GamesBeat news writer Rachel Kaser’s favorite games of 2021

venturebeat.com:

If you listened to the 231st episode of GamesBeat Decides, you’ll already know what my picks are. I explained my thought process somewhat on that show, but I’d like to expand upon it here.

For my personal list, I don’t want to just spit back the same list the Gamesbeat team put out earlier this month. So the games on this list are the games that gave me the most enjoyment this year, not necessarily the most technically exceptional. 2021 was a rough year, and if I made it through a game, it must have been special.

I’m a huge fan of Ace Attorney to begin with, so I was already excited for The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles before it launched. It scratches two of my itches: Mystery and historical fiction. Getting both with the distinctive Ace Attorney flair – earnest defense attorneys, flamboyant prosecutors, and the most extra side characters ever – was everything I wanted.

I agree with Mike, in that the game does take a little while to pick up steam (ironically), but when it’s in full Ace Attorney swing, it’s such fun. I enjoy the inclusion of a Sherlock Holmes-adjacent character, especially as he’s just as baffling to hero Ryunosuke as I imagine he would be to anyone not named Watson. The mysteries and story also have surprising depth, touching on issues of racism and xenophobia.

Three top investment pros open up about what it takes to get your video game funded.

I’ve already honored Village in my year-end awards, in which I acknowledged that it’s not perfect, though it is memorable. But I didn’t need it to be perfect – I needed it to be Resident Evil. While Village does smack of Capcom revisiting the series greatest hits – the Gothic European setting of RE4, the gameplay of RE7, the villain design of RE2 Remake – I can’t say