Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight as well as the year, 2021! At this point, I feel as if you've heard the same piece about 2020 being a shit show of a year and that we should be grateful that we were able to make it to 2021. So, I'll spare you of the usual histrionics and simply thank you all for following this series and the support you have shown it despite the "roughness" of the past year. The site has had some highs and lows as a result of the pandemic, just as we have, and the fact things kept going is a testament to the resolve of the staff and this community. Let's try to keep that positive momentum going as we start a new and hopefully better year. With that in mind, we have the site-related housekeeping.
- Due to pandemic-related production issues, the Giant Bomb tracksuits will be delayed. Social Imprints, Giant Bomb's merchandise partner, expects the delay to only be around one to two weeks. If you would like to get into contact about possibly cancelling your order, please use the link.
- The staff and moderation team are aware of the recent influx of spambots, and are working on a solution. We are working to keep things under control, but given the time of the year, you will notice waves from time to time.
- Finally, as I have been saying for the past couple of weeks, Giant Bomb's GOTY Coverage is delayed until January.
GOTY 2020
Author's Note: After a long delay, I finally got around to reviewing and compiling some, but obviously not all of the user-created lists on the site. If I missed your list or blog, PLEASE drop a link to it using the comments section and I will happily showcase it next week!
User-Created GOTY Lists
- 2020 Top 5(By: @fobwashed)
- 2020's Top 20+ Games (By: @legend)
- Mister_V's Top 5 Games Of 2020 (By: @mister_v)
- GOTY 2020 (By: @beachthunder)
- Game of the Year 2020 (By: @noobsauceg7)
- Sgt Sphynx's Favorite Games Played in the Year of Plague, 2020 (GOTY 2020) (By: @sgtsphynx)
- Best of 2020! (By: @squidracerx)
- My Top 10 Games Of 2020 (By: @purpleeggshells)
- GOTY 2020 By AngerPanda (By: @angerpanda)
- Best of 2020 (By: @beard_of_zeus)
- GOTY 2020 (By: @dudewantshisrug)
- Games of the Year(?) 2020 (By: @doctorfaust)
- Best of 2020 (By: @finaldasa)
- My Game Of The Year: 2020 (11 Games Because I Forgot About 1 Until I Read Some Other GOTYs) (By: @royalghost)
- GOTY 2020 (By: @julisj)
- GOTY 2020 (By: @willin)
- YYninja's 2020 GOTY List (By: @yyninja)
- Games I Enjoyed Throughout 2020 (By: @gxc)
- GOTY 2020 (By: @topcat88)
- Top 7 Games of 2020 Ranked (By: @devoureroftime)
- GOTY 2020 (By: @majormitch)
- 10 Different Escapes From A Disastrous Year : A Giant Bomb User’s Top Game List Of 2020 (By: @infantpipoc)
- My Best Games Of 2020 (By: @laughingman)
- Top 10 Games 2020 (By: @vrvikingr)
Blogs
The 2020 Moosies Video Game Awards!(By: @mooseymcman)
MooseyMcMan has another episode of their "Moosies Video Game Awards" to mark the end of 2020! give it a read and be utterly entertained as you read all about their gaming highs and lows!
ZombiePie's End Of The Year 2020 Multimedia Extravaganza! (By: @zombiepie)
Moderator ZombiePie finally got around to whipping up another edition of their end of the year "Multimedia Extravaganza" for 2020! Read all about the games, albums, and shows they loved and hated from 2020.
JeremyF’s Ultimate Super 2020 GOTY List Definitive Edition: Director’s Cut (By: @jeremyf)
JeremyF’s 2020 GOTY list on the site has a little bit of everything, including their expected great sense of humor! Give it a read using the link above and drop a comment in support!
Game of the Year 2020 (By: @superharman)
Superharman finally got around to ranking their favorite games from 2020! Give it a read using the link and read all about the games that helped them to get through the year that was, 2020.
