And here we come to the finale of my gaming journeys of 2020. This final list has 12 entries, and some of those entries are going to be the games I have the most to talk about. I’ll try and be as quick as I can for the other games, but they must also be given their fair chance. There’s not a single bad game here, although there will be some criticisms very harsh.

I think it’s best if we have not much else before we dive in. As always, you can keep this blog running by purchasing The Romance Novel, and please enjoy this lookback at the tail end of 2020 gaming-wise for me.

Donut County

Donut County is an indie puzzle game that never ceases in it’s unique charm and gameplay. The premise alone; that you are a donut delivery service worker who is instead delivering holes, is the kind of concept that suits the nature of video games better than other mediums.

There’s also Donut County’s likely intended but maybe accidental social remarks, the corruption of greed and industrialization, invasion of said things among unsuspecting citizens. It’s a story that only takes two to three hours, and is thoroughly wonderful through them. There’s still a debate within gaming on if being too short is a bad thing, but like many others, I’d rather enjoy every second of a tightly-packed game than try to force myself through a complete slog. I beat Donut County in a nice afternoon, and the afternoon was nice because I spent it playing through Donut County. Like another short indie gem Firewatch, this is a game that needs to be always played in a single sitting, letting the entire experience happen without pausing for another day. Donut County is lovely, the opposite of trash, as it can be described.

Rating - 9/10

Nightmares from the Deep 2: The Siren’s Call

I do remember my experience with Nightmares from the Deep 2, a game I’ve never played the original for yet one that I have certainly played the exact same experience for. Don’t get me wrong, hidden object games have their place in not just gaming but also for my own personal tastes. Buying this game and playing it was no accident, I felt the urge to play a hidden object game and the pitch for this one on the store page is what won me over.

Nightmares from the Deep 2 has a solid story, it’s all excuses to find objects, but it’s sensical and feels rewarding to go through to the end. The name implies scary imagery, and it didn’t really scare me personally but the sudden jump scare cords and zoom-ins weren’t annoying either, so it might do either to you should your tolerance for either be different from mine.

Hidden object games without the franchise name of “I Spy” tend to be considered old lady games, but they can still be a fun evening should they not be too frustrating. Their biggest problem being how yes, they do all feel the same but with a coat of paint. I’ll likely never play this one again, and any other game like this from the same studio would have been practically the same game, but it was still fun and these are still a decent thing for a lazy afternoon.

Rating - 5.5/10

Spy Fox 3: Operation Ozone

Humongous Entertainment is still beloved by many for their fun, creative, and colorful point-and-click adventure games. The company may not really get up to much of anything anymore, but at least these well-aged games are easy to legally buy and play.

Spy Fox was probably the better written franchise the studio did. They were for slightly older kids, so wittier jokes and references were seemingly more allowed. Putt-Putt, Pajama Sam, and Freddi Fish were far from uninspired of course, but I find the puzzles were a bit more sharp here even if they aren’t exactly hard for an adult.

Out of all the Spy Fox games, I’m going to go on record saying I think this one was the best. The set-up is fresh, the villain the nastiest, the environments fantastic, even in a sea of gems it managed to shine brighter. A high rating may look weird for those who’ve yet to play the catalogue, but for we nostalgic to the games, the rating will seem pitch-perfect:

Rating - 8/10

Batman Arkham Origins Blackgate

And like I promised last time, we are back to Arkham once again. Well, we’re really in Blackgate, and this time Batman moves left to right and sometimes up and down.

Blackgate was an interesting experience, especially in my first run-through. See, the game is pretty short because to fully experience it, you have to play it three times with you purposefully choosing a different third boss each time. The third boss always sets up a final trap themselves you have to diffuse afterwards, and not only that, those traps each have one specific item to unlock which you keep on those further playthroughs. Those plus the other items will go towards 100%, giving you more batsuits and goodies to try out.

And the thing is, I really didn’t like that first playthrough. Some stuff was cool, but bosses were terrible, death happened to me several times from cheap shots I had little time to learn from. I could do the correct method and the game would refuse to believe it. The developers might have realized that, because by looking through every crate, on just your first playthrough you can unlock a batsuit were you do not take any damage anymore. This changes the game for those new game plus playthroughs. You not longer worry about dying, only in planning how to grab that 100% in your own way. Which, I did.

Maybe not great to play it’s first time, Blackgate Deluxe is shockingly clever in how it treats and rewards completionists and that makes it an oddity that I came around to. It’s mediocre since I can’t recommend it too much to non-completionists, but I think there is still some kind of audience out there for it should they be interested.

