Honourable Mentions
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age S
Putting this as a HM seeing as it's a 2020 port of a 2019 update to a 2018 international release of a 2017 japan release.
DQ11 is the nice warm bath of video games, the temperature is juuust right, and the S edition is like having bubble jets, bath bombs and a rubber duck. A familiar experience executed to optimal feel good vibes, it might make you sweat every now and then but otherwise you can easily just lose yourself in its inviting world and sink under the surface of bubbly goodness for 60 hours (don't try this in an actual bath, you'd be lucky to last 60 seconds).
DQ11 also has the ultimate rare distinction of a video game actually eliciting very real tears from my eyes, media can easily make me get watery eyes (too easily these days I find, I'm a sap) but that's like the glass ceiling of my emotional response. DQ11 meanwhile had me very puzzled when it caused the tears to actively find a crack in that glass and I responded like a confused robot, this isn't gamer rage? This is….a response...to a plot point...in a video game, is this ART?!
I still can't believe you did that Square, you took my genre expectations for granted and suckerpunched me good, what am I talking about? Ah that'd be telling, guess you'll just have to find out, I mean we're still locked down after all so what better time to bury yourself in a JRPG eh?
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Funnily enough, the best parts of this game for me was seeing some of my first time friends go all in on the creative tools to whip up wonderful islands that made mine look like the doldrums despite me having been with the series since the cube, I'm washed up.
You know the drill, this was a vital game for 2020, it almost made my main list as a result of its very real worth in an exhausting year. Ultimately though, it's still too much more of the same and the new ideas I kinda bounced off of such as the crafting.
10. Streets of Rage 4
If you were to ask me for my thoughts on the Mega Drive classic "Streets of Rage 2" I'd tell you it's a damn fine OST and an acceptable vehicle for a co-operative escapade. Now if you asked me to play it alone, in single player, I'd balk at the suggestion, "are you mad? Single credit clear? Oh good heavens no!" and I'd promptly faint.
Actually this is less a SoR 2 issue and more an entire genre one, beat em ups have never been my scene, sauntering down those seedy streets with a contradictory stiff swagger, punching endless parades of eccentric 90's thuggery and eating entire roast chickens found in a bin, some people find great joy in such things, I'm just not one of them.
As my friend, raised on a mega drive, started licking his lips at the prospect of more of that bin chicken, now brought into pleasingly modern illustrated visuals, I had to wonder if I could develop a taste for it, after all wall chicken is a delicacy for me so maybe there was still hope.
The UK lockdown denied any dreams of local co-op, the only way I thought I'd stomach that taste, due to a lack of crossplay for online I'd have to dine alone.
And it was delicious.
In truth I'd paid Streets of Rage 4 more attention than I usually would for the genre, in part because Lizard Cube's visual work on Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a personal favourite of mine, I was more than willing to follow their artistic vision into the sleaze, and what art it is, look at those character glow ups! The pavement puddles shine with reflected neon light, social outcasts slither along, spoiling for a fight. And then your chosen character rocks up, walking with purpose, fists clenched, it looks like a million bucks but how does it feel to play? This is the real test, the make or break moment for me. I input the basic punch combo, each blow lands with a meaty slaptacular impact as the thug is launched across the screen and I realise, this game could be the one!
As someone whose 2D brawler experience is being hard carried by someone actually competent, there was a gruelling rite of passage for me here, even now after two runs there's still unwritten rules to SoR that I don't fully understand. Like getting to grips with the retro design decisions that seem scandalous in 2020, no block? Am I supposed to just jump instead? Why can only Cherry run? WALK FASTER DAMMIT! There was frustration but there was growth, these streets play by their own rules and to survive I had to adapt.
The secret sauce to SoR4 combat is undoubtedly the special moves, much like in the olden days performing one of these clutch moves is easily done but at the expense of your own health, now though that health can be regained via continued fisticuffs, so long as you don't get hit. This opens the door for an incredibly effective risk/reward system that can have you teeter on the brink of death after a reckless rampage, yet pull yourself back up to good health, no bin chicken required (or in my preferred choice, bin ramen, mmm noodles stewing in garbage water!)
