We’re back with Part 2 of this look back on all the games I played in 2020! Yesterday we went through the first half of the list in Part 1, so be sure to check that out first if you haven’t already. Let’s not waste any more time though and get right to the rest of the list!
Super Mario 3D All-Stars
Super Mario 3D All-Stars is a collection that I definitely would not have gotten when it first came out if it wasn’t for the fact that Nintendo is doing a real weird, limited time release situation with the game. I probably would’ve waited until some time down the road to pick it up, but when Nintendo puts a deadline on something like this, I guess I have to get it ASAP in order to avoid dealing with scalpers. All that being said, I actually haven’t played it much. When it comes to the three games in the collection, I’ve only ever played a bit of Super Mario 64 in the past, I’ve never played Super Mario Sunshine, and I almost beat Super Mario Galaxy back on the Wii, so I have very fond memories of that game.
That’s the game I opted to play around with in the collection. Though there is an ability to play the game without motion controls, it’s a game that clearly benefits from using them. Plus I like them anyway, since that’s how I remember playing the game. Reliving the opening levels of the game and hearing the iconic theme song was like transporting me back to when I was 12-years old. Galaxy is an amazing game and I’ll definitely go back to finish it in between other games. And at some point, I’ll get around to Sunshine and 64 as well.
Persona 5 Royal
I mean what I’m about to say with every single fiber in my being. Persona 5 Royal is one of my top three favorite games of all time. This is a game that has managed to surpass Kingdom Hearts II on my list, a game that was my all time favorite for over a decade, and is in competition with God of War (2018) for my favorite game of all time. It is simply a masterpiece of a video game and it’s my favorite game of 2020. Ever since the original Persona 5 came out in 2017, I had heard great things about the game and was intrigued by the game’s style, music, and gameplay. The only thing was that I knew the game was a major time sink, and I just didn’t think I would have the time to play it. Plus I was afraid I would be overwhelmed by the time based nature of the game. Then I heard that Royal was going to be coming out and decided I would wait for that before playing since that would be the definitive version of the game. And my god am I happy that I waited.
Literally everything about this game is simply impeccable. The turn-based combat is without a doubt the best I’ve experienced in a video game thanks to how dynamic and strategic it is. I believe that the best combat systems are the ones that make you excited to get into fights, and Persona 5 Royal more than succeeded in that regard. The music is infectious, seeping its way inside your head and setting up camp there because it’s so catchy. From the exciting opening song “Colors Flying High,” the blood pumping battle themes “Take Over” and “Rivers in the Desert,” and the electrifying heist song “Life Will Change,” to the relaxing “Beneath the Mask,” and the simply beautiful “I Believe,” every single one of the songs in this game is a certified banger that gets you in the just the right mood for any occasion. I listen to this game’s soundtrack every single day because it’s just that good.
Then there’s the characters. Each of the characters in the game is so well written and realized that I couldn’t help but like every single one of them. Even the villains in the game that I hated for the things that they did were people that I couldn’t help but like as characters because of how they’re portrayed. Your confidants and their stories were all interesting and made me want to help them and see where things went with them. And then there’s your main crew of Phantom Thieves. Every single one of them is such a memorable character that I fell in love with. Yes, even the ones that I wasn’t able to spend too much time with (sorry Yusuke, Haru, and Futaba!).
This all leads into the story. Persona 5 Royal tells a story of rebellion. One where you fight back against the corruption in the world and work to reform society. It’s also a story about taking control of your own life and deciding what you want from it. Playing the game from April to November of this year, it’s a story that mirrored the real world in a lot of ways, making the story hit just that much harder. The trials and tribulations that you go through with your friends in the game just bring you closer to them and help cement your bond as not just close friends, but as family. I truly felt like these were characters that I knew and would go to the ends of the Earth for. So much so that once I reached the end of the game, I was so sad that I had to say goodbye to everyone that I started crying. I didn’t want to leave them and say goodbye to the game, but after over 100 hours, it was time to wrap it all up.
Persona 5 Royal may not be Game of the Year for 2020. I fully believe that The Last of Us Part II is a landmark game that does many fantastic things, making it deserving of the title “Game of the Year.” It’s also up there as one of my favorite games of all time; probably in my top ten. But it’s not a game that I find myself wanting to play again and again. I didn’t want to start up a new game of it as soon as I finished it. It’s the best game of the year, but it’s not my favorite game of the year. That honor goes to none other than Persona 5 Royal.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
This year I had a very weird relationship with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. I liked the game’s multiplayer overall. The maps were cool, the game looked great, and the weapons handled incredibly well. But I also got so freaking frustrated and annoyed with this game whenever I played it. It didn’t help things that playing it basically became a job for me as I tried to complete the Battle Pass for each season. Once it hit August, I just kind of had to stop playing the game to try and complete the Battle Pass. I took a step back from it and only played if I really felt like it, and instantly my mood became so much better. It’s a shame too because like I said in my review, the game is great at its core, but there are just a number of frustrating elements that keep it from being as great as it truly could be.
Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory
In addition to DLC for Kingdom Hearts III, we also got a brand new game with Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory. It was a rhythm game that took place after KHIII, with Kairi recounting the events of the series so far as she tries to find out where Sora is. Ultimately, the game was good, but not something I would recommend to everyone. The new story details that are presented are given at the very end of the game, and while what little that’s here is exciting, I don’t know if I’d say it’s enough to warrant a full price purchase for those who aren’t the most diehard fans of the series. I enjoyed my time with the game, but I haven’t gone back to it since I finished it and I honestly don’t know if I will.
Astro’s Playroom
As you can guess by this game’s inclusion on the list, yes, I do indeed have a PS5! Astro’s Playroom was the first thing I played on my new system since it comes preinstalled on every console, and boy was I not ready for this game to be as good as it is. From the outside looking in, the game may seem like it’s just a tech demo for the new DualSense controller. While that’s partially true, it’s also a genuinely great and charming game in its own right. Levels are designed in very smart and clever ways that help show exactly how the DualSense is going to make playing games on the PS5 a real next-gen experience, but they also feature some fun platforming gameplay as well. That’s not even to mention all the ways in which the game pays tribute to the history of PlayStation hardware and software. It’s truly a great game that everyone who owns a PS5 needs to play. Don’t pass this one up!
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Next on my PS5 game list is none other than Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. A shorter game than 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man, I’ve seen some people on the internet label this as just DLC being sold for $50. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Miles Morales is a full game that tells its own story, and it’s actually a far better game than its predecessor. I thought that Marvel’s Spider-Man was an amazing game, but Miles Morales blows it out the water. Thanks to its shorter length, the game is more focused. It tells a tighter, more personal story for Miles, giving him room to grow and become his own hero. There’s not as much side mission fluff here (not like there was much in the first game), with it all tied back to the main story in some way, shape, or form. The combat is similar to how it was in the previous game, but Miles’ fighting style combined with his new Venom abilities give combat a whole new sense of excitement and dynamism that makes fighting far better than before. And the game is also a looker! I played in the Fidelity Mode with 4K and ray-tracing, and boy was this game beautiful. They’ve recently added a mode that allows you to play at 60 fps with ray-tracing on, so you can bet I’ll be doing that for my New Game Plus run.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Continuing the trend of having a weird relationship with Call of Duty, here comes Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. This game had me feeling trepidatious just from playing the Beta, and the full game didn’t do much to get rid of that feeling. The campaign is actually very short by series standards, but it does try to do some new things. Letting you create a character and give them perks is neat, and being able to participate in side missions in order to fully uncover the mystery at the center of it all is a cool way to make the story a bit deeper than it actually is. But ultimately, I didn’t find myself all that interested in the story itself. If you do only the main missions, you could probably finish it in about two or three hours, with that time doubling if you do the side missions. I also played on Veteran difficulty and was surprised by just how easy the game was, something that’s normally never the case on that difficulty.
Then we get into the multiplayer which is just a step down from Modern Warfare. Weapons don’t have the same punch as they do in last year’s game, sounding and feeling much weaker than they should. Maps are back to the classic three-lane design which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I’m just not really the biggest fan of any of the maps here in this game. There are also not a lot of maps here in the game, something that’s very disappointing. The new Scorestreak system is just boring and complicated for the sake of it. Quickscoping is ridiculously easy, making it very frustrating for someone like me who hates playing against quickscopers. And there’s also the fact that the game is a graphical step down from Modern Warfare. Admittedly I haven’t played Zombies yet, but I probably won’t since I haven’t been a fan of the mode for a while now.
Overall, I see this game as being just a rush job. The game had development issues, causing Treyarch to take over development last year. Instead of doing the smart thing which would be to let Modern Warfare have a second year all to itself, Activision wanted a new game this year, so what we got was Black Ops Cold War. When you take the development issues into account, along with the pandemic, it’s just so clear why this game ended up the way it did. I’ve already stopped playing it, though I still have it on my system in case I ever get a hankering to play some multiplayer. I probably won’t though. At least now I can focus on other games in my backlog for the next year.
Demon’s Souls
Let me preface this by saying that I’m not a Souls player at all. I tried Bloodborne a few years ago and couldn’t get past the first area. But damn did Demon’s Souls look so freaking good. For that reason (and the fact that Destruction All-Stars got delayed and moved to PS Plus), I just had to get it at launch. Now I haven’t played much of the game. In fact, I’ve only played an hour of it. I will say though that I like the game so far and do intend to try and see it through to completion. Other games have taken over right now, but once I have time to jump back in to the world of Boletaria, you can bet that I will!
