My Top 10 Games of 2020!

Top 10 2020

Hey everyone! First of all, want to say a happy new year to you all. 2020 has been a truly historic and challenging year for us all and collectively we have had to face some things we’ve never had to before. When you compare it to life this time 12 months ago, it almost feels like a different world.

Thankfully, there has been one particular constant that has persevered through it all to provide us with the escape we have all truly needed: video games. Not only have developers managed to finish and release games during a global pandemic but we’ve also had a new generation of game consoles in November to truly save the year for us gamers.

I’ve not played as many new games as I was hoping to in 2020 due to spendable money being at a premium in such a tough time but anyway, here are my top 10 games of 2020. It’s worth noting there are lots of games I’ve yet to play, so if they aren’t in this list I probably haven’t got round to them yet!

10

Bugsnax

I’m so glad I braved this game. I have this extremely weird phobia (which I haven’t found a name for yet) where things that come to life freak me out. This extends to things that look like other things that are alive, for example stick insects. So, as you can imagine Bugsnax is a nightmare world for me. I decided to brave it anyway (due to shiny platinums) and I’m so glad I did. It had me hooked instantly, with colourful characters and a mystery that keeps you guessing until the very end I simply couldn’t put the controller down. Yes, some of those snax are horrific looking and it borders on a horror game for me but it’s still charming and fun. I didn’t expect to love the game as much as I did and I fully recommend it to anyone.

9

Astro’s Playroom

The most disappointing game of 2020. BECAUSE IT HAD TO END. This game is an absolutely wonderful introduction to the world of PS5 and also the most fitting tribute and goodbye to all the generations that came before. Astro’s Playroom honours many of those PlayStation classics that preceded that helped make the brand what it is. The game in itself is a brilliantly designed platformer that truly shows off what the new controller is capable of. The haptic feedback and the adaptive triggers are used to perfection in an experience designed from the ground up to make you fall in love with the console. The charming environments and adorable references are littered throughout and just make the game a joy to behold. If you needed a smile due to the curse that was 2020, this is easily the best place to find it. I can’t believe we get this game for free, thank you Team ASOBI for providing us with such a beautifully crafted experience; bring on next gen.

8

9 Monkeys of Shaolin

Well, where did this come from? Like a ninja in the dark this game just hit me and I had an absolute blast with it. I hadn’t heard of it until I received it for review purposes which you can find here: https://techstomper.com/9-monkeys-of-shaolin-switch-review-to-rule-them-all/ It’s a truly brilliant game. It’s like Streets of Rage but with a Chinese twist. It has some incredibly fluid combat for a 2D beat-em-up game and the most amazing thing is that there’s some real depth to it too. The story is interesting, the humour perfect and there’s even some great RPG elements in the form of skill upgrades to work towards. The best part? You can play with a friend. I had a blast playing this with my dad, we didn’t stop playing over the course of a week just grinding away and we loved every second. I haven’t been able to play a good co-op game with my dad for a while so I appreciate the experience this game gave me to spend time with my dad playing games again.

7

Nexomon Extinction

I was aware of this game without ever being too excited about it but then I had the opportunity to do it as a review, which you can find here: Nexomon: Extinction Review - If It Ain’t Broke, Copy It - TechStomper

Yes it’s a Pokémon rip off but it actually does so many things even better than Pokemon in my opinion. The actual proper side quests are brilliant, they’re organised so you can return to them whenever you’re ready and there are some brilliantly fun quests too. The best part of the game is definitely the humour. You have a companion in the game who has some of the best, self-aware humour in any game I’ve played. It’s just incredibly fun and captures you immediately. Whisper it quietly but I enjoyed this more than Pokémon Shield.

6

Visage

I had my eye on this game for a long time. I watched trailers and gameplay multiple times, building up the excitement for a game that clearly borrowed so much from P.T. It didn’t disappoint me at all. Visage is an incredibly horrific game, one with almost unbearable tension and some truly brilliant scares. There are some moments in the game that had me turning it off as I just couldn’t bare it any longer. It has its problems but as a horror game, it’s one of the best available right now. I love horror games more than any other genre and Visage has shot straight into my favourite horror experiences of all time. Play this game with headphones if you dare, the tension is simply insane. Oh and if you want a more in-depth look into my thoughts, check out my review here: Visage (PS4) Review | GamePitt - SadSquare Studio

5

Demon’s Souls

Easily the most visually impressive game I’ve played on PS5 so far. Demon’s Souls is absolutely beautiful and a wonderful remake from those wizards at Bluepoint Games. I’ve never really dived into the Soulsborne genre like I should have, having only completed Bloodborne. Yet, when you see how tight and wonderful this game looked it was my first preorder on the PS5. It’s just a brilliant game, one that absolutely beats you into the ground but you stand back up still smiling because it’s just so fun to play. It’s a tricky task making a game so difficult but so rewarding but Demon’s Souls absolutely nails it.

