sam.bigos
Assorted words relating to gaming, game development, 3d printing, board games, etc.Some games I played in 2020
Some brief thoughts about any momorable or significant games I played in 2020. Generally ordered chronologically, starting at the beginning of the year.
Death Stranding
I actually played most of this at the end of 2019, but since I didn’t write back then I wanted to cover it a little here. Casting my mind back I’d like to think I remember my experience with Death Stranding fondly, but when I try to think of specifics of what I enjoyed I tend to turn up blank. My favourite aspect, I think, was the core gameplay loop, which was engaging and unique. Making small decisions on what to pack before a journey, weighing up the risk of taking more utility versus more goods (to earn more at the other end), and planning a route to get to the destination safely, possibly with multiple stops at outposts along the way. Then actually traversing the consistently detailed and interesting environments, making moment-to-moment decisions about where to step and what infrastructure to use.
However most other aspects were disappointing. The online co-operative aspects felt flat and fake. The most striking example of this were the roads which were always three quarters complete so you could finish them off for that dopamine kick. This was obviously a measure introduced so players didn’t arrive to a new location with all construction complete, but when you need to make such significant conceits to enable a concept, it’s worth reconsidering whether that concept is worth using at all.
Narratively it was a mess. As a fan of hard sci-fi I didn’t like how wishy-washy the science behind some of the big ideas in the game were. Big ideas just come across as stupid if you can’t back them up with at least semi-plausible science. I wanted to engage with it but found I just couldn’t. The best part was Mads Mikkelsen’s performance, others were badly written, cliched, poorly acted, or a combination.
Mathhewmatosis released a review of Death Stranding recently, which is the best overall critique of the game I’ve seen, and I highly recommend it.
Stories Untold
I love games that value the player’s time, telling concentrated and impactful stories instead of bloating playtime with meaningless blabber to artificially inflate playtime to increase sales (it continues to boggle that some people use time-to-complete as a metric when making purchase decisions, without any further context on how that time is spent - shoutout to First Five which is a channel that reviews games that value your time). Stories Untold was fantastic because it tells a series of loosely connected stories none more than an hour or so, and they were impactful enough that I still remember them almost a year later.
It’s definitely striving for that Stranger Things vibe, in the aesthetic and storytelling qualities, and I think it succeeds. Overall I couldn’t think of a much better way to spend 3-4 hours than to play through Stories Untold.
NioH
NioH is basically Sekiro (probably my favourite game of 2019) with a more complicated (some might say convoluted) combat system, less coherent world and plot, and worse level design. Ultimately I enjoyed my experience enough to finish the game, but not enough to immediately go out and buy NioH 2.
Less is quite often more, and I think NioH could have done with paring back and refining some of it’s gameplay elements instead of piling on more systems (loot and equipment effects being a prime example - though I understand there are people who enjoy complexity and min-maxing who would appreciate the detail here). Boss encounters were probably the most memorable thing for me, and NioH almost reaches From Software heights with some bosses which is commendable. As is often the case, the humanoid bosses often felt more engaging and fun to fight, though none reaching the dance-like quality that some of the best bosses in Sekiro did.
Carrion
I loved everything about Carrion. The unique movement mechanics, metroidvania-style ability and level progression, the stunning pixel-art visuals, and the little add-in parts where you get to play as a human. I can’t really fault it. The progression pacing was on point, I felt each new mechanic and enemy type was given given enough time to be fully explored as a player, before something new was introduced to keep things engaging. It never outstayed its welcome, and when it finished I felt like I wanted more, which is not common these days.
Outer Wilds
I don’t have more to say about Outer Wilds that many many people have already said. It is absolutely my favourite game I’ve played this year and probably the game I have fondest memories of in the last 10 years or so. It’s one of those special games you wish you could replay for the first time, but you know you can’t. I’ve heard it described (I think in SkillUp’s 2019 recap video) as a metroidvania where instead of acquiring new items and abilities to unlock new areas, you gain knowledge instead, and I think that analogy is perfect.
Finding and piecing together each new nugget of information/lore is an absolute pleasure, as you try to build a mental picture of what’s happening and how to solve the predicament you find yourself in. All of this is supported by an absolutely stellar soundtrack (which is probably my most played album on Spotify this year), visuals and characters who’s whimsical cartoony qualities fit perfectly with the themes of the game, and the incredibly impressive technical feat of building a clockwork universe in which everything is simulated and miticulously scheduled to facilitate the gameplay systems. I highly recommend the Noclip documentary as a sort of epilogue after finishing the game.
