Community MetaCouncil's PC Games of the Year Awards 2020 | Results

[lazerfox]

Wasteland and Horizon.

I've been playing Horizon the past 2 weeks and to be fair the port is pretty much fixed now.

 

[Wok]

Here are some stats about the form completion:

Charts

And the results for the optional categories:

Optional categories

 

[Kvik]

One part of the issue with Wasteland 3 is the price. $90 Dingo Dollars? See ya later.

Same story with Gears Tactics. Microsoft can get stuffed.

EDIT: There are two Kiseki games on the list. Both are in the top 50, surprisingly.

 

[Swenhir]

WL3's issue for me is that it seems to have the same problem as WL2 - possibly fantastic writing but barebones presentation. Also, it's made by inXile which I really don't feel like rewarding after WL2's directors cut. I'll get to that game with a deep discount, sometime in 2021, then we'll be even .

 

[Wok]

 

[FunnyJay]

My text regarding Factorio should read:
"You can spend so many hours tweaking and refactoring,"

 

[Wok]

My text regarding Factorio should read:
"You can spend so many hours tweaking and refactoring,"

Fixed. Thank you!

 

[Swenhir]

Monster Train really deserved that spot, if not higher. Competition is stiff this year!

 

[fantomena]

Epic Games Store in turd of the year list?

Spoiler

 

[madjoki]

Epic Games Store in turd of the year list?

Spoiler

Didn't it come in previous year?

Honestly, if it wasn't everyone spamming free games every week everywhere. I wouldn't even remember it exists.

 

[fantomena]

Didn't it come in previous year?

Honestly, if it wasn't everyone spamming free games every week everywhere. I wouldn't even remember it exists.

Thanks to the lack of exclusives this year, outside of Hitman 3 and Snowrunner, EGS was somewhat forgotten for me. It was far worse when Control, Blands 3, Satisfactory etc. were exclusive.

 

[Wok]

Quotes

The sequel to one of the best games ever had one of the highest mountains to overcome given that most of what made CK2 great was how it evolved from a more standarized Grand Strategy game at launch into a more traditional tabletop rpg with each expansion, adding more interesting mechanics along the way. Everyone feared a lot of those additions would be stripped in the new game, to be put in place later on with expansion, but except for some of them (such as republics), most are in the game at launch, in a better more seemless package. That would be enough to put it as a GOTY contender, but the game also made it way easier for newer players to pick it up and play and made the role playing element more crucial and interesting, making it perhaps, as good as CK2 (full content) right now.

Grand strategy at its finest, cutting up the fat the previous one had due to years and years of aged mechanics on top of new dlc that added a lot of needless clog. The game just feels like an overall improvement over 2, which was already a great game.

 

[Tizoc]

Hey my vote did count for something!

 

[MJunioR]

I have been playing CK3 these last couple of weeks and yeah, it completely deserves a spot on the top 10. Damn, the game deserves an award alone for how accessible it is when compared to other PDX titles besides EoS and Cities.

 

[Parsnip]

That cheeky Cyberpunk vote in the early access category.

 

[Ascheroth]

Genshin Impact #15, nice. Will probably be my first "ongoing game of the year" vote next year.

So Ori, Yakuza and Persona haven't appeared yet, I'm sure they'll be in the list. Curious about the rest.

 

[Wok]

Hey my vote did count for something!

Streets of Rage is #11!

---

Quotes

Just a very unique video game from the master Kojima. Loved the crazy plot, the world building, the game mechanics, the look of it. Not played a game like it before and that is a difficult thing to achieve these days.

Much-needed experimentation in the AAA that blows the lid on what gameplay can be. Not perfect, see bikes, but overall a great achievement that delivers a tranquil and well-paced experience like none other.

