Top 20 of 2020 - with 20-20 hindsight, and 20% more positivity!

[DrBloodmoney 4,706]

In honour if trying to find some positivity in the clusterfuck of a year that was 2020, what are your top 20 games you earned platinums in last year?

 

Not in terms of ease of platinum, or length of grind or anything, just purely positive - purely in terms of how great the games were!

 

 

Heres my list (out of 62 platinums earned in 2020 - for reference):

 

1.  

 

An amazing looking game, a well told story, and excellent gameplay. Can't fault it in any capacity, and it had me hooked from the start, all the way through.

 

2.  

 

Ultra-highly polished, funny, smart, slick and engaging, and my god, there is SO MUCH OF IT!

 

3.  

 

The perfect remake in my eyes - hits all the nostalgia, without being beholden to the well trodden story, looks fabulous, plays well, and was thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish.

 

4.  

 

An absolute gem - original, cool looking and exactly as difficult as it needs to be. Very smart, and made me feel smart when I solved it

 

5.  

 

Another 'out-of-the-blue' gem for me - original, smart and completely enthralling. Every run made me want to find out more about the strange world I was in, and has a beautiful, cathartic ending that gave me the good feels.

  

6.  

 

One of the best stealth games I've ever played. Most stealth games make you feel weak and afraid. This one makes you feel powerful, and a cause for fear! Plays perfectly, and makes you feel bad-ass.

 

7.  

 

A good twist on the Souls genre, and brutally difficult in places, but never so much that I wanted to quit. (Or, actually, what II should say is, made me want to quit thousands of times, before I immediately picked up the controller again and went right back at it a second later!) cool story, and very smart combat.

 

8.  

 

Short but sweet puzzle game, that just hit every mark for me. So many times I struggled with a puzzle, only to find the solution was so smartly simple I felt simultaneously like a moron and a genius! Story is so-so, but the puzzles are excellent. Very clever.

 

9.  

 

My favourite of the Metro games now - oddly paced, but very engaging, loved the story, grew fond of the characters, and man-o-man, with HDR, it is a great looking game.

 

10. 

 

Didn't quite reach the heights of The Surge 1 for me, but that's a very high bar, and this one was still very enjoyable. Big fan of the 'directional-blocking' mechanic they added, and some of the new areas are very cool to explore. Shout out to the Kracken DLC, which is a highlight of the game, and not to be missed!

 

 

11. 

 

Superhot was a diamond of a game, and this is more off the same, with a few new twists. Not as original (obviously) but still an immensely satisfying set of combat puzzles, and another "man, I'm cool as shit!" game for sure!

 

12. 

 

Between this, and the FFVII remake, we are seeing - IMO - some of the best remakes in gaming. This is how you do it - complete revamp, change what you need to, but keep the spirit intact. I'm a fair-weather RE fan, and remembered liking 2 on the PSOne, but this elevated my love to a new level, and made me really appreciate the franchise as a whole.

 

13. 

 

An odd little game, but very original, and smartly designed. Great vita game, and a total blast from start to finish. No idea why the trophies are so rare - not a hard game, but definitely a fun one. More people need to finish this!

 

14. 

 

So, I played the original in preperation for the remake, and despite the old visuals, it's still a masterpiece. The inclusion of God mode allows people like me who had put hundreds of hours into the original game on PSOne to experience the nostalgia without too much grinding etc. and just see the game for what it was - a great story, strong characters and enough silly nonsense to shake a controller at. Love it still.

 

15. 

 

A worthy sequel to a great game, plays like a dream, and simultaneously tough, but fair in places. Funny, smart and great fun.

 

16. 

 

Personally, I enjoyed this much more than the first one - no painful grind and the end, and a satisfying gameplay loop as you build out your kingdom. Great visuals, and a fun combat system.

 

17. 

 

I might have a bit of a soft spot for this one, as I FINALLY got the plat after years of trying, but Lumines is still a FANTASTIC puzzle game - addictive, fun, tough but fair, and with a great soundtrack and visuals.

 

18. 