I'd like to have seen bosses that feel less….bullshit? tedious? Maybe I'm missing something but frustration is indeed trying to move your immobile cyborg out of the way of super armoured rushes or AoE moves. Elsewhere the in between stage cutscenes are begging for voice over or any sort of sound effects to add some pizazz to their proceedings. In any case, I beat the game on normal all by myself which for me can probably slot alongside victories like the bloodborne platinum or Celeste C Sides. And to me that's the testament to the game's strength, it had me push through a genre outside my wheelhouse.
9. Doom Eternal
One has to respect developers for making the game they want to make, especially when it's a sequel that comes across like the result of a drunken dare to alienate half the existing playerbase.
Not since the 360 version of Ninja Gaiden 2 have I played a game so relentless, unwavering in its pure commitment to end the player, and not since Pacman Championship Edition DX have I played a game that causes me to involuntarily tense up so when I finally get that sweet sweet reprieve I realise my neck really hurts (yeah, I said Pacman, look those neon ghost trains do not slow down!)
Every stage in Doom Eternal is sprawling epic unto itself, taking you on a scenic tour through a combination of the apocalypse and a heavy metal album cover which admittedly might be the same basic thing. An unabashedly gamey game that sees the attempts a lot of similar big productions take to ground their games in a believable reality and instead throws back with giant question marks designating secrets into the game world itself while you hoover up all sorts of brightly covered pickups existing entirely for the player.
Doom Eternal is a game governed by it's own specific rule set and logic, every single piece of your arsenal is given a purpose, to ignore any of it is folly and will leave you strapped for health and ammo in a way few games would dare to. Initially it feels limiting, gradually as you understand the systems your ability to keep all the juggling balls from hitting the ground takes form, even as new balls are constantly thrown into play, also you can't stop moving or you die, hummingbird simulator 2020.
I'd actually argue that Doom Eternal goes a bit too hard on the endless world of demons, by the time you've reached the halfway point you've taken your baptism by fire at the cultist temple as well as your following baptism by molten magma at the Arc Complex. Even with a few new enemy cards to place on the table like the diabolical Archvile and the creeping realisation that the Marauder is being worked into standard combat encounters, I felt like I'd been made to face so many foes with such regularity that I'd reached an uncanny state where I'm somehow going through the motions while simultaneously always on a razors edge, is this how speedrunners feel?
I dig the approach to level design quite a lot, it feels more focused than 2016 while still hiding collectables in ways that require observation but doesn't send you completely off course. It's also got a substantial increase in shockingly slick first person platforming. Doom 2016 is all about some nice little leaps and clambering when it wants to cool down if you can call it that, Eternal has rotating firebars like it's Bowser's (metal) castle and air dashing into cliff faces that you smash into and clamber with an animated sense of fury. It's a bit disappointing the game doesn't quite know how to approach boss fights when they actually already nailed it down back in 2016, otherwise though I landed on the side of the fence that finds Eternal better than its predecessor in most ways, yet I confess that I feel like I should love it more than I actually do.
Also multiplayer! Yes I did in fact put some time into the vanity project of this game with a friend as we took on the role of playable demon duos, which in itself is actually very cool conceptually. I never thought the day would come where I'd say "Mancubus is my big meaty boy", yet here it is. It is basically just a novelty though and I'm surprised the game goes in as hard as it does with battle pass like leveling systems and unlocks for a mode I can't imagine anyone sticks with, thanks for upping my file size substantially though!
In a way though this kind of highlights the sheer audacity of Doom Eternal, it could've just been a safe sequel, instead it just throws every idea they had into the melting pot, which boils over, leaks all over the floor and swallows you up unless you prove you can swim out of its ever increasing volume of heated action.
Wait, swimming….there's another idea for the pot, in it goes!
8. Spelunky 2
My PS4 capture gallery has become an archive of defeat, historical records of journeys gone awry, running the gamut from flawed decisions in the heat of the moment to the maddening machinations of gaming's most prevalent supplier of Rube Goldberg death scenarios.
Indeed, how can one game make death so simultaneously infuriating and hilarious? How fair is it that a good honest man, making all the right decisions can lose everything in one false step? Spelunky 2 hits you with the philosophical questions of life, why are we still here? Just to suffer? As my character's corpse ping pongs between a horned lizard and a Machiavellian mole, and now I'm questioning do we really need Moles? This game makes a good case against them.
