hitman 3
- Hot Wheels Unleashed
- Humankind
- Lost Judgment
- Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy
- Mass Effect Legendary Edition
- Melty Blood Type Lumina
- Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139…
- Old World
- Outriders
- Psychonauts 2
- Quake (2021 Remaster)
- Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart
- Resident Evil Village
- Road 96
- Samurai Warriors 5
- Scarlet Nexus
- Shin Megami Tensei V
- Tales Of Arise
- Unpacking
- Valheim (Early Access)
- Wildermyth
For 2021, here is the list of awards and winners (in bold) for the GM GOTY Awards 2021:
Best Remake/Remaster
Either the game holds up really well or the new release spruced up in a major way that made us love the same game all over again
- Fatal Frame: Maiden Of Black Water
- Mass Effect Legendary Edition
- Nier Replicant Ver.1.22474487139…
- Quake (2021 Remaster)
Best Meme Generator
The best games that dominated our conversations, social media, and shitposts throughout the year
- Far Cry 6
- Guilty Gear Strive
- Halo Infinite
- Psychonauts 2
- Resident Evil Village
Best Game We Didn’t Play
The game we love best from afar and pining to play
- The Forgotten City
- Guilty Gear Strive
- Lost Judgment
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Shin Megami Tensei V
Best Racing Game
The only normal genre-based game award here and it is as it says
- Forza Horizon 5
- Hot Wheels Unleashed
Best Aesthetic
The best game to use a style, a combination of art style and sound design, that makes it stand out from the beige of normality
- Guilty Gear Strive
- Humankind
- Melty Blood Type Lumina
- Psychonauts 2
- Valheim
Best Story
The narrative that captures our hearts and minds delivered in video game form
- The Forgotten City
- Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy
- Outriders
- Psychonauts 2
- Road 96
Best Indie Game
Games that don’t need the budget of a AAA blockbuster to be impactful, fun, or enthralling. Independent games can do what no big-budget game can do: be anything they want.
- Chivalry 2
- Road 96
- Unpacking
- Valheim
- Wildermyth
The Trashfire Award
Why? These games are either objectively the worst or the ones with so much squandered potential. Put in the trashfire where it belongs
- Balan Wonderworld
- Dungeons & Dragons Dark Alliance
- eFootball 2022
- Fallout New Vegas The Frontier
- Grand Theft Auto The Trilogy: Definitive Edition
- NASCAR 21 Ignition
Gamer Malaya And Gamer Matters’ Game Of The Year, Top 10 Games Of 2021
The big one. The game we collectively agree to be the best of the best released this year.
- Psychonauts 2
- Forza Horizon 4
- Deathloop
- Road 96
- Halo Infinite
- Chivalry 2
- Resident Evil Village
- Hitman 3
- Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139…
- Wildermyth