Hi. I originally created my Giant Bomb account to post my Game of the Year list for 2019 but that didn't happen. I was determined to post my list for 2020 no matter what happened in the year. A lot happened but even so I'm committed to fulfilling that promise to post my list of the best games I played this year. So let's get to it!

10. Pacman Championship Edition 2 - A welcome gift that came out of the pandemic. Cost: Free

The pandemic sucks. Controversial opinion, I know but there were a few good things that came out of it. Among those good things were free video games. Various publishers on various platformers gave out titles for people to distract themselves with (Square Enix with Tomb Raider and Deus Ex Go on Android, Warner Bros. with Injustice and Lego Ninjago, etc.) but the one that hooked me the most was the sequel to a revival of a classic franchise. I'm by no means a champion Pacman player so I was thrilled to see some of the changes they made to the formula to vary the challenges the game throws at you. Add the game's surprisingly engaging adventure mode and you've got a nice little treat to come out of a horrible, global threat.

Best song in the game: Pac Toy Box

Favorite song in the game: Pac Drive

9. Nier Automata - A disappointing game with a genius twist. Cost: $20, I think. Also included with Gamepass

When this game was announced back at 2015's E3, I recall proclaiming that I needed the game more than I needed air. A bold statement especially when you consider I hadn't played the original Nier yet. I rectified that soon afterwards and in doing so doubled down on my anticipation thanks to that game's charming cast and enthralling lore. Fast forward to 2019, I buy the game after getting my first Xbox One but circumstances prevent me from playing it until 2020. After trudging through all 5 main playthroughs and reaching the end credits I was left with a feeling of utter disappointment. The combat is fine (it's really what you make of it thanks to the chips) but the cast is nowhere near as charming as the original's. Instead it's just a bunch of moody teenagers whose actions and motives are not compelling in the slightest. There's some light from a few Robot NPCs but it doesn't make up for just how bad the story is up until that point. So I'm sitting at the credits, attempting to brute force the last challenge before finally swallowing my pride and asking for the help of my fellow players. When I do and the final "God" is slain, it hits me. I won't spoil it but what happens next opened my eyes to the real story the game was trying to tell and that story is nothing short of genius. Does it make up for everything before? No. But it engenders trust that Yoko Taro is not as kooky as he seems.

Best song in the game: The End of Yorha

Favorite song in the game: Mourning

8. Final Fantasy XV - The most epic gameplay experience I had this year Cost: Included with Gamepass

I've only played the first chapter of this game for a total of about 9 hours. In those nine hours, I wandered around a simple, open environment slaying beasts and doing random errands. It was nothing I haven't done before in other games but the camaraderie shown by the game's protagonist made it feel all the more immersive. As I came to the end of those 9 hours, I decided to take on the Behemoth which I saw stomping around from a distance but feared to approach for sensible reasons. At that point, I felt I was strong enough to take on the challenge so I hopped into the creature's nest and had at it. What ensued was one of the most epic battles I've ever had in a video game. The fighting started at dawn (in-game) and lasted all through the night. There were plenty of close calls but through it all, my party members kept encouraging me and somehow, someway, we all walked away victorious. As we counted our welts and bruises and limped our way back to the diner, I marveled at how well crafted this fantasy was. If that experience alone was what Square Enix decided to declare their "Final Fantasy" I would be okay with that.

Best song in the game: Valse di Fantastica

Favorite song in the game: Sunset Waltz

7. 7th Dragon 2020 - THE game of 2020 and a satisfying comfort food game. Cost: Arr...

If there was one game that I was determined to play in 2020, it was this one. I had to know if any predictions it made about the current year would be in anyway accurate. Well...