 

Didn't know what to expect with this one, but ended up loving this clever, gorgeous looking little puzzle game. Emotional story and crafty, if never fiendish puzzles.

 

19. 

 

I was a little mixed on this one - I tend to think it is a bit overhyped, and without the visuals, would not receive such glowing accolades, BUT, it is still a smartly designed game, with more depth that you think at first, and in co-op, it really shines. And the visuals - don't get me wrong ' are BREATHTAKINGLY GOOD. 

 

20. 

 

David Cage games are always silly and over-wrought, and this one is no exception, but with Detroit, it just works a little better. The story is well trodden ground, but it is implemented well, and for the first time, Cage has actually made a story where the branching paths seem to truly branch - even in my third of fourth play though, I was seeing entire scenes and paths I hadn't before. The game looks very nice, and is well enough acted by everyone involved. A happy surprise!

 

 

 

Well, that's mine, for what it's worth - what about you? Any positive things to say for 2020 plats?

[black__bunny 453]

I just wish I was able to earn 20 plats for the year 

 

 

 

[DrBloodmoney 4,706]

40 minutes ago, black__bunny said:

I just wish I was able to earn 20 plats for the year 

 

 

 

Damn - this wasn’t meant to be exclusionary - I only picked 20 ‘cause 2020, didn’t consider that it would leave people out 🤦‍♂️
 

No need for a full 20 for anyone who doesn’t have so many, just looking for some positive reflection on the games you all loved last year!  

[Crispy_Oglop 2,991]

I played through just under 40 games in 2020 thanks to extended bouts of pandemic lockdowns and restrictions. I enjoyed them all, but I think there were only a handful in the mix that I felt were truly special and memorable in terms of experience.

 

  

NieR: Automata

I honestly consider this to be a masterpiece and it instantly landed in my top games of all time, not just 2020. The way it's structured, the gameplay variety, the story, the music, everything gels and works together so cohesively and perfectly to provide a wonderful action RPG that at times challenges all conventions that you usually expect with the action RPG genre. It also provided me with one of the most emotional end game credit rolls i've ever experienced in a game.

 

Final Fantasy VII Remake

Another polished, sleek and beautiful action RPG. The ending has really divided folks and it has upset some people. But I personally thought the whole game was perfect and balanced fan service with trying new things perfectly. If the next game in the FF7 series is this polished and accomplished, it's a day 1 buy for me.

 

 

Subnautica

Possibly one of my favourite crafting/survival simulators of all time. They nailed the atmosphere of being stranded on a truly alien world. The moment you first jump into the seemingly endless water and see the world is really memorable. The point where you hear your first leviathan somewhere in the blue world you are in. So many different memories. You go from fighting with the terrain and trying to figure out how to survive to someone with a full underwater base and vehicles to help you navigate the depths. When I left the planet you realise how far you've come and how attuned you had become to the aquatic world you learned to thrive on. I still miss the game world and I definitely plan on doing a replay.

 

 

 

Return of the Obra Dinn

I put this game off for a long long time and I'm ashamed to say, it was because of the visuals. I finally played it this year and I can say that I have really learned a lesson to not judge a game so quickly for it's visuals. If you like murder mysteries and crime scene investigation themes, you will likely love this game. The mechanics of the game really aligned with how my brain works and I loved how it forced you to guess as well as use visual evidence and logical connection to uncover the mystery of what happened to the crew of The Obra Dinn.

 

 

 

Observation

One of the best sci-fi thrillers i've ever experienced - in both games and film. The ending to this game gave me literal goosebumps and as the credits rolled, my mind raced to piece everything together and replay some of the sequences in my head. It's exploratory and investigative, slow burning and heavy on dialogue and I think you need to play this with quite a bit of focus to really get the most out of it. I don't want to go into too much detail as even the smallest descriptions really will spoil it to varying degrees. But if you liked movies like Alien, Sunshine, Inception etc, I reckon you'll like this. The voice acting is absolutely fantastic too. This was a huge surprise of a game for me, I bought it because I had nothing else to play and it was on sale. A real personal gem of 2020.

