I don’t know if 2021 (as a year) was better or worse than 2020 — they were both pretty rough! — but I find myself feeling a tad more optimistic than I did before. We could hem and haw about it until the cows come home, but I do believe that ’21 was a much better year for new releases in ’20, so I don’t feel the need to go overly snarky and make my list entirely out of remasters. This was a great year for games, and I want to recognize the wide variety of brand-new, original releases that captivated me throughout the year.