17 Games I’m Excited for in 2021

In no particular order. Tell me what I’m missing!

Weird West

The first game from a new studio led by Arkane Studio’s former co-founder and stocked with Prey and Dishonored veterans. That’s pretty much all I need to know.

Deathloop

Speaking of Arkane, Deathloop is their latest release and — like all their games — seems focused on creative powers, innovative level design, and plenty of style. I’m interested to see how the time-looping mechanic plays out (if Dishonored 2’s time-traveling mechanic is any indication, it should be great).

God of War: Ragnarok

There’s nothing concrete on this yet, but God of War = I’m in.

Solar Ash

The latest game from the studio that made Hyper Light Drifter. Makes the shift to from 2D to 3D, which is always a bit of a risk, but it looks promising.

Graven

Retro-styled immersive sim set in a dark fantasy world. Looks very up my alley.

Olija

I love the art style of Olija (the cover and the pixel art in-game), and the gameplay looks smooth, fast, and rewarding. This first of many Devolver Digital games on this list.

Loop Hero

Just say rogue-like deckbuilder and I’m interested. To top it off Loop Hero also drips in atmosphere and style.

Death Trash

An old-school CRPG with a gorgeous artstyle. Also can’t beat that name.

Card Shark

I’m still not entirely sure I understand what you actually do in this one, but I love the setting and it’s from the designer of Reigns. It kind of looks like Barry Lyndon: the game, which is just wild.

Gloomwood

Old-school immersive sim in a Bloodborne-esque setting, which focuses on stealth and survival horror. Was this game made for me in a lab?

Boomerang X

Really promising central gameplay concept (you have a boomerang that you can recall, flash to, etc.)… curious to see more.

Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2

This one seems to be having something of a tortured development—and dear god is that title awful—but I’m holding out hope that something good will emerge.

Humankind

The new Civ-style game from Amplitude Studios (makers of Endless Space and Endless Legend). I was more into the *idea* of those than the actual games, but it’s exciting to see some competition in the Civ space.

Endless Dungeon

Endless Dungeon —also from Amplitude—is the spiritual successor to Dungeon of the Endless, which I actually did enjoy. Curious to see how this breaks out from the roguelite crowd.

Season

Not too much information available on this one, but the art style is stunning and I’m intrigued by the setting.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2

As expected, Nintendo has been tight-lipped about the sequel to Breath of the Wild (my favorite game of all-time) since it was announced. But judging from the teaser trailer it seems to take a bit of a darker tone, which I’m into, and more Breath of the Wild sounds pretty fantastic to me.