XboxEra Community Game of the Year - Post your lists!

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Welcome to the XboxEra
Community Game of the Year Awards
The year 2020 has now, finally, left the building. This means we can look back at the games we’ve played and enjoyed. To celebrate the year 2020 in gaming we’ve created a XboxEra Community Game of the Year Awards vote. At XboxEra we enjoy all platforms and all games. So, all platforms are eligible. If you enjoyed an amazing Stadia exclusive, include it in your list!

Everyone can nominate 10 games. Number 1 on your list will receive 10 points and number 10 will receive 1 point.

The rules

  • Original release in 2020 (So no late PC ports or late Xbox ports. Sorry.)
  • No Remasters
  • No early access titles
  • No re-releases
  • Expansive expansions are allowed (Hivebusters, Beyond Light, Call of Duty Warzone, etc.)
  • For best ongoing game only games are eligible which have had significant updates in 2020. Titles include No Man’s Sky, The Elder Scrolls Online, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Sea of Thieves, Fortnite, etc.
  • Best publisher can be any video game publisher which has released a game in 2020.

The list

  • 1:
  • 2:
  • 3:
  • 4:
  • 5:
  • 6:
  • 7:
  • 8:
  • 9:
  • 10:
  • Best Ongoing Game:
  • Best Publisher:

Oh, and we’d love to see some explanations why you’ve picked what you’ve picked. It’s fun to read! And it’s fine to only do a Top 5, Top 3 or Top 8 if you haven’t played 10 games in 2020 which you liked!

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We’ll be posting our Staff Top 30 this week. We cheated a little in that list… but I’m sure you guys and gals won’t mind… :wink:

Now, get your lists in! And tell us why you loved the games you loved!

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  • 1: Doom Eternal
  • 2: Ori and the Will of the Wisps
  • 3: Ghost of Tsushima
  • 4: Carrion
  • 5: The Last of Us Part II
  • 6: Gears 5 Hivebusters
  • 7: Gears Tactics
  • 8: Call of the Sea
  • 9: Tell Me Why
  • 10: Minecraft Dungeons
  • Best Ongoing Game: Rocket League
  • Best Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
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  • 1: Ori and the Will of the Wisps
  • 2: Spiritfarer
  • 3: Deep Rock Galactic
  • 4: F1 2020
  • 5: Crusader Kings III
  • 6: Iron Harvest
  • 7: Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
  • 8: Minecraft Dungeons
  • 9: Gears 5 Hivebusters
  • 10: Tell Me Why
  • Best Ongoing Game: Sea of Thieves

While 2020 wasn’t the best year of Sea of Thieves content wise (2019 beats it), the growth the game has seen is impressive. And it has been my go-to lockdown game together with Deep Rock Galactic. This game is in for the long haul.*

  • Best Publisher: Codemasters

Easy options here would’ve been Microsoft, Sony or Paradox. But I’ve went with Codemasters as I think they’ve smashed it with both F1 2020 and DiRT 5.*

Co-op and multiplayer has mostly dominated my games this year. The biggest disaster, and my most played game, was Warcraft 3 Reforged. I love that game, but it’s a mess. Meanwhile Spiritfarer and Ori have shown me games can be more than shooting guns and racing cars. Beautiful pieces of art.

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  • 1: Ori & the Will of the Wisps
  • 2: Hades
  • 3: Wasteland 3
  • 4: Marvel’s Avengers
  • 5: Animal Crossing: New Horizons
  • 6: Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath
  • 7: XCOM: Chimera Squad
  • 8: Gears Tactics
  • 9: Star Renegades
  • 10: Deep Rock Galactic
  • Best Ongoing Game: Monster Hunter World
  • Best Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
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Don’t forget to explain your choices! :wink:

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Soooo Sea of Thieves is eligable? Kinda cheaty :smiley:

