MeinMMO-Demon Cortyn introduces you to 3 games that you might have overlooked in 2021 – and that are significantly better than originally thought.
The MMORPG year 2021 was supposed to be quite nice – but it didn’t turn out that way. This led many players to stretch their feelers out for other games. I also had plenty of time to spend on games that I otherwise probably wouldn’t have had time for, due to the ongoing content drought in World of Warcraft.
To my great joy, all these games turned out to be true gems. In particular, three games have stayed in my memory. I can only recommend them to anyone who has some time during the holidays and is looking for thoroughly good entertainment. Not every one of these three games is suitable for every type of player – but they all offer a unique experience.
Tales of Arise – A grand cliché JRPG
JRPGs were the genre that ignited my passion for gaming. I still remember convincing a friend on his birthday to buy Final Fantasy IX with his money – which we then played through together over the course of a week. Since then, there have been many ups and downs in the genre, and aside from some highlights, the joy could not revive as strongly.
Fortunately, Tales of Arise is such a highlight.
At the beginning, Tales of Arise incorporates nearly every clich e9 found in JRPGs. Of course, the hero suffers from amnesia, and naturally, the protagonist is quite hot, aloof, and slowly warms up throughout the story. The young girl, of course, possesses devastating magical powers, and everything is at first glance categorized directly into “good” and “evil”.
As a JRPG, Tales of Arise also utilizes many anime clichés. The exaggerated drama is something you have to like, just as the sometimes lavish cutscenes filled with dialogue. But after about 10 hours, that changes. The story becomes more complex, the motivations of the characters are gradually revealed, and those who started as a foolish, self-absorbed enemy suddenly become relatable.
Add to that a quite action-packed combat system with adjustable difficulty levels that range from “The game plays for me, lol” to “I have to input every tactical command manually, or we are all dead”.
If you enjoy that kind of thing, Tales of Arise presents a story filled with exciting twists, in which, in the end, not everything is as black and white as one might have thought at the beginning. Enemies and heroes are relatable and convincing – a rarity, especially among villains in recent years.
Tales of Arise is perfect for simply lounging back in a fantasy world where you want to spend many dozens of hours, just to be rewarded with the next cutscene and another little story detail.
Tales of Arise doesn’t reinvent the JRPG wheel, but it provides exactly what a JRPG must offer to be remembered and to leave the satisfying feeling of “that was a lovely gaming experience” after playing.
Back 4 Blood – The best co-op shooter
Yes, Back 4 Blood is one of those games that divide the community. Either you hate it because it’s not exactly like Left 4 Dead and has a very high difficulty level.
Or you love it because it’s the perfect fun for a group of 4 friends, providing new challenges time and again and still feeling fresh even after the 10th playthrough.
Back 4 Blood is a cooperative zombie shooter. However, instead of simply picking up the weapons and slicing through hordes of zombies and special zombies, it requires a bit more strategy and planning.
The game has a “deck system”, allowing players to create their own card decks. These are essentially perks that you draw in succession throughout the matches.
With these perks, your character can be greatly customized. For example, you can focus on machine guns and shoot multiple zombies down at once with an extremely fast reload time. Or you can focus on sniper rifles and deal severe damage to weak points, but move more slowly. Or you can reliably slice through all normal zombies in melee while your team handles the special zombies.
Once immersed, the deck system offers virtually countless possibilities and always something new to try out.
However, even aside from that, the replay value is high. The “AI director” also has different cards. These are negative effects that come into play in each match. Sometimes the zombies are faster, sometimes a map is in deep darkness, and sometimes there are additional bosses or a timer that announces the approach of particularly strong zombies.
The combination of these effects ensures that my group is still hungry for the game after over 150 hours and plays the campaign again and again.
However, a warning here: Back 4 Blood is something for groups. If you want to venture out alone or rely on the help of random players, you won’t enjoy this game and should rather steer clear of it.
Succubus – A gruesome work of art
I had to think a little about whether I would actually include this game in the list, as it’s so “different” from all the other games I’ve played. But actually, that’s already a good enough reason to at least mention the game.
In Succubus, you play as the titular demon in hell, who seeks revenge and works through hordes of the underworld in an endless excess of blood and sex.
Succubus earns its “18+” rating within just a few seconds. Complete nudity of both demonic and human bodies, plenty of splatter action in the fights, and a brutality in the portrayal that is unmatched.
However, Succubus is not a “AAA title,” and you can tell that in many places. Especially the combat system is somewhat cumbersome and doesn’t always feel fluid. However, that doesn’t change the fact that Succubus offers a quite rounded gaming experience that simply tests new boundaries – for better or worse.
Succubus has given me some of the most shocking and memorable moments, during which I even had to pause the game in horror. I explained in more detail what exactly this is about in my detailed presentation of Succubus.
Succubus is not necessarily to be understood as a great game where you can lose yourself for days; it can be completed after a few hours. However, Succubus shows how dark and far from common clichés a game can deviate when developers simply do not impose any moral constraints upon themselves.
Succubus resembles more of a work of art that raises questions about moral concerns and simultaneously destroys them. How much cruelty can one actually show? How evil would a hell be if it weren’t so romantically idealized?
It is a unique experience and suitable for anyone who has a strong stomach – or some twisted preferences.
Did you also have games that completely surprised and thrilled you in 2021? Unexpected highlights that were much better than you originally thought? Feel free to tell me about them – I’m curious.