[DrBloodmoney 4,706]

@Crispy_Oglop i need to check out Observation - your comments make it sound right up my alley

[Crispy_Oglop 2,991]

13 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said:

@Crispy_Oglop i need to check out Observation - your comments make it sound right up my alley

 

I really loved it  i'm definitely planning on trying out a couple of games you mentioned in your list - Persona 5: Royal, The Last Campfire and The Outer Wilds. I had them on my radar for a little while now.

[Evil_Joker88 1,643]

I have unlocked around 80 the last year and these 9 are the ones i enjoyed the most and recommend to other people

 

 

The Last Of Us

 

Well everybody knows this is one of the best games released on PS3 and i happily played it again on PS4. Comparing easy to grounded diffculty shows how different the games works but both have their positive aspects. This is one of the few games i've played like 10 times in total without skipping cutscenes. It really hit the spot. Unlike it's successor which i don't like as much.

 

Horizon Zero Dawn

 

It took a few hours until i realized how combat works good and how i can travel faster around than on foot. Running around was the biggest issue i had with this game exploring the world and finding so many collectibles which add to the story was nice but i still don't understand why the most important category of collectibles don't have trophies to it. Anyway i really want to continue the journey with Aloy.

 

Unravel

 

I played this one after the sequel and i think both are great but this one is much easier. An amazing 2D puzzle-platformer. story is well hidden but after completing the game and looking through the collectibles i thought "wow" how depressing and hopeful it is at the same time. I really hope they will release another title soon

 

Sniper Elite 4

 

This one is great action game in which you can decide depending on the difficulty whether you want to sneak around or be rather shooting everybody head on. The missions have a good little open area to explore and for many objectives we found different ways to approach it. I played it with a friend and on the highest difficulty we sat sometimes in tight situations and were thinking how or where to run away to escape enemy attention and after several tries of failing the first mission i was desperate and thought we might not get it at all. I played Sniper Elite 3 after this and it is a huge improvement. I have high hopes for Sniper Elite 5.

 

Trine 2

Trine 2 is a fantastic game which combines 2D action and platformer and puzzle into one. I like it so much that i played the PS4 NA version after the PS4 EU and the PS3 edition . The levels are very different by artwork and puzzles.The developers mock you with the hardest trophy (complete the game on highest difficulty) being named "A walk in the Park". I dislike only the huge amount of collectibles which are xp points to unlock upgrades which are very helpful but why do you have to pick up more xp point even after getting all upgrades? I don't understand that.

 

Gris

 

This is one of the most beautiful games by artwork i played this year and it's very relaxing. 2D puzzle platformer with no combat. But an amazing story. I was disappointed when it was over but not because it was too short or too long but just because it was over 🙁

 

Seasons After Fall

 

Another 2D puzzle platformer i enjoyed mostly due to its artwork. The puzzles were hard though. I completed the story and then realized i missed like half of the game the game has one thing in common with Gris, in both games you unlock new abilities by progressing and in both it felt amazing how the new features worked and how they influenced the world.

 

The Complex

 

A FMV game in which some doctors working in a hidden lab on a virus. I enjoyed this game not mainly because of its story but because it is a FMV i played a couple of them and this one here has a great balance in how often do you have to decide something. And there are soo many decisions to make.

 

Minesweeper Genius

 

A new version of Minesweeper. And it is great with all its variety. You have to walk around the field avoiding all bombs. Every puzzle is randomly generated with increasing difficulty alongside. It was a great experience to walk to the end without putting the flags on the field to see where are the bombs. I enjoyed it so much i even bought it again and played both the EU and the NA version

[Carol 2,962]

Out of my 28 2020 platinums, these games were my favorites (in no particular order):

 

World War Z

A very fun and challenging co-op game, that I still play today, almost a year after getting the platinum;

 

The Last of Us Part II

Waiting for this game to come out was an emotional roller coaster: hype and anxiety, when it was announced and when Naughty Dog provided us trailers or little bits of information; desperation, due to all the delays; sadness and hurt, when the leaks exploded. Finally playing this game was an amazing experience, because my heart couldn’t handle any more anxiety and anticipation. A very sad and depressing story, but a phenomenal game.