A Short Hike
A Short Hike is a lovely little game. Beautiful visual and audio design, great music, funny dialogue. Feels great to explore the island and collect stuff and see what’s there.
In addition this is an inspiring tale of indie game development, that a single developer created this in 4 months (with some added content post-release), is a massive achievement. I recommend watching the postmortem GDC talk by the Adam Robinson-Yu after finishing the game.
Highly recommended if you want a couple of hours of relaxing entertainment.
Darkwood
Darkwood is probably my favourite horror game of all time. It’s unrivaled in creating an atmosphere of dread and invoking an intense feeling of paranoia. This is aided by the perspective and vision mechanics which limit you from seeing around corners or behind you while still working within the topdown 2D view. Sound design is incredible, with nights spent cowering in fear, furniture packed against all external doors, staying as close to a light source as possible and with trusty spade primed to defend against any random noise heard from outside.
It never outstays its welcome despite being tens of hours long. It invokes a strong sense of discovery and adventure which pushes you forward, whether to discover what happened to the world, get crafting materials to better combat the increasingly terrifying monsters, or simply to gather more firewood for sanity-providing light.
Also has one of the best ‘true’ endings I’ve experienced in a game.
Return of the Obra Dinn
I loved Papers Please back when it came out because of it’s unique themes, novel gameplay, compelling storyline, and engaging visuals. Obra Dinn is no different, and cements Lucas Pope as one of the very best developers creating unique one-off gaming experiences. I actually went back on a Papers Please binge off the back of completing Obra Dinn, it’s just so damn good.
Return of the Obra Dinn is a game about inductive reasoning. That is, piece together a bunch of interconnected blobs of information (in this case deaths on a ship), to reach a general conclusion (about what happened and to who, on said ship). Each death is presented in a static scene, and as the player you’re asked to fill in the blanks (namely who died, and how).
This is a game that’s great because of all the small things that hold together the larger premise and gameplay elements, which otherwise might not be particularly engaging. That little dopamine kick when the musical charm plays signalling three correct guesses, determining somebody’s name by their Austrian accent during a scene’s voice-over, opening a scene to be greeted with absolute unexpected carnage and trying to figure out what the hell even is that? Topped off by an incredible soundtrack, unique and appealing visuals, and a witty sense of humour in places, make Obra Dinn an absolute triumph.
Downwell
I didn’t play much of Downwell, possibly because it gets incredibly hard incredibly fast. But what I did play of it I enjoyed so much I thought it deserves a mention here. I love simplicity in games. Taking an idea, refining and polishing to a reflective sheen and removing any element that doesn’t contribute to improve the whole. Downwell is simplicity all over, and it’s just so damn good. Visuals and animations are perfectly tuned to provide the most readable information in the shortest time, and provide instant feedback which is necessary since everything is moving so fast. Items and upgrades are not overcomplicated but alter the experience so that each run feels different. Sometimes you just want to sit back and have some arcadey shooty fun, and Downwell sure provides that.
Age of Empires II Definitive Edition
It’s crazy to think that a twenty year old game, that I started playing when I was ten, is now as popular as it’s ever been in 2020. I tend to go through phases of playing/engaging entirely with a single esports game at one time. The main games I can remember over my gaming life have been Worms Armageddon, Soldat, Company of Heroes, Team Fortress 2, Heroes of Newerth, Dota 2, and MTG: Arena. I can safely say that in 2020 my go-to esports game has been Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition.
Over the summer I went on a bit of a binge, playing 1v1 and 2v2 games every day, watching professional players and trying to improve my rating. That lasted for a couple of months before I burned out, and I don’t play the game nearly as much at the moment, but I still follow the esports scene semi-religiously. New tournaments are being held with bigger and bigger prize pools, teams are forming, players are getting better and better and matches are so entertaining to watch. Nobody would have thought this was possible back when the original game was made. I have a lot of respect for Microsoft for pouring so much love and attention to the game, it’s clearly paying off for them with AoE2:DE’s popularity.
Fall Guys
Mediatonic (fun fact - I actually interviewed for an internship there during my uni gap year, but was turned down), really played a blinder with Fall Guys. Releasing straight to PlayStation Plus was a savvy business move, one that got many people, including myself, playing. I played a lot after the initial release, won a fair few crowns, but ultimately got bored of the samey levels, and by the time additional content was released I had lost interest. It’s great to see Fall Guys continue being a success though.
