XboxEra Community Game of the Year - Post your lists!

Yeah I should, the joy-cons are too small for me to enjoy playing with them for extended periods. And handheld I cant manage for very long at all, especially for a mode active game like Hades. They are so pricey though, and I still need a series X :slight_smile:

Joycons have a serious drift problem and I won’t buy new ones for it until they fixed it.

  • 1: DOOM Eternal & The Ancient Gods Part 1 - This game is like a mix of two of my favorite genres, FPS and character action. It’s a game that demands your attention and rewards your dedication, it will push your skills and knowledge of the mechanics to the limits by putting you in more and more challenging situations by mixing enemies and using different terrains to put you out of your comfort zone (The Ancient Gods is the epitome of this philosophy). The only game that I’ve played that comes close to Eternal in terms of tension and satisfaction is Ninja Gaiden 2. Of course the god-tier combat system and expertly designed combat encounters are accompanied by the amazing id Tech 7 engine, great enemy variety, a metal af OST, lots of different environments with impressive art direction/varied level design and some really fun platforming sections to break up the pace to form a superb package. I’ve put almost 200hrs into the game and I feel that I barely scratched the surface, definitely on my top 3 of last gen (along with Breath of the Wild and Prey). Also Marauder is one of the most badass enemies in a game ever plus destroying him in fifteen seconds never gets old.
  • 2: Ori and the Will of the Wisps
  • 3.Τetris Effect: Connected
  • 4: Streets of Rage 4
  • 5: Resident Evil 3
  • 6: Gears 5: Hivebusters
  • 7: Desperados 3
  • 8: Katana Zero
  • 9: Darksiders Genesis
  • 10: Call of the Sea
  • Best Ongoing Game: Forza Horizon 4
  • Best Publisher: Xbox Game Studios

Best game I’ve played that it’s not a 2020 title: Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition (what a fuckin’ awesome FPS!). Also loved Valfaris, Trine 4 and Max: The Curse of the Brotherhood.

@Thanathorn Can’t wait to start playing Like A Dragon! excitement at critical levels! :partying_face:

2 Likes

If that’s the case, you probably won’t be buying new joycons at any point :stuck_out_tongue:

In all seriousness, yes it’s a real problem. My issues with the joycons are ergonomics, but the pro controller fixes that. Anyway, this has nothing to do with GOTY really other than to say if the only way you can access certain top tier games is via Switch, a pro controller might come in handy if it’s in your budget/play style.

I have one :slight_smile: thought I hope with the switch pro there will be a new iteration of joy cons :no_mouth:

I really can’t do a Top 10 since I barely play much more a year but I want to highlight 3 games I really think are something special.

  • 1: Yakuza: Like a Dragon

I already said many good things about this game in the OT but besides being a very enjoyable RPG the standout fact is that no other game moved me more emotionally. YLAD has a great way to tell its expensive and emotional tale about family and trying to be part of one, of loyalty and forgiveness. All this is transported by a great cast of characters with Ichiban Kasuga being my favourite video game character of all time. He is naive and young but his goals are always honorable and the japanese voice actor transported the desperation in Ichibans journey so well that I was moved to tears multiple times throughout the game. I know this game won’t be for everybody, but there is nothing in 2020 that had more of an Impact on me like this game.

  • 2: Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Ori and the blind forest was a beautiful Metroidvania 2D Jump n Run back in 2015, but the will of the wisps is such a massive leap over that arleady great game that it feels like there is a generation in between and it has to be the artistically most beautiful game I have played since cuphead in 2017 I guess. The game is better in every aspect than its predecessor but especially where it matters the most. The combat is fun and very dynamic and the bossfights benefit greatly from this. The overall production value feels triple A really. The whole game is like one of the great walt disney animations from back in the day. And nowhere is this more pronounced than through its epic score. The soundtrack is an absolute masterpiece and mixed perfectly in the experience. A really special game this year, which makes me curious for everything moon studios is doing next.

