The title of this post made me think about the best and worst I’ve played this year.
The best:
- The Case of the Golden Idol. Short and sweet mystery game in the vein of Return of the Obra Dinn. Not quite as good IMO but I still liked it quite a bit.
- Marvel’s Midnight Suns. Don’t let the IP fool you, this is a really solid turn based strategy game, occasionally with really solid writing. The “dating sim”/downtime parts were surprisingly fun at best and dragged down the pacing at worst.
- Death’s Door. Really cool, minimalistic, take on a Zelda-like game. Similar to Tunic in a lot of ways. Funny, cute and probably the best game about death I’ve ever played.
- Moving Out. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as much while playing a game as I did with Moving Out. It will always hold a special place in my heart for allowing me to connect and laugh with people I love but don’t get to see very often.
Generally I mostly play games a while after release and based on recommendations I trust. As such there aren’t many real stinkers I can think of (plenty of games that I found overrated though). With that said, here are my worst:
- Doki Doki Literature Club. With the way this game is set up it’s all about the twist. The problem is that the game it pretends to be until then is incredibly boring. Maybe it would have helped if I wasn’t somewhat aware of what is really is but generally I found this game to be a slog.
- Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion. Games that rely heavily on humor are always hit or miss. Unfortunately this one wasn’t for me in and the actual gameplay was incredibly bare bones.
Thanks for reading! What is your list?
Going to second Midnight Suns. I'm a big XCOM fan, and while there were a lot of differences, it still scratched that same multi-genre itch.
I also played (in no specific order):
Hitman - World of Assassination - A whole hell of a lot of game in one package. Definitely the highlight of the series if it is your type of game.
Horizon Burning Shores - A worthwhile reason to go back to Horizon Forbidden West, though it was over sooner than I'd like. I'd feel better about the length if it was easier to miss the story, but anyone who goes from Forbidden West to the next game without playing Burning Shores might be caught off guard by the new character. (And I'mma be mad if they don't bring back the new character!)
Death Stranding: Director's Cut - Another YMMV game that will suck you in if you like good progression mechanics and don't mind a slightly slower pace. And Hideo Kojima being Hideo Kojima.
Crisis Core - FFVII Reunion - You know the old school parenting style of making your kid smoke a pack of cigarettes so they want to wretch every time they catch a whiff of them? I accidentally did that to myself with JRPGs during the PS1 era. I thought maybe Crisis Core could coast by on nostalgia factor because I was able to enjoy FFVII Remake. Crisis Core was a big stinker though. The story hits every bad JRPG/anime trope you can think of (fucking Genesis... WOOF), and the quest design seems designed to embrace pointless backtracking and tedium.
Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty - I will argue until I'm blue in the face that while the PS4 and Xbox Series Whatever was a shitshow, the PC launch of CP2077 in 2020 was only a bit rocky. All the praises that people have been singing about the game since 2.0 and Phantom Liberty? They're praising the same elements that have made the game great since Day 1. It's just not sandwiched between T-poses and occasional CTDs any more. PC veterans who lived through rough launches of great games (like Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines or, hell, Witcher 3!) were right at home. The Phantom Liberty Expansion was a great excuse to revisit Night City and remember why I fell in love with the game three years ago.
Slay the Spire - Because I'm going to hit A20 and kill the Heart with Silent eventually, goddammit.
Baldur's Gate 3 - Because best $50 I spent in 2020.
No Man's Sky - I waited until this year to pick up NMS and this was another one that sucked me in for a solid couple months. Hello Games has sunk years into making this game a great bang for your buck if you like exploration and building.