We know that we probably don’t need to convince Siliconera readers to pick up a PlayStation 5. (When they’re available, of course.) The PS5 still hosts marquee Japanese releases, and sometimes those games even live up to the many months of anticipation!
These awards represent the consensus of the Siliconera staff. For more of the year’s award selections, check out our Game of the Year 2021 archive.
Winner: Tales of Arise
The Tales franchise has held onto tradition, delivering a classic experience while its peers in the space do a lot more experimentation. That’s built it a base of dedicated fans, but it’s also left it lagging behind in some ways. Tales of Arise does a lot to bridge the technical gap, delivering a game that looks and feels more like a game of the modern age. But don’t worry! It’s still every bit as traditionally JRPG and traditionally anime as its longtime supporters want.
Final Fantasy VII Remake: INTERmission
Even without the content of the base game, INTERmission has a lot of interesting ideas and narrative moments to deliver. Yuffie’s a delight. Fort Condor’s so fun we want a standalone game from it. And seeing this creativity has us optimistic that we’ll see similar effort as the remake effort continues. Even by itself, it’s a PlayStation 5 Game of the Year 2021 finalist.
Guilty Gear Strive
Fighting games have never looked this good. Guilty Gear Strive continues Arc System Works’ effort to make the best modern 2D animation in games, and the precise controls back up the visuals.
What are your PlayStation 5 Game of the Year 2021 selections? Let us know in the comments! And stay tuned for more of Siliconera’s GotY 2021 awards.
