Mass Effect Legendary Edition

• Developer: BioWare
• Release Date: May 14, 2021

Mass Effect has been hit-and-miss as a franchise. While some games are beloved, others left a lot to be desired. However, the original three were usually well-liked by fans. A remastered version of the original trilogy came out back in May, which many fans were happy to see. BioWare and Electronic Arts did not just want to release the Legendary Edition as just a remastered version though. They also wanted to go back and fix glaring problems the others had too.

This includes several different technical and gameplay adjustments, on top of the visual enhancement work. Due to the original Mass Effect coming out in 2007, it was in need of major improvements. Overall, BioWare put in a lot of time with it graphically but they also improved combat mechanics, vehicle handling, as well as its loading times. Abstraction Games and Blind Squirrel Games both helped BioWare with everything. It seems to have worked out incredibly well for the series.

It Takes Two

• Developer: Hazelight Studios
• Release Date: March 26, 2021

Well, this game came out of nowhere to grab our attention. It Takes Two might have been published by Electronic Arts, but it was developed by Hazelight Studios. The only other game credited to this studio was A Way Out. Of course, that game sold over one million copies in less than two weeks back in 2018. Yet no one really knew much about It Takes Two, other than knowing it was an action-adventure game that is mostly co-op. The most popular Playstation games, or those for any console, tend to be those that grab you in one of two ways.

It has to be a blast to play and/or the story needs to be awesome. Hazelight meshed both. The game is about a married couple, Cody and May, who are planning a divorce. One day, they are arguing and then tell their daughter, Rose, about the divorce. She goes out to the family shed with hand-made dolls that look like her parents and play-acts with them to repair her parent’s marriage. However, a tear lands on one of the dolls, and now the parents now find themselves in the bodies of these dolls! They must fix their relationship in an attempt to reach Rose and return to their human forms.

Returnal

• Developer: Housemarque
• Release Date: April 30, 2021

Returnal was released in April 2021 as a Playstation 5 exclusive. Developed by Housemarque, it was obviously published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. This is a third-person shooter but set in the psychological horror genre. All within a futuristic science fiction setting. It’s a lot but this game is epic! You control Selene Vassos, an ASTRA Corporation explorer who attempts to land on the off-limits planet of Atropos. This was done against the orders of her commanding officer. Yet Vassos must investigate something she calls the “white shadow” signal.

However, her ship has suffered incredible damage as she crashlands on the planet. Now, unable to contact ASTRA, she must explore the planet. On it, she discovers her own corpses throughout the planet. Every time she dies, she loops back to the moment she crashes. However, she cannot learn patterns from this, as the planet changes every time she dies too. She must fight hostile aliens and scavenge leftover tech as she continues investigating. This game is a thriller that has been getting top marks from critics worldwide. That makes Returnal one of the most popular Playstation games of 2021 so far.

Final Fantasy VII Remake (Next-Gen)

• Developer: Square Enix
• Release Date: April 10, 2020 (June 10, 2021, For PS5)

Final Fantasy VII Remake originally came out for the Playstation 4 in the Spring of 2020. However, it was released for the Playstation 5 in June 2021. As the title references, this is a true remake of the Final Fantasy VII game from 1997. This is the first of the remakes for the title as well, but more will be coming. Part 2 of the Final Fantasy VII Remake will come out likely within the next year or so. Developed by Square Enix, the game is set in the dystopian cyberpunk metropolis known as Midgar.

As the player, we control Cloud Strife. He works for an eco-terrorist group called AVALANCHE that is trying to stop the powerful megacorporation known as Shina. They are using the planet’s life essence as an energy source, which is obviously not a good thing and must be stopped soon to save the world. Like the original game, this game is all about your real-time action and strategy where everything you do will matter in a role-playing environment.

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Updates/Online Content)

• Developer: Rockstar Studios
• Release Date: October 28, 2018 (2021 PS5 & Xbox Series X)

The story revolving around Red Dead Redemption 2 was phenomenal. But this world was massive and developed with the intent to be used for many other adventures besides those you had with Arthur Morgan & John Marsden. This game is set in the Old West, and that is a perfect place to have an open-world environment that could be expanded online. Keep in mind, this game is made by Rockstar Studios. This is the same developer behind Grand Theft Auto.

You’ve noticed how they have milked Grand Theft Auto 5 until nothing is left, and the same is being done with RDR2. In July, they added the Blood Money Summer update with numerous tasks available. That includes multi-stage robberies, shakedowns, debt collections, etc. In August, you’ll be able to take on new Cornwell Contracts, Sovrano Opportunity Mission, Three-Part Saloons Contract Mission, etc. Oh yeah, and it’s coming to next-generation consoles in 2021 too.

