With our Top Games of 2020 episode out now, here is my accompanying list as well as all my rantings about each and every title I played during 2020. Peruse and enjoy.

2020 Lists [this year’s through-line would be excellent use of soundscapes: Tsushima, FF7, WL3, Doom, Meta, GR, CP, ZA4, Curse, Visage, Amnesia, WD: L, Haven, CP77]

Top 5

1 Cyberpunk 2077 [whether or not it’s the ‘best’ (though it for sure is!) could be considered moot due to the whole circumstance of the post-release debacle. It is certainly the most important game of the year in terms of impact and reverberating through the industry/medium and beyond. A fantastic core experience with technical hitches that were middle of road at best in terms of marring said experience. It’s really the baffling PR choices made by this specific studio combined with subsequent responses that make it the most interesting case study of the year. But to reiterate, it does kick the most ass in the most ways]

2 Ghost of Tsushima [strong second, sat at #1 until CP77, even so, badass horserace]

3 FF7 Remake [having never fully played the original, found it engaging and enjoyable, story and gameplaywise, with extremely high production value]

4 Kentucky Route Zero [avant-garde indie of the year, the most resonant/well-constructed one]

5 Doom Eternal [jockeyed for position vs. RE3, in the end Eternal > Doom ‘16, while RE3 < RE2. DLC Pt 1 released end of year to cap it off, other releases eventually eclipsed RE3]

Honorable

1 Wasteland 3 [Improvement in almost every way, one of the best recent CRPGs, amazing soundtrack to boot]

2 Cloudpunk/Ghostunner [Justify the tie as an indie cyberpunk double feature. Both use the aesthetic/setting well, yet are polar opposites on gameplay/tone. CP slower paced, deeper narrative and thoughtful themes vs GR frantic futuristic ninja murder-death simulator with obligatory trope ridden story stapled on. Cloud takes the edge as the more intellectually/emotionally impactful piece. Can see them each achieving well-earned hidden gem/cult classic status, soundtrack shout out to both as well]  

3 RE3Make [very solid but criticism that it felt more like, admittedly good, RE2Make DLC is valid] 

4 Haven/Falconeer [Under the radar indies with unique spins. Great use of Unity especially art/graphics. Engaging implementation of ideas in cool worlds, also share a satisfyingly smooth freedom of movement/navigation in game. Thus a tie]

5 Watchdogs: Legion [Legion wins vs. Valhalla in the Ubi civil war]

Mid-Tier/Solid

1 AC: Valhalla/ Last of Us 2 [close tie, each having specific self-indulgent wank, otherwise fine]

2 Metamorphosis/Call of the Sea [Tie for niche W-S puzzler using classic literary material/framework. Commendable jobs with the material, just not quite breakout]

3 Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2/Carrion [tie for best retro award, justified by M-V connection, literally in Bloodstained’s case]

4 Maneater/Zombie Army 4: Dead War [Tie for comfort junk food. Fun during, forgettable after. Maneater a slighter spicier/more memorable meal]

5 Spiritfarer- The most YMMY type title. Narratively commendably competent, relaxing experience but eventually grindy gameplay.

Shit’s Weak [all indie horror/psych-thrillers, in a year that sadly, competition for was weirdly rife in the lackluster area]

1 Remothered: Broken Porcelain [the most annoyingly janky/technically flawed and worst written of all the horror-thrillers]

2 Those Who Remain [less glitchy vs. Remothered, but easily less memorable than 3-5]

3 Maid of Sker [muddling middle of the road, not doing anything new/unique but fine environment]

4 Amnesia: Rebirth [as stated in full review, completely ‘whelming’] 5 Visage [not bad per se, certainly the best 2020 indie horror comparatively, closest to making the cut for Mid-Tier but still slightly wanting]

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2020 Games: Raw Thoughts/Impressions/Ramblings  

Kentucky Route Zero: Stumbled upon somewhat offhandedly, apparently somewhat of a semi-pretentious cult favorite. Released in 5 main acts interspersed over 7! years with tangentially related interludes, starting in 2013 with the final chapter in 2020 alongside a collected console version. Originally crowd funded then pub’ed by Annapurna (who also did Outer Wilds.) Bought with the refund PSN did for the odd Moons of Madness delay situation. KRZ self-describes as a ‘surreal road trip visual novel piece’ composed of strange dialogues in various Lynch/Jarmusch-lite setpieces/vignettes, all amusingly melancholic with an overall vibe of being something like a fever dream of capitalism’s toll on the average citizen and thus the socio-political landscape as a whole. Wonderfully bizarre, eerie, and ever so slightly obtuse while not taking itself too seriously the whole time. An excellent standout example is the phone menu skit. Simplistic yet striking art style. Takes a drop of blood from/has flashes of a slew of things like: Water Tastes Like Wine, Brazil, American Gods, After Hours, Night in the Woods, Twilight Zone, Raw Shark Texts and Edith Finch at moments without ever feeling exactly like any of them specifically. Definitely quite distinct/unique and confident in itself as an original work. That said, it’s not quite mind-blowing next-level shit, but as far as its clear ambition to exist as a piece of substantive art in the medium goes, KRZ for sure is of note/interest to a particular sector, of which I am definitely a member. GOTY list for artistic achievement/endeavor.

Zombie Army 4: Dead Army- Sniper Elite with zombies (from the same devs w/largely same assets) with all the grindhouse B-movie fare semi-silliness and gameplay that pretty much implies. First one I tried outside the mainstay WW2 titles. Has elements of L4D, Vermintide with co-op options, customization, horde mode and level/ranking/upgrades. Solo’ed just the campaign on hard. Bit of arcade style ala FC5 + its Zombie-specific DLC obviously, along with Doom 2016 i.e. combo/score tracker, special execution kills restoring health etc. Even makes 8-bit level up noises when picking up ammo etc. A back to basics 3PS after KRZ and the other more artsy/experimental titles I played prior. Still prefer the main series since shooting hordes of endless undead is somewhat antithetical to quietly picking off soldiers from afar, but it works well enough for the most part and is mechanically solid. Some review said it had Carpenter-esque motifs for the sound design; that’s pretty spot on, and adds a nice touch. A junk food game for sure, good dumb fun done well similar to Just Cause et al. and sometimes that’s satisfying enough. Took exactly a week to do. Summer 2020 bought the first 3 compiled for $5 and played through on normal. Were fine/fun too, but 4 is better than all.  

