The 16 Best Games of 2020 (...That I Played...)

2020 was a crazy year so let's take a look back and some of the best games that helped carry us through.

Cdubya719

May.28.2021

2020 proved to be the most forgettable unforgettable year in history. That is a fact. We learned that we are all very scary to be around. The world stopped turning, restaurants stopped serving, California was burning, and we were all left yearning... for normal. We look back at 2020 with a mix of fear and awe. Fear that something so tiny, so microscopic, can affect our very humanity in a way that is completely incomprehensible. Not to sound droll but 2020 also brought us a bunch of video games and I honestly do not know what I would have done if that wasn’t the case. While our futures all became so uncertain we could rely on the medium we love the most to continue to entertain us in a world that had become a little too real. Here is my ranked list of 16 games that I played from the nightmare year that was 2020 presented from lowest to highest.

Those Who Remain is a first-person horror game developed by Camel 101. While it did not impress the way some other horror games from 2020 did it was a perfectly fine game that offered an interesting story with pretty basic animations and environments, whose story may have ended a bit abruptly. My favorite aspect of the game was the use of darkness to create a sense of foreboding.

When you play a racing game you better enjoy the racing part, which I did. There were a couple of issues here and there with the environment “grabbing” my car from time to time but the driving felt good. My beef with this game is the shallow nature of the experience. The career mode brings forth a very basic “chunk of races” to the next “chunk of races” type of progression with little pushing you forward other than knowing you will eventually run out of “chunks of races.” There just wasn’t much of a carrot to chase with this game.

This was my first go-around with Xenoblade Chronicles having missed the Wii version that released back in 2012 in the US. I had played a lot of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 on the Switch. I enjoyed the world and the story that was presented. The reason is sits so low on the list is because I never felt like I wanted to play as any of the other characters and I did not care for the combat which felt messy, poorly explained, and later in the game, needlessly complex.

I wanted to love this game, I truly did. Resident Evil 3 was my favorite Resident Evil growing up. Yes, I liked it more than 2 and 4. I know, BLASPHEMY! There was something about Nemesis stalking you that created an unease that I had never felt before in games. Not only that but I also consider Resident Evil 2 Remake my favorite RE game to date. I had exceedingly high hopes going into Resident Evil 3 Remake! Unfortunately I found myself pretty disappointed with the result. Nemesis felt more like a scripted set-piece and less like a constant threat. Overall the game felt like it could have been a DLC for Resident Evil 2 Remake given the noticeably short campaign and similar feel.

I always like the idea of survival games, but as soon as I jump in I am reminded that I am terrible at them and, for me, they are a bad idea. Sometimes though, a game appeals to me due to more than the core concept on which it is built. I had my eye on Windbound for a long time because I was very much into the art style. That art style is likely what pushed me through this game. The survival elements turned me off immediately but with the ability to adjust the difficulty to eliminate those survival gameplay elements I found a very relaxing experience that came with a repetitive game loop and a less than satisfactory ending.

I mentioned in the Those That Remain blurb that better horror games came out in 2020; Maid of Sker is one of those games. I was very into what was happening almost immediately. My immersion took a hit when I realized how simple it was to avoid the enemies though. Despite that complaint the story had me engaged to the end and it did not fall victim to a frequent problem with horror games, not knowing when to end.

Journey to the Savage Planet is a strange, hilarious journey through a unique world. Again, tagged as a survival game that, for me, got infinitely better when those elements were removed. Another experience though that I feel was too short.

I got lucky. I ended up playing the least broken version of this game on the Xbox Series X. A lot of people did not have that luxury. This game deserves the criticism it gets based on the poor performance and disastrous release. My playthrough was by no means flawless (ex. randomly launched cars, third-person camera glitches, enemies disappearing into the ground) but when it worked it was such an enjoyable experience. This game teetered on the edge of being something truly special, but instead it will live on for different reasons.

I’ve tried to get into the Amnesia series in the past. It’s hard to say why it has never clicked given my love for horror games (as is clear since more than 1/4 of the games on this list would fit that criteria). Amnesia: Rebirth hooked me though. Parts were a little slow but I found myself eager to keep pushing onward. What I found is that by the end I had experienced what I consider my favorite horror game of 2020.

Who doesn’t love a good fad?! Fall Guys took the world by storm with its Most Extreme Elimination Challenge gameplay featuring... beans. This is my favorite game on this list that I spent the least amount of time playing. My joy for this game came in those first couple of days, then it came from watching the video game community react to the game, then it was watching TimtheTatMan struggle to win his first crown which I was able to witness live! Then it was over... at least for me. For those short few weeks though, what a trip! I do not think there could have been a better time for this game to exist.

Secret of Mana is a top 10 game of all time for me. I tried playing Trials of Mana back in the day on an emulator but I never enjoyed the experience of emulating games so I just accepted the fact that it was never going to happen. Then Square Enix came out of nowhere and said “Hey. Have this.” It was a bright, beautiful trek through a world that I was nostalgic for despite having never played the original. The voice acting wore on me after a while and at times the story was a bit difficult to follow, but I still had a fantastic time!

I exist in the minority of people that consider Doom: Eternal to be the superior of the two games released since 2016. The addition of the “home base” area was something I did not know I wanted until it was there. I loved gathering the resources needed to open everything in the base. The gameplay was as tight as ever and once again Doom showed me that I have some mad gamer skills. Marauders can go away though. Screw those guys.

Anyone who knows me should be extremely proud of my restraint here. This was penned in as my number one game of whatever year it was going to release back when it was announced in 2015. The original is my favorite game of all time. While it was a truly incredible experience to see this world in such a stunning way some of the decisions made with the story left me scratching my head. I also didn’t enjoy the combat on “Normal” but switching to “Classic” helped me find a bit more balance to the combat. The story issues leave me a little leery for the direction the second installment will take but I think despite my criticisms I really enjoyed this game.

It’s hard to follow up what many consider the perfect ending to a video game. I think that The Last of Us Part 2 did an admirable job though! Introducing us to two characters and expertly manipulating the emotions felt for both throughout the game was an experience that left me holding my breath, while being angry and relieved all at the same time. Some of the issues I had with the game were related to the hand-to-hand combat and the third act which ended strong, but felt rushed and unnecessary prior to its conclusion.

I’ve never done everything in an open world game. Usually there is simply too much! For once, Sucker Punch found the perfect balance between the main story and optional content. They also absolutely stunned with the art direction creating one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. While I wish the game provided a slightly better way to target enemies, but when I adjusted, this was the best combat I’ve ever experience in a video game.

I was not even going to play Hades... I was waffling back and forth. I’ve played Supergiant stuff and heard all the praise for their other games, but not of those games really spoke to me the way they did everyone else. In the end, I decided to go for it. I am incredibly happy with my decision. This game was life-altering and opened my eyes to an entirely new genre of games. The combat was incredibly precise and each run felt like its own unique adventure despite traversing the same areas. The characters across the board are beautifully written and voiced. The biggest shock for me though was the way the story was implemented. I had almost become eager to die to learn more about what was happening back at home! What an experience!