My Top 10 Games of 2020

It's that time year again when we look back at the games released the previous year and rank the best ones we've played.

Now I didn't play everything and can think of some games like Hades or Yakuza Like a Dragon maybe making this list if I had played but from the 50+ I did these are the best 10.

10. Call of the Sea (Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC)

 

Call of the Sea is adventure style game which released late 2020 from Out of the Blue and Raw Fury starring Cissy Jones as the leas voice actress.  CotS could have maybe placed higher, but the ending lets it down a tad.

9. Assassin's Creed Valhalla (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Stadia, Luna, PC)

 

Ubisoft's continued its success of the previous AC games Origins and Odyssey with this new outing set in England. 

8. If Found... (Switch, PC)

 

If found won't be for everyone being a visual novel, and it's themes, yet you will find a well written emotional story very much taking a look at.

7. Spider-Man Miles Morales (PS4, PS5)

 

Insomniac helps usher in a new PlayStation generation with this Spider-Man spin-off starring Miles Morales in the lead over Peter Parker.

6. Tell Me Why (Xbox One, PC)

  

Dontnod continue their brilliant way of story telling (Not so much with Twin Mirror) with this Xbox exclusive Tell Me Why, which is my Xbox Game of the Year.

Before we get to the Top 5, we have the worst game of the year  G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) which is just awful.

5. Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4)

 

I had been waiting since the PS3 tech demo for this remake, and it was the worth that wait for what is my remake of the year and possibly the best soundtrack as well. Now we wait for the next entry.

4.  Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC)

 

Moon Studios made it 2 for 2 with this awesome sequel to this Metroidvania series.

3.  Ghost of Tsushima (PS4)

  

Sucker Punch moved away from platforming raccoons and superheroes to this open world adventure during the first Mongol invasion of Japan, in what I hope can become a new series for PlayStation much like Horizon.

2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch)

 

ACNH is my Nintendo Switch Game of the Year and could be argued to be the GOTY especially in 2020 as it's a game a lot of people needed this year and sells numbers are phenomenal. 

1. The Last of Us Part II (PS4)

  

But there can only be one GOTY and that's Naughty Dog's follow up to 2013's The Last of Us with its sequel which might not just be the best game of 2020 but one of the best on the PS4 and the 8th generation as a whole.

10 Most Anticipated Nintendo Switch Games (October 2020)

 

 

I've mainly been highlighting games coming to either the PS5 or Xbox Series X|S even games that will only be playable via backwards compatibility. This doesn't mean I've forgotten about the Nintendo Switch which does have a few games I'm excited about coming to the system.

Bayonetta 3

BRAVELY DEFAULT II

 

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

 

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2

Monster Hunter Rise

Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin

New Pokémon Snap

No More Heroes III

Rune Factory 5

Shin Megami Tensei V

 

10 Most Anticipated Current Gen Only Multi-Format Games (October 2020)

 

In my last post I brought up my ten most anticipated multi-format games that will be on either Microsoft's and Sony's next gen systems, those games that will take advantage of the new consoles in some way. I did mention however that there are still a few games that I'm excited for which won't be on the new systems.

Now these will still be playable on PS5 or Xbox Series X|S via backwards compatibility but just won't have things like ray tracing or other next gen features.

Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX

Digimon Survive

 

The Good Life

 

Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory

 

Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139...

 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake

 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game - Complete Edition

 

She Dreams Elsewhere

 

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster

 

Twin Mirror

 

Top 10 Wii U games that are yet to come to Switch

This past week we had a Nintendo Direct which showed off some great games coming to the Switch, amongst those was a re-release of Wii U game Tokyo Mirage Sessions #fe as the Encore edition coming January 2020.

TMS joins a long list of Wii U games that have had a second lease of life on the Switch or sequels such as Super Mario Maker 2 that have made the previous game almost redundant.

Because of this, I've seen a bit of chat about poor Wii U and how it hasn't got much left going for it, well I managed to come up with a Top 10 (there is more) games that are still on Wii U.

Kirby on the Wii U relied heavily on the Wii U gamepad that a port might be hard to pull off but with games that can't be played on the Switch Lite and some getting Switch Lite touch features, then maybe it is possible as something just in handheld mode.

Now the issue with Pikmin 3 coming over to Switch is that we're more likely to see a Pikmin 4 for the console. 

Paper Mario was released very late into the Wii U's life that I even missed it on release, I have since picked it up and got to say it's rather good. It, however, has the same issue as Pikmin 3 a new Paper Mario game is more likely. 

Project Zero or Fatal Frame had only limited edition as a physical release in Europe and never got any sort of physical version in North America,  making this one of the rarer Wii U games that a re-release on Switch would give people the opportunity to play this rare game.  

Okay these aren't great and Boom is tied to the TV show but Lost World isn't actually that bad and maybe a double pack could be worth another look.

If you don't want Sonic then what about Mario in 3D World which is quite different to Odyssey and I feel would be most welcome on the Switch.

With the success of Astral Chain and Bayonetta making her way over from Wii U, it only seems fair that The Wonderful 101 also comes to Switch.

Now this has been ported to 3DS and the Switch has a very similar Yoshi game, I do think it would pair well with the Kirby game as a nice double pack.

The recent Nintendo Direct had a remaster of Xenoblade Chronicles from the Nintendo Wii coming to Switch to join Xenoblade 2 and it's standalone expansion, meaning only X will be missing on Switch.

I know ports of HD remasters seem a stretch to far but come on its Zelda and once again could be a great double pack.