Pathologic 2 Episode 1- A well-received “reimagining” of a weird-but-cool PC cult classic from 2005 by the original devs. Described somewhere as akin to ‘playing through Tarkovsky’s Stalker’ which was both hilarious and attracting. PC version Feb 2019 then quiet on the port until announced less than a week before release 3/6/20, just before my birthday/prior to the onset of the C-virus heh. Thus for $36 I bought and played through on and off at that time. By design is high in difficulty, though later for 2 they added a (rather extensive) range of optional sliders. I tweaked them to the low end to wander through the hazily anachronistic magical realism tinged Industrial Revolution unnamed Town, encountering its oddball citizens and goings-on without excessive (however purposeful) frustration, even if that meant missing the intense stress inducing intended experience. That said, on first playthrough I got trapped in an unwinnable loop, dying and respawning repeatedly at the same point unable to heal/cure myself, each time taking a permanent stat penalty, in a nightmarish spiral. However thematically impactful, was practically real fuckin’ annoying, thus had to bust out the almighty save scum to push on. It wasn’t the first instance of such and that was grating, if again perhaps the point. Artistically is most reminiscent/similar to Deadly Premonition crossed with Vampyr and a bit of We Happy Few, flawed as those all were. Some elements/UI are counterintuitive and/or ill tutorialized (though again scant hand holding is part of its package) combined with noticeably stuttered framerates, constant freezing/loading and late game crashes. Putting aside mechanical jankiness, the writing is philosophically Russian as hell filtered through a bizarre and often creepy but not wholly incomprehensible ‘living theatre’ metaphorical and sometimes literal framework. The vibe is surreal and strange, somber yet playful with introspective fourth-wall breaking lines/scenes sprinkled throughout. It can be infuriating that it’s great when absorbing the narrative/atmosphere, but that will often (and I do mean often) be broken by the aforementioned performance issues and/or the difficulty spikes. The world/setting is so unique and well realized, it seem an oddly harsh choice not to be able to immerse in it without the intense pressure and steep curve. Finally there is the matter of the fuck you non-ending if taking an earlier in-universe deal to alleviate the death penalties, which I did but still hit a wall. Eventually restarted entirely and finished on a second playthrough, which speaks volumes. Reloaded at the final fork to do 3 possible endings, the 4^th being the above slowroll. With all that, it certainly is an intriguing/thought-provoking title and can see why it’s held in such esteem by devoted fans and critics. Fantastic discussion piece and a beautiful but messy piece of art. Supposed to be 2 more main episodes (the original was 3 separate storylines/character perspectives) but scant news that can be found says that may or may not happen due to lukewarm sales. Grabbed one and only short DLC a month or so after for $10 in support, nice to dip back into the world if only briefly.

Doom Eternal- Had it PO’ed but decided to finally skip/boycott Gamestop and get it digitally, due to their handling of the virus situation combined with their general assholery to employees for years prior. A hill I decided to die on at the time. Across this line you do not…etc. As for the actual game, aside from Bethesda’s bitchiness with their .net shit and having to get around that, it’s intense frantic fun as promised with a few cool tweaks to the previous rock-solid formula. Slick/tight as hell on all fronts, looks and runs great even on my aging PS4. Pretty much all one could ask for in the sequel. Played on hard, took a week and change, happily spent time to find all extras/secrets. Must be noted had a few ludicrous hiccups/glitches that really shouldn’t be present in a title of this caliber, all were easy enough fixes, still stupidly annoying. Overall highly enjoyable and one of the best produced 2020 releases. Season pass for 2 part DLC, easily locked up. Duked it out with RE3 to make GOTY list, as I deem it more roundly
improved overall from Doom 2016 vs. RE3 a slight downgrade from RE2. DLC 1 was just as solid.

Moons of Madness- Was looking forward to this one for a while. PC 2019. Lovecraftian tale set on Mars. PO’ed digital w/ slight discount. Had a 1/21/20 port date, then got delayed three days before release and PSN gave out refunds for it. Yet 8 gigs worth of it/entire thing still downloaded then a patch for another 7, total 15 all the while the locked icon remained on my PS until the new 3/24 date when it became avail to buy again and unlocked/played as normal. Strange situation overall. It’s a solid enough sci fi isolation walk-sim in the vein of Observation and SOMA, both good influences. Although the omnipresent black goo/gunk I think looks the same in all. Starts off with mostly standard stuff– find this, fix that etc. dropping glimpses and hints of the monsters as it progresses and ramps up. Serviceable though veering to cliché at times writing/voice acting but graphically/aesthetically quite high production value for a smaller dev. Could’ve used an extra chapter to actually go to the titular moons, though I liked the more classically Lovecraftian option of two possible endings quite a bit even so. Convenient enough to Plat. A decent W-S take on cosmic space horror. Worth checking out if into that specifically.

BL3 DLC 2 Love, Guns & Tentacles- Followed up Moons with this, to keep the Lovecraft theme going. Fun to see their more light-hearted take on the material within the existing world. It’s a kind of great fuck you to Lovecraft the man as well, with the framework being a gay marriage on Planet Innsmouth basically. Very cool visuals, required refs/riffs on the source. One quite good chain of sidequests. Along the way acquired some sick combinations of guns that destroyed enemies which made it extra entertaining. Liked it better than DLC 1 Handsome Jackpot though that was pretty good.

Control DLC 1 The Foundation- Was excited to jump back into this world but bit of a rocky start with being rusty as well as confusing quest directions and grueling combat encounters. Adds a few new abilities and extensions of previous ones. Still very neat setting to explore and good expanded lore/after-story content, when not frustrating/time-wasting due to the above. Trippy Train quest also dickpunch design, but cool idea. Was considering getting all DLC specific trophies but it just seemed like more of a chore than it might’ve been (RE3 was more engaging to Plat.) Foundation was overall decent enough but the second Alan Wake tie-in better. 

RE3 Nemesis Remake- Demo looked and played just as excellently as 2. Never got to play much, if any, of the original (it’s blurry in my memory) so was a fresh experience in a way. PO’ed the digital, since Gamestops were closed at the time for C-Virus, awesomely fitting of course. Access to dl on stroke of midnight, quarantine release party! But since Sony throttled the speeds, took forever. It is slick as hell, RE engine perfectly suited for rendering the modern vision. Almost more ‘colorful’ in a sense, with the neon dread drenched streets of Raccoon city vs 2’s largely interior PD and lab etc. (though since it is set mostly around/during the events of 2, they can get away with reusing some assets/locations) Somewhat akin to 2 (again roughly narratively concurrent with) play switches between Jill and Carlos (though they aren’t separate campaigns) broken up by boss scenarios with the titular Nemesis. The original clearly was the transition to the action era going into RE4 and the remake contains a nice mix of elements from 2 and modernized iterations of that period. Has all the other hallmarks of Capcom’s so far highest quality remakes, they are absolutely the new standard and while part nostalgia/part RE3 never being as popular comparatively thus steers me to maintain 2 is the better title, 3 on its own delivers top tier surv-horror-action from the once and (at least at this point) current reigning champs of it. It’s quite conducive for replay, shorter than 2 with fun unlockable bonuses helpful for tackling increasingly harder diffs, of which there are 5 total. Each run needed to Plat remained both enjoyable and intense since higher diffs throw a few curves and changeups into the mix, and did a final leisurely playthrough on easy for the last trophy. ~30 hours spent. Have to credit the modern/remade REs staring with 7 and onward for getting me into multiple replays, since not usually my style. Resistance multiplayer mode included but installed separately (helpful for storage purposes.) No real interest in it, had other titles to go onto. Mostly due to the criticism of it feeling more like RE2 DLC vs a full title, loses a few points.

