2020 In Gaming

Hey, everyone, it's that time of the year again! I'm experimenting with Blogger since Facebook removed Notes. We'll see how it goes.

Anyway! I played a whopping 65 video games this year! Holy cow! And I beat 45 of them, which is more than I've even played the past few years. Surely that means I've made a considerable dent in my backlog?

>checks Backloggery account

>Progress at -49 games for 2020

Ah.

 JANUARY

Hollow Knight -or- Not Your Dad's Metroidvania! It's Me. I'm the Dad.

So I finally sunk my teeth into Hollow Knight back in January. Sooooo many people have lauded this game as the future of the Metroidvania sub-genre, and while Hollow Knight does a lot of really great things that address fundamental issues with the genre, it just didn't click with me. Aesthetically, the game is very dour. The story, visuals, and sound are all very melancholic, which is something that generally does not appeal to me. It's a gorgeous game, but without an aesthetic that appeals to me I have a hard time motivating myself through the more difficult sections, of which there are many. The big thing that sets this game apart from, say, and Iga-vania though is that the game is entirely reliant on player skill rather than upgrading your tool-set or allowing you to cheese your way to victory. This is arguably the better approach, but I don't play video games to be good at them. Many of the bosses were incredibly frustrating, and I get no sense of accomplishment from overcoming that challenge. I'm just grateful it's over, so I can get back to platforming and exploration, which are the parts of the game I like. I ended up getting around 80% through the game before putting it down and moving on. Maybe someday I'll go back and finish it, but I won't be picking up Hollow Knight: Silksong.

 

FEBRUARY

 

To the Moon -or- Sad Story Is Sad

After years of putting it off (is this a trend?), I finally played through To the Moon one weekend and as much as I'd like to regale you with how this story affected me emotionally, it's been nearly a year and I can't remember much about it. Anyway, the story is great, the music is great, and it's on Switch. Apparently there's also a follow-up to this game, so I'll likely play that when it comes to Switch, too.

 

Bomb Chicken -or- Explodey Chubby Clucky Adventure Hour

 

Bomb Chicken is a great Puzzle-Platformer where you control a chubby chicken that has escaped from certain lunch in order to destroy the factory where you and your brethren have been captured. Instead of eggs, you can lay bombs, which you can use as platforms as well as explosives. The game is hilarious and a great time. I highly recommend it for anyone who likes Puzzle games, chubby chickens, and/or explosions.

 

Rygar -or- Captain America's Medieval Adventures

Feeling somewhat retro one day, I decided to play through the NES version of Rygar. I had heard how ahead of its time this game was, but had never played it back in the day. I ended up using a walkthrough because I don't have the patience for NES bullshit in my 30s. While I know that the maze-ness of the game is kind of the point, I still had a great time playing it, and really wish I had this game as a kid. It reminds me of Zelda II in all the right ways, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a retro Metroidvania-like game to play. Just make sure you play the NES/Famicom version and not the Arcade version!

 

MegaMan Zero/ZX Legacy Collection -or- The Best MegaMan Games. No, This Is Not Up For Debate.

Third times the charm, right? Right? Yes! MegaMan Zero/ZX Legacy Collection contains the six Zero and ZX games, two of which I have played before. I played MegaMan: ZX Advent in 2007 when it released, and the first Zero game as part of the NDS MegaMan Zero Collection in both 2010 and 2017. Both times were a false start, and I couldn't get far in MegaMan Zero 2 before just giving up. This time though, thanks to a brilliant new Continue system, I managed to play all six games back to back! This is something I almost never do, as I prefer to bounce between genres, but I had a really great time! Having infinite lives is an absolute game-changer, and something I hope every MegaMan game going forward does. Anyway, the Zero series follows newly reawakened Reploid, Zero, as he tries to bring true peace to the world by cleaning up the remnants of mistakes made by him and his partner X in the MegaMan X games. It's an engaging story, and the focus on close-combat over long-ranged combat of other MegaMan games is something I personally enjoy a lot. The last two games in the collection follow humans and Reploids that take on the MegaMan mantle, and offer a more Metroidvania-vibe which is something that the first MegaMan Zero attempted, but that MMZ 2-4 left behind. These are such great games, and this is by far the best way to play them.