 

Ghost of Tsushima

A beautiful hymn to Japan, animals, nature and spirituality. The addition of Legends, with all its mysticism, made the game even better!

 

Persona 5

An excellent and inspiring game, that I chose to be my 200th platinum, just like P4G was my 100th.

 

 The Sexy Brutale

A fantastic and charming game, that completely captivated me! I wish there were more games like this one!

 

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

A very emotional and touching experience, especially if you know what living with psychological problems is.

 

 

[black__bunny 453]

6 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

Damn - this wasn’t meant to be exclusionary - I only picked 20 ‘cause 2020, didn’t consider that it would leave people out 🤦‍♂️
 

No need for a full 20 for anyone who doesn’t have so many, just looking for some positive reflection on the games you all loved last year!  

 

Not taken that way at all my friend, was always meaning my comment to be taken only as jest and just admiration for those who have more dedication that I. 

 

If anything, it's will be a good compilation of games to add to my must play list 🙂 

[Jamescush147 9,046]

Only 20? 😞

 

😝

 

Starting from the bottom:

 

Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition

The Mummy Demastered

3 Unfinished games I went back to at the start of the year and finished.

 

Now I can say I finally finished it. And yes I used the 'Play On Easy' glitch for the Hard Run.

 

Plat 200! Also it took me less time on the PS4 then it did on the PS3. Plus I didn't have to rerun the Hard Run like I did on the PS3.

 

My favorite FF game after FF6.

 

My first ever Old School Hitman game. Fun but the newer games are so much better. And easier in some places.

 

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

My first EVER Ultra Rare Plat!

 

I did it! Wasn't sure if I had what it took to finish this game. Plus Hard Mode Run was easier then I thought. (used a guide for the best armor/inft guns)

 

Just a fun game! (except for The Perfect Parade trophy, it's a pain)

 

Love this series! Would love to play the first two on a newer system, with trophies.

 

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Finally a Star Wars game that isn't a multi-player game! Plus it's actually good.

 

LEGO Worlds

My second Ultra Rare Plat! Went into this not sure if I could do it. I did and yes The Grind Is REAL. 12 hours for the billion studs trophy alone.😮

 

I enjoy these live action games. Plus the main actress is pretty hot. 😍

 

Was going though a bad case of depression at the time I played this one. It's really neat and I am annoyed I didn't get it as my 225th Plat. (I didn't know there was such a thing.)

 

Cute Indy game ware you make coffee and talk to people. Was coming off of my depression when I was playing this. It was a bad month for me.

 

Pow Pow Bang Bang! The Game. 😎  The story could of been better though.

 

I'm a sucker for these Ubisoft games. Neat but glitchy gameplay. It did hurt that you don't have a strong main character, but the villains are really good at being evil. imo

 

Good game, weak final boss & WHAT WERE THEY THINKING endgame grind.

 

Assassin's Creed Valhalla

I love Assassin's Creed 3 and this is totally a pre-sequel.

 

And that's it for 2020. 😎

 

I forgot:

It is my Game of the Year and I forgot it. 😮  So here's 21!

 

 

Edited January 3 by Jamescush147

[Ric 618]

I only had 21 platinums this year in 2020 

 

1. CrossCode

 

Even though the platinum is very simple to obtain (mostly just finishing the story), I caught myself taking my time and doing loads of ingame trophies that weren't required for the platinum. Spent about 80 hours on a 10-20 hours platinum, which I hadn't done for a game in a long time.

