Site Event Famiboards Official GotY Nominations - Currently Discussing Game of the Year 2021

[Lozjam]

Hello everyone one and all. It is me, Lozjam. And welcome, to our very first GotY thread.

We have a great show for you today, as we come together as a community, and take a look back at the past year and look forward to the great things to come. Now, we come forward with our GotY nominations, and finally vote with our hearts.

Hmmm..... The committee appears to not have a group of recommended games. That's right! All of you are the committee this year.

As you see in the thread title, all of you will be in charge of choosing the nominations for our 2021 GotY. This will incurr discussion, rivalry, and good times all around. We will go through one category per 24-36 hours, depending on the event. Now, just for fun, we are going to keep the categories a secret, for what is coming next. So you all will have to check in this thread often to see what categories are up.

Now. Take a look at the bottom left corner of this post. 1st off, do you see that little button that says, "Yeah!". Well, welcome to thunderdome, because each nominations with the most yeahs will become Fami's official nominations for our GotY thread. So, all of you must go ahead and put your games up for consideration.

There must be only one consideration per game/concept, so if you are a bit late, please edit your post. I want this to be a discussion though, so you can make your points why a game deserves a nomination, and rack up Yeahs to the consideration that you would like. The original author is free to add other users thoughts to their post as well, to convince other users it should be put up for nomination.

In order to put a game up for consideration, please use this template:
Fami Your Consideration
Insert category here:
insert game here

explain why said game deserves a nomination for game of the year
(don't worry, I will have a full example with our first category as well).

So without further ado, we will begin by choosing the nominations for Best Level of 2021. Best Level stands for the greatest singular part or chunk of the game, regardless of the rest of the games quality. We will be taking 3 nominations for the GotY vote, so all of you can take your pick, and really drum up some discussion! So, you have to demonstrate why your level is the best, and drum up support from your fellow users. You must state the level, and the game in your post so everyone knows what you are talking about! Here's an example

Fami Your Consideration
Best Level:
New Donk City(Mario Odyssey)

New Donk City, is the greatest level of 2017, because it has my 2 favorite icons. Donkey Kong, and a dog wearing a bowler hate. It is a single level which transcends gaming, and it has Pauline as a mayor too. It's pretty rad.

So, you guys see how to do it? Okay, well go rack up those Yeahs, incite some discussion. What was the single best Level of 2021? As a reminder, the 3 nominations with the most Yeahs, will go onto to be our nominees for GotY. So let's come together and discuss some games here!

 

[NabiscoFelt]

Ooh, this seems fun. Not sure if this nomination technically counts, but I think it should

Fami Your Consideration
Best Level:
Da'at: Chiyoda (Shin Megami Tensei V)

The third main area in Shin Megami Tensei 5, this area is the peak of intricate level design in a game that has probably the best level design (mechanically, at least) I've seen in a JRPG of its kind. The labyrinthine layout of this map is really fun to navigate and the area has a nice flow to it overall as you move through it. Add to that a secondary objective that incentivizes thorough exploration (you'll know what I'm talking about if you played the game) and you've got a recipe for one killer level.

 

[Irene]

Fami Your Consideration
Best level:
Burenia (Metroid Dread)

Metroid Dread features impeccable, slick and intuitive level design that truly lives up to the prestige of its franchise. I've always been drawn to the water-centric areas of the Metroid game's maps, Maridia and Phendrana Depths being standouts. As such, Burenia became my favorite zone in Dread. There's just something tranquil with existing in this area, and taking in the gorgeous environments, and feeling that satisfying sense of constantly getting to know the area better and better, as you collect more power-ups. The zone also contains some of my favorite shinespark puzzles.

 

[Lozjam]

Fami Your Consideration
Best level:
Burenia (Metroid Dread)

Metroid Dread features impeccable, slick and intuitive level design that truly lives up to the prestige of its franchise. I've always been drawn to the water-centric areas of the Metroid game's maps, Maridia and Phendrana Depths being standouts. As such, Burenia became my favorite zone in Dread. There's just something tranquil with existing in this area, and taking in the gorgeous environments, and feeling that satisfying sense of constantly getting to know the area better and better, as you collect more power-ups. The zone also contains some of my favorite shinespark puzzles.

You have certainly got my vote there. It really has the best Metroid progression. Getting the Gravity Suit there is such a game changer.

 

[doodlewhizz]

Fami Your Consideration
Best level:
Bob's Bottles (Psychonauts 2)

It mixes an open hub design with little vignettes from Bob's life, and utilises a the mechanics you've learnt so far, but it's the themeing and the story it tells about Bob that makes this really stand out. To say much more is to go into spoiler territory but it's truly affecting to see how various events have shaped Bob into the person he is when you enter his mind, how his actions affect how others have to deal with him, as well a very touching note on a more intimate personal relationship. It's really quite powerful overall and it helped to show that Double Fine haven't lost their creative spark and in fact have just been able to build upon things in this sequel.