MARCH

Pokemon: Let's Go Eevee! -or- The Frictionless Pokemon Experience I Didn't Know I Needed

 

Back in the early days, I was a Pokemon fanatic, as anyone who knew me 1999-2001 can attest. But after Gen 2, I fell off the series. I stopped collecting cards, stopped watching the anime, and mostly stopped playing the games. I picked up a few here and there, but after 2013's Pokemon X left me underwhelmed, I thought that maybe the core games just weren't for me. Earlier this year, I decided to pick up Pokemon: Let's Go Eevee! on a whim, and had a surprisingly great time. It is of course a remake of Pokemon: Red/Blue/Green Version, which is a game I already like and have played around a dozen times, but the ease of capturing and leveling-up Pokemon really made the experience so much more enjoyable. I don't play Pokemon as a serious JRPG. I play it as a collection of fun creatures that I want to play and be friend with. But that's hard to do when you are constantly finding new and exciting creatures every few hours of play. Especially in Pokemon X, where you could find Pokemon from six generations in a single Route! Honestly, the more the core series moves away from the JRPG aspect and embraces friction-less play with Pokemon, the more I'm going to like it. So here's hoping to a follow-up to Pokemon: Let's Go. It doesn't even have to be a Johto-region game. I'd love a new region exclusive to this series. I just want to have fun with my Pokemon friends.

New Super Lucky's Tale -or- Happy Fun Collecting Time!

After having an absolute blast with Spyro Reignited Trilogy in 2019, I was itching for a new 3D Collectathon Platformer, and kept hearing good things about this one. It's so adorable! It's a bit short, even with all the content they added for this deluxe release, but I still had a great time with it. The jibber-jabber of the NPCs is maybe the best part? The villagers in the farm region have this Southern-inspired accent that is incredible, and the ghosts in the haunted region say, "Spookaboo!" which is amazing. I super recommend this game if you like 3D Platformers.

APRIL

Bubble Bobble 4 Friends -or- Bubble Blowing Bonanza!

Bubble Bobble is one of my favorite NES games. It's a great multiplayer Puzzle-Platformer that I recommend to any retro fan. The last time we saw the series was in 2009 on WiiWare, which introduced 4-Player Co-Op. This release continues that, with 100 new stages, as well as the original Arcade game. It's a pretty good time, and while it can get frustrating to 100%, I still enjoyed my time with it. It's a shame the physical collector's edition was so expensive, I would have loved to have it.

Cat Girl Without Salad ~Amuse-Bouche~ -or- MEMES ARE REAL

For the uninitiated, Cat Girl Without Salad was an April Fool's Joke by WayForward a few years back, where they combined a dozen genres into  one and filled a screenshot with as many sprites as they could manage. This ended up being made into a real Shoot 'Em Up, exclusive to Humble Bundle and, finally in 2020, the Switch eShop. It's a pretty solid Shoot 'Em Up, and very goofy. Check it out if you're lame like me and still find things like Invader Zim funny.

Final Fantasy VII Remake -or- Square-Enix's Best Game In Years

I put 40 hours into this game in the first week.

Look, I have a lot of mixed feelings on the gameplay of the original FFVII. I'm not big on turn-based combat, and the game is really slow. But the story, the characters, and THE MUSIC are things I do love, and the embellishment of all of the good aspects of the original make this remake truly shine. Just every minute I was in this world was wonderful and magical. And the BATTLE SYSTEM! I've played a handful of Party-Based Action-JRPGs, but this is by far the best one. The constant need to swap party members to stay on top of the battle, plus how fun every character is to control, is amazing! They really improved on FFXV's battle system in a lot of meaningful ways, and it makes me really confident in FFXVI being fun, even though I know that's a different team. The ending is something I have mixed feelings about, but man, I just love this world so much, I'm here for pretty much whatever.

AND. THE. MUSIC. IS. SO. GOOD.

Florence -or- Adult Relationships: The Game

Y'know, I really like cute little Adventure games that capture the minutia of daily life and relationships. Florence was a really pleasant time and a nice breezy... breather... after the enormous FFVII Remake.

