Hi, I'm Toe Thumbs Morgan Barnes, the AAA martyr. I host the Chompcast and started writing reviews on the website this year! 2020 was a special year for videogames. We saw The Last of Us 2 shatter the game awards record with seven wins. We saw The Last of Us 2 become the most awarded game of all time, surpassing the Witcher 3. We saw our audience vote The Last of Us 2 GOTY in our biggest user vote turnout ever. We saw the last of us garner the highest Metacritic of the year. We witnessed history, but most importantly, we experienced something that only comes along once in a generation or so. Oh yeah, I guess some other games came out too. Here are my top ten games of 2020.
10. Demon’s Souls
I have not finished Demon’s Souls yet, but that's OK. I'm having a fantastic time banging my head against a wall, and oh, what a gorgeous wall it is. Demon's Souls is truly next-gen. I don't have any particularly fond memories of the original game on the ps3, so this gorgeous remake feels new. It's not a revolutionary remake by any means, but it's arguably the best looking console game on the PS5 right now, and Bluepoint nailed the art direction and tone. I'm excited to suffer more and more in the coming weeks!
9. Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Ori is probably the best looking 2D game ever made. It falls in that interesting middle ground as far as production values go. It's not a AAA game at 30
dollars, but it has Microsoft money behind it, and it shows. The game design and overall feel of the character movement is also stellar! I had the pleasure of interviewing the composer, Gareth Edwards, back in April, and his music for Ori is some of the best in any game this year. I wish the game wasn't so frustrating, though. One notoriously difficult boss pushed me off the game long enough to leave it unfinished for almost six months. Also, by design, it's easy to get lost and frustrated sometimes, as is the case with most Metroid a is style games. The most significant issues here are the difficulty. The game feels unbalanced and frustrating. You can lower the difficulty to easy but ONLY when starting a new game. I never finished Ori, so I cannot put it higher on the list.
8. Godfall
This game came as a pleasant surprise, landing at the right time for me with my brand new ps5. It's a reasonably simple loot/action game, but godamn, it's gorgeous! The combat feels great with the PlayStation 5's haptic feedback as well. Did I mention all the delicious loot? The story is a yawnfest, and the game isn't doing anything inspiring from a design perspective, but it's a beautiful and fun way to break in that new PS5 along with Astro bot, demon souls, and Miles Morales.
7. Maneater
Maneater is not a great game. It's a mediocre game at best, and it also had a seriously fucked up glitch that erased ten hours of my progress. That couldn't stop me from getting the platinum trophy. Maneater is the only Shark-RPG on the market and proves that a great concept can succeed with an only adequate execution. This game was both a dream come true and a frustrating nightmare. You can also play a prettier, better performing upgrade of maneater on PS5. I’m Placing Maneater this high on my list because it's so damn unique. There is only ONE Shark-RPG on the market, and damn it, that means something to me!
6) Mortal Shell may define the soon-to-be success of Cold symmetry as one of the industry’s best new game developers. Mortal Shell may look like a budget souls game from the outside, but on the inside, it stands toe to toe with bloodborne as my favorite souls game ever. I adored this game, and it features some of the best boss battles of the year. Don't let this one pass you by if you're a dark souls/bloodborne fan! The primary mechanic of hardening your "shell" to
absorb attacks is excellent for people like me that struggle with how difficult these games are.
5. Astro’s Playroom
I will always remember the first day I had my ps5. The excitement of it finally arriving vial mail at my doorstep. Unboxing the glorious new hardware and playing Astros playroom for hours and hours until I fell asleep. Astros playroom is a short-lived experience, but it feels fresh and groundbreaking. There isn't anything quite like Astro’s playroom. It's both a well-made platformer and an adorable trip through the history of PlayStation nostalgia. Astros playroom also shows off how incredible haptic feedback can be for the next generation. It's only a few hours long, but I’ll never forget it, and it comes packed in every single ps5 for free!!! Pure magic.
4. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
It felt like Animal Crossing: New Horizons brought the world together back in March of this year. The pandemic was in full swing, and the world was on lockdown, so when we couldn't leave our homes, we visited each other’s virtual islands for months and months of adorable fun. New Horizons switched up the animal crossing formula by adding crafting, which felt like it should have been there all along. Sculpting your island’s shape with the landscaping tool allowed me to make my island genuinely unique. All the classic franchise hallmarks were still there as well, and it looked fantastic on the switch. The game is excellent, but the timing was also exceptional.
3. Hades
I was addicted to hades for almost a month, and I had a fantastic time. The game felt like sex without an orgasm for me because, after 30 plus hours of dungeon diving, I could never finish the game. Hades is brutal. Maybe a bit too brutal, but at least they include a friendly "god mode" if you want it. Hades feels like the cumulation of a decade of development on the independent scene and a pinnacle achievement for the studio. Also fishing!
2. Cyberpunk 2077
Maybe I needed to play Cyberpunk 2077 on PC to feel good about putting it on my list. After all, the console version crashed for me 20+ times, but as a testament to the enjoyment I was having, I would immediately just load back in every time the game would crash. Cyberpunk 2077 is also a unique case study that will challenge just how many small technical issues you are willing to put up with to enjoy a messy but essential open-world gaming experience. I use the word essential because Night City itself feels like a groundbreaking artistic achievement.
1. The Last of Us Part 2
Videogames are never this good and this important. Groundbreaking in game design, LGBTQ lead characters, accessibility, and technical wizardry, the TLOU 2 is our medium’s pinnacle and the greatest game ever made. Play it. Play it again. Play it every year until you die. This game is a miracle.
Author: Morgan Barnes