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  1. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2
  • There’s something particularly great about the Tony Hawk franchise is that you could argue the franchise was perfected with the release of THPS2. (Personally I’m a fan of THPS3). Fans of the franchise argue that the series jumped the shark with the introduction of reverts, spine-transfers, natas-spins, wall bouncing etc. yet I couldn’t possibly imagine playing Tony Hawk without those divisive mechanics included in the experience. That’s exactly what Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 did, and in-turn amplified what is already a perfect video game experience. Like Pac-Man Championship Edition, Ghosts N Goblins Ultimate and Tetris Effect, this is undeniably the greatest skateboarding experience to release.
  1. DOOM Eternal
  • Everything involved with DOOM Eternal will immediately click and the game refuses to compensate for your displeasure in its mechanics. It’s a bold doubling down of everything that worked properly in it’s previous game back in 2016, standing as one of the deepest single player FPSes of all time. It’s a love letter to DOOM, a love letter to action games like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta. Everything about it, the level design, the enemy design, the fact that the game just decides to be a 3D platformer for a good 20 minutes or so AND that the 3D platforming can be so masterfully tuned that you’re asking for more. The sawed-off has a goddamn grappling hook and you can do hard drifts around Mancubus, how can you NOT like this game.
  1. Hades
  • I’m immersed into the stylish Greek mythos that comes with Hades — from the fact that the sigil of the underworld is Hades’ beard for some reason, the tension you could cut with a knife between main character Zagreus and his underworld adversaries Megaera and Thanatos, to the charming nooks and crannies of the underworld halls. Hades accomplishes what even few AAA experiences can do; introduce life and a breath of fresh air within every individual level you can think of.
  1. Granblue Fantasy Versus
  2. Ni-Oh 2
  3. Legends of Runeterra
  4. Gears Tactics
  5. Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of An Elusive Age
  6. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
  7. Streets of Rage 4

Best Ongoing Game: Apex Legends

  • While the first year of Apex Legends is meant to establish the groundwork of what this game and brand is going to be for the forseeable future, the second year of Apex Legends is a challenge of answering criticisms the game has faced from Titanfall faithful and avid Battle Royale fans. Within the span of several seasons Apex Legends has an incredibly well-thought out narrative that encourages daily players to get immersed in through it’s narrative-focused ‘Quest’ activity pass, that unlocks bits and pieces of a comprehensive storyline that fleshes out it’s already impressive class and character designs. Couple that with a flawless Steam release AND Cross-Play, there’s little question that Apex is the gold standard for a GAAS title and an ongoing experience.

Best Publisher: Activision Blizzard

  • This is arguably the best year ActiBlizz has undertaken in quite sometime and miraculously it doesn’t involve Call of Duty that much. The release of the record shattering Warzone was just another metal on the notch for the divisive publisher who has effectively revitalized long dormant, tarnished IPs (by their own accord) with the releases of Crash 4 and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2. Despite the blemish of Warcraft III: Reforged, Blizzard has once again delivered a record-breaking WoW expansion in Shadowlands. While other pubs struggled during the epidemic, Activision continues to attest why they’re the best in the business.

–

My full GOTY thoughts here: A GOTY list for 2020. There’s something about this year that… | by Silky Holidays! | Dec, 2020 | Medium

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Opting for things I played last year and released last year.

  1. Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Art in motion. Beautifully executed story, characters and gameplay.

  1. Ghost of Tsushima

F-U-N FUN! This is a no nonsense action game with great characters, action, visuals, music and a fun story.

  1. Microsoft Flight Simulator

A stunning accomplishment all around. This game is absolutely unparalleled in scope and execution. Technically the best game of the year, but I had more fun with the other two mentioned.

  1. Outer Worlds Peril on Gorgon

It’s more of my 2019 GOTY and it’s every bit as good, just in a smaller package.

  1. Gears Tactics

Nails the Gears side, nails the tactics side. Great challenging fun.

  1. Animal Crossing New Horizons

A godsend during the blasted first lockdown.

  1. Astro’s Playroom

A genuine delight from start to finish. Loved platinuming.

  1. Gears 5 Hivebusters

The best Gears campaign ever. If this was full length and was every bit as well paced, it’d be GOTY. It’s just too short to put in top 5.

  1. Sinkr

A delightfully puzzling puzzler with a zen like aesthetic.

  1. Tell Me Why

Emotionally affecting and gorgeous.

11! :slight_smile: Bleeding Edge

Love it. Would be 10 if the support didn’t die off.

Publisher of the Year: Xbox Game Studios

Sony had the “bigger/better” year in terms of Metacritic and what not, but XGS’ output was able to satiate most of my tastes in a way other first parties and even third party conglomerates just don’t.

Best Ongoing Game: Forza Horizon 4. How a game launched close to perfect and just got better is beyond me. Going from GOTY to GOTG.

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Nah, not for GOTY. Only for Ongoing Game. The jury has decided it’s not qualified for expansive expansion. Games included in that category are Beyond Light, Hivebusters, Miles Morales ( :wink: ) and Warzone for example.