Donkey Kong Land -or- DKC But Not

I love the first two Donkey Kong Country games and picked up Donkey Kong Land a while back after hearing it was worth checking out. I got about halfway through, but the save battery was dead and I lost my progress. I'll give it another go when the Analogue Pocket comes out this year.

Trials of Mana -or- The Perfect HD Remake

When people ask for an HD remake of a game, they generally want one of two things: The original game in HD with accessability features OR The original game built from the ground-up with a modern aesthetic and mostly unchanged. While FFVII Remake took a very novel approach to remaking a game, it's not something anyone would know to ask for. Trials of Mana is a much safer bet, and probably what many people envision when they imagine a game from the 90s in HD. It's a solid Action-JRPG with a fun, unchallenging story and engaging battle system. After feeling rather disappointed with Secret of Mana back in the day, I have been wanting to play Seiken Densatsu III, and even went so far as importing an SFC copy. But before I could ever get around to it, this remake was announced, and I'm glad I waited. It was a great time, and I hope they make more Mana games like this one.

Nintendo LABO Toy-Con 04 -or- Lo-Fi VR

I managed to snag LABO VR for like, $20. It's fun getting to play Breath of the Wild in VR, but I wish the resolution was a little higher so I could play it longer than a few minutes without getting a headache.

MAY

Doki Doki Literature Club -or- This Is Fine.

This is fine. Everything is fine. No problems here.

Okay look, the scene where you're there all weekend is something I will absolutely never forget. If you know, you know.

SNK Gals Fighters -or- I Wish Switch Had a Clicky-Stick

I had always heard this was a decent handheld fighter, and I love the Neo Geo Pocket Color. The presentation here is amazing! There are several NGPC borders to make it feel like you're playing the OG hardware. It's a pretty solid fighter, and I'm considering picking up all the NGPC games they release just because the love they put into this is so nice. If only I could get a clicky-stick for Switch. Someday I'll get a Neo Geo Pocket Color of my own.

SuperMash -or- Mix'n'Match Retro Gaming

So the concept here is super cool: You take a handful of retro game genres, plug two of them into a random game generator, and it creates a game from scratch! You can play a Stealth/Platformer, or an RPG/Metroidvania, or an Adventure/Shooter. There's a lot of combinations, and the same combination will always produce slightly different results. The quality is all over the place though, and the game is pretty upfront about that. I didn't get very far through the story, but I'm looking forward to revisiting it.

Murder By Numbers -or- Detective Picross

One of the most brilliant games I played this year was Murder By Numbers. A murder mystery Adventure game where you investigate crime scenes by solving Picross puzzles. And you all know how much I love Picross. I can not recommend this game enough to any Picross fan, or anyone Picross-curious. And the soundtrack, by Ace Attorney composer Masakazu Sugimori, is an absolute delight. Seriously, go play this game.

A Fold Apart -or- Long-Distance Relationship Puzzles

 

Hey, look, it's another Adventure game about relationships! This time, it's a Puzzle-Platformer where you try and unite our lovers physically as they internally navigate the complexities of a long-distance relationship. It's a bit short, but a lovely little game!

Super Mario Odyssey -or- Joy-Con Controllers Made Me Hate This Game

I finally got all the Moons in Super Mario Odyssey! I learned a neat trick to get the Volleyball Moon that was giving me trouble, and decided to ditch the Joy-Cons altogether in favor of the Pro Controller, and the game just instantly clicked. I can't believe I wasted 60 hours fighting with the Joy-Cons to get enjoyment out of this game. I should have used the Pro Controller from the start. Either way, this game is too long to ever play again. I'll know better for Super Mario Odyssey 2.

Shantae and the Seven Sirens -or- Once Again, With Less Feeling!

This might be where the series is going to start falling off for me. Seven Sirens is solid, but seems to be lacking... something. It might just be the soundtrack, as this fifth entry is the first without series composer Jake Kaufman. Still, I had a good time with it, and I do recommend it to fans of the series, WayForward, and Metroidvanias. I ended up double dipping on the game because I wanted to play it right away rather than wait for the Limited Run release, but I honestly could have waited.