My Friend Pedro- Devolver pub’ed, solo auteur dev. From 2019, dropped on PS 4/2/20. Supposed to be quick funny/fun ‘bullet hell ballet’ platformer with over the top cartoon violence. Wanted to check out, $20, decided w/ E’s input to pick it up vs Vampire: Coteries. It’s neat and visually appealing. Not pixel art, more of a modern sheen. A mix of something like Hotline Miami and Counterspy, mechanically and genre-wise. Well designed, enjoyable to play and watch the carnage unfold, can be done in quick bursts. Ala Miami has a score/grade for each level of course, though I often don’t get into that much. What story exists is pretty much what’s to be expected from a title of this nature/pedigree, it’s there mostly as a framework, throws in both clever and cliché parts. Soundtrack fine but not particularly grabbing. Solid indie junk food game, worth it mostly though not achieving new heights. Good for one leisurely playthrough.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake- High praise/reviews. Originally wasn’t planning on getting it, though demo was indeed impressive. Based on advice from my trusty droogs (who do fondly recall the original) decided to check vs other concurrent considerations. Locked up ~ week after release. Time at last to see what all the fuss is about, given never having played the original/no attachment to it, unlike every other gamer on earth, which obviously makes me the most qualified pundit on the planet at this point to ‘objectively’ review/experience it. Graphical fidelity/visual presentation top notch, soundtrack to match. Clearly a lot went into production value. World design cool with the future magic/steampunk aesthetic. Writing mostly solid but it’s the stellar acting that truly sells it, even if it veers into anime-cliché here and there. Many genuinely humorous/heartfelt character moments/interactions all perfectly delivered, but still grounded under a more serious setup. Did the original have such an obvious environmental theme/bent and some more mature language? Either way works here. Gameplay on the whole nicely tuned, mix of real time action (DMC5 ish) with ATB bar building alongside on the fly party switching/ability/spell selection. Useful and in-depth inv/upgrade system. It does look and run beautifully, though sometimes the action can get confusing in hectic battles. Quite linear vs more open world, can seem somewhat penned in given the expanse of the world presented otherwise. Pulls out every stop with the rush of battles/bosses during the last 2 chapters. The ending itself by accounts seems to be a meta take/subversion/weird retcon of the events/legacy of original and the audience’s expectations of it, but I can’t speak much to that. It mostly works well enough, maybe just a touch Evangelion-esque but nowhere near those insanity levels. Being technically only 1 (albeit large) part of a range of future releases, thus not the full original saga, cliffhanger sequel bait is basically baked in. Yet does achieve its own internal sense of complete/consistent tale taking ~50 hours playtime personally. Refreshing and overall quite fun/entertaining to play a (perhaps to many the)classic JRPG that retains the core elements, extensively updated with modern sensibilities/improvements. A high caliber package, GOTY list.

John Wick Hex- PC 2019. $20. Shorter semi-turn-based strategy take featuring our collective favorite hitman. A rocky first impression. ~10 crashes in the first few hours on top of some of the mechanics induced frustration. Second session admittedly smoother, but while a cool core design thought on paper matched with nice GN aesthetics, decent music and the actual movie talent (Mcshane, Reddick) voicing adding authenticity, in practice execution is not lazy per se, instead more sloppy and quite rough on many fronts: map readability, interface, erratic AI and avatar behavior. Makes it a slog most of the time, hard to strategize when assumed input/displayed info is inconsistent, as well as fear of yet another crash during. Stage clear replay also a neat idea but animations look choppy/off too. Unfortunately a pretty disappointing, underwhelming experience. Seriously considered getting refund which says a lot, but decided fuck it, and trudged through before Ion Fury. A better idea I think would’ve been to just ripoff Hotline Miami or Katana Zero (perhaps even Superhot) since those styles of lighting fast ultra-violence are built into the Wick IP and would lend to feeling like the character vs. as is. Ghostrunner did it better.

Ion Fury- Largely well received 2019 PC release. Ported in May for $25. Retro 90s FPS Duke Nukem/Painkiller homage/spiritual successor…built in an updated version of the Build engine. Pub’ed (though not dev’ed) by 3-D Realms. It is damn solid, certainly does what it says on the tin. Impressive old school level design, enemy encounters, item pickups/secrets, with the best modern tech rendering the aesthetics from one of the original standards, making it both crisp yet doggedly adhering to the era. Shooting/movement is frantic, good array of weapons w/ alt modes, very Doom-like as another clear throwback ref. Leans into the over-the-top action cheesiness, with the badass Sarah Connor expy protag quoting Die Hard, Army of Darkness or lines such as (while wielding the SMG) ‘I spray, you pray!’ etc. accompanied by a great score. All around excellent touches, quite enjoyable romp and a well-made title unabashedly wearing its influences/elements. Leisurely playthrough on third hardest diff, getting all secrets/Easter eggs using walkthrough. Closest thing to a Blood Dragon experience in a while. Biggest deal breaker: better get your skills/mindset into old school FPS twitch and quicksave like a fiend.

Maneater- Open world RPG/GTA, as a shark. $40, solid price point. Wanted disc copy, PO’ed via Gamestop w/ free shipping deal to test their service. Delivery window said 2-4 bus days after release but of course that made it over Memorial Day weekend. Fri of release got a confirm from UPS. Few days later, a GS email said it was delayed (though from what?) with a humorously dumb tautological explanation. Got it the following Wed afternoon, which was satisfactory. Ala Plague Tale and Greedfall, got more excited to play as release ticked closer and caught more footage. Middle to solid reviews. Biggest complaint seemed to be repetitive quest design and decent combat but lacking depth, balanced by good world design and fun abilities to mess around within it. That all is fair, it’s almost exclusively kill quests in an Ubi-lite icon littered map, but that design, while dated, does work best in this context. Not overbearing or even particularly large just for the sake of it, good on them there. At its core is largely enjoyable. Chris Parnell’s straight man narration of largely well written and genuinely humorous tongue-in-cheek reality show framework, pop cult refs coupled with solid though not amazing looking locales adds a lot. The undersea diversity of environments is a highlight, making what would be boring into interesting places to explore with distinctness, i.e. the swamp vs the freshwater lake etc. Chomping on sea life from fish to alligators, knifing through the surface to leap out snatching humans off beaches/boats is all highly entertaining. RPG/upgrade system is robust enough and fun to experiment with combinations of abilities. Can certainly be classified as another junk food game, but one of the better in recent memory. 17 hours total. Small glitch/bug on final trophy for Plat, but internet had a workaround. Mid-tier to low Honorable.

