Everyone will agree that 2021 was a year « complicated » at all levels. While the world's news has never fed so much the desire to go live as a hermit in the forest with its Switch, the video game has played a valuable role as a refuge, giving comfort and offering a virtual shelter against our morose and real world. What more exciting indeed than to explore imaginary worlds alone while we are sadly confined? What more remorseful than to be able to laugh with friends in multiplayer while all places of socialization are closed? The members of MaG's JV section take stock of the year 2021, and take the opportunity to wish you a beautiful year 2022!
KillerS7ven balance sheet
What's your current relationship to video game?
When I think about my first steps in the video game as I strove my classmates to draw them rare Pokemon cards against a cargo menu (« this ratata shines exclusively on the evenings of full moon, arm cross, iron cross, if I lie I go to hell ») and that at the same time I already bathed in universes spread out of blood germs likeDino Crisis, Parasite Eve 2or quadrilogyResident Evil, I think that in addition to an early career of a seasoned crook, I probably started with sacred nuggets that could no longer necessarily exist today. These were not only gore games but above all tinted worlds.backgroundCommissioner's particularly creepyBrian Ironsof theResident Evil 2to the failed vocation of taxidermist to mitochondria of heroinParasite Eve.
Let's not talk more about almost non-existent parental control in my childhood, if not limited to formulating an argument sufficiently developed to demonstrate to my mother that the petiot knew what to expect before watching his brother explode the head of a zombie of a chevrotin 15. There was a great deal of intelligence, economy and exploration. The song of the 20th century swan, the 1990s, ended for me with great essays that would never finally see other equivalents. I was waiting for my brother to make himselfdevour by a Therezinos or that Nemesis turns Jill's brains into home guacamole, eager todiscover new animationsor to detect a novel behavior of enemies otherwise more intelligent than the majority of puppets encountered in modern FPS. These war campaigns often make up their empty shell with graphic or staging artifices borrowed from the cream of the crème du cinéma popcorn écervée. Society of the permanent show, it would no longer be necessary for the player to put his own in order to move forward.
From my first pseudos, from Wesker to K7, it's probably Nemesis who snuck into Capcom's arms very early. He was so farceous, coming out from behind a trash can or vociating behind the doors of the backup rooms. At the time I already imagined that these universes were the prelude to how many other radical experiences to come. I was seeing unpredictably playful escapes, an AI that is always more surprising and requires constant adaptation on the part of the player. I waited. The numbers followed behind the flagship series, while Nintendo was simmering in laziness. We no longer count the E3 waiting for the next Retro Studios, aF-Zeroor a new license of all those initiated by the Gamecube era. How many shows to watch the meter to end upThe announcement of an umpteenthWii music, Switch Sport Hoop the Hoop edition to sell accessories literally inCardboard ? How many trailers millimetres like music paper and clone each other for a final without surprise?
I sawFearthenKillzoneandThe Last of ussurprise me by the coordinated actions of our opponents, then nothing or so little. More than 20 years later and whilethe specialized press decries the NFT, that I fight against aIA made of chewed paperin the lastFar Cryor that I can infiltrate a rocket launcher into aMetal Gear, I'm thinking that basically something must have derailed somewhere since my first kid's dreams about the future of video game. Piling games cosmetic services or worse advantages to buy is a plague that is rooted in the development practices of large studios, sometimes calibrated for this type of format.PlayRambo or John McclaneinWarzone, it is possible for if one relieves his stock exchange from the small sum of 20 euros. The era of free costumes has long passed.
