Top 5 Games You Shouldn’t Overlook In 2021

With a fairly disappointing 2020 in the rearview mirror, the games industry looks forward to an exciting year of new releases…probably. A lot of intriguing titles have yet to see a confirmed release date, and many that do have releases scheduled may still be delayed due to ongoing issues in production. Still, with the next generation of consoles dropping last year and at least a handful of lucky souls already in possession of a PS5 or Xbox Series X (ours will definitely probably maybe get here any day now…any day now…) there are some real heavy hitters to look forward to in the next twelve months.

Halo Infinite was originally expected in 2020, but Microsoft fans will have to sustain their hype until fall of the year. Resident Evil 8: Village will try to maintain the franchise’s recent run of positive momentum after 7: Biohazard took the franchise in an exciting new direction in 2017 and remakes of the second and third games followed in the last two years. Horizon Forbidden West and God of War: Ragnarok, sequels to two of the best PlayStation exclusives of the last generation, look to push the PS5 to its processing limits with their gorgeous visuals and fluid gameplay. Sci-fi and fantasy fans will have a lot to look forward to with new Fable, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and Lord of the Rings games all potentially releasing this year. (Realistically, we doubt BioWare will release two games this year, and they may well not release either one before 2022 given how little we’ve seen so far, but the hype is definitely real.) In the less-distant future, Hitman 3 and the Switch port of Super Mario 3D World will soon offer fans two very different options for wiling away the long winter months.

While all the above-mentioned games, in addition to high profile titles like Overwatch 2, Far Cry 6, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, and Bayonetta 3, have generated a good amount of buzz and have many fans itching to get their hands on them already, we here at FilmIronic love us some underappreciated video games. In that spirit, we bring you 5 *new games you should definitely have on your radar for 2021. Probably. Unless they’re delayed.

*Note: We’re excluding remakes, re-releases, or remasters here, so while you should absolutely pick up games like Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, Yakuza Remastered Collection, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake, and Nier Replicant, we’re saving room for brand new experiences that should not be missed in 2021.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Little Nightmares 2

If our level of hype for a game determined its placement on this list, Little Nightmares 2 would absolutely be near the top. In fact, the main reason it’s an honorable mention is that we won’t have to wait much longer to get our hands on it – the game is set to release on February 11th – so there’s less chance you’ll forget to check it out when it’s released. The sequel (or maybe prequel?) to one of the best indie horror titles in recent memory, the second Little Nightmares features series protagonist Six leading newcomer Mono, a paper bag-wearing little boy(?) through a gallery of monstrous, deformed beings who want nothing more than to eat, entrap, or otherwise bring grievous bodily harm to our tiny heroes. The moody, mysterious atmosphere of the first game plus the promise of new surprises in the sequel makes this game a must-play for fans of spooky puzzle platformers. (We may already have this one on pre-order, not gonna lie.)

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

While we may not have to wait long for Little Nightmares 2, we probably have an extended wait for Hellblade II – if it even comes out this year at all. We haven’t heard or seen much from this game since the reveal trailer dropped at the Game Awards in 2019 and a feature at the Xbox Games Showcase in July of last year. The first game took around 3 years to develop, however, and that game was released (to critical, if not commercial, acclaim) in 2017, so it is reasonable to think it might be ready for release this year, but nothing has been confirmed so far. Well, nothing about the release date has been confirmed anyway, because we can confirm that the trailer, which was produced in-engine on the Xbox Series X, looks absolutely insane (literally and figuratively) and the new Icelandic setting opens up lots of intriguing possibilities for where the story may go. Ninja Theory’s original game was a powerful, scary, emotionally raw experience, and the follow-up somehow looks even more incredible. If nothing else, you should have plenty of time to go back and play the original while you wait for the sequel to be released.

