GM GOTY Awards 2020 – Game Of The Year, Top 10 Games Of 2020

The big one. As it says, the Gamer Malaya and Gamer Matters Game Of The Year 2020 award. The game we collectively believe to be the best released this year.

Deliberation Summary

For GM’s Top 10 and Game Of The Year, the shortlist started with 11 games instead of 10- one had to go.

Cyberpunk 2077 is the game everyone on the panel was excited for, and we specifically wait for this game’s release before we start deliberating, with two of us already saw the ending.

Cyberpunk is amazing in very specific areas- in particular the presentation, see the Best Aesthetic award. But it had a messy launch, the marketing and lead up hyped it up too much for what is basically a GTA wannabe gameplay-wise (with tacked-on RPG), as well as the many documented technical issues- including some that will physically hurt people.

There are many things to like about the game but as it is, we cannot in good conscience keep it in contention. Cyberpunk went from an easy GOTY contender here at GM to being the game getting the unofficial #11 game of this list, and was bumped out of the Top 10.

With that out of the way, now we count down Gamer Malaya and Gamer Matters’ Top 10 Games Of 2020, and our Game Of The Year winner.

#10 – Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Insomniac Games continue to show they understand this Marvel hero with this follow-up to the 2018 game. Even with a new hero and story, it’s a decent romp even on PS4 and a good showcase for PS5.

#9 – Resident Evil 3

Capcom’s remake (and follow-up to last year’s Resident Evil 2) has high praise here at GM. The shorter campaign is more action-packed- not something most fans would like- but we rate that highly. Another solid remake.

#8 – Doom Eternal

Easily the best shooter of the year, Doom Eternal is relentless and doesn’t want you to look away. Combat is as frantic and can be as stylish as a character action title, and in-between fights the exploration is rewarding. And it is metal as hell. Maybe it tried too much with the story and level design, but overall a solid sequel to Doom (2016).

#7 – Dreams

Media Molecule has created magic again. The Early Access release earlier before might have lost it some hype, but this game-making game is a fantastic playground for the creative and imaginative. But it’s also fun to see, hear and play the works these creatives have put forth using the power of Dreams.

#6 – Fall Guys

Mediatonic finally made a huge hit. Takeshi’s Castle’s obstacle courses in video game form is such a great novelty. And Fall Guys capture the hectic and clumsy nature of the TV show it’s inspired by. An indie battle royale that has sustained a healthy playerbase and a cheeky fun aesthetic is our favourite surprise game of 2020.

#5 – Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2

Activision and Vicarious Visions’ streak of good faithful remakes continue. THPS might have took a huge bail in its last numbered entry, but this remake erases the many pains and gave the nostalgia of an excellent arcade sports game, now on modern hardware.

The first game to score a perfect 10/10 at Gamer Matters shows that there are still folks at the publisher/developer team that are doing everything they can to let us continue pretending to be a superman.

#4 – Watch Dogs: Legion

Ubisoft Montreal’s open-world romp may not be perfect, but it sets up an important new foundation for gameplay systems we like to see more of. The Play As Anyone system has us being invested in NPCs more than we would’ve cared otherwise, and it takes lessons from the previous two games to heart.

Watch Dogs: Legion brings the scary reality of surveillance systems through our internet-connected devices to the near-future with more cyberpunk themes that’s actually decently told. This is our favourite Ubisoft game this year- which says quite a lot about this list, we don’t conform to the general consensus.

#3 – Ghost Of Tsushima

The open-world action-adventure by Sucker Punch is the best open-world title we played this year. A strong art style and a brilliant way of revealing new discoveries on the open-world makes it a joy to explore. When it has to go do the usual outpost-clearing thing as an open-world game do these days, its combat system is satisfying to master and its stealth system flexible with many ways to approach a problem.

A cliche story that’s well-delivered, our love for samurai/ninja-themed game and a surprise multiplayer mode with loot mechanics arguably better than dedicated loot games of the year makes it sit high on our Top 10.

#2 – Final Fantasy VII Remake

Square Enix proved that they actually do know what they are doing. Final Fantasy VII Remake stands strong as a remake to the original (but not entirely replacing it). And also a very good game on its own right.

A blend of actually-good action controls and RPG mechanics inspired from the original and several other FF games, a strong cast of characters with great design and voice acting, and the amount of fanservice being poured winking at the fans that have waited for this remake for so long makes it one of our most memorable games of the year.

#1 – Yakuza: Like A Dragon

To us here at Gamer Matters, we are massive fans of the Yakuza series, but never actually got around to play them on time for the GOTY Awards. This year, we are breaking tradition with Studio Ryu Ga Gotoku’s latest game. The crazy shift to JRPG-style turn-based combat can be better but it’s a nice refresh the series needed. And it allows for the wackier side of the Yakuza series, a serious crime drama, to be more front-and-centre.

The serious crime drama bit also has a touching story that handles the nuance of the less-fortunate folks that ended up homeless or working at seedy jobs. There’s also tons of heartwarming/silly side quests and mini-games you can spend time in, which makes Yakuza: Like A Dragon’s shift to a JRPG feels like a natural progression- it was always a JRPG before, just with beat-’em-up combat.

In this house, Ichiban Kasuga definitely lived up to his name. From rock bottom as the yearly favourite to win the Best Game We Didn’t Play Award, the Yakuza series, with Yakuza: Like A Dragon, has reached the pinnacle, sweeping a whopping three of 10 awards for this year. Including the last one: GM’s Game Of The Year for 2020 goes to Yakuza: Like A Dragon!

You can check out a recap of all the winners from Gamer Malaya and Gamer Matters’ GOTY Awards 2020 here.

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