Red Pages Podcast
Red Pages Podcast Games of the Year 2020
Justin's Picks
2020 being a terrible year is a tired cliche at this point, for reasons that are obvious. Despite that, these are the games that brought me the most joy in weird times. Check 'em.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
Anybody who has spoken with me about games in the second half of 2020 should be entirely unsurprised by this choice, especially because I would often refer to this game as "Game of the Year 2020 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim." From its announcement in 2015, 13 Sentinels was one of my most highly anticipated games, and spectacularly it lived up to my own hyped expectations. It's a frustratingly difficult game to talk about without fundamentally spoiling the tricks the narrative pulls, as each revelation recontextualizes what you've seen in a plot formed of concentric circles that spiral out into madness. It's also arguably the prettiest game of the generation, for what that's worth. What type of game is it? It's a historical fiction sci-fi sidescrolling real-time turn-based strategy visual novel role playing game, and all of that is true somehow. Vanillaware feels like it has finally come into its own in full with this game. There is a reason that it recieved strong endorsements from Masahiro Sakurai and Yoko Taro - this is a work worth experiencing, and there's not much else like it right now. Play 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim! Once you do, you'll see why it's so hard to write about in a place like this. The time is now! Get in the robot!
World of Horror
This is somewhat of a selfish pick for me. I don't actually think World of Horror is objectively the second-best game that came out in 2020. It's probably not even the tenth! It's a game targeted at me though, and I'm the one who calls the shots here. Everything about this game is designed to appeal to my sensibilities: the 1-bit aesthetic, the staggeringly good art that plays homage to Junji Ito, the scenarios that the player investigates as they attempt to survive long enough to unravel the game's mysteries, and so forth. This game is definitely not for everyone, but it's for me. So have a trophy, World of Horror. You won in my heart.
Runner-Up
- This game technically came out in 2020, but I've been playing it for years due to its early access nature. It's definitely an indie darling and the reactive character writing is top shelf as is expected from Supergiant Games. It is a bit grindy in the back half if you want to see all the plot threads to the end - I don't think the gameplay holds up well enough for the length of all of the sidequests and the speed at which they progress - but if you're looking for a procgen action game there are many worse choices than this.