It’s a new year! Finally, we can forget everything that happened in 2020 and move on until the next global crisis happens and we’re reminded we had this coming yet again. I personally had a worse year than many, being homeless for a good few months at the beginning of the year. Like America, I too had been putting off dealing with my past and it had caught up to me. Luckily, I landed on my feet somewhat and like many of you, spent the rest of the year holed up inside a tiny space playing video games and trying hard to forget the disease-ridden hellscape outside, mere feet away from my apartment. And while I played many games this year, only a few I played were absolute standouts. Behold! These are the top 5 games I played in 2020.
5. Röki
Getting to review Röki was an absolute treat. I grew up on point-and-click adventure games and was severely disappointed by how Telltale games took the reins of adventure games in the late 2000s and put out a bunch of games on the same engine, some with very little effort. With Telltale’s death, we’re seeing life renewed in this genre and one shining example is Röki. Röki is a story about a girl trying to save her brother in a mysterious world wrapped in Scandinavian folklore and is truly best-in-class when it comes to the point-and-click adventure genre over the past decade. Thank you Polygon Treehouse for giving us hope that this genre still lives.
Best Moment: Without giving away any spoilers, a certain character is roused from a deep sleep and joins the main character, Tove, to save her brother in a very special way.
4. Spiritfarer
Spiritfarer caught my eye originally during the very first Steam Game Festival when I tried out the demo. Originally what captivated me was the art style but once I had played through the entire demo, the setting, characters, and plot of Spiritfarer completely captivated me. Taking the role of an adorable girl named Stella, accompanied by her cat Daffodil, you take over for Charon and lead souls to the afterlife. It’s not quite that simple though as these souls have unresolved emotions and stories they’d like to see finished before completely passing on. What Spiritfarer offers is some compelling tales about those who need help along with some Metroidvania and management sim elements peppered in for gamification. What results is a truly stunning game with a very satisfying reward system and some excellent storytelling.
Best Moment: The very first time you bring someone to complete their journey. The reds and pinks mixed with the solo journey of Stella and her fare as the fare talk about life and the lessons they’ve learned. This isn’t just a well-told story, it feels personal and created an extremely relatable experience.
3. Tell Me Why
Tell Me Why is another point-and-click style adventure game from Dontnod. It came as a surprise earlier this year when it released for free on Xbox Game Pass. I had really only played Life is Strange before and was a little skeptical as the follow-ups to Life is Strange had a mixed reception. Tell Me Why is about a brother and sister who were separated after the death of their mother and reunite to sell their mother’s house as well as trying to find out the reason for her death. It complicates things as you find out that one of the children is responsible for her death but while they can share the beginnings of some joint memories, neither is completely clear on what actually happened. The mystery lies in the memories of the main characters, both somewhat unreliable narrators. As memories and the primary mystery unfolds you’re treated to some beautiful scenery and a fantastic tale that may or may not be more supernatural than you were expecting.
Best Moment: The little moments in-between chapters and scenes where it revels in the mundane. Dontnod did this really well with Life is Strange and is able to capture it beautifully in Tell Me Why.
2. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a title by Vanillaware, a developer who takes time to carefully craft stories, hand-drawn art and animations, and interesting gameplay. In 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim you take on the roles of various characters, 13 to be precise, and navigate through several different time periods in order to unravel a mystery as to why the “Kaiju” are set on destroying Japan. Not only is this style of visual novel/point-and-click adventure new to Vanillaware, but the strategy portion is also something Vanillaware hasn’t dabbled in since one of their first releases. In spite of this, Vanillaware’s 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is an extremely deep and enjoyable story full of references to all forms of mech and science fiction media.
Best Moment: There were WAY better moments than this one but they all require hours of context and involve heavy spoilers. So instead, I’ll just say that my best moment was finding out how deep the rabbit hole went in this game. From beginning to end, the characters were consistent and the story made sense even when it looked like it was starting to veer off into nowhere.
1. Ikenfell
You’re not perfect, you may not even be the person you want to be, but you’re you and you need to love yourself. Ikenfell’s characters all struggle with who they are. Their identity and self-perception significantly hinder each character from reaching their full potential. I love a good self-reflection story and having each character struggle with something currently happening to them or in their past gave Ikenfell its own identity in the indie RPG space. Paired with Aivi & Surasshu, the piano and chiptune duo behind much of the music in Steven Universe, the art and atmosphere in Ikenfell fell short of no one this year. I really recommend all the games on my top 5 list but if you only had time for one, this would be it. A tale that was relatable in the beginning, and sweet through to the end. I loved Ikenfell.
Best Moment: Gilda