Perfect Dark

Okay kids, listen up: I know the Nintendo 64 barely exists in your consciousness, and what you do know about it is probably limited to the weird controller that seemingly requires at least three hands to use and some old game called Goldeneye that your parents swear was the best console shooter pre-Halo. Well, those of us in the know will tell you that as great as Goldeneye‘s multiplayer was (and it really was great, despite aging about as well as…well, every early polygonal 3D game) Perfect Dark was somehow even better. The near-futuristic sci-fi story and impressive array of weapon types, coupled with a multiplayer suite that *gasp* was arguably better than the iconic Bond game Rare had released three years earlier, made Joanna Dark’s first outing one of the best games of 2000. And that’s why, despite the underwhelming Xbox 360 launch title Perfect Dark Zero, there was still a good deal of buzz surrounding the game’s trailer reveal at the Game Awards in December. Another game that maybe, probably, almost definitely won’t be released in 2021, the Perfect Dark reboot will hopefully spark nostalgia among those who fondly remember the original while garnering a legion of new fans to the series. At least this time we’ll have a second stick dedicated to aiming. (If you’re under 20, don’t ask. It’s better if you don’t know the dark times we had to live through.)

Now to the top 5!

5. 12 Minutes

Of all the Groundhog Day-esque timeloop games set to release this year (and no, this somehow isn’t the only one), 12 Minutes is arguably the most unique, starting with the protagonist and his wife having the domestic tranquility of their home shattered by a violent intruder before the scenario repeats, leaving you the player to figure out what exactly happened right along with the character you control. As you repeat the same short scene (you’ll never guess how long it lasts) over and over, the information you obtain is carried forward into subsequent playthroughs, allowing you to piece things together to help you better understand, and hopefully prevent, what happened in the first place. The emotional gut punch of that opening scene combined with the deepening mystery that unfolds thereafter have had us mesmerized since we first saw it at E3 2019. In addition, the top-notch voice cast, which includes Professor Xavier, Rey, and Norman Osborne…er, James McAvoy, Daisy Ridley, and Willem Dafoe, should bring the gravitas that this story requires. While the “interactive thriller” doesn’t yet have a confirmed release date, it was originally expected in 2020, and since it is a relatively simplistic game graphically (set primarily in a single room with a top-down 2D perspective and few characters as opposed to, say, a sprawling 3D open world game with multiple locations and dozens of fully-voiced NPCs) there is a fair chance it gets released sometime this year. For fans of narrative-driven indie games, 12 Minutes looks to be well worth your time. (Bad pun very much intended.)

4. Ghostwire: Tokyo

What happens when you cross the plasmids gameplay of Bioshock and the visual style of Control with just a pinch of Tango Gameworks’ previous Evil Within series for good measure? Well, we’re not entirely sure either, but it sure looks cool, and with Shinji Mikami (of Resident Evil fame) and Shinichiro Hara (of Doom (2016) fame) at the helm, we feel safe in saying that whatever the result is will probably be one heck of an experience. One of the final Bethesda games developed before Xbox bought them out (meaning it’ll still be a PlayStation exclusive at launch somehow) Ghostwire: Tokyo looks to marry first-person action with supernatural horror elements and a distinctly Japanese flavor, and the core mystery of why everyone has suddenly been replaced by these ghostly “Visitors” seems like a neat hook to keep players invested in the game all the way to its conclusion. This game probably falls into the “likely this year though we don’t know when” category – although the creative director leaving so shortly after announcing the game might seem like a red flag, there have been enough updates here and there since the game was announced in 2019 to indicate it has been progressing on schedule. With The Evil Within 2 being released in 2017, it’s probably safe to guess that the developers are on track to hit their release window of 2021, and we’ll be eagerly looking forward to getting our spellcasting hands on it as soon as possible.

