Board 8 > Let's talk games I beat in 2020

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm really bad at ranking things, so here's the list in order that I beat them this year:

Pokemon Shield
Star Wars: Fallen Order
Resident Evil 2
Hollow Knight
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
Kingdom Hearts 3
Life is Strange 2
Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
Ys VIII
The Messenger
Uncharted: Lost Legacy
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
The Final Station
Plague Tale: Innocence
The Garden Between
Old Man's Journey
What Became of Edith Finch
The Witness
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Paper Mario: The Origami King
Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age
Tell Me Why
Marvel's Avengers
Spiritfarer
Fractured Minds
Murder by Numbers
New Super Lucky's Tale
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
Crosscodes
Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memories
Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire's Conspiracy

I might not be able to rank them but I can talk about ones I liked / didn't like if you want!

---

I also beat Murder By Numbers this year and have beaten Uncharted: Lost Legacy in the past.

Murder By Numbers was very fun and addicting and the characters were mostly pretty likable, especially the two leads, so I hope to see a sequel.

Lost Legacy is basically standalone DLC and I knew that going in so its length and lack of new features didn't bother me too much. It was nice to see Chloe again after she had been completely absent from 4, and Uncharted gameplay is always phenomenal anyway. I hope they keep the series going. Maybe Uncharted 5 can star Cassie?

Incidentally, both of those games feature a woman of color as the lead, which is pretty cool. A sorely-lacking demographic in game leads that could maybe draw in new/different gamers if there were more of.

---

guess what Kakarot?!

---

Murder by Numbers was great! I also hope for a sequel - I was disappointed we never got to a 20x20 board, but I also love Picross and wanted a bit more of a challenge. The characters were very likable and the story was enjoyable, albeit a bit predictable.

Lost Legacy was also enjoyable, if a bit forgettable. I enjoy both the characters and always support good female characters getting a focus. I thought them giving a *little* bit of open world was a little weird and wonder if that was them testing out making it more a feature in Uncharted 5.

---

And I enjoyed Kakarot because I never watched the Buu Saga so that was all new to me!

---

I demand a ranking!

Or at least a tiering.

---

Hey, I reviewed that game you are all talking about!

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/switch/274795-murder-by-numbers/reviews/170455

---

Which game on that list took you the longest to beat? Is it Dragon Quest?

---

Pokemon Shield - Meh
Resident Evil 2 - The original or the remake? original is pretty meh nowadays imo
Hollow Knight - Fantastic
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair - I got it for free from Epic, need to play it someday
Life is Strange 2 - Is it over yet? I should play it when all episodes are out
The Messenger - It was surprisingly good. It started pretty simple and boring and then evolved into something else entirely
Ori and the Will of the Wisps - GOTY from all the 4 2020 games I played this year
What Became of Edith Finch - It was ok
Final Fantasy VII Remake - Come to PC already damn it
Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire's Conspiracy - I played all the Layton games but the last one was so terrible, no reason to play this one

Everything else I don't care about and have nothing to say

---

Suprak the Stud posted...

I demand a ranking!

Or at least a tiering.

Tiers I can do!

One Of My New Favorite Games Tier:

Kingdom Hearts 3
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
The Messenger
What Became of Edith Finch
Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age
Tell Me Why

Really Enjoyed Tier:

Star Wars: Fallen Order
Resident Evil 2
Ys VIII
The Garden Between
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Paper Mario: The Origami King
Murder by Numbers
New Super Lucky's Tale
Crosscodes
Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memories

Some Flaws, But Still Enjoyed Tier:

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
Life is Strange 2
Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
Uncharted: Lost Legacy
Plague Tale: Innocence
The Witness
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot

It Certainly Was A Game Tier:

Pokemon Shield
Hollow Knight
The Final Station
Old Man's Journey
Marvel's Avengers
Spiritfarer
Fractured Minds
Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire's Conspiracy

---

ZaziGuado posted...

Which game on that list took you the longest to beat? Is it Dragon Quest?

Yeah, I think it had to be. I put a loooooot of hours into that. I don't think anything else really came close

---

As someone playing the Witness (again) right now, oh MAN is it simultaneously the most pretentious but gratifying games I've played in years.

Small doses though; the marshy area with the tetris blocks is making me weep.

---

My problem might have been focusing on it too much. It does seem like a game that would play better in small doses. I just got burnt out on it by the end

---

Hollow Knight -- overrated, but it does some stuff well too like combat and atmosphere. I think I would be less harsh on HK if its world was smaller or its warping system was more flexible. I'll be paying attention to its sequel to see if this issue continues.

