Game of the Year 2020 - Round Two

[Neon Ignition]

We're through the pre-pandemic era of the year and if anything it showed that the arrival of Coronavirus didn't see the offerings of the start of 2020 eclipse those that followed in its wake. In this second round we move deeper into the months of March and beyond from when the virus first shut down countries from all around the world as gamers continued to defeat virtual evils in their masses. It's time to review:

Game of the Year 2020
-Round Two-

We're continuing with the plan of listing each notable release throughout the year and as we get closer and closer to the end everyone should be able to give a bigger shout out to anything they find is missing but feel is worthy of contending for the title.

Round Two: Discussion
What five games from 2020 currently look to be the worst you played this year and why?

[Atticus]

This is more like it ... some crackers here. Doom Eternal might be my GOTY. Loved every second of this brutal and punishing blaster. It's metal in game form and I love it. Best of all is what the devs refer to as the 'Doom dance', when you're doing without thinking, farming the supplies you need tactically while never breaking momentum. It's a game that understands how gamers feel and how too make them feel.

Rest 3make was brill too. Yes, it's shorter than 2 but there is zero filler. It stays non-stop thrills from start to finish and the production values are dreamy. The town with all the neon signs shining in the dark is a perfect setting.

Streets of Rage 4. Don't judge a book by its cover. Couch co-op never happens in our house, much to my dismay, but this had me and my youngest enjoy many a sesh. Brilliant.

[CMcK]

Streets of Rage 4 is tremendous. Great to play, great art and a banging soundtrack. More depth than its forbears too.

[Cassius_Smoke]

I've gone for FF7 Remake, Doom Eternal (although I prefer the first), and Streets of rage 4.

[Neon Ignition]

Half-Life: Alyx
Whilst I think it proves the limitations of VR that will stop it from becoming a lasting mainstream hit, it also showcases how complete a long form experience can be as well. So many of even the best VR games keep themselves contained within a 1-3hr run time either due to budget or fear of exhausting the player but Alyx provides not just a typical length experience but also one that extends the long dormant Half-Life experience in natural way, for all intent purposes being Half-Life 3. The core gameplay loop is tad repetitive but when the overall game is so polished and effectively so unrivalled the limitations of the game pale next to its accomplishments.

Final Fantasy VII Remake
Though I imagine this game will rile core fans of the original by effectively making it an action title (effectively the reverse of Yakuza's trajectory), for me, this was a huge improvement on the original and felt like a complete experience despite only representing a portion of the full game. It looks great and given I'm not even often a fan of action combat in Square games they nailed this one, I expected little but this was a great game to go through.

Streets of Rage 4
I'm not the biggest fan of walk-along beat-em-ups. I get the nostalgic element but from being a kid through to today I've always found them to be hugely shallow games who's value was largely defined by arcades where depth didn't matter as much. That being said, I've got a lot of appreciation for the quality of this entry which is by far the best one in the series.

[kryss]

Animal Crossing New Horizons
If there was a game for the initial pandemic lockdown, this was it. Hours simply disappear while playing this, and the level of island customisation means that you could change everything constantly and still never see every design you imagine fully realised. There was a necessary level of drip-feeding content, which will continue. But having just hit 1000 hours on the game, I could not mention anything else as my GOTY.

I've really not played enough of anything to make comment elsewhere.

[fishbowlhead]

Astrobots playroom. Obviously.

[thinkitty]

What five games from 2020 currently look to be the worst you played this year and why?

Ghost of Tsushima.

A game that outstayed it's welcome long before the credits rolled. The repetitive gameplay, the pretentious story, the miserable lead characters, the ponderous NPCs, I found the experience wanting from start to finish. I did appreciate the pretty images and bold use of colour but unlike the Akira Kurosawa movies which clearly inspired the game's visuals, there was no substance to it.

[Neon Ignition]

Worst 5 games of 2020 played this year so far?


Bright Memory
Impressive in terms of the small dev scale but otherwise budget tat

Fast & Furious: Crossroads
I mean, it shouldn't be so hard to make a competent game about racing and explosions

Inertial Drift
I know this received love but it left me completely cold

Superhot: Mind Control Delete
Not awful but for some reason I didn't like this anywhere near as much as the original game

Battletoads
Just, no.

[QualityChimp]

I've played some games released this year! Woot!

Animal Crossing NH. Well, I've not played it, but my son has told me about every single detail.
Also it was really nice of [MENTION=9333]kryss[/MENTION] to let him visit and give him loads of coins.

Minecraft Dungeons. Played a bit of this with my son, but I'd recently played Diablo III, so felt a much more basic version.

Streets of Rage 4. Bloody loved this! Played through a couple of times. I'll be sad when my Game Pass expires, but would consider buying it in a sale to play again.

[MartyG]

Disappointing to see Cloudpunk isn't getting much love. It's one of the Indie gems of 2020.

But it's Half-Life Alyx that clinches it for me - truly a stand out of what VR games can and should be.

[QualityChimp]

Disappointing to see Cloudpunk isn't getting much love. It's one of the Indie gems of 2020.

I've not even heard of it, thanks Martino.