What's Your Game of the Year For 2020?

[Zloth]

AH HA! No rule saying it has to have released this year, just that I played it in the past 12 months. That's my kind of top 10!

Top game:

TROUBLESHOOTER: Abandoned Children on Steam

TROUBLESHOOTER: Abandoned Children is the first season of a turn-based strategy SRPG that takes place in the world of Troubleshooter.

store.steampowered.com

Troubleshooter: Abandoned Children is far and away the best game I've played this year! It plays much like an XCOM game but with far more features and no perma-death. Character skill customization is extremely well done. (And it's cheap, too! $25 US even when not on sale.)

Runner-up

Outer Wilds on Steam

Named Game of the Year 2019 by Giant Bomb, Polygon, Eurogamer, and The Guardian, Outer Wilds is a critically-acclaimed and award-winning open world mystery about a solar system trapped in an endless time loop.

store.steampowered.com

Outer Wilds (not Outward or Outer Worlds) was fun and clever. Pretty short, too, if you're somebody without a whole lot of time.

Also-drove

Save 90% on Mad Max on Steam

Play as Mad Max, a reluctant hero and survivor who wants nothing more than to leave the madness behind and find solace.

store.steampowered.com

Good game and a great price when on sale.

Honorable Mention: Bards Tale 4. I eventually got pretty tired of the gameplay but the music was crazy good! Not only that, it was all over the place. You would happen by a random hut and there would be an original piece of music coming out of it!

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Looking back over this year I seem to have at least touched quite a lot of games Most of them are a few years old, so I'll just call out Prey (2017), Xcom 2, Titanfall 2 and Battle Brothers as some of my favourite new to me games not in the below list.

GOTY!

Control: Ultimate Edition.

Well it was new to Steam at least. Lots of fun. Memorable moments in the Ashtray maze and Jessie is definitely Dynamite.

Honorable mentions

Crusader Kings 3.

I've never been able to get into either EU or CS games before this, maybe it was dumbed down enough for me now but I still find it challenging and interesting to learn.

Xcom Chimera Squad.

Wasnt too into the story and aesthetic but the Xcom style of tactics always keeps me coming back.

Hades.

With the opposite effect to Chimera squad, the gameplay was fun enough but ARPG like so not really my thing. The art style and story however were briliantly done and kept me wanting to hit more of the dialogue whenever I enevitably failed and wound up back in the underworld. I'm not sure I'll actually ever make it all the way, but if I dont I'll be on Youtube looking for the rest of it.

 

[Brian Boru]

1. C&C Remastered.
Been my staple for the last 6 months, just finished, phew! Only game I've bought new in forever.
I played most of the franchise from '95 to '05, so what drew me in then drew me in again. Slow RTS with the emphasis on base building and strategy, nice QoL improvements since originals, same campy charm, ~150 SP missions all told.

If there's been a better remaster done, I'm surprised—full marks to EA for allowing this to be done properly. Some of the original devs worked on it, and the outstanding soundtrack was re-recorded by the original composer. All-round class job by everyone.

2. Far Cry New Dawn
Stand-alone expansion/spin-off from Far Cry 5, with more RPG-like leveling and base-building in it. Smaller map than FC5, but you got to retake outposts twice, with more enemy reinforcements at each level.

Story not much, nice addition of 'expeditions' which take you outside the game map to other US locations, which are also replayable against tougher opposition. Animals also leveled up—you don't want to meet a Level 3 cougar if you're still toting Level 1 weapons & skills. I prefer it to FC5, which was very good.

Good to see the FC interfaces keep improving—FC3 was appalling but this one is decent.

 

[Batman]

Ori and the Will of the Wisps. Fell in love with it at first touch. I hadn't enjoyed a game like I did with that in a very long time. The music, graphic design, platform design.. a truly masterpiece! Now I need to play the first Ori..

 

[Bigg_Finer]

Assassin's Creed Valhalla - I have always been a huge fan of Assassin creed. The Improvements in the combating system really makes me feel like I am in the world of Ragnar Lothbrook. Great game!

 

[DXCHASE]

2020 Release- Doom Eternal because Doom is great, even if Eternal isnt everyones favorite, the expansion was good as well, esp. for all the covid crap going on.

