2020 is finally coming to an end, which means its that annual time for me to try and remember all the games I’ve played to create my best of list. As always, we begin with my random assortment of awards before we get to those controversial picks.
For those just joining us, the Game Wisdom awards is my annual, completely rigged, event where I honor the games I’ve played. Only games released this year, and not counting early access, are eligible. As always, all complaints about this list must be in the form of a million-dollar bribe.
I Could Have Been a Contender Award — Hyrule Warriors Age of calamity
As someone who loves both Zelda and the craziness of Dynasty Warriors, I’ve been wanting to check out this series. However, with the number of games released, and not really wanting to pay full price, I’ll have to wait until a sale to try it out.
I’ll Get to it Eventually Award — Anno 1800 and Phoenix Point
Two games I keep wanting to go back to and actually dive into. However, the promise of more DLC and more patches keeps me putting this off. Maybe these games will make my best of 2022 list.
The Mobile Games Nom — Illusion Connect and Guardian Tales
Last year, a f2p mobile game did hook me enough to make my top 10, but given the quality of indie games this year, there just wasn’t a spot for mobile. So I decided to at least acknowledge the two games I spent the most time on from the mobile scene.
Guardian Tales was a surprisingly good action-adventure game that has the most “game” that I’ve seen from mobile. There’s still gacha and pay 2 win aspects, but the singleplayer content does stand up in terms of gameplay.
Illusion Connect is one of the latest in the gacha hero collector genre, and has been the fairest example in terms of free to play and banner rolls. It’s still very much pay 2 win, but it’s one of the “best of the worst” examples.
Most Disappointing — Godhood
I was originally going to put Spelunky 2 on this list before remembering another game came and went. Abbey Game’s Renowned Explorers International Society was my favorite game of 2015 and I was looking forward to Godhood. As a design, Godhood works, but it’s not what people were expecting when they heard about a new god game. Too much of the game was hidden under screens of information, and the hands-off nature meant that it was hard to tell just what your involvement actually mattered to the gameplay.
Following it through early access reminded me of another unfortunate disappointment: Clockwork Empires. Both games had similar issues with their initial core gameplay loop just not working for fans as it should and the developers spending the bulk of their early access playing catch up. Just like with Clockwork, Godhood left early access as it was finding its groove, but too late to run with that concept. I do wish Abbey Games the best of luck and I hope that the time can continue to make games in the future.
11th Place Award — Jets ‘N’ Guns 2
This year’s list didn’t start competitive, but as I remembered all the great games that came out, one had to fall off the top 10. Once again there were many great indie titles released that I’m sure most people missed out on, and Jets ‘N’ Guns 2 falls into that category. It was released out of early access in November. Combining shmup play with a robust progression system, there really isn’t anything like the series. What keeps it from making it to the top ten is that I wish that there was more content to go with everything, and there is already a shmup on the list.
The “It Ain’t Getting An Award” Award — The Last of Us 2 and Cyberpunk 2077
I tend to avoid AAA releases unless I see something amazing out of them, and this year we have two noms for games that look like the same AAA games I’ve played before. The Last of Us 2 seems to be more known for its story rather than gameplay. I still haven’t played the first one, having become burnt out on Naughty Dog’s formula with the Uncharted series. The reports about crunch and issues at the studio further cemented my choice not to play it.
With Cyberpunk, I had little interest in it having just not enjoyed any of Cd Projekt Red’s previous games. After hearing about all the issues with crunch and seeing the state of the game at launch, it was a no-brainer to avoid playing it.
Most Anticipated of 2021 — Ultrakill and World of Horror
I’ve gotten good at picking out potential hits after trying out their early access takes, and both Ultrakill and World of Horror show serious promise. Ultrakill looks to be the successor of Doom Eternal‘s push forward design. The game had amazing gunplay, some of the best FPS bosses I have ever seen, and that was just one episode of the game.
World of Horror could be the next big horror sensation by combining roguelike variance and unpredictability with the disturbing imagery of Junji Ito. I can’t wait to play both games in 2021.
And with that, we’ll begin the list Monday with #10 and a major shift from a well-known franchise.