  • 3: Spiritfarer

Spiritfarer is the surprise for me in 2020. Without Game Pass I would probably never have touched this game since all the trailers looked okay I guess but didn’t grab me right away. But when you boot this game up on your living room display you realize how pretty it really is. The art and animation are beautiful and got me curious what kind of game this is. And then you get to the management side and this got me hooked. It’s a beautiful management sim wrapped in this unique afterlife setting with gorgeous handpainted-like sprites and animations. Along your journey you meet a lot of interesting characters with each having their own challenges to overcome. It’s really addicting and a very long experience. I loved the deep management aspect and how they integrated a lot of gameplay styles to progress. I definitely revommend everyone to check this out if you got Game Pass. It’s a nice change of pace from your typical triple A blockbuster.

I also played Black Ops Cold War, Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1+2, Resident Evil 3 Remake, Streets of Rage 4, Star Wars Squadrons and Tetris Effect Connected which were all released in 2020 and I really liked. They are all good expriences.

  • Best Ongoing Game: Halo: The Master Chief Collection

With the recent Upgrade for Series X I got back in playing this milestone of a game collection. All 6 Games belong to the Olymp of FPS and being able to play my favourite game franchise in 4K, 120 Frames per Second and HDR is just a treat. I am super happy that they are still updating these games and it shows that there is no other franchise like Halo getting this much love and care in all of gaming. I am spending a lot of time with the multiplayer recently and it still is such a blast to play. Needed a little time to get adjusted to the slower pace in comparison to modern shooters but when you have done that it’s as good as ever. It’s the greatest collection of games ever for me and it’s been brought up to the next gen standard in 2020.

  • Best Publisher: Xbox Game Studios, I don’t think any other publisher put so much high quality games out in 2020 as XGS. But overall it’s a hard question.
2 Likes
1:Yakuza: Like a Dragon - just epic throughout and great characters with an engaging story
2:Cyberpunk 2077 - yes its rough in sections but all in all a great game.
3:AC: Valhalla - vikings! nough said :)
4:Ori and the Will of the Wisps
5:Tell Me Why
6:Gears 5 Hivebusters
7:Microsoft Flight Simulator
8:Wasteland 3
9:Dragon Quest

Best Ongoing Game: Sea of Thieves - just such awesome support and great engagement.

Best Publisher: Xbox Game Studios - most diverse lineup of games and services, just great all round.

2 Likes

Haven’t played as much as I would have liked to this year (turns out running a video game community website is almost like having another full time job!)

  1. Ori 2
  2. Flight Simulator
  3. Immortals: Fenyx Rising
  4. Tetris Effect Connected
  5. Call of the Sea
  6. ACV
  7. Hivebusters

Best Ongoing Game: Sea of Thieves - due to the pandemic, this became the Friday night “social space” game, and I love it dearly.

Best Publisher: Despite not wanting to look like an Xbot (haha!) It’s gotta be Microsoft. Best year they’ve had in AGES, and the variety of games on display were great. A little something for everyone.

5 Likes

I really wish I could get back into SoT, I just find any PvP content massively anxiety inducing. Though I would say that the ERA lot I played with at launched tended to mitigate it somewhat.

If you don’t like pvp in Sea of Thieves just make it not a big deal. Try to make some role playing.

Once I played on my own and I role played to be a emissary ship. Everyone else for me was an pirate and I told them to give away my loot if they let me alive :smiley: I had varied success:p

Yeah role playing helps my anxiety quite a bit, especially since early on (or at least in my experience) people weren’t so sweaty or try hardy and were RPing all over. I generally manage better with friends anyway. The game is so beautiful though and I spent hours in beta/alpha just taking videos and screenshots, I would play it completely solo just to do that. When I get a series X I suspect I will dip back in only for that purpose :slight_smile:

Yeah even after so many hours I’m still astonished by the visuals. The way the water reacts to the sun and how it moves is unmatched. All the different colour variations are gorgeous and I still find myself looking at the sea for a minute…