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Is the Kingdom Hearts Collection allowed? I mean it was basically the first time on xbox this year but this also goes into remaster direction hmmm

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Doing a top 5 instead of a top 10 since I have barely played any new releases this year:

  • 1 - Yakuza: Like a Dragon - Absolutely loved this game. It’s been a while since I had last played a turn-based RPG, and I highly enjoyed the gameplay. The narrative is amazing as well, making it one of my favorite recently released games, and my favorite of 2020.
  • 2 - Ori and the Will of the Wisps - Another amazing game released this year. It’s become my favorite platformer ever. This game has the best art style I have ever seen in a videogame, along with fun combat, great platforming, and a fantastic soundtrack.
  • 3 - Gears 5 Hivebusters - It was a bit on the short side, but it was a fun, action-packed ride the whole way through. Playing it at 4K 60FPS with HDR and Dolby Atmos was an amazing experience. Great work by the Coalition.
  • 4 - Deep Rock Galactic - Very fun game in which I had a blast playing on co-op.
  • 5 - Gears: Tactics - It was my first XCOM-like game, and I surprisingly liked it. I think it dragged on a bit too long, but overall I liked it, especially the gameplay.
  • Best Ongoing Game - Phantasy Star Online 2 - Don’t think it would count as a new release so I’ll put it here instead. Good MMO that I’ve put a lot of hours into. Very excited for New Genesis next year, I think it’ll be even better.
  • Best Publisher - SEGA - I’ve put so many hours in PSO2 and Yakuza LAD this year, so this is a pretty obvious choice for me. I liked some of their other releases like Two Point Hospital on consoles and Yakuza 0, 1, and 2 on Xbox. They’ve also released many other well-reviewed games like Sakura Wars and Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 this year. I’d buy Sakura Wars if it came to Xbox for sure. The Atlus side also had a very strong year with Persona 5 Royal and 13 Sentinels. Again, I would buy them if they were on Xbox, but sadly that is not the case.
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My top 7

1: Yakuza Like a Dragon

2: Crash 4 it’s about time

3: Ori & The Will of the wisps

4: Streets of Rage 4

5: Doom Eternal

6: Gears Tactics

7: Cyberpunk 2077

Best Ongoing Game: Tekken 7

Best Publisher: Sega

Yakuza Like a Dragon wins my GOTY in a year where I first got exposed to the series. Yakuza Like a Dragon breathes new life into the JRPG formula by giving us a party of characters in their mid 40s struggling to find their way in life. The game has some of the most fast paced and snappy combat I’ve ever seen in a JRPG and the quality of the side quests is top notch. It puts most western RPGs to shame. I put over 85 hours into this game and i still want more.

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I finally received the Series X today and obviously, I need to catch up on my games so I wanted to know when the deadline is for posting my list? Thanks.

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I’d have to take that to the jury… @OneBadMutha

Personally I don’t think it should. It’s re-release, remaster and previously released all in one. So triple ineligible. :smiley:

Ah, yes. The deadline. Knew I forgot something.

You won’t have months, but let’s put the deadline at January 17th. Will make it definitive if/when my mod-comrades agree.

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Well, I don’t have a PS4 anymore, neither I bought a PS5 at launch – so my list won’t have many of the more obvious choices.

  • Top 10:

  1. Yakuza: Like a Dragon

  2. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2

  3. Ori and the WIll of the Wisps

  4. Animal Crossing: New Horizons

  5. Immortals: Fenyx Rising

  6. Gears 5: Hivebusters

  7. Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla

  8. Paper Mario: The Origami King

  9. Call of Duty: Black Ops - Cold War

  10. Marvel’s Avengers

  • Best Ongoing Game:

Forza Horizon 4

  • Best Publisher:

Ubisoft

Explanation (and maybe some changes) will come later.

@SuikerBrood: from my understandment Xenoblade Chronices: Definitive Edition and Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE Encore are not eligible?

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1: Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Ori and the Will of the Wisps is everything any Blind Forest fan would have wanted, or possibly hoped for from a sequel. Moon have created a game that has every right to be in the ‘AAA’ conversation with its 3D counterparts, with a level of care and polish normally reserved for much larger studios and far bigger budgets.

Ultimately, it can’t be said enough how incredible Ori and the Will of the Wisps is. Blind Forest was already my personal favourite metroidvania of all time and Will of the Wisps has managed to raise the bar even further.

2: Tetris Effect: Connected
Tetris Effect: Connected is to this point the best version of Tetris that exists. I adore Tetris99 and up until now, Tetris DS was probably my all-time favourite, but Connected just blows right past both.

It’s mandatory for Tetris and puzzle game fans, a must for music lovers and anyone who appreciates good visual artistry. But most importantly, it’s just so damn fun. Xbox owners have no excuse not to dive in as Tetris Effect: Connected launched straight into Game Pass and I implore everyone to give it a try.