Rating - 5/10

Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 has the honor of being one of the most critically acclaimed video games ever made, yet listening to genuine opinions tend to actually range from “very perfect, no problems!” to “It’s great and I want to love it but the gameplay is frustrating.” I played the game when it came out, and without a doubt was in the latter camp.

I can’t deny with any fiber of my being that the story and characters of the game are some of the strongest I have experienced in any form of fictional media. Arthur Morgan proved to be one of the greatest examples of playable characters and it will be a very long time before he’s topped in any fashion. He’s the kind of man who would empty his purse for a beggar, and the kind of man who would rob a beggar, neither contradicting thanks to just how believable he can enter situations and how he reacts based on a combination of the writing and the adaptability of the games control output.

The moral choices pop up far more than the original, being harder than before too. I play as good characters, and yet found myself so morally grey both times I played this. Sometimes it was too sensical to do the morally dirty thing, I felt horrible yet could not regret allowing Arthur to do it. I loved his flawed man who does have plenty of bad in him, but whose heart is gold enough that redemption is something you know he is more than capable of. I’m almost impressed by those who earn the bad endings, the name of the game is Redemption and the themes are of redemption, being able to peel that away smells of wanting the game their way so much I do have to admire their will in some ways.

Fishing in the game is so fun I kept doing it just because, even after fishing every type of regular fish and doing the legendary fish quest. Clothing options were so open and fresh that there is nothing like it even in simulation games with similar ideas. The environments are fresh and beautiful. The hand-to-hand combat involves thinking even if you try giving up and using a knife. Side missions are all unique with characters whom all broke my expectations in ways that earn my love or hate for all the right reasons. Even shopping adds this nice idea where you can use the catalog or just buy the item by picking it up and confirming.

And.

Horse riding still feels imprecise despite the last game nailing it. Guns have a great range of color but engravings honestly felt lacking in amount and variety. Cleaning them is a great idea but it’s hard to tell when they work poorly since sometimes it’s after long use and others you start missing not long after cleaning. Gun fights don’t feel as inspired as they did in RDR 1 or GTA V. The epilogue is too long and has too many random evil gangs for the sake of it. 100% demands too much despite not needing literally everything in typical Rockstar fashion, for once they didn’t cut back enough and had too many collectible side missions making only some feel worth their weight.

So the question is, how much of that really bothered me the second time?

I played on PC on lower graphics this time, and despite how muddy it looked, it still looked great. The horses seemed to control better, which was either from using a keyboard or from experience. That last word means a lot, so many problems feel lesser after experience. It demands too much experience, but then again, it’s a game that turned out to be really worth replaying.

I kinda loved the game the first time, this time, I really loved the game.

Arthur Morgan’s story was worth going through again. As was John Marston’s, Dutch Van Der Linde’s, Bill Williamson’s, Micah Bell III’s, every character gets to shine and they all earn the respect and love and/or hate to do it all over again. I almost even got 100% completion this time, and I still say it’s too much, but this time I can also say I think I can do it.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a very strong type of game. I still cannot be sure it’s for everybody, but even then, maybe everyone needs to try it anyway.

Rating - 9.5/10

Maneater

Maneater was a $40 game with plenty of polish and tons of fun things to do. Remember when that happened more often? Budget games that lacked the grandiose elements of the Triple A market and many times were more worth that money than those more expensive games?

Maneater sees you play as a deadly shark, whom can eat so much she comes across as more like a black hole than a shark. Shark controls pretty well, with minor clunkiness where I still felt like I was in control most of the time. She could still flip around or freak out, but this did feel intentional while not as ridiculous as Surgeon Simulator or Octodad, which I still feel are good comparisons.

Maneater wasn’t a surprise or anything, but it was a very fun game that I actually ended up getting two copies of. She’s a brutal little girl that shark, and her game really utilizes that. This is the kind of game I always say would make it on my “game of the year” list if I worked for gaming journalism, since purely fun smaller games like this need more praise for being exactly what they are without wearing the gimmick out and being easy to get right back into. It’s on consoles both current and future-that-didn’t-really-come-yet-to-most-of-us-because-they-are-hard-to-get, so I really do say give it a play. Blood and guts are sometimes all you really need, and the added comedy from the nature documentary spoof really adds even more.

Rating - 8/10

Hitman Absolution HD

https://www.destructoid.com/stories/hitman-absolution-and-blood-money-headed-to-ps4-and-xbox-one-real-soon-537815.phtml

I’m saying it. I know Hitman fans weren’t hot on this one for the changes to the settings and game world style, but I really enjoy Hitman Absolution personally.

