General News - Wccftech's best RPGs of 2021

Wccftech listed their best RPGs of 2021:

Wccftech's Best Role-Playing Games of 2021 - Going on an Adventure

What a year we've just had for role-playing games. Whether you're on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, or PC, 2021 has been a surprisingly good year for RPGs as a whole. It hasn't just been the latest sequels gracing our gaming platforms but also big name developers starting to take risks with new IPs and fresh concepts altogether. When you're cooped up indoors with a controller in one hand and takeaway in the other, nothing helps pass the times better than a meaty RPG with a story that'll stick with you long after the credits roll.

[…]

• Ruined King: A League of Legends Story
• Shin Megami Tensei V
• Tales of Arise
• Mass Effect Legendary Edition
• NEO: The World Ends With You
• Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
• Ys IX Monstrum Nox

Honorable Mentions

• Scarlet Nexus
• Fantasian
• Monster Hunter Rise
• Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
• Bravely Default 2
• NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139

More information.

I'm usually following them, but I hadn't detected this JRPG trend, it's clearly dominant in their choice here. Is it just me or is it a general trend? US, Europe and Russia are losing ground. EDIT: Tales of Arise seems to collect nice reviews, with a good story, good combat and good characters!

I was also a bit surprised at the penalty to Pathfinder because "it's a deep game" (the negative points were: "… that can be extremely intimidating, despite a wealth of in-game resources and contextual tutorials" and "Traditional RPG mechanics are not for everyone").

I would argue those are qualities in that genre. It's as if they scored a classic RPG against an FPS benchmark.


And the winner is… Mass Effect Legendary Edition! So after all, it does pay off to simply remaster old games. Why bother?

Is it their choice or do we have more AAA-JRPG-PC releases than AAA Western-RPG PC releases?

Originally Posted by HiddenX
Is it their choice or do we have more AAA-JRPG-PC releases than AAA Western-RPG PC releases?

I have the impression we have more JRPG releases, and not just AAA (even without disqualifying remasters). RPG Site and RPG Fans are more JRPG-oriented, but Wccf Tech is usually quite neutral, even for the platforms (one of the titles is console-only for instance).

But I haven't counted them, it's just an impression from all the announcements on websites.

Originally Posted by Redglyph
I was also a bit surprised at the penalty to Pathfinder because "it's a deep game" (the negative points were: "… that can be extremely intimidating, despite a wealth of in-game resources and contextual tutorials" and "Traditional RPG mechanics are not for everyone")

I'm not surprised at all. Complex game system means majority of gamers would not bother invest time to learn the mechanic.

In some ways I can understand - I'm also short on time so I do look for much simpler games to entertain myself. But I could not immerse myself into them like I do with cRPGs.

Originally Posted by purpleblob1
I'm not surprised at all. Complex game system means majority of gamers would not bother invest time to learn the mechanic.

In some ways I can understand - I'm also short on time so I do look for much simpler games to entertain myself. But I could not immerse myself into them like I do with cRPGs.

Same for me, there are days I won't play them because I know there's not enough time or I just want something more casual. But it would be the same for any other game of the same category like BG, PoE, D:OS, and so on.

That being said, while I think they should be scored within their own category, that's probably hard to justify for a website (or freelance reviewers) when there are so few in that category. They'll inevitably be compared to more common RPGs.

There is such a glut of games out the past few years, I find it simply impossible to keep up, even with my limited standards of what I enjoy playing. All in all, I think that's a very good thing compared to how things were in the past, gaming-wise.

I can't say I'm familiar with Wccftech, but after seeing those lists, I think I understand why.

Originally Posted by JDR13
I can't say I'm familiar with Wccftech, but after seeing those lists, I think I understand why.

This was my main take away.

Perhaps the predominance of JRPGs this year was related to the pandemic?

Originally Posted by rjshae
Perhaps the predominance of JRPGs this year was related to the pandemic?

Maybe a side effect of Covid is developing shitty taste in RPGs.