Well, here we are. We made it to the end of 2020. An unprecedented shitty year all around but maybe, just maybe, leaving us with a bit of hope for 2021 and beyond. But I'm not here to dwell on that, other than the fact that working from home for 75% of the year left me with a lot of time to play video games. So it was fairly hard to wittle this list down to 11, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. So let's get to it.
11. American Truck Simulator (PC)
A game you would never think could be fun. But dammit if I didn't find a lot to love about driving around the American West during the early days of the pandemic when everything was shut down. It took me back to playing an old truck driving computer game called CrossCountry USA in elementary school which was partially responsible for fostering my love of geography. The amount of work that went into recreating the landscape is truly impressive, from epic scenery like the Grand Canyon or Pacific Coast Highway down to local highlights like the New Mexico Rail Runner or that pyramid-shaped Marriot off I-25 in northern Albuquerque. I'll never play this game with a driving wheel and foot pedals and managing a giant trucking empire though that's there for you if you want it. I just like road tripping and seeing shit, something I didn't get to do in 2020. But I'll continue to do so in this game as it continues to expand across America.
10. Fire Emblem Warriors (3DS)
My 3DS still has some life left in it but due to my commute being erased for most of the year I didn't play it much. Therefore this is the only 3DS game to make an appearance this year. I've dabbled in a couple "musou" style games before but didn't get heavily into them due to 1) the repetitive nature of killing thousands of enemies and 2) the frustration of failing an entire mission because you didn't get somehwere on the map fast enough. FE Warriors pretty much fixes the #2 by letting you issue commands to all of your active units in a nod to the strategy series, a feature that should seriously be in all musou games. That fix only made #1 less annoying and even, combined with the character growth aspects, fairly addictive. It won't win any awards for deepest gameplay or best story, but it's a fun tribute to Fire Emblem and a good way to blow off steam when you don't wanna think too much.
I don't mix board games and video games too often, as I usually think they're best when sticking to their "native territory," so to speak. So I didn't know how much I would like this deck-building roguelike going in, but it ended up becoming one of my most addictive gaming experiences of the year. I don't care for many roguelike, but the fact that it's a card game, and if you were playing a real card game you'd be starting from scratch every time anyway really helps get over the roguelike hump (plus there are bits of permanent progression like unlocking new cards that you can get into your deck). The card powers are so smart, balanced, and interesting, and really take advantage of the digital format, enabling you to manipulate your deck and the game in ways that would not be possible with physical cards (or at least, not with a deck of less than something like 1,000 cards). Recommended for any card players who need a fix in between matches with humans - I think it's on basically every system.
8. Tom Clancy's The Division 2 (PS4)
My guilty pleasure of the year, as I don't usually take for military-style shooters with a big dose of "yeah fuck em up" patriotism. I even tried the first Division last year and found it way too hard. But for some reason this one was way more manageable, and the cover-based shooting, the loot system, and the familiar DC setting really drew me in. I mean, fighting your way through the Air and Space Museum is just cool. Of course, the backdrop of "hey, there's a nasty pandemic that has sent society off the deep end and you have to kill a bunch of people who may or may not be really evil" might understandably be a bit too much for some in 2020, but it was a good stress reliever for me in the weeks following the election when my head canon was that all the bad guys were right-wing militia types. This might even be higher on the list if not for some problems with respecting the player's time - the main missions are often way too long and, due to its online nature, don't let you save mid-mission. Even in a year when I had more time to kill than usual, that was frustrating at times. But if you can get over those hurdles, it's a fun time.
7. Greedfall (PS4)
Greedfall is a game I have a lot of respect for because it's a lower-budget euro-RPG that finally gets most everything right. A perfect example of a game fulfilling the cliches of "better than the sum of its parts" or "has a lot of heart." Euro-RPGs tend to be pretty janky with awkward controls and can be a bit obtuse. Greedfall controls fine, is pretty straightforward, and the small amount of jank can be a bit charming, a reminder of its indie roots. The highlight is the colonial-era setting, fairly uncommon in RPGs, bathed in the colors and foliage of autumn - there is no better non-horror game to play in the fall. The combat and exploration are good and the character progression is interesting if not the deepest. The weaknesses are the story which is nothing memorable and the characters which are mostly Very Serious and lack personality. But it is just a fun, laid-back time and I hope this studio (Spiders) continues to build on its success as it seems to learn more with each game it puts out.
6. Assassin's Creed Origins (PS4)
After a lot of trying, an Assassin's Creed game finally broke into my list, and all they had to do was turn it into mostly an RPG and make the stealth pretty much optional. I also rejoiced when I saw you could adjust the difficulty, as I figured I could move down to easy if I needed, but then played the entire game on normal or even hard. The star of the show here is definitely the recreation of Cleopatra-era Egypt, when Alexandria was one of the greatest cities in the world and the pyramids were already ancient. The amount of detail and craft that went into creating the world is truly impressive and makes it intriguing to see what's around the next corner or cliffside. The combat, loot, and fairly simple crafting systems work well together and I appreciate that you won't completely fill out the skill tree (unless you play the DLCs). The story is fine but not spectacular, pretty standard revenge tale. In the end this game deserves credit for finally winning me over to Assassin's Creed - a series I was always drawn to due to the historical settings but could never get over the gameplay hump - and I look forward to trying out AC Odyssey, which I hear steers even more into RPG territory.
