2020 Gaming Highlights

[Jon Cheetham]

Thought it might be nice to mull some of the best moments we've had gaming this year. Doesn't have to be a list of GOTY contenders, might be revisiting old favourites, fun multiplayer times or particular moments in a game that really stuck with you. Here's mine:

Playing Heave Ho with my brothers — living on the other side of the world it can be tricky arranging online sessions, and couch co-op is sadly even rarer. I can’t imagine a more perfect game to fill one of these precious occasions, I don’t think I’ve ever laughed more at a video game.

Defending a hotel toilet in Hitman’s Bangkok mission — one of the missions that on my first run of the game was an absolute shambles. I got rumbled, everyone was after me, and I ended up holding down the bog in one of the rooms with a pile of guards growing around me. There’s a problem with the toilet…

Playing Into the Breach on the Switch in cafes and trains in Japan. My wife surprised me with a Switch last Christmas, and I immediately went into the eshop and downloaded Into the Breach. Perfect game to play for two minutes between touring temples and shrines and on nighttime train rides. I had C&R pods on as well! Was our last holiday before Covid hit.

Wandering around in Far Cry Primal — my first lockdown game. I really enjoyed roaming this sun-soaked, unspoiled world, taming animals, crafting and growing my cave-dwelling community.

Platinuming Dragon’s Dogma — one of my favourite games of all time, and the platinum gave me a reason to mop up the rest of its famously missable side content. I also needed to do the speedrun, which was a lot of fun as you need to get your fast travel network built right and make sure you take enough of the right items for certain situations, so knowledge of the game and world is critical. Managed it in about 45 minutes in the end.

The Last of Us Part II — The Escape. I never expected the most thrilling moment of this game to be

Spoiler: show

me playing as a character I had never heard of before putting the disc in, riding on horseback through a burning village. Visually it’s an amazing spectacle and climax to Abby’s part of the game, and feels totally earned despite how unexpected it is. Just exhilarating

Writing up every level of the Dishonored games — a work in progress. This has given me a reason to revisit these environments and missions over and over in different ways, and they’ve rewarded me for it fivefold. Feel like I’ve still only scratched the surface of how ingeniously and densely crafted these titles are.

Getting to the final boss of Hades —

Spoiler: show

 and thinking I’d defeated him only for his health bar to refill. That can sometimes be a frustrating feeling when your victory is taken away, but the combination of the roaring thrash metal soundtrack that boots up and the intense but more straightforward fight that ensues is a recipe for adrenaline. So much so I nearly got through his second phase despite being down to half my last healthbar.

Playing Dark Souls II with my daughter strapped to my chest— the Konny brand carrier we got was a great investment, I sit and play while my 3month old snoozes comfortably against me.

[Truk_Kurt]

Great topic Jon. Here are mine:

The final boss of Gears Tactics - a really tense battle that required all of my concentration and thought to get through. I had to get perhaps the most tactical I had ever had with these type of games as the boss was really hard. My successful run took me around 3 hours to get through and it was a real punch the air moment once I defeated it.

Playing Half Life Alyx for the first time - I'm a huge Half Life fan and to experience that world in VR was a mind blowing moment. Despite being scared of the headcrabs and zombies, I had a massive smile on my face those first couple of hours as I was still marvelling at what Valve had done.

A moment in Red Dead 2 -

Spoiler: show

the bit where you find out Arthur Morgan has TB really took me aback, a very emotional moment

Facing a Horde in Days Gone - specifically the final Horde of the campaign. It took me ages and had no idea how I managed it as I had hardly any ammo left or health so had to get really strategic with how I could use the environment to my advantage.

Playing Superliminal for the first time - a really unique puzzle game using perspective which brought a smile to my face.

The console reveal events - it was exciting to see the events and following the reaction live on Twitter and the reaction afterwards.

Those are my favourite moments, I have played games this year which I have enjoyed more as overall experiences such as Doom Eternal and TLOU2 but I wouldn't say a particular moment stands out.

[Miririn]

Playing "Animal Crossing" with a close friend - I think a lot of people's social lives took a hit during lockdown. I missed seeing friends and it was nice that with one friend we could spend time together through a game. Spent lots of time visiting each other's islands and sending each other gifts if we found something we knew the other was looking for. She even surprised me with a cat villager amiibo in the post after I complained I didn't have any cat villagers.

Completing "Uncharted 4" on Crushing Difficulty - It sounds daft but I always felt weirdly insecure about being "bad" at games. I wanted to prove at least once that I could complete something on the hardest difficulty. It's not the most difficult game out there but I felt fantastic when I beat it.

Being donated a PS4 by a very kind friend - After dithering for years over whether I could justify the cost, my friend gave me his PS4 that he said he never used. It was a lovely gesture and helped me discover so many games. It transformed lockdown for me.

The final hour of the main story of "Red Dead Redemption 2" - I've never been that emotionally affected by a game before. I cried like a baby.

The second post-credits scene in "Spider-Man PS4" - Just filled my heart with anticipation and nerd joy after over two decades of being an Oscorp-t-shirt wearing, dorky fan of all Spider-Man villains and particularly Goblin shenanigans. I was also just happy to have a good "Spider-Man" story to enjoy.