My TOP game though

AH HA! No rule saying it has to have released this year, just that I played it in the past 12 months. That's my kind of top 10!

Overall- my TOP game would be Destiny 2! I play it religiously being a clan leader and all, and its still a very engaging game to me, in and out of the game, so this is my TOP game overall, especially with its new expansion thats pretty great, still a great F2P FPS.

 

[drunkpunk]

This has been a hard one for me, because 2020 hasn't been very memorable in terms of gaming to me. Most of what I've enjoyed were games from previous years, such as Divinity: Original Sin 2, Rimworld, etc. Baldurs Gate 3 would be a top contender, were it officially released and not just act 1, so that'll haev to wait until next year.

However, there was one game that hit early access some time ago, but officially released this year, and I can't really call this game anything but perfect. That game is Factorio. One of the examples of early access done right, the game was released initially in 2016 but left early access and hit 1.0 in April of this year. It is a game that nearly broke my brain at times, but left me with a real feeling of accomplishment once I managed to overcome a problem. It does a great job of letting you play how you want to play, and has a modding community that has managed to add an incredible amount of complexity to an already complex game. It is also the 3rd highest rated Steam game of all time.

I feel Half Life: Alyx also deserves a solid mention. It's a great VR game, and the amount of interactivity in the game makes it quite immersive. Being one of the few VR games I feel I can actually call a game, it's a great experience in a fantastic franchise. Hopefully it paves the way for more full length VR games.

 

[Ryzengang]

My favorite game I played in 2020 is The Witcher 3. I played the whole series for the first time this year and it was fantastic. TW3 is easily one of the best story-driven games I have ever played. In terms of a game that was actually released this year, Doom Eternal is excellent. It is by far the most frantic game I have ever played and I think it absolutely nails what it is trying to deliver. I will note, though, that there's not a whole lot of competition for me because I haven't played many 2020 titles (which I suppose isn't surprising given that I just played through TW3 for the first time... )

 

[Druvistorer]

Three tying it up for me:

Assassins' Creed Valhalla: Smashing. Not much to say here that hasn't already been said, but it's a lot of fun and gets plenty right. Thank Odin for the new equipment system!

Crusader Kings 3: I'm genuinely not sure how they managed to outdo 2, but they did. Cracking play already, and I can't wait to see what it looks like, DLC and Mods and all, in a couple of years.

Battle Brothers: Didn't release this year, but a big DLC dropped mid-lockdown which injected a whole new breath of fresh air into an already awesome experience. This is an utterly brilliant (and sometimes quite difficult) title, and I think I might even have shed a little RL tear when my drunkard Hedge Knight duelist finally bit the dust (of the new gladiatoral arena)!

 

[Rolfil]

Best games I've played? Assassin's Creed: Odyssey and Death Stranding.

 

[RomDivina]

Can I say Control?

 

[Zloth]

Can I say Control?

You can, but you'll probably want to type it if you want anyone else to know.

 

[Rensje]

For me there were two games that I played more than anything else: Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Escape From Tarkov. I played an absolute metric ton of Modern Warfare online with my friends this year because I was in lockdown and didn't have much else to do. I used to love competitive shooters in simpler times and this game felt like going back in time in some ways. The world has moved on to the new Cold War game now, but we got a year's worth of fun out of MW nonetheless.

Escape From Tarkov is one of the most brutal PvPvE shooter/RPG hybrids I've played in my life and the loot grind mixed with the satisfying gunplay keeps me coming back for more. That game can be tense and terrifying and has me on edge constantly in a way that no other game seems to . Knowing that a single fatal bullet can await you around every corner is just intense. I'm on my third wipe now (these work like leagues in Path of Exile) and the early game struggle is real. Building guns out of whatever parts you happen to scrape together and then murdering guys with them is super satisfying but holy hell, am I ever terrible at this game.

Last honorable mention: Among Us. At the very end of 2020 I got suckered into playing this with our group of friends and I've since fallen madly in love with the experience. I should probably feel bad for having so much fun as the murderous, stone-cold lying impostor but you'll get no apologies from me!

 

[RomDivina]

You can, but you'll probably want to type it if you want anyone else to know.

Ah ok then Control it is

I thought 2019 games cant be nominated for 2020 GOTY

 

[Zloth]

Nah. PC Gamer editors are stuck with that limit. We can vote whatever.