But the biggest shipwreck of a large part of the mainstream video game is probably its lazyness, its obsession with satisfying the largest number, more anxious to vomit a well-sung journey rather than a proposal forgameplayBold. The illusion is of short duration when the AI rhymes more withIntelligence ArrivedSomething else. Beyond marketing campaigns with great reinforcement of superlatives, difficult today to see a flagrant evolution with few exceptions. The soldiers ofCall of Dutyare still as decerebrated, the PNJ dKillers Creedrival stupidity when you hit them a bit and the showFar Cryis an example of stupidity (andbugs) at each new mill. Confront the AI with the flexibility of theopen worldAnd it's very quickly the Capernaum. Due to bad luck, the failed AI removes us from the sacrosanct immersion until this dissociative moment when the video game is suddenly caught up in its software reality. We will naturally think of this good old Milo who promised us an interactive revolution by thedeep learning, a marotte of the last 3 with theray tracing. Still missed, it was most probably a recorded video. That Peter Molyneux is such a joker.
And yet, in spite of this deluge of criticisms of the head games of ropes, the video industry also knows how to make a contribution to much more personal creations. FromUeda In Kojima, budget-based productions were largely visible to the author. That we don't misunderstand in spite of some pastist tirades, I am assured that the media is in the strength of age. While the triple industry AAA is not always in tune, the flexibility of some publishers forces respect. Special mention to Sony who seems to leave a creative, narrative and playful boulevard to his studiosfirst partyas attested by total recasts asGod Of War(soon on pc) or daring biases for the seriesThe Last of Us. Quality blockbuster exists. The recent acquisition of Housemarque, a studio that is expensive is a good sign for the future of the line used by Sony since the PS4. The solo games that were predicted dark omens may exist as long as they are supported by a supportive editorial line. The vivacity of Bethesda, however, is not always met with the desired success on his original licenses despite a creative catalogue of unrivalled FPS (Dishonored, Prey, Deathloop, Doom, Wolfenstein).
In addition, the success of the independent scene since its original promotion by Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade program launched in 2010 is a breath of fresh air. The independent game is no longer marginal. Each Gamescom was an opportunity to meet developers from all walks of life. There is a real Swedish outbreak, for example, with games that are now on the AA side. Devolver took a gall and started inthe great bath of the purseThis reflects a certain vitality of the sector, hoping that the small craftsman will remain at odds with the big stables. On the other hand, the means of production have never been more accessible and crazy proposals have emerged from minds formerly confined to their garages as a studio. The death of 2D? Only nenni, ofretrogamingAt 3.5D, the offer is immense. Are games too easy? Why don't you go and do the DLCs?Doom Eternal(tested)Here), play gamesFrom Software,Shin Megami Tensei(tested)Here) or even to Metroidvania asHollow Knightwho have absolutely nothing to envy their models.
If you give yourself the curiosity and the time to become interested in the cultural effervescence that animates the media, we have never been so well served. If my travelling rhythm forces me to choose and I can no longer necessarily dedicate enough time to my passion, the video game has beautiful days ahead. To the consumer to choose to whom he will give his obole, flees (as its developers) the big house Ubisoft and so many others, which ultimately do not respect the workers, nor the players. Ubisoft is the archetype of what I don't like, from hollow game mechanics to late adulescent coating. It is a scourge, fortunately not shared by all the publishers, to jump on all the criar modes of the moment to better sell products to his community. Papi reac who thinks it was better before, so take off your carols, forget about the big franchises and let yourself be carried by those newcomers who have so much to tell rather than follow the stable marketing campaigns for Kevin in trouble.
The three favorite K7 games released this year
That's it.It's the trick question that reminds me that unlike Ummagumma, which smeared over 80 games, I consumed much more frugal this year. In competitive play, confinements have been the occasion of countless parts ofHunt andWarzone. Reviewcatches ofgameplayRemind me of so many good memories. Like each other, they were a bubble of sociability while the world was confined around a perimeter sometimes equivalent to that of a canisite.Huntremains one of the most original cooperative games in recent years with asoundandlevel designwhich make each rust in the forest an opportunity for skirmish strained by an opposing team. Coordinate an attack with the finesse of a dynamite throw coupled with an intrusion to themachete Jason way, what a team treat!
