Disco Elysium
The controls are kind of wonky and I am not convinced that "failing upwards" is a good way to do detectivework, but I have never, ever played a game with writing like this. It spoke to my soul on a disturbing, primal level, even correctly pinpointing my my political orientation as a ludicrous hodgepodge of communism, fascism, and stock tips. But despite the overwhelming despair inherent in the game's world, there is always a slim shining sliver of hope: for in the dark times, should the stars also go out? Absolutely brilliant, must-play. 

Stray
Something about this game gave me an incredible headache. Was it the camera angles? The lighting? Stray's appeal is easy to understand. You play as a cat, doing cat things. You destroy furniture, knock things off shelves, and flop over when wearing a backpack. Good thing Stray is also short, as it hasn't got enough complexity to merit more than a few hours of play. The ending is well-deserved and sweet.

Hades
I played this game very intensely for several weeks, completed a 32-heat run and all the prophecies, and gave myself thumb pain. That has never happened to me before. 

 fork, now I'm all depressed again. This game was one of the things that got me through late 2020 and early 2021, and then, it won't.