Those Who Remain- indie FP/W-S psych horror w. Alan Wake vibes. Low-key exposure. Took some digging but in late March the pub, Wired (looked more into them, did Close to the Sun and Deliver us Moon) announced a virus delay for both digital and longer one for physical. Grabbed digital for $20. Mediocre reviews, general sloppiness on design/world, lack of narrative impact/within genre as a whole. It is mostly underwhelming. While environments look nice, and it portrays all the standard creepy locations, i.e. abandoned gas station, diner, barn and backroad etc. well, framerate is a little choppy and checkpoints annoyingly spaced w/ instant deaths via monster done better elsewhere (Amnesia, Outlast.) Writing also pretty cliché, somehow reminds me of Soul Suspect, if anyone remembers that fucking game. Thinks it’s being profound but ends up in trope land 101. Voice acting detached delivery, which almost always breaks immersion when a character points out what should be shocking/strange things in a weirdly deadpan manner. Some cool things: the way the shadow people crowd just outside the light menacingly but motionless and switching between ethereal versions of shifting locations to solve puzzles, even if that is also neither particularly new nor unique (Layers of Fear.) Ala Perception, cool concept but iffy and unimpressive execution. Mediocre at best, weak list. 

Deliver Us the Moon- Atmospheric sci-fi of a mysterious happening on the titular planetary satellite. PC 2018, PS port dropped late April for $24. Should’ve got it vs. Wick Hex in hindsight. A good setup that builds investment with rock solid writing, pacing, and integration of themes. Crisp visuals, echoes of Moon the movie of course, also Observation, i.e. harder leaning sci-fi that manages to create some tense/cool moments while slowly unveiling more details of the narrative as you explore via the usual route of logs/puzzles etc. ~8 hours. Able to 100% via chapter select. Easily the better of the two Wired games (vs. Those Who Remain) and one of the best (for all intents and purposes) recent Walk Sims.

Borderlands 3: Bounty of Blood DLC. Western flavored romp with new characters vs. previous trend of bringing back known/favorites. The most Space Western thing to ever Western in Space. Slightly more serious in tone vs prior, but still bits of trademark humor sprinkled in, mostly works as a good changeup. Another solid DLC from the series, and the best of 3’s overall.

Last of Us 2- Delayed twice, first in Feb to May. Then C-virus made it TBA briefly until dropped in June. It was notably surrounded by a number of unfortunate controversies starting with the plot detail leak followed by the inevitable backlash of online dick behavior, harassment and review bombing. There are certainly greater issues at play and not to brush them aside, but most of that then contributes to muddying discussion of the actual storytelling itself. Which on the topic of, is better than 1 in a number of ways, but still not next level narrative, though I grant 2’s makes more sense overall in terms of character decisions and motives even if it took the earlier setup to get there. What it is and always has been is acceptably solidly written (I maintain Naughty Dog are best at pulp adventure, not gritty realism.) Core gameplay is tight, probably the studio’s most finely tuned 3P stealth-action that I comfortably fall into. Highest production value and fidelity on animation, extremely well voiced as expected, with some of the best in the biz. It is a fine move (but again not revolutionary) to swap between the perspectives/backstory of two characters who are each other’s antagonists, if only to arrive at a theme of ‘revenge is bad/creates a vicious cycle.’ Thank you, philosophers of Naughty Dog. It also gets a bit self-indulgent ala Rockstar and didn’t necessarily need to be as long, there were definite obvious stopping points before the actual end. So between the arguments for and against, ultimately I end up mainly standing my ground of it being no more or no less than completely serviceable, elevated mostly by the performances, level design and visuals. Overall a finely done sequel, mid-tier.

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2- Announced then released fairly quickly. Breather after LOU2, before Ghost. $15. Every bit if not better than Curse 1. Spot on 8 bit feel, style, and sound. Solid replay value with extra/alternate endings and changeups on stages/setups w/ old and new companions, capped off with an unexpected but pretty cool 1941-like scrolling/bullet hell section blasting demons on the moon in a magipunk spaceship. Plat it, no annoying boss rush trophy either. The best retro fused release of the year.

Superhot: Mind Control Delete- Apparently originally a planned expansion that became a full title, a ‘hybrid rogue-like’ given out free for anyone who bought the original. Fan friendly for sure. Acceptably solid overall, basically more Superhot in indeed a rogue-like series of scenarios w/ cool new random upgrades ala Downwell. Played a bunch while awaiting Ghost, good time killer in a fun way. As E remarked, it’s more John Wick than the official game itself. Obviously the freeroll was a bonus, but it works just as well as the main game, pretty fun though ymmv as to how worthwhile it as a standalone.

Ghost of Tsushima- Delayed slightly from June to July in Last of Us 2’s shadow of virus schedule shuffling. Highly anticipated. It is indeed fantastic, perhaps my own hype and bias elevates it, still reviewed excellently by and large. AC: Red Dead Samurai, but that’s reductionist and doesn’t do it justice. Ala Horizon: ZD, takes a bunch of familiar conventions and weaves them together into an exhilarating take in a fresh setting. Shaving off the outdated, annoying elements and replacing them with a number of unique touches, especially the reduced HUD melding environmental clues with traditional mechanics, activities, and collectibles. Argument can be made that it is in fact a culmination of the best open world design past and present. Combat/stealth intuitive yet challenging, mastering the systems is supremely satisfying, and just by nature looks badass as hell, particularly the standoffs. Both the world itself and level of character/gear detail is stunning, artistically and aesthetically, while the load times are impressive as well. Story is notable, a bit more somber and serious, with a definite theme that it sticks to and builds upon with deft nuance start to finish. I chose the Japanese voice option with English subs for authenticity. Kurosawa grainy black and white filter is an amazing touch too. All around one of the best games of the tail end of the gen/Sony exclusives. The capoff being it’s convenient to Plat vs previous similar games, no missable or excessive time wasting bullshit. Was so well received Sucker Punch did free co-op oriented DLC. Good shit. GOTY list. Obviously had to duel vs. Cyberpunk, with Ghost losing by a razor’s edge.

Maid of Sker- Another virus delay, June to July. Indie FP surv-horror walk sim based on an actual ghost tale about a Welsh hotel. Writers from SOMA attached. Mixed reviews, gist being good atmosphere/score but uneven design/gameplay. It does have a solid environment and soundscape that combine quite nicely, especially since the framework is based on audio/musical motifs as well as mechanically for the monsters. Light Lovecraftian but somewhat distinct from others in its vein. Story/writing/voice all perfectly fine. Core loop is RE key hunting and finding safe rooms while avoiding enemies ala Amnesia, Outlast and Perception, with all the positives and negatives inherent to that flavor of games. Overall a decent entry in the genre from this year, certainly better than Those who Remain. Not standout like Ethan or Edith but roughly within range of Layers 1 and Moons of Madness. That said, vs. the rest of the field so far, drops to lower-mid weak.

