The COVID-19 outbreak of 2020 pushed back a lot of deadlines in the entertainment industry, and the gaming world was no exception. Major titles with previously announced 2021 releases like God of WarThe King of Fighters XV, and Hogwarts Legacy are pushed back to 2022. A few games, like Far Cry 6, are releasing later in 2021 than originally planned. While this means the gaming world will have a very busy 2022 and second half of 2021, the first half of the year has still seen many fantastic releases, like Disco Elysium: The Final Cut and Mass Effect Legendary Edition.

As these two titles infer, there is a definite trend among games released so far in 2021: most of them are remasters or updated editions of previously released games. Because of the pandemic, there are less exceptions to this trend than in a typical year. Still, there have been some completely new gems like It Takes Two, as well as long-awaited sequels like the PS5's Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.

Related: Smash Ultimate: Why There Probably Won’t Be a Fighters Pass Vol. 3

The second half of 2021 is going to be jam-packed with likely hits on every console, with highly anticipated releases ranging from Halo Infinite to Horizon Forbidden West. But it would be a mistake to let these big titles overshadow the releases which preceded them in 2021. For this list of best games according to Metacritic, in instances where a game received different scores on different consoles, the higher score is used.

Highest-Rated Games of 2021 So Far: The House in Fata Morgana - Dreams of the Revenants Edition - (98)

The House in Fata Morgana

The highest-rated game on Metacritic in 2021 so far is a new edition of a Japanese visual novel game, like ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos. While it has not been widely talked about by western audiences, The House in Fata Morgana is proof that hype and quality are not always related. Originally released in 2012 in Japan, The House in Fata Morgana is a gothic-tinged story of suspense and tragedy. The game takes place in a cursed mansion over nearly a thousand years. So far, most critics and players alike have overwhelmingly positive reactions to this game.

Highest-Rated Games of 2021 So Far: Disco Elysium: The Final Cut (97)

Disco-Elysium cover art

Disco Elysium was already a brilliant game upon its initial 2019 release, but the Final Cut brings it to a whole new level with fully voiced dialogue, new side quests, and more. To add further enticing detail, its R 18+ rating got Disco Elysium: The Final Cut banned in Australia for a time. Disco Elysium is an RPG where the player embodies an amnesiac detective trying to to solve a murder in Revasol, a city in shambles that was once the capital of the world. The player's dialogue choices have an immense effect on the story, which, in addition to the initial decision of the detective's "signature skill," gives Disco Elysium incredible replay value. To illustrate how dense this game is, it is simultaneously open world and barely covers more than a single city block.

Highest-Rated Games of 2021 So Far: Mass Effect Legendary Edition (90)

Mass Effect 4's Playable Liara Theory All Pros & Cons Explained

Mass Effect is a critically acclaimed sci-fi action series, and the gameplay often embodies a third-person shooter. Anyone who enjoys aliens and the idea of traveling across the Milky Way will find something to loveThe Legendary Edition is the first time that the full Mass Effect trilogy has been compiled in one set, with every game receiving a modernized tweak to give new players the best experience possible.

Related: Why Mass Effect: Andromeda Is Notoriously Disliked

The result was a smash hit that even made fans revisit and re-evaluate 2017's Mass Effect Andromeda, which was initially seen as heavily flawed. With Mass Effect 4 lurking somewhere in the future, now is as good a time as ever to revisit 1 through 3, with Legendary Edition having one of the highest scores on Metacritic so far this year.

Highest-Rated Games of 2021 So Far: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 (90)

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2 Switch City Night

When Activision announced they were remaking the first two Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games from the ground up and re-shaping them in glorious HD, many children of the '90s rejoiced. When the first Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was released in 1999, its influence and ubiquity was hard to exaggerate: It seemed to sum up a cultural moment right at the turn of the century, with an iconic soundtrack to boot. As with any true classic, the joys of landing a Pop Shove-It to Primus's "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" are not just nostalgic. Now that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater's Xbox X/S launch issues have been solved, this an iconic skateboarding game which defined the previous generation of gamers and can fully be enjoyed by the next.

Highest-Rated Games of 2021 So Far: It Takes Two (89)

It Takes Two is the first game on this list from Metacritic that wasn't originally released in another year. While the previous games were groundbreaking in their own times, It Takes Two speaks specifically to this time: it's a co-op game where the players embody a couple going through a divorce. Their daughter, Rose, magically wishes them into a fantastical world populated with artifacts from the couple's history. Together, they are forced to re-examine their lives and their relationship while fighting a vacuum cleaner. While It Takes Two has many laugh-out-loud moments, it gets emotional. Developers of It Takes Two believe modern single-player games are too long, and the game is therefore very approachable. As long as one party buys the game, the "Friend Pass" for remote co-op is completely free.

Highest-Rated Games of 2021 So Far: Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (89)

Toad, Luigi, Mario, and Peach jumping Super Mario 3D World

One could make a serious argument that Super Mario 3D World is the best Mario game yet. It pulls off blending the iconic feel of Mario platformers with the 3D landscapes of modern-era favorites like Super Mario Galaxy, and that feat feels somewhat miraculous. Yet, when it was originally released for the Wii U, this gem got largely looked over.

Related: How Much Mario's Coins Are Worth In Real Money

Now on the Switch, Super Mario 3D World is getting the attention it deserves. It also comes packed with a completely new, shorter game called Bowser's Fury, which scratches any 3D Mario itches unfulfilled by the more platform-influenced 3D World. This perhaps accounts for its high rating on Metacritic, which is only slightly lower than the Wii U version's.

Highest-Rated Games of 2021 So Far: Chicory: A Colorful Tale (89 - tie)

Chicory: A Colorful Tale can be filed under heartwarming, wholesome indie game. It's a video game that also doubles as a coloring book. The player is a dog wielding a magical paintbrush. This hero must use the Brush to restore color to the Picnic Province after its previous wielder, an infamous artist named Chicory, went missing and the world lost its color. Players can draw on any of the world's surfaces, using art to solve puzzles and save the world.

Falling right beneath this list, at a score of 88 on Metacritic, are many excellent games: Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, FezFinal Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, Monster Hunter Rise, Guilty Gear -Strive-, The Nioh Collection, and Sumire. Even despite a global pandemic, there is still a wealth of amazing games to play this year, even beyond highly rated titles like Mass Effect Legendary Edition and Disco Elysium: The Final Cut . And that only goes to show what an excellent era of gaming this is.

Next: Best Golf Games To Play That Aren’t Mario Golf: Super Rush

Source: Metacritic