 

2. Ghost of Tsushima

 

3. Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom

 

4. The Messenger

 

5. Resident Evil 3

 

6. Yakuza 5

 

7. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

 

8. Blasphemous

 

9. Yakuza 4

 

10. Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition

 

11. Yakuza 3

 

12. Yoku's Island Express

 

13. Final Fantasy VIII

 

14. Dead or School

 

15. Styx: Shards of Darkness

 

16. Shadow of the Tomb Raider

 

17. The Swords of Ditto

 

18. 101 Ways to Die

 

19. The Last of Us Part 2

 

20. The Count Lucanor

Edited January 3 by Ric

[Darling Baphomet 665]

Only got 27 or so plats last year, including a few leftovers from previous years & some trash games, so I'm going to include a few games I finished the story of, or else it's just a ranking of my plats rather than a "top" anything - I'd like this to be a list of games I'm genuinely proud of.

 

1. The Outer Worlds

 

2. The Swords of Ditto

 

3. Doom Eternal (no plat)

 

4. Borderlands 3 (no plat)

 

5. Far Cry 5

 

6. Rage 2

 

 

7. Nexomon Extinction

 

8. Borderlands GOTY Edition

 

9. Spyro the Dragon

 

10. MediEvil

 

11. Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage

 

12. For The King (no plat)

 

13. Ziggurat

 

14. Jedi Fallen Order

 

15. Rocket Arena

 

16. Downwell

 

17. Wreckfest

 

18. Far Cry New Dawn

 

19. Xenon Racer

 

20. The Savior's Gang

 

Good year overall, I think - honorable mention to Ikenfell, which I'd planned to be my last plat of 2020, and would have been my top if I had finished it in time. Platted a lot of great games this year - the Outer Worlds was fantastic, as was the Swords of Ditto, a game I genuinely considered buying in a different region just to plat again. MediEvil and Ziggurat are also notable for being unique and rather underrated games. Downwell probably would be higher if it weren't so simple - I'm immensely proud of the platinum due to how hard it was, but it's simple enough to be a flash game. The Savior's Gang wasn't the best platinum (I lost hours of progress 3 times due to some saving issues with rest mode), but I like having the plat because it matches with my PSN avatar.

[KennethMcCormick 372]

 

On 02/01/2021 at 1:44 PM, DrBloodmoney said:

Damn - this wasn’t meant to be exclusionary - I only picked 20 ‘cause 2020, didn’t consider that it would leave people out 🤦‍♂️
 

No need for a full 20 for anyone who doesn’t have so many, just looking for some positive reflection on the games you all loved last year!  

 

I’m perfectly aware that you chose to be offensive to us slowpokes, but here’s my 16 plats of the year nonetheless (with 16% more positive 16/20 hindsight) :

 

 

1. NIOH 2

 

 

Do I love this bloody franchise! I love the music, the graphics, the yokai design, the damn character creation that sucks you in so deep that you spend the most time ever customising your avatar (even longer than in Dragon Age: Inquisition!); the attention to detail is uncanny (recent example with the last DLC, your guardian spirit sitting at the end of the boat taking you to the Underworld). Sure it’s not perfect, it could do with an autopause when your controller disconnects for whatever reason, and sometimes the camera goes wonky at the worst moment, but what a trip.

 

 

2. THE OUTER WORLDS

 

 

”It’s not the best choiiice, it’s Spacer’s Choice!” 😂 Corny humour with a serious undertone (or the other way around), nice graphics, good ambiance. Maybe the game that made me feel the most relaxed this year, and that means a lot when speaking of shitty 2020.

 

 

3. SHADOW TACTICS

 

 

Very nice Commando-like RTS. Simple, and yet at times challenging, it was exactly what I hoped and expected. Will surely play Desperados 3 later.

 

 

4. WATCH DOGS: LEGION

 

 

Honestly, I didn't expect to enjoy the game as much as I did. As I had played the first two, I was more or less going through the motions and looking for a game to play on my brand new PS5 is all. I found it very well done, enjoyed the time I spent with my motley crew, and hearing proper English was such a relief. The story was weak in the extreme, though, and that's why I put the game where nobody wants to end up: the 4th place.

 

 

5. CYBERPUNK 2077

 

 

Sure, it was a glitch fest and it crashed on me more than some of my inebriated friends crash at my pad on early Sunday mornings because I happen to live on their way home, and they know they shouldn’t be driving, but still. Loved the story, the city, the voice acting, the music. I have high standards where the cyberpunk genre is concerned, and the game mostly delivered. Not an extreme fan of first person though, and some moments felt more at home in a soap than in a gritty alternate dystopian future, but hey!