Metamorphosis- Based on ‘Kafka’s imagination’ says the tagline. Did the story previous week for TLS. It’s fairly neat and decently clever, basically both major Kafka stories taking place concurrently. The player takes the role of Gregor transformed, solving puzzles/exploring from the perspective of a bug, while his still human friend Josef K goes through the events of The Trial, with the level design and narrative mirroring the famous bureaucratic absurdity. Even has alternate solutions for a few, some tied to trophies. Uses a bright and visually appealing surreal-lite art style reminiscent of a mashup between Edith Finch, Little Nightmares, and Outer Wilds. Playful music/score helps too. Is littered with direct quotes/scenes from the original works and Kafka himself, as well as other references both literary and beyond. Unique and well done, a largely faithful reverent homage with some additional humor/flavor thrown in. Has two possible endings, both appropriately downer. Convenient to Plat. Will likely only be appreciated by a much narrower audience range, but I’m well within that. For 24$ a worthwhile piece, quality indie W-S for the year.

The Council- Deep sale $8. Vaguely remembered about it when originally dropped in 2018. Focus Home pub’ed. Telltale episodic style with XP tree and more branching narratives. Set on a mysterious English Lord’s island post-American Revolution/pre-French. Not my favorite period, but an interesting enough setup. Play as the son of the head of the French sector of an expy for every secret society in any work like this, on a quest to find your missing mother and rubbing elbows with historical figures of the era. Napoleon and Washington obviously being ones, and even more obviously Washington head of the American branch of the Order. Graphically fine on the surface, but the actual animations/expressions and voice acting are all a bit stilted, firmly in uncanny valley land. Writing/dialogue can be uneven and exposition-y; sometimes solid, then incongruously anachronistically breaking the immersion. Some commentary comes across heavy handed, even if well-meaning at times. Most egregious is a mid-plot twist that spirals into ludicrousness by the end. More positively, it contains good ideas for expanding the conversation/investigation/inventory mechanics seen in the likes of Sherlock Holmes and the recent Lovecraft games, with a fairly robust skill/effort system (almost like Numenera) determining what options/actions are available in various situations. Serves as a blueprint for the evolution/future of the genre which I would like to see adopted and improved in others. Relaxing title with some rough edges, yet manages to be somewhat unique and more or less succeeds at what it sets out to do. 

The Messenger- From 2018, $10 sale. Devolver pub’ed. Ninja Gaiden homage mixed with some M-V retro style. Is old school hard, but not entirely unfair. Almost has a Mega Man vibe too with some of the laser walls of death etc, platforming and enemies. Graphically solid as hell, excellent music, level and boss design. Some bits of meta-commentary/references sometimes try too hard, but overall serviceable. Switches from 8 bit to 16 bit about halfway through, each representing a different time period in the story, 16 bit being the more M-V areas vs. the previously straightforward 8 bit action/platformer. Neat idea, works well overall. Came with free shorter DLC but with ramped up difficulty and some additional clever takes on a few NES-era classics. Overall for the price, very worthwhile.

Control DLC 2 of 2 AWE- Alan Wake tie-in, officially connected them both in same universe. Was looking forward to quite a bit. Think it’s easily better than DLC 1. Wake’s actor is always excellent, and the mechanics still feel great, no asshole/annoying scenarios like Foundation. Writing weird/solid/enjoyable as ever, a nice touch is a side mission that unlocks replaying bosses and set pieces like the Ash Maze. Ends on solid sequel bait of future game/story for both it and/or Wake 2, am on board.

Outer Worlds DLC 1 of 2 Peril on Gorgon- Pass for both $25. Noir-tinged adventure/mystery on a new asteroid location. Basically the plot of Serenity, but still cool jumping back into this world. Added a few small but welcome additions for weapons/gear etc, even if otherwise mostly more of the same from the main, which is completely fine. Remains fun, clever, and solid as hell, expect nothing else from Obsidian. Though did have a bug that seemingly prevented me from earning XP after a certain point.

Borderlands 3 DLC 4 of 4 Psycho Krieg & the Fantastic Fustercluck. Delve into Krieg’s mind/backstory ala Claptastic Voyage. Keeps up the quality overall, though I was never the biggest fan of Krieg as a character, it does a decent job of covering his past history and connection to the other cast. Level design remains visually appealing, quests usually entertaining and more loot always aids the fun factor. Close second/third best of B3’s DLCs.

Crysis Remaster- Originally July. Switch released on time, but backlash on lackluster looking trailer delayed it to Sept for others. Powered through on hard over the course of a few days. Disappointingly doesn’t appear up to snuff for such a legendary graphical beast, complaints were valid. Looks good, just not mind blowing/expected from the hype. An ok port job at best. Still, remains a fun and classic FPS, forgot how many weapon options are avail to mess around with. While design has been lapped at this point, had to start somewhere and thus some credit must be given to it on that front. For $30, harmlessly fine if slightly unimpressive.

Wasteland 3- Delayed from May. Isometric old school CRPG from inXile ala Pillars of Eternity, who for years has been Obsidian’s closest and best competitor. Reviews squarely positive, although most noted bugs/crashes, which I pretty much expected, but banked on being mitigated by patches since was holding off until after the prior FPS/DLC spree, given W3’s scope. Lives up to being a solid series sequel. Engaging story setup and generally improved gameplay/interface from 2, all around production value, from music (sidenote: apparently Mary Ramos served as music director, who frequently works with Tarantino. Given that, it makes sense that the soundtrack is perfectly and cheekily evocative, with the final unexpected element of the playthrough recap being sung vs narrated the touch that elevates it all) to voice acting, all while keeping the classic look and feel. Characters/quest writing exhibits their trademark balance of post-apoc seriousness and dark/absurd humor, fittingly since their lineage descends from FO1-2. Number of standout set pieces (Reagan Robot and the Gippers vs. Godfisher cultists, fights vs iconic Scorpitrons.) Did still have noticeable amount of crashes so bit of a sour mark. Conversely, found a quest bug that generated essentially infinite money, so exploited that a bit for large amounts of ammo. Its rough edges can be largely forgiven as otherwise it’s a quality experience in the genre, respectfully delivering on its promise, equally good if not better than W2. DLC to come, likely way down the line.

Rise of the Tomb Raider 20^th Annv. Edition- Free PS+, filler/breather after W3 before the late Oct releases. Took up less space than expected, only 15g. Solid reviews from 2015, touted as one of the better/best modern titles in the franchise. Never played any TR entirely through. Came with all the DLCs and a trove of freebie items, cool on them. Rise does have slick production value, with the genre and era’s trappings of design/mechanics that mostly work together with the magic maguffin dujour linked to ancient Byzantium to make a solidly put together 3PA. A nice leisurely play and pleasant surprise, AAA junk food appetizer.