This time though, it'll be different I tell myself as I venture once more into the dwelling with only accumulated game knowledge to support my next venture, and promptly run into an arrow trap.
This might all sound somewhat familiar to anyone who Spelunked their way through the previous outing, actually I was rather surprised at how similar this sequel is to the original game on a surface level. The changes to the action platforming rougelike aren't exactly bullet points for the back of a non existent game box, but they are subtly meaningful.
Player choice with diverging paths, new biomes, mounts, a physics system for water and lava and of course new secrets to unearth. All of these additions have to be carefully balanced as to not cause the structural integrity of the greater whole to go off-kilter, so you can see the kind of ripples each variable added can cause.
The secrets run deep in more ways than one, it was a real expedition going in blind and trying to piece together aspects of the game world and the uses of certain items or rooms alongside a friend in admittedly less than optimal online.
Though this is partly where the game stumbles, too many steps in the processes to access some of the hidden areas, steps that are too easily ended with a fatal trip or just bad luck. I'm still pretty proud of myself for besting Hundun but I fear the cosmic ocean will always be out of my reach.
Me trying to keep hold of * spoiler item redacted * is a bit like fellow whip cracking spelunker (of sorts) Indy trying to grasp the holy grail, it's so close, I'm almost there at the expense of my own sanity but I just gotta let it go….except my co-op partner is much more likely to accidentally send me into an abyss than save me from one.
And I'd laugh all the way down.
7. A Short Hike
Density in brevity, A Short Hike very rapidly became a lengthy detour in my hands, no game has quite scratched my curious wanderlust itch since Breath of the Wild. Which is all the more impressive when you consider that Hawk Peak Park isn't a huuuuge overworld of secrets and gameplay possibilities, it's just a compact island that almost creates an illusion of vastness with the lack of a map and an ever turning perspective that just keeps seeming to unfold new areas to get lost in before you find your way pack to the central path.
There's clear influences on A Short Hike's trek jacket sleeve, I already mentioned the first and the other is quickly made apparent, Animal Crossing's brand of charm and even art direction have their assorted paw prints all over this, it's not just talking animals, now that'd be a bit silly to credit AC with, but I'm eyeing up those rocks and digging spots that's for sure, I hit a suspicious rock with a shovel and the resulting homage felt like receiving a knowing nod from the developer.
I specifically highlight this though because A Short Hike carries that same whimsy in tone and dialogue while applying it to a game with a clear goal and end point.
There's something I find intriguing about that concept, particularly in 2020 where Crossing Mania swept the locked down land. As enjoyable as it was for me, as a player of that franchise since the Gamecube it felt like having returned to the same holiday destination one too many times, and a short hike stood as the brand of similar yet different I craved in its place.
Journeying as Claire, meeting the various NPCs and being drawn into their dilemmas, their minigames and stumbling upon new gameplay mechanics and tools felt like I was getting a truncated and fresh take on an old favourite. I can't stress how brilliant it is that the game has no quest tracker, there's no feeling of obligation to see and do everything, I just wandered around and did what I wanted until I felt like it was time to journey to the peak.
Though to journey to the peak you have to have stumbled upon at least a few gold feathers, these collectables serving as the basis for stamina which nicely lets me segue into talking about movement and character control like I always do.
No, I'm not about to bust out some sick movement tech, I'm actually mainly here to appreciate the feel of flapping and gliding with the dipping into bursts of acceleration, a mechanic that gets the top tier payoff by the game's end (you can probably have a guess what that is). You know what really blew me away though? The speedboat.
I think the last time I was thrilled by a video game speedboat was GTA3 when the idea of crossing the grey goop of liberty city's waters was new and exciting, otherwise I don't think I've approached speedboats with any sense of excitement since (sorry Bloodwake, if only I got to you first). So with a feeling of resignation I came across A Short Hike's speedboat and begrudgingly accepted the game's offer to take it for a spin….and it just TAKES OFF, my controller rumbles, possibly in HD, water is splashing from the sides of the vehicle as the screen feels like it's struggling to keep up pace with the motorboat menace. I was taken aback because I forgot that speedboats don't need to be humdrum piece of gaming transportation, really it's just the game using small details like those mentioned to really sell the change from just tottering about on your talons, but it worked.
I'll say no more, because going for a wander yourself and stumbling upon the small joys of this game is best experienced firsthand.