 

 

6. THE LAST OF US, PART 2

 

 

Technically, the game puts the bar very high, it’s gorgeous, sometimes gripping, but I felt there was too much pathos for me. Most of the violence I felt was towards the characters I was led to play, and I just wished I would have been their best friend at that moment, just to be able to nail them to the wall and tell them to stop, just stop, right now. Not a fan of the last chapter, either. There’s also this kind of self awareness in the writing/directing, à la Xavier Dolan, for example, and that just doesn't sit with me. But it was okay, I mean, 6/16 isn’t the worst.

 

 

7. RED FACTION: GUERRILLA 

 

 

The game was amongst the very first I bought with my PS3, and I barely touched it all those years. While going back to it, mostly to be done with the multiplayer trophies, I found myself rather enjoying the game, kind of a mix of Mad Max and Total Recall.

 

 

8. ASSASSIN’S CREED: VALHALLA

 

 

The game’s okay, I guess, if glitchy. The "Smack my Bishop” easter egg is one of my favourite of this year with the Spanish inquisition or Lenny Nero ones of CP2077, but that doesn’t justify the length. Like Odyssey before, it overstays its welcome, and the art of storytelling is also to know what and when to cut. But good moments, still.

 

 

9. CODE VEIN

 

 

The game’s quite alright, I think it’s me, I’m perhaps not the best audience...

 

 

10. THE DIVISION 2

 

 

I’ve been cursed with the good friend syndrome, and I wouldn’t let my mates down. So basically it was much more for the giggles while talking about whatever on the mic in coop than about the game in itself. Don’t ask me what it’s about, I was just there for the loot and the kills...

 

 

11. BLACKGUARDS 2

 

I had abandoned all hope of finishing this game, a turn based RPG set in a Das Schwartze Auge setting, and was almost certain the trophy I missed was glitched, or that the requirements weren’t clear. It was the latter, and when I saw that at last someone here got the plat, I wrote him and figured what I was doing "wrong". A year to the day, for this plat, my first of 2020.

 

 

12. RUGBY CHALLENGE 4

 

 

Not a lot of improvement from the previous instalment, but if you want a rugby game on your PS, you don’t have much choice. I loved the referee language options (NZ English, UK English, French and... French English 😆. Awesome!)

 

 

13. LORDS OF THE FALLEN 

 

 

Another game I had started years ago and never finished. Yet another Souls-like without much of a personality. Not an utter train wreck, though.

 

 

14. MANUAL SAMUEL

 

 

You can have fun playing the game the first time, but the challenges get boring extra quick.

 

 

15. MAN OF MEDAN

 

 

Mainly bought it for the coop with a friend. Acting is so-so, story is predictable as ever, even the jump scares are cheap and often badly timed. Maybe, just maybe, the game wouldn’t deserve a 15 out of 16 ranking, but the constant promotion for Little Hope was the last nail in its coffin for me; I have zero tolerance for ads in paid material.

 

 

16. PREDATOR: HUNTING GROUNDS

 

 

The game is fun. For like two hours. But then it’s always the same, on the same 3 maps.

 

 

 

All things considered, quite a good year (as far as games were concerned!), as I’m afraid 21 will be mostly backlog and PS5 versions of earlier releases for me...

[closertim 710]

Even though I got 141 platinums in 2020, I can't make a top 20 list. Need to stop stacking rata games. Anyway....... in no particular order

 

A way out: fun game I played with the mrs. Story is enjoyable.  

 

Mlb 19 the show: Got this game free on plus.  Pretty straight forward trophies apart from a tough online requirement.  Diamond dynasty mode was highly addictive,  said to myself I'd still play this game after the platinum but never did.  

 

Kid tripp: Real fun platformer, tough trophies.  No death and collect all coins in one game.  Luckily you could cheese it and save to cloud after each level.  

