A Winner Is You 2020 Edition!

[The Coop]

1) Code Vein (PC)- Anime Dark Souls. That pretty much sums it up. The graphics are pretty good and the story, though a little loopy, isn't bad either. The gameplay is much more linear than the DS series, and the character designs are definitely anime inspired (many big titty women abound). The main downside is that it features the DS1 rolling style, in that you can only roll in four directions and not eight like in DS3. Otherwise, it's not a bad soul-like.

2) Knightin' + (PC)- A bit of Zelda with a bit of block-pushing puzzles. The music's not too bad, the game's not overly long (a couple hours), and the graphics are fairly good 8/16-bit quality. But in truth, some of those block-pushing puzzles get annoying after a while. Still, it's not a bad little game.

3) Dark Devotion (PC)- A metroidvania, without jumping. Yes, that can be as annoying as it sounds when it comes to finding all the little items you'll need to do more damage, get more stamina and so forth, but the game itself is good. Nice graphics, some good background music/soundscapes, a large map, lots of bosses, and some side quests to do to gain some extra goodies. It even has two endings. The map isn't that great though, as it doesn't show where you are in each section. Just which section you're in. But all in all, it's a fun game.

4) Resident Evil 3 (PC)- A solid, though uninspired remake. The visuals are great, the gameplay is fine and it's still RE3 at it's core. But there are missing areas and there's little replay value. I think we all got spoiled with the RE2 remake.

5) Doom 64 (PC)- Finally sat down and beat this old game. It's old school Doom with claymation-looking vesions of the monsters. Not a bad game at all, with nice levels and come tricky little spots here and there. Worth a play to be sure, and the extra levels were a nice touch too.

6) Doom Eternal (PC)- Oh yes. Great game. Fast, frantic, gory... it's what a followup should be. Can't wait to see what the DLCs will add.

7) Streets of Rage 4 (PC)- It has issues (no moments of invincibility when you get hit), but it's a solid sequel. I like the visual style and music, lots of stages, some nice callbacks... it's a good game that needed a few tweaks.

8) Halo Reach (PC)- With the Master Chief Collection coming to PC, I enjoyed getting to play the games I could never play due to not owning a 360. It's Halo. A solid game, nice graphics, and an interesting prequel to the game that started it all.

9) Shantae and the Seven Sirens (PC)- Half Genie Hero was a decent game, but holy shit was it too easy. This game rectified that a bit, while keeping the same visual style as the previous game. It's a good game, thought it still feels a bit easier than the earlier games to me.

10) Halo CE Aniversary (PC)- It's Halo but with better graphics. Same solid gameplay, same good game.

11) Halo 2 Anniversary (PC)- Ditto, but "it's Halo 2."

12) Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath (PC)- I enjoyed this game. the MK series has come a long way from the first game, and a very long way from it's first 3D entry. While the cartoonish visuals of the XBox games and even MK9 had their charm, seeing these characters done with so much detail in everything and every bit of gory makes it all feel that much more brutal. The visuals are still great, the gameplay is still solid, and even the story is interesting. A nicely done expansion for a nicely done fighting game.

13) The I Of The Dragon (PC)- An old PC game that finally came to GOG. You're a dragon, you burn things and people, you eat things and people, and you defend things and people. It a bit of Diablo, mixed with some other bits from different genres. It didn't set my world ablaze, but it was fun... up until the final boss. That prick can just fuck right off.

14) Octopath Traveller (PC)- This was an interesting RPG. The story wasn't win any awards, but having each character have their own story to play through was and interesting touch. Too bad that you have to grind like a son of a bitch at times to move forward, though. Still, the music was good, the visuals are really rather nice with the effects they used, and overall, it was a good RPG with a few questionable traits.

15) Mortal Shell (PC)- The poor man's Dark Souls. It's a short game, but the core is there. The settings, the gameplay, the weapon system, the dodging, the cryptic story... it's very much Dark Souls inspired. The whole "shell" trait was a nice twist on things, and I enjoyed the game overall. Only a few bosses, but they're challenging.

16) Super Star Path (PC)- A shmup and a matching puzzle game, slammed together. No award winner, and a bit cheap at times, but decent.

17) Strikers 1945 (PC)- That old classic Psikyo shmup. Fun stuff, but holy shit does the difficulty ramp up at times.

18) Striker 1945 II (PC)- Ditto.

19) Final Doom: Evilution (PC)- Yes, I finally sat down and played all the way through this on my PC. I know there are a lot of re-releases for this out there, but I tracked down a physical copy of it and played it in DOSBox. I've played it before, but never all the way through. Now I have, and damn... some of the levels in this game are hard as a fucking rock. Still, a great game.

20) Final Doom: Plutonia (PC)- Same thing with this one.

21) Demon's Souls (PS3)- With the remake having come out, and me not interesting in buying a PS5 for one game, I fired up my PC and played the original game via emulation. The emulation for this game has gotten a lot better, so it only froze up on me once. It feels so weird to be playing where it all started, with the more basic combat and rolling system, but it's still a fun, tough game.

22) Dark Souls 3 (PC)- Yep. Played it again, beat it again.

23-24) Dark Souls: Remastered (PC)- Yep. Played it again, beat it again, beat NG again.

[BubsyFan1]

Sneaked in two more games before the year ended:

27. Sonic 3D Blast - Saturn

I played this on Genesis years ago and remembered not liking it much, but I found it much more enjoyable this time around on Saturn. Not sure if it's because of any differences of this version, if my tastes changed, or if it's a combination. The music was hit or miss, and it's not as enjoyable going through it all in one sitting. Some kind of password feature would have been nice, and the boss fights were way too easy. These drawbacks were definitely felt, but I thought it was solid overall.

28. Garfield: Caught in the Act - Game Gear

A Garfield platformer? What could Pawsbily go wrong? This game was kind of run of the mill and strange in that it seemed to get much easier after you hit the halfway point. There also seemed to be a sense of precision you needed that was unclear by the presentation. Or maybe the hit/grab detection was just wonky.

[Leynos]

Sneaked in two more games before the year ended:

27. Sonic 3D Blast - Saturn

I played this on Genesis years ago and remembered not liking it much, but I found it much more enjoyable this time around on Saturn. Not sure if it's because of any differences of this version, if my tastes changed, or if it's a combination. The music was hit or miss, and it's not as enjoyable going through it all in one sitting. Some kind of password feature would have been nice, and the boss fights were way too easy. These drawbacks were definitely felt, but I thought it was solid overall.

28. Garfield: Caught in the Act - Game Gear

A Garfield platformer? What could Pawsbily go wrong? This game was kind of run of the mill and strange in that it seemed to get much easier after you hit the halfway point. There also seemed to be a sense of precision you needed that was unclear by the presentation. Or maybe the hit/grab detection was just wonky.

There are 2021 threads now for A winner is you and haul topics btw. The 2020 threads are dead now.