MLB The Show 2021

• Developer: San Diego Studio
• Release Date: April 20, 2021

MLB The Show has been a Playstation exclusive for the entire life of the franchise until 2021. While it was still released on the PS4 & PS5 in April 2021, MLB The Show 2021 was also released on the Xbox One & Xbox Series X. To be on Xbox was a first for the franchise and players have absolutely loved it. The Show deserved to be available on multiple consoles for years and the fact that the game now has such an opportunity is awesome.

Developed by San Diego Studio and published by Sony, this is the best baseball franchise that has ever been. While it involves all the teams from Major League Baseball, it also involves all their farm teams or AA & AAA teams. You can control those teams too! The Show always gives you a tremendous experience as a Manager & GM as well. A complete game, it’s often one of the most popular Playstation games each year. Now, it will be able to do this on Xbox consoles too.

Resident Evil Village

• Developer: Capcom
• Release Date: May 7, 2021

Resident Evil games have been coming out for several years. While some are better than others, we can always rely on Capcom to give us something worth talking about for each installment. The series has slowly begun opening up their worlds more rather than just being a linear world. Resident Evil Village expands on this greatly by giving players an explorable village in Eastern Europe. It has been described as something straight out of Victorian Era London.

The world is one of the largest that the series has ever offered too. In the game, players will control Ethan Winters. He is a father searching for his kidnapped daughter. However, he ends up encountering series star, Chris Redfield. Both enter a village filled with mutant creatures. As a sequel to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, the game will pull from that story. However, you will not need to play Biohazard to understand this installment.

Ghost of Tsushima (Director’s Cut)

• Developer: Sucker Punch Productions
• Release Date: July 17, 2020 (April 20, 2021, For PS5)

Ghost of Tsushima came out in the summer of 2020 and took the world by storm. We heard and saw something about this game for several years beforehand. Yet when proper footage was shown at E3 in 2019, we were all hooked. Set in feudal Japan in 1274, Khotun Khan has landed on the island of Tsushima with his Mongolian invasion fleet. Jin Sakai and his uncle, Lord Shimura, join the island’s army to stop them. The battle ends in disaster with most of the army killed and Shimura captured.

Assumed dead by the Mongolians after being thrown off a bridge by Khotun, Sakai must save his uncle and his home. Highly rated, the Director’s Cut of this game is going to be out August 20, 2021, for Playstation 5. The Director’s Cut adds in an explorable area not available in the base game, Iki Island. It will offer an entirely new chapter in this story. Combined with this is “Legends” and Rivals mode. This will allow the Ghosts to compete against each other in team-based activities. This has made the game yet again one of the most popular Playstation games to play right now.

Hitman 3

• Developer: IO Interactive
• Release Date: January 20, 2021

Hitman has always been a compelling series of games, yet Hitman 3 looked to expand the series even more. The game just squeaked into 2021 by releasing on January 20th. To some, the title might be confusing. This is the eighth Hitman video game, so why is it called Hitman 3? It is technically part of the “World of Assassination” Trilogy that IO Interactive wanted to make. It will be the conclusion of the story that started in the first Hitman from this series in 2016.

That means Hitman, Hitman 2, & Hitman 3 are all separate from the other versions of the game. In Hitman 3, Agent 47 is back yet again. He as well as some of his allies are hunting down the leaders of Providence. This is an alliance of powerful corporate executives and industrialists that control a lot of global political, military, and economic interests. Agent 47 must put a stop to their control by any means necessary. You can easily see why it’s one of the most popular Playstation games, right?

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (DLC Content)

• Developer: Ubisoft
• Release Date: November 10, 2020 (DLCs All Through 2021)

Ever since Assassin’s Creed: Origins, Ubisoft has released a new AC title every other year. Due to Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla coming out in 2020, this means we are not expected to see a full new AC title until 2022. In spite of this, Ubisoft will still be delivering a ton of AC content in 2021 and into 2022. For the first time ever, they are adding major new DLCs that involve almost completely new maps. None of this copy and paste design stuff the company is known for.

This was proven when they released “The Wrath of the Druids” expansion in the Spring of 2021. Going into Ireland, we saw a massive expansive map that was very different from the English environment of the normal game. Next was the release of the “Seige of Paris,” obviously taking place in France. It was released on August 12th to high critical acclaim. This is on top of the River Raid missions Ubisoft added in along with the Mastery Challenge, Ostara Festival, Legend of Beowolf mission, and more.

No Man’s Sky (Frontiers Expansion)

• Developer: Hello Games
• Release Date: August 7, 2016 (Updates and Expansions Annually, One Expected In Fall 2021)

When Hello Games first introduced No Man’s Sky in 2016, the world was excited. It was a Playstation exclusive and could become a new major franchise. You could go to planets throughout an expansive universe, filled with life as well as major mysteries to uncover. Yet when it came out, it was nothing like what we all assumed. This caused the game to tank, with gamers voicing their displeasure heavily. The Hello Games team then got back to work to deliver the game they promised fans.

