“It’s early days, but this is as good as WoW has been for over ten years,” says Kiliko. “So much content, no vicious gating, very alt-friendly, great looking zones. It feels similar to what I thought WoW 2 would be like back in 2010. A joy to see my friends list extremely active again.” “An amazing comeback of the best but recently slacking mmorpg,” says Longbraz. “Amazing game. It is a great into to the Yakuza series,” says Abhayd, who is currently halfway through Kiwami, so it must work. Elsewhere lots of votes but not many comments for this one. You Yakuza fans keep it close, which I appreciate. Oh boy, it’s Crickson. “Genuinely funny, inventive and a joy to play,” they say. “No filler, no grind, brilliantly written and packed with depth and ideas. It doesn’t outstay its welcome and it’s the best game I played this year.” Nobody is going to top that. “Oh the updates, oh the graphics update. It’s like a whole new game,” says Fatboy966. “I actually enjoyed the original version of this game despite its many flaws,” says Xoxzo. “I am absolutely blown away by the PS5 version and the many features which have been added since I last played it. I only put it on for a quick look and 50 hours later there is still no end of things to do. “Hats off to Hello Games for sticking with it and improving the game beyond all expectation.” “Fun and clever (if sometimes frustrating) puzzles, beautiful open world, few bugs unlike most games that launched recently and just a really chilled out game to relax with,” says Widey85. That final boss tho? “Its actually pretty good if you remove the dialogs,” says Zhephyr. Burn. Themightyant did though: “Taught me a lesson that FREE does not have to be either bad or low quality. AAA experience in a free to play title. It would likely challenge #1 if it was finished and sold as a complete £60 game + DLC without all the predatory MTX.” “PC-only games often get short shrift, but this is an absolute belter,” says MarkMarkYepMark. Zteve agrees. “No other game melts time like Factorio. You sit down at say 8pm and before you know its 5am and you are planning your next science. Had to bench it to play other things but will return to launch that rocket I am sure.” Email us when you do, Zteve! “A remake that turned out to be incredible and was a surprise after the release of Mafia II and Mafia III left expectations lowered,” says YCoCg. Jphpue: “I loved the original back in the day. Now this is the one to play if you want to experience Angelo’s story. Gameplay really benefits from modern tech and mechanics. Plus the story though simple, does what it needs to do.” “An interesting change of pace for the Gears series,” says Paul_ynwa. “A great strategy game which diversifies Gears and shows that you can inject fresh ideas to a 14-year-old franchise.” Now we feel old, Quizmos. “More of the genius same, guys come on.” You don’t need to convince us, Pandrewh. “With a brilliant mix of longer game modes, short-sessions types and tactical online Zone multiplayer-mode, Tetris Effect Connected may just be the best Tetris game… ever.” You don’t need to convince us, Scarbir. “One of the deepest games ever written, I could play this for the next decade without getting bored.” Testify, BellyFullOfHell! “Still playing this every night even though I kinda hate it,” adds Flippyfloop, enigmatically. Folie has me wanting to play this: “Best Narratives, plural? Most Narrative? Such an unexpected delight, and in ‘Seaside Vacation’ has the best pop song released this year.” “Don’t know this game, please replace it with A Monster’s Expedition: Through Puzzling Exhibitions. How could you forget a game deemed Essential!!” says Erwie. “Although you have to do hours of reading and become a full on Destiny lore nerd to get up to speed on the meta story of Destiny, the writers on this game are absolutely phenomenal,” says CaffeineCanine. “Also freezing someone in PvP and shattering them into a million pieces is immensely cathartic which is something I need in 2020.” I want to mention here that CaffeineCanine also included XCOM: Chimera Squad in their favourite games, so this is clearly a person we should listen to. Don’t give coffee to dogs, though. El_pollo_diablo: “SM Galaxy is amazing.” Saybootsy: “Bounced off 64 because of the controls, am yet to touch Sunshine, but the inclusion of a Galaxy remaster makes this a masterpiece regardless.” “The game I played the most this year, an improved version of an already epic game,” says Gintoki. “But I feel bad putting it over new games.” Don’t feel bad! The heart wants what it wants. Happy Christmas. “I’m just happy that Nintendo as a whole is giving this incredible RPG the shine it deserved on the Wii, and added some good QOL improvements that makes a must-have,” says Kenwesleyjr. “It’s only a re-release of the best game on the Wii with some added bells and whistles. I remember playing this shortly after being