XboxEra Community Game of the Year - Post your lists!

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.

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.

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.

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?

Okay, cool. Thanks.

I don’t really play any ongoing games apart from Forza Horizon 4. I used to play Apex but now I find Battle Royale boring. I like Dontnod Entertainment but I only played one of their games from 2020.

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  • 1: The Touryst

  • 2: Watchdogs Legion

  • 3: The Last of Us Part 2

  • 4: Ori and the Will of the Wisps

  • 5: Streets of Rage 4

  • 6: Half Life: Alyx

  • 7: Minecraft Dungeons

  • 8: Gears 5 Hivebusters

  • 9: The Jackbox Party Pack 7

  • 10: Microsoft Flight Simulator

  • Best Ongoing Game: Sea of Thieves

  • Best Publisher: Xbox Game Studios

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I loved the Touryst but wasn’t it released in 2019?

Oh boy, Switch release end of 2019. Windows and Xbox release in 2020. That’s one for the jury!

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  • 1: Cyberpunk 2077 - Sure the launch was rough but my experience playing it on Series X has been a blast. I’ll give it 6 months for some patches but definitely doing another playhrough in 2021.

  • 2: AC: Valhalla - While i feel that i enjoyed Odyssey more it’s still another great entry in the AC series for me. Keen for a next gen only AC in the future.

  • 3: Ori and the Will of the Wisps - Coming of the success and brialliance of Blind Forest it’s no surprise that Wisps is another fantastic Ori game. Can’t wait to see what Moon Studios is up to next.

  • 4: Gears Tactics - As a big XCOM fan from back in the day, Tactics is bloody fantastic.

  • 5: Wasteland 3 - Big Fallout 1/2 fan so W3 was on my list to check out. Fantastic gameplay and excellent story. Expecting big things from inXile in the future.

  • 6: Hades

  • 7: Undermine

  • 8: Ghostrunner

  • 9: Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1+2

  • 10: Spiritfarer

  • Best Ongoing Game: Forza Horizon 4 (if that counts)

  • Best Publisher: Xbox Game Studios

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Ooh. How’s I’ll check. Sure I only played it last year… On xbox at least. Maybe Switch in 19?

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I would have picked it myself but thought it was against the rules as I played it on Xbox.

Normally I would’ve put Xenoblade Chronicles DE right at the top but since this is not allowed :smiley:

1. Final Fantasy 7 Remake:

I never played the original game so no nostalgia points from me :wink: However out of all new games (aside from Xenoblade) I played this year this was surely the best! I love the cast, that gave me some really emotional moments, the story was engaging, setting is amazing and some of the most epic boss battles. Additionally this game got me through some though time. Some aspects I did not like. To me it seemed they could’ve made it bit more dramatic. But overall I binched all 40 hours of this game and can’t wait for the sequel!!

2. Ori and the Will of the Wisp:

First of all Ori and the blind Forest is one of my favourite games of the gen and as such I had HIGH expectations. The streamlined nature of the first game had the right amount of difficulty spike I soo much adore in Metroidvanias. Now Will of the Wisp made in my eyes one mistake. They put a lot focus on the combat the snappy movement from the first game had to be comprised. I love a continued sense of progress as such in the complexity of the lvl design. Sadly WoTW took the a different approach. Thanks to the option to complete certain goals in a different order all lvls has to be designed in such a way that each is doable with the given option at the moment as such the level structure can’t build on new abilities as easily and I felt like it lost a bit of it’s momentum the first game managed so frickin good. NONETHELESS this game is amazing! The story is heartwarming the visuals are gorgeous and the soundtrack is stellar. (great study music) also it gives Ori fans a beautiful ending. As such I can’t be soo strict on it however it didn’t had the same impact as the first game on me and has less superior gameplay. Still one of the best games from this year.

3. Warzone

Well it is the perfect Battleroyal. I put some serious hours into Vandansk and fought intense firefights with my mates.

4. Tell me Why

Surely surprised this game was soo enjoyable. I like the mystery revolving around the plot and I the last episode let me shared a tear. Overall great story great ending great cast more! I certainly enjoyed the episodic nature of it.

5. Gears 5 Hivebuster

That was a pleasant surprise. FULL ON glorious ACTION show packed with epic setpieces, LAVA and stunning visuals. I truly enjoyed those 3 hours.

Best On Going:

SEA OF THIEVES well what should I say best game in the world I had some serious adventures with my crew and I shall have many more. During this year it has been my always going back to game and recently I put some serious hours into it. 1000 hours playtime and growing. I also met my crew mates in real life during this year friendships where forged…

Publisher of the Year: Xbox Game Studio The amount of support I see by XGS in current available games is something to behold. Each and every studio has something in the work I can’t wait to get my hands on… the future is bright.

Year in Review: Well in the end I did not played many new games this year I rather took my time to play some other games from the years before and a lot remastered JRPGs. Next year is going to be different I can smell it… I also wait on some major next gen updates Cyberpunk Doom Eternal

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Ok that’s awkward for me. Most of my games I played are ports. (Crosscode, DQ11, KH 1.5+2.5, KH 2.8, Yakuza 0-2, Messenger)

So my list will only contain a Top 3:

    1. Cruisader Kings 3

If you like this kind of games but the CK2 was too hard to get into CK3 solved this problem and has still the depth and complexity CK2. Amazing Role Play factor and don’t just reload if some problem is coming up. Embrace this problem and just watch what wonderful situation is created by it.

    1. Football Manager 21

Honestly their is nothing big to say about this game. If you like football/soccer and like to manage your team and especially players this game is for you.

    1. Carrion

Thank you Gamepass for this game. Sometimes you want to be the villain and destroy everything. It’s still not a braindead game where you can run around like a maniac. Solid game all around.

  • Best ongoing Game: Minecraft

I just love this game so much. All the updates that Mojang pushes out are so good. The new nether with the biomes with the material give the game a new impulse to explore it. I can’t wait for the mines upgrade.

  • Best publisher: Activision Blizzard

Not a fan of their games at all but if you have the best mmorpg without any doubt and release a new Add-on where every Wow fans goes bonkers you do something right. And if you look at the most played games on Xbox for this month the first two places are Call of Duty. Tony Hawk and Crash Bandicoot shows that they want to make/remake good SP games as well. A really good year for them.

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Yes but on Xbox it was 2020

Ditto for New Super Lucky’s Tale

Also, can’t believe I forgot the Touryst in my list.

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Maybe we should be a little less strict with 2020 Xbox or PC ports. But I kinda want to avoid that we’re all going to nominate 5 year old games due to a late port. :stuck_out_tongue: (Hi Yakuza)

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