Same forWarzonewhich reaches a degree of intensity and satisfaction tenfold bythe last circles for winnings torn but deserved.I didn't really play a stamped game anymore11 December 2025sinceModern Warfare. Too bad the game got bogged down in cheating and the too many rebalancing weapons that lost me along the way. Magic offree to play... I also enjoyed coop onSmash Bros(545 hours in the meter anyway) which is definitely the most accomplished version of the series with a delusional casting coupled with a flawless content. How many winter evenings spent onDragon Ball Fighter ZWho brought into the great Arc System game bath? A treat. In a whole different kind,It takes twodemonstrated that it was possible to make a successful asymmetric gameplay title. Intelligence of play, rhythm and narration to small onions, It takes two (tested)Here) deserves its critical and commercial success. Question usability, I enjoyed the DLC ofStreets Of Rage 4 (tested)Here).
As for solo experiences, I particularly appreciatedLittle Nightmares 2who succeeds in transforming the essay by drawing from the masters of the genre like Inside while finding his own way for an exceptional andsuperb dream sequences. I particularly focused my free time on demanding games and that is to say little.Ghost的n Goblins Resurrectionwas sympathetic even if nostalgia also hides gameplay rigidity problems that could have been easily corrected. DLCsDoomo have reached a level of reflection and play reading close toT1000. What renewal since the first reboot and what quality monitoring.
On the margins of the FPS, something also happened that I didn't really expect. I found out I could still love a JRPG. By launching myself blank of any knowledge of the license, I was seduced by the approach ofShin Megami Tensei V. More than 70 hours of play in record time and the feeling of having accomplished something intelligent rather than farming hours like an idiot.SMTVIt was simply reconciled with the RPG. (I am whispered in my ear that three games had to be chosen. Well, since it's like this, it'll be 1-Doom Eternal, 2-It takes twoand 3-SMTV/Little Nightmare 2).
The disappointment of the K7 year
Ah, let's be original, my disappointment of the year was... (rolling drums)Battlefield 2042(tested)Here). Be careful, it's not a bad game, but it's not a big one.BF. We can say what we want but such shortcomings oflevel and game designThis is not negligible for long-term replay cards. So yes, we can dance the cucaracha by shooting at the RPG on an airplane flyingwingsuit, but past the effect of surprise, the whole cruelly lacks finesse and no longer really looks like what I expect from a BF. Atmosphere level,Weld designand destruction, once key markers of the series also seemed well in retreat.BF 2042lack of overall vision other than the merry mess. The ridiculous coating is for many. All these clones of deprecated specialists have won for me the palm of l My resolution 2022 would probably be to spend less time on this type of game and to favour productions that are probably far more original than an EA specification.
The (three) games that K7 expects most
My biggest wait for 2022 would be to catch up with the games I couldn't make in 2021. Yeah, I'm thinking about you.ReturnAnd your sour meatballs that sparkle my mirettes. I could also quoteDeathloopwhich falls into the category of games that I am looking forward to trying and which will soon be tested on MaG by preux Ummagumma. Soon,Elden RingWill he be my first door into the From Software universe?
While I have always been attracted to his remarkable artistic direction, I have never taken the step of From Software games. And it would be high time to correct this infamy. I'd like to get started onBloodborne hoping for a hypothetical PC release. I'm curious to seeSea of Star, the next game of Sabotage Studio. But to be honest, the game that I expect most isHollow Knight Silksong who makes himself want as never before.
In bulk otherwise:Little Devil Inside, literally my last Kickstarter since I dropped over 100 euros in aCampaign that skates since 2015before you understand that the end of the VOCID would take place before its release... I'm waiting moreMetal Slug Tacticswhich could well create surprise with its bold turn towards theTactical. And I am also with a certain impatienceProdeus(early accesstestedHere), Trepang 2and the next game of ID Software, about having my dose of d-adrenaline between two shots of vaccines. It would be said« an action SPF resulting from an iconic saga». You bets!
At Devolver, I have two titles that caress me. FirstShadow Warrior 3 which we should soon have news following his recent small postponement by 2022. Trailers are short-lived and suggest a fast, acidic FPC that may finally allow me to mourn God Doom. In a whole other genreCult of the LambThe retina was decorated and was among my greatest expectations for 2022. Just the unraveled OST already promises a tedious trip into this randomly generated world where you will have to face hordes of enemies and strong bosses. Be up to Charles Manson and show no mercy to eliminate heretics!