 

[em]

I’m unclear what criteria should be used for this category. The final boss in Metroid Dread effectively has an entire area for itself. Should that area be nominated on the strength of that boss battle? Or is there a more appropriate category forthcoming?

Further, is the entirety of Bowser’s Fury a level?

 

[em]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Level:
Ceramic Manor/Inner Furnace (Death’s Door)

This is the first real dungeon in Death’s Domain, and the second half has some of the best music in the game. The Urn Witch is a presence throughout the Manor, both in her multiple direct appearances where she chides the player character, but also in the decor and paintings of the manor. Her monstrous laboratory under the mansion is in line with video game tropes (Spencer Mansion?), but full of conveyor belts, steam-driven pistons, and smartly placed enemies. And the Urn Witch herself is such a lovingly crafted boss (with a nifty weakpoint) that would feel right at home in a Zelda game.

 

[xghost777]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Level
Verboten Domain / The Abyss from Ender Lilies Quietus of the Knights

Lot of awesome games this year, but I think my favorite level is the final area of Ender Lilies, the Verboten Domain / The Abyss. Over the course of the game, you’ve seen the effects of the Blight ravishing the land. You can end the game just by escaping and leaving the mess behind, but the true ending involves solving the problem once and for all. Over the course of the journey it becomes clear the source is below ground in the Verboten Domain.

There’s a few good reasons this level is the big highlight of the game. First obviously it just looks disgusting and menacing as hell as it’s basically alive, and is filled with the grossest, most violent monsters (many are enormous too!). Parts of it are covered in toxic gas that you need to find a gas mask to only mitigate, but never prevent damage. The music is super cool here and later on you just hear this menacing heartbeat sound as you approach the final gauntlet of the game.

But what truly makes it a standout level is how it completes Ender Lilies journey from a more measured action game (think Dark Souls) to a more traditional speedy action game where attack lag is eliminated. You’ll find that last upgrade in the Abyss section of the level which is a true “hell run” experience. No attack lag is necessary because everything is extra menacing and violent here. You’ll likely claim most of your last levels as you progress deeper and deeper into the level. There are multiple routes through the map that twists and turns in itself to block progression. It’s kind of neat if you feel you are getting beat up too much in one route you can swap to another and make progress there. This all culminates of course with the final, multiphase boss fight which is an amazing send off and final test of skill.

 

[Lozjam]

Hey everyone, I am going to extend our nominations for best Level of 2021 for another 24 hours. Be sure to put your nominations in, and keep up the discussion.

Currently, here is the top 3
1. Metroid Dread's Burenia
2. Psychonaughts 2 Bob's Bottles
3. Everything else is a tie. So everyone come out and vote, and discuss so we can find our number 3. Perhaps it may be a new nomination as well!

 

[Galgavias]

Fami your consideration:
Best level
Inside the Dam (Eastward)

Eastward is filled with great levels/dungeons but this one is a perennial 'shit just got real' moment for the game. I won't give up too much with regards to spoilers but naratively it's where all your plans from the previous chapter begin to fall apart, and the personalities of the main cast begin to change. The dungeon itself is a dark, atmospheric dam interior filled with some ingenious sluice gate puzzles and some tough monsters to battle, culminating in one of the games best boss battles. And all the while this deep sense of dread and foreboding stays with you the whole time as you constantly wonder whether your actions will be too little, too late.

 

[Weebos]

Fami your consideration
Best Level:
Berlin (Hitman 3)

Berlin is one of the most unique levels in the Hitman "World of Assassination" trilogy. Instead of hunting down your targets, they're hunting you. In addition, your goal in the mission is to kill enough of them that they stop their pursuit, so you can pick which ones you need to kill, though you don't initially know who they are. There are 11 total targets and to clear the map you need to eliminate 5 of them. In addition, it's set in a weird rave at an abandoned factory of some sort in the German wilderness, and it's full of nonsense. One of my favorite Hitman levels and one of the best levels in 2021.

 

[WestEgg]

Fami your consideration:
Best Level
The Resolve of Ryunosuke Naruhodo (Final Chapter of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles)

Are cases in a visual novel series the equivalent of levels? Yes, yes they are. Due to the story driven nature of the game, I can’t go to in depth of what makes this such a memorable finale, but please believe me when I say it does the seemingly impossible: it takes 2 full games worth of lingering plot threads and mysteries and wraps them up perfectly. One of the most satisfying conclusions to any game, with every relevant character getting their moment to shine.

And we also get these absolute bops unique to this case:


This plays during an endearing moment of character interaction in one of the most pivotal scenes of the game, perfectly representing the interplay of two characters and their dynamic.


And this is the Pursuit theme to end all pursuit themes, a song of absolute triumph.