Bonding with my brother-in-law over "Breath of the Wild" while we waited for my sister to give birth to her first child - It was a difficult and worrying time because due to the pandemic he couldn't be with her in hospital as much as they had planned. The game gave us something light to talk about. The birth of my niece and Zelda games are inextricably linked in my brain now. (My sister did threaten him not to name their daughter "Zelda", however!)

And finally

Playing both "The Last of Us" games for the first time - Just because I had so much fun and loved them both. They were the perfect gaming experiences for me.

[stvnorman]

Absolutely falling in love with Silent Hill decades after buying and quickly dismissing it, then discovering Silent Hill 2 and it becoming one of my favourite games ever is my top highlight.

In Other Waters on Switch just mesmerised me, and I was gutted when I loaded it up the last time knowing this was 100% and nothing else left to do.

The PC-Engine Mini I got for my birthday went some way to finally owning what used to be the console of my dreams! I adore that machine, and I’ve had such a good time discovering its games.

I properly got retroarcadia.blog off the ground, which has reignited my passion for writing as well as for gaming.

And last but definitely not least, our friend Suits was unbelievably generous when my PS2 died, and I’ll be forever grateful for the replacement he sent me! Thanks mate!

[Jon Cheetham]

Enjoying reading these

[Alex79]

Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Never before has there been such a case of the right game at the right time. Coming out just as the first lockdown hit, I purchased it real soon after release. I'm not someone who generally buys games brand new - I just can't afford it. I'm currently technically a student, earning a fraction of the wage I was on prior to going back to Uni, but I figured with the money I was saving on petrol I was entitled to pick it up. And boy, was it the medicine I needed. It became almost like a second life, and I settled in to an evening routine of playing this from around 9pm to midnight every night, with old WWF videos on the TV - something I'd had no interest in since being a kid. In hindsight, it's clear I was just looking for some sort of comfort to get through those first few weeks of isolation and uncertainty. I played 160 hours of this game, then one day in July just stopped playing and haven't been back. If I never touch it again, I got more than my money's worth.

The Last Of Us Part II
My sister lent me this and I blitzed through it in around a week or so. I say blitzed through it, I still took 40 odd hours, searching every nook and cranny of that world. A story masterfully told, I think Naughty Dog are untouchable now. I loved the characters, the gameplay, the atmosphere, everything about it really.

Yoku's Island Express
Just pure joy from start to finish. So much so that when my 4 year old erased by 68% complete save, I honestly didn't care because I got to do it again. I rarely (never!) 100% games, but I did this, and I loved it. The look of the world, the control of Yoku, everything about this game was just undiluted fun. God, I hope they make a sequel.

Hyper Light Drifter
Amazing aesthetic, tight combat, dripping with atmosphere. The player feels quite alone in this world, battling against the odds, the game was just brilliant.

Days Gone
Picked this up for about £12 on disc and it blew me away. I loved the story and the characters, the open world, the motorbike, the exploring, the tension and the hoards. I'm not usually one to replay such a big game but I'm already aching to get back in that world. I hope we see more of it one day.

[ReprobateGamer]

Honestly, one of my gaming highlights this year was taking the plunge and joining an online D&D group. I've met some great people and in a year that we have been largely trapped in our homes, it's actually been largely a blessing - though I'm now in up to six campaigns at once ...

Having the family all enjoy playing Minecraft Dungeons - not a perfect game by any means but nice to have something that we can all enjoy together. Movin' Out had been an early contender but the final level left a bit of a sour taste

Finally playing a couple of games that have been sat on my pile of shame to a 'completed enough state' Portal 2 and Nier Automata - still things I want to do on both but I now only have two or three endings left in Nier Automata along with the solo campaign and most of the co-op in Portal 2

Finding Bad North before it left game pass - a gem of a strategy game

[Feirsteax]

Playing Pathologic 2 for the first time around March, when the news about COVID was really starting to get serious and lockdowns were being enforced.

Given the themes of that game and the atmosphere of the time in real life, that was almost too immersive an experience.

Having a friend who was playing it around the same time was also fantastic, as we'd swap stories from our experiences of the game.

So glad I played it, phenomenal game and writing. With the DLC it's a contender for best game I played in 2020.

[Simonsloth]

Great thread Jon!

Despite a rubbish year there were still some gaming gems and great moments!

Dragons Dogma and growing attached to pawns of people I barely know (Jon and Jay) and punching the air when I was saved from certain death by them.

Finishing Dark souls whilst listening to Dark Calls podcast and feeling like I was playing along with them

VR marathons - Astrobot, Tetris Effect, Superhot VR, Paper Beast etc. Sending my Oculus Quest to a family member who was shielding and getting her to use wander so she could go globe hopping to stave off isolation.

Co-op shenanigans with Dezmond and Suits - triforce heroes, totally reliable delivery service, Sea of thieves, Destiny 2 to name but a few.

Oh and Red Dead 2!

[Alex79]

Dragons Dogma and growing attached to pawns of people I barely know (Jon and Jay) and punching the air when I was saved from certain death by them.

I finally get this. I've grown rather attached to one of my pawns who I enlisted 20 game hours ago, and can't let her go, despite her being drastically under levelled for the missions I'm doing and I keep having to resuscitate her