Gaming has brought me so much joy in this strange, terrible Twilight Zone episode of a year. 2020 gave us humongous releases like Final Fantasy 7 Remake and The Last of Us Part 2 –
games that some folks have been looking forward to for years. It brought new console generations. It brought us Hades. It brought us Palm Springs – not a gaming-related thing,
but a fantastic movie nonetheless.

Anyway, here are my Top 10 gaming things of 2020!

10. Fortnite

Fortnite?! Yes, Fortnite.

I’ve dabbled in Epic Games’ battle royale multiplayer extravaganza in the past, but never stuck with it for long. This year however, Fortnite launched a big Marvel Comics-themed season and I couldn’t resist jumping in with a friend.

We’ve had an insane amount of fun together, and that’s coming from two people who could never see the appeal in this game before. Once Fortnite has its hooks in, it’s almost impossible to grow bored by it – especially when you consider how often new content gets thrown at you.

I still think that whole Epic v Apple thing is super dumb, though.

9. Dreams

Dreams is incredible. Media Molecule’s little game-maker that could allow you to make your own games with original art, music and stories.

They can also share assets with other players, simplifying the whole game creation process. I spent most of my time in Dreams checking out other people’s creations, and the stuff I saw was mindblowing. You have the standard Legend of Zelda and Metal Gear Solid remakes, but then you also have games about kaijus destroying cities and sci-fi first-person shooting.

Every time I return to this game, it has more to offer.

8. Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Like many, many others, I wasn’t able to get a PlayStation 5 console this year – and that’s totally fine. Why? Because I still got to play Spider-Man: Miles Morales on my trusty ol’ PS4. The
cosy Christmas vibes of this game are virtually unmatched, and I loved its zippy-zappy combat system.

The story didn’t exactly wow me, but man, swinging around New York City and high-fiving passers-by never gets old.

7. Resident Evil 3 Remake

Resident Evil 2 Remake was my personal game of the year in 2019, and here we are again, with a sequel. If Capcom was trying to reintroduce Jill Valentine and Carlos Oliveira to a new
audience, they did so with aplomb.

Jill is a fantastic lead, scrappy and capable enough to outwit Nemesis himself. Carlos isn’t too bad neither, and the game’s more action-focused story does well to separate it from the horrors that Claire and Leon had to endure last year. I wish it was a little longer, but at least we’re getting RE: Village in 2021.

6. Ghost of Tsushima

Jin Sakai’s quest to free his people from the tyranny of the Mongol invasion made for a great story, but what I loved most about this game was the small twists it put on the standard open-world formula. Following birds to collectibles, and the wind to your objective allowed you to immerse yourself more deeply in the island of Tsushima – an extraordinarily diverse world filled with beautiful scenery and interesting characters.

It’s also got a great multiplayer mode, which I’ve been really digging lately.

5. Final Fantasy 7 Remake

More like Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 1, am I right? Wait where are you going, come back –

4. Hades

He was in love with Greek Mythology. She was a rogue-like set in the world of Greek Mythology. What more can I say?

Hades’ gameplay loop is tuned to perfection in virtually every way. Its combat is diverse, engaging, and only gets moreso as you dive deeper into the game. Its story begins in a fascinating place with a wide cast of characters, all of whom get fleshed out during conversations in between your battles in the Underworld.

The voice acting? Great. The music? Great. The art design? Great. Much like the god of the Underworld doing paperwork in his office all day, this game ticks all the boxes.

3. Animal Crossing: New Horizons

You could pluck out every other game on this list and toss them into another year, but this is the one game we truly needed this year. Animal Crossing took a life of its own in 2020, as people began to carve out new work-from-home routines for themselves and adapt to lockdowns that they misguidedly believed wouldn’t last for long.

What better way to get used to the quarantine than take a tropical vacation and meet adorable villagers in a place far, far away? I love this game with all of my heart and soul. It calms me.

2. Doom Eternal

Doom Eternal does not calm me. Doom Eternal does everything but calm me, and somehow, I love it for that. It might just be the recency bias talking, but I truly believe that
this is the best first-person shooter I have ever played. At the very least, it’s unlike any other.

All of its systems – from glory kills to chainsawing – intermingle beautifully to create a combat puzzle that demands your full attention in every encounter. If you manage to solve that
puzzle, you feel like a living god literally too angry to die.

And that soundtrack? *Chef’s kiss.*

1. The Last of Us Part II

The Last of Us stands undefeated as my favourite game of all time, and this is the sequel I never knew I wanted. Ellie’s descent into revenge and violence is at times hard to see
through to the end, but there’s so much meat in this story and these characters that makes the journey worth it. The game has such an incredible layer of polish over everything too – featuring some of the most eye-popping visuals from this console generation.

Get outta here, 2020!

2020 was such a great year for gaming that many of my favourites had to be kicked out of this list – Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Star Wars: Squadrons, and Crash Bandicoot 4 were great
too! A new console generation is upon us now, with exciting stuff like God of War 2 and Horizon Forbidden West coming next year.

There are a lot of reasons to be excited about the new year, but it’s nice to know that gaming will always be one of them.