disappointed with FFXIII and Mass Effect 2 (wanted more RPG, less combat) a good ten-odd years ago, only to be blown away by an absolutely astounding classic JRPG in full 3D. It’s just brilliant.” That’s Apocra, who rather spookily was a commenter on game 36 of last year’s list. This time we’ve spelled the name correctly though. I hope. Maybe Tomkuryakin can explain this landing at 35: “Like Fallout in space, but better. And Parvati and SAM.” Fair enough. Xoxzo again, with a lovely comment: “Not since the glory days of the PS1 have I enjoyed an RPG as much as this. It’s a vast game which is in no rush to reveal its secrets and it maintained my interest until the end.” What more could you want? Sold! Adnauseum was moved: “A game has never made me cry before, but end of the story with the grandma character destroyed me.” Everyone was moved! Here’s PyD: “I DARE you not to get really emotional at Alice’s journey in this utter delight of a game. A dedicated hug command is EXACTLY what this hell year needed.” That and a vaccine! Naetharu is still on board: “My best mate and I have put in around 100 hours and we’re still going. The storytelling is better than ever and the combat is amazing fun once in a party. Bl3 feels like the game the franchise was always struggling to be.” Consoledelight was delighted. (I was consoled.) “BL2 is one of my fave games ever, and this was a great follow up, shame the villains couldn’t live up to Handsome Jack, but the game stands on its own.” “Best game I played in 2020,” says Anrkist. It’s not even the best game with “horizon” in the title? “Only going to get better as time goes on. An awesome game/tool where the creative get wild. The inclusion of VR was amazing,” says Cancelthatambulance, who is going to have to explain that name. Tielo is similarly delighted: “The game that keeps on giving as a ton of content is created. Myself I love to make music in this game and even that aspect is very, very deep.” Jimr9999us breaks it down nearly: “Great writing, impossible choices, and outstanding tactical combat put Wasteland 3 on my list.” Thesnowman is also on board: “Such a fantastic game with amazing writing that genuinely made me laugh and decisions that made me pause to think. Best RPG I have played in years.” “Team Ninja’s combat is so fun and very satisfying,” says Fatoomalajmi. Raziel was equally satisfied: “Currently on Dream of the Wise (New Game x 3) after nearly 400 hours. I’ve seen pretty much all the game has to see, but I still get the itch to start it up again all the time, just for how satisfying the combat is. That’s how good it is.” Imagine making this game and reading that comment - you would be happy for hours! This is what it’s all about. Gears 5 was worth it purely for a brilliant office-wide argument about what constitutes good graphics. Anyway, here’s Beatleben: “It is Gears with all the action that you expect. Though best is that it is free with Xbox Game Pass and all the addtional content just keeps coming.” " Finished the year very strong, and is my go-to game for the Series X.” That’s Blimpers. We’ve finished the year very in need of a proper lie down, so this is good to hear. Karlsavage is anything but savage here: “Not in the same league as RE2 Remake but, hey, I’ll always take more Resident Evil! I’m old enough to have played the original and I really enjoyed my time with this, brief as it was. Staaaaaarrrrrssss!!” Nobody is going to put this better than ThatWindowCleaner: “So in-depth it’s unreal. The longevity of this game is crackers.” “Oh! Long have I waited for a worthy successor to the X-Wing / TIE Fighter games of the 90’s!” Forsooth, G-VideoDIe! “I may have only come for the single player campaign - and it may have been shorter than I’d have liked - but what a joy to be back in the cockpit of my childhood star fighter fantasies once again!” “Atmospheric, dark wonders,” says King_Of_Shovels. King_Of_Shovels actually said this about last year’s 24, but it’s a keeper - and who would argue with a king? “Best game there is.” That feels definitive, rAv3nScReAm. Strange_powers was impressed: “It’s been the year of Yakuza, and having it topped off by a wonderful new spin on my favourite series has been a treat. Like a Dragon is up there with series highlights like Zero and Judgement.” “Most pleasant surprise of the year. Utopia if you were a late 90s/2000s teenager.” That’s Hairy_Mochan. Reading Wolf Hall presently, so that Utopia thing has made me think about Thomas More doing ollies. The bastard. “He would kill you for an error in your Alley-oops,” etc etc. “Well, they did a spectacular job with this,” says octavedoctor. “I can’t think of anything more uniquely fun and positive to play online. Battle royale’s Takeshi’s Castle. No killing, no bullying, just pure fun. I love it and my kids do too.” “The best open world game ever, and I don’t even like driving games,” says tomkuryakin. “Why