 

Erica: Interesting game,  kinda hot actresses kept my attention.  Had enough by the 5th playthrough though

 

Trackmania turbo: Extremely hard car driving game.  Getting gold on all tracks took forever for me. This game started my twitch career and also ended my twitch career.  

 

One night stand: Fun concept,  bit annoying getting all trophies but took around an hour

 

The order 1886: My mate lent me this game,  quite fun and not grindy at all which was nice.  

 

Red dead redemption 2: Probably the number 1 game I've played,  spent hundreds of hours on this game collecting flowers and stuff. Only real glitch was when the panther wouldn't spawn to study and hunt. 

 

Dirt 2.0: Hard online trophy but otherwise easyish. Was real hard just keeping my car on the road but does get easier.  Still have flatout to complete but that can wait......

 

Titanfall 2: Didn't think much of the story but running the gauntlet was where I wasted my time.  Spent 6 hours to beat that time.  Demoralising when you look on YouTube and see someone doing it in 11 seconds. 

 

Hidden agenda: Once again my mate lent me the game.  Good graphics and a good story. Heaps of different endings. 

 

COD modern warfare 2 remastered: Kinda got this a few days ago so not 2020 but thought I'd chuck it in there.  Great game,  enemy a.i infuriating though,  infinite respawn and throwing grenades at your feet. Was real worried about immortal not popping when it should, but it did . 

 

Maybe in 2021 I'll aim for 21 quality plats... or maybe not. 

 

 

 

[ladynadiad 3,287]

1. Legend of Heroes: Hajimari no Kiseki

My GOTY for 2020 and probably won't be on any other lists since it's Japanese only for now (hopefully in two years we'll get a release in English and it can also be my 2022 GOTY).  Such a wonderful conclusion for the Erebonia and Crossbell arcs and a nice bridge to the next arc to make us eager for more of the series.  The game was such a wild emotional rollercoaster that made one of my most hated characters into a favorite, made me laugh and cry in the same freaking scene and was just some of the most fun I had this year.

 

2. The Alliance Alive HD Remastered

When I heard this was made by the folks that did the Suikoden series, I knew I had to give it a try, even more so when I saw one of the companies that was the dev was also the same as Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits.  This is such an underrated gem of a game and I loved the story and characters so much.

 

3. NieR

A 10 year old game, but one that has aged very well.  It's also a rare action RPG that has a combat system I was pretty satisfied with overall.  Most games I find their combat to be slow and clunky and weighed down with needing complex button combos, but this didn't do anything of the sort.  It was simple and fluid and a lot of fun.  The main thing that knocked it down below Alliance Alive was the grindy weapon upgrade trophy and the need for a speedrun.

 

4. Spirit Hunter: Death Mark

Found this game at random and bought on a whim and it was a great investment.  Really enjoyed the game a lot and normally I despise horror games because I find most of them use cheap tricks to attempt to scare rather than actually being scary.  This game did the Japanese style subtle horror very well and accomplished being scary by creeping the player out rather than using cheap techniques like flashing lights and sudden loud sounds that just piss me off more than scare me.

 

5. Raging Loop

Another VN and this one was also quite good.  This one was a mystery VN and the story was quite interesting.  What was especially interesting was how different each of the routes were just due to small changes in the timeline so you got to play from very different viewpoints while trying to solve the mystery.  Really enjoyed this one.

 

6. Miden Tower

A short little RPG., but I enjoyed every moment of it.  Took me about 15 hours to plat and I nearly did it in one sitting because of how much I was enjoying the game.  The story may not have been anything special, but what really made the game was the characters and their interactions.

 

7. Ara Fell Enhanced Edition

A nice little retro RPG that actually ended up being a lot of fun.  I enjoyed the story and the characters a lot and it was a game that had some pretty interesting depth to the mechanics.  It's pretty rare to see games where you can actually make use of buffs and debuffs and they make a difference in all battles.  Most games are cheap and make the bosses immune to status effects and debuffs, but not this one.  Most of your best strategy in this game was things that normally would be worthless in other games.  Good story and a battle system that definitely required some brains rather than mindless attacking.

