In a year spent mostly inside, here’s a look at the best in video games.
GAME OF THE YEAR
Spiritfarer (PS4, XBO, Switch, PC)
I don’t want to be clichéd and say that the best game of 2020 needs to match the somber nature of the year. It’s been a tough 12 months that, at times, has felt like an unrelenting dirge, marching us all to lower and lower depths. And yet, in a year that found me deep in my feelings more than ever before, a single game gave me space and empathy that comes with being allowed to feel sadness, and woe, and everything else.
Spiritfarer by indie developer Thunder Lotus Games isn’t the sexiest of picks for game of the year. It lacks the pedigree of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, the AAA, mass-market appeal of The Last of Us Part II, or the soft seclusion of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. What it does have is a beautifully crafted tale about accepting loss, cradled in a refreshing mishmash of platforming gameplay, and sim management. In a year where I’ve felt my mortality more than ever, Spiritfarer gave me the space to feel sad, cry, and accept that all of those things are all right.
Even in a normal year, I’m positive I would have selected Spiritfarer as my top game, but 2020 provides a kind of brutal clarity. I played all of the major games this year and almost all of them left my headspace once I hit credits. Only one game stuck with me while I laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling in the dark. Spiritfarer is the kind of media that gives you the chance to grow and explore yourself in safety, and if that’s not worthy of making it the best game of 2020, then I don’t know why we even play video games in the first place.
Runners Up: Demon’s Souls (PS5), World of Warcraft: Shadowlands (PC)
BEST STORY
Yakuza: Like A Dragon (PS4, XBX, PC)
I don’t like the Yakuza franchise. This is sacrilege in some circles, but I’ve always bounced off its melodrama and button-mashy gameplay — which is strange given that I love beat-em-ups. And I don’t think the magic bullet was simply “turn Yakuza into a turn-based RPG” and it solved all of my problems. What makes Yakuza: Like A Dragon stands out is the game’s understanding that it’s a JRPG with a good-hearted, somewhat naive protagonist in former-Yakuza meathead Ichiban.
In other words, it explores the tropes and space of the genre while providing a cast of memorable characters that are fun to meet and that you want to get to know better. Some might find some whiplash in the plot’s super-serious main plot and the absolute silliness that happens around every corner of the game — never did I expect to fight a bunch of diaper-wearing Yakuza over a misunderstanding about baby formula. But these moments of surreal fiction provide space for the seriousness of the main story to bloom, and it’s an amazing ride to come along on.
Runners Up: Final Fantasy 7 Remake (PS4), Hades (PS4, XBO, Switch, PC)
BEST-LOOKING GAME
The Last of Us Part II (PS4)
I wanted to go full-hipster and boot The Last of Us Part II from my list entirely. No game in this or recent years has ever made me more frustrated, sad, or angry — and not in good ways. It’s a self-absorbed game filled with terrible people created by hacks who seemingly were shaking me while I was playing their game, screaming “See? We really are the last of us!”
I hate it. I don’t hate games often, but here we are. And yet, just about every outlet is going to give The Last of Us Part II top honors, or at least consider it. And while I have no urge to ever play this game again, I cannot deny for one second that it’s visuals and animation stopped and gave me some serious pause. For all that I’ve said about how much I hate this game, it isn’t devoid of performances that aren’t fantastic.
And I emphasize the use of the word “performance” here because that’s exactly what makes The Last of Us Part II stand out. It’s a video game that finally feels like it crossed and blurred the line between film, television, and gaming. From amazingly rendered environments and tiny details around every corner to the literal acting going on in each cut scene, TLOU2 is a technological marvel.
I just wish it was all attached to a game that didn’t make me so very, very angry. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year.
Runners Up: Ghost of Tsushima (PS4), Demon’s Souls (PS5)
First Published December 10, 2020, 3:00 p.m.
