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isomeri

I should probably say something smart here.

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Game of the Year 2020

As I started to write up some words on my favorite games of 2021 I noticed that I'd not released my list from 2020 at all. I quickly found this almost completed version of my 2020 list written between December 2020 and January 2021, which I guess I'll publish now almost a year later. It's interesting to go back and see what opinions I had of 2020 games almost a year ago. Luckily I don't think my thoughts have changed much since writing this. Enjoy.

In a year dominated by some very long games, and some other stuff globally I guess, I found myself retreating more and more to playing older games. Especially after the release of the Xbox Series X, I spent a lot of time with games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Battlefield V, Forza Horizon 4 and the Halo games. I even went back and finally completed Red Dead Redemption II.

As far as new games are concerned, I spent most of my time dabbling with smaller games on Game Pass and trudging through the two mammoths of The Last of Us Part II and Yakuza: Like a Dragon. I have huge interest towards Microsoft Flight Simulator, but will unfortunately have to wait for the console release in 2021 or an upgrade to my PC before I can have the hardware to run the game in a satisfactory manner. Also a game which I thought would appear on this list for sure is Cyberpunk 2077. I did like a lot of the dozen or so hours I spent with the games, but recurring game breaking bugs finally made me snap and refund my purchase. I hope to get back to this game after some bug fixes and patches later on in 2021, but for now I couldn’t bring myself to push it onto this list.

And speaking of the list below, yes there are a couple of games on it which are not strictly 2020 games. Tetris Effect and Mortal Kombat 11 did however see new upgraded releases, and as such, I am going to add them to the list.

Special mentions

Best Music: Yakuza: Like a Dragon

Runners-up: Untitled Goose Game, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2, Tetris Effect: Connected, Dirt 5, Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Best Looking: Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Runners-up: The Last of Us Part II, Halo: The Master Chief Collection (Xbox Series X), Dirt 5

Best Audio Design: The Last of Us Part II

Runners-up: Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate, Untitled Goose Game

Best Sujidex entry: Pier Reviewer

Runners-up: Mystery Meatsmith, Some Other Yakuza, Officer of the Lawless

List items

  • The first Ori is still one of my favorite Xbox One games of all time and Ori and the Will of the Wisps pretty much manages to improve upon the original in every aspect. It sounds and looks absolutely beautiful, even on the somewhat aging Xbox One X. The gameplay is even more varied and fun than that of the first game and Moon Studios manage to again tell a touching story mostly through environmental storytelling.

    Ori and the Will of the Wisps is one of those games which I think is almost perfect in its execution, apart from perhaps some of the technical problems on older Xbox and PC hardware. A couple of the boss-fights really beat my ass but apart from that I enjoyed every minute of the game and in the end was left wanting more. And that’s perhaps what I appreciate about this game most of all. It’s so rare these days for a game to not overstay its welcome, to not fill itself full of repetition or grinding or in other ways stretch the experience beyond what feels appropriate. Ori does not do that.

  • I’ve been cautiously intrigued by the Yakuza games for years now. With a new main character, new combat system and a new console to play it on, I thought that this would be a good spot to jump into the series. Little did I know that this game would end up defining my winter, and as of writing this list I am still trudging through the later parts of the game. I normally don’t like to put unfinished games on my list, especially this high up, but I guess it’s time to make an exception.

    Yakuza: Like a Dragon is the funniest game I played this year by far and it oozes with a warm wholehearted soul throughout. The cast of characters is largely relatable and endearing and definitely one of the highlights of the whole experience. The main story manages to introduce some good twists throughout and remains compelling, but is largely overshadowed by the smaller side missions. Helping out a streetside kimchi vendor or someone with romantic problems or just sitting down for a few burgers with a lonely child, it’s all very memorable and wholesome.

    The audiovisual presentation is pretty solid too. While the graphics don’t amaze at any point, there were times when I stopped to appreciate the nighttime neon lights of Yokohama for a few extra moments and it all runs at a pleasing 60fps on the Xbox Series X. The Japanese voice acting is good and all of the music is fitting if not a little repetitive at times. I also have to point out the especially great translation work.

    The combat is perhaps the weakest part of the entire game. In general the JRPG style battles are fine or even quite fun in parts. However the positioning of characters is always a bit of a lottery and can cause unwanted outcomes like blocked or misplaced attacks. Also the difficulty curve sways wildly from lethargically easy to excruciatingly difficult.

    But even with its few faults Yakuza: Like a Dragon was perhaps my most memorable game from 2020 and almost made it to the very top of my list.

  • I don’t think I felt happier and more relaxed with any other game in 2020 than I did with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2. While a large part of my enjoyment of the game is due to nostalgia for the original releases, there’s something about the nicely flowing gameplay and good jams that just manages to bring a smile to my face and forget some of the awful garbage that took place in the world in 2020. I guess I don’t have much more to say. It’s a great remaster and everyone should play it.

  • I still don’t think that they should have made a sequel to The Last of Us, but as far as unwanted sequels go Naughty Dog didn’t mess things up too bad. The developers somehow managed to continue the story in a natural way, shift the focus towards new characters and hone the gameplay quite nicely. The experience was one of the most memorable ones I had with games in 2020 and I would just like to send a shout-out to my old PS4 for somehow making it through this whole game without bursting into flames or vibrating itself to pieces.

  • Tetris Effect: Connected is probably the best Tetris has ever been, but still something about it didn’t grab me as hard as other Mizuguchi games in the past. Maybe I just wasn’t as into the music this time around or something. Still, the game looks absolutely fantastic, plays smooth and I happily dazed into a trance for hours on end experiencing it.

  • That Resident Evil 2 remake really re-lit my interest in the franchise. After that last remake, Resident Evil 3 feels more like a DLC add-on than a sequel and honestly that’s fine by me. While this game is way more action oriented than RE2 remake, I still got some good spooks and especially the hospital section was nicely atmospheric. A solid game especially for the 20 or so euros I paid for it.

  • Doom Eternal is not a bad game by any stretch, but I still couldn’t help but be very disappointed by it. I guess a large part of the appeal of DOOM (2016) was how surprising and fresh it was. The format has since been repeated by about a dozen other games. While Doom Eternal still plays great or arguably even better than DOOM (2016), the campaign feels bland and repetitive and I can’t say I had fun through all of it. A good game, but not a very worthy sequel.

  • I’m not much of a fighting game player, but the MK franchise still manages to get some attention from me with each iteration. I liked the dumb DLC characters and the time-bending story mode.

  • The Dirt franchise has never really managed to evolve further from the high that was Dirt 3. This latest iteration in the franchise offers some exciting racing in interesting locations, but there are not very many of those locations and overall the game feels a little starved for content. Graphically the game looks good enough, but I still felt more impressed playing Dirt Rally 2 a couple of years ago than I did playing Dirt 5 on an Xbox Series X. Add on to all this some weird sound bugs and it all doesn’t come together as a special package by any means. Still, it’s fun enough and worth a recommendation if you can find a copy for cheap.

  • A pleasant snack of a game, Hotshot Racing is a good encapsulation of arcade racing games like Daytona USA and Ridge Racer. The racing feels quite nice, everything looks appropriately vibrant and there’s a fun soundtrack to back it all up. It’s not a very long game at all and the multiplayer didn’t hold my attention for more than a few races, but I thoroughly enjoyed racing in some colourful scenery for a few hours.
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