They heavily delivered on that by adding free updates and expansions for the community, even all-new modes and ways to play. You once could never run across friends, but now you could. There was a first-person and third-person viewership added in and most recently a virtual reality expansion. Thus far, they have added 17 completely free expansions as of 2021. The latest is called No Man’s Sky: Frontiers and promises to add something big to our sci-fi adventure in 2021.

Riders Republic

• Developer: Ubisoft
• Release Date: October 28, 2021

The best thing to relate this game to is a video game called Steep as it’s pretty much a sequel to it. Both come from Ubisoft Annecy and focus on extreme sports. Steep focused on winter sports like skiing, snowboarding, etc. Riders Republic will focus on both plus the addition of mountain biking, wingsuit flying (with and without rocket), and more. You can sort of relate it to the original Tony Hawk’s Skateboarding games. It’s an expansive open world, taking place at seven different American National Parks. This includes Yosemite Valley, Bryce Canyon, Zion, and Mammoth Mountain.

The story is simple enough for career mode, you use your own player and help them get real-world sponsors. Along with taking part in the “Riders Ridge Invitational.” This involves all the sports available to you. As you play, you will unlock new items and opportunities. Beyond that competition, you’ll also get to take part in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Red Bull Rampage, and even the X Games. Since Steep had the Olympics added later, this very well could come to the Riders Republic eventually too. It’s not hard to see why it’s one of the most popular Playstation games people want in 2021.

Outriders

• Developer: People Can Fly
• Release Date: April 1, 2021

The Outriders video game has already begun to make waves in the gaming industry, and it has only been out since April 2021 if you can believe it. The game was published by Square Enix but it was developed by the team at People Can Fly. Before this game, that very team worked on the Painkiller and Bulletstorm games, along with a few Gears of War games too. Thus far, Outriders has been getting generally positive reviews too. Usually, 7/10 to 9/10 scores are offered by reviewers.

This is a role-playing game, forcing you to create your own player at the start of the game. The game is a third-person shooter, so you’ll see them a lot. You will also have to pick between four classes, each with its own abilities. Tricksters manipulate time, Pyromancers manipulate fire, Devastators unleash seismic attacks, and Technomancers use turrets on top of other devices. Of course, you’ll have a skill tree where you can upgrade your player. The game is a lot of fun, making it one of the more popular Playstation games for people this year so far.

Far Cry 6

• Developer: Ubisoft
• Release Date: October 7, 2021

Far Cry games tend to always give you an incredible story. Sure, they’re usually all in first-person where you’re surrounded by an amazing open world. Yet the stories within these games always hook you. Ubisoft has also been trying to find great actors to add to the cast of these games each time. They managed to hit hard by adding Giancarlo Esposito as the main antagonist of Far Cry 6, “El Presidente” Anton Castillo. Few people can play the villain better than this man.

The story takes place on the fictional Caribbean island of Yara. It is ruled by Anton Castillo, a fascist dictator who has full control over the island. He is trying to get his son, Diego, to follow in his footsteps. Yet he’s not so sure this is right for him, but his father insists. You take on the role of a freedom fighter named Dani Rojas (gender decided by player), a former Yaran Armed Forces soldier now turned guerrilla soldier. Rojas and co. attempt to restore the nation back to its former glory.

Horizon Forbidden West

• Developer: Guerilla Games
• Release Date: Late 2021

When Horizon: Zero Dawn came out in 2017, no one really expected it to hit as hard as it did. We should have known better, as Guerilla Games already showed us their skills with the Killzone titles. Horizon quickly became a major favorite, and still ranks as one of the most popular Playstation games to play. Now the sequel to this game is coming, called Horizon Forbidden West. In this game, the impressive Aloy is back. The young huntress of the Nora Tribe will be sent on a major quest.

She will have to tackle the arcane frontier known as “the Forbidden West” to track down the source of a mysterious plague that has been killing all it has infected. Her journey will be difficult as she travels hostile regions with very dangerous enemies, deadly machines, and horrific storms. The ecosystem for the game will be expanded upon even more, as we will see lush valleys, snowy mountains, tropical beaches, and more. Plus, you’ll see ruined cities above ground and below the water!

SOURCES:

Sony Interactive Entertainment

Ubisoft

Square Enix

BioWare

Electronic Arts

Capcom

Rockstar Studios

Guerilla Games

Crystal Dynamics

Hello Games

IO Interactive

Sucker Punch Productions

CD Projekt Red

Insomniac Games

PC Gamer