In category « ghost », I am naturally thinking ofThe Last Night, which I took a little while to find the name. Undoubtedly announced too early, the 2D cyberpunk game near Blade Runner seems to have metdevelopment difficultiesand the need to find new financiers. According to its creator Tim Soret, this platform / action game would have had « dhe major legal and monetary problems that cannot be discussed ». That makes us a nice leg like they say in jargon. Translation: Does it smell like a tree? Let's hope the future tells us the opposite... Its creator seems to be promising release in 2022Apparently. We cross our fingers and we'll fall back on this sublime2017 trailer. (Flûte I again quoted too many games!)
The high-tech equipment that's gonna make your credit card go down?
Oh, a consumerist question to finish! Well, I've been thinking, I don't really see what could make my installation even better. Equipped with a home cinema and a 4K video projector, however, I lack an indispensable tool, a quality canvas to project. As for my 2K screen, it is suddenly taken with disturbing graphic convulsions that will soon remind the eye. Would it be an opportunity to move on to another range? If necessary, it will be minimum 2K, 144 herz and 28 inches but the upper intermediate resolutions coupled with a refresh rate make me look. See if it's not too bulky on my desk and if it fits into all the game sessions, not being a big fan of ergonomic tricks.
Ummagumma review
What's your current relationship to video game?
Sometimes I think about all the time that has passed since I discovered the video game withTomb Raider 2on PC or Master System version of firstSonic. Magic was so palpable that it became almost tangible. To defeat Dr. Robotnik in the level of the Amazon, to force Lara off the roofs of Venice, my first player's months will forever be engraved in my memory.I've been collecting my games for a long time, at least until I moved to Canada five years ago. For years I kept them and displayed them on a shelf with glass walls, like an altar that was conducive to nostalgia. I took pleasure in admiring the slice police or turning the jackets to read the descriptions. But when I crossed the Atlantic, I was forced to make a choice and leave my fetish objects behind me. So I relocated everything to my brother!
With hindsight, this separation has made it possible to become less materialistic and so far I have decided to possess as little as possible. So I buy all my games in dematerialized and I only invest « Physical » in computer or multimedia equipment, to make me enjoy and play in the best conditions.My expatriation, however, did not treat all my collector neuroses, far from there! For the past few years, I have been keeping a list of all the games I've played in my life since I discovered the medium. It has hundreds of titles, from the Master System to the Gamecube to the PS5. I consult her from time to time to remind myself of moments ofgameplayI thought I forgot. Totemic aide-memoire is kept in a magnificent PDF, well organized in alphabetical, chronological, and support order. It's finally a mental dematerialization of my shelf.
I also feed the crazy project to gather on PC all my favorite games, arrange with emulators to gather everything in the same place. This list also allows me to know what fell from my hands and what I finished. And the fact is that I am increasingly difficult to satisfy over the years.
The 2021 results amount to 83 games launched (including 29 very short itch.io experiments) for 26 abandonments along the way. It must be said that the offer has never been as plethoratic and that there is « drinking and eating », even more so since the appearance of the Game Pass, than also evokes this expression. Its long-term virtues actually leave me skeptical, as this service tends to drown us under tons of titles in an approach of consumerist bulimia that bothers me and which, in my view, constitutes an additional way of reducing our ability to focus on one thing at a time, in addition to distorting our perception of the monetary value of the work done by development teams. The future will tell us if I was right or if I'm a big reac.
When it comes time to make the synthesis of this past year, I realize how the challenge is a central point in my report to the JV and that I quickly tend to get bored if the game does not challenge me. I increasingly feel the need for developers to build walls between me and the smooth running of my progress. I want to fight, to learn from my mistakes, to reconsider my achievements, to be surprised, to learn my environment, to take notes of orientation in my notebook or to schematize sketches of cards.