The case continues to ratchet up the tension, stakes, and reveals, leading to an absolutely explosive finale that marks the apex for the entire series to date in my view. Easily the best chunk of game I played this year.

 

[Phendrift]

Fami Your Consideration
Best level
Crisp Climb Castle (Bowser’s Fury)

This level is one of the biggest selling points for the direction Bowser’s Fury took. A giant icy castle jutting out of the sea, that you can see from many areas in the world. When you approach, it becomes a linear like 3D World level as Mario scales to the top of this massive structure using propeller boxes. It showed me that the blend of unique and charming linear obstacle courses and a wide open world is achievable and the only other area that came close to it in the game was Mount Magmeow.

The music also gives it a unique atmosphere that stands out from the rest of BF, a nutcracker-like waltz

Edit: wait is it closed?

 

[totofogo]

Oh jesus I totally missed this as a pinned thread somehow, thanks for the spotlight on it @xghost777. Funny how your eyes can jump right past something if you look at it enough times lol.

Looks like I missed nominations for best level, but I'm excited to dig through the choices.

Fami Your Consideration
Best level:
Bob's Bottles (Psychonauts 2)

It mixes an open hub design with little vignettes from Bob's life, and utilises a the mechanics you've learnt so far, but it's the themeing and the story it tells about Bob that makes this really stand out. To say much more is to go into spoiler territory but it's truly affecting to see how various events have shaped Bob into the person he is when you enter his mind, how his actions affect how others have to deal with him, as well a very touching note on a more intimate personal relationship. It's really quite powerful overall and it helped to show that Double Fine haven't lost their creative spark and in fact have just been able to build upon things in this sequel.

I'm playing Psychonauts 1 for the first time and finally came back to beat it this week. Milkman Conspiracy blew my socks off, as I heard it would. I'm not going to read your description as to not spoil my entry into the sequel in the coming weeks, but I'm going to trust that you picked the best of the best

 

[Phendrift]

Wait is it closed? Hopefully mine counts

 

[totofogo]

Wait is it closed? Hopefully mine counts

Oh, ha you bumped the thread just before me! Didn't notice. Thanks for sharing that soundtrack btw, where was that during my Christmas season!!

OP posted on Sunday saying they were extending it 24h at that point so I think it was supposed to but heck haha

 

[Lozjam]

Wait is it closed? Hopefully mine counts

Your submission counted. I will update our next category tomorrow! Sorry, the past few days have been crazy. But we can continue on schedule from here on out.

 

[Lozjam]

Thank you one and all for your submissions. Our submissions for best Level of the year is over.

Currently we are discussing best rerelease/remaster of the year. It could be anything from a straight port that has come from another console, or something more elaborate such as a remaster. We want to recognize taking a game, and bringing it to the next console.

We have had quite a lot of these this year, especially with the PS5 and Series X/S. Next generation "upgrade" patches are in the running for this one, along with traditional titles, so long as those patches have come in 2021.

 

[xghost777]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Rerelease/Remaster
Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139…

Since I feel like considering Bowser’s Fury would be cheating in a Super Mario 3D World recommendation because it feels like a distinct game even if they don’t want to sell it standalone, the clear pick in my book is Nier Replicant. The game feels fantastic to play as they brought it more inline with Automata, the graphics look excellent (outside of the townspeople), and the new music is mostly fantastic. The core game and story still hold up wonderfully today and I especially enjoyed the major new content in it, Ending E. Without going into too much details, I think it’s especially awesome for both fans of the original and Nier Automata and is one of the most affecting sequences of the year. This “version up” of Nier raises the bar for what a remaster can be and I think that’s why it is the best remaster/rerelease of the year.

 

[Chaotic Neutral]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Rerelease/Remaster
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD​

It's been discussed to death so I won't spend too much time on it. Yes, the game has its detractors. And yes, there are points to be made against it. However, as this is the category of the best rerelease or remastering, one of the things I think we must look at is how flawed the source material was and how the new release is in its context. The improvements since the original Wii release have made the game much more fitting of being an entry in a franchise of its prestige and, at the end of the day, it's overall an enjoyable experience and fun game, even if somewhat weighed down by the massive pedigree of its franchise. For me, it definitely is a better remastering of an old game than all the arguably great hypothetical suggestions of enhanced XBSXS and PS5 games, impressive as they may be.

 

[Galgavias]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Rerelease/Remaster
Alan Wake Remastered

I had incredibly fond memories of this game to the point I consider it one of my favs of all time, so I wondered whether it would hold up for me on another playthrough. Oh boy it did. It still drips and oozes atmosphere, switching from neck tingling suspense to all out action in the blink of an eye, with an engaging narrative hook and a mysterious plot that doesn't really miss a beat. People grumble about the repetitive combat but I disagree, I love how it echoes the likes of Resi 4 with confrontations being a game of dodge and crowd control until you can break through their defences, and there are great set pieces too. I also found a new appreciation for a great soundtrack too. The remaster definitely spruces up the graphics by quite a bit, and while it's X360 origins remain evident, it's still a great package with all the DLC included (no American Nightmare though, alas, which would make it the complete package). Overall a terrific game and one I recommend for anyone needing a fix of spooky based action.

