2020 is a year that will be remembered for many reasons, many of which are not exactly positive, but on the video game front it must be said that it has left us really good memories. A good summary of the excellent things that have emerged over the course of the year in the gaming field is this list of the 10 best games of 2020 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox and Mobile, which we gather below after the various individual insights dedicated to each one. Among these titles, the Game of the Year will also be elected by sportsgaming.win, or the best game of the year for our editorial team, but all the names on the list would already be worthy of recognition in their own right and certainly deserve to be all remembered for a long time. Indeed, we have already had to implement an important selection, because to tell the truth, the deserving games of 2020 would be many more, but in the meantime, let's review the absolute top ten of the year in conclusion. It remains out, of course, Cyberpunk 2077 which, having been released a few days ago, will return to the GotY of next year.
To call it the surprise of 2020 would be inappropriate, because Animal Crossing has already been well known for years and has its roots first on Nintendo 64 and Gamecube and then especially on laptops, but there is no doubt that on Nintendo Switch it has definitively exploded in a devastating way. Thanks also to the hybrid characteristics of the console, which in fact combines the two domestic and portable universes for the first time, Animal Crossing: New Horizons finally finds the square and graduates the best-selling, appreciated and famous chapter ever, with results on the market which continue to amaze nine months after launch. An entire island to manage and now also change in depth, online functionality and extraordinary support in terms of special and seasonal events keep the game world alive and active, always keeping the interest high and filling the player with things to do and creating a real addiction. In its own way, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is already definitely a game of the year, the Nintendo phenomenon that changed 2020.
The grand strategy has remained one of the last bastions of hard and pure PC gaming, a type of game that can hardly be influenced by the more "consular" trends that are now rampant in the gaming market, and when titles of this type rise to excellent quality levels such as Crusader Kings 3 they become doubly a source of pride for those who have chosen the desk with mouse and keyboard as their place of choice. The new Paradox title is a complex strategy, multifaceted, rich and dense in elements, able to build a deep and convincing game mechanism, staging all the complexity of the administration of a kingdom from the point of view of a monarch, without but renounce those deeply human elements that concern the management of the dynasty and the interpersonal relationships on which the relationships of power and blood are based. While it may seem like a cold succession of menus on the surface, there is a huge bloody substance beneath the strategic complex surface, which is sure to make it one of the games of the year.
Demon's Souls - PS5
The launch of the new generation is well represented on this list by the presence of Demon's Souls, a game of a quality that is truly rare to find in a launch title for a new console. Illustrious precedents have often been cross-gen, however in this case, although it is a "simple" remake, we are facing a title that has characterized the release of PS5 alone as a good and old exclusive can do. It can be considered the sum of the work of BluePoint, a Texan team that now seems completely devoted to the art of remaking historical titles, but in this case the work done is really huge and of very high quality, taking up a mythical but rather old game. proposing it with all its original features, including some kind of distortions, but under a sparkling and decidedly next gen guise. The title that gave rise to the cult of souls-like could not receive a better homage and PS5 a launch game more thick than the new Demon's Souls and the possible formula for a perfect remake.
Final Fantasy VII Remake - PS4, PS5
For many players, Final Fantasy VII Remake is simply the realization of a dream: the idea of reliving in a more defined and modern way that incredible experience that was the original chapter took on the contours of a promise during the famous night of E3 2015 in which the game was presented, but it was still the beginning of a long wait at times disillusioned. Instead, Final Fantasy VII Remake has really become a reality, despite the distortion and the mammoth work carried out in the total reworking of the original in every respect. It is true that this is only a first part and that doubts are gathering about the actual realization of the sequel, but already what is possible to play now is perhaps more than we could have hoped for a few years ago: a total remake in the form and substance, which deeply touches graphics and gameplay but manages to surprisingly keep the original atmosphere intact, mediating between nostalgia and the drive towards the new: a leap into the future and the past together.
