SUMMARY
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History won’t remember 2020 too fondly, but the year at least gave us a chance to play some video games.
While the medium has already been massively popular even before the pandemic, the enactment of stay-at-home orders and social-distancing protocols forced many of us to turn to gaming as an outlet to escape our grim reality and bridge social gaps.
As we bid goodbye to this unprecedented year, we’re rounding up a number of games that have kept us company during the lockdown.
Hades
In Hades, players go through an endless loop of fighting, dying, and upgrading as Zagreus, the son of the titular Greek god, as he goes through runs of trying to escape the Underworld. For each failure (and there will be a lot of them), Zagreus is given the chance to interact with other ancient beings from the Pantheon and attempt another run.
Despite the cycle sounding repetitive, this rogue-like is anything but, with thousands of recorded voice lines to hear, an engaging progression system, and exhilarating combat against randomized enemies. All of it just kept us wanting more and more after each death.
Also, we could totally relate to Zagreus wanting to escape his father’s realm, after being stuck at home for months during this nightmare of a year.
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Final Fantasy VII Remake is a nostalgia trip. It’s a remake that many have demanded for for at least a decade or so, and it proves that it’s well worth the hype. Everything from the genre-defining original has been painstakingly rebuilt from the ground up for modern consoles, combining some of the old with the new.
For fans of the original like us, playing through the game feels like reliving gaming memories from our childhoods. It’s like returning to a world that we haven’t been to for so long, but everything now looks better than we remember. It’s a feeling we hope to experience again when things in the real world go back to normal and we can finally go back out. For the meantime, however, returning to Midgard will have to do.
Ghost of Tsushima
Many might agree that travelling during the pandemic is not worth the risk. As such, we look to video games to scratch that itch to explore. Arguably, no other game in 2020 immersed us into its world more masterfully than Ghost of Tsushima.
Its recreation of Japan’s Tsushima island is a sight to behold not only in its graphical fidelity, but also in its distinctive design choices, from its ethereal lighting to its gorgeous color palette. We lost count how many times we stopped in our tracks just to admire the intricately crafted open-world. And in a time when we’re all stuck at home, being in a beautiful, otherworldly place is truly comforting.
Among Us
Prior to the pandemic, we’d probably say that social deception games like Werewolf are best played in person. Then, Among Us took the world by storm, and we’re now reconsidering.
In a nutshell, the game has a group of players identifying impostors among themselves. These so-called impostors have the ability to kill other players. If they kill off enough players without being detected, they win. If the other players correctly identify the impostors, however, they win.
That simple premise can lend to countless hours of fun and laughs (and boiling anger) with friends, making it the perfect social game for 2020.
Genshin Impact
Much like Tsushima, it’s easy to get lost in Genshin Impact’s sprawling open-world, which is gorgeously rendered in a cell-shaded art style. It’s densely packed with things to see and do. So much so that it usually feels like there’s always something interesting to loot or fight every few steps or so. All of this in a free-to-play game that’s available on mobile.
The Last of Us Part II
The Last of Us Part II is an unapologetically dark game set in a fictional America ravaged by a pandemic. That alone might make it a hard sell for those who might already be stressed with what’s been happening around them.
It’s a game that doesn’t pull any punches with how far it’s willing to go with its story. It shows the struggles that befall humanity living in a fractured society, doing everything they possibly can to survive. At times, its visceral violence is hard to stomach. Yet in spite of all this, we just can’t turn away.
The game feels like a horror movie of sorts: it’s bleak and nihilistic vision of a post-pandemic world feels more real now than ever, but at the same time, it offers a thrilling rush that we can’t help but enjoy.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
At its core, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a life-sim that has players designing their own houses, mingling with neighbors, and gathering resources to expand their island towns. There are no quests; no characters to level up; no high scores to beat. The game is essentially what players want to make of it.
That’s what’s great about it. The game’s creative flexibility and social features allow players to come up with unique ideas of how they can interact with the world around them. It’s a virtual paradise that players can live in where nothing can go wrong and the most mundane of activities are relaxing. – Rappler.com
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