 

[xghost777]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Rerelease/Remaster
Alan Wake Remastered

I had incredibly fond memories of this game to the point I consider it one of my favs of all time, so I wondered whether it would hold up for me on another playthrough. Oh boy it did. It still drips and oozes atmosphere, switching from neck tingling suspense to all out action in the blink of an eye, with an engaging narrative hook and a mysterious plot that doesn't really miss a beat. People grumble about the repetitive combat but I disagree, I love how it echoes the likes of Resi 4 with confrontations being a game of dodge and crowd control until you can break through their defences, and there are great set pieces too. I also found a new appreciation for a great soundtrack too. The remaster definitely spruces up the graphics by quite a bit, and while it's X360 origins remain evident, it's still a great package with all the DLC included (no American Nightmare though, alas, which would make it the complete package). Overall a terrific game and one I recommend for anyone needing a fix of spooky based action.

I kicked off the new year with this. Devoured it in two days, it’s still amazing and the remaster, especially the environments, looks amazing. I forgot how much the DLC episodes cemented my love for the game. Can’t wait for Alan Wake II

 

[WestEgg]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Rerelease/Remaster
Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139…

Since I feel like considering Bowser’s Fury would be cheating in a Super Mario 3D World recommendation because it feels like a distinct game even if they don’t want to sell it standalone, the clear pick in my book is Nier Replicant. The game feels fantastic to play as they brought it more inline with Automata, the graphics look excellent (outside of the townspeople), and the new music is mostly fantastic. The core game and story still hold up wonderfully today and I especially enjoyed the major new content in it, Ending E. Without going into too much details, I think it’s especially awesome for both fans of the original and Nier Automata and is one of the most affecting sequences of the year. This “version up” of Nier raises the bar for what a remaster can be and I think that’s why it is the best remaster/rerelease of the year.

I have a running joke among my friends about the wolves in this game. Their models are a bit rough, so we call them the PS3 Wolves, and because of the role they play in the story, my friends and I just say to eachother on occasion “man, fuck the PS3 Wolves!”

 

[Josh5890]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Rerelease/Remaster
Mass Effect Legendary Edition

There was already a collection out in the wild, but this version took the series to another level. For the first time all DLC was included in the package. There was an upgrade with the visuals. Now there is a package that will hold up very well for a long time. Oh by the way, the games themselves are pretty good too!

 

[Abzeronow]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Rerelease/Remaster
SaGa Frontier Remastered

Frontier is definitely a great SaGa game and the remaster restored some cut content, adding a new character route. I'm glad Kawazu is getting a chance to rerelease every SaGa game. Kenji Ito's score is also still amazing more than 20 years later. Frontier is definitely a PS1 classic but this remaster sold best on the Switch.

 

[Renmazuo]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Rerelease/Remaster
SaGa Frontier Remastered

A cult classic from the ps1 era, brought to modern times with all the QoL additions you could ask for in a remaster, beautiful AI upscaled graphics, and most impressive of all, with all the content that had to be cut from the original release due to turbulent development fully restored, including a whole new protagonist. Easily one of the best remasters Square-Enix has ever made.


Edit: I was a whole 3 minutes too late lol, please "Yeah!" the post right above this one

 

[Abzeronow]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Rerelease/Remaster
SaGa Frontier Remastered

A cult classic from the ps1 era, brought to modern times with all the QoL additions you could ask for in a remaster, beautiful AI upscaled graphics, and most impressive of all, with all the content that had to be cut from the original release due to turbulent development fully restored, including a whole new protagonist. Easily one of the best remasters Square-Enix has ever made.


Edit: I was a whole 3 minutes too late lol, please "Yeah!" the post right above this one

Great minds think alike. Red's route is a really good sendup on the Tokusatsu genre.

 

[Machine Doogs]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Rerelease/Remaster
Gnosia

Not sure if this fits the category as it hadn't been released in the west prior to this year. Feel free to ignore if it doesn't.

A single player social deduction game doesn't sound like it should work, but it some how does. Thanks to a interesting and diverse alien cast and several options that open up the more you play, I somehow found myself bingeing this in a weekend. Game of the year candidate for me and an experience unlike anything else I've ever played.

