5 Yrs✓#
GCTuba
5 Yrs✓#
Here's my top 10 games I played this year. I imagine most people probably won't agree with this list but I personally really enjoyed them:
10. Horace – This one came as a complete surprise to me. It was one of the free games given out on the Epic Games Store so I went in with zero expectation. On the surface it appears to be just another generic 2D platformer. Dig a little deeper though and you find out it toys with many different genres to make for a very unique experience.
9. Life is Strange: Before the Storm – It was hard for me to place this one. It is essentially a standalone expansion of Life is Strange (which is also on my list) that delves into the origin story of two characters from that game. I think the short length and questionable story decisions stop this one from being as good as Life is Strange but I still love the world so here it stays.
8. Code 7 – Another game that came out of nowhere. I purchased this game in the “Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality” offered by itch.io earlier this year. It offered a huge collection of 1,741 items from games and art assets to books and software. Fun fact: it took me 3 weeks to comb through this bundle to determine what I was gonna play and added 557 games to my backlog. 81 of the games I played this year came from this bundle and Code 7 stuck out to me more than any other so far. It is an episodic, text-based hacking game set in a cyberpunk world. It’s hard to describe it much more than that and I’ve never really played a game like this before so you’ll just have to look it up yourself. The best part is the last episode hasn’t even been released yet so I get to look forward to the exciting conclusion in 2021!
7. RAGE – From what I understand, this game didn’t get great reviews when it came out back in 2011. I think the reason I enjoyed it as much as I did is because it was one of the first FPS games I played since making the decision to mostly migrate away from consoles to PC gaming. It’s crazy how much better a mouse and keyboard feels in the genre compared to a controller. Also, I kinda got some Mad Max vibes from it which is a nice bonus.
6. Dead Space 3 – It feels like I played this game forever ago but according to the website, I beat it on January 22nd. Crazy how 2020 just flew by and yet still seemed to take forever to end. I played this one through with a friend using online co-op and had a blast. For those of you not familiar with the series, it is a third person shooter horror game in space. This entry added co-op functionality and is generally the worst-reviewed in the series but I still enjoyed it.
5. Psychonauts – This is the oldest game on my list coming out all the way back in 2006 on the original Xbox. It is an iconic game with great reviews that also seems to not have gotten much attention. It is an action-adventure game that follows a boy at a summer camp for kids with psychic abilities. You jump inside people’s minds into very weird set pieces that could only exist in someone’s imagination. Tim Burton might be the best aesthetic to use to describe it. The gameplay is OK and the psychic abilities are fun to use, but the story and humor are what really elevated this one for me.
4. Life is Strange – I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed this game. It is an episodic, story-driven game about a high school senior with a knack for photography at a private academy. She discovers at the beginning of the game that she has the ability to rewind time. The story starts out with seemingly mundane high school drama but quickly escalates into one involving murder, dark secrets, and the very fabric of reality breaking down. The story is SO GOOD and I love the main character so it captivated me from beginning to end.
3. Tower of Time – This is a cRPG about a tower that fell through a rift in space-time and was lodged upside-down in a mountain. It is up to a group of adventurers to climb down to the top of the tower (you enter at the base) and unravel the mysteries of how it ended up there. This is another game that wasn’t rated very well but I enjoyed it quite a bit. The story was interesting enough to make me want to keep going and it was always exciting finding better loot to equip my characters with. I liked how strong my characters felt towards the end of my journey. Perhaps if I had more experience in the cRPG genre then I wouldn’t even consider this game good but without that I had a blast playing it.
2. Hand of Fate 2 – This is a unique blend of deck-building and dungeon crawling that I haven’t really seen in other games (expect the first one that is). I got the first one for free through Xbox a couple years ago having never heard of it before and loved it so much, I knew I had to get the sequel. It did not disappoint. There are multiple “campaigns” you play through that have an overarching story and definite conclusion. You build your deck with equipment and scenarios and unlock new ones by fulfilling specific requirements (kill 10 skeletons with this weapon, beat this campaign without taking damage, etc.). The dungeons are laid out as cards on a table and some scenarios literally pull you into the card where it turns into a third person brawler akin to the Batman Arkham games. The concept is very interesting and I hope there will be a third installment in the future.
1. Divinity: Original Sin – Enhanced Edition – This is another game I’ve been playing with a friend in co-op. We’ve probably put close to 100 hours into the game and we’re still just now nearing the end. It is an RPG with turn-based combat based loosely on Dungeons & Dragons. It really is a testament to put 100 hours into a game and still get excited about your next session. If you are at all interested in turn-based combat, aren’t initially intimidated by the RPG elements, and have a friend or 3 to sink some time into it, BUY THIS GAME. You will not be disappointed. What’s even more exciting is that Divinity: Original Sin 2 has even better reviews and I can’t wait to see what is has to offer.
