@KryptoniteKrunch Late reply but what made 2018 a better year than 2020? Just curious.
Its close, but Smash, Dark Souls, Diablo 3, Valkyria Chronicles 1 and 4, Celeste and Xenoblade Torna help 2018 edge out. 2020 was still a decent year imo.
2017 had a better balance of great first and third party releases, but the third-party support this year was the best I've ever seen for a Nintendo console, and the releases were more consistent this year.
Although if I was ranking them from a first-party perspective
2017 > 2019 > 2020 > 2021 > 2018
Third-party support truly carried this year for Ninty.
the third-party support this year was the best I've ever seen for a Nintendo console
This is probably true enough, but I do remember the middle of the GBA/GCN years when every other quality console game was seemingly on two or all three consoles, AND AAA companies were generally putting out quality stuff, even with licensed games. Also taking into account how fewer games companies make in general nowadays.
This is almost certainly the best year for 3rd parties since the SNES days by the standards of people actively wanting to put games on Nintendo, as if it is a priority for them (rather than it being purely a cost effective good enough idea, aka most of the reason the GCN got multi-console games).
@iLikeUrAttitude Not much of a consolation because many third party games tend to be generic, uncreative, and just not as good. Some are, but a lot of them aren't. In this case the third parties didn't really make up for the lack of first parties this year.
@Bolt_Strike I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you.
There were a lot of great 3rd party games that released this year that filled the gaps for me.
Sure the switch has somewhat of a shovelware problem but that didn't overshadow the many big hitters that came out this year.
Monster Hunter Rise was amazing and I poured so many hours into it and I ordered SMT V and plan to do the exact same.
Along there being a multitude of other games which I haven't played yet but were very well received like P5 Strikers, Braveley Default 2, Monster Hunter Stories 2, NMH3, and more.
1st party titles aren't a necessity and they aren't an absolute of quality if thats what you're trying to imply. There have been plenty of bad first party games.
I don't think a Nintendo console has ever had it so good for third party games. According to a quick browse Deku Deals we've had around 2000 new releases this year. That's more than any previous Nintendo console got during their entire commercial lifetime, let alone a single year. A lot of it is admittedly low grade shovelware but there's plenty of good stuff in there too.
Nintendo are obviously not feeling the pressure too much, as it was a rather thin year from them. Metroid Dread, the remakes of Skyward Sword and 3D World and the Animal Crossing DLC was all good-to-great. After that though, I'm struggling to think of much, and I was decidedly unimpressed by the N64 emulation.
Covid obviously knocked things about a bit - and that's happened across the industry with a lot of other publishers leaning heavily on smaller games and remakes too - but I'm hoping for a bumper 2022 as we should catch up on a lot of the games that slipped from this year's schedule.
@Matt_Barber Damn 2000 games just this year? I guarantee like 95% of that is just shovelware but its still impressive.. for the most part.
I agree that the 1st party titles were somewhat lacking this year but the 3rd party games as mentioned already made up for it. Also yeah the emulation service is complete garbage.
Honestly I'm getting tired of the covid excuse, if it was really that much of a problem for game development or games in general as everyone seems to imply then the entire industry would've been dead for the past 2-3 years. Games were not stopped, they continued to released and be developed.
As well as new console hardware releasing during covid.
2022 does seem promising with botw, 3d kirby, splatoon 3 etc.
2021 THINGS I BOUGHT:
Mushihimesama
R-Type Final 2
Atelier Ryza 2
Voice of Cards
SMT III
SMT V
Neo TWEWY
Persona V Strikers
Shadowverse Champion's Battle
SOS Pioneers of Olive Town
Kitaria Fables
Islanders
Game Builders Garage
Residual
Need For Speed Hot Pursuit
STILL ON MY RADAR:
Blue Reflection II
Metroid Dread
Mario Golf
Raiden IV Mikado Remix
Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania
Cotton Reboot
Disgaea 6
Subnautica 1 and 2
SW: KOTOR
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
Tetris Effect Connected
Dodonpachi Resurrection
Danganronpa
Monster Train
NOT INTO IT BUT I HEAR IT'S A BIG DEAL:
ACNH expansions
Pokemon BDSP
GTA Trilogy
Big Brain Academy
Monster Hunter Rise
Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword
Pokemon Snap
I've edited this post several times as I recalled game after game, mostly in the "still on my radar" category. Not going to add any more - suffice it to say this has been a very good year IMO. I'm pretty sure that when Nintendo do the annual "how much have you played on the Switch this year" thing, I'm going to find I've put more hours on the Switch - on more titles - than any other year since it launched.
I'd give 2021 a solid B. While no single game has absolutely blown me away this year (to be fair, not many years do have that kind of game), there's been a consistent stream of solid titles all year round, and the Switch's library is now so extensive that I don't think I'll ever manage to play every title I'm interested in.
2021 has been a pretty consistently solid year all around, with a lotsa favorites of mine like WarioWare GIT, New Pokémon Snap, 3D World + Bowser's Fury, Metroid Dread, Miitopia, Mario Party Superstars, Big Brain Academy, ACNH 2.0 + HHP, etc... . And that doesn't even include the insane amount of third party games that come out this year !
2021 has been actually my favorite year on the Switch so far !
Obviously different ppl like different games. If you're not into the games in a given year you won't think highly of it.
But for me, Monster Hunter and Metroid are two of my ALL TIME favorite series. Monster Hunter Rise ALONE, releasing on a hybrid handheld system, makes 2021 year of the decade for me. Adding Metroid Dread, the long awaited sequel to fusion after 20 years? That seals the deal. Throw in Shin Megami Tensei V, a game I didn't expect to like as much as I do, but which I now regard on par if not above Persona, and you have the trio of all trios.
Games like Monster Hunter Stories 2, Bravely Default 2 and Neo: TWEWY, all sequels to DS/3DS exclusives are the cherry on top.
Of course, 2017 was also great. Zelda BotW, Splatoon 2, Mario Odyssey, Xenoblade 2 and Mario Rabbids. And Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Just not quite enough to top Monster Hunter Rise, Metroid Dread and SMTV for me personally, because I love those 3 games so much. Idk. Maybe 2017 was technically better, but I enjoyed 2021 more.
2022 is looking hot though
Zelda BotW 2
Bayonetta 3
Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak
Mario Rabbids Spark of Hope
Advance Wars Re-Boot Camp
Triangle Strategy
Kirby Forgotten Land
Pokémon Legends Arceus
And that's just what we know going in to 2022. There's gonna be more games announced for the second half of the year at e3 or their April/May Direct. 2022 is looking like it could, potentially, be the best yet.
Pretty solid year overall I think. Somewhat lacking in a really big title like Smash or Zelda (closest we got was probably Monster Hunter and Metroid), but there was still a decent release of solid titles, both 3rd and 1st party, throughout the year to make it worthwhile nonetheless.
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Topic: How Would You Rate This Year For the Switch? (2021)
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