Games of July 2019 - Final Fantasy - Fire Emblem - Marvel and more

Games of March - Dead or Alive - Devil May Cry - Kirby - Sekiro - Yoshi and more

Wargroove - First Impressions

 

I've been excited for Wargroove since it was first shown in a Nintendo Direct for Switch, due to the homage to Advance Wars, a series that largely past me by, that I have thought about playing especially after Intelligent Systems recent work with Fire Emblem, just Nintendo hasn't given a new Advance Wars in sometime thankfully Chucklefish has stepped in and brought us Wargroove.

Now I might have seen Wargroove in a Nintendo Direct however I'm playing on Xbox One which doesn't matter much as Wargroove has cross-play with a code system, meaning I can play with anyone be it on PC, Switch or Xbox One and if you're a friend then I just need your game's code, also it has asynchronously mode but I feel I could forget to take my turn.

This is more of a first impression than a review and so far I've played the prologue and all of Act 1 (Haven't played more due to another project). I've got to say it's great at the moment with some really neat characters. There's also an arcade mode which is a five battle campaign for each character, I only have the one character unlocked at the moment which I got from finishing Act 1.

Mercia was the first character I unlocked for the arcade mode, the five battle campaign has an overarching story and gives you some more lore to the characters and world which can be found in the codex. I would imagine some of the other characters arcade modes will intertwine with each other and some like Ceaser the dogs likely to be a bit more silly.

With all this means there is plenty of content with a 6 Act story mode and 12 Characters all having a Mini-Campaign in the Arcade, without touching any multiplayer and finding all the games secrets.

There is also something called Puzzles Mode which I've not unlocked yet and a Map Editor which I played around with but not really something I can see me using as I'm rather hopeless at those sort of things. I did download a 1P campaign someone had made in a haunted house and that was rather good and since heard about people recreating maps & missions from the likes of Advance Wars, which is all available regardless of what platform the map was made on.

As I said I've not played much Advance Wars, that I can't really compare but I have played some Fire Emblem and it's rather close in how it plays just with some different system on what unit can beat what unit and it's not an individual unit you're moving but a group of swordsmen to move in most cases.

 

I am playing on Xbox One but I have to say this might be best on Switch due to the aesthetics and the homage to Advance Wars plus IF it uses the touchscreen that could be a handy way to move units and make maps.

Now there is a positive playing on Xbox One and Wargroove is the first game I've tried it out with is mouse and keyboard support which I have to say is an excellent way to play this and can making maps that I can see it being much easier than using a controller.

No matter what you do decide to play Wargroove on, based on my first impressions this is very much worth a download.

10 Upcoming games to keep a eye on, that know one is talking about

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Game of the Year Awards 2018

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Games of December 2018 - Just Cause 4, Super Smash Bros, Persona

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Storm Boy Review

Storm Boy: The Game is an adaptation of Australian Authors Colin Thiele's 1964 novella for Xbox One (how I played the game), PS4, Switch, PC, Mac, and Mobile from Blowfish Studios.

To be honest and it might be because I'm the UK, I've never heard of Colin Thiele or his works, however what I gather from playing the game and a section in the menu talking about the novellas history, it's clearly an important piece of literature. 

After reading the history section before playing, I think Storm Boy is an interesting game not in terms of playing but more in educating you about relationships with people be it your father Hide-Away Tom or your buddy a pelican called Mr Percival and few others along the way in this half an hour or so game.

Yeah, the game is short and rather simple as really all you do is just wander around a beach, playing some simple mini-games such as fetch with Mr Percival in what is a fairly beautiful oil-painting-like visuals which I can imagine is based on illustrations straight from the book.

Storm Boy won't be for everyone but if you have young kids, I could see this being a great introduction to gaming in the same way as you might read them the actual novella. 

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The Gardens Between Review

I just want to start off by saying that I asked on Twitter for some feedback regards to reviews as I was offered a code for The Gardens Between a game I very much was looking forward to that I jumped at the opportunity to review TGB but wasn't sure where I'd actually put the review.

After the feedback I got, yes this will stay primarily as an Xbox focused blog however you seem to be interested in what else is happening outside of Xbox and with a title like The Gardens Between being available on PC, Mac, Linux, Switch and PS4 (where I played TGB) meaning even if it's not on Xbox, you may have a way to check it out and check it out you should.

The Gardens Between focuses on teenagers Arina and Frendt, who live next door to each other. One stormy night the pair sneak out and hide out in their treehouse, built on a small garden square next to both houses when a light sphere causes the treehouse to enter a dream-like a state.

In this dream-state, Arina and Frendt come across islands made up of there experiences over the years that are played out over 19 levels spread over multiple islands.

These levels consist of a beautiful art-style which sort of remind me of Oxenfree if that was in 3D. The core gameplay is centred around puzzles that are simple in nature based around when you move forward time moves forward and vice-versa for backwards.

This leads to some really clever puzzles as you have to get the light sphere that you see at the start of the game to the end of each level which seems rather straightforward but you come across obstacles that may be a planet which eats the light for instance, so you have to get rid of the planet and this is made more difficult as only Arina can carry the light whilst Frendt can use switches, which means you have to manipulate the flow of time to get past each level. 

When you do get past all the levels in an island, you get a sort of cut-scene which shows a memory linked to the level's you've just played.

The Gardens Between is a lovely looking and challenging yet simple puzzle game that is a great few hours of fun to play on a Sunday afternoon.

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