10. Horace – This one came as a complete surprise to me. It was one of the free games given out on the Epic Games Store so I went in with zero expectation. On the surface it appears to be just another generic 2D platformer. Dig a little deeper though and you find out it toys with many different genres to make for a very unique experience.
9. Life is Strange: Before the Storm – It was hard for me to place this one. It is essentially a standalone expansion of Life is Strange (which is also on my list) that delves into the origin story of two characters from that game. I think the short length and questionable story decisions stop this one from being as good as Life is Strange but I still love the world so here it stays.
8. Code 7 – Another game that came out of nowhere. I purchased this game in the “Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality” offered by itch.io earlier this year. It offered a huge collection of 1,741 items from games and art assets to books and software. Fun fact: it took me 3 weeks to comb through this bundle to determine what I was gonna play and added 557 games to my backlog. 81 of the games I played this year came from this bundle and Code 7 stuck out to me more than any other so far. It is an episodic, text-based hacking game set in a cyberpunk world. It’s hard to describe it much more than that and I’ve never really played a game like this before so you’ll just have to look it up yourself. The best part is the last episode hasn’t even been released yet so I get to look forward to the exciting conclusion in 2021!
7. RAGE – From what I understand, this game didn’t get great reviews when it came out back in 2011. I think the reason I enjoyed it as much as I did is because it was one of the first FPS games I played since making the decision to mostly migrate away from consoles to PC gaming. It’s crazy how much better a mouse and keyboard feels in the genre compared to a controller. Also, I kinda got some Mad Max vibes from it which is a nice bonus.
6. Dead Space 3 – It feels like I played this game forever ago but according to the website, I beat it on January 22nd. Crazy how 2020 just flew by and yet still seemed to take forever to end. I played this one through with a friend using online co-op and had a blast. For those of you not familiar with the series, it is a third person shooter horror game in space. This entry added co-op functionality and is generally the worst-reviewed in the series but I still enjoyed it.
5. Psychonauts – This is the oldest game on my list coming out all the way back in 2006 on the original Xbox. It is an iconic game with great reviews that also seems to not have gotten much attention. It is an action-adventure game that follows a boy at a summer camp for kids with psychic abilities. You jump inside people’s minds into very weird set pieces that could only exist in someone’s imagination. Tim Burton might be the best aesthetic to use to describe it. The gameplay is OK and the psychic abilities are fun to use, but the story and humor are what really elevated this one for me.
4. Life is Strange – I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed this game. It is an episodic, story-driven game about a high school senior with a knack for photography at a private academy. She discovers at the beginning of the game that she has the ability to rewind time. The story starts out with seemingly mundane high school drama but quickly escalates into one involving murder, dark secrets, and the very fabric of reality breaking down. The story is SO GOOD and I love the main character so it captivated me from beginning to end.
3. Tower of Time – This is a cRPG about a tower that fell through a rift in space-time and was lodged upside-down in a mountain. It is up to a group of adventurers to climb down to the top of the tower (you enter at the base) and unravel the mysteries of how it ended up there. This is another game that wasn’t rated very well but I enjoyed it quite a bit. The story was interesting enough to make me want to keep going and it was always exciting finding better loot to equip my characters with. I liked how strong my characters felt towards the end of my journey. Perhaps if I had more experience in the cRPG genre then I wouldn’t even consider this game good but without that I had a blast playing it.
2. Hand of Fate 2 – This is a unique blend of deck-building and dungeon crawling that I haven’t really seen in other games (expect the first one that is). I got the first one for free through Xbox a couple years ago having never heard of it before and loved it so much, I knew I had to get the sequel. It did not disappoint. There are multiple “campaigns” you play through that have an overarching story and definite conclusion. You build your deck with equipment and scenarios and unlock new ones by fulfilling specific requirements (kill 10 skeletons with this weapon, beat this campaign without taking damage, etc.). The dungeons are laid out as cards on a table and some scenarios literally pull you into the card where it turns into a third person brawler akin to the Batman Arkham games. The concept is very interesting and I hope there will be a third installment in the future.
1. Divinity: Original Sin – Enhanced Edition – This is another game I’ve been playing with a friend in co-op. We’ve probably put close to 100 hours into the game and we’re still just now nearing the end. It is an RPG with turn-based combat based loosely on Dungeons & Dragons. It really is a testament to put 100 hours into a game and still get excited about your next session. If you are at all interested in turn-based combat, aren’t initially intimidated by the RPG elements, and have a friend or 3 to sink some time into it, BUY THIS GAME. You will not be disappointed. What’s even more exciting is that Divinity: Original Sin 2 has even better reviews and I can’t wait to see what is has to offer.
