- 1: Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- 2: Yakuza Like a Dragon
- 3: Streets of Rage 4
- 4: Wasteland 3
- 5: Gears Tactics
- 6: Tetris Connected
- 7: Doom Eternal
- 8: Ghost of Tsushima
- 9: Hivebusters
- 10: Carrion
- Best Ongoing Game: Forza Horizon 4
- Best Publisher: Sony
Metroidvanias have been one of my favorite genres since I first played the OG Metroid and Ori is potentially the best one I’ve played since Metroid Prime.
I haven’t been into Japanese RPGs since Final Fantasy 7…on the OG Playstation yet I couldn’t put Yakuza down. It’s a game that has heart in a year we needed it.
Streets of Rage 4 did a great job throwing me back to happier days. Was faithful enough to the OGs while still adding enough new things to be interesting.
Wasteland 3 is one of the best designed western RPGs of this generation. Would’ve ranked higher with a little more polish at release. Impressive game design. Good writing. Interesting characters. A RPG with choice and agency. Everything to be a classic except the polish and production values.
Gears Tactics is my surprise of 2020. It doesn’t stack up to Xcom due to the lack of base building. Became very repetitive. Foundational game design was excellent though and did some things better than Xcom. I can see many strategy games stealing it’s overwatch system going forward.
Tetris Connected was an experience more than a game. Both single player and multi. Loved the music and visuals.
Ghost of Tsushima will likely rank higher in the long run however I’m waiting to play the rest of it at 60 fps.
Publisher is a tough choice. Microsoft published my favorite game of 2020 and my biggest surprise. They also helped make Wasteland better. That said, even as someone who mostly plays on Xbox, Sony’s AAA output during a pandemic year is nothing short of astonishing. Not having a big launch title was still a miss.