2020 Games
Games I played in 2020
List items
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[Switch]
Who'da thunk they'd actually make a legit workout game in our lifetime? I didn't think I'd see the day, yet here we are with Ring Fit: A Genuine Workout Game.
I borrowed this from a friend in February of 2020, right before it would go out of stock everywhere once the pandemic hit. Eventually it came back in stock and we picked it up going into the colder months. We've stuck to it nearly every day for a month and a half and are still really enjoying it. It's been a super positive way to get in a little or a lot of movement in during a season where we're more inclined to binge TV and food.
The content of the game is endlessly charming, full of fitness/health puns, and the story mode is a nice carrot-on-a-stick to boot.
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[Switch]
Interesting there wasn't a separate entry for Reroll, but I guess this really is just a slightly up-rezed version of the original. Much as I love the goofs and gaffs, this game is *heavy* on the text, when I just wanna get to rolling around to the amazing music. This game really shines from a UI perspective as something super unique. I love when a game bucks trends to try something different, and this game is nigh-bombastic with its trend-bucking.
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[Switch]
The Gold edition was $20, and I enjoy turn-based strategy!
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[PC - Iceborne]
Y'all know I had to be back at it again. I guess this can't be treated as a "new game" in the franchise, but may as well be. Though many areas are reused and various old monsters are made new again through Master Rank versions and alternate versions, there is more than enough fresh content to go around.
Iceborne is a great addition to an already great game, and I felt prepared going in, rather than the daunting feeling I initially had with MHW. The core of Monster Hunter is always the gameplay, and Iceborne really delivers by adding new moves to all weapons and creating new combat opportunities through the clutch claw tool. The monsters are similarly new and fun and I'm enjoying making all the new gear and creating new sets.
On top of everything, the PC version will have full parity with the console version in terms of updates by April 2020, and for that I'm thankful. It'll be way more fun to ride the hype train for updates when I know my version of the game will also get it at the same time.
This game just rules and I'm glad it's in my life. Playing with more friends than ever lately as well, and that also rules.
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[Switch - Shield]
Just before this game came out at the end of 2019, I thought I was gonna play the story, make a decent competitive team, fight a few friends, and be done. Maybe 40-50 hours at most. But it's been surprising how many of my friends have stuck with it, which has encouraged me to stick with it. The end game of this generation seems like it will continue to be added to and supported well into 2020, especially with the expansions to come. Writing this in January, but I can see this being a game I come back to all year long to tinker with my competitive team(s), catch new 'mons, and play through the new content. This still isn't a *perfect* Pokemon (will there ever be one?), but it's certainly the most fun I've had playing Pokemon in years.
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[PC-Game Pass]
Before I get into the gameplay, it's worth mentioning that this is the first game that I played with a group of friends from work for our Video Game Book Club. I was also able to play this game through Xbox Game Pass for PC, which I was thankful for for more reasons than one.
Pedro is... well it has a few things going for it. I enjoyed my time with it in the beginning, but as with any game that has a fairly singular gimmick, that gimmick gets old after enough time. In Pedro's case, that gimmick is slowing down time to more effectively shoot your way through very shooty, puzzle-like encounters. I particularly enjoy dual wielding weapons and spread eagle shooting multiple enemies at once in a 2D setting.
But between the dancing around shooting dudes, you get a bad story, copy/pasted enemies, and mediocre jokes; the funniest bit being a group of enemy LARPers who have taken to the sewers cause they were like banished for being too nerdy or something? Like I said, the humor really didn't hit for me.
I'm glad I didn't purchase this for my own library, and consider it a huge benefit of having experienced it over a subscription service.
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[Switch]
I have too many thoughts.
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[Switch]
Game numero dos for the VGBC (Video Game Book Club)! This game far exceeded the first entry in the VGBC. I really enjoyed the platforming, the detailed environments (even if they did chug on the Switch version a bit) with some genuinely puzzling and creative problems to solve. I wish the story that plays out in the background was a bit more developed or made more sense, but I enjoyed my time with this game overall.
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[PC]
Was able to access this through my pal Zack's Steam library (we both share our libraries) during the extended (and still going) quarantine of 2020 (and probably 2021). It's easy enough to share over a livestreaming solution like Discord and we've been able to play with friends numerous times online as a result. Enjoyed every game in here, but I do prefer Quiplash 2 from Jackbox 3. All around a fantastic party game.
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[PC]
I mean what is there to say about this one? It's definitely one of the strongest singular games from Jackbox, and plays great over a livestream with friends.
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[PC-Game Pass]
Game number three for VGBC, and probably the one I was most excited to play so far for the club. I'm a huge fan of roguelites, and this one ticked a lot of boxes outside of the genre for me personally:
☑ Sci-Fi fugitives on the run boarding random ships FTL map-style - check
☑ Starkly contrasted color scheme from start to finish - check
☑ Douglas Adams-inspired humour a la Hitchhiker's Guide - check
There was a lot more to dig into after I finished my main story playthrough, but the idea that there's a solid endpoint that isn't overly hard to hit was welcome for the sake of VGBC, and a bit refreshing for the genre. Some may prefer the hard-as-nails variety of Roguelike/lite, but I'm happy to have one I can actually complete once in a while.
Loved this game. Very fun.
