5. Twelve Minutes
Twelve Minutes, from industry veteran Luis Antonio, had a simple premise that instantly caught our imagination: stuck in a Groundhog Day time loop, you play a man who must somehow stop his wife’s murder and end their repeating nightmare. It also had an impressive voice cast including James McAvoy and Willem Dafoe, and the possibility of endless narrative outcomes (mostly ending in your death). But it all just wasn’t as mind-blowing in practice as in concept — maybe it was the often obtuse puzzle elements that encouraged random solutions, or maybe it was the brutal, relentless darkness of the story which started to grate after the 20th, 30th … 100th repeat. Whatever it was, despite our hopes for an amazing, revolutionary game, Twelve Minutes was in the end just an okay point and click adventure.
4. Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
When word dropped of possible latest-gen remakes of Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, our reaction was joyous. After all, the Sword and Shield remake had brought a lot of fresh improvements to that classic. But our high hopes were quickly dashed when Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl released this year. Mostly, it was the visuals, which made the odd choice of combining the original aesthetics with some new elements that just didn’t mesh together. Our reviewer lamented that the different, conflicting visual approaches in the game created a “jarring, confusing final product.” On top of that, the music suffered from much the same problem, with old tunes ported over to the Switch in a way that never quite felt right. While it was admittedly still fun to play, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl on the Switch represented a rare case of a remake that actually felt worse than the original.
3. Diablo II: Resurrected
Speaking of remakes, Diablo II: Resurrected was another title this year that sought to bring back a beloved classic for the new generation. The original was one of the most iconic action RPGs of all time, and we had huge hopes for this remake. But the released version made some questionable design choices, most notably keeping that same old frustratingly-restrictive inventory (and still not letting you stack multiple items). Classes were still unbalanced, and moving your character was just as clunky as you (probably didn’t) remember. To add to the woes, matchmaking was nigh impossible due to an outdated lobby system, especially on the Switch version. While the visuals were nicely updated while keeping the flavor of the original, and the game was admittedly a nostalgic good time in many ways, Diablo II: Resurrected failed to recapture the magic that stole so many hours of our lives all those years ago.
2. Balan Wonderworld
Talk about pedigrees — Balan Wonderworld was supposed to be an amazing game since it was from Square Enix and had two veterans of the Sonic franchise and Nights Into Dreams behind it. Its early trailers looked good, and if nothing else this was a game that promised a fresh and original 3D platforming experience. But in March when it released, it fell far short of expectations. Our reviewer panned Balan Wonderworld’s “dated,” even “PS2-era” platforming mechanics that frequently ruined all the colorful fun. Plus, there were some quirky design choices that too often just felt tedious — for example, many obstacles were hard to overcome due to the game’s insistence that you wear the correct attire. We have to applaud the developers for trying something new and original, but Balan Wonderworld is maybe a game that needed to be a bit less wacky and zany, and more fundamentally sound.
1. Outriders
Outriders is a particularly sad case, because it seemed like developers People Can Fly really tried. Working hard to listen to what fans wanted, they released a very generous free demo in February and took pains to be fully transparent about the game’s progress. It felt that maybe this game would be different, and set itself apart from all the other uninspired looter shooters of the past. But in the end, when the game launched, all of that effort STILL seemed to result in a mostly generic offering that, according to our review, just didn’t make much impact. The narrative was thin and lacking especially in the endgame, and the gameplay was a grindy loot-fest that bogged us down with the same inventory management issues that plagued other games. In short, despite its attempts to set itself apart, Outriders ended up being not much different from Apex Legends or Destiny 2 or Warframe or all the other looter shooters that we’ve already seen, and (sigh) we’ll likely see in the future. And that was a major disappointment indeed.
Well there you have it — the video games of 2021 that disappointed us the most. How about you? What games let you down in the past year? Let us know your thoughts below!
Thank you for keeping it locked on COGconnected.