 

[totofogo]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Rerelease/Remaster
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania

This remaster/remake packed all the content from Monkey Ball 1, 2 and Deluxe into a beautiful package with options for modern and classic art/music styles. After nearly twenty years of sequels that failed to live up to the original games, and coming off of the fear that 2019's disappointing Banana Blitz HD port would spell the end for the series, this release was a return to the glory days of the series and a simpler time in gaming. It rightfully came under fire for some minor missteps in the control department remaining entirely authentic to the originals, disappointingly Monkey Target has still yet to be patched, but overall this is such a jam-packed package that I find it hard to complain. In a industry full of full-price direct ports, battle passes and microtransactions– this game was a trip down memory lane and put a huge smile on my face.

Did I mention it looks beautiful in handheld on the new Switch OLED? Oh, or that you can play as Sonic and Tails? Anyhow, I rest my case.

Spoiler: My nominations for worst remasters of 2021

GTA Trilogy and Sonic Colors Ultimate, the latter of which had me terrified for Monkey Ball pre-launch. What dumpster fires.

 

[Dunban]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Rerelease/Remaster
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles ​

We finally got to play these games in the west via this HD remaster of the two 3DS games released in Japan in one grand collection. We are really lucky that we got the games this way because they are so intrinsically linked to each other. It is difficult to describe the joy I feel from seeing these characters come to life through these games. Ace Attorney continues to be a series filled with heart and a staple to its genre.

 

[Irene]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Rerelease/Remaster
Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139…

Since I feel like considering Bowser’s Fury would be cheating in a Super Mario 3D World recommendation because it feels like a distinct game even if they don’t want to sell it standalone, the clear pick in my book is Nier Replicant. The game feels fantastic to play as they brought it more inline with Automata, the graphics look excellent (outside of the townspeople), and the new music is mostly fantastic. The core game and story still hold up wonderfully today and I especially enjoyed the major new content in it, Ending E. Without going into too much details, I think it’s especially awesome for both fans of the original and Nier Automata and is one of the most affecting sequences of the year. This “version up” of Nier raises the bar for what a remaster can be and I think that’s why it is the best remaster/rerelease of the year.

My GOTY. Loved everything they did with it. Haven't played the OG, so don't know how it compares when it comes to gameplay. But the way ver. 1.22 plays just feels so good. And the graphics are tremendously improved. It looks great, and I was watching Gestalt footage and ooof. What a facelift. I love the new character models and the improved lighting. Then the core game is fantastic as well. I went in with Automata being an all-time favorite for me, and was curious to see where it all "began" so to see, and damn. So much emotion and storytelling pathos. I really love Yoko Taro's writing and way of giving characters the respect they deserve.

Also, Ending E was BONKERS. Truly last year's highlight in games for me.

 

[Renmazuo]

Since my nomination didn't count I'm allowed another one right?

Fami Your Consideration
Best Rerelease/Remaster
Actraiser Renaissance

The first game from legendary developer Quintet, this SNES original combined sidescroller action with city building sim in one neat, solid package. While the new graphical style looks like something out of the DS/PSP era (though I suppose some will find some charm in that too) this remaster is otherwise great. The action sections both control better and give you new moves and items to collect while the sim sections are greatly expanded with tower defense missions. The length of the game has been considerably increased, going from single digit hours to a game that could easily last you around 30 hours if you want to see everything, through the addition of new areas, missions and levels... and yes, quite a few cutscenes too, although the game was localized by some of the FFXIV staff and it shows: the writing is pretty sharp and doesn't test your patience. Of note is that the original composer Yuzo Koshiro didn't just come back to rearrange the soundtrack, he also composed new songs for the new content using the original SNES soundfont and then rearranged those too as if they had existed all along! Neat.

 

[AngryAlchemist]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Rerelease/Remaster
Mass Effect Legendary Edition

There was already a collection out in the wild, but this version took the series to another level. For the first time all DLC was included in the package. There was an upgrade with the visuals. Now there is a package that will hold up very well for a long time. Oh by the way, the games themselves are pretty good too!

As I understand it, I cannot make a new post recommending this game, but can give support to this post.

When looking at what makes a re-release or remaster great, I think it's important to note what the two metrics are for these type of releases:

• How good is the rerelease at getting newer players into a game or series?
• How good is the rerelease/remaster at polishing up the game and making it easier to come back to/get into by contemporary standards.

Mass Effect Legendary Edition does both beautifully. Not only does the game represent a collection of three modern classics, but it polishes up the titles in necessary ways. Mass Effect 2 and 3 get some minor touch ups, which was all that was really needed for those games, but 1 gets a major facelift in just about every aspect. It would have been easy to spend the most effort on the most popular releases in the series, but instead Bioware wisely chose to better the one entry in the trilogy which needed the most tuning. Not only is there a major graphics overhaul, one that might even make the original Mass Effect the best looking game in the trilogy now, but there is gunplay tweaks which make the combat more intuitive, unlocked difficulty modes from the start, some minor A.I., physics, and XP adjustments and even a weird "separate but equal" new level cap system for the first game. All of this is in a package which gives you all three games, remastered, and with all the DLC to boot. Which easily adds up to dozens upon dozens of hours of playtime. Most importantly, this is a type of series you're really going to want to have available back-to-back, and without a single piece of story context missing. This collection just makes too much sense, it's too good.

