Just has to be released this year.

For me.

Scarlet Nexus for me. I played a lot of great games this year. Persona 5 Strikers. Lost Judgment. Monster Hunter Stories II. Bravely Default II. Tales of Arise. Ultra Age. (gave me Nier vibes) Nier Replicant. Poison Control. Hades (Switch) R-Type Final 2. Cruis'n Blast. Xenocider on Dreamcast (yes released in 2021) Asha in Monster World (great remake) SMTIII HD. Ninja Gaiden Remastered Collection. No More Heroes III. Neo The World Ends With You. Cotton Reboot. Metroid Dread. Caligula Effect 2. Raiden IV Mikado Mix (my fave Raiden game) Curved Space (cool twin stick arcade game) and Crysis Trilogy. Shin Megami Tensei V.

This is just stuff released in some way this year I played and loved them all. SMTV almost won it. P5S was a contender and so was No More Heroes III (love that series) A lot of contenders for me. This was one of those years where so much appealed to me. Scarlet Nexus tho. I was taken by surprise. When it was first revealed I thought it looked like a Astral Chain knockoff (my 2019 GOTY). The more I saw of it the more I wanted it. The game did not let me down but exceeded what I expected. I love the Cyberpunk setting. It's an ARPG but the combat feels straight out of a Stylish Action game from Platinum or something. The telekinesis mechanic is very fun. The story is interesting. I love the Persona social link feature. The visual design is great. Music is enjoyable. 2 different stories to enjoy. I LOVED this game enough to watch the anime. I got all the secret clues.  Japan embracing a punk setting with Astral Chain and this is still fresh. Been a long time since they tried action games and esp RPGs in this setting. Tales of Arise is a great game but this was bettr IMO and more unique. I really hope it gets a sequel!

Post your GOTY!

An 8/10 game, but I find 2021 in gaming to be lackluster, so given that I've enjoyed this quite a bit, that's my pick.

In my own typical fashion, I've bought quite a few games that have released this year and not played them yet (SMT V, GOTG, Kena, Deathloop, RE Village, Lost Judgement and others) Of those that I have played (Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Tales of Arise, Scarlet Nexus, Forza Horizon 5, Metroid Dread, Halo Infinite, and Life is Strange True Colors) I'm going to have to give it to Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart, game was a great joy to play from beginning to end and I loved Rivet and Kit. Whenever I get around to actually playing some of the other games I bought this year, one of them could end up being my GOTY for this year but for now it goes to Ratchet.

And you never will.

Resident Evil Village

Metroid Dread, Monster Hunter Rise, and Guilty Gear Strive are also amazing.

Hmmm let me see.

Either Halo Infinite or Age of Empires 4.

Need to play more of both to get a good feel.

Possibly the best RPG I've played since Divinity Original Sin II and BG II. And one of the greatest games I ever played.

Its a toss up between Ratchet and Clank:Rift Apart and Metroid Dread. Both are top notch games. I'd maybe lean towards the former as it was less of a stressful and frustrating experience. Though has so much good in it. Ratchet was just a joy to play through from beginning to end.

Honorable mentions would be Kena: Bridge of Secrets (my surprise of the year) and Resident Evil Village. Oh and my actual top game/s of the year one would be ME: Legendary Edition but that's not exactly a 2021 game so I wont count it in here :P

This year is probably the toughest for me to pick just one game in quite some time. So many good releases.

So, for me it's a short list of Nier: Replicant, Tales of Arise, Metroid Dread and SMT V.

Scarlet Nexus and Blaster Master Zero 3 were also really good but not enough to put into GOTY-tier, so they take honorable mention

For me...

1) It Takes Two
2) Returnal
3) Solar Ash
4) The Artful Escape
5) Psychonauts 2
6) Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
7) Deathloop

Those are the ones I'll be replaying the most I foresee. Would strongly recommend all of them.

It Takes Two to me was a revolutionary breakthrough in co-op play (best co-op experience I think I've ever had in gaming), and also the all-around most consistently creative game released this year that I had the opportunity to play. I enjoyed pretty much everything about it, from its art style to its sweet and heartfelt message about the nature of love to the seemingly endless litany of brilliantly clever level designs it offers that never miss a beat and more. That was my favorite game this year.