The Impact Factor’s Top 10 Games of 2020
Perspectives
2020. Sigh. 2020.
Let’s face it — this year was awful. And by most accounts, this is a new beginning of tough years to come. The evils of this year are not new. 2020 is not some monolith; it is not some extreme aberration. Most of the year’s woes have long since been at play for those who paid attention. 2020 just made them impossible to ignore. The sum total of everything that went wrong (global pandemic, shameless state sanctioned violence against BIPOC, economic crash) may be unique, but I will continue to worry about the difficult road that lies ahead. And to do what I can to try to make things better. Even if just a little.
This year did have great moments for me, too. I got to spend so much more time with my wife because of shelter-in-place. That was incredible. Priceless. We also made big changes in our lives. We bought a car, we moved into a nicer apartment, and we adopted a new cat. The love of my family, my life, grew in a meaningful way this year and I don’t want to forget that. I am extremely privileged and lucky to live the life I live with the people (and pets) I do. Plus my wife gives me professional-level haircuts now so come on, how great is that!
The year, of course, influenced the way I think about playing games. I like many others lived with a constant sense of dread, an anxiety that at any moment any one I know could get sick and I would be powerless to do anything about it. Or even see them. So at first, I wanted to use video games as an escape. That didn’t work. Reality’s grasp was inescapable.
Instead, I found myself gravitating towards check-list games, like “games as a service” and big loot grinds. Accomplishing daily and weekly tasks gave me a sense of control. I could set small, medium, and large scale goals that were fully in my power to accomplish. They also required very little thought to do so (slay x monsters, play x games as this class, etc). I was mindlessly, powerfully in control of my world. It was incredibly satisfying and helped get me through 2020. Some of those games like Hearthstone and The Division 2 won’t show up on this list because they did not come out this year, but boy did I spent a lot of time with them.
Anyway, on to my Top 10 games of the year. But first, a special preface:
Yes I played The Last of Us Part 2
It was fine
I did not connect with the characters
The story was fairly rote and didn’t expand upon the core “revenge is bad” idea
The gameplay was good but felt outdated
I still regard The Last of Us one of my favorite games of all time
A few categories before jumping into the main list:
Games I Did Not Get To But Seem Like List Contenders: Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, Yakuza: Like a Dragon,
Honorable Mentions: Maneater, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2, Astro’s Playroom
Now let’s get into it.
10. Ghost of Tsushima
Sucker Punch proved themselves with this stellar, if by-the-numbers, open-wold samurai game. The world was beautiful and the sword combat was spectacular (though not as good as Sekiro). The game doled out new abilities at a perfect pace, transforming Jin from clunky human warrior to unstoppable god of killing. It was pleasant existing within Tsushima, and going down the list of common open world tasks to accomplish. I did take quite a while to go through the game, but I enjoyed it throughout. And though it did nothing new, what was exceptional was the combination and presentation. I platinumed the game.
9. Fall Guys
I had been excited for Fall Guys ever since it first debuted (back in E3 2019, I believe). But what a thing it was to see it go from obscure Devolver Digital darling to global sensation. Everything about its marketing and outreach were perfect. Including it with PlayStation Plus on release date was Rocket League-level bold. It created a frenzy online for about a month; it was all over Twitch and Twitter. I loved playing Fall Guys. I’ve been dying for battle Royale games to be something other than shooters, and Fall Guys delivered. The zany, floaty platforming was perfect. Just erratic enough that losses didn’t feel bad but just tight enough that you could actually, tangibly improve your skills. I still vividly remember my first crown (victory). I jumped up and down around the apartment my while my wife watched. It was a great moment. I went on to earn plenty more crowns in my time with Fall Guys. It was comfort food during a time in which I needed it. I did not stick with the game as long as I thought I would (dropped it entirely after the first “season’) but that does not discount the fun I had with it. Fall Guys is great.