Hades
If Outer Wilds is the best game I played in 2020, Hades is the best game I played in 2020 that was released in 2020 (is that a way to get two favourite games on my list?) Everything about Hades is phenomenal, from the presentation (aesthetics, soundtrack, voice-overs, and sound design), moment-to-moment combat, rogue-like elements, character development and plot, and customisability.
Supergiant continue to be the premiere independent studio producing non-stop hits, with a studio culture that a lot of other developers could learn from (eagerly awaiting the final episode in the Noclip Hades documentary series). I don’t have much more to say about Hades that hasn’t been said many times by basically anyone who plays it. Well deserving of all the GOTY awards it’s getting.
DOOM Eternal
DOOM Eternal builds on the solid foundation that DOOM 2016 set, delving deeper into the ‘FPS as a puzzle game’ concept. While not for everyone (and I would say, those not interested in puzzle elements in FPS games are well catered for), I find the added structure to combat adds a great amount of enjoyment to the already fantastic core loop. Arenas become a concierto of blood and demon gibs as you dance around enemies, using your abilities as they come off cooldown to replenish your limited stock of resources. It feels similar to Sekiro in this regard, when you finish an arena by utilising your full arsenal to the best of your ability, it truly does feel like you’re in a dance with the game.
The bits between those dances show area for improvement however. I will never understand why id software felt the need to double-down on the platforming sections of DOOM 2016. I understand that there needs to be something to break up the arena combat to let the player cool-down, but there must have been something better than this.
New DLC for DOOM Eternal (Ancient Gods) was released a few months ago and it’s neen high up on my list of stuff to play through. I’m looking forward to it!
Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077 is a damn good game. It’s just, it could have been so much more with a little more tender love and care. An extra year of development would have ironed out many of the breaking issues on release, could have been used to refine and expand some of the more shallow or cumbersome systems (cops, inventory, NPC schedules, RPG elements and scaling, customisation). It would also have meant dropped support for last-gen consoles, freeing up more development efforts to solidify the PC and current-gen versions.
Instead, after 8 years of hype and build-up, we get a good, if not great, linear plot-driven action game with bolted on RPG and open world elements that failed to live up to expectations (of-course, it never could have entirely lived up to the absurd hype it built for itself).
I thoroughly enjoyed the 100+ hours I sank into Cyberpunk 2077 during two weeks after release. Visuals and character writing were stand-out to me, and were the best I’ve seen in a videogame of this kind ever. But, after sinking that much time into a game, you’re bound to start seeing the cracks, and Cyberpunk sure does have a lot. When you start gamifying the systems, min-maxing and optimising gameplay, a lot of the magic that makes the characters and the world so amazing is lost. I look forward to seeing how CDPR handle their updates over the next few years, I hope they can fix a lot of the issues people have with the game, but no amount of work will undo the brand damage that this rushed release, and anti-consumer (and anti-dev) practices they’ve undertaken, has done.
Townscaper
Those of you who follow my game development stuff on Twitter might know I’ve been somewhat enamoured with Oskar Stalberg’s work using procedural generation techniques in his games. Bad North and Townscaper are his two commercially released projects, and I sank some time into Townscaper over Christmas.
It’s effectively an artistic tool for creating picturesque towns , and it’s just lovely. My favourite thing about it is you never quite know what you’re going to get when you add a new block to the town. It could be a quaint little town house, it could extend a neighboring house into a larger abode, or it could transform an entire row of houses into a platform or balcony. It’s the same when removing stuff, especially when removing a block from underneath an existing structure. Occasionally you will find little oddities created when you build something, like mounted binoculars on a pier, or a clothesline hanging between two opposite buildings with a narrow passage underneath, or a grassy garden when surrounding pavemenet entirely by houses.
Time tends to diappear when I play Townscaper, I would say it’s a great way to spend a spare ten minutes, but only if you accept that you might accidentally waste away an hour or two fiddling with your seaside fishing village!
Helltaker
Probably the best about-an-hour gaming experience you’re likely to get, and that’s even before considering it’s free. Puzzles were engaging and ramp up in difficulty over the ten levels, and it never felt unfair. But the main draw here is the amazing writing and soundtrack, which will keep you hooked throughout. Gameplay visuals are fine and do their job, character portraits are fantastic.
Do yourself a favour and check Helltaker out, it really is a gem that shouldn’t go unnoticed.
Comments
Post comment