JUNE

Dewy's Adventure -or- Kirby's Dewy's Tilt 'n' Tumble

I've been researching and picking up interesting Wii games for the past few years, and I got my hands on this little Konami oddity. You tilt the Wii Remote to glide Dewy across the stage and collect his little friends. It's really fun! I only got through the first world, so I need to go back and finish it, but I really liked it.

Moss -or- Let's Be Friends With a Mouse In VR

This game is so charming and fun! While taking a light vacation, I spent a few days playing some PSVR games, and dove into Moss. It's a great Action/Adventure game where you control and interact with a little mouse on a great adventure! If you like Zelda-style games, you'll absolutely love this. The end of the game teases a sequel, but the studio has been pretty quiet so it may not happen, which is an absolute shame. These are the kinds of games I need more of in VR.

Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight -or- Cave Story Metroidvania

Done in a visual style similar to Cave Story (likely made with a similar game making program), Momodora is gorgeous and fun. It's dreary and dour in tone, much like Hollow Knight, but aesthetically appealing to me and much, much shorter. I was originally givena Steam copy of the game by a friend, but was unable to motivate myself to play it until it went on sale on Switch. I'm actually playing the followup, Minoria, right now! It's not quite as good, but more on that next year.

Mario & Wario -or- Point & Click Puzzles on Your SNES!

I got the Hyperkin Hyper Click Mouse for the SNES, which is infared rather than a physical ball, making SNES games like Mario Paint much better. As a result, I imported Mario & Wario; a game I've known about going all the way back to a sly reference in Kirby Super Star. I've always been curious about it, and I'm glad to say it's really fun! The game tasks you with guiding Mario characters to the end of a level by creating and vanishing blocks, and it gets really hectic later on!

Wandersong -or- A Bard's Tale

Okay, so, what if the bard was the hero? Wandersong takes all the JRPG/Adventure game tropes of a destined hero and a doomed land and puts a bard at the helm. Why fight things when you can sing and be friends? It's a wonderful game, with a ton of heart, and great writing and music. I had a hard time staying intersted at times though (there is a LOT of dialogue), so I haven't finished it yet. But someday soon I'll jump back in!

Mr. Driller Drill Land -or- Susume Gets His Due

We finally have it! The Japan-exclusive GameCube Mr. Driller Drillsterpice, Mr. Driller Drill Land! This is a really fun puzzle series that stars the son of the Dig Dug hero. We've gotten most of the games over the years, with the last one being a WiiWare exclusive in 2009 (wait, that sounds familiar...). Anyway, this game has our heroes at an amusement park with themed stages based on other Namco properties. It's really fun, the soundtrack is amazing, and the Tower of Druaga stage absolutely is the highlight of the game, even if you have to fight a dragon that just wants to mind its own business. WHY IS THE DRAGON CUTE I FEEL BAD WHEN I ATTACK IT

JULY

The Almost Gone -or- Dysfunctional Family Puzzle Boxes

The Almost Gone is a puzzle-box style Adventure game where you navigate the complexities of a dysfuncitonal family or something? The story didn't really click for me, it's not told very clearly. It's a neat Puzzle game, but fairly short and honestly not optimized for Switch super well. Maybe if I had played this on a phone I would have expected less and been more surprised.

Wappydog -or- Nintendogs: Robodog

I've just been picking up every weird Nintendo DS whatever I can. It's a pet simulator with and actual robot dog that reacts when you interact with him in the game! It's very cute.

Superliminal -or- It's All a Matter of Perspective

Maybe I've just played too many games like this, but I feel like Superliminal just didn't offer anything unique at all. If you've played Portal or The Stanley Parable, you've essentially played the best a game like this has to offer. Still, I do recommend it if you like those kinds of games.Some of the puzzles are really clever and fun.

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 -or- Bloodstained: Cursed Sequel

 

Inti-Creates are the masters of the retro-2D Action game, but while CotM1 was a masterpiece, CotM2 just does not land for me. The difficulty is frustrating, and the cast feels poorly balanced for the stages. I got most of the way through the game, and just got frustrated with the boss and level design and quit.