I can’t fault people for loving the James Bond inspired wacky and open games that came before it. I can understand being disappointed it’s a lot different. However, changing the formula doesn’t instantly mean a product is bad, sometimes the black sheep has a lot to offer. Absolution added a lot that ended up staying, how you can finally garotte and immediately go into a drag, how you can knock people out with your bare hands instead of needing an item with the side effect that it takes time, the instinct system that got retooled later but isn’t that far off from the hardest difficulty versions from here.

Now, speaking of difficulty, this time playing it I actually do have a criticism. I don’t dislike the linear levels, I think linear game design can lead to very clever and unique gameplay and also storytelling. Absolution has great levels with the linearity, however, that stays true only on normal. Once you try a “professional” difficulty level, things go a bit more south purely because some levels are not built around doing it.

You have to stealth at all times now since combat is much riskier than on normal, and as a stealth fan I’m actually fine with that, on paper. The problem with Absolution is how some levels were pretty clearly designed more for action stealth from the get-go, and harder difficulty makes them shockingly hard for all the wrong reasons.

Attack of the Saints or King of Chinatown add simple more amount of guards that the styles I did on normal weren’t as easy so I thought more outside the box and still had a solid times. Levels like Rosewood Orphanage were frankly broken in the enemies favor, there’s too many of them and the levels was clearly meant for a player to happily wipe out these professional killers who went way too far, which is basically impossible in a difficulty level that tries everything to make that gameplay style impossible. I remember being able to sneak about the level on normal once or twice, but on professional they leaped out of corners and huddled around the item I needed. Full instinct wasn’t enough to blend in, there wasn’t enough time to hide bodies. I finally beat the level by instincting, grabbling the item, then mashing instinct again, and I genuinely think the game glitched and gave it to me since I did that method several times in a now and it usually failed within a heartbeat. Also, just in general, I never liked the level Hotel Terminus and I still feel that way.

However, I still beat the game and I still loved it overall. It was more challenging in ways I didn’t care for this time, but I didn’t put it down, and I even still went back for all the challenges and all the collectibles. I have Platinum now and I’m incredibly happy I do. Fans won’t be ready to forgive this entry for a while, but I’m with the critics on this one. On it’s own, it’s a strong game with some noticeable problems depending on the level or difficulty.

Rating - 9/10

Saints Row The Third Remastered

Another game that riled some feathers in the fandom that I loved so so dearly. And like the last one, this is the remastered version for PS4, but this time it really is remastered and not just a port job.

Good God the graphics are weirdly realistic, especially for such a bombastic and goofy game. For my money some of the style has been erased so I will still prefer the original version, but the graphics are incredible despite that.

I wish that was my only complaint, but I also felt some of the controls did not work quite as well as the original. I don’t know if it was button lag, or framerate issues, but I’ve played buttery smooth on both PC and Xbox One Backwards Compatibility for the original, and a remaster should at least be as good as those ways to play the original.

So now that my criticisms are out of the way, allow me to gush about one of my favorite video games ever made!

The wacky nature of this game delivers tons of fun gameplay, from the side stuff you can do on the Bosses’ phone or from icons in the game world. I love all of the Saints; Oleg the smart muscleman, Pierce the whiny yet lovable scamp, Kinzie the kinky super genius, I know Shaundi is divisive compared to her past self since she’s radically different, but I think she still shines in the comedy department while keeping the new characterization. Your choices weren’t moral decisions in this game, just which type of fun thing you wanted to play with, and boy that could be just as hard, although I just remembered you absolutely get a final moral choice for the ending but that one’s lovingly not hard to make honestly.

Engaging, bombastic, crass, Saints Row The Third is still all those things and this pretty version is not a bad way to experience it at all. Again, somehow the original is still better and still easy to get since it’s even on Switch, so the rating has to reflect that but it’s barely going to look like that.

Rating - 9.5/10

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix

Birth By Sleep has a very big reputation. It was everyone’s favorite Kingdom Hearts game until more people started playing it. See, fans who were devoted enough to play it back on PSP were all enthralled by the new story, the tragedy of the three main characters, the bigger impact on the lore of the franchise. Once it got on the PS3 and later PS4 and Xbox One, the rest of the fanbase and newcomers sometimes had that reaction but seemingly just as often were massively off-put by the floaty combat, the mechanics, and finding the story and character nowhere near as well-written as they’d been hearing for years.

When I played the game back on PS3, I had every single one of those bulletpoints for the critical half. I hated the game, it frustrated me how the grinding was far more enforced than ever with spongey enemies, how bosses were allowed invincibility frames when the player wasn’t, allowed bosses to easily escape attacks and suddenly juggle the player without many options to escape. I hated the command deck and the way new commands and especially abilities were tied behind alchemy of the moves. Ven had my interest but Terra and Aqua were flat and uninteresting, not to mention Eraqus being thoroughly unlikable.