 

[Lozjam]

Thank you all for your submissions. We are now taking submissions for best turn based/strategy RPG.

These are your traditional RPG's where you use some sort of menu to do combat, whether in a battle screen or a grid. We will have a separate category for action RPG(just so you know). But yeah, if you control a character's action in battle in real time, it's probably an action RPG.

 

[chocolate_supra]

Thank you all for your submissions. We are now taking submissions for best turn based/strategy RPG.

@Raccoon should I repost the flyer or do you wanna do it yourself this time?

 

[NabiscoFelt]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Turn Based/Strategy RPG
Shin Megami Tensei V

The fifth game in the "Persona Without The Heart" series, Shin Megami Tensei V is an incredibly fun game that takes the series in an interesting new direction. The highlights are the combat and exploration - the combat is another iteration of the excellent Press Turn system, which incentivizes team building to exploit enemy weaknesses in order to gain more actions per round. SMT V iterates on this primarily by making demons more unique from a gameplay perspective by putting more emphasis on unique moves, carrying over the elemental affinity system from IV: Apocalypse, and fixing a certain amount of demon's move sets after fusion. It also adds new incentives for swapping demons mid-combat by making the penalty for doing so a lot less and by increasing mana costs and boss health bars. This creates a pretty unique take on a system that's been used quite a bit before this, and one that I personally enjoyed a lot more than my previous experiences with the franchise.

The other main highlight of the game is its stellar exploration. This may be the best level design, on a mechanical level, that I've seen in a JRPG. Even the likes of Xenoblade doesn't quite reach the mechanical complexity of the levels here (though it does beat it in other areas of level design). There's so many nooks and crannies tucked into each level, like areas that are accessible only through some hidden passageway tucked into some other corner of the map, and so many shiny thinks to collect. Each area starts off as intimidating as you cautiously explore in fear of having your progress wiped by that all-too-familiar SMT instant-team wipe, but they gradually reveal their secrets as you continue to poke around, eventually leading to a feeling of mastery over the world that ends up fitting pretty well with SMT"s overall themes. All that is coupled with some really satisfying movement and rewards that tangibly affect your capabilities in game. It's marvelous stuff

Also the soundtrack is a banger, forgot to mention that earlier

There are some flaws with the game, which I'll list here in interest of fairness. The story and characters are...mostly not there. Imo, that isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's probably the most common complaint with the game so it clearly affected a lot of people. For my money, what's there is fine, and I thought the story had some neat concepts. I might honestly have enjoyed the story elements more than SMT IV, a much more story-intensive game. But there's no denying that if you're looking for a fulfilling narrative, you're not going to get it here.

That being said, still a phenomenal game and my pick for turn-based RPG of the year (and also GoTY but ssh spoilers). Sorry Bravely Default II, you were pretty close, but I'm sure someone will get to you eventually

 

[chocolate_supra]

I made this ages ago (months ago) for @Raccoon but it seems to be relevant once again:

Spoiler: Big political flyer

 

[xghost777]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Turn Based / Strategy RPG
Trails To Azure

Here’s one that might be stretching the rules so please let me know if you want me to nominate something else, but Trails To Azure had its first excellent English fan translation in 2021 thanks to the outstanding work of The Geofront which is so amazing it will form the basis of the official release in 2023. Trails fans who’ve played it have always held Azure in the highest regard and after playing it myself I can easily see why. Without going into details, Azure plays for keeps in a way other Trails games don’t and hits way harder as a result. It was so exciting to seize the truth behind Lloyd and the rest of the SSS’s biggest adventure and to see their stories through. Having played Zero before it, I was very invested in both the fate of Crossbell and its citizens and thanks to the stellar translation, it was wonderful to check in regularly with everyone around town. While Crossbell is still way too open to explore every chapter, the new car for fast travel makes the experience much smoother. The quests overall are more complicated this time, so you’ll get to put your detective skills to the test in fun ways. While the story is the main attraction, the excellent turn based battle system from the Sky trilogy and Zero returns. It’s still a satisfying mix of managing the rise and fall of CP, character positioning, and interrupting turn order to claim buffs and push debuffs onto your enemies. Master Quartz and Blitz are introduced in Azure and while both systems regularly feel OP there are plenty of challenging fights to really put your skills to the test.

Finally, I have to shoutout the amazing soundtrack in the game. Not only are all the new battle themes great, I especially dig two remixes of Zero songs featured at key emotional moments, Inevitable Struggle’s Super Arrange Version (see below) and Get Over The Barrier’s Silent Devotion remix. I actually knew the song names since The Geofront went above and beyond and added a feature to briefly display song names when they start playing (something Neo: The World Ends With You did as well in 2021). I hope this becomes a standard feature in RPGs moving forward since it’s so cool to have!