Remothered: Broken Porcelain- Didn’t play the initial title, Tormented Fathers, but devs stated not strictly necessary to get into this one. Had a recap for the plot of that anyway so fine there. Release was moved up a week, thus giving me a jump on the 2020 Halloween games. Bought day one $30. Slowroll intro/fake opening level dissolving into credits was a cool touch, readying me to go along for the ride. It’s sure trying its damndest in a noble effort to be a solid/relevant indie horror game, striving for AA(24) style writing, characters, atmosphere, etc but more often finds itself devolving into B-movie clutter cliché/nonsense. Interesting setup at least and voice acting is well-done, so good on that I guess. But goddamn did my initial and onwards experience focus wholly on the annoying design, outright brokenness and overall sloppiness. Extremely janky prompts/interactions along with ill-tutorialized mechanics and frustrating uneven AI encounters. Exacerbated by getting caught in excessive glitches of, among other things: an infinite/nonloading screen, half clipping through walls rendering me immobilized, enemies not functioning properly (when sometimes they triggered at all) such that neither they nor I could be killed, a key item not respawning thus preventing progress, etc. Weirdly it never outright hard crashed, instead having to close and restart game app. Not that that’s any better. Reviews also backed up the numerous issues, some declaring it a straight up rush job and downgrade vs Fathers. Day two put out a 4g patch that was supposed to fix shit but didn’t notice any difference, most noticeably not registering my skill upgrades and not even being able to spend points to upgrade anything. Chapters are short, which in a better game would be a complaint, but is a mercy in this instance. Eventually hit a spot where in an endless chase I was stabbed dozens of times without dying, while monster took an equal amount of ineffectual gunshots, with seemingly nowhere else to go/do to proceed, or whatever I was supposed to do was not clear at all, though assuming something may have supposed to trigger again and didn’t. So tried to complete it for critical duty, but fuck it, game didn’t put in any effort, why should I, at that point enough was enough. Firmly terrible without being fun/amusing about it. Logline would be “Bates Motel meets a poor man’s Scanners on bad backstory acid.” Rebuggered: Broken Pathetic more like it! A hideous mess that, somewhat ironically, is in reality exactly the fractured disjointed story it’s attempting to convey. A wholly unworthy effort/investment. Extra disappointing since on paper had promising potential. Those Who Remain and Maid of Sker were at least by and large functional. What’s up with the subpar quality of most of 2020’s horror/thrillers?

Need for Speed: Payback- Was on PS+. Not supposed to be great, mostly cause of eh production value and mtx bs, but was free. Something I wouldn’t normally check out but ended up killing time with it after deleting Remothered in contempt the weekend before Doom DLC and Amnesia Rebirth dropped. If nothing else it’s a fun/entertaining enough competent arcade-y driver with expectedly cheesy by nature Fast and Furious ripoff/reject plot and voice acting. Although Naomi from Expanse is in it, so she’s actually solid. Was never planning to play it that long, so can’t speak to how asshole grindy/insidious the upgrade system is in the long haul, really just found it kind of inoffensively charming and the perfect cathartic breather to cleanse out the unpleasantness of Broken Porcelain. Throw in the category of decent mindless junkfood.

Doom Eternal DLC Ancient Gods Part 1 of 2- More classic Doom brutal but fun as hell action. It’s not fucking around either, pretty hardcore and throws you directly back into the fire with no ramp up, though with maxed out upgrades. ~6 hours so a bit lengthier vs what might be expected from such DLC, combined with Part 2 may add up close to a full campaign. Aside from the slightly jarring difficulty spike, no complaints and excellent bonus it snuck in before end of year to tack onto a surefire GOTY entry.

Amnesia: Rebirth- PO’ed w/ PSN discount for under $30. Frictional returns for a late gen entry in their seminal series. Reviews decent-solid but not glowing. Historical note: while I respect Dark Descent for its impact, Machine for Pigs was a superior iteration I think, and it wasn’t even Fric! SOMA is their best work to date that I stand by. Rebirth at the core remains a respectful variation on Mountains of Madness a/o Nameless City style Lovecraftian storytelling, and explicitly set in the same universe that Descent set up. Is glossier graphically, more fully and well voice acted vs previous and mostly maintains the aspects it always was best at, namely solid as hell atmosphere/writing with appropriately haunting soundscape. Gameplay yet more of the physics item puzzles, light source and ‘fear’ (i.e. insanity meter) management, creeping around monsters etc. It’s all workably there, but never seems to aim to rise above that level. Has all the expected hallmarks, but weirdly that is perhaps precisely the criticism. It’s unmistakably Amnesia, and at the same time it’s kind of just that, albeit with a slicker/fresher coat of paint. It’s hard/weird to critically slice this one up, given again its legacy but also valid to an extent complaint that the studio somewhat is riding purely on their reputation without necessarily innovating/improving on the formula they popularized if not invented. So it’s not quite substandard, instead merely standard with no standout aspects. At ~8 hours ends up an enjoyable enough even keel that manages to neither particularly disappoint nor impress. To quote Young Justice, it’s completely ‘whelming.’

Ghostrunner- PO’ed w/ PS+ discount under $30. Indie cocktail of Mirror’s Edge, Superhot, Valley(!) and Hotline Miami. Or maybe just Dishonored on crack/speed. Sold on that pitch plus trailer was quite cool. Positive early reviews. 17 main missions but built with more of the repeat session/speedrunning community in mind, who should certainly have a field day since it is both quite replayable and fast paced as hell. Twitchy precision ninja wall-running/grappling/katana-ing, one hit kills on both enemies/player, instant respawns upon death, all set to pulsing synth in nicely designed arena-ish levels offering a few avenues of approaching combat/platform scenarios. Can be punishingly demanding/difficult, compounded by same issues as always with doing this kind of stuff in FP cropping up, i.e. missing what seemed to be perfectly finely timed/executed series of maneuvers, enemies killing you from off screen/out of view etc. A limited but useful skill/upgrade system has you playing literal inventory Tetris, neat touch. When firing on all cylinders, elicits an alternating adrenaline pumping/satisfying cathartic comedown flow to it. Wraps everything in a fairly standard but unobtrusive cyberpunk dystopian story framework with matching slick neon drenched decaying city visuals. Sleeper of 2020.

Cloudpunk- PC released April, ported to PS in Oct. $25. Solid enough reviews, grabbed it since Song of Horror was delayed and as a follow up to Ghostrunner, keeping the cyberpunk streak going and because it’s the perfect inverse. Whereas GR is intense nonstop precision action made in Unreal of course, Cloud is a lower-fi Unity voxel art GTA-lite/Uber worker simulator set in Corporate Cyberpunk City #45-N57. Atmosphere/world visuals and building all top notch. Leisurely exploring the beautiful Lego brick city-world in flying car and on foot, delivering items/taxiing denizens of various dispositions and having philosophical conversations with them. Especially notable since the main character is a 20-something expy for a struggling Middle-Eastern woman, bereft of friends and family in a strange, overwhelming place. It’s not the easiest character/material to handle, and sometimes approaches pretentiousness, but mainly does it justice, in my view and estimation anyway. Both Rania and the characters she bounces off of are well realized through soundly written and acted interactions that often reflect/comment on pertinent societal concerns/realities through a semi-satirical near-future bent. At first the personal stories seem separate, but throughout them a greater tale about the city at large is interwoven in cleverly organic ways, well executed. Artistic and engaging in a charmingly relaxed style, stellar soundtrack/score to accompany. 2020’s Night In The Woods. Displays a sincerity backed up by real heart that goes a long way. I found myself quite invested and had an unexpectedly great experience with it. The true sleeper hit of the year, perfect combo w/Ghostunner.

