It’s hard to believe that we are only at the beginning of August. It would be no exaggeration to say this has been one of the craziest eight-month periods in my 35 years on this planet. However, as we sit on the brink of the fall release schedule madness it’s time to take a breath and look back at the top five games of the year (thus far) including a few (ok a lot) of the honourable mentions.
Before we start I want to make a few things clear. This list is not necessarily the five games with the highest review score. These games could also find themselves in different positions come the end of year awards. There are multiple reasons for this. For starters, we have multiple writers reviewing games and these scores are a personal opinion. Also, some games have more lasting appeal than others and so opinions can vary over time. Basically, it’s my list – not yours. So go cry to someone else about it. Thanks 😀
5. Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
4. Pistol Whip
3. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
1. Ghost of Tsushima
Honourable Mentions
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Bloodroots
Dreams
DOOM Eternal
My Friend Pedro
Maneater
Mafia II Definitive Edition
Resident Evil 3
Two Point Hospital
Paper Mario The Origami King
Fall Guys
Creaks
SUPERHOT Mind Control Delete
I expect some anger about Final Fantasy VII Remake not making the top five and at one stage it definitely would have been there. However, too many good games have come out for it to retain its place in my opinion. Another surprise for me was Last of Us Part II not getting the top spot. The first game is one of my all-time favourites and the second game came very close to matching that level for me. But this just speaks to the absolute brilliance of Ghost of Tsushima.
I have heard people say that it has been a light year for PSVR and while the number of releases may be smaller we have still had some serious quality. Both Pistol Whip and Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners are incredible and some of the most fun you can have on the entire PS4. With the drop in price for Sony’s VR headset there has never been a better time to pick one up.
So with my top five and honourable mentions out of the way I now want to look forward to what we still have to come in 2020. The games listed above would be more than enough to make this one of the best years in gaming history, but there’s still so much more on the docket for this year.
Best Upcoming Games
UFC 4 – August 14th
PGA Tour 2K21 – August 21st
Tell Me Why – August 27th
Street Power Football – August 28th
Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1 & 2 Remastered – September 4th
Marvel’s Avengers – September 4th
NBA 2K21 – September 4th
eFootball PES 2021 Season Update – September 15th
WWE 2K Battlegrounds – September 18th
Mafia: Definitive Edition – September 25th
Crash Bandicoot 4 – October 2nd
Star Wars: Squadrons – October 2nd
FIFA 21 – October 9th
NHL 21 – October 16th
Watch Dogs Legion – October 29th
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope – October 30th
Destiny 2: Beyond Light – November 10th
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla – November 17th
Cyberpunk 2077 – November 19th
This is only the stuff we have confirmed dates for as well. There’s still a Call of Duty to be announced. We also still don’t have dates for both Spider-Man Miles Morales and Deathloop which both look incredible and are near the top of my most wanted list. Also don’t forget about Bugsnax!
When you add all this together and assume that at least half of these big releases still to come don’t shit the bed, I don’t see how when 2020 is all said and done it isn’t the best year in gaming history. The world may be falling to pieces all around us, but gaming continues to absolutely smash it and get us through these difficult times.
I hope you all enjoyed my list of the top games so far this year and an outline of what is still to come. If you want to get in touch and shout at me about how my list is wrong and complete bullshit you can do so on Twitter @VizualDze. Until then keep checking the main page as we have new content going live all the time.
-VDZE ✌️
Featured image credit: @olithorne77