Oscar's Games of 2020
Boy, 2020 sure was a year. But you know what? In spite of all the awfulness of frankly everything, video games still delivered. Games in my top 5 in many other years would potentially stand a chance of being Game of the Year, but everything was just so strong. And there's still a bunch of stuff that I never even got around to playing like Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Even my honourable mentions felt super hard to cut due to just how strong a lot of them are. Which, hey, let's get in to those now.
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Coffee Talk
- Doom Eternal
- Moon (It came out in the west in 2020, it counts)
- Puyo Puyo Tetris 2
- Streets of Rage 4
- Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore (Would have made the list if I hadn't already played it on Wii U)
But with those out of the way, let's get in to the list, shall we?
10. Destroy All Humans!
Is it just me or was there, like, A LOT of marketing for Destroy All Humans! this year? Not to say it’s not a very fun experience, but it’s not like this was a remake of a massive, beloved title. Of course, I’m not complaining. Destroy All Humans! is a super fun little game that more people SHOULD be aware of!
With its humorous jabs at the Red Scare-era of American history (fortunately, political discourse has moved long past calling anything new and different a communist) and tight gameplay where you control an alien out to, well, destroy all humans, DAH! is a faithful remake of the original 2005 game, sometimes to a fault. But while some aspects of the game have definitely aged poorly (some of the mind readings about secret gay lifestyles come to mind, or the few escort missions you’re forced to do), DAH! still has a lot to offer, from an array of weapons that are a blast to use both on foot and in your UFO to an entertaining little story that’s worth your time.
Destroy All Humans! was exactly the distraction I needed in the middle of this awful year and a great remake that managed to recapture the fun memories I had 15 years ago.
9. Good Job!
It feels like Good Job! went far more under the radar than usual for a Nintendo published game, which is a shame because it’s a quirky little puzzle game about doing menial workplace tasks like setting up projectors or sorting crates all in service of climbing the company ladder.
It’s not exactly new ground for puzzle games, but it’s still a fun one with a heavy emphasis on doing whatever it takes to complete your task, regardless of the path of destruction you leave behind. There’s a neat little physics aspect to it as well, such as some levels where you can use the wires from a plug to slingshot things where you need them and destroy the pesky doorframes that are too small to get the item you need through.
Good Job! is a delightful puzzle game that kept me coming back to it a lot more than I expected this year.
8. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2
I’d only ever played one Tony Hawk game before, and it was the one that involved a real skateboard, so not really the best foundation for this franchise. But being in a Discord server full of 90s Kids™ who were able to talk endlessly about their warm, fuzzy memories of virtual skateboarding and ska music I decided to check it out.
I’m not going to lie and say I wasn’t confused at first, but after a lot of trial and error (and a friend telling me about the Boneless) it all started to flow, and everything just clicked in to place for me as the levels all just opened up. I poured hours in to this relatively simple game as I needed to explore every nook and cranny, find every hidden S-K-A-T-E and VHS, jump every rooftop gap, and pull of insane combos. While I don’t see myself unlocking Officer Dick any time soon because I don’t have the 20 years of muscle memory needed for some of those challenges, that isn’t going to stop me from getting back on the board any time I just want a fun 20 minute session.
Everything about the Pro Skater experience is wonderful in 2020, even as someone who has zero nostalgia and affinity for the franchise. Well, everything except third wave ska. That still sucks.
7. Ghost of Tsushima
Ghost of Tsushima is the most gorgeous looking game of 2020. That alone would probably have propelled it to at least an honourable mention, but perhaps the biggest surprise, at least for me, is how perfectly it executes the open world gameplay and manages to make a genre that other companies *cough*Ubisoft*cough* had run in to the ground nearly two console generations ago feel fresh and exciting.
The different approaches you can take for combat allow for a certain level of strategizing as you have to choose if you want to be the honourable samurai and face people head on or opt for a more stealth based approach. And while the story might be a little underwhelming, the rest of the package more than makes up for it. This is all without getting in to the stellar multiplayer mode that was added later on, as well. While I didn't get to spend as much time with it as I'd have liked due to not really knowing anyone that owned Tsushima, the parts of it that I played solo were spectacular, and the addition of more supernatural elements was simply sublime.
Plus, it’s just nice to be able to play an open world game like this without having to financially support abusers…
6. Star Wars: Squadrons
It always felt a shame that there hadn’t been a Star Wars flight game in what felt like forever. Don’t get me wrong, I love stuff like Knights of the Old Republic and The Force Awakens, but some of my favourite Star Wars games were the X-Wing games, so imagine how excited I was when Squadrons was announced.
And even more amazingly, it delivered. Everything I wanted from a modern Star Wars flight simulator/space combat game was there. The shooting feels incredible, the ships control how you’d want them to, and the variety kept me coming back. Even the story mode was a typically epic Star Wars story, and it was interesting to play the conflict from both sides. Plus, you get to customize your ship! Ship customization is always fun!
