Top 5 Most-Anticipated Games of 2021

2021 is here! Let’s hope it’s a good one.

It certainly looks promising for video games, if nothing else. This year is absolutely stacked with games I’m excited about. Yesterday I discussed the best games I played in 2020, and now I’m ready to look ahead at the games I can’t wait to play in 2021.

As always, this only applies to games with a 2021 release date… so I still can’t put Bayonetta 3 on the list no matter how much I want to.

Here they are, my top 5 most-anticipated games of 2021!

5. Muv-Luv Unlimited: The Day After

Last year saw the release of Muv-Luv photonmelodies, the final game from the Muv-Luv localization Kickstarter campaign, but that’s far from the end of new English Muv-Luv titles. In fact, Muv-Luv Unlimited: The Day After Episodes 00-03 are planned to be released on Steam in January!

(The English website actually says “now available,” but they aren’t there yet.)

Meanwhile, Episode 04 has been announced under the title Muv-Luv Resonative. I don’t know a lot about The Day After, but it follows the ending of Muv-Luv Unlimited rather than the Muv-Luv Alternative path. I finished photonmelodies hoping for more Muv-Luv in my future, so it’s exciting to see that this is coming soon.

4. Tales of Arise

Tales of Arise was on my list for last year, and since it was delayed to 2021, it made this year’s list as well. I would probably rank it higher, except we’ve still seen almost nothing from Tales of Arise at all. So many questions fans had when it was first revealed haven’t been answered yet, and we didn’t even get a new trailer.

On one hand, I’m happy that Bandai Namco hasn’t revealed every last detail about the game ahead of launch like they often do for Tales. On the other hand, the absolute lack of anything has me a little worried that it’s not coming out this year after all.

But the Tales anniversary celebration has been extended to 2021, so here’s hoping for lots of good news all around!

3. Psychonauts 2

Arise isn’t the only game that carried over from last year’s most-anticipated list to this one. Psychonauts 2 was also delayed from its intended 2020 launch.

According to the latest update, however, Psychonauts 2 is coming along quite well and is currently playable from start to finish. A 2021 release sounds pretty much guaranteed, and I just hope it brings me the same delight that the original did.

2. God of War sequel

You know, I thought this game was called God of War: Ragnarok, but apparently it’s officially still untitled God of War sequel, which doesn’t fill me with confidence that it’s actually coming out in 2021.

But I enjoyed God of War on the PS4 so much that this sequel is one of the few games that could compel me to get a PS5 as soon as it’s available. We’ve seen almost nothing about it, but I’m really looking forward to it and finding out where the story will go from here. I’ve got theories, I’ve got hopes, and if it’s anywhere near as good as the previous game, it could be one of the best games of the year.

(In the meantime, I suppose I could finally play Ascension.)

Now, God of War was my most-anticipated game of 2021 until a certain announcement pushed everything else out of the way, because the one game I’m looking forward to next year above all others is…

1. NEO: The World Ends With You

We’re getting a The World Ends With You sequel!

Part of me still can’t believe it. After all this time, a sequel to The World Ends With You is finally being made and it’s scheduled for this year!

The World Ends With You is one of my favorite JRPGs. I absolutely loved the original release on the DS and poured a ridiculous amount of time into it. I bought the Switch remix at launch (partly for the new epilogue, partly just to support it), although I haven’t played it yet. It’s the sort of game that I always wanted a sequel to… and so now I’m anxiously hoping it will have a story even half as good as the original’s.

Conclusion

Muv-Luv Unlimited: The Day After, Tales of Arise, Psychonauts 2, the new God of War, and NEO: The World Ends With You are my top 5 most-anticipated games of 2021, but there are so many more exciting games lined up beyond just these! The year is looking especially good for JRPG fans.

What 2021 games are you looking forward to the most? Let me know in the comments!