Kero Blaster -or- Frog Story

 

Still feeling the itch for a retro-Platformer, I moved on to this. Made by Cave Story creator Daisuke Amaya, Kero Blaster is not quite as memorable as its predecessor, but it's every bit as engaging and fun. If you've played Cave Story, but not Kero Blaster, you really owe it to yourself to check it out!

Giana Sisters DS -or- Super Mario Bros.

Wow, they sure did rip off Super Mario Bros and take all the wrong lessons. This is an obscure NDS game I've had my eye on for years, and is a revival of an old PC game series that tried to bring Mario-style gameplay to the PC. I came across a copy and played through it, and it was a much better time than I had trying to play the Wii U remake/sequel a few years back.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin -or- JONATHAN! CHARLOTTE!

Continuing with my thrist for retro games, I finally played through Portrait of Ruin and had an absolute blast. Man, there's just something special about Iga-vanias that other Metroidvanias lack. It was also nice to play a couple games in a row on my DS Lite. I've only got two Iga-vanias left after this one: Harmony of Dissonance and Curse of Darkness. Maybe in 2021!

AUGUST

Evoland -or- Retro Adventure Games: The Game

As you level up, the game goes from a lo-fi NES game to a modern 3D HD game, and it's fun seeing the game's visuals and mechanics change and evolve as you play. The first game is only a few hours long, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the sequel, which is a full-length JRPG, expands on this concept.

Steal Princess -or- They Sure Do Talk a Lot For a Puzzle Game

I've had my eye on this game for years, finally picked it up recently, and played through some of it on whim one afternoon. It's a fairly engaging puzzle game where you need to make your way across a chess-style board while collecting certain objects and meeting specific objectives. I didn't get very far in the story, but I enjoyed it, so I'm looking forward to picking it up again now that my DS Lite is repaired.

Marvel's Spider-Man -or- Spider-Man: Arkham Knight

Spider-Man finally got the Arkham treatment, and honestly, once I stopped playing it like it was a Batman game, I enjoyed this game a lot more. Swinging with webs takes a little learning, but is really fun. The combat leaves a little to be desired, and outside of a few late-game optional challenges, there's no reason to do anything more complicated than the cheesiest strategy you can. Now, that's more or less fine with me, as I'm here for a good time, but it did start to dry out in the middle of the game. The story is great though, and kept me engaged the whole way through. I'm looking forward to playing Miles Morales once I get a PS5.

A Short Hike -or- Big and Crunchy

Tied with FFVII Remake as my Game of the Year, A Short Hike is a wonderful and charming romp through an island park full of anthropomorphic animal friends. In the beginning of the game you pick up a stick, and all you can do with it is swing it around. It's wonderful. Every minute of this game oozes with charm, and the experience is super refreshing. As if that all weren't enough, the default graphics mode looks like an NDS game, which is a style you rarely see done intentionally. I absolutely love this game, and everyone I know should play it.

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes -or- Rock, Paper, Scissors Metroid

As long as I play through the series before Metroid Prime 4, it's fine if it takes forever. While I mostly enjoyed my time with Prime 2, I do have a couple points of contention. Firstly, holding the charge button during boss fights with the Wii Remote is very tiring on my hands. Secondly, and more universally, the overall progression through the game is not as elegant as most Metroid games. There were several times where I had no idea how to move forward, and the game was unclear on when I needed to visit earlier areas. While in most Metroidvanias, backtracking when you acquire new items makes sense, the way this game's areas are segmented works against that notion. It never feels like you're supposed to backtrack, but you are constantly asked to. I ended up using a walkthrough whenever I was stuck for more than half an hour, which happened several times. Still though, it was a fun, if not stressful game. Now all that's left is Hunters, Pinball, and Prime 3 and I'll be caught up!

The Last Campfire -or- Puzzles and Mysteries

Another charming puzzle game! This time though, it's a little sad and melacholic. You have to help lost souls find their way to the afterlife by helping them overcome their trauma through various puzzle rooms. Highly recommend this one.