5 Yrs♥$✓#
RawMetal
5 Yrs♥$✓#
My Ranking
1. EarthBound (Mother 2)
2. Mother 3
3. Red Dead Redemption II
4. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
5. EarthBound Beginnings (Mother)
6. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
8. AM2R: Return of Samus
9. Metroid: Samus Returns
1. EarthBound (Mother 2)
2. Mother 3
3. Red Dead Redemption II
4. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
5. EarthBound Beginnings (Mother)
6. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
8. AM2R: Return of Samus
9. Metroid: Samus Returns
7 Yrs♥$✓#
TheAutisticGamer
7 Yrs♥$✓#
I'll just do a Top 10 of the best games I ended up playing this year. It's not going to be very descriptive but here is a list. Note that these don't include replays and some of these are backwards compatible including with PS5 which I ended up playing a few on:
10: Metal Slug XX (PS4)
9: Astro's Playroom (PS5)
8: Half-Life: Echoes (Mod) (PC)
7: New Super Mario Bros 2 (2DS)
6: Hellbound (PC)
5: Prodeus (Early Access/PC)
4: Doom Eternal (PC)
3: Journey (PS5)
2: Serious Sam 4 (PC)
1: Little Big Planet 2 (PS3)
10: Metal Slug XX (PS4)
9: Astro's Playroom (PS5)
8: Half-Life: Echoes (Mod) (PC)
7: New Super Mario Bros 2 (2DS)
6: Hellbound (PC)
5: Prodeus (Early Access/PC)
4: Doom Eternal (PC)
3: Journey (PS5)
2: Serious Sam 4 (PC)
1: Little Big Planet 2 (PS3)
4 Yrs✓#
dwarftopia
4 Yrs✓#
In no particular order:
- Transistor: I beat this all in one sitting, then proceeded to start New Game+ immediately afterwards. Beyond amazing visuals and music, fun gameplay with a lot of customization options, incredible story and the ending made me cry, which doesn't happen often with games.
- Helltaker: simple yet fun, great art style, addictive music and sharply dressed demon waifus. What more can you ask?
- VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action: I had actually played this about two years ago but I revisited it this year; I streamed it to my friends over Discord and this time around I was able to really appreciate it properly. Great pixel art style, amazing soundtrack, the cyberpunk setting is very well built and the characters are all well written and relatable, especially the protagonist Jill (with whom I share some traits). I can't recommend this game enough.
- Bioshock Infinite: holy shit this game was a trip from start to finish. It kept me glued to the screen and invested in the story all the way through, to the point I played it three times in succession and enjoyed every second of it. Stunning visuals and sound design, great music, gameplay is still pretty fun despite me not being an FPS kind of guy, incredible story and characters.
- Bioshock Infinite - Burial at Sea Episode 2: this DLC took the gameplay of the main game and completely turned it on its head, shifting the focus towards stealth. The story and gameplay are a definite improvement over Episode 1, the music and visuals are amazing as usual but what really shines here is the impeccable voice acting, especially Courtnee Draper's portrayal of Elizabeth. The story is a bit obscure at first but by the end it left me in the same jawdropping awe as Infinite, and that's honestly all I needed. One bad thing about this DLC is that it unfortunately spoiled pretty much all the important plot twists of the original BioShock which I am playing currently.
- Transistor: I beat this all in one sitting, then proceeded to start New Game+ immediately afterwards. Beyond amazing visuals and music, fun gameplay with a lot of customization options, incredible story and the ending made me cry, which doesn't happen often with games.
- Helltaker: simple yet fun, great art style, addictive music and sharply dressed demon waifus. What more can you ask?
- VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action: I had actually played this about two years ago but I revisited it this year; I streamed it to my friends over Discord and this time around I was able to really appreciate it properly. Great pixel art style, amazing soundtrack, the cyberpunk setting is very well built and the characters are all well written and relatable, especially the protagonist Jill (with whom I share some traits). I can't recommend this game enough.
- Bioshock Infinite: holy shit this game was a trip from start to finish. It kept me glued to the screen and invested in the story all the way through, to the point I played it three times in succession and enjoyed every second of it. Stunning visuals and sound design, great music, gameplay is still pretty fun despite me not being an FPS kind of guy, incredible story and characters.
- Bioshock Infinite - Burial at Sea Episode 2: this DLC took the gameplay of the main game and completely turned it on its head, shifting the focus towards stealth. The story and gameplay are a definite improvement over Episode 1, the music and visuals are amazing as usual but what really shines here is the impeccable voice acting, especially Courtnee Draper's portrayal of Elizabeth. The story is a bit obscure at first but by the end it left me in the same jawdropping awe as Infinite, and that's honestly all I needed. One bad thing about this DLC is that it unfortunately spoiled pretty much all the important plot twists of the original BioShock which I am playing currently.
