GOTY 2020
THIS YEAR SUCKED. In general, that is. Thankfully, I played some cool video games to get through it.
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When I got my Series X and I was done playing other games for an hour or two to check out the updates, I was ready to dive into something new. MHW was somehow still on Game Pass, so I said screw it, I still have half of my vacation left, lets GO. I think I logged 35 hours by the end of my vacation? Now at the end of the year I'm nearly 60 hours. I can not BELIEVE I was sleeping on this game for so long. Holy shit. It's SO FUCKING GOOD. The monsters? Dope as hell. Combat? DOPE AS HELL. Everything about this game makes me want to play more. There's always a new monster to chase after and defeat. I definitely hit a wall once I hit Iceborne, but because it's a completely new area and completely new monsters, I'm still trying to play more. My understanding is that people don't like how the online multiplayer works when you're trying to play with friends. But I'm playing solo, and it's stupid easy for me to join other peoples' quests, or get people to join mine. That being said, I SOLO'D AN ELDER DRAGON. ON MY FIRST TRY. Fuck me, when this game is good, IT'S REAL GOOD.
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Wow. B-E-A-UTIFUL. The platforming puzzles are once again no joke, but man, it's a fun game to play. Soundtrack? Killer. Story? Heart wrenching. Combat and platforming? Kicked up like three notches. I think it's safe to say this series is one of the best Metroidvanias around now.
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This was it. Half Life 3 confirmed. The biggest AAA VR game to date. Did it deliver on either? Or both? Mostly? I'm not a huge Half Life fan. I played... most of HL2 I think when the Orange Box came out. When I finished this game I realized I hadn't actually played Episode 2. But you know what, I was still fairly invested in the story of Alyx. Is it the most mind blowing VR experience ever? No, but it's pretty good. The weapon and item system felt natural after a couple of hours. The combat was far more engaging than a VR shooting gallery. That being said, I really don't care for horror, so those elements turned me off. FUCK JEFF! But holy shit, that's certainly a way to end a video game. Damn. I'm legit looking forward to if/when they put out a sequel.
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Both of the DLC expansions for Control came out this year. To my surprise, I enjoyed the Foundation much more than AWE. The former felt like an extension of the main game. It continued the world building of Control, who the Board are/aren't, the role of the FBC, more mysteries of the Oldest House, and more. AWE on the other hand was kinda just like, YO REMEMBER ALAN WAKE? I mean, yes, of course I do. Y'ALL WANT ANOTHER ALAN WAKE GAME?! Well duh, but whe... IT'S PROBABLY TOTALLY GOING TO BE OUR NEXT GAME, SO GET HYPE. Oh, okay. While it was interesting to combat the Darkness with the powers and gunplay of Control, I was expecting a lot more Alan Wake in the Alan Wake DLC. I feel like that's partially my fault, but still put some blame on Remedy. I mean, he was in the art for the DLC afterall.
Side note: the next gen version of this game is a total cluster fuck. The newer "Ultimate" edition of the game is the only version getting Series X/PS5 upgrades. The Ultimate version is literally just the base game + the two DLCs. It's a nakedly obvious cash grab by the publisher, and sucks ass. And every statement put out by 505 Games/Remedy was a joke at every stage.
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This isn't on my list for the new Beyond Light expansion. I barely started it, and haven't even played since the next gen update hit. But I did finally play through Curse of Osiris and Forsaken. The Osiris DLC was short and sweet. Forsaken was pretty wild though. I didn't expect the Cayde character to be in it as much as he was, and the Nathan Fillion soundalike they got... wasn't very good for the hour or two he's in there for. But there was still quite a bit in that DLC, which was nice. I haven't touched Shadowkeep content yet, but I hear it's pretty short. Thankfully I have Game Pass, so I didn't have to pay for anything on Xbox. Destiny is still a pretty fun game to return to every once in a while. I'm still low key salty it's not the series we were sold before it launched, and I wish I kept up with it so I wasn't playing catch up still. I care *just* enough that I want to see the content in the order it was released in. And since I don't play with friends, I really only care about the story campaigns and Iron Banner.
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I think there's a good game in here, but I'm also pretty sure I'm bad at it. I went all in on playing Squadrons, with a full HOTAS setup and in VR only. I'm about halfway through the single player and enjoying it well enough so far. It's about on par with the Battlefront 2 story, although the cameos are much less in your face (and cooler). I think I'm just bad at flight sim games though. Granted I've never tried to play them before this year, but there are just too many buttons and controls to manage and remember for me. Even still, a cockpit Star Wars game in VR is still cool as shit.
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If this is the last Tomb Raider we get for a while, I'm mostly okay with that. Don't get me wrong, this game is pretty cool. Beautiful environments, as always. Although, the story was kinda whatever. They setup some character development/commentary on Lara, but it gets completely dropped in the second half of the game. Also, the gameplay felt stretched thin compared to Rise, more for the sake of more. More materials, more upgrades, etc. The tombs in Shadow are definitely the best they've been in the series so far. I still enjoy playing these games for the spectacle, but even a new developer couldn't inject enough fresh ideas.
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Turns out, I'm very bad at Tetris. But man, this game still makes me want to turn it on and bop. The visuals and music in this game had to have been created to specifically trigger your brain to play more.
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Is this a game? Kind of? Like many others, I managed to get my hands on a HOTAS and got in on the year of flight sims. Once I got setup enough to be able to control the plane, I took off, enjoying the sights of the world. It's cool to fly around, seeing places I never have before. I genuinely like looking out the windows when on a plane, the few times I'm on one. But then you're struck with the fact that this is in fact a simulator, and all flights are in real time. I'm going to keep trying to dip my toes in, but I also don't think flight sims are for me. There are too many buttons and controls for my brain to manage. MSFS does a good job of essentially giving you and easy mode and can take care of a lot of things for you. But I guess It's still too much for me.
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Ho boy. This... sure is more Crackdown. Yeah..... that's about all it has going for it. I was expecting at least *slightly* more story in it given Terry Crews being a thing, but man, there really isn't.
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