Boi. That was a year huh. Covid being a thing and all really threw a wrecker through most of folks plans, including mine. Here christmas is fundamentally cancelled due to the third wave, family isn't coming over so instead I'm stuck here celebrating at home with my family. Anyway, I did like, play a good amount of games this year, so let's go over some good picks from this years games. Note: Games not necessarily released this year, merely what I played.
5. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Fuck it. you know its gonna be on there. It's a neat game. I don't really have much to say for it. It captured me for a month after release, and it's fairly good. Probably the most polished game that came out this year that I actually played. Highly recommended.
4. Death Stranding
Kojima's weirdass brainchild of being a delivery man in the post-apocalypse hits more home than ever. It's story is all you can expect from a Kojima story, in that it meanders, ponders about weird subjects and sometimes feels like you're reading a summary of the Wikipedia article he came across that day. Still, a very good game. Very recommended.
3. Risk of Rain 2
A strange pick perhaps, but this game is tons of fun. I'd never think that a 3D roguelike could ever work, but ROR2 makes it work. It's fun, it's challenging and I can keep adding adjectives to it. But when you hit those 90 minutes in a run and you're nuking everything with a single mouseclick, you know that this game is something special when it still manages to kick your ass 30 minutes later. A true hidden spark.
2. No Man's Sky
Yes really. This is a game that made such a giant comeback. It's nothing like it was at launch. There's so much stuff to do, it's insane. They're adding more things and it's getting closer to that original vision. Can't wait what they do next and the game is by now worth the asking price. If you're in doubt, get it at a sale.
Runner-ups for number 1:
The difficulty with my number 1 pick is that there's multiple games that can put a claim to it. Whilst all the previous games excelled in a lot of ways, these all hit in specific marks that I feel are worthy of their own segment that would make them a contender, but none of them excelled like the number 1 spot did.
And with that we have reached... number 1.
1. Elite Dangerous
I bought it in early spring this year. Since then I have put over 300 hours in this game. This is as far as I'm concerned the best possible space sim on the market right now. It controls extremely well and straightforward (unlike some other sims I've played), the UI is refreshingly straightforward, you can play without getting ass-blasted by some PVP kid in a much stronger ship than yours and the developers aren't selling you JPEGs of starships they haven't even made yet.
Yes those last three were dunking on X4, EVE and Star Citizen. Especially on Star Citizen. There's an upcoming expansion that's adding space legs, at which point the game will have succesfully managed to succeed Star Citizen on basically every level. Can't fucking wait for it. Right now I'm on an expedition for one of the DSSA carrier deployments to one of the furthest regions of the galaxy. If you want a game you can just turn a podcast on with and kick back and relax with, this is the game for you. Highly recommended. If any of you who play it want a CMDR name, feel free to send me a PM.
And that's about it. Not much going on besides that. Life's life. Onto a hopefully happier 2021.
5. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Fuck it. you know its gonna be on there. It's a neat game. I don't really have much to say for it. It captured me for a month after release, and it's fairly good. Probably the most polished game that came out this year that I actually played. Highly recommended.
4. Death Stranding
Kojima's weirdass brainchild of being a delivery man in the post-apocalypse hits more home than ever. It's story is all you can expect from a Kojima story, in that it meanders, ponders about weird subjects and sometimes feels like you're reading a summary of the Wikipedia article he came across that day. Still, a very good game. Very recommended.
3. Risk of Rain 2
A strange pick perhaps, but this game is tons of fun. I'd never think that a 3D roguelike could ever work, but ROR2 makes it work. It's fun, it's challenging and I can keep adding adjectives to it. But when you hit those 90 minutes in a run and you're nuking everything with a single mouseclick, you know that this game is something special when it still manages to kick your ass 30 minutes later. A true hidden spark.
2. No Man's Sky
Yes really. This is a game that made such a giant comeback. It's nothing like it was at launch. There's so much stuff to do, it's insane. They're adding more things and it's getting closer to that original vision. Can't wait what they do next and the game is by now worth the asking price. If you're in doubt, get it at a sale.
Runner-ups for number 1:
The difficulty with my number 1 pick is that there's multiple games that can put a claim to it. Whilst all the previous games excelled in a lot of ways, these all hit in specific marks that I feel are worthy of their own segment that would make them a contender, but none of them excelled like the number 1 spot did.
- ULTRAKILL - Released by New Blood Interactive, ULTRAKILL is probably a game that's gonna make it to my 2021 list too, given it's still in early access. It's Doom meets Quake meets Devil May Cry and it somehow works. You are a robot called V1. You heal by getting blood splattered on you. Humanity is dead. Hell is full. You figure out the rest. It's an incredible game, and for me a far tighter experience than Doom Eternal was, which is comparable given both try to call back to older games.
- Warhammer 40k: Mechanicus - XCOM meets Darkest Dungeon meets Warhammer 40k. I'll freely admit to having gotten into 40k this year, and I'm loving it. The fact that my favorite two factions in the setting (the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Necrons) have a game this good dedicated to them is amazing. It's a turn-based tactical RPG that cuts down a lot on the downtime guff that modern RPGs get bogged down by, whilst still allowing a lot of creative expression. Playing robot dress-up simulator never has felt so good.
And with that we have reached... number 1.
1. Elite Dangerous
I bought it in early spring this year. Since then I have put over 300 hours in this game. This is as far as I'm concerned the best possible space sim on the market right now. It controls extremely well and straightforward (unlike some other sims I've played), the UI is refreshingly straightforward, you can play without getting ass-blasted by some PVP kid in a much stronger ship than yours and the developers aren't selling you JPEGs of starships they haven't even made yet.
Yes those last three were dunking on X4, EVE and Star Citizen. Especially on Star Citizen. There's an upcoming expansion that's adding space legs, at which point the game will have succesfully managed to succeed Star Citizen on basically every level. Can't fucking wait for it. Right now I'm on an expedition for one of the DSSA carrier deployments to one of the furthest regions of the galaxy. If you want a game you can just turn a podcast on with and kick back and relax with, this is the game for you. Highly recommended. If any of you who play it want a CMDR name, feel free to send me a PM.
And that's about it. Not much going on besides that. Life's life. Onto a hopefully happier 2021.