**As an amusing aside, while the names of the above two are individually serviceably fine, they are also so borderline generically conventional as to be completely interchangeable: Ghostpunk, Cloudrunner, Ghostcloud, Punkrunner. Meanwhile 2077 is just like yep, Cyberpunk, done here**

Hollow Knight Voidheart Edition: Free PS+. E talked it up earlier. Remembered it getting high praise as a modern indie successor to the (mostly Metroid end) of the M-V genre with a slight D-S bent. Given out near tail end of this gen, good deal. Dipped toes in a bit when Legion didn’t arrive as expected. Great, crisp art style and combat, cool world. Classic M-V navigation which can vary for me. Hate getting lost/stuck/unsure of what to do/go next. Didn’t quite grab me/wasn’t feeling it at the time, not because it was bad though, will be keeping it for later. Did Visage instead.

Visage- $35 under the radar kickstarted/early access horror title. Full release dropped around Halloween. Missed it in the face of all the others, but supposedly quite good one, so picked up about a week after to make up for the lackluster batch previously. Self-described as channeling P.T.’s vibe i.e. wandering around a modern eerily empty house solving light inv/environmental puzzles while seeing subtle tricks with lights, doors and Layers of Fear-style spatial warping. Though it opens on a pretty intense scenario, the story is overall standardly fine. Presentation is what elevates it, crisp graphics while maintaining a largely well implemented and genuinely unnerving sense, without totally relying on cheap jump scares (though it’s certainly obligingly got those too.) When the usual grotesquery finally does hit, it’s done perfectly well; it’s just that I’ve seen so many variations of that same stuff, but that’s indie horror I suppose. A subdued (but solid) soundscape/lack of expected ambient music in such a title might seem an odd decision, but the minimalism undeniably adds to creating an off-putting King-like sense of uneasy dread, making it somewhat stand out from so many others attempting the same. There is always going to be that fine line between repetition/boredom by traversing the same sections attempting to figure out how to proceed vs. keeping up tension. With a shorter ~6 hour run time is able to cut out many frills, gets you in and through with little padding. No technical issues either, points there. Would be really cool in VR as a great haunted house experience. Will hand it the best/most rounded of them for 2020. Worth checking out especially for fans of the genre/style.

Watchdogs: Legion- WD2 was solid enough, certainly an improvement over 1. Legion’s footage looked pretty cool. Reception generally positive, praised the ‘recruit any NPC’ as akin to Middle Earth’s Nemesis system which is accurate-ish. While waiting for delivery, some darkly amusing events happened surrounding the game made especially funny due to their/Legion’s nature; source code leaked, had to be patched up due to crashes and other issues, and finally one of the radio/podcast personalities was taken out post-release due to protest against her allegedly bigoted real world views/statements. Also comical that the entire premise is an Orwellian surveillance nightmare in 20 Minutes Future London, yet Ubi would claim it’s ‘not a political stance.’ And while true it’s cheekily cartoonish, it is obviously a statement unto itself as a setting plus the backstory of corrupt government conspiring with a cutthroat corporation to frame a hacktivist group as terrorists in order to set up said 1984 state. The entire mission structure is built upon rallying the denizens to resist their oppression. Gameplay is highly entertaining and fluidly flexible given the amount of tools/options on hand. Quite enjoyable to mess around and hack everything in sight, fuckin’ up the city to stick it to the man, all the while surrounded by nonstop Britishness oozing from every pore of the world, including the radio stations. Swapping between a crew of randomly recruited citizens with various quirks/stats/items/models/accents equates to RP’ing through a film grad Guy Ritchie film, good logline. Digital anarchy in the UK is a right lovely lark mate, innit! Played with permadeath enabled, but since it doesn’t trigger until a handful of missions, spent a solid chunk of time building up my group/resources with no consequences. Credit Ubi a little for curbing some of their usual excess and having a smaller/denser map with less random chores/collectibles scattered everywhere. Too bad Valhalla didn’t follow suit, thus Legion is the better 2020 Ubi game.

AC: Valhalla- Ubi double kill bill w/ Watchdogs: Legion. Solid/high reviews. Definitely a good choice to finally go with Dark Age Viking-era Norway and England for the period setting. While I argue that they may never be able to top Black Flag, Valhalla takes a few cues from it, along with the RPG-ish elements introduced in Origins. However it doesn’t take Watchdogs’ cue for sizing down the map/world and instead takes one from RDR2 with the over-realism, which can be an overbearing finicky slog, especially with my OCD completionist tendencies. Poured 100+ hours into it, fatigue definitely set in towards the end. Best aspect is probably the combat; frantic/fluid, most Dark Souls-like series has had so far, various fun/cool abilities. Loot distribution more condensed at least, less random items of wavering quality thrown at you everywhere, and though skill tree initially seems ungainly, it ends up working. Most characters are well-realized/portrayed and the overall tale has a more somber tone than the previous couple. It manages to be both deeply personal and sweepingly epic, leaving home behind to set off for 800s Anglo-Saxony, and upon arriving having to navigate hostile land and the sometimes literal byzantine politics. Better written than last few titles, by a small margin. Along the way is bolstered by more light hearted/interesting side stories that run the gamut through English and Nordic culture/history/mythology. On the technical side was riddled with lots of small annoying bugs/glitches affecting quest progression/event triggers. Had to more than once reload saves from earlier/hoop jump to solve, and still got scattered crashes on top. Worst instances I can recall from the series, likely stemming from it again being just too bulky. Early on thought it might be a tougher call vs WD:L but overall Legion wins for pure fun/entertainment factor.