I can’t reccomend Trails To Azure enough and I’m so excited more people will get to play it in 2023.

 

[Dunban]

I think Azure is probably best saved for the official release, not just because it might not fit the criteria but also so more people would have also played and can vote for it. That's a pretty fantastic write up for it though!

 

[Lozjam]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Turn Based / Strategy RPG
Trails To Azure

Here’s one that might be stretching the rules so please let me know if you want me to nominate something else, but Trails To Azure had its first excellent English fan translation in 2021 thanks to the outstanding work of The Geofront which is so amazing it will form the basis of the official release in 2023. Trails fans who’ve played it have always held Azure in the highest regard and after playing it myself I can easily see why. Without going into details, Azure plays for keeps in a way other Trails games don’t and hits way harder as a result. It was so exciting to seize the truth behind Lloyd and the rest of the SSS’s biggest adventure and to see their stories through. Having played Zero before it, I was very invested in both the fate of Crossbell and its citizens and thanks to the stellar translation, it was wonderful to check in regularly with everyone around town. While Crossbell is still way too open to explore every chapter, the new car for fast travel makes the experience much smoother. The quests overall are more complicated this time, so you’ll get to put your detective skills to the test in fun ways. While the story is the main attraction, the excellent turn based battle system from the Sky trilogy and Zero returns. It’s still a satisfying mix of managing the rise and fall of CP, character positioning, and interrupting turn order to claim buffs and push debuffs onto your enemies. Master Quartz and Blitz are introduced in Azure and while both systems regularly feel OP there are plenty of challenging fights to really put your skills to the test.

Finally, I have to shoutout the amazing soundtrack in the game. Not only are all the new battle themes great, I especially dig two remixes of Zero songs featured at key emotional moments, Inevitable Struggle’s Super Arrange Version (see below) and Get Over The Barrier’s Silent Devotion remix. I actually knew the song names since The Geofront went above and beyond and added a feature to briefly display song names when they start playing (something Neo: The World Ends With You did as well in 2021). I hope this becomes a standard feature in RPGs moving forward since it’s so cool to have!



I can’t reccomend Trails To Azure enough and I’m so excited more people will get to play it in 2023.

As long as it gets the votes:


We have to keep things moving, so everyone has 24 hours to put in their submissions. As it stands, we only have 2 submissions and they win by default.

 

[NabiscoFelt]

Can I make a second post for this category? I'd hate to see it end without BDII being considered

 

[HockeyBird]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Turn Based / Strategy RPG
Bravely Default II

Simply put, if you're looking for a classic Final Fantasy adventure, then you want to play Bravely Default II. Don't let the name make you think otherwise. This is a Final Fantasy game through and through. It has the job system you have come to love in titles such as Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy Tactics. The structure is pretty simple. You go from region to region, each with a main town. There, you'll meet each towns individual residents, get involved in their problems, and ultimately set to a dungeon to solve those problems. But plot itself is also pretty straight forward. But what ties everything together is the aforementioned job system. Throughout the game you'll encounter several characters with astrericks, the name of this game's jobs. Beat the asterick uses in battle and you'll receive that asterick for you to equip onto your characters. Each new asterick presents you with new abilities, skills, and weapon proficiencies. You can further customize with the addition of sub-jobs which allow you to equip equip abilities from another job onto your current main one. With 4 characters, 4 main jobs, and 4 sub jobs, this gives you a ton of variety to bring into battle and you'll need. Bravely Default II can be brutally difficult at times. Both bosses and enemies have specific strengths and weakness. You'll need to figure out the best combination of jobs and abilities to make to through the end. This is a game you won't be brute forcing your way through easily. There is also the series' signature Brave and Default system which allows you to have up action points and unleash multiple attacks in one turn. Fighting new asterick users, obtain their jobs, bring your new found skills into battle to take down more asterick users, creates the addictive loop of this game.

If you love classic RPGs with a tough challenges and deep customization, you owe to try out Bravely Default II. Many people say that turn based games are things of the past, but Bravely Default II proves that turn based games can provide some of those engaging battles in the industry. The game is boosted by a fantastical and rock heavy soundtrack, colorful characters, and richly detailed backgrounds. It's simply put, the best RPG of the year and one of the best games of the year.

 

[em]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Turn Based / Strategy RPG
Disco Elysium

Disco Elysium is a standout role-playing game that puts the focus on a single character and his personality(ies) against the backdrop of a detailed and lived-in world.

 

[Dunban]

We have to keep things moving, so everyone has 24 hours to put in their submissions. As it stands, we only have 2 submissions and they win by default.

I do wonder if not enough eyes are seeing this? Pokemon haven't been nominated as well, which is rather surprising. It's too bad Joseki left us, he was a big advocate for BDSP here.