3: Streets of Rage 4
Streets of Rage 4 is everything I could have wanted in a sequel to such a venerable series that I’ve always held in such high regard. It’s clear that both Lizardcube and Guard Crush get it. They managed to create a sequel that belongs right alongside its predecessors despite having to manage fan expectations and the ever present nostalgia that can inflate people’s memories of the old games, particularly after some three decades and change.

4: Astro’s PlayRoom
Astro’s PlayRoom feels like a handcrafted video game. From the ridiculously clean and solid 60 visuals, to the super tight gameplay, it all just feels…premium. Right up there with the best Nintendo has produced of late.

It’s also going to be both the standard bearer and best example of use of haptics for the DualSense and frankly any other controller that uses the tech. It’s ridiculously well implemented here. Arguably the best game from the PS5 launch and it’s free!

5: Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity
This is going to go by unnoticed amongst Nintendo’s many other games, but Age of Calamity is good, particularly if you like Musou games. The best way to describe it for me is, it’s Breath of the Wild Lite. I mean that in the best possible way.

6: The Falconeer
The Falconeer is a must for fans of Crimson Skies or frankly, the air combat genre. While it sometimes may show the limitations of its indie roots, this isn’t enough to detract from what’s on offer. Even as someone who isn’t normally a fan of the genre, I found myself enjoying simply flying around getting to missions.

7: New Super Lucky’s Tale
New Super Lucky’s Tale is basically Playful making the game they should have made – and probably wanted to make, back in 2017. It’s the fulfillment of all the promise showed by Super back when the Xbox One X launched.

8: Hot Shot Racing
Fans of classic arcade racers from the 90s will feel right at home with Hotshot Racing. Lucky Mountain have clearly demonstrated an understanding of what made those games so great while adding just enough modern modes and systems to allow for both better re-playability and player engagement.

It also happens to have a completely reasonable price tag for the polish of the title and what’s on offer here, but if you’re reading this, there’s a fair chance you’re a Game Pass subscriber in which case you’re in luck! Hotshot Racing launched straight into Game Pass so there’s no excuse not to give it a whirl.

9: Gears Tactics
I would be completely ok with Gears moving away from the third person shooter and moving to this. It’s probably a touch clunkier than I’d like in terms of options, but it’s still a really great turn based strategy game.

10: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2
I mean…it’s Tony Hawk 1 and 2 Remastered. They’re two of the best skating games of all time updating appropriately.

Best Ongoing Game: Fortnite
Fortnite got the nod over Rocket LEague only because Fortnite made way more significant changes to their game and released a Marvel based battle pass which had me hooked for months.

Best Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
While not everything they put out was “top tier”, I dont think another publisher put out quite as many titles with so much variety and quality as Xbox did this year.

Wasteland Remastered Microsoft Windows February 25, 2020 InXile Entertainment, Krome Studios [35]
Xbox One
Ori and the Will of the Wisps Microsoft Windows March 11, 2020 Moon Studios [36]
Xbox One
Bleeding Edge Microsoft Windows March 24, 2020 Ninja Theory [37]
Xbox One
Gears Tactics Microsoft Windows April 28, 2020 Splash Damage, The Coalition [38]
Forza Street Android May 5, 2020 Electric Square [30]
iOS
Minecraft Dungeons Microsoft Windows May 26, 2020 Mojang Studios, Double Eleven [39]
Nintendo Switch
PlayStation 4
Xbox One
The Bard’s Tale: Remastered and Resnarkled Microsoft Windows June 18, 2020 InXile Entertainment
Nintendo Switch
Xbox One
Minecraft: Education Edition Android August 7, 2020 Mojang Studios
Microsoft Flight Simulator Microsoft Windows August 18, 2020 Asobo Studio, Blackshark [40]
Battletoads Microsoft Windows August 20, 2020 Dlala Studios, Rare [41]
Xbox One
Tell Me Why Microsoft Windows August 27, 2020 Dontnod Entertainment [42]
Xbox One
Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition Microsoft Windows October 15, 2020 Tantalus Media, World’s Edge [43]
(Rare (company) - Wikipedia) (List of Xbox Game Studios video games - Wikipedia)
Gears Tactics Xbox One November 10, 2020 Splash Damage, The Coalition [45]
Xbox Series X/S

That’s a big year

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    1:Yakuza: Like a Dragon
    2:Haven
    3:Call Of the Sea
    4:Welcome to Elk
    5:Tell Me Why
    6:Coffee Talk
    7:Dustoff Z

Most of the games I played in 2020 were from 2019.

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No ongoing games or favorite publisher?

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Okay, cool. Thanks.