Cyberpunk 2077- The most roller coaster release of the year in terms of anticipation/hype/response. Had 3 delays, April-Nov-Dec. Leading up the mindset was something like ‘it better be the most/best cyberpunk to ever punk in cyber!’ Upon and post-release it was beset by the maelstrom (retroactively awesome term I choose) of: CDPR’s crunch controversy, last-gen review/footage embargoes, backlash on such due to poor performance/bugs etc. large day zero/one patches that still didn’t fix everything. CDPR then pledging even more patches in months to come, while promising/directing the most dissatisfied to get refunds, which got real messy real quick. Suffice to say not exactly the greatest launch look for such a high profile title and touted dev, and just got more bizarre as it unfolded. Like: Sony as a seemingly fuck you response, did offer full refunds and pulled it from the store entirely! Motherfucking unprecedented. MS shortly guaranteed refunds too but didn’t’ outright yank it. One of the best moments came via a reporting on the fallout, where in a CDPR meeting a question from staff to management/board was essentially ‘isn’t it hypocritical what you’ve done in this situation, with this particular game, given its specific themes?’ Which is amazingly hilarious and spot on. ‘You’re being the Corpos here, how’s it feel!?’ Then the investors sued! Simply incredible stuff.
As for the game itself, it is a quite immersive and incredibly fleshed out world (small but dense—no wasted space, which is probably the future of open world) channeling some of the best/most recognizable aspects of the aesthetic set up by one of the early TTRPG inspirations via Mike Pondsmith’s original vision. Plot/characters top notch work, best narrative/atmosphere/world as is their forte. Standout elements/moments that elevate it include: the evolving relationship between PC, Johnny Silverhand, and supporting cast; noir tinged missions and twists; song titles/references quest names; myriad attention to setting details accompanied by great dialogue and standout setpieces. Admittedly graphics can be a little fuzzy/iffy, AI a bit odd, and driving especially hit a few hiccups. Had a fine but not totally impressive few opening hours, then fell into a quite enjoyable groove through a chain of organic/emergent events/missions, but that culminated in a crash shortly after and more throughout the whole playthrough. Still, was sold enough to be excited for subsequent sessions. The oddest annoyance was it sometimes reset my inversion/HUD settings. The rough edges are undeniably present. Saga continued when ~week after release got hit w/ a fresh last minute 17G hotfix which had to clear up space for. And another week after that to fix a critical save corruption issue. Good on them for churning them out quickly, but goddamn it officially then claimed the ‘honor’ of eating up the most HD space for any game ever. Despite all that, at the core it headshots the high looting-crafting-hacking FPS RPG mark when it all works and that’s my favorite style. Even hours in kept itself fresh. Basically a déjà vu Skyrim/New Vegas situation, and if I can claim to love those despite all their considerable jank, (and let’s be fair, well before the era of regularly expected hotfix/patches) and am willing to forgive technical hitches vs. delivering a memorable story and stable enough experience, then is CP77 really all that different on that front? Perhaps the key factor is CDPR’s shadiness vs. their prior reputation. Final summation: Yes, it has bugs/glitches/crashes. But all that fell away when I was more often than not blowing heads off fellow cyberpunk criminals on the mean streets of Night City dressed in sick gear and rocking a fully upgraded magnum, or slicing them up with arm-blade implants while hacking the shit out of everything and genuinely invested/engaged/surprised by the quests/stories, main and side, from start to end. A delicious cocktail blend of: Bladerunner (of course,) New Vegas, Deus Ex, West World, Altered Carbon, and Borderlands, all topped off with its own unique spicy garnish and a truly killer soundtrack. Indeed ends up being my GOTY.

Carrion- Released Spring 2020, got on XS GP Jan ‘21. The Thing, except you play as the monster. Pretty cool concept, indie dev pub’ed by Devolver, obviously. 16-bit vibrant appealing pixel art, simple but elegant controls, especially movement given the nondescript amorphous tentacle-and-teeth design of the creature. Essentially a M-V, navigating connecting levels, unlocking abilities to progress in puzzles/combat. Short and enjoyable, good for brief sessions, 6-8 hrs. 100% it. Minor gripes: lack of overall map to mitigate the required backtracking, and a fairly mundane take on the material, not attempting anything beyond the bare bones. Could slip into a tie w Curse Moon 2 for mid-tier indie/retro.

Call of the Sea- Released Dec 2020. Good reviews. XS GP early ’21, as was the case with a block of games around the same time. Lovecraft-tinged, naturally. W-S puzzler. Solid atmosphere using a dreamy/surreal impressionist watercolor aesthetic matching the tone/theme, similar to Metamorphosis. Good voice acting, story/puzzles are mostly what would be expected but executed quite well. One of the better if not best 2020 supernatural-tinged sims. Tie w/ Meta for the genre and literary connection. Did all but 1 achievement. ~8 hrs.

Haven- Dec 2020. XS GP early ’21. A low key RPG-lite explorer/crafter, same devs as Furi. Sci-fi story of young lovers fleeing their oppressive homeworld in a stolen ship, (obviously) ending up on a dangerous planet, having to scrounge for survival and finding clues to their culture’s past along with each other/themselves throughout the adventure. Heavily anime in plot, tone and aesthetic. Excellent art, chillwave soundtrack matches the gliding mechanic while exploring/collecting resources in the world. Tying gameplay to narrative via the progression system of building each partner’s relationship trust/confidence through dialogue and combat/resting moments is a neat touch somewhat like God of War in that sense. Very relaxing with a solid core of emotional thrust driving it. Both characters are grounded and believable, voice acting sells it, though conversations can veer into overly cutesy territory. Unassumingly inoffensively enjoyable enough experience. Actual couples would probably have a better time with it. Did 85% of achievements. 15-17 hrs.

The Falconeer- On GP early ’21. Fairly under the radar. Solo dev, Wired pub’ed. Ride a giant falcon NeverEnding Story style, and dogfight/bomb other falcons, pirates, dragons, sea serpents and forts in a semi-feudalist Lovecraftian meets steampunk setting. Cool world building/mythology/lore with intriguing story, themes of classism/economics decently sprinkled in. Very appealing, crisp but soft art/visuals. Mechanically firmly functional, fine range of abilities/items. Can be both relaxing to soar above the ocean exploring locations, or intense battling in the skies while doing missions. Unique and quite fun. StarFalcon 2020. ~15 hrs, 100% achievements. Easily recommend and slipped late into honorable 2020 tied with Haven. DLCs to come.

Spiritfarer- On GP early ’21. Got fairly high praise, mostly for the story/characters followed by the explo-craft/farm mechanics that tie into the narrative. Framework is acting as the new Charon archetype for departing spirits and fulfilling their last requests in a cool looking/well designed world. Night in the Woods + Water Tastes Like Wine and they settled down in Stardew Valley. A number of the shades are the main char, Stella’s, friends/family/loved ones. Others are just random townsfolk, but all with unique/distinct personalities, likes/dislikes etc. and who transform into anthropomorphic creatures after joining Stella on her houseboat. They set forth on a bittersweet journey of coming to grips with loss and providing closure for both the passengers and Stella herself. Has a delightful hand drawn Disneyesque art/animation style that was recently the case in a rash of games I played around this time. A reflective laidback pleasantly chill low pressure smell-the-roses title with thoughtful themes and writing. Leans toward the routine/chore based loop of Stardew and the like. Fine but not one of my favorite core mechanics as it can become repetitive/grindy with all the various ingredients etc. required to satisfy the NPCs/build structures/advance through the story. Still, is another well done what I’m terming as a genre ‘Relax-em-ups’ ala Haven, Eastshade, et al. Soundtrack is soothingly fitting too but also not as standout as the aforementioned and similar others. About mid-way through I guessed the ‘twist’ would be that it was Stella who dying, not everyone else…called it! Still fine, even if it’s a bit obvious. Overall enjoyable just not quite to par with some of the above games. Free updates through 2021 but will likely pass if it’s just more loops of meeting NPCs and building shit.