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Oh Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. I’ve had this game since it came out in 2018, but never got around to playing it due to its massive length and other games taking precedence. I finally started it this year and gosh has it been a bit of a journey. For the first 30 hours of this game, I was not the biggest fan of it at all. The story wasn’t that interesting, the gameplay wasn’t that fun, and the world was just far too big and overwhelming. But once I reached a specific point in the story (which I won’t spoil), it started to actually grab me. Now I’m slightly more interested in the story, but not too much more than I was before. The gameplay also still frustrates the mess out of me for a number of reasons (lack of stealth importance, being punished for getting into fights through the bounty and mercenary systems, random citizens joining fights for no reason). But I do find myself liking the game more now at hour 45 than I did before. I’m working my way towards finishing it and then I’ll go into Valhalla. I don’t intend to do the DLC for this game because I just don’t have the time or drive to, so I’ll just look up whatever story stuff it contains so that I’m up to date. Hopefully I like Valhalla more than I’ve liked this game so far.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate keeps on trucking with new characters and I’ve liked them all for the most part. Min-Min was a fun new addition to the cast, while Steve from Minecraft still boggles my mind with his inclusion and playstyle. Sephiroth is the latest fighter to join the roster and I’m liking how he plays. Sure he may greatly reduce Sora’s chances of ever joining the game, but I’m not mad at him being in the game at all. He also has the best character reveal trailer in the series, so that’s also a point for him. Just give me Sora Sakurai! That’s all I ask for!
Cyberpunk 2077
No game more than Cyberpunk 2077 has made me so angry and conflicted while playing it. Thinking about how shady CD Projekt Red was in regards to the console versions of the game just upsets me so much that it makes me feel guilty playing it since I’m able to have a relatively smooth experience on my PS5 because of backwards compatibility. I play the game and start to have some fun, but then I drive around and the streets empty, with characters and vehicles basically nonexistent, and textures and assets taking some time to load in. A fight breaks out and the enemy AI is so terrible that fighting them is actually pretty boring. The many systems that the game has are overwhelming and poorly explained to you, with the game just throwing you into the deep end and expecting you to learn a lot yourself.
After close to 20 hours in the game, I’m tempted to stop playing whenever I think about these things and just wait for the official next-gen version. But I don’t for two reasons. The first being that I won’t want to replay all this old stuff again just to get to stuff I haven’t seen when I could just finish it now. The second reason is that underneath all of the issues, there is a good game here. When I’m just walking around in Night City (and people are actually around), I’m immersed in the world and am amazed by what CD Projekt Red created. The story took some time to get its hooks in me, but it has me. The characters are interesting and I like them a lot. Cyberpunk 2077 has a lot of potential that’s greatly held back by its many issues. And it’s that potential there that keeps me playing it.
Beat Saber
For Christmas I was gifted an Oculus Quest 2, something that I’ve always wanted but never had the money or drive to get for myself. But when I got it, I knew exactly what game I wanted to play first. And that game was none other than Beat Saber. This game has always appealed to me, so being able to play it for myself was exciting. And I have to say, that Beat Saber is one of the most fun games that I have ever played. Swinging the controllers around like they’re actual swords is such a cool and empowering feeling. Doing it to the rhythm of the songs just dials that feeling up to 11, especially on some of the harder difficulties. This game is also a major workout! I played it for a few hours the other day, and it left my arms sore the following day. I’m not complaining though because it was totally worth it. This is definitely a game that’ll be staying on my Quest forever.
Echo VR
Coming in at the final hour is Echo VR. This is a full body, sport VR game where you float around in a Zero-G environment and try to toss a disc into the opposing team’s goal. I haven’t played an actual match in the game yet, but I’ve done some of the tutorial stuff and practiced moving around in the matchmaking area to get a feel for how the game controls since it’s a very different VR experience from Beat Saber. So far though, I like what I’ve played. It seems like it could be very fun and get pretty intense in matches when you’re spinning around, trying to toss and catch the disc, while also maneuvering around teammates and opponents. I definitely plan to spend more time with this game. It hasn’t made me motion sick yet, but more time will be needed to see if this game affects me that way.
And with that, we’ve made it to the end of the list! It’s been quite a year for me and gaming, and it’s looking like 2021 is going to be an even better year. Not only are there games in my backlog that I need to get through, but there are also all the other new games coming out next year such as Persona 5 Strikers, Horizon Forbidden West, and God of War: Ragnarok. Who knows what other games will be announced?
Anyway, what did you think of the games I played this year? Let me know in the comment section below and share some of the games that you got play as well. Let’s get a conversation going, and I’ll see you all in 2021!
TheComfySpot 