A phenomenal presentation with breathtaking nordic, vistas, a perfect jukebox soundtrack. A plot that's never takes itself too seriously, but still brings on the feels with great ease. A typical Kojima game, in all its glory and silliness. I loved my time playing package delivery person, and I love how Kojima can design games that are just effortlessly fun. I believe the themes and topics of Death Stranding, of isolation and a hero whose greatest power is to build bridges between people is immensely topical in 2020. This is easily the best game of Kojima since Metal Gear 2 and the best game of 2020 for me.

There's just nothing else like it. Truly something special.

 

[Durante]

Genshin Impact #15, nice. Will probably be my first "ongoing game of the year" vote next year.

So Ori, Yakuza and Persona haven't appeared yet, I'm sure they'll be in the list. Curious about the rest.

Oh crap, I think I forgot that Ori was 2020 when I voted. It would have made my top 5.

I also had Genshin Impact on there. Hellpoint, which I also voted for, barely didn't make it into the top 50.

 

[Swenhir]

Streets of Rage is #11!

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Wait, am I dreaming or is that a Trauma Team ship from Cyberpunk here? Or does DS have this sort of thing?

 

[Durante]

Wait, am I dreaming or is that a Trauma Team ship from Cyberpunk here? Or does DS have this sort of thing?

 

[Wok]

So, the next two games (at positions 6 and 7) were initially tied, but the tie breaker managed to rank them.
This will happen another time (for the games at positions 3 and 4).

Quotes

DOOM Eternal is the rare sequel that manages to improve on nearly everything when compared to the previous game, which is a truly astounding achievement here, considering that the 2016 title was already an awesome experience.

Despite rage quiting this initially, once I got the hang of it, I really cant think of a better FPS game at all. It just feels so smooth to play, the combat and guns feel so good, it looks amazing and the soundtrack is awesome.

My short impression of the game is based on the first playthrough done on Nightmare difficulty. Doom Eternal managed to do something that a few games have for me since Devil May Cry 3... to actually want to get good at the game. It also the only game to give me one hell of an adrenaline rush throughout its entire campaign. And with Part 1 of the DLC also being released this year, it's proven to me that the combat they've created in Eternal can be pushed even further. Can't wait to see what Hugo and his team do in Part 2!

The best mechanic and gameplay in an FPS I've ever played so far. Doom Eternal fast paced gameplay encourage you to stay on the move, prioritizing targets and make quick decisions on the fly. Higher difficulty is very rewarding, with graphics and optimization on PC that is second to none. Backing all of that is the best soundtrack you can imagine for this kind of game. It's my GotY for 2020.

 

[Tizoc]

Streets of Rage is #11!

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So, the next two games (at positions 6 and 7) were initially tied, but the tie breaker managed to rank them.
This will happen another time (for the games at positions 3 and 4).

 

[Wok]

Quotes

If you hadn't gathered by my avatar and the fact that my top two 2020 games are from this series, I'm a big Persona fanboy. Persona 4 is my favourite in the series (and all-time favourite game), and Golden's gameplay enhancements make it the best version of one of the greatest JRPGs ever made. Some of the new content with Marie feels shoehorned in, but you can actually ignore all of that and erase her from history if you want, giving you a flavour of the game that more closely resembles the original Persona 4. Additionally, the game is now playable in a decent resolution on your TV, monitor, or any other device that a PC comes in. I've played this game on a big TV, a Surface Pro 6 and streamed it to a LINX Vision tablet since it released on PC, and that's part of the joy of having my all-time favourite game on my all-time favourite platform. Persona 4 can be played everywhere, forever, and I can't aptly describe how happy that makes me. For that alone Persona 4 is, for the third time, my Game of the Year.

Persona 4 Golden PC port brings to PC players what Vita (= life) brought to so many players years ago. A fantastic JRPG that easily sinks 100 hours.

One of the best games ever made, simple as that

A fantastic and immersive story riche game, got me playing for 4 straight hours. The soundtracks are one of the best i heard in video games. The gameplay alternating between dungeon crawling and social simulator with time management is surprinsingly fun. The only negative point is the story is kind of obvious, didn't take me more than a few hours to guess the ending. P4G is my PC GOTY for the content it offers despite the few small flaws.

