Gaming year in review: 2020

It’s time again for my annual gaming year in review, where I briefly review the games I played in 2020! I’m happy to say that I’ve been trying to revive my gaming hobby, so I managed to play a bit more than the past couple of years. Let’s start with my favorites, which may or may not have been released in 2020.

Favorite Single Player: Detroit Become Human

This was definitely my type of game, especially since I loved Heavy Rain, which is in a similar style. I really enjoyed the storytelling, characters, and the idea of androids questioning their purpose and striving for equality. I became really invested in the fate of these characters and how my story would go with each one. The game was kind of stressful though, so I was very glad to move onto Animal Crossing afterwards!

Favorite Multiplayer: Unravel 2

I loved the first Unravel, and Unravel 2 was just as beautiful with clever uses of yarn. The second character was a great addition that opened up more possibilities in the gameplay. The story felt more muddled this time, but the levels were fun, challenging, and really made us think about how to solve them with the two characters. A very solid co-op game, though you can play it single player too.

Favorite Indie: Children of Morta

Morta is a beautiful game about a family working together against a Corruption across the land. The pixel graphics are wonderful, and the gameplay was a mix of roguelike and action RPG. The dungeons and items were randomly generated, but you could keep progress and level up your characters between runs. I especially liked the focus on family, such that one character leveling up benefits every character in a unique way, which motivates you to try all of them.

Honorable Mention: Animal Crossing New Horizons

This game came at such a great time. Being able to escape to my own deserted island filled with cute animal neighbors was a perfect way to spend lockdown. I haven’t played an Animal Crossing game since the DS version, but I enjoyed the additions such as decorating outdoors, terraforming, and being able to move buildings. It’s been a great way to still visit and connect with friends when we couldn’t meet in person.

Now for the rest of the games I played in 2020!
(* = I beat the game. | ~ = There’s no ending, but I played a lot of it.)

3DS (1)

Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice
I’ve only finished the first case, so I’m not that far yet, but I think it’ll be interesting to have half of the cases on Phoenix Wright and the other half on Apollo. Most of it is the same familiar formula, so I’m looking forward to playing more!

PC (8)

Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag
After taking a break from this game for 2 years, I decided to return in an attempt to finish it. Well, I didn’t get much further. I still very much enjoy this style of game, and it’s one of the better Assassin’s Creeds I’ve played. However, after a while, it can get repetitive, and I think I’m just tired of this formula.

* A Way Out
I have mixed feelings on this game. On one hand, I like the return to split screen co-op and how the story was deeper than I thought. On the other, parts of the story didn’t really make sense, and the gameplay itself felt limited and not very creative. Overall, it’s a decent game, but it left me feeling like there was missed potential.

* Children of Morta
See above.

Darksiders Genesis
Unlike other Darksiders games, this is a top-down action RPG with a 2-player co-op option. One player controls Strife and the other controls War. Some of the gameplay feels familiar, but overall it plays differently than the other Darksiders games. It’s been fun so far though, and we appreciate that it’s split screen to allow more freedom in movement.

* Death Squared
This was a fun game that consists of a bunch of short puzzle levels. While some of it was pretty clever, a lot seemed to be trial and error of figuring out what the level does. It was still entertaining to fumble through them while accidentally killing each other though.

* Overcooked 2
I had a couple of big complaints about the first Overcooked – mainly that the levels were too ridiculous while the recipes were easy and that several levels weren’t well designed for different number of players. Fortunately, Overcooked 2 solved these issues, and the focus felt more on the actual cooking part instead of figuring out how to run across icebergs or lava pits. We had a lot more fun with this one!

The Escapists 2
This was a fun multiplayer about escaping prison together by learning the level and collecting items to craft. Though the different levels presented different challenges, it still gets pretty repetitive, especially since the overall strategy is mostly the same. We had fun for a bit but didn’t want to do all of the levels.

* Unravel 2
See above.

PS4 (1)

* Detroit: Become Human
See above.

Switch (3)

~ Animal Crossing: New Horizons
See above.

* Link’s Awakening
I missed this game back in its first release, so I was glad to see a remake, especially with such cute graphics. Link’s Awakening is a weird one in the series, and though it was still pretty fun, I wouldn’t put it at the top of my list in terms of Legend of Zelda games.

* Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
I started this game in 2019, but I finished it up in 2020, plus the Donkey Kong DLC. This game pleasantly surprised me, and I had way more fun with it than I thought I would. I don’t normally play turn-based games, but I thought the levels and characters were fun while still offering a good challenge.

Wii U (1)

The Wonderful 101
I really thought I’d like this game since I’ve heard many good things about it, and I also love Bayonetta. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get over how confusing the game is and how buggy it feels overall. It felt like it had too many ideas that just weren’t fully fleshed out. Definitely a disappointment.

And that’s 14 games total! I finished 8 of them, and there was an even split between single and multiplayer games (7 single, 7 multi). I’m hoping to keep this up in 2021! Happy gaming everyone!