5. Hades
I’ve always liked rogue-likes conceptually, but never really stuck with them too much because I just don’t have the ability to be really good at them. Hades is the exception. The combat is super snappy, the characters are all memorable, the dialogue is great, and seeing how things evolve when you die and go back home is always a treat.
There’s nothing about Hades that hasn’t already been said by thousands of people already, so I’m just going to keep this one short. Hades is cool as shit and if you’re one of the few people who hasn’t already played it, get on it right away.
4. Among Us
I had so much internal debate of if this deserved to be here, but despite its 2018 release, to say that Among Us isn’t a 2020 game just feels plain wrong, because Among Us is maybe the most 2020 game. Sure, Animal Crossing was the escape we needed at the start of the pandemic, but Among Us has become the friendship connection we need a year in.
Maybe the most perfect multiplayer experience since the debut of Jackbox franchise, Among Us has been a delight every time our group gets together to go to space. I’ve always been a huge fan of games like Town of Salem, but Among Us is the formula distilled to perfection. Those moments where your imposter friend perfectly plays everyone by pretending to be the master investigator, the fear when you’re alone in cameras with someone and the doors have just shut, or the triumph of talking everything out and seeing right through someone’s deceptions. I’ve played hours upon hours of Among Us, I’ve made new friends through the game, and most of all, I’ve never once found myself bored.
3. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
I bought 13 Sentinels essentially sight unseen, knowing only that it was published by ATLUS, a publisher who typically releases things that are extremely up my alley, and that it was a real-time strategy game, a genre that I have always been a big fan of. This was the right choice.
Combining a real-time strategy game with a sort of visual novel adventure game thing, 13 Sentinels tells its story across 13 characters and a whole bunch of different eras and lets you battle mechs. There’s a lot in this game that is VERY MUCH my shit and all I really have to say is that if a cool mech fighting RTS game with visual novel elements seems like something you’d be in to, then I can not recommend checking out 2020’s most overlooked gem enough.
2. Paper Mario: The Origami King
I did not expect to love The Origami King. Hell, I barely even expected to like it. After two terrible entries and being part of a middling entry in one of my personal favourite RPG franchises, I didn’t have very high hopes for a new Paper Mario title. And yet…
Somehow, everything just came together perfectly. Sure, it doesn’t have a party system like The Thousand Year Door or Super Mario RPG, but it has some of the most entertaining writing in a video game I’ve played in ages with a truly memorable cast of characters. There are incredibly funny moments such as travelling with Bowser Jr. and Kamek, but also some genuinely heart wrenching character moments such as Bobby the Bob-omb’s story or the bittersweet ending to the game.
Sure, it doesn’t have traditional JRPG combat, but in its place is an incredibly creative and engaging battle system that combines turn-based combat with a spinning tile puzzle. Boss battles that challenge you to think creatively while still maintaining a sense of logic, the sense of escalation as you get more Vellumentals, and the clever usage of the Switch’s motion controls all combine in to something very satisfying and unique to play.
In a year where both SUPERHOT and Crash Bandicoot can be massive personal letdowns, Paper Mario: The Origami King managed to defy all my expectations about modern Paper Mario and deliver something truly exceptional.
1. Persona 5 Royal
I named the original Persona 5 as back when it released in 2017, and nearly everything I said about that game back then still stand by. The gameplay is still as fluid as ever, the villains are still realistic in a very troubling way (even more-so in 2020), Shido’s Palace is still some of the best dungeon crawling in the series, and the jazzy soundtrack is still as tight as ever.
However, it wasn’t a game without its flaws. There are characters who suffer from a lack of development, and its standard Persona ending of “the game isn’t over until you kill God” continues to feel a little out of nowhere. Of course, that’s the original Persona 5. Persona 5 Royal fixes essentially every issue I had with the original.
Two new major additions are made to Persona 5’s already stellar cast of characters. Kasumi Yoshizawa, a new Phantom Thief, and Takuto Maruki, a kindly councillor who lends his ear to The Phantom Thieves. Both are fantastic characters who play very heavily in to Royal’s new content, but perhaps the biggest character addition comes from giving Goro Akechi a real social link.
Akechi was an underwhelming character in the original Persona 5, largely due to his lack of screen time and a social link that automatically levels up after certain story moments. However, Royal gives him far more screen time and truly opens him up as a character. There’s a deep emotional bond formed between him and Joker, and due to this, substantial parts of his arc hit me very strongly in a way that seldom happens with video games.
The other major thing Royal improves is the ending. I never had issues with Persona 5’s original ending, but I’m also used to this franchise’s God Killing trope, but having experienced the new final palace, it manages to both contextualize the original ending and be a very satisfying conclusion for the adventure, while also raising some fascinating ethical questions. I won’t go too much in to it for fear of spoilers, but realizing what was happening was a truly magical moment for me.
Persona 5 was my favourite game of 2017. Persona 5 Royal may just be my favourite game of all time.