One of my top 10 games of all time, P4G is just special. The setting, characters and music make you never want to leave Inaba. By the end you feel like you made actual friends and solved a supernatural serial murder case with them.

Quotes

Hands down, even if I haven't finished it, it has grabbed me like no other game has and it's just not letting go despite it depressing the hell out of me sometimes. The city is one of the most mind-boggling backdrops to a game I've ever seen and even if it isn't fully realized in that systemic way I so love, there is enough hand-crafted content, enough surprises that it feels alive all the same. The variety in builds and play-styles is also really appealing, even if it's not as stark as I would have preferred. This game already delivers on a crapton of ideas and dreams, and while it doesn't reach the mark every time, it still stands as something truly special and unique, even for all its flaws. The sometimes adolescent tone is more than offset by the moments of humanity and soul it portrays, in the end in my opinion delivering on the promise of a Cyberpunk experience and world.

Despite the technical flaws of this game, it finally brought a fully realized Cyberpunk world to me in the form of a CRPG. The quests and writing were extremely enjoyable and I really grew to care about the characters throughout the course of the game. This is definitely a game I'll be revisiting after patches and potential DLC. I finally made it to the big leagues.

Despite the bugs, this game just sucks you into its world and its stories. It mixes gameplay elements we've seen over the last decades but the result is just very well done.

Despite all the problems, the game is fantastic, I can't describe without spoiling something, and is better to people to go into this game blind, because every corner you turn something interesting happens, the city and the people who live in it it's something above everything done by now in a game.

Despite the bugs, this has been the best experience for me this year. It has incorporated nearly everything I want in a game. Its got the good story, unique side missions. Gigs that allow you to approach in stealth, cyber or combat. weapon/character customizations. An amazing city that still after 70hours and more makes my jaw drop. Definitely not a perfect game.

Can a game be considered as the best a year had to offer, if it has been released in a bad state? Been thinking about this question for a long time and I say: Yes, if the things it is doing well stand out. I'd even go further and say that Cyberpunk is not in a catastrophic state on PC in the first place, though it lacks polish. In the end, CP 2077 does two things that I dreamed about for a long time: It is not afraid of utilizing PC hardware to the extreme, just like Crysis, Quake and Doom did beforehand. More importantly it took the gameplay from one of the best games ever created: Deus Ex and brought it into modern gaming. Combine that with well written side characters, a good story and an amazingly crafted open world. Yes, it is an extraordinary project. If only the developers were not ignorant to the plights of the trans community.

Everyone has their dream game in their head, and for me Cyberpunk 2077 was one step closer to that game.

The perfect game to end the generation as it has a little bit of everything from games you have played over the past 7 years. There is a little bit of Far Cry, GTA, Witcher, Skyrim, Shadow Warrior, Deus Ex etc. So many great side characters and stories. The artists and designers at CDPR made this look like such a cool game. Everything feels authentic, next gen and dense unlike most open world games these days that have nothing but empty fields or 1 story buildings in them. I don't think we will see other devs in the industry attempt to make something like this for a long time so hopefully CDPR provide great post launch support.

Great sequel. Plays great, lots to do and looks amazing. One of my favourite Metroidvanias with the right amount of difficulty.

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The original post in the GOTY thread is now complete! Congrats to MetaCouncil's GOTY!

 

[d00d3n]

Good list! Ori deserved more quotes, but I ultimately thought that Alyx was a better and vastly more original game

 

[texhnolyze]

How many people who voted for PSO2? They're good people.

 

[Kvik]

There is something for everyone in the top 10. Great taste all around!

 

[Mor]

So far the list has been full of a bit of everything for everyone and it's absolutely delightful to see such diversity of genres, games and tastes, AMAZING!

 

[Panda Pedinte]

Congrats to us! So many nice games. Seeing Hades on #2 means I need to buy it someday as it must be pretty good.