I can't stand all those games that flatter us and reward us for everything. All these HUDs with a yellow dot to follow. All these games of ludonarrative gerbante dissonance, likeFar Cry 6 which presents a scene of massacre of civilians before making us occult enemies with a record lance on a macarena air, or the lastBattlefieldwith its global conflict with dramatic accents but with characters that seem straight out ofFortniteAnd who's laughing stupidly at the end of the game.Beurk. But the only difficulty is not my only criterion of engagement, especially since a spicy challenge is not at all a guarantee of quality.
I also like games with an atmosphere. By atmosphere, I mean these rare works in which one can get lost in a corner, or take breath in a space that the developers did not necessarily intend to put forward in the first place. I'm thinking of those cornices I get on.in extremisinDark Souls 2, at these crossing paths inRed Dead Redemption 2, to these sad bars of abandoned buildings inThe Last of Us: Part 2, while jogging three miserable bullets into the loader of my weapon in the middle of a dilapidated kitchen. I expect games that they mobilize me, either through their mechanics ofgameplayeither through the emotion they arouse through their script and environmental narrative. I want them to lose me, upset me, revolt me, put tears in my eyes, scare me, stimulate me, sometimes exasperate. I don't often try to drain my brain when I play, it's even the opposite.
I wonder how my relationship to video game will evolve in the years to come. What is certain is that never had so many choices to satisfy all the player profiles. The democratisation of the medium through indecents and its inclusive social demands indeed suggest a promising future, with surprising and new narrative paradigms, and this in large part thanks to the independent scene that allows developers from all walks of life and sensibilities to express themselves.
Ummagumma's three favorite games released this year
My GOTY 2021 is undoubtedly the grandioseReturn. To read all the good I think of Housemarque's latest birthday, goHere. JMax Payne 3, Resident Evil 4andVanquishExcuse me for a little.Returnis an adrenaline shoot that only the toughest players will see the end, and that pays itself the luxury of offering a scenario that is both cryptic and catchy, transcended by a hypnotizing BO. Besides, we can only appreciate Sony's commitment to buying Housemarque after his devalued success.
Second on the podium, I think ofIt takes two(tested)Here) to which I played in cooperation with my wife, who is very little initiated in video games. We both came out moved. I've found the title of a nice correctness in his speech, and above all I admire his ability to « Talk » intelligently to its audience, offering two readings depending on our age, all without constantly screaming in our ears and with finesse. All inverse of atrociousRatchet and Clank: Rift ApartIn short.It takes tworepresents a sure value towards which to turn to enlighten our daily lives and smile while playing. Given the current global context, this is not luxury.
The Medium,testedHere, occupies third place. The psychological horror of the Poles of Bloomer Team hit in the heart, pulling on the grim rope of my sensitivity. Clearly an intimate, dark and striking game, which makes me curious to see what the studio could do with the seriesSilent Hill.
Finally I will appointDeathloopand his writing completely barred, the fruit of a filiation between aimmersive simandAn Endless Day. A game of mechanics and approaches so varied that it gives the turn, and doubled by an intelligence ofgameplayrarely seen elsewhere, serving a player in the center of all attention. Great art.
I'm also thinking in bulk about hilarant.The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark, testedHere; orResident Evil Village, which failing to be surprising proved very effective. It must be said that passing after the masterpieceResident Evil 7VR (nothing less than my game of the past decade) was not easy. To conclude, by cheating and including games finished in 2021 but released before, I spent excellent moments on worshipParasite Eve 2on thesurvival-horror Darkof 2004 on UFOCatherine: Full BodyonDark Souls 2(I therefore officially finished all From Software!), to some extent onMetroid Dread, and finally onFeed Me Billy, serial killer simulation disturbing, violent and deliciously regressive.