Microsoft Flight Simulator - PC
In many ways, Microsoft Flight Simulator was the first purely next gen video game we saw coming this year, despite not having touched consoles yet. Beyond the interest generated by a new and modern flight simulation, this is an extraordinary technological goal: the absolute photorealism that Flight Simulator manages to achieve derives from a series of interconnected technologies, the particularity of which is the fact of being derived from different fields that have been put at the service of a "game", if it can be defined as such. This is an amazing result also because it would not be achievable without the means available to Microsoft and which have been put at the service of the talented Asobo Studios: Bing maps, Azure servers, satellite photographs, photogrammetry and good old 3D modeling have gave rise to an experience that could only have been dreamed of until some time ago: the complete simulation of the whole world, freely explorable in flight. Basically, the best way to travel while at home.
Hades - PC, Nintendo Switch
Despite being a seemingly small indie game, Hades can be found in almost all this year's game of the year nominee selections and with good reason, being the real surprise that comes from hell. The new Supergiant Games title refines to the maximum the game mechanics, aesthetics and atmosphere that the team has already evolved in its previous productions, reaching here the maximum expression of its particular action RPG style, here fused with rogue characteristics -like and dungeon crawler. The fast and dynamic combat system is simply a pleasure to master, while the progression mechanics keep you practically glued to the screen, with no ability to unplug at decent hours of the night once you're in the game. Added to this is also a certain narrative able to perfectly hold together the particular evocative setting inspired by classical Greek mythology, based on gods fighting each other and in particular on the need to escape from the underworld.
Half-Life: Alyx - PC
Few games can be considered as significant as Half-Life: Alyx, which actually elevates virtual reality to new levels of interaction and involvement, representing perhaps the most complete video game ever for this technology . The scope of the new Valve title is limited only by the still rather poor diffusion of VR, which makes Alyx's impact on the gaming landscape more muted than it should be, but it's just an impression, because the game still has a specific weight. huge. Some might be disappointed by this solution, compared to a real Half-Life 3, but the choice is perfectly in line with the importance that the series has always played in terms of technological progress and exploitation of the medium: it is a title which offers a new way of interacting and playing, bringing everything into that mythical universe and making it also damn fun. If VR can't push this and lead to a better understanding of this technology, we don't really know what it can.
Kentucky Route Zero - PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Among the various narrative experiments in the form of a video game, Kentucky Route Zero remains a shining example of the quality of writing applied to this medium, of which it also exploits some peculiar characteristics such as the possibility of modifying points of view and modeling the visual language according to expressive needs that they look very artistic. The strange adventures of the messenger Conway along the secret road that connects forgotten ravines of a hidden America, which appears and disappears in the moments of twilight, tell of a humanity bent by the difficulties of life in postmodern society, which nevertheless resists and wants to communicate its own existence to the protagonist of this strange odyssey. The magical realism that unfolds in the splendid screens of the game and in the dense texts that make up the story is one of the greatest expressions of videogame writing in recent years and, although it does not carry a particular innovative load or a real gameplay, it deserves to be proven.
Considered by many to be a true masterpiece of technique and storytelling, The Last of Us 2 is among the most highly rated candidates to become the Game of the Year, so much so that for many newspapers it already is. The ingredients are typical of Naughty Dog productions: an action game that looks a lot to the cinematic style, with great care in the choreography given by an impeccable technical realization and a very careful direction, which follows every moment of the game, creating an experience of great charm. . Supported by truly impressive animations and an excellent artistic direction also as regards the realization of the scenarios, this second chapter also manages to evolve the gameplay of the first by refining it and returning even a more fun shooter. In this sense, in addition to pursuing cinema from a stylistic, narrative and technical point of view, there is also a certain attention to the characteristics of the video game, making The Last of Us 2 a rather complete title in every aspect.
Some consider it the game that the Japanese developers should have made, instead it came from Bellevue, in Washington: Ghost of Tsushima is also a bit 'the recovery of Sucker Punch, among other things, often considered a minor team compared to the other Sony first parties and which instead has shown that he can pull off a blockbuster too. On the other hand, now with the spread of PS4 it seems everything is possible, even launching a completely new intellectual property and achieving record successes, even regardless of the appreciation of critics. The game in question was not rated in a particularly enthusiastic way, a bit for the somewhat trite mechanics and a bit for some smudging in the gameplay, but the infallible atmosphere of feudal Japan and the fact of putting us in the shoes of a samurai have hit the mark perfectly and the audience appreciated it. In this sense, the game is a bit of a symbol of PlayStation's success.