Arkane Studios' Prey is very clearly inspired by classic first-person immersive sim/shooter games like System Shock, BioShock, and Deus Ex. The result is the creation of Talos I, a moon-orbital space station that became my favorite video game environment to explore every inch of since the original BioShock. In fact the art design and general vibe of the game is very much "what if Rapture survived and built a space station." I don't want to give away much more of the story and setting since uncovering them is absolutely the best part of the game and worth if if you enjoy any of those other titles. Like other immersive sims there are multiple ways to grow your character and approach problems, such as shooting, hacking, and some pretty unique psychic powers. I enjoyed my time on Talos I so much Prey was almost higher on this list, but unfortunately it really falls flat towards the end. In the final few hours you stop exploring intriguing new sections of the station and instead have to run back and forth among areas you've already been to in order to accomplish various tasks, accentuating the long load times, and that's capped by an ending that tries way too hard to be shocking and ends up being unbelievably dumb (no matter which way you go with it). It's a shame because everything prior to that point is gold-star material.
4. The Outer Worlds (PS4)
If you've read any of my lists over the past 8 years you know I'm a sucker for Obsidian RPGs, and The Outer Worlds is no exception. I wouldn't rank this as high as Pillars of Eternity 2 or Fallout New Vegas in the Obsidian body of work, but it's still a really good "one of those" games. As usual, the stars are the writing and interacting with the various colorful characters you meet along the way (the folks at Spiders should really learn something from that). The corporate parody/space opera setting has been done elsewhere before, but given that this is probably as close to a Firefly video game that we'll ever get, it's worth a dive if space westerns are your thing. I also appreicate that it's not overly bloated and 100 hours long, which actually makes it feasible that eventually I'll replay it with a very different character (I want to see how playing a dumb character supposedly changes dialogue options). Obsidian may be under the Microsoft umbrella now, but I hope they don't forget their roots and keep churning out great RPGs.
3. Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4)
It finally happened. FF7 was never my favorite Final Fantasy, so I wasn't dying for a remake like so many others were, but I was certainly curious enough to give it a go when it came out. And given that Midgar was easily my favorite part of FF7 - a revolution at the time (1997) that you could spend 6 hours in a single city in an RPG before heading out into the world - this first part of a god-knows-how-many parts remake had a lot of appeal. And I wasn't disappointed. Easily the best looking and sounding game I played all year - bringing both Midgar and the classic Uematsu soundtrack to life with unmitigated success. They expand the story in smart ways, with a lot more attention given to the members of Barrett's crew, and the meta-narrative in which the game metaphorically addresses fans' expectations of an FF7 remake is very cool and unexpected. The combat takes some getting used to, but once you realize that you are still responsible for all of your characters' actions, you come to see this is the best blend of turn-based and real-time combat ever put into a JRPG. The game is only held back by its dungeon/level design, which is just ok and too linear at times. Hopefully the next parts of the remake - if they happen - open things up a bit. But frankly, even if this is all we ever get for an FF7 remake, I would be plenty satisfied.
2. Bloodborne (PS4)
2020 was the year I finally broke into Souls-like games, after dipping my toes into them a few times and always getting discouraged. I guess anything's possible given the time bestowed by a quarantine. Bloodborne was the 2nd such game I finished (slight spoilers for #1), so it didn't hook me into the genre, but I quickly came to appreciate what it was doing. I love the Gothic-to-Lovecraftian horror atmosphere, so evocative, moody, and mysterious. The combat is very satisfying and I think a bit more manageable than actual Dark Souls. The trick weapons are fun to mess around with even if I ended up mostly sticking with what worked. Ultimately Bloodborne doesn't quite top the list because at times it's a little too mysterious (frequently had to consult guides on what items did or where to go next), which I know is anathema to Soulsborne purists, but hey, it's my list.
1. Nioh (PS4)
And here we are. The game I liked enough to beat my head against it until I broke through. Why did this one work for me when previous other attempts (from the actual Souls series) failed? Three reasons I think. One, the combat is faster and smoother, I love love love it. Two, the addition of loot meant that I was always finding something that I got to keep after I inevitably died, which lessened the pain of losing my souls (here, amrita). Three, breaking the game into separate main missions really emphasized the accomplishment of completing one. The setting of shogun-era Japan plus oni and other demons from Japanese folklore is also really cool and kept me wanting to see the next area. It's probably one of the most challenging games I've ever played, but also one of the most rewarding, just out of a sheer sense of accomplishment. In a year when it was hard to feel accomplished about anything, that was often enough.
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