3. Back 4 Blood

After 2019’s World War Z video game was released to somewhat middling reviews, we have to admit we were nervous that it was the closest we’d ever get to a decent follow-up to Left 4 Dead 2. Hopefully those worries will be cast aside when Turtle Rock Studios (comprised of former Valve devs who worked on the original L4D) release the spiritual successor Back 4 Blood in June of this year. The co-op zombie shooting that we all spent countless hours enjoying back in ’08 and ’09 will return, as will the AI director we all spent countless hours cursing back in ’08 and ’09. Lest you think this game is merely a throwback, content to recycle the previous game’s best features while introducing nothing new, there is an added card feature that will allow players to switch up their tactics and abilities along the way, though of course the AI director will have its own set of cards to counter whatever the player tries to do. This system sounds like it will bring a fun tweak to the chess match between player and AI without completely overhauling the experience into something unrecognizable, and the developers have promised a “classic” mode for those who are too insistent on keeping the gameplay experience completely intact from the original games. (No word yet on whether that mode will also replace the game’s title with Left 4 Dead 3 or add in Easter eggs that reference Portal 3 and Dead Rising 5, but we wouldn’t bet on it.) With a June 22nd release date confirmed, we can all look forward to fighting the zombie plague this summer instead of the real plague which we should all assume will definitely be gone by then. I mean, it’s not like assuming this pandemic would be over quickly has ever been laughably wrong before, right?

2. Hollow Knight: Silksong

*deep breath* Okay, we’re going to try our best not to geek out over this game, but with the original Hollow Knight being an instant classic of the tough-as-nails 2D action platformer genre, it’s hard not to be excited about its sequel. Heck, we even posted a news story about this game recently just because we’re so psyched about it. We won’t recap everything from that earlier article, but suffice to say Silksong looks to be an incredible follow-up to an incredible game, and everything we’ve heard up to this point only makes us more excited to play it please Team Cherry just tell us when it releases already we can’t bear this torture any longer why won’t you *DEEP BREATH* Sorry about that. Anyway, Hollow Knight: Silksong puts you in the shoes of Hornet, who was a side character in the 2017 original, and while the art style and combat look very familiar, the developers have promised enough tweaks to the formula to make the sequel stand on its own whether you’ve already invested hundreds of hours into exploring Hallownest or you’re a newcomer to the series who hasn’t yet experienced the haunting beauty of the original. (Which you should really do already, Kevin. Sort your life out, man.) New enemies, NPCs that give out side missions, a reworked currency system that uses beads that can be strung together to save your progress or broken apart to be spent, and a crafting system that allows the player to create Tools to help Hornet in battle are just some of the additions that have us eager to see and hear more. Especially since now we’re remembering that the original trailer was released almost two years ago and we still don’t have a release date what if this game never comes out and it was all just a cruel tease why did we get our hopes up so high why *SUPER DEEP BREATH* Ahem. It’s going to be okay. Just um…maybe check out the original Hollow Knight in the meantime. It might be a while before we know anything definitive about the sequel.

1. Psychonauts 2

About the only thing that could get us more excited and more nervous (we’re not hyperventilating into a bag right now, you’re hyperventilating into a bag) than a sequel to Hollow Knight is a sequel to the 2005 all-time classic Psychonauts. Sure, there are other sequels we’ve waited longer for. (Beyond Good & Evil 2 is basically vaporware at this point, right? It’s been almost 17 years.) And sure, Double Fine being bought out by Microsoft has us concerned that they’ll turn into another Rare (see our entry about Perfect Dark above) and never release another worthy follow-up. But from what we’ve seen (and we’ve seen a lot about this game over the years) Psychonauts 2 may just be the rare long-awaited sequel that actually lives up to the hype. Judging from recent updates, the core gameplay, art style, and sense of humor all seem to be intact from the original, and with the financial backing of Microsoft, there is legitimate hope that the game will be given enough resources to fully do it justice. For instance, it was recently revealed that boss fights and other content had been restored to the game after previously being cut due to budgetary constraints. Also, unlike some of the games without firm release dates on this list, Psychonauts 2 figures to be released this year without crunch, if recent updates are to be believed. That may just be the most optimistic thing we’ve heard all year, and even though that’s not saying much because this year is less than a week old, we’re still going to hold onto that optimism for as long as we can.

So that’s our list of the top 5 games you definitely shouldn’t miss in 2021. Are there any other under-hyped games that you’re looking forward to this year? (We’re noticing a distinct lack of first-party Nintendo titles on this list – any Switch fans out there feeling left out?) Do you think we’ll get all of these great games in 2021, or are we just delusional idiots? Let us know what you think down in the comments! Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter @FilmIronic to stay up to date on all things entertainment!