  • 1: Ori and the Will of the Wisps
  • 2: Ghost of Tsushima
  • 3: Spider-Man: Miles Morales
  • 4: The Last of Us II
  • 5: Gears Tactics
  • 6: Animal Crossing: New Horizons
  • 7: MS Flight Simulator
  • 8: Battletoads
  • 9: Minecraft Dungeons
  • 10: Wasteland 3
  • Best Ongoing Game: Sea of Thieves
  • Best Publisher: Sony
8 Likes

Yep, like Viva Pinata the previous Gen, Rare made the prettiest game last one. I am tempted to go back through my captures to gif some up again.

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2 Likes
  • 1: Ghost of Tsushima

  • 2: Hades

  • 3: Ori and the Will of the Wisps

  • 4: Cyberpunk 2077

  • 5: Flight Simulator 2020

  • Best Ongoing Game: Sea of Thieves

  • Best Publisher: Xbox Game Studios

2 Likes
    1. Ori And the Will of the Wisps
    1. The Messenger
    1. Tetris Effect Connected
    1. Immortals Fenyx Rising
    1. Minecraft Dungeons
    1. Ghost of Tsushima
    1. New Super Lucky’s Tale
  • Best Ongoing Game: Sea of Thieves
  • Best Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
2 Likes

This. 100x this. Just great fun.

2 Likes
  • 1: DOOM Eternal (works really well, I just wish they kept a classic multiplayer)
  • 2: Wasteland 3 (my first Wasteland and it has a great atmosphere)
  • 3: Tell Me Why (I loved the story)
  • 4: Ori and the Will of the Wisps (amazing soundtrack)
  • 5: Dreams (really good and original)
  • 6: Metro Exodus: Sam’s Story (it was better than the main game)
  • 7: The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon (more of the same but I loved TOW)
  • 8: Tetris Effect Connected
  • 9: Star Wars Squadrons
  • 10: Battletoads
  • Best Ongoing Game: Sea of Thieves (though Fallout 76 was a close 2nd)
  • Best Publisher: XGS. Sony had the bigger output but I think I prefered the variety of XGS’s output at the end.
2 Likes
  • 1: Yakuza: Like a Dragon - It’s the best JRPG of the year and easily my favorite game of the year.

  • 2: Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla - After dealing with some frustrating bugs, I grew to really enjoy everything about Valhalla. It’s huge and has a lot of fun takes on Norse mythology.

  • 3: Spiritfarer - It’s incredibly heartfelt and a joy to play.

  • 4: Ori and the Will of the Wisps - Outside of some technical hiccups, it’s a gorgeous game that really built on the what the first game was.

  • 5: Hades - One of the best Rogue lites to date. The acting and gameplay are fantastic.

  • 6: The Last of Us 2 - A tour de force of a game. Everything about it is so well made and thoughtful but the story didn’t click with me which is why it’s not in the top 5.

  • 7: Tell Me Why - Dontnod made one of their best with Tell Me Why. I thought the story and choices throughout the 3 chapters really made me think and consider each of the characters.

  • 8: Doom: Eternal - A great follow up to Doom 2016. The combat puzzle idea was neat for most of the game but had moments where it was more of a chore than I would have liked. It was fun though.

  • 9: Gears Tactics - Played mostly on Xbox after starting on PC. Incredibly well done turn based strategy. The controls turned out great on console and this Xcom like Gears was a perfect fit.

  • 10: Tetris Effect: Connected - Played hundreds of hours on PS4 so this coming to Xbox Game Pass was great. The MP is a really fun take and it’s something I plan on returning to all the time.

  • Best Ongoing Game: Final Fantasy XIV - Simply the best Final Fantasy ever. The story they have crafted and continue to grow is fantastic.

  • Best Publisher: Sony - They had a phenomenal year of games. I personally can’t wait to see how they come out in 2021 to support the PS5.

3 Likes

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