2020 Year-In-Review: Video Games I Played

[chuckro]

This was a huge year for replays, let me tell you!

I officially logged 23 new titles. I replayed 18 games (either the original or a hack of some sort). I removed 24 games from my list in my big Steam cull at the beginning of the year, and played some amount of 40 others that I could either finish in under 3 hours or were cheap enough that I just culled after playing part of. I cleared a couple of Fanatical bundles and a big collection from the giant itch.io bundle this summer.

Unsurprisingly, this year saw a lot of shorter RPGs of various flavors, numerous Zelda-likes, and a lot of platformers. The shorter point-and-click/hidden-object puzzle games remain on the “too short” like last year, though there were only four of them, as I took them completely off the table for six months after getting LASIK. Gems of War once again accounted for the vast, vast majority of my casual game time (though I did play a bunch of Alphabears 2 as well), and also virtually all of the gaming time on my Android tablet.

I only played more than 30 hours of two games Gemcraft: Frostborn Wrath (PC) and Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition (Switch), both of which I played over 60 hours of. I got 20+ hours out of The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (PSP), Kirby Star Allies (Switch), the latest build of Harem Collector (PC), my replay of Saiyuki: Journey West (PS1), my randomized replay of Stardew Valley (PC), and my two replays (combined) of Secret of Mana (SNES/Switch).

The Switch was definitely a champion this year, being the home of our three big family game night titles (Kirby Star Allies, Secret of Mana, Hyrule Warriors) and also ARR’s massive Pokemon Let’s Go playthrough. I finished and culled the last of my 3DS and Android backlog early in the year; and then spent much of my time replaying GBA and SNES titles on emulators and emulator handhelds (particularly the RG350). The rest of my time was spent on PC gaming; I barely used my PS4.

Jethrien and I spent little time gaming just the two of us, but a lot with ARR on family game nights. She also played Untitled Goose Game. ARR played a lot of Minecraft Java edition, both with friends on Realms servers and solo. ARR also completed Pokemon Emerald on GBA emulator and Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu on the Switch; played virtually 100% of Lego Batman 3; did multiple play-throughs of Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland, Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, and Kirby Squeak Squad; beat the main game of Minecraft Dungeons and has played several dozen hours of Letter Quest over Skype with my dad.

I did correctly predict that I would spend a lot of time on Switch games and that ARR’s tastes will increasingly drive my gaming time.

By genre, the games that I would say, “This is genuinely good, you should try it if you like the genre,” are:
• Beat-Em-Up: Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition (Switch)
• Tower Defense: Gemcraft: Frostborn Wrath (PC)
• Zelda-like: Lenna's Inception (PC), Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King (PC)
• Metroidvania: Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS)
• Platformer: Kirby Star Allies (Switch)
• Action/Puzzle: Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham (PC)

Comments

[fairest]

Taking note of the Zelda-like and Metroidvania recs, thank you! We've had a similar Switch focus, for similar reasons; R's recent obsession with it got me into Luigi's Mansion 3 this very week. :P

[elissali11]

I absolutely adored Luigi's Mansion 3 :)

[fairest]

I'm really enjoying it, too! But it turns out our kid is constitutionally incapable of keeping quiet while I play, so I'm spoiled for each new room I enter if I play it in company. :P

[elissali11]

I've really loved the Trails in the Sky series, and to a lesser extent, Trails of Cold Steel. My cousin does the driving, though, so I don't know how I'd feel about the gameplay. I just like the plots and characters.