However, I gave the game a second chance on the PS4. This time, no, I didn’t hate it.

I didn’t fall in love with it at all either.

The command deck is still not as easy to use as the one from Dream Drop Distance, and the alchemy is still a silly requirement for unlocking new abilities. However, this time I noticed that anytime you learn a command you can always then buy that command at a moogle shop, meaning I never really lost a command I just had to start from the beginning with it’s level. A pain but not an immense hassle.

I still find the main trio undercooked, but less flat this time. Terra, Aqua, and Ventus suffer a lot from needing to go to all of the same worlds, I feel that if each character had each world they visit to themselves only that they would have had better chances at the character development the game really acts like they got. Raident Garden, the Land of Departure, and the Keyblade Graveyard worked fine sharing the three of them, but for example I think only Ven should have had the Dwarf Woodlands since he got to meet the most characters and interact with them more, or how only Terra should have had Enchanted Dominion and Deep Space as those two worlds helped establish character growth and would have worked far better without Ven’s pointless feeling visit and Aqua’s horrible fight with Dragon Maleficent especially.

I also realize how last time I practically never used Shotlock or Links, and they make a world of difference to the gameplay. Links help remove character weaknesses when used right and are powerful, and Shotlock can remove enemies from a room or wipe out more than a whole health bar from a boss. From here onward Kingdom Hearts started having too many mechanics, and even here it was easy to forget they existed, even though they are sometimes essential to winning a fight.

The story is, fine. It does not break ground, it’s cliched, and as I explained has pacing problems from how the game forces all three characters to go everywhere when picking and choosing would have been far better. It has some highlights though. In fact, that’s how I’d describe the entire game.

It has it’s highlights. The Mirage Arena was full of challenges while the other minigames were poor, some worlds had very nice stand-alone experiences despite still following the movies and not always mixing with another character’s world story too well, the Unversed sometimes looked cool and had some interesting mechanics but sometimes were painful to fight, Xehanort wasn’t as pointlessly masterful as he gets later and has some great lines and scenes even if this is where he took too much of the spotlight, and bosses ranged from pretty unique to wishing I could skip it from how unfair it was. But, I really cannot forgive how this is the first time the extra secret bonus movie is a playable level, it’s too much work that I didn’t do and don’t know if I ever will, I settled for the regular bonus and the horrible final fight that turned out to be.

End of the day, this is not the best Kingdom Hearts game but I found it had more merit than when I played it before. It’s not a bad game, just a mixed bag with very noticeable flaws you kind of need to work around, as they will make or break you.

Rating - 6/10

Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix

https://kingdomhearts.fandom.com/wiki/Puzzle

Kingdom Hearts II isn’t the best game in the series either but boy do I see why so many people feel it is! The original will still hold that title in my heart, it’s exploration and warm simplicity still beats most other games I’ve played in my life even now. Still;

Kingdom Hearts 2 goes for a far more complex narrative that may be confusing but at least there was a purposeful mystery angle to it to justify the feeling. The combat is overhauled so much that the player is basically creating a ballet with video game violence and it rarely lets up for even a nanosecond. Especially with the major improvements final mix brings.

I don’t like everything in final mix, I still say the mandatory Roxas fight is too hard for a story fight and that not every data fight nor Mushroom XIII are worth the inclusion, but other than the story fight I can’t complain much as I feel non-mandatory stuff rarely detracts from a rating unless it’s truly egregious and that’s not the case here despite how daunting it felt before I got the Platinum trophy a while back.

The best thing it added though, is critical mode. Video game difficulty is not a perfect medium, some people love extra spicy challenges while people like me are only out to have fun and find plenty of hard modes to not bring that fun. Critical mode for Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix is easily not just one of the best hard modes I’ve ever played, but is the only way to play the game for me now. I played this game again last year, and it was Critical for just that reason. I had no trophy this time, I just wanted to replay the game and it was my instant reaction.

The gameplay is phenomenal, the story does work, the characters are wonderful, and dare I say the artstyle makes the graphics hold up. I may love the first game more, but nothing will stop me from saying II is a masterpiece of a game as well. It could have ended here or after Days, and I’d have been satisfied, and I think a lot more fans than they realize would have too.

Rating - 9.5/10

Pokémon Emerald

https://nintendowire.com/news/2020/05/01/pokemon-emerald-is-now-15-years-old-in-north-america/

Pokémon Emerald is a game I’d be able to talk for way too long about. I mentioned it before in a Pokémon game review, but this is my favorite of the series and currently my favorite video game period. While Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch theoretically gave me more of what I look for in a game, there is no game I played more than Emerald and that will never change.