…they kinda hit the nail on the head. But they weren't completely accurate. They did predict that Hatsune Miku would still be relevant but that grandma has been ousted by a new breed of virtual idol. As for the game itself, it's nothing special in terms of mechanics but it provided me with an experience that I can only best describe as "comforting." It took me back to the days of my youth playing Final Fantasy Legend II. Like that game, you assemble a party using characters designed from the ground up by the player and travel far and wide engaging in turn based battles with increasingly stronger baddies. The core principle of the game is flexibility and it's everywhere from the party composition to the progression system. The story also gets dark at times with large swaths of characters dying and the vulnerabilities of people living in turbulent times clearly on display. For those reasons, I felt it was THE game that best represents 2020 and not just because it dared to put the year itself into the title.

Best song in the game: Seventh-Heaven

Favorite song in the game: Battlefield - A Very Long Time Ago

6. Katana Zero - My reified dream game that surprised me in more ways than one. Cost: $15 but it's also included with Gamepass

I had this game idea for a while. It's a 2D side scrolling action game starring a samurai guy who brutally murders his foes while trying not to get murdered himself. Murdering is easy since all enemies take only one hit to kill but it's the same for the protagonist. I'll admit the idea wasn't wholly original but I took pride in it nonetheless. So imagine my reaction when I learned of the existence of Katana Zero. At first I was furious, then dejected then curious. I was curious to know what ideas Askiisoft had that would distinguish it from my dream title. Upon playing the game I learned they had plenty of fresh ideas that forced me to take a harder look at my original idea to spice it up. Those fresh ideas include a dynamic dialogue system, throwable items, time bending powers, innovative story telling and so much more. But even putting all of that aside, it's just a delight to play. Zipping around causing oodles of carnage never gets old and the sense of satisfaction I got from planning and executing a foolproof plan to quickly and stylishly dispense a room full of enemies is second to nothing I experienced in anything I played this year.

Best song in the game: Rain on Brick

Favorite song in the game: Katana Zero

5. Ori and the Will of the Wisps - Buggy but enthralling enough to keep me playing even after the credits stopped rolling. Cost: Included with Gamepass

The Outer Wilds is a game that was much lauded in 2019. Given the hype, I thought I would give it a try on my trusty Xbox One S. That was a mistake. The game ran abhorrently on the console and while I could see a glimmer of the game's glory, the performance issues kept it off my Game of the Year list. Ori and the Will of the Wisps almost shared the same fate. It does not run well on older, sub 6K rendering consoles. I was fortunate to play it long after launch, which was when the game was nigh unplayable. 6 months after launch, I was able to play the game and finish it. After I finished it, I went back for more. The games was just that good. And though I ran into a few bugs and visual glitches, the game's atmosphere and engaging combat kept me hooked well after the bittersweet ending wrapped up.

Best song in the game: Kwolok's Malaise

Favorite song in the game: Approaching the Ruins

4. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - The most fun I had playing a video game this year. Cost: Included with Gamepass

I have a little trouble talking about this game. It's not because I don't have many good things to say about; I have plenty. It's the fact that (A) I beat it early in the year (around the time I believed 2020 would be just another normal year) and (B) what it does well is refine the design and structure of its forebears. To use the parlance of this site, "It's a good one of those." Perhaps the best "one of those." "One of those" being the worst word in the English gaming lexicon. Sure, I suppose it's apt for this game in particular since it like the "Castlevania" games that plays like "Metroid," but still I'd prefer not to say it. Anyway, this game is really fun. Possibly even the most fun I've had playing a game this year. But it's placement at number 4 suggests that the top ranking games are more than fun.

