Best Games of 2020

2020 sucked some major ass, dude. Everyone who had to deal with all the stress of it, mainly all the poor nurses who had to deal with shitty healthcare systems, will likely be gray by the time the end of 2025. We can only hope that 2021 starts to head in the right direction.

But let’s not forget about the few good things that did happen last year. Sure, the movie industry was put on hold and the few movies we got were… well, terrible. But some quality books came out and we got some nice anime, even if it was delayed. And if nothing else, we got some pretty good video games! A whole new generation of them, even!

None of which I’ll be able to talk about. Fucking scalpers out here ruining it for everyone…

Let’s focus on the positivity for now, shall we? Let’s talk about some good video games!

Doom Eternal

Doom Eternal was everything I had wanted out of a sequel to Doom 2016. It was faster, bloodier, and more intense than its predecessor in every way. Not to mention that it was so much damn harder! This game kicked my ass, even on normal difficulty!

There were a few things that kept me from truly loving it, though. For one: the boss fights weren’t all that great. The final boss was basically just a giant bullet sponge, requiring you to do nothing but shoot and dodge while hordes of enemies swarmed you all around. All the others were basically just ‘dodge and shoot’.

The multiplayer wasn’t all that compelling, either. I like the idea of two-vs-one multiplayer, but I found it about as fun as shoving a cold brick up my ass. And since most, if not all, of the extra stuff you unlock is only really used in that specific mode, at least as far as I know, it makes any reward you get in the game feel hollow. “Hooray, something I’ll never even look at!”

Still, it was a fun FPS game. It was crazy and bloody enough to be worth that price tag. It was plenty of fun!

Then along came this c***!

This dude was the single most frustrating enemy they could possibly have created. In a game all about running fast and shooting hard, controlling the pacing of the battle as you want it, this dude says “Slow down there, cowboy! I’m the conductor of this song!”

As a one-on-one boss fight, that’s brilliant! But then they made him a common enemy. One that showed up way too many times. And I have never been so annoyed at anything in my life as when I was trying to kill other demons while this dude hounded me or vice versa. Every time I consider going back to play this game, images of this motherfucker flash in my eyes and I deflate like a balloon.

Luckily, the perfect game came out to calm me down. And I get the feeling you already know what I’m talking about.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

I have a complex relationship with Animal Crossing. When I was a kid, my little brother got a copy of the original GameCube version of Animal Crossing. Each one of us, my siblings and I, had one of the four houses and we’d take turns playing it.

And by take turns I mean I spent most of the time playing it because I was a selfish little bastard.

Self-loathing aside, I loved that game. I can’t possibly count the amount of hours I poured into it. But when I tried to play other Animal Crossing games, namely New Leaf on the 3DS, they just didn’t do anything for me. So, I accepted Animal Crossing as one of those things that I loved as a kid but wouldn’t love anymore, then moved on.

Then 2020 happened. And this game came out. And our Wi-Fi Modem shut down for a whole day and I had to fix it since I was the only one of the three of us in this apartment that had lost his job. And after an extremely long twelve hours, I failed (did you know you can fight an inanimate object and lose?). Then, for some reason, the problem just fixed itself. So, out of pure blind rage that had driven me to a genuinely terrifying dark state of mind in which I contemplated taking a bath with my toaster, I decided I needed something cute to help me calm down and I bought this game.

For a while, I understood the hype. Animal Crossing finally clicked with me. It was so enjoyable that I would wake up early to play it! Shit was my jam!

For about a month and a half. Then I got bored with doing chores, grinding for bells, and talking to villagers that had no personality.

I do love Sprocket, though. He was my gym workout bro from day one.

Still, I can appreciate this game for what it was. Because let’s be real: we needed this game this year. With all the absolutely insane bullshit that had happened this year, we all needed something to keep us away from bathtubs and toasters. So I can still say, with confidence, that this is one of the best games of 2020.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake

This one was a big deal for me. Final Fantasy 7 is one of my favorite games of all time. So, when they announced this remake back when I was in high school, I was practically frothing at the mouth to get my chance to play it. For years, I waited.

Then, just when I needed it the most, it appeared.

I do have my complaints. Most of the new scenes and characters were lackluster, though some of them were welcome. This being an adaptation of all the Midgar stuff and nothing else is pretty frustrating. Not to mention the texture loading issues.

But god dammit, this game made me feel things! The combat is incredibly fun and satisfying! All the classic scenes that were properly remade, such as Cloud and Aerith meeting at the church, made me scream with delight! Shit was an absolute delight!

It ain’t the best game of the year, though. Not by a longshot. That goes to…

Hades

Yup. It’s Hades. It was never gonna be anything else.

This game’s got it all! It’s fast-paced and exciting! It’s addictive as hell! The story is absolutely incredible! Not to mention that it’s god-damn gorgeous!

Best of all: the developers actually deserve love and praise! Supergiant created a decent work environment for their employees, giving them the working conditions and respect they needed to make the game as good as it is. It is so fucking rare for any game studio to treat their employees well these days (cough cough Rockstar/CD Projekt Red/Bethesda), so these guys absolutely deserve some love for it. It’s nice to play a game that I know the developers didn’t suffer over.

At least, not much. I think some level of suffering is basically required for game development.

Conclusion

There are a lot of games that I didn’t get the chance to play this year. I never bothered to see if Last of Us 2 was as good/bad as people say. Demon’s Souls Remake, Spider-Man: Miles Morales and… whatever other next-gen games are actually worth it remains outside of my grip (fucking scalpers) for now. And the new Avengers game….

HA HA HA HA!! WHO CARES?! Five bucks says you already forgot that game exists!

Thankfully, 2021 is looking up. For many reasons, yes, but it’s partly because of all the great games that we’ll (hopefully) get! Hitman 3 is looking incredible! Deathloop looks like fun! The new Resident Evil looks mighty spooky! No More Heroes 3 is finally gonna happen! There’s even gonna be a sequel to God of War (2018) and a standalone Gollum-focused Lord of the Rings game!

Wait, what? That’s a thing? Why?