What is your 2020 Game of the Year (*Released* in 2020)?

[Ack]

Does DOOM 64 count?

[bmoc]

Does DOOM 64 count?

I'll allow it.

My picks are:

Final Fantasy VII Remake
Xenoblade Chronicle Definitive Edition
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Resident Evil 3 Remake

Apparently I like me some remakes.

[pook99]

I don't play many games when they release so lets go through my list and see what I can come up with:

Doom eternal: definitely not this turd, long boring bouts of exploration, an unneccessary story, and terrible platforming make this one of the most disappointing games ever for me and the worst 2020 release I played this year.

with that out of the way, the games I played that were released in 2020 are:

1) firework --decent mega man clone on switch, fun, but not goty ,material
2(GI Joe operation blackout--decent, mindless 3rd person shooter, fun game, not goty
3)Cobra Kai: awesome beat em up based on my favorite show, definitely a contender
4)Panzer Paladin: one of the best indies Ive played in a long time, great mix of lots of amazing retro games, so good I bought it at release and am preordering the physical version this week when it opens up, definitely a contender
5) bloodstained curse of the moon 2: an amazing sequel to one of my favorite indies, definitely a contender
6) Streets of Rage 4-- tremendous sequel to one of the best beat em up series ever, definitely a contender
7) RE 3 remake: loved it, not quite goty for me, but definitely a solid game

Crazy, out of the 200 or so games that I played this year only 8 of them were released in 2020.

Out of this extremely limited list I would say my GOTY is Cobra Kai, with Panzer Paladin an extremely close second.

[Blu]

My top picks this year, hrm.

This is my Game of the Year:

Streets of Rage 4 - The beat-em up that retains the spirit and feel of the original series. It also makes things feel fun and modern with chaining combos. I really enjoyed this game, and the soundtrack was awesome too!

Honorable Mentions:

Animal Crossing: New Horizons - The relaxing nature of Animal Crossing was the perfect distraction for several months during the beginning of the pandemic here. With lock downs in place, this was a good way to kill some time during my kid's naptime. I really need to pick this back up, but sadly I missed the Christmas holiday events. Perhaps New Year's, since it'll be fun to pick it back at the beginning of a new calendar year!

Super Mario Bros. 35 & Super Mario 3D Collection - These were both great in their own rights. I played Super Mario Galaxy for the first time ever using the Pro Controller, and loved it. Super Mario 35 employed what I love about Tetris 99, while keeping the spirit of the original game intact.

Doom Eternal - I enjoyed this shooter, but felt it was a bit of a disappointment compared to Doom 2016. I didn't care for some of the elements like the Marauders and some of the puzzle elements to the boss fights. It reduced the franticness that comes with the gunfights to a tunnel-visioned mode of getting the Marauder down without getting mauled to death by everything else. That said, I liked the story elements that were expanded in this one.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Trials of Mana
Muv-Luv: photonmelodies♮
Phantasy Star Online 2 (Steam version)

Also,

Arcade Archives: Tecmo Bowl

[Sload Soap]

Final Fantasy 7 Remake for me. It's far from perfect as it feels weirldy dated and has real dips in quality where it comes to graphics, audio and storytelling. However, after nearly a decade of Square/Enix games with hybrid jRPG/Action gameplay that just isn't quite good enough, FF7R finally hits a sweet spot of realtime and turn based combat that feels kinetic and weighty. Also makes Tifa legitimately useful for the first time.

Runner up would be Streets of Rage 4. Really solidly done update of the franchise that both pays respect to and moves on the SoR formula. Some lovely fanservice thrown in and, eventually, a decent online service so it's a great package with a decent amount of replayability.

My least favourite game this year would probably be Battletoads (2020). This game is all over the place trying to be Rayman Origins,DonPachi, Wario Ware and Streets of Rage all at the same time. This makes it sound like the best game ever but Battletoads doesn't really shine in any one aspect and in fact tends to drag out a lot of its sections so the constant genre flipping becomes quite tiring. I didn't hate it and do think it's worth a go if you're interested, it just did not jive with me.

[Lurkei]

Panzer Paladin: one of the best indies Ive played in a long time, great mix of lots of amazing retro games, so good I bought it at release and am preordering the physical version this week when it opens up, definitely a contender

I actually played that game a week or so ago and didn't like it at all. I played five levels - those being Scotland, Tanzania, Mexico, Switzerland, and Russia, in that order - before deciding it just wasn't worth my time when half of the starting levels left me disappointed. I read your review in the Games Beaten thread, but I'm still not quite convinced.

So I want to ask, what was your favorite of the starting levels? Maybe I just picked out a bad bunch...? Help me see this game's greatness!

[SpaceBooger]

Streets of Rage 4 was the only "new" game I played other than Madden & RBI. So, SoR4 gets my vote.
I did have a good year gaming - I beat all of the Shantae games (other than the first - I don't own that one yet - I ordered the Limited Run remake), Bloodstained, Albert Odyssey, and Shining Force 3 e1... but SoR4 was the only new one I played and liked.

[Note]

Like some others on the board, I tend not to play games the year they were released, however my partner has a Switch and is more into modern games, so I was able to play a few new titles this year.

Some of the games I played that were released this year, that I felt were pretty great:

- Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition
- Streets of Rage 4

For me, I'd have to go with Streets of Rage 4. I was really nervous about the release and mixed on the art style when I first saw it in the trailers, but I felt like the developers really nailed the gameplay. I had a blast playing this game, especially in co-op mode. It was awesome to see all the characters from the original games back in action and to try out the new characters as well.

I think my partner would go for Animal Crossing. She clocked over 300 hours in the game, and still plays it. A few of my friends also ended up getting really into it and some bought a Switch specifically for the game. I think this title alone was a big reason why the Switch was hard to find earlier in the year.

[fuctfuct]

Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Streets of Rage 4
Was Goose Game 2020? I forget. Loved that shit