 

[Deleted member 2258]

This game wasn't officially nominated yet and I want to make sure it isn't skipped over:

Fami Your Consideration
Best Turn-Based / Strategy RPG
deltarune ch. 2

The most affordable game of the year! Chapter 2 expands on the excellent Chapter 1 in just about every way. This many hours into Undertale, you could pretty much see where it was going, but Deltarune continues to dive deeper and get more complex and interesting as it goes along. Great soundtrack, fun new characters, and some fun new twists on the gameplay. You may only get a chance to read about many of the most exciting games of 2021 until they go on sale, but you can see what the fuss is about deltarune ch. 2 today for the low cost of about 150 MB.

 

[kpup]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Turn-Based / Strategy RPG
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin

Monster Hunter Stories 2 was such a delightfully charming game from 2021. The combat really takes the monster reads and tells familiar to fans from the mainline franchise and transitions them perfectly into a turn based setting. It uses on surface a simple rock - paper - scissors triangle, but layers different monster states on top that you have to respond appropriately to, and throws in fighting monster/hunter duos. With proper counters, you can build up your special meter and pull off devastating combos with your team. The monster collecting and teambuilding aspect means you're encouraged to constantly evolve and grow your team based on the areas you're in, not unlike pokemon or smt.

The art style is amazing--the characters and iconic monsters / armor sets are all rendered perfectly in the stories style, and the environments of each major area as you go through the game are all distinctly stunning. Overall, an incredibly fun and quirky cast (including a few cats), with a lot of growth from the characters along the way.

A few of the many screenshots I took:

Finally it has what might be my new favorite monster design in the final boss

Spoiler

 

[Josh5890]

TIL I didn't buy or play any RPG or strategy games last year, except for Mass Effect which I already nominated in another category.

 

[Lozjam]

TIL I didn't buy or play any RPG or strategy games last year, except for Mass Effect which I already nominated in another category.

If you think Mass Effect deserves it, go ahead. But that is more suited for the action RPG category.

I honestly haven't played any Turn Based RPG's this year as well though. So I definitely feel you.

I didn't even by Pokémon in 2021.... It's odd. But I think I may give deltarune a try.

 

[Chaotic Neutral]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Turn-Based/Strategy RPG
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl

Controversial? Yeah, but so is every single entry in this beloved franchise. And that is not necessarily a bad thing, as it just goes to show the passion within a fanbase of now multiple generations that grew up with the wonderful eponymous creatures and the high demands they have for the arguably most successful multi-media franchise of all time. But more importantly, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl are just really, really fun games. Well on its way to the top-selling list on the console after less than two months on the market, the game sold 6 million units in its first week and is the second-biggest launch in Japan in the Switch era, only trailing behind international COVID-19 early lockdown season's breakthrough hit Animal Crossing: New Horizons. ILCA has repaid the trust Game Freak has shown them in handling their precious golden egg with an end product that takes the original two beloved releases and (somewhat notoriously) faithfully recreates them while adding some quality of life improvements, a new grand underground system and the cleanest implementation of the battle process yet, ]although I personally cannot omit that I miss Sword and Shield's menu to see stat changes, weather effects, terrain etc. during battle. But if we set aside what isn't there even though we wish it was and just look at the products as they are released, these games are a fun romp through what is many hardcore fans' favourite iteration of the series and millions of gamers around the world, like myself and my friends, will have sunk dozens of hours into these babies over holiday season late nights. That is always a feat, but perhaps especially so with an estimated half of players doing so while simultaneously cursing how much they enjoy the experience.​

 

[Shinespark]

Fami Your Consideration
Best Turn-Based / Strategy RPG
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin

Monster Hunter Stories 2 was such a delightfully charming game from 2021. The combat really takes the monster reads and tells familiar to fans from the mainline franchise and transitions them perfectly into a turn based setting. It uses on surface a simple rock - paper - scissors triangle, but layers different monster states on top that you have to respond appropriately to, and throws in fighting monster/hunter duos. With proper counters, you can build up your special meter and pull off devastating combos with your team. The monster collecting and teambuilding aspect means you're encouraged to constantly evolve and grow your team based on the areas you're in, not unlike pokemon or smt.

The art style is amazing--the characters and iconic monsters / armor sets are all rendered perfectly in the stories style, and the environments of each major area as you go through the game are all distinctly stunning. Overall, an incredibly fun and quirky cast (including a few cats), with a lot of growth from the characters along the way.

A few of the many screenshots I took:


Finally it has what might be my new favorite monster design in the final boss

Spoiler

I absolutely LOVED this game, it's what finally got me into the Monster Hunter series and made me appreciate Rise much more. The music, monster designs, the combat mechanic that's like a puzzle to figure out, and the way they Incorporated the different weapons and crafting. One of my biggest surprises of the year.