is this even on a 2020 list?” asks robthehermit. “I played a lot of it this year and loved it, so why am I complaining?” I don’t know, Rob, I don’t know. “This is all I have played!” admits GitSomE_UK, without any sign of remorse. “I’ve other games but this just keeps drawing me in. I love the pace, the setting, the tie-in with Modern Warfare. Not since Battlefield 4 have I enjoyed a multiplayer shooter so much.” BarrowBloke closes: “Getting repeatedly killed by 12-year-olds has never been so much fun.” “Finally!!” blurts mfnick. “Totally worth the wait, and the sequel Streets of Rage 2 deserves - let’s forget about 3. Probably the best brawler released since SOR 2. Just clicked in a way no others have.” “Surely one of the best sequels of all time?” posits DangerousDave_87, dangerously. “It’s true to the original material, it’s full of fan service - it brings back Adam! It has the original composer on the team (and sounds amazing), it looks absolutely incredible and they’ve managed to flesh out the combat and increase the replayability of the formula. A genuine surprise.” “There’s no doubt that Among Us is a standout hit,” declares SnikrepJ. “An absolute blast to play with friends - I’ve learned a lot about how each of them lie - and excellent fun with the right public lobby too. Among Us deserves all the praise and fortune it’s received this year, and maybe a little more for good measure.” “Saved lockdown for my young son,” adds G-VideoDie, “for whom this game was a happy introduction to online multiplayer gaming.” “I loved it,” says HONKHONK. “Though it is often difficult to explain exactly why I loved it as I shouldn’t have found a loooooooooong digital walk (occasionally slipping on rocks) to be so engrossing.” We hear you, Honkster. “A very different experience to anything I’ve seen before,” adds Lt_Manning. “Something much needed more often.” I feel almost guilty picking this because so few people will be able to play it," says marmaduke, “but it really is everything you could want from VR. It’s immersive in a way that nothing else has been; it’s terrifying, it’s frantic, it’s beautiful. It’s even genuinely funny. Nothing else this year has been able to compete with it, and I suspect it’ll be a long time before anything does.” “Just beautiful,” says matt2099. “And way harder than I like to admit.” “This made me cry,” adds aldude. “Again.” “Insomniac have nailed the Spider-Man game, and this Miles Morales story shows they have range,” says SpartanSpur. “A more grounded, coming of age story with a real sense of heart in terms of both family and community. Another game which feels perfect for 2020, this time through bringing more racial diversity to superhero games at a time where it is valued more than ever. I couldn’t have wished for a better start to the PS5 era.” “As we’re not really supposed to go out these days due to Covid, it was really nice to be able to assemble a hoard of my closest Viking pals and go for a few wild nights out in my home of Essex,” regails Rodimus-Prime. “A few meads with the boys before painting the nearest town red. Just like real life, only with a significantly more impressive beard than mine.” “The added fluff over the fantastic previous game is largely a pointless distraction. They need to get back to focusing on Hell,” caws Bergraven. “But the general gunplay and mobility are superb, and the climax suitably spectacular. Like God of War reminded us a while back, big things, if they’re big enough, are ace!” “Incredible,” says SiroccoJetProp. “No other words needed.” I was hoping for a few more. “MSF gives us the whole world to play with, literally!” adds GamesConnoisseur. “Need I give more reasons than that?!” I suppose not… “How serendipitous that a game about flying comes out in a year that nobody is allowed to fly?” Good point, mickjohnson. Ah, here we go, the definitive word on the game, if you can understand it. “Probably the most next-gen of next-gen games in this gen.” Thank you, ukaskew37. “Free is the best price,” says samharper, “but I’d have paid for this one. Brief but beautiful, it makes you want to 100-per-cent it with all the nods to PS past. PlayStation Home! The GPS add on for the PSP! The mural which says ‘Vita equals Life’, which is surely some cruel joke from the developers! “I love how the game doesn’t shy away from the many, crazy missteps and failures of the past. Every 30 seconds there’s a reference to a game, both old (Vib Ribbon, Ridge Racer) and new (Ghost of Tsushima, Death Stranding). That’s before we even get onto it being one of the best 3D platformers I’ve played that doesn’t say Mario in front of it, and all the cool DualSense features that make it difficult to go back to a PS4 game. Sublime.” I think it’s safe to say they liked it. “If Astro’s Playroom showed off the DualSense controller, then this was the game to show off the PS5’s technical prowess,” buzzes