 

8. Will: A Wonderful World

Another one that was a random impulse buy that ended up being a good game.  Another VN, but a rather unique one.  In this you play a god who answers letters from random people and changes their fates by swapping parts of their letters.  By manipulating all the various endings you can get from them you unlock new routes, new information and proceed further in the story.  It was quite good and while the gameplay was simple, it was also unique.

 

9. Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes

Haven't gotten the plat for this, but it's been a really fun game.  The game completely doesn't take itself seriously and makes an effort to be as cheesy as possible which ends up being incredibly entertaining.  Even though the plat is an insanely long grind, it's done well at holding my interest since the grind isn't completely repetitive.

 

And I'm just going to stop there.  Having a hard time coming up with any more that deserve a special mention and remembering some of the games I played enough to rank them at this point.  Definitely played a few too many this year and sadly a lot were very mediocre.

 

[Aceterix 65]

Yakuza Kiwami 2

A continuation of a story I have really invested in and a madcap series that provides a lot of laughs alongside a relatively serious story.

 

Yakuza Kiwami

Same as above but 2 wins for now as the requirements for mini games are a bit less arduous... I reserve the right to continually change my mind about that as more mini games means more Yakuza time!

 

Assassin's Creed Origins

I might be one of very few but I wasn't particularly fed up of the old format, but I thoroughly enjoyed this entry, Egypt looked incredible and I am still shocked that this game was on a ps4 and I hadn't time travelled a few months and was seeing it on ps5. I mostly enjoyed the story too but for me it was mostly about the setting and the world.

 

Broken Age

Beautiful game and not as impenetrable as some of the point and clicks in the genre, it was easy enough to work out what to do and keep in step with the narrative, thoroughly enjoyed.

 

Mad Max

I joined the late rush on this one and was pleasantly surprised with how much fun it was, I'd have preferred a stronger balance to the car action versus on foot but overall a really solid game and I'm glad I finally got to it.

 

Wasteland 2

Great to play something so close to the first 2 fallouts, full of meaningful decisions and choices, a shame I kept missing trophies and having to go back for them and late game there were a lot of crashes, but I'm really pleased I finished it.

 

Dirt Rally 2.0

I really couldn't get the hang of this one and couldn't even finish night or wet races, ended up playing a lot of the circuit mode races in multiplayer and eventually coming back to single player and just about doing enough to get the platinum, a great looking game and relatively easy to plat (judging from the fact I was able to do it) but quite hard to get into to begin with.

 

Star Wars BF2

Another one started just for multiplayer but ended up really enjoying so went for the platinum, it slightly wore towards the end of levelling up but overall a good game.

 

Seasons After Fall

I actually got lost on this one for quite a while but it's a very good platformer with some unique elements, thoroughly enjoyed.

 

Crossing Souls

A fun game with some great 80's kid references, really appropriate art style too.

 

Soul Calibur 2

A comment on this site made me to back to this one as I'd previously given up on the campaign, they were right it wasn't as hard as I remembered and it just took some luck on some levels, the game wasn't as brilliant as I recalled from the very first time round but still a solid fighting game.

 

11-11 Memories Re-told

A good game doing justice to the subject, some of the trophies needed a bit of keeping track of but we'll worth a play.

 

Batman Enemy Within

A little bit janky in places but a reasonable story.

 

Prince of Persia Sands of Time

Not a bad game but frustrating at times, worrying that many people say this is the better one of the trilogy though - it has put me off starting the others.

 

Pillars of the Earth 

Maybe a slightly strange book to make a game of, but it's enjoyable and Look a great. Slightly laborious on the odd occasion but worth a run through.

 

Old Man's Journey

Simplistic but enjoyable and a unique style.

 

Sonic Forces

An ok game but one I never fully got to grips with, more of the old school sonic elements that I prefer without the newer elements making things too chaotic.

 

Goat Simulator

I quite liked it and it didn't over stay it's welcome so I figured it deserved a place on the list over some other candidates. Certainly not going for the dlc though!