8. Legends of Runeterra
You all know me. I cannot resist a new digital card game (DCG). I am powerless to resist their thrall. But rarely do I stick with them long, as Hearthstone continues to be my go-to. For many months this year, Runeterra supplanted Hearthstone. The game is just so good. Runeterra comes with all the polish and pizzazz you’d expect from Riot Games, from nice visuals to animations to user-interface optimizations. This immediately puts it ahead of most DCG competitors. But Runterra went above and beyond. It has thoughtful new mechanics like spell mana reserves, and turns that bounce priority between both combatants. The flavor of champion cards are great, and the matches are kept to a perfect 10-20 minute length. A rapid mobile release meant I fell deep into the rabbit hole with Runeterra. It has easily become my new number two DCG and I plan to keep playing it throughout the next year (and hopefully years to come).
7. Spider-Man Miles Morales
The first PS5 game on the list! Oh did I mention new consoles came out this year? Wild. Anyway. Much like Ghost in the number ten spot, Miles Morales did nothing new per se, but what it did it did tremendously well. Spider-Man made my 2018 GOTY list, and this is more of the same. But with even more excellent characters. Miles is the perfect balance of shy nerd and cocky teen. Like Doc Oc before her, I thought Insomniac’s take on Tinkerer was fun and made the villain stand out as unique to the video game-verse. Miles’ venom powers add satisfying spectacle to head-to-head fights, and his camouflage ability provides a much needed safety net to the often frustrating stealth encounters. Miles Morales is a shorter game than its 2018 counterpart, and it is honestly for the better. Spider-Man Miles Morales is sleek, efficient, and fun. What more can you want?
6. Call of Duty: Warzone
Well this was a surprise. A free, Call of Duty battle royale? That’s really fun? That brought me closer to my friend and hopefully not-forgotten co-host of The Impact Factor? That defined a lot of my (albeit limited) Twitch viewing? That functionally replaced Fortnite as my go-to battle royale for most of the year? Yep on all accounts. Warzone is a neatly optimized little thing, at least from a battle royale-mechanics perspective. Looting is quick and easy. The armor/shield situation is simple. And the load outs. The load outs! Other than winning in an all-odds-against-me situation, nothing is more satisfying in a battle royale that I’ve played than calling in a custom weapon set from the sky. It makes the game go from desperate battle for survival to an offensive blitz — I feel empowered to take on any opponent with my trusty customized gun in hand. I never really got good at Warzone, but I did get my fair share solo and duo wins. The game desperately needed more map updates and weapon balance changes throughout — Warzone did get stale at times throughout the year. But when it was good it was fantastic.
5. Genshin Impact
Yeah. I don’t know, folks. I love Genshin Impact. Like, maybe I shouldn't like it as much as I do but I cannot stop playing. This, of course, taps into what I described in the intro. Genshin Impact is so full of micro- and macro-goals to accomplish. Daily quests. Weekly quests. A near unlimited list of items to hunt down, gear to grind, talents to level. But that’s not what sold me on Genshin. Not really, anyway. Genshin is a phenomenally designed game. It takes everything that worked from Breath of the Wild’s open world playbook (a stamina meter with all surfaces climbable, endogenous puzzles and combat challenges, a true sense of exploration without quest markers everywhere) and layers its own incredible combat on top. Genshin has an exhilarating sense of speed and power to its combat, in which the player is constantly and rapidly balancing character swaps, skill cool downs, and elemental reactions. Genshin gives me the satisfaction of making (and working towards) deep RPG character builds, consistently engaging combat, a real sense of mystery and small level challenges for open world exploration, and fun dialogue and character moments to boot. Plus, as a games as a service, I’ve never had a shortage of new things to do. It’s great. 150+ hours in and I’m still excited to play every day.
4. Demon’s Souls (Remake)
Welp. We have reached the point in the list that I feature a Souls game. Sorry not sorry! What an incredible remake Demon’s Souls is on the PS5. It maintains everything that made the original so special, so groundbreaking, but adds smart optimizations to the player experience and has jaw-droopingly gorgeous visuals. Demon’s Souls is a bit of an odd duck compared to its later Souls counterparts, but it is those wrinkles that make it so dang charming. Demon’s Souls is at times oppressively vague, demanding the player figure things out for themselves (often at knife’s edge). NPCs can kill other NPCs with no warning. Hidden walls hide key paths without any visual indication. Many enemies can one shot the player in the blink of an eye. The hub-world and level structure allows each zone to feel wholly different from each other, featuring a wide-span of uniquely Japanese western dark age horror. Demon’s has some of the Souls series most memorable bosses, though, many of the boss fights aren’t that great. Still, I love Demon’s Souls precise & punishing combat, imaginative world, diversity of play, and its peerless white-knuckle thrills.