Sparky's 2020 Prodigiously Girthy Awards Pageant (By: @sparky_buzzsaw)
Sparky_Buzzsaw just couldn't contain themselves on their end of the year wrap up blog. For 2020, they review their favorite games, movies, shows, and books - and even hot sauce!
2020 Gaming In Review (By: @jazz)
Jazz makes a triumphant return to blogging with an exhaustive look at all of the notable games they played in 2020, both new and old!
Mattallica's Top 10 Games of 2020 (By: @_mattallica)
_Mattallica wrote about their top ten games of 2020! Give it a read to see which games helped them get through the wild and wacky year that was 2020.
My End Of 2020 Awards (By: @danielkempster)
danielkempster takes to the site to share the games they played in 2020, both new and old, to detail what they liked and disliked. If you need some game recommendations, then this is definitely the blog for you!
Three Games That Made Me Think About Games A Lot In 2020 (By: @nadavis1)
Three might not sound like a lot of games, but Giant Bomb nadavis1 went with three 2020 to examine deeply and try to explore the gameplay conversations they can foment in the community.
My Top 10 Games Of 2020 (By: @mankvill)
mankvill took to blogging on Giant Bomb for the first time to share their ten favorite games form 2020! Give it a read and share any agreements or disagreements you may have about their picks!
"That Is A Thing That They Want, And Here's a New One" - Austin Walker, or, My Top 10-ish Games of the Year (By: NODIMA)
Nodima finally got around to writing their 2020 GOTY blog on the site! Give it a read using the link and read all about the games that helped them get through the days of 2020!
Games of the Year 2020 - DarthOrange Edition (By: @darthorange)
DarthOrange found 2020 to be a seminal year for the indie dev community! Read all about the smaller titles that enamored them on their blog!
Wilsown's Top 10 (And 1) Games of 2020 (By: @wilsown)
wilsown hands out a ton of entertaining and funny video game superlatives before jumping into the meat and potatoes of their 2020 GOTY blog.
My Top Ten Games of 2020 (By: @gamer_152)
Moderator Gamer_152 always tries to make a GOTY blog around the start of the new year. Things are no different this time around and you can check out all of the "positive" games they played in 2020!
Tweets
I just wanna say thanks to @alex_navarro for giving us something to look forward to almost every single week for 41 weeks in this forsaken year.
— Brad Lynch (@MarinoV1) January 1, 2021
He's drumming right now through midnight ET over on @giantbomb.
Chat: https://t.co/MePniIicAy
Stats: https://t.co/nIEkeK5wY6
A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY goes out today to easily my favorite Nintendo employee @JohnVignocchi. I hope you have a great day, and a great year. (I wanted to post the "other" picture, but didn't know if that was allowed. 😉) Happy Birthday, JV! pic.twitter.com/mpO8vkClBX
— Scott Meador 🎥🤖🎮🕹️👾 (@WiFi_Pirate) December 31, 2020
Turns out dropping 18 pounds means I can now fit into my medium Vinnyvania shirt =D
— Steve Kim (@Fobwashed) December 30, 2020
📸: Amelie pic.twitter.com/GfwQQKIu13
Sloppy seconds from the Coin Shower Flower, got it.
— Giant Bomb Out of Context (@giantbomb_ooc) December 30, 2020
- Jeff Gerstmann, 2014
Video Clips
Best of the Giant Bomb Warframe Community From 2014 to 2020. (By: @rapid)
Many thanks to community member Rapid for creating a highlight reel of the fun and ridiculous adventures the Giant Bomb Warframe community got into in 2020! Also, here's the link to the PC Warframe group if you want to join the fun!
Galleria
[BANNER] - Vinny & Alex As Jedi Knights (By: @bananabreath)
I wish to personally thank user bananabreath for the photoshopped version of Alex and Vinny in response to their new video series on Knights of the Old Republic! Also, no, I'm not sorry if this give you nightmares.
SOMEONE COLORIZED THAT JEFF SKETCH ON REDDIT! (By: u/Protomancer)
fuck....
Imgur Link& Instagram Link Of Jeff Sketch (By: @boiter)
boiter has been practicing their drawing skills the past week and used @jeffgerstmann's face as a starting point for their efforts to get better at drawing!