SEPTEMBER

Skellattack -or- A Bare Bones Metroidvania

Skellattack really isn't much to write home about. It's a basic Metroidvania that thinks it's funnier than it is. But it's Konami's one video game they released this past year, and it was okay enough. Honestly though, with how many Metroidvanias there are out there, this is one you can skip.

Super Mario 3D All-Stars -or- Where Is Galaxy 2

I haven't played any of these games in years, but look, I have played Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine a LOT. So what was it like revisiting these games? Well, in the case of Super Mario 64, it holds up super well, but you can really feel that this game is married to the N64 controller. While this is the best the game has felt on any other console, it still does not feel right without that specific analog stick. The camera, expecially, feels way off being controlled with a stick rather than buttons. The game looks like a modern port, but doesn't feel like a modern port. Sunshine meanwhile is a game I have a very complicated relationship with. I absolutely love this game, but man, oh man, is it frustrating. The game is broken and unfinished, and honestly seeing Twitter alight with Sunshine jank was just as much fun as playing it through. By the end of the game, I was ready to not play it anymore, but not two weeks later, I found myself wishing I was playing again. That's the power of charisma. Lastly, Super Mario Galaxy, the game I was most excited to replay. I had mixed feelings on this game when it first released, finding it lacking in focus. This was a transitional title, as 3D Mario was moving away from Adventure-style gameplay, and more into linear levels, but Galaxy really felt like it wanted to have its cake and eat it too. Replaying it in 2020, I found that I like the game even less than I remembered, although the Pro Controller ended up being fantastic for the game, making this the definitive way to play it. I'm hoping they bring Super Mario Galaxy 2 to Switch at some point, as that game builds on and refines the direction Galaxy took.

OCTOBER

Kirby Fighters 2 -or- Super Smash Kirbos.

This follow-up to the mini-game from Kirby: Triple Deluxe builds on the original really well, and is a fun multiplayer game. The problem is that modern Kirby still feels a little too restrictive at times, so the game isn't as deep of a fighting game as it would be if they made this more of its own thing. I got stuck on the story mode at one point due to difficulty, as I tend to with the last 10 years of Kirby games. The boss battles are just too difficult in these modern games! Anyway, I'm hoping we see another core Kirby game in 2021, and that it's a little less safe than Kirby Star Allies. It's time for another shake-up.

Super Mario Bros. 35 -or- Another Nintendo Battle Royale

I got my 1st place and moved on. I hear the game gets better as you unlock stages and get more diversity per playthrough, but it takes a lot of playing to get there. I got bored pretty quickly.'

Raji: An Ancient Epic -or- An Indian Fairytale

At first glance, Raji looks to take a lot of inspiration from Prince of Persia, but it ends up being very thin on platforming, instead focusing mostly on story and combat. The story is pretty solid, and learning about Indian folklore is very fun, but the combat really falls flat. It's serviceable, but for how basic it is, the game really needs more variety to balance it out. I think a stronger focus on puzzles or platforming would help it a lot. It also looks to be setting up a series of games, as this one does not resolve, but I think I'll skip on future installments unless the gameplay gets pretty heavily refined.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair -or- Not Quite DKC, But They Tried

I picked this up on sale one day, after hearing it was an homage to the Donkey Kong Country trilogy in the way the original Yooka-Laylee tried to capture Banjo-Kazooie. I had high hopes for it, but it ended up not holding my attention. The characters had a lot of personality, but the level design was rather lacking in it. I plan to give it more of my time later on, and I'm hoping it gets better.

Ys Origin -or- 2D Action/Platforming At Its Finest

My physical edition of Ys Origin for Switch arrived and I thought, I never did finish this on PC, so why not go for it. I decided to play through as Yunica again, and had a wonderful time. The adrenaline rush of the fast-paced combat with the energetic music makes this series one of my favorites, and this specific era of Ys is my favorite. Ys Origin is arguably the best of the three games in this style, and offers three campaigns that, while mostly similar, offer different perspectives on the events of the game, with the third campaign being the one canon to the series. Even if you only play one campaign though, the game is a decent length and a ton of fun. And the next game, Ys IX: Monstrum Nox, is less than a month away!