Life is Strange 2 -- Square-Enix never caught the same magic LiS1 had with this or LiS:BtS. That said, I have a lot of respect for what they TRIED to do with the morality system by the end of the game with the brothers. I suspect that designer choice of Sean being your immediate impact and Daniel being your long-term impact is what led to other qualms I had with the game though. For example, episodes weren't side-by-side so much as they were spaced out between episodes, resulting in time gaps that made my decisions like what to do with my money feel less important, but it's hard to see long-term impact with Daniel too if this all took place over like a week.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps -- cool game. I probably prefer the original but they're similar in quality.

The Witness -- Jonathan Blow is a master of "tiny gasp of breath at realizing the solution" moments, and holy moly this game is huge. I prefer Braid, but Blow is into masterpiece-gaming.

***

How would you compare What Became of Edith Finch to other walking simulators? Looks like you liked it. I'm interested in trying it soon and would say with my experience in the genre that my favorite to least favorite would be:

The Stanley Parable
The Beginner's Guide
Gone Home
Dear Esther
the static speaks my name
Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerand: A Whirlwind Heist

---

i loved the idea of crosscode, but i couldn't make it all the way through. i think i stalled out maybe 20 hours in

do you have any tips?

I think this might be the first game that i look up the cutscenes for on youtube! There's just so much gameplay inbetween story beats

I'd also accept a separate dungeon rush mode

---

Ok so I've only played four of those, but:

New favorite games tier:
FF7Remake - One of my all time favorites. Loved this game in just about every way and it was one of the few games that genuinely surprised me at how good it was. I was anticipating just a lazy 1:1 remake as I went into it mostly blind, and really enjoyed what we got instead.

Some Flaws But Really Enjoyed tier:
Uncharted Lost Legacy - I definitely agree with this ranking here though. I thought it was fun for sure, and there were parts I definitely liked. I liked Chloe and the main villain, I loved the finale which really captures what makes the series great, and I actually really liked that one open exploration chapter and wish there was more like it in other Uncharted games. Still this definitely felt like "Uncharted Little Brother Dressed Up In Dad's Clothes" Edition, and there just wasn't enough there for it to stack up to some of the main line titles.

A Lot Of Issues But The Formula Is So Good It Can't Really Be All That Bad A.K.A. Microwave Pizza Tier
Pokemon Sword - I know all the problems this game had. And yes, the back half feels rushed. And yes the world feels less alive and there were a couple of towns that are literally like just one gym. And yes a lot of the other issues here people complain about are true. But this was the first Pokemon game I saw through to the end since Gen 1. I usually get bored and stop, but I still liked this enough to finish. That counts for something, issues aside.

What Remains of Edith Finch tier
What Remains of Edith Finch - I still don't know exactly how much I liked this game. There were parts I absolutely loved and for example the scene with the baby in the bath or the guy working at the canning factory were some of the best, most memorable scenes I've ever encountered in a game. But overall I don't know exactly if I liked this as much as I should've. I thought the ending was underwhelming and it felt like some things were left intentionally vague which I'm never a big fan of. I definitely liked it, but I definitely did not like it as much as what the general consensus was.

There are like six or seven on that list I want to play but have no idea when I'd get a chance to sit down and actually play them.

Thanks for the tier-ing!

---

HaRRicH posted...

How would you compare What Became of Edith Finch to other walking simulators? Looks like you liked it. I'm interested in trying it soon and would say with my experience in the genre that my favorite to least favorite would be:

The Stanley Parable
The Beginner's Guide
Gone Home
Dear Esther
the static speaks my name
Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerand: A Whirlwind Heist

I haven't played a single one of these games so I have nothing to help you compare it with! The story was absolutely the draw of the game and I was just captivated by it the whole way through.

---

banananor posted...

i loved the idea of crosscode, but i couldn't make it all the way through. i think i stalled out maybe 20 hours in

do you have any tips?

I think this might be the first game that i look up the cutscenes for on youtube! There's just so much gameplay inbetween story beats

I'd also accept a separate dungeon rush mode

I quickly accepted that I couldn't care about trying to find all the chests and fully explore because everything was just too dense. I loved the concept of the game and the characters, but the world could definitely have been scaled down.

---

Your tier for Pokemon is very fair. I completed the Pokedex so obviously I enjoyed it enough to play through it! It just felt lifeless and I don't really have any find memories of the world this time around.

---