5 Yrs♥$✓#
churros
5 Yrs♥$✓#
1. Lonely Mountains: Downhill
2. Hades
3. Ghost of Tsushima
4. Demon's Tilt
5. Mega Man 11
2. Hades
3. Ghost of Tsushima
4. Demon's Tilt
5. Mega Man 11
9 Yrs✓#
Ninwes
9 Yrs✓#
The best game i played this year was
Dragon Age Inquisition - I had to wait a long time before i could play this unthil i had a new pc and when i finally could, it didn't disapoint :)
Dragon Age Inquisition - I had to wait a long time before i could play this unthil i had a new pc and when i finally could, it didn't disapoint :)
10 Yrs♥✓#
DAI was one of my biggest disappointments of 2019. It barely scraped by with a "good" score on the merits of its story and characters. The graphics varied between uninspired, uncanny, and straight-up ugly - particularly where elves are concerned. The combat was so monotonous, unbalanced, borrrring. Some of the worst combat I've played in a CRPG. But what really killed it for me was the open-world design. So, so many boring, repetitive fetch quests. It felt like a worse Assassin's Creed - and I dislike Assassin's Creed's open worlds.
Everyone talks about it like it's so great, even like it compares or is better than DAO or DA2, but it and Mass Effect Andromeda killed all my faith in Bioware. DAI is the reason I dread the so-called "Dragon Age 4." And for that, despite my "good" score, I hate it.
5 Yrs♥$✓#
Cock
5 Yrs♥$✓#
I completely forgot to mention Kind Words in my last post, which easily became one of the best "videogames" I've ever seen. It's not really a game in a conventional sense where you try to achieve a set goal, but it's a great gamified way of exchanging advice and support with real-life people about real-life problems. It's incredibly valuable in my opinion.
- Matt
- Matt
8 Yrs✓#
beearmy
8 Yrs✓#
If I was to rank every 10 I gave out last year it would most likely look like this:
1. Bloodborne + Old Hunters (PS4)
2. Metal Gear Solid 3 (Xbox 360)
3. Fallout: New Vegas + DLCs (PC) - Replay
4. Mass Effect 2 (PC) - Replay
5. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)
6. Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
7. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS)
1. Bloodborne + Old Hunters (PS4)
2. Metal Gear Solid 3 (Xbox 360)
3. Fallout: New Vegas + DLCs (PC) - Replay
4. Mass Effect 2 (PC) - Replay
5. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)
6. Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
7. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS)
7 Yrs✓#
ripewithdecay
7 Yrs✓#
Top 10 new releases
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
Carrion
DOOM Eternal
Ghost of Tsushima
Helltaker
ITTA
Panzer Paladin
Shantae and the Seven Sirens
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated
Yakuza: Like a Dragon
Top 10 old games
Blasphemous
Chibi-Robo!
Deadly Premonition
Mega Man Legends
Silent Hill
Tales of Vesperia
VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action
The Wonderful 101
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
Carrion
DOOM Eternal
Ghost of Tsushima
Helltaker
ITTA
Panzer Paladin
Shantae and the Seven Sirens
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated
Yakuza: Like a Dragon
Top 10 old games
Blasphemous
Chibi-Robo!
Deadly Premonition
Mega Man Legends
Silent Hill
Tales of Vesperia
VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action
The Wonderful 101
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
9 Yrs✓#
Ninwes9 Yrs✓#
For DA i don't mind the open world design it fits a little bit in the game, but DAO and DA2 are still beter then DAI, but i like it more then MEA because the open world design doesnt fit the style game imo, i like 2 and 3 more wher you get dropped and then just do your mission and then go back out.
10 Yrs♥✓#
DAI was better than MEA, for sure. I wouldn't say that the open-world hubs don't fit DA, but I thought they were superfluous and added almost nothing to the game - on the contrary, the implementation was one of my biggest issues with the game.
Actually, I prefer open world in ME more (and despite my disdain for MEA's, I think I liked it more than DAI), since that was one of my favorite aspects of ME1 :D
9 Yrs♥$✓#
schiemann
9 Yrs♥$✓#
I'm a bit late to the party, but here are my 10/10s of 2020:
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Pyre
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Pyre
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
5 Yrs♥$✓#
Siver
5 Yrs♥$✓#
DQ XI and Pyre in one list: an excellent list
10 Yrs♥✓#
I haven't run it yet, but I bought and installed it this morning...might give it a go sometime!
13 Yrs✓#
onehitkills
13 Yrs✓#
I’ve been completely addicted to Donkey Kong Bananza. It’s so satisfying coming home from work and destroying, well everything. I probably have 30+ and over 500 bananas. It’s just so satisfying.
✓
Well, so far, Red Dead Redemption 2