I love the graphics of this game, which hold up for someone who is not fond of pixel art all that much thanks to a vibrant color palette that also has clever use of darker shades. I love the pair of villainous teams who are truly out to better the planet despite how simple-minded and short-sighted they ultimately are. The fights, sceneries, so many elements are basically iconic to me: fighting Maxie both at the top of Mt. Chimney and the space station, Archie before he unleashes Kyorge, champion Wallace whom does work as a water champion since it fits the region, Flannery’s difficult to understand yet easy to remember gym puzzle, New Mauville, Sootopolis, secret boss Stephen Stone, the ridiculously impressive Battle Frontier, even the cave with only Smeargle and items.

Ruby and Sapphire’s glow-up was the best the series ever had to offer, not that I’ve been lacking for great picks afterwards either. It’s the one I think of when I think of Pokémon and even just when I think of the joy video games can bring you. Every gym is great, every character is great, the Pokémon are chosen perfectly for the region and the region itself is so well designed. Yeah, Gen 3 is my favorite generation of Pokémon purely due to this one game being it’s star attraction. Every Gen has one, but Emerald was the gem of gemstones it turns out.

Rating - 10/10

Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth Hacker’s Memory

From Pokémon to the franchise a surprising amount of people assume ripped it off. Thanks to the names and the fact both have people interacting with monsters as friends I sort of understand, but to make it short Digimon started life as a Virtual Pet for keychains and then grew to manga and anime, it’s much less consistent with it’s rules on how that works than Pokémon since it does multiple continuities even though they will always have similar within the franchise so they don’t feel out of place. Both are fun franchises with their ups and downs but really couldn’t be much less alike since both keep to their own strengths and neither have tried to copy the other honestly at all.

Cyber Sleuth was a Digimon Story game, a spin-off dating back to at least the Nintendo DS. The focus was on having Digimon partners for party members while experiencing a story line, and Cyber Sleuth was held in high regard among the line as it continued to have an excellent story while also buffing out the massive issues older games had. I didn’t play them, but I understand it was fixes to gameplay difficulty asking way too much of the player without being fun or rewarding in return, and I believe also less bugs. I did play Cyber Sleuth and I loved the game, feeling it a normal 7 for RPG fans but a 9 for Digimon fans as it really captured the best the franchise does for character strengths, hateable villains, heartbreaking moments, and I was happy to hear that game was getting an interquel called Hacker’s Memory.

I played it when it came out too, and at first the shock of a great Digimon game wasn’t there so I wasn’t as instantly surprised, yet felt it was better anyway. Then I played even more.

Hacker’s Memory is essentially a perfect game despite needing the first game to understand some of the story elements.

Hacker’s Memory is excellent in how it treats RPG narratives and characters. You aren’t the ultimate hero, you are a nobody who has their own story that earnestly has nothing to do with the main plot. You get to taste herodom, but you are still a face in the crowd, never the chosen one and never able to change how the story has to still go. No matter how great or bad things go for you, it’s only your story, which funnily enough means you have more personality than the real hero whom must be stuck with RPG tropes.

It makes your victories truly feel like yours, and your crushing moments even worse. Chitose, Wormon, Ryuji, Yu, and Erika. Your trusted companions who are side characters just like you, never mentioned before and shown why. No matter what they will mean to you.

Other sides of the real main characters, new mechanics to freshen up the monotony, better online, customization, and hell now you can even get the game bundled with the first on PC and Switch. I got Platinum in my replay, and you need to play both. Enjoy that first game, because the real game is right after.

Rating - 10/10

And that my friends, is the end of the list. This took around as long as I couldn’t help but assume. Among the mess of the past year, it was good to have some very great games to keep me sane. I don’t like how the game industry treats it’s employees, pumps out soulless cash grabs, overcharges for DLC and minor details, and so I will always champion great experiences I'm clearly not getting many other places these days with video games.

As for the games I’d recommend the most, let’s end the story with them. The eleven games that earned a 9 or more! Take care everyone. Play some video games, eat something tasty, and stay safe so normalcy can come back.

Best of the Best!

Pokémon Emerald

Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth Hacker’s Memory

Sam & Max The Devil’s Playhouse

Brother’s A Tale Of Two Sons

Spyro Reignited Trilogy

Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix

Red Dead Redemption 2

Saints Row The Third Remastered

Donut County

Destroy All Humans! 2

Pokémon Let’s Go! Pikachu

Hitman Absolution HD