The disappointment of the year of Ummagumma
I have several! First I hated the last Ratchet and Clankfrom the depths of my being. I found thegameplayhollow, uninteresting fights, rogue characters, the scenario agreed upon and irrelevant. I didn't feel any emotional involvement, nothing, emptiness, zero. This will be my last contact with the show. I would also quoteResident Evil 3 Remake, lazy as possible, and which despite some very successful passages like the hospital barely reaches the ankle of its illustrious model. I'm thinking aboutCrash Bandicoot 4who bearded me like death, perhaps because of his terrible perspective and his heavy gags; orAfterparty, too immature and unable to move as did so wellOxenfree, of which oneFurther is moreover prepped.
What to say about the lastBattlefield, cynical reflection of the commercial logic and victim of a rejuvenation of its target audience to the detriment of the fans of the first hour.Exitthe dark side ofBattlefield 1And his jousts in the fort of Vaux, in the midst of howlings, bayonet in the hand, and adorned with teuton. No, now we kill each other and, when the game ends, characters who seem to have been passed through the 2021 filter of benevolence reciting their tirades by showing off. Pathetic.
Finally, and here we are dealing with a questionhardware, the fact that I still haven't been able to get a RTX 3080 upsets me. Actually, I even gave up the idea. I have since been able to get a 3060 that does the job but clearly does not allow me to play in high resolution with the pottery, sometimes condemning me to play in 1080p on my 4K screen, which makes it very bad. Those who have a Switch and this type of screen will agree. NVIDIA will surely release the next generation in the fall and the precious totems will probably once again be unobtainable, unless they pay them three times as much as their recommended selling price at ascalperWithout faith or law.
I will conclude with the ever more persistent absence of the seriesF-Zero. If there's a moment to re-launch the series, it's now, so much so that the Switch's popularity is in the firmament.Sales ofMetroid Dread,A series of historical commercial boudée, attest to this.
The three games that Ummagumma expects the most
Elden Ring. ELDEN RING.Elden. Ring. I planned a week off and told my wife that she might hear me swearing or screaming at the moon during that time. From Software is in my eyes the most talented studio of the last decade and I look forward to seeing how they will (or not) be able to renew the formula ofSoulswith an open world. I haven't looked sincetrailerTwo years ago. I mean, the surprise will be total. I have a lot of fear and doubts, especially about the fact that the world is opening up and that, it seems, there would be a map. Thelevel designWill he suffer? What about the player's appropriation of the world? I will launch the game with concern on 24 February.
Trepang 2. After spending about twenty hours on the demo – still available on Steam – I can say that the title transcends the visceral violence ofF.E.A.R.by offering intense and fun shootings, making the part of the dismemberments of our engulfed adversaries that we quickly turned into colanders. The carnage occurs in a hemoglobin flood, all of which is often slowed down. We duck and cover ourselves while the office furniture breaks down around us under the impact of the bullets, referring us to the cult scene of thecheckpointSecurity CouncilMatrix. Thesound designweapons would make a jealousy paleBattlefieldand the back mouse in hand is striking. Clearly a game not to be put in all hands but that will hypnotize the followers of pixelized massacres. Note that guts and corpses do not disappear, which is always good to take. A game that will talk to those who shoot in the inert bodies of their virtual enemies, for « See if it makes any holes ». Those who playedRead Dead Redemption 2I'll know what I'm talking about.
TheCallisto Protocol, because even if we've seen almost nothing, I can only ecstatically imagine the spiritual continuation ofDead Space. Hollow Knight: Silksong. Like a meteorite or the last seasonal VOCID variant, it could happen at any time. It's both beautiful and anxious, and it makes you want to get up in the morning. That sentence makes no sense? All that waiting, too!Scorn, because with such an DA, at the crossing ofeXistenZandwork of GigerNo game can really fail.Somerville, because it offers another vision of the end of the world – following an alien attack and through the prism of a fleeing family – which changes zombies.
The high-tech equipment that's gonna make your credit card go down?
A VR helmet, especially since the creation of an FB account will no longer be mandatory from 2022 onwards. I had returned my helmet in 2020 because of this stupid measure. Without this constraint I only got an haste, it's to get back into the world of VR, a new way of understanding the video game and to which I am very receptive. Really.Resident Evil 4 VR !
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