Blogs
Granado Espada - Issues And Bits Of Progress (By: @valorianendymion)
ValorianEndymion celebrated the end of 2020 the only way they know how: playing the Korean MMORPG Granado Espada! Read how the game has been treating them lately!
Indie Game of the Week 200: CrossCode (By: @mento)
This week, Mento looks at CrossCode with their latest "Indie Game of the Week" blog and shares why its ambitious size and story are undermined by its gameplay, especially the frequency of its encounters.
12 Days Of The Shogun (2) (By: @apewins)
THEY DID IT! user apewins set a goal of beating Total War: Shogun 2 before the end of the year, and they actually did it! Read how they managed that which they once thought was impossible!
Watch Dogs Legion Finally Gets The Gameplay Mostly Right, While Taking A Big Step Back In Tone, Story, And Atmosphere (By: @bigsocrates)
bigsocrates set out their "2021 Gaming Resolutions" with their latest blog on Giant Bomb! Give them a read using the first link and think about what resolutions you want to set for yourself this year! Likewise, bigsocrates has been a critic of the Watch Dogs series since the start, but this week they share why they couldn't stop themselves from liking Legion's gameplay while also noting the massive step backward the franchise has taken in storytelling.
Discussion Threads & Forums
Share And Discuss Your 2020 GOTY List On The Site (By: @zombiepie)
Hey YOU! Yeah, YOU! Did you create a 2020 GOTY list on the site? Well, here's a link to the (un)official community thread where you can post and discuss your GOTY list! Any posted lists are guaranteed to be on the next Spotlight!
What Was The First Game You Played In 2021? (By: @bigsocrates)
The title really says it all: what was the first game you played in 2021? Did you start the new year off with a bang? Was it something from your backlog? Join the discussion!
Will We Be Able To Make A Deck Out Of Sagas In Kaldheim? (By: @rorie)
Calling the Magic the Gathering community! Mr. Rorie has a question about Kaldheim! Do you think it is possible to make a deck out of Sagas in Kaldheim? Share your thoughts to their proposal!
Recommend Your Literal Rogue-likes (By: @hellbent)
Inspired by Ben's new Rogue video series, here's a discussion thread about the best "Literal Rogue Games." Which "hardcore" rogue games from today or yesteryear do you think best represent the genre?
Going Rogue - Victory Or Defeat After 13 Official Runs? (By: @spiketail)
Speaking of Rogue, users are taking bets if Ben will be able to "beat" Rogue within thirteen runs. Shall Ben achieve VICTORY and climb out of the Dungeons of Doom, or experience the darkness of DEFEAT?
Should There Be An Industry Standard Minimum For Accessibility Settings In Video Games? (By: @castiel)
In response to Game Maker's Toolkit video about gaming accessibility in 2020, there's a discussion on the forums about setting an industry standard minimum for accessibility settings. What are some basic standards you can think of most games should include?
Pitch A Name For The KOTOR Series (By: @personandstuff)
The Giant Bomb community will not stop "pitching" their ideas of a "Title" for the new KOTOR series. If you can think of any "interesting names, feel free to share them in this thread!
Lists
10 Games I'm Looking Forward To The Most In 2021 +
Top 100 Favorite Games (2020 Edition) (By: @beachthunder)
There are a handful of games that BeachThunder cannot wait to play in 2021! Read what they are using the link and think about making a list of your own on the site! Also, BeachThunder updated their Top 100 Favorite Games list on Giant Bomb to include titles from 2019 & 2020! See which games made the cut and which games are no longer on the list!
2020 Games Played (By: @chummy8)
Games Played 2020 (By: @hunt270)
Chummy8 & Hunt270 skipped the traditional GOTY blog and instead annotated all of the games from 2020 they played and shared their impressions of each game in a few sentences.
User Reviews
- @excellr8's Cyberpunk 2077 review shares how the game is definitely better on PC, but that does not change the issues they have with its story, gameplay structure, and general bugginess.