 

[Wok]

Pinging everyone (AHA-Lambda, Alextended, Amzin, Arulan, Ascheroth, Avern, BO7AMMOOD, BlackRainbowFT, Blizniak, C-Dub, Dandy, Dragon1893, Durante, EdwardTivrusky, ExistentialThought, FeedMeAStrayCat, FunnyJay, Ge0force, Gelf, Gizmo, ISee, InquisitorAles, Javetus, Joe Spangle, Kuro, Kurt Russell, Kvik, Lain, Lashley, Li Kao, MJunioR, Maniac, MegaApple, Mitchell, Mivey, Monooboe, Mor, Nabs, Nzyme, Panda Pedinte, Parsnip, PC-tan, PhaZZe, Pommes, Prodigy, QFNS, Ruvon, ScreamingTrees, Stallion Free, Stevey, Stone Ocean, Swenhir, Taborcarn, Theswweet, TioChuck, Tizoc, Valdien, Wibblewozzer, Wildebeet, Wok, Xclash, Yaska, Zurick, beep boop, d00d3n, didamangi, dummmyy, eonden, fantomena, fearthedawn, fokkusu, freshVeggie, gabbo, kafiend, kio, lashman, lazerfox, madjoki, mssq, nordschatten, oipic, prudis, spiel, taril360dz, tetel, texhnolyze, vitormg, xinek, xxr, yuraya) one last time now that the original post is finally complete. Thank you all for submitting your votes!

 

[kio]

None of my top 5 made it to the top 10

 

[Swenhir]

Thanks again for putting this together yet another year, Wok! We owe you a ton of gratitude for this and your ongoing campaign to get people to vote .

 

[Parsnip]

 

[Durante]

I guess I'll really have to play Hades at some point.

 

[Mor]

Amazing list

 

[Tizoc]

Dang, Ori 2 that high? Well at least i know this forum's got taste and class.

 

[Le Pertti]

I'm just super jealous because I can't play HL Alyx!

 

[Joe Spangle]

Oh crap, I think I forgot that Ori was 2020 when I voted. It would have made my top 5.

I'm just finishing Ori and yeah, had i played it earlier in the year it would've been high on my list. Lovely game.

 

[spiel]

Great list, looking forward to picking up some of these in the future.

Does Monster Train not having a quote mean it's the highest ranked game that didn't get a GOTY #1 vote?

 

[Wok]

Does Monster Train not having a quote mean it's the highest ranked game that didn't get a GOTY #1 vote?

Yes.

 

[Ascheroth]

That turned out to be a very nice list overall.
Thanks Wok for putting in all this effort again <3

 

[FeedMeAStrayCat]

My top 5 landed at ranks #2, #14, #17, #20, and #30. Clearly the tastemaker we all need right now.

And thank you Wok for all your effort put into this!

 

[Swenhir]

My top 5 landed at ranks #2, #14, #17, #20, and #30. Clearly the tastemaker we all need right now.

And thank you Wok for all your effort put into this!

I voted for Outer Wilds too, despite it being an ex-EGS exclusive, which tells you volume about how good I agree it was .

 

[QFNS]

Great list. Lots of really deserving games on here and definitely more that I need to play.

Everyone should check out Monster Train too, that game is great!

 

[Joe Spangle]

Cheers Wok for all the work putting the list together.

Art of Rally made the list. Woo.

 

[Ge0force]

Thank you for your excellent work mister Wok !

 

[Mivey]

Great work organising the voting, Wok ! Really like how simple and uncomplicated you make it all look like, for those taking part.

 

[Wok]

For information, I have added back Halo MCC, which I had (wrongly?) disqualified for being released in 2019.
It is a weird case as it is a collection which includes new games.

It has been inserted as #41. This does not change the rest of the ranking.

 

[Valdien]

Huh, wasn't expecting Half-Life Alyx. I guess a lot Meta user's have a VR set. I don't have one so I can't play the game.

Thank you for doing this, Wok!

 

[Routa]

I'm disappointed WC3 Reforged did not win turd of the year.

 

[Parsnip]

All you rich folks with your fancy VR headsets.