My Year in Gaming: COVID-19 Edition
By: Ernest Sheptalo
Tags: Gaming, Year In Review, Features, Videogames, Digital Life

My Year in Gaming: COVID-19 Edition

Looking back at the games released throughout 2020

At the start of 2020, I promised myself that I’ll spend this year a little differently than the previous one. I promised myself I’d spend less time with games and do things I’d previously avoided…

… that didn’t go well, in the end. So, back to square one, I guess.

Backlog: I choose you!

We all live in an age where your back catalog of games is so big, tackling them all is simply impossible. We gamers just like to accumulate hoards of video games both old and new in hopes that one day we’ll be able to finish them.

So when I first heard that my city would be locked down and all my favorite restaurants and stores along with it, I figured that there was no better time to finish my backlog.

Or so I thought…

Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Source: DualShockers.

March

Back in March, right before my city entered a lockdown, Animal Crossing: New Horizons was released. I picked up my copy on day one, and just like everyone, I was farming 30 iron nuggets.

The game stuck; I’ve spent a stupid amount of time in it. My current file is 200 hours long and still counting. This is more than enough to beat several smaller games that just keep piling up (looking at you Ori, Streets of Rage 4, and Steamworld Quest), yet I am still somehow glued to it.

Then came another time sink for the PS4. Yeah, you know which one. The one with waifus and husbandos, Persona 5 Royal. Jokes aside, this is an incredible re-release with tons of quality of life improvements, new music, and a true 4K presentation (no checkerboard here). I’m still playing the game, beating Futaba’s palace, and I’ll probably stick to the end.

Ion Fury. Source: Popzara.

May

After Persona, I had hoped releases would slow down a bit, to no avail. In May we got Ion Fury, a 2020 Build Engine game. I couldn’t believe it, this was like 1996 all over again, the game a throwback to simpler times when FPS games largely ruled the landscape. Even though the game destroyed weak single-core CPUs found on current (or rather last) gen consoles, it was still a blast to play. I love such projects and here’s hoping we get more of them in 2021.

June

June was somewhat of a disappointment. As developers were still learning how to work from home, releases that were scheduled for June were rushed to market. We first saw Little Town Hero from Game Freak (and kinda Toby Fox) which failed to impress, and then we got the Outer Worlds as well. Let’s not talk about that one. Still, that month we were graced by Persona 4 Golden on PC as well as Valorant.

Ghost of Tsushima. Source: Gamer Network.

July

This was the month when things started to improve on the technical side of things, minus Deadly Premonition 2 of course. We got Ghost of Tsushima, a Sucker Punch production that managed to make open-world games and badass samurai work together. We also got Crysis Remastered on the Switch, so I guess the meme can finally die now. And hey, Superhot: Mind Control Delete, was the best DLC I ever played.

August

I knew August was going to be slow. The weather finally hit the sweet spot, some restaurants offered takeaway food, and gaming took a backseat, even for developers. The only notable releases I can remember were Risk of Rain 2 finally hitting its 1.0 version and Fall Guys. We did get Mortal Shell, and even though I’m a Souls fan, I’ve yet to play it so I can’t comment on it yet.

September

September was the month of Stadia. Hitman 1&2, Hello Neighbor, Serious Sam 4, Marvel's Avengers, and even Mafia: Definitive Edition all released on the platform. A rather impressive showing considering that it failed to gain mainstream appeal. For new games, we got the super-inspired Genshin Impact which is actually a decent game at the very beginning, but only at the beginning. Elsewhere, Spelunky 2 came into existence and was more Spelunky.

No More Heroes 2. Source: ShackNews.

October

October is my birthday month so you bet I was going to get the shiny new releases. Turns out publishers thought otherwise as we had an influx of old games being slightly updated and re-released as brand new ones. Sure, some of them were good, like Pikmin 3 Deluxe and Ys Origin, but you know what really surprised me?

No More Heroes 2.

I know it is one the safest sequels out there but it was previously stuck on Wii and we all know that 480p doesn’t do the game justice. It is such a great game, so if you haven’t played it, give it a go, as it’s a bargain at $20 on the eShop. It runs at 60 frames and looks absolutely bonkers in handheld mode.

November

November saw the release of new consoles, which meant that supply and pricing proved to be problematic. I am a firm believer that cross-gen is the sweet spot in that you don’t need to spend a small fortune to get the new system as most good games will still be released on the previous generation. Miles Morales, Horizon: Forbidden West, Halo Infinite, and more are all currently out for both systems or are going to be released as cross-gen games.

December 2077

You know where this is going. Cyberpunk 2077. How the hell is the game that was developed for such a long time running at 12 frames per second on PS4 and Xbox One? Don’t even get me started on how people are walking in the sky and police are reacting with a minute-long delay. It’s broken.

But you know what’s not broken? Hades. Ever since it left early access and hit the consoles, I can’t put it down. The combat, the visuals, the music, all combine into one heck of a release.

On to 2021

Despite having a global pandemic ongoing, this year was great for gamers. We had a ton of new games, a reasonable amount of older games being touched-up and re-released, and new bold ideas went mainstream. Who would have thought that Among Us would be such a phenomenon? I certainly didn’t.

Anyway, I want to hear from you folks. What games did you play? What helped you combat boredom? Are there any games that you think I should pick up?