4

Miles Morales

Spiderman Miles Morales is wonderful. As a big fan of the first game (other than those grindy crimes) I was very excited to see where Insomniac would take Miles. They introduce him in a beautiful way in Marvel’s Spider Man and carry that on perfectly in this game. He’s at a completely different place in his journey as Spider Man and it shows through his actions and dialogue. He has his own abilities and nuances that make him feel very different but just as fun as Peter Parker, which I didn’t expect going in. The characters you meet along the way are all interesting and voiced brilliantly and there are some top- notch action sequences along the way too. I didn’t expect the story to be as emotionally gripping as it was, especially towards the end, with some scenes playing out like something from The Last of Us. Oh, and the graphics are stunning. Snowy New York looks mesmerising, especially with raytracing turned on. Thankfully we now have a 60fps ray tracing mode which is absolutely ridiculous. Insomniac, you outdid yourselves again.

Now for the top 3!

3

Ghost of Tsushima

My surprise of 2020. I’m not sure why, considering I absolutely love Sucker Punch’s previous work, but I had some worries that this game wouldn’t turn out to be as good as I had hoped. Thankfully I was proven incredibly wrong. In any other year, this would be game of the year. The setting, the graphics, the story, the combat (oh the juicy and intricate combat) and the characters all combine to make an authentic feeling Japanese epic. Jin was my main worry about the game, I was hoping he wasn’t boring beforehand and my word he’s just exceptional. The voice acting is incredible throughout but Jin is magnificent. He’s nuanced and stays true to himself, something I value highly in a character. Tsushima has the best natural-looking environments in an open-world game I’ve ever seen and its soundtrack is simply stunning. Some of the side quests are a little lacking but overall, it’s in my top 3 of the year. Just amazing. Bring on more Jin!

2

Final Fantasy VII Remake

Okay, I hold my hands up. I’ve never played a Final Fantasy before. I know, I’m a bad gamer. I’ve heard Rob Pearson from PlayStation Access praise this game to no end and I really appreciate his opinions as a gamer but also as a writer/video presenter. Therefore, I thought I’d give this game a go as an introduction to the series and it absolutely blew me away. I didn’t expect to fall in love with the characters as much as I did as I’ve always had this sort of preconceived perception about the characters in the series but they’re brilliant. The graphics are awesome, the story is gripping but of course, the true star of the show is the combat. It absolutely has my favourite combat of any game in 2020. Its just so damn addictive. The boss fights are nothing less than epic and the smaller character moments are like something ripped straight out a heart-wrenching anime. It’s just beautiful. I can’t wait for the next part of the remake to come. Here’s to my second favourite game of 2020!

My Game of 2020 is of course…

TLOU Part 2

I mean, duh right. Kieran’s GOTY is TLoU Part 2? No one predicted that. Anyway, wherever you stand on the game, I don’t think anyone can dispute the sheer impact it’s had on gaming in 2020. With a story that not only rivals but surpasses the greatest in not just gaming, but any form of media, it gripped me even until now, as I write this on New Year’s Eve. I can’t stop thinking about my experience, the characters, the plot and what it all means for the world of The Last of Us. The gameplay, visuals and animations are all on another level to any other game I’ve ever seen. Having spend a full month on PS5, I can assure you that none of the games on that have blown me away as much as what Naughty Dog achieved with 7-year-old hardware. Its simply unbelievable. If someone told me that while I was asleep someone came and replaced my ps4 with a gaming pc to run TLoU I would absolutely believe them. Its pure wizardry. Thank you to the incredible cast, the tirelessly talented developers and of course to the ridiculously amazing Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross for providing me with this experience. It will stay with me for the rest of my life. Also, thank you for putting up with the idiocy of the internet and for staying strong through all the abuse and threats that you’ve had to endure for releasing a game that you believed in. For pushing boundaries and challenging expectations to deliver a masterpiece. Just wow. Thank you.