6. Huntdown
The moment you hit the title screen, as silhouetted bounty hunters stand in a windswept grimy street, a gravelly voiceover blares HUNTDOWN and synth music kicks in, the tone is immediately set for the homage barrage towards 80's action movies, leaning more towards the B movie side of things.
And from there it just keeps on going, the quippy one liners all voiced with the perfect cornball tone, the comic violence ("I like my salsa CHUNKY") , the bleak future aesthetics recreated in gorgeous pixel art that's like the 16 bit visuals you think you remember, which is to say it's probably better.
Mercifully for me the gameplay is less inspired by run and guns with infinite enemies and instant death, and instead something that feels like a madcap blend of chaotic sidescrolling gunfights with cover shooting and a touch of the hotline miami/katana zero like dynamic action that has you frantically scavenge whatever weapon you can get your hands on while eschewing the overly punishing price of failure those games use.
There's this ebb and flow between action that puts you on a guns blazing Rambo offensive one moment and then has you diving into cover and trying to work your way out of the hail of bullets more like John McClane. The simplicity of Huntdown is its secret strength, the systems don't run deep, there's no skill trees, exp or superfluous fluff. Just picking your preferred flavour of bounty hunter and blasting through hordes of gang members en linear route to their insane leaders, leaders such as the head honcho of hockey gear clad subway dwellers, The Unholy Goalie, which might just be the best character name of 2020.
I was not prepared for such variety in boss fights either, there must be around 20 incredibly distinct boss fights that can't just be blindly barrelled through, it's classic pattern recognition against a copyright infringing lineup of nods to even the most niche of action flicks, they can be a bit spongy mind you.
Every year there are a few top shelf indie titles that seemingly slip through the cracks and this is one of them, see the era OT? Nope? Exactly. Even I put off this one for far too long despite having it on my radar for months, consider this the PSA to put Huntdown on your wishlist, or there's gonna BE a Huntdown.
user has been banned, duration pending
5. Final Fantasy VII Remake
By all accounts this shouldn't be here.
Prior to this, my closest brushes with Final Fantasy 7 involve the following…
- My brother's friend showing off the golden saucer FMVs in the wake of its UK release, priorities to impress people were different back then
- Being made to watch Advent Children and wondering what in the flying fuck was going on, turns out the FF7 fans actually felt similarly
- Playing Theatrhythm and getting a music video of assorted FMV scenes with no context (why was Cloud in a wheelchair?!)
The rest was just video game culture osmosis, but a kind of wishy washy osmosis that led me to truly believe that Cloud was a brooding sadsack (granted, I HAD watched AC as mentioned).
I can't really pinpoint what it was that had FF7R pique my interest in the period after its release, was it the incredibly polarised reactions to its ending? Was it "the one man hype machine"
Neiteio gushing to me over it? Did the demo
Xtortion prompted me to try actually do its job? The answer is a bit of all of the above.
And still by all accounts, this
shouldn't be here.
FF7R opens in bombastic fashion only to immediately ruin the mood with the most unintentionally hilarious amount of "anime grunting" that I'd start pondering if I'd set the audio track to "hentai". Perhaps this tonal fumble is a fitting analogue to Cloud Strife, a character who it turns out is an goober who tries to put on a COOL GUY façade, the first of many pleasant surprises in store for me to fight against my flawed expectations.
FF7R does absolutely stumble into a ton of issues I often take umbrage with, you've got the forced walk n' talk and "totally not loading" crevices and corridors. Despite a reduced run time compared to most of its genre it still feels like 10 hours of content could either be cut or demoted to the sidequest dimension, it's even blindingly obvious to me as someone new to midgar which named characters are new to this remake because come on, just look at them,
Chadley!
Yet I could push through the plodding monkey bars, the crash mat worthy padding, those fifty flights of stairs (okay that was pretty funny) and bloody Leslie, because when FF7R is on form it's firing off full force that reminds me why a new game in this series was considered an event in days past.
The battle system strikes a strong middle ground between menu deliberation and real time combat, bouncing back and forth between the unique playstyles of the party members with an ease of execution and application that shouldn't be overlooked. And those boss battles, absolute spectacles of action accompanied by 7 minute plus long dynamic music tracks, each phase adding a new wrinkle as they build to a dramatic finish (apply this statement to both the gