2020 sucked. We all know this. Ironically, it also led to less times for games as I've had much less time to myself to actually play.
It's so short I won't bother ranking anything this year, as there was less games coming out in general with the console transition, and the fact I just felt like playing my favorite games over again when I did have time.
Played on Nintendo Switch.
After watching The Witcher season 1 on Netflix and the Switch port coming out, I had a craving to play an RPG again. Given the Switch's modest hardware and relatively small screen, I actually thought it played pretty well. The only real exception was a late-game sequence when meteors are falling from the sky and there are a tonne of enemies all around. That's a very small section though.
Just as great the first time I played it.
Only played the main game and the very start of Heart of Stone as I was also playing on the Xbox One X at the same time (see below).
Played the main game on Xbox One X. LOL
HAH. Almost concurrently with the Switch version, I played through the Xbox One X version. It was fun to play through with different story choices/etc almost concurrently.
Finished both Heart of Stone and Blood and Wine again.
Played on PC (RTX on).
After playing through (and loving almost every minute of) Control on the Xbox One X, I was waiting to put my 2080 Ti to use. Seriously, Control looks amazing with raytracing; it's an entirely new level. Unfortunately, my old 2011-vintage 2600k wasn't up for the task.
After upgrading to a Ryzen 3700X, I played through on 1080p DLSS up to 4k in order to get a fairly stable 60fps. I swear it's just an amazing looking and playing game that will remain in one of my all time favourites.
Played on One X, plus expansions... a continuation of replaying my favourite games again this year. Awesome, awesome game.
Played on a mix of Xbox One X and Series X.
I have no idea why I slept on this. Although I've never been a big Gears of War fan, I've played through the single player campaigns of all of them and generally enjoyed them.
This is no exception, and maybe one of the best campaigns to date*. The open world side missions actually allowed me to pick up the game even when I only felt like playing games for half an hour or less and actually make (what felt like) meaningful progress. It's also arguably the most beautiful game of the entire Xbox One/PS4 generation.
* The only complaint I had was a mid-game boss that deals one-hit kills, even on regular difficulty. Tonally it was such a huge spike in difficultly compared to the rest of the campaign which was relatively a cake walk. It didn't help that the first time I beat said boss my game crashed and didn't save.
Started on Series X. I've spent quite a bit of time in it so far but haven't finished it. So for it's been great, but I'll save my thoughts for next year's list.
I should probably mention Pokemon Go too, even though it's been a game I've played alot of the last few years. I didn't have alot of time for games this year, and even though it's not my favorite game, my wife's obsession with it rubs off on me. A great distraction for a crappy year.
