Welcome, 2021. Another year has come and gone, and as we roll 2020’s flaming dumpster down the hill into the pile of years that has come before, it’s as good a time as ever to reminisce upon the games that released throughout the mess that was 2020.

While delays were rampant, many games still managed to release, such as the Demon's Souls remake, a "definitive edition" of one of the biggest recent JRPGs in the form of Persona 5: Royal, new Animal Crossing, The Last of Us, Half-Life, Yakuza, and Assassin's Creed games, indie darling hits, like Hades, Spelunky 2, Spiritfarer, and so many more.

This previous year saw the release of a brand new console generation, with both the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X|S. Those console launches also brought with them waves of scalping, to the chagrin of most gamers worldwide. But for the most part, the major titles this year came earlier in the year, releasing at the tail-end of the lifespan for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. And, of course, you can’t forget the Nintendo Switch, which exploded in popularity yet again with the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and spent the rest of the year quietly coasting along with sparse first-party releases here and there.

What wasn’t sparse, however, was the number of leaks that proliferated throughout 2020. From Watch_Dogs Legion’s source code leaking right on launch, to most of The Last of Us Part II’s story cutscenes being uploaded before the game was even publicly available—and of course, you can’t forget the insane Nintendo Gigaleaks—this year saw companies getting hacked and data being illegally distributed at a breakneck pace.

No matter what your thoughts on 2020 overall, it’s clear that it was a downright wild year, so we ask you, what video game-related event, be it a release, an event, or scandal, was your favorite of 2020?

And by the way--Happy New Year, GBAtemp!

 

[GABO1423]

I was not interested at all in the current state of the gaming industry in 2020 overall, mainly due to a lack of releases that personally had me excited like I used to be in prior years.

But I think that I can easily answer this question, my favorite gaming-related event of the year is just the absolute shitshow that was the arrest of a few members of Team Xecuter. It really put into perspective how the hacking scene has changed from the days of the DS and Wii to the current hacking scene of the Switch. I found it a fascinating event for sure, even if I do not own a Nintendo Switch in the first place.

But overall, this was a weak year for me in this regard. So I hope that I can be more involved with the gaming industry in 2021, but only time will tell if that ends up being the case.

 

[yoofo]

I bought a PSP

 

[SexiestManAlive]

definitely 3d all stars and the announcement of mario 3d world + bowsers fury

 

[Xzi]

Well I'd say Hades and DOOM Eternal both matched the year's theme best: a battle through hell. The game I most enjoyed every moment of this year was Persona 4 Golden, though. What a pleasant surprise the PC release for that was.

 

[Super.Nova]

I spent it almost entirely working and barely had the time to actually play anything.
Except for when I got COVID, I had a chance to play FFVII Remake and it was a shitty, hazy, feverish time for me.

 

[Chary]

My favorite gaming moment would have certainly been Persona 4 Golden coming to PC, at least, it was until a GBAtemp member helped me get a PS5, amidst all the scalper madness. Still super grateful, and being able to have that PS5 honest to goodness brings me joy every day.

 

[Xzi]

My favorite gaming moment would have certainly been Persona 4 Golden coming to PC, at least, it was until a GBAtemp member helped me get a PS5, amidst all the scalper madness. Still super grateful, and being able to have that PS5 honest to goodness brings me joy every day.

Hell yeah. How much do you love the controller? Everything else aside, that alone might be enough to win this gen for Sony IMHO. Not only is it even more comfortable than the SPC, it utilizes haptic feedback so much better than Ninty's HD rumble. Then there's the awesome triggers.

 

[MochaMilk]

KFConsole

 

[Chary]

Hell yeah. How much do you love the controller? Everything else aside, that alone might be enough to win this gen for Sony IMHO. Not only is it even more comfortable than the SPC, it utilizes haptic feedback so much better than Ninty's HD rumble. Then there's the awesome triggers.

I’m not a DualShock kinda person by any means, but the DualSense is enough to convert me happily. It’s actually comfortable—a first for Sony, for me. It’s better than the Astro C40, better than the Switch Pro, only beat by the Elite V2.

 

[Alex4nder001]

_

 

[relauby]

My favourite gaming thing this year was Ubisoft releasing Trackmania with a subscription service, and then telling people that it wasn't a subscription service. They described what the game actually is, and it's pretty much the dictionary definition of a subscription service.

"Actually it's not a subscription model but an access to the game for a limited time. You pay for having access to the game for one period and that's it," a Ubisoft rep wrote. "When the time is over, you have to buy the game again for the time that you want to access it again."

It's worth pointing out that Ubisoft later backed away from this statement, but I just love this story anyway. It seems so emblematic of the way companies try to do things they know customers will hate and fall all over themselves trying to redefine terms to trick us. It won't have the staying power of "surprise mechanics" but I think of this story a lot lately.

 

[slimbizzy]

everything regarding cyberpunk. but more specifically the arguments that arose from the game. both before and after. i also enjoyed being the only person who wasn't stupidly hyped for the game.

you know what. there wasn't much about this year that made anyone super glad, so i guess my favorite part is getting mad at all the dumb gaming related things that happened and party when they don't happen to me.

screw it. nothing lol.

 

[Beerus]

has to be Persona 5 royal got to play an amazing game again with extra content and best girl

 

[LuigiXL]

The absolute beauty that is Ghost Of Tsushima. I bought a PS5 just to play it in 60FPS and haven’t looked back.

 

[Lv44ES_Burner]

My favorite gaming moment of 2020 was when I bought my Switch Lite. I've just fallen in love with it, honestly. Originally it was just a machine to play Crash N.Sane Trilogy and Spyro Reignited Trilogy on, but now I've got Doom '93, Doom II, Doom 64, Doom 2k16, Doom Eternal, Final Fantasy XII... what I thought was just going to be a dedicated Sony mascot machine is now an actual staple of my gaming and I never saw it coming.

I've found myself rekindled with my love of Final Fantasy XII in particular and reminded of why it's my favorite game in the entire series, even surpassing Final Fantasy V and IX in my books. The Zodiac Age remaster has just built upon the solid foundation of the IZJS release and really, really caught the inner MMO wannabe in me.

 

[Chary]

My favourite gaming thing this year was Ubisoft releasing Trackmania with a subscription service, and then telling people that it wasn't a subscription service. They described what the game actually is, and it's pretty much the dictionary definition of a subscription service.

"Actually it's not a subscription model but an access to the game for a limited time. You pay for having access to the game for one period and that's it," a Ubisoft rep wrote. "When the time is over, you have to buy the game again for the time that you want to access it again."

It's worth pointing out that Ubisoft later backed away from this statement, but I just love this story anyway. It seems so emblematic of the way companies try to do things they know customers will hate and fall all over themselves trying to redefine terms to trick us. It won't have the staying power of "surprise mechanics" but I think of this story a lot lately.

Good old Ubi -“The Division 2 isn’t political”-soft.

 

[DKB]

Doom Eternal.

 

[andzalot55]

Finally got around to playing Xenoblade Chronicles when the Definitive Edition released on the switch. I was very satisfied with the whole game.

 

[IC_]

Playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf the entire year, it's still much better than New Horizons which should have been delayed for at least one more year.