5. The Forgotten City
Somehow, one of the surprise game hits of the year began as a Skyrim mod. That mod created a point-and-click mystery adventure about ancient Roman laws, and humanity’s relationship with law. Add some roguelike elements, portals, and gold skeletons, and we have another weird and wonderful surprise success in The Forgotten City.
4. Deathloop
The reason that Deathloop is such a surprise, is that it’s a new IP and one of the best reviewed games of the year. It’s not a big surprise that another FPS from Arkane Studios was good, but this good!? A mysterious plot, Tarantino-like style, and Groundhog Day-like situation made something that initially sounded like an FPS roguelike, but turned out to be one of the most original shooters ever.
3. Metroid Dread
Metroid Dread was announced and released in 2021. It was the first original 2D Metroid game released by Nintendo in 19 years, and was arguably the biggest surprise game announcement at E3. On top of that, it was one of the best reviewed games of 2021. Nobody saw it coming, and everybody loved it. A true surprise, indeed.
2. Inscryption
As I write this article, I’ve realized that another trend in 2021’s Best Surprises is unconventional genre combinations that work really well. Inscryption is a horror-themed card game with an incredibly surprising meta-narrative. The very nature of the game is surprising those who play it. Don’t even read anything about it, just play Inscryption and expect nothing.
1. Guardians of the Galaxy
Eidos’ Guardians of the Galaxy is the biggest surprise of 2021, because Eidos’ Avengers game was a phenomenal lemon. For some reason they thought people hated superhero stories and loved microtransactions. Everyone thought Guardians of the Galaxy would be more of the same, but what we got was a story-driven single-plyer adventure that turned out to be one of the best video game releases of 2021.
What did you think of our list? Is there a surprise that you think deserves to be on the list? Let us know in the comments below!
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