Killerbee. “Astonishing visuals married to the classic Souls gameplay. It has been a horrible privilege to see this world reinvented for a new generation.” “I quickly bounced off the original and found it abstruse to the extreme,” admits SILIC0N_SURFER. “But now, with Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne under my belt, I finally see the light! A classic game dressed up in stunning new visuals and a framerate bump for a silky smooth experience, which makes me genuinely happy this is my first real journey through Boletaria.” RickDeckardsGun sums up the power of Animal Crossing this year: “A game that basically got me through the toughest times of the pandemic and lockdown, my life away from the reality we sadly find ourselves enduring.” “This game is pure meditation,” agrees THEREISNOGOD1 (no need to shout about it). “The perfect game for the 2020 blues.” “Tom Nook can do one though.” Exactly, jonbwfc. Well said. “Look,” levels Teapot89, and what a bizarre thing that is to write, “I know this game is currently pretty broken, but nonetheless I can’t put it down or stop thinking about it once I do. No other game could have crashed 15 times and made me immediately fire it back up. I just want to live in its horrible world and drink it all in.” “Probably the biggest step forward for first-person RPGs since Oblivion,” reckons Thedni. “Super- immersive world full of great characters and memorable moments. Not one to play around the family, though. Boy there is a lot of nudity.” I can only imagine how this comment came to be. “Hades has an interesting and moving tale to tell, and does it with heart and confidence while mixing one of the best combat and progression systems any Roguelike has ever had. Excellent art, perfect sound design, and great studio practices and work environment. To me one of those games that shows what video games can be.” Preach, Palsina, preach! “Number one with a bullet,” declares PyD, using a phrase I’ve never heard before. “Nothing of any scale this year has been so polished and dense and satisfying. Emergent and immersive gameplay. Stunning art, gorgeous music - gods damn that duet is stunning - tender writing, incredible breath of options for tailoring difficulty. Supergiant’s best so far, and it gives me such tingling joy to be able to add the ‘so far’ modifier with confidence.” “When I was young, FF7 was almost an obsession,” says liketoseeyoutry, and we do like to see you try, “so I got chills just seeing the start screen with the Buster Sword. Despite some magic ghost nonsense I feel they really nailed the remake.” “An astounding remake,” echoes davidesalvadori. “Endlessly enjoyable, with some quietly inventive spins on the story. It never forgets why we fell in love with these characters in the first place.” “Looking forward to a more refined and even thirstier follow up.” You tell them, Hunam. “Went into this game pretty exhausted with open world games,” says SyruM, “thinking I would play it for a little and just get bored. I have spent so many hours into this game now. There is such a love and respect for the setting and source material. From the really strategic and satisfying combat, to the eye watering vistas - even constructing haikus is a great change of pace from skewering Mongol invaders.” “Seems like Sucker Punch said, ‘Fine, if Ubisoft won’t make the feudal-Japanese Assassin’s Creed game everyone wants then we will,’ and then made the best Assassin’s Creed game I’ve played since Black Flag.” Well, it’s hard to argue when you put it like that, TheMightyEthan. This remark by Solegor, on the other hand… “To be honest, I’ve not played it yet, but this is mostly due to the lack of free time. But it looks really great from what I’ve seen and they added 60 fps mode to the PS5 back-compat so I’ll use that now!” You’re not the only one excited about playing this on PS5. Let’s let D4RC sum it up. “Stunning, gorgeous open-world game with Samurai - what’s not to love?” “Utterly gripping from start to finish,” says Killerbee. “A masterclass in interactive storytelling, and a deep character study into grief, anger and hatred. It was a tough game to play at times, but undoubtedly my highlight of 2020. At least it made the shambles of a world around us in real life seem not so bad!” “During the final battle, for the first time in my 30 years of playing video games, I didn’t know who I was controlling, and I didn’t care. Absolutely genius storytelling,” declares dr_faulk. “Astounding in many ways,” adds Girboon. “Dialogue, story, animation, graphics all shoehorned into old playstation hardware and delivered in spades. If only all game developers had Naughty Dog’s eye for detail and programming abilities. A game that had lasting emotional attachment.” It was, as glanserunar sums up, “A wonderfully dreadful experience.” Wonderful stuff! All done! Happy new year everyone! May it bring you all the very best!
