kanelflarn's Game of The Year 2020
This has been a year where I've mostly shied away from or skimped on the large AAA titles or games I've regarded with the slightest hesitation before. Other years there hasn't been an issue compiling a top 10 games, rather deciding which I have to mention outside it. Here I'm battling a top 5 and the rest feels like happenstance. Then again, this year I've been more out of the loop than I've been in many years with a kid in the picture and so little time for games. I have played a bunch of games, don't get me wrong, it's just that more time on each and more games played would definitly have rendered more titles to my liking.
Neverhteless, noteworthy mentions:
- Assassin's Creed Odyssey PC - first part of the year this game still held much of my time. Still so janky. Still entertaining. Ploughed through the DLC campaigns with varying liking. Elysium was a reignition for the game and series to a degree. Rest of the story addons was a chore, which left the main story disappointing.
- A Short Hike PC - LTTP. My true number 5, had this released this year.
A wonderful little gem which nails the open world exploration mechanic on a relatively small and isolated island. Focused. Sweet. Stays its welcome. A 'My first open world' type of game, in an encouraging way. - Spiritfarer Switch - A warm game. Lovely rendered and a light management mechanic. I should have loved this game. The story sadly takes a back seat to farming of materials. The passanger characters should take center stage of it all, but I mostly found them like side quests along the way...
- Streets of Rage 4 Switch - A really good brawler that makes me feel nostalgic to all those times grinding the old ones with friends all night. Perhaps I realized it was rather the circumstance which I looked back upon more than the games. Certainly compared to playing solo.
- Parkasaurus PC - Came out of early access this year and I've kept my eye on it in the meantime. A lovely little game with some of the cozy management mechanics I like. A tad much focus on side activities of finding new dinasaurs and food, and I found it too much so because it also lacked the depth or curve of progress.
- Kentucky Route Zero PC - This wowed me by the first episode. Along with the series my tolerance for visual novels has taken a turn for the worse. Which did not do this series finale any favour. I care much for the tone, the sense of mystery surrounding this world. To its credit KRZ does not stray from any of it along the way, but for me I had rather experienced it on a tighter schedule.
- Carrion Switch - Metroidvania-like flip seat horror game. Really interesting setting and mechanic. Hindered by a so frustrating control and sometimes confusing level design.
Other games I've played:
PartTime UFO - Simple yet fun coop
Before we leave - Good, but a poor man's Anno.
Call from the sea - Simple Myst-like (many "like" nowadays?). Something about the visuals or camera control makes me feel ill.
Supraland Crash - DLC of a superb game. More of the same but not as good.
Total war saga: Troy - A joke even for someone not that into the Total War games.
Warcraft 3 Reforged - That this came out of Blizzard was the final realization for me that they're not the same company I once loved.
Superliminal - Kinda fun core mechanic not being deservedly realized.
Moving out - This is a great representation of popular multiplayer games I hate.
Games I look forward to playing:
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Final Fantasy VII Remake
- Baldur's Gate 3
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla - Yes, because I want to spend as much time in this world as I accidently did in Oddyssey. Just let me love you, and more so with a new graphics card.