Best song in the game: Theme of Gebel

Favorite song in the game: Holy Wisdom

3. Celeste - A beautiful masterpiece that eased frustrations both in and out of gaming. Cost: Included with the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality (which I donated $20 to). Also included with Gamepass

I like fighting games. That fact will become relevant later in the list, but bear with me for a bit. What I don't like about fighting games is the frustration they cause when you lose. Some would say that's inherent to the genre but I believe it's a shortcoming of the design. I think that's illustrated in the design of Celeste. Celeste is not a fighting game. It's a 2D platformer with precise controls and challenging levels. But despite the challenges, I never felt frustrated when trying again and again to clear a level (or get a pesky strawberry.) The reason for this comes within the game's narrative (a moment I won't spoil, though I will say when I adopted the technique for myself I substituted the feather for the tide) and in the gameplay itself. The technique it uses isn't unique (Hotline Miami does it, Katana Zero does it, Super Meatboy does it) but it wasn't until I played this game that I understood how handy that technique is in easing one's frustration with failing a challenge. That's just one small part of the game's brilliance. The incredible polish (rivaling Nintendo's best), amazing soundtrack and touching story all make this among the greatest games I've played in a while.

Best song in the game: Confronting Myself

Favorite song in the game: Scattered and Lost

2. Undertale - Turned a hater into a lover. Exceptionally well written and overflowing with charm. Cost: Included with Gamepass

I hated Undertale before I played it. I blame the fanbase for that. There was this toxicity they perpetuated about how the game should be played (not unlike some fighting gamers) that turned me off from giving it a try around the time of its release. I realize now that that was a mistake. Not only because I kept myself from playing an incredible game for some time but because allowing my actions to be swayed by the opinion of people I don't care about is no way to live. No, a better way to live is with an openness to the hearts and minds of others but the integrity to stick to your principles, whatever they may be. Undertale taught me that and a whole lot more. At the risk of sounding cheesy, I dare say Undertale taught me how to love. This goofy little tribute to the silly Japanese RPGs (and sillier aspects of Japanese culture) showed me just how far one can take an idea when you approach it with unabashed shame and heart. That it was all (or primarily) done by one person is nothing short of inspirational. When the final battle was done and I made peace with my choices, I realized that I now loved Undertale.

Best song in the game: Megalovania

Favorite song in the game: Spider Dance

1. Dragonball FighterZ - The game I kept coming back to whenever I got the chance (both to play and watch). Cost: Free on Gold Free Play Days

I like fighting games. Therefore, I typically place fighting games at the top of my Game of the Year lists. That's not to say those games wouldn't have earned the highest honors otherwise; I don't put just any game at the top of the list. Still the bias and the consequence of it is meant to demonstrate how I feel about these lists in general and to highlight what the best of my favorite genre was for the year. This year's first place winner is a game I crowned the default Game of the Year for 2018 as it was the only game released that year that I had played that year. But then I stopped giving a crap about a game's release date as far as this list is concerned and the rest is history. What makes this game so great? Much like #2 on this list, it's the heart and love poured into it. The people who made this game really love Dragonball Z. This is obvious from the skits in-between battles in the game's Story mode to the care taken to recreate iconic scenes from the anime/manga in the movesets and Dramatic finishes. Then there's the way it plays. I know some fighting gamers believe the game is severely dumbed down compared to other 3 on 3, hyperactive, tag battle games but I appreciate the game's simplicity. I will be the first to admit I'm a scrub but things like how most moves either track or have forward momentum and the way the game resets to neutral after an opponent is knocked out are elegant ways of making things accessible without overtly limiting one's options. But what really puts this at the top of my list is that even when I wasn't playing the game, I was still engaging with it whether that was through Dotodoya's daily sets or the NLBC tournaments. I just couldn't get enough. Despite all that, I still haven't bought the game. My hangup is that the character I want to play the most (Janemba) is paid DLC and he's not included with the Deluxe edition. Here's hoping a Super Dragonball FighterZ is just around the corner (or a Dragonball FighterGT, given the latest announcements).

Best song in the game: Title Theme

Favorite song in the game: Versus Screen Music

There you have it. The best games I played this past year. As a bonus, here are the best and my favorite video game tracks that I first listened to in 2020.

BONUS:

Best song of the year: Hades - Good Riddance

Favorite song of the year: Crash Twinsanity - Bandicoot Pursuit