Circle of Sumo -or- Silly Sumo Party Game

I nabbed this one evening while looking for fun party games, and my friends and I had a ton of fun with it. Definitely recommend it if you're looking for great Switch party games.

Part Time UFO -or- Cute Job-Time Go!

This adorable physics puzzle game by HAL is the cutest thing I have played this year. Big Katamari Damacy vibes. You have to take on part-time jobs involving balancing items on the screen, and there's a fair amount of challenges if you really want to go all out! It's very cute, and I'm glad it's finally on Switch after being stuck on Mobile for so long.

Carto -or- Cute Map Adventures

Another adorable October Switch game was Carto! In this game with an absolutely brilliant concept, you move around pieces of a map in order to create new areas and solve puzzles. Our little hero needs to find her way home, and recover lost pieces of her map along the way. It adorable and wonderful and I loved it so much. This was the rare time I wish a game was longer.

NOVEMBER

Return of the Obra Dinn -or- Literally the Best Mystery Game Ever Made. Not Hyperbole.

This game had been on my radar for a while, and I finally made time to play with with Melissa. We were absolutely enthralled by it, and powered through it over the course of a few evenings. It's already her favorite game she's ever played or seen, and it might have been my game of the year if it released this year. If you like mysteries or Adventure games, you owe it to yourself to play this essential masterpiece.

Kororinpa: Marble Mania -or- Wii Remote Marbles

I needed something very chill one evening, and I remembered I got a marble rolling game recently, so I had a very nice time rolling marbles around and collecting gems. I'm around halfway through it, and I tend to pop it on whnever I need something relaxing for a few minutes, so it may be a few more months before I finish it up.

Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory -or- Kingdom Hearts: Mediocre Rhythm Game

The expected post-Kingdom Hearts III spin-off is here, and with ten minutes of canon content. The lore drop is really good, but the core gameplay is just okay. Once it clicks, it can be as addicitive as the battle system in the core games, but as a Rhythm game, it just doesn't quite deliver. Many of the songs don't work in a Rhythm game context, and the gameplay just isn't quite fun enough to want to replay songs I like. That and we're revisiting Kingdom Hearts 1's story for the sixtieth time. Honestly, unless you're a KH superfan, just skip this one. Watch the canon content on YouTube or something.

Windy x Windam -or- I'll Just Buy Anything At This Point I Guess

This game has Izuna in it, which is the title character from a pair of NDS games I've been trying to get my hands on for years. It's not a very good game, but I have it now, I guess.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity -or- Button Mashy Happy Times

 

Any excuse to revisit Breath of the Wild is a good one, and why not make a prequel in the style of Dynasty Warriors? This game improves on the first Hyrule Warriors in every way, trimming the fat and delivering an experience that is focused and engaging. I never got tired of decimating enemy forces, and the story was pretty engaging throughout. Honestly, I only stopped playing because I wanted to move on to other games, so while I did beat it, there's still some more missions, and I imagine I'll go back and 100% it once I'm feeling that particular itch.

DECEMBER

Arkanoid vs Space Invaders -or- Shooty Bouncy Space Time

 

This game was part of the Space Invaders Forever collection on Switch, which includes two other Space Invaders games. This one is a port of a mobile game where you fight the invaders by moving a paddle and bouncing balls at them, Arkanoid-style. It's really fun, and I imagine I'll spend a lot more time with it.

Arca's Path VR -or- VR Marbles

Missing using my PSVR, I picked up a handful of VR games on sale. I played Arca's Path VR briefly one afternoon, and rolled some marbles around by tilting my head. It was pretty fun, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it more as I continue playing it.

QV -or- Anime Girl Puzzle Game

QV is a cute puzzle game where you have to collect items as you navigate to the end of the stage. Pretty standard puzzle game fare, and something I'm still in the middle of. Liking it so far though!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And that's all for 2020! I played a LOT OF GAMES this year, and plan on playing a lot next year too! Did you play any of these? What did you think? Were there any games you didn't play that caught your eye? Let me know!

2020 Scorecard:

Games Played: 65

Games Beaten: 45

Games Replayed: 6