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[Switch]
What a weird thing to have gotten so popular!!! This is exactly what it looks like - a board and card game collection made into a video game. I don't think I've ever willingly bought something like this, but the Nintendo-branded polish is really all over this thing and turned out to be extremely charming.
I'm honestly not sure if this game would have gotten the collective hype and acclaim if it had come out in a more normal period of life sans-global quarantine, but it really helped me connect with a few friends and play some low-stakes games in the process, so I'm happy it exists.
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[PC]
So... this is just one of my favorite games of recent history, and when the Switch port released, that little bit of a push into the public consciousness was all it took to suck me right back in for a few runs, which honestly take so much longer than any other turn-based game I've played. Maneuvering my agents, stealing money and goods from the Corps, stunnin' fools left and right; all of these things add up to a really great time and I basically only thought about this game for a full week and I loved every minute of it.
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[PC]
Off-brand Monster Hunter! And VGBC Vol 4. Being a recent convert to the Monster Hunter fandom, I found it really, really hard to not constantly compare Dauntless to Monhun... so that's exactly what I did! I honestly love that there's a F2P version of Monster Hunter out there that allows people on a budget to get effectively the same experience at the low, low price of free. Hard to recommend this OVER Monster Hunter if you have the choice, however.
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[PC-Game Pass]
I remember seeing the trailer for this game and immediately thinking "That's just John Carpenter's The Thing made into a game!" and, well, yup! That's what this game is, and I really dig the atmosphere, controls, and overall vibe this game has. It's like I'm just playing the monster side of a horror story and doing it in a way that's very entertaining. I love how the enemies respond with both fear and unflinching courage trying to stand up to the monster. So far it seems to be fairly easy overall, only having died a couple times, but I'm okay with it cause, well the monster SHOULD feel kinda OP, right?
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[PC-Game Pass]
I have only played a few beat-em-ups in my life, and the only one I think I've ever beaten is Turtles in Time with a pal. This one feels like a solid entry, and I really enjoyed playing through it with a friend. Nothing hugely notable for me as someone who's relatively inexperienced in the genre, but I can say it feels good, the music and art are both great, and it seems like it has some good depth which allows for some replayability.
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[Switch]
A friend got this for me for my birthday, and I sadly have not given it more time! What I've played is great - seems like a very solid experience that I look forward to finishing.
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[PC/Switch]
Too many thoughts. Blog coming soon.
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[PC]
This is a stellar release. It's still a bit unbelievable to me that aNOTHER remaster of these games actually hit the mark, where the one before it and Tony Hawk 5 were failures by all accounts.
This is a nostalgia hit like no other this year. I love it, and I look forward to continuing to play it well into next year and beyond. Fingers crossed for TH3 content!
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[PC]
I got this as a free offering from Epic Games Store a while back and always wanted to play it. It's got a very obvious influence in Thatgamecompany's Journey, and I loved Journey. Where I don't think this game is as impactful as Journey, it is still endlessly gorgeous to look at and provided a great few hours of zen and escape.
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[Switch]
I picked this up when it came out and played a few rounds. It seemed like anyone who tried this was winning either their first or one of their first rounds in multiplayer immediately after the tutorial. It was a fun romp, but I put it down after winning a couple matches.
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[PC]
I've been subscribed to Game Pass for the majority of 2020, and I don't regret any of my time subscribed. Master Chief Collection is a great cornerstone of the service, and despite the bugs I still encounter and the sort of hugeness of the collection, I really love being able to play a Halo whenever. I only really care about 1-3 for that hit of nostalgia, and I have been able to relive the glory days of taggin' and fraggin' my pals through online, cross-platform multiplayer with my friends who all have Xboxes. I honestly don't think I've had more fun with a multiplayer experience this entire year. Nostalgia is a helluva drug.
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[PC]
Okay, I don't think I woulda picked this one up on my own, but I happened upon a limited offer from Verizon to grab it for free, so I did. I started the story, and playing as Kamala Khan in the story is honestly huge, and I'll finish the story eventually, but I don't really want any part of the slapdash service game they somehow made out of this.
Would it really be so bad to just have a well-delivered story game, rather than making everything a live service game? Especially with characters who have been part of one of the most-watched stories of the last decade?
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[PC]
Played more of this with friends this year. Continues to be amazing.
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[PC]
This was the fourth game we played for VGBC, and I honestly loved my time with it. Developed by only a few people, this game is almost tailor-made for me, as it's a combination of multiple game mechanics that have come before it. Most predominant are Hearthstone (or a similar TCG) and FTL: Faster Than Light. It's got the card collecting aspect, but it's also a roguelike where you explore a map of branching paths through multiple zones in order to reach a similar ending each time. There is a lot of RNG that can really wreck an otherwise great run, but overall it feels fair. Plus, there is a lot of potential for steamrolling with the right RNG, which always feels great.
Overall, very fun, but ultimately did not hold my attention as long as I thought it would. Would play more, for sure, and it did make for some fun discussions with VGBC, which is the ideal way to play this game, I think.
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[PC]
I started this in 2020, but it's the first game for our first VGBC of 2021, so I'll save my thoughts for now. :)
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Played a few times between Christmas Eve and New Years. A great installment of Jackbox - Quiplash 4 life.
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