3. Hades
For as long as I have been making this list, Supergiant’s new game always makes the cut. Why? They are so unbelievably talented at making games. And games that speak to me. (Plus, they have a no-crunch company culture and it cannot be emphasized enough how rad this is). But Hades is a masterpiece amongst their other masterpieces. It is a rogue-lite isometric action game in which the player is rewarded for doing anything and everything. Hades reimagines what a rogue-lite can be. There is a persistent, engaging narrative throughout the grows and evolves as you do more runs. Relationships with characters are informed by your runs and the decisions made within. No run feels wasted, as you’re constantly improving Zagreus, his world, and your own abilities. The isometric action in Hades is fast and frantic, but always gives players the power to succeed. And to master. As a Supergiant game, it should go without saying that the visuals and music are on another level. Plus! I almost forgot! Hades, unlike any(?) other rogue-lite doesn’t make you suffer if you don’t want to! Hades addresses the inaccessibility of the genre with a god-mode, that makes it so all players can progress. This in combination with all the discrete goals it doles out makes Hades an endlessly playable and endlessly enjoyable time. I need to play it so, so much more.
2. Final Fantasy 7: Remake
Final Fantasy 7 Remake (FF7R) is an immense achievement. It, of course, taps into the nostalgia for one of the most beloved games of all time (for people my age, anyway). But what really gets me is the FF7R fundamentally re-interprets what a remake can be. Sure, FF7R is kind of just the first 25% of the original FF7 with better visuals and new combat. But not really. FF7R is a conversation with fans and with the original source material. Without spoiling anything, FF7R asks questions like how fans retroactively shape how a game is seen. What the game means. It asks the player to trust that even though things may be different, it will be the same in ways that matter. All of this is on top of everything else that is exceptional. I love how the game reinvents the classic FF7 combat to make it action oriented. It is thrilling, skill-intensive, but still feels true to the original. The characters are better than they’ve ever been, with writing and performances that elevate the source material to a new level (Barrett is incredible). FF7R did the incredible— it made me reflect — does FF7 mean more to me than I thought? I think so. I cannot wait for more of the incredible vision that was shown in FF7R in part two. Whenever that may be.
1. Spelunky 2
THIS GAME IS CRIMINALLY OVERLOOKED. Ok. Now that that is out of my system. Spelunky 2 is a masterpiece. I do not even have the words to adequately describe why the game is so good. Please, first read this review that kind of covers how I feel about Spelunky 2. But in short, Plante writes, “This isn’t a sequel. It’s yet another chance to play Spelunky with fresh eyes; everything is just a little different, another stroke that proves perfection is imperfect. Even the best can get better."
Spelunky 2 is a game made, almost explicitly, for fans of the original. It uses everything that made the original so phenomenal: the discovery, the unforgiving platforming, the joy of chaos, and ups the ante. Spelunky 2 also fundamentally exploits player knowledge of the original and uses it to reinvent what Spelunky is and can be. Spelunky 2 is sprawling — I have yet to even get to every area in the game, let alone master them. Unlike rogue-lites, Spelunky 2 is a dyed in the wool rogue-like: the only progress you’ll make is your own abilities. The game can, at times, feel cruel. But for me, that makes its many secrets that much more compelling to hunt down. Makes it feel that much better when I conquer the (MANY) challenges it throws my way. No two runs in Spelunky 2 feel the same. Nor do you ever fall into a sense of complacency. I love the genre, and Spelunky 2 is a masterclass in how to make an experience that will stand the test of time. I played for 85 hours or so and only cleared the game once. For nearly two months, I woke up every day excited to get one step deeper into the punishing labyrinth. I still want to go back. Spelunky 2 is a forever game. I love it to bits. Congratulations Spelunky 2, you are The Impact Factor’s 2020 Game of the Year!
