Topic: Best of Nintendo Switch 2021

It's that time of year which means end of year lists!

Based on what I've actually played here's the best games of the year for me.

Game of the Year: Metroid Dread
Best Action/FPS Game: Dying Light
Best Adventure Game: Metroid Dread
Best Fighting/Beat 'em Up Game: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Best Indie: Lost in Random
Best Multiplayer Game: Knockout City
Best Non-2021 Game Played This Year: Horace
Best Platformer: Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
Best RPG: Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne (I've not played 5 yet)
Best Sim/Strategy/Puzzle Game: Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon
Best Sports/Racing Game: Cruis'n Blast
Best 2D Game: Metroid Dread

What are the folks here best 2021 games?

"What are the folks here best 2021 games?"

This game.

Best Girlie game.
I'm 100% serious with my statement.

Here's my list.
GOTY: Monster hunter rise (I hope I can put MH here)
Best action/FPS game: MH rise!
Best Adventure: game: Pokemon SP.
Best fighting/beat 'em up game: I was going to get scott this year, I would have to check, but I don't think I have any in this list as of now.
Best indie: Idk if Spelunky counts because it didn't come out this year but its switch port did.
Best Multiplayer game: Pokemon unite.
Best non-2021 game played this year: Hollow knight. The runner up being Hyrule warriors AOC.
Best RPG: Pokemon Shining pearl.
Best sim/Strategy/Puzzle game: TBD
Best Sports/Racing game: None that came out this year.
Best 2D game: None That came out this year.
Best Platformer: Crash 4 its about time.

Lol, I sat down to list this but realised out of the Switch games I played this year, pretty much every category I can fill in, I can fill in with Monster Hunter Rise (as I didn’t play Stories on Switch).

Maybe the one exception would be non 2021, as Skyward Sword HD is in my top ten, it technically is a 2021 release but also a rerelease of an older game, so it fits in a sort of grey area like the Legendary Edition of Mass Effect or Dusk on Switch does in my general list, where I am not really sure where to place them.

I didnt play my Switch much this year 😬 I got sidetracked playing all the Souls games. Fwiw, I did play a ton of Hades on the Switch (although that was a 2020 game I think). I don't like rogue-likes in concept but Hades manages to keep it interesting and fun for awhile. Depicting Hades (the character) as a desk worker and Hell as a beurocracy was done well and it's boosted by great character performances. However, the gameplay did lose its luster after awhile. In spite of the procedural generation and modifiers you can apply to your runs, the game still only has 4 areas with 4 different bosses total.

Switch game I wish I had played this year? Hmmmm....New Pokemon Snap.

Here is my list:
Game of the Year: Monster Hunter Rise
Best Action/FPS Game: Metroid Dread
Best Adventure Game: Skyward Sword HD
Best Fighting/Beat 'em Up Game: Super Smash Bros Ultimate (letting this count for DLC lol and havent played another fighting game this year)
Best Indie: Death's Door
Best Multiplayer game: Mario Party Superstars
Best Non-2021 Game Played This Year: Witcher 3
Best RPG: Shin Megami Tensei V
Best Sim/Strategy/Puzzle Game: Gnosia
Best Sports/Racing Game: Mario Golf: Super Rush
Best 2D Game: Axiom Verge 2

I just put one game into each category though, also these are just my switch games

Action: Ninja Gaiden Master Collection
Adventure: Metroid Dread
Fighting: N/A
FPS: Star Wars: Republic Commando
Horror: Fatal Frame V
Indie: Alba: a Wildlife Adventure
Non-2021: Xenoblade Chronicles: DE
Platformer: Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
Puzzle: N/A
Racing: N/A
RPG: Shin Megami Tensei V
Sports: N/A

GotY: Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury

@Pizzamorg - "Lol, I sat down to list this but realised out of the Switch games I played this year, pretty much every category I can fill in, I can fill in with Monster Hunter Rise (as I didn’t play Stories on Switch)."

This was pretty much my experience, only with the addition of Metroid Dread (and one mention of The Ace Attorney Chronicles). There were a couple of other games I played (Pokemon Snap, WarioWare), but nothing I'd consider GOTY material.

I bought my Switch in January and finished almost 40 games on it, but just three of those were released in 2021 which were clearly not among the best I played this year:

• Kaze and the Wild Masks: A little 2D platformer reminiscent of the original DKC trilogy but with inconsistent world design. I wonder why there were different worlds in this game, they weren't reflected in most levels.
• Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World: Probably the blandest Wonder Boy game I ever played. And its Japanese voices are repellent.
• Asterix & Obelix: Slap them all!: A nice way to let off steam mowing through whole herds of enemies but with a lacklustre presentation between levels being the game's biggest downside.

Ys IX is the only game I played from start to finish and loved this year.

I've also played several games I might recommend, but since I usually don't finish games, perhaps not.

@RR529 ohh, forgot about Fatal Frame. That was definitely the best horror experience on switch this year for me as well

I didn't play enough games to sort them into "best (blank)" but I do have some games that I played for the first time this year which I loved.

• After umming and ahhing over it for the last year and a half, I finally picked up the Ace Attorney Trilogy on the eShop and just.... wow. All I can say is play them if you haven't already. Easily one of my new favourite series (if the pfp didn't give it away).
  
• I got the original Doom on the eShop for free on Black Friday thanks to Gold Points which was hilarious. The game has a really good sense of speed, flow and satisfaction to everything you do, especially headshotting the demons, that will never get old. The only bad thing about the game really is the godawful map which got me lost far too often to count. Apart from that though, game's a good un.
  
• My main time sink this year was the new additions to NSO, N64 and Mega Drive, two systems whose games I had never touched beforehand. Some of the highlights for me include Streets of Rage 2 (one of the best beatemups ever made with some of the best music to compliment it), Paper Mario (a fantastic RPG that I wholeheartedly adore. Hope TTYD comes at some point) and WinBack (an unexpected delight that had that glorious 90's thriller movie feel with cheesiness wrapped in pure seriousness)
  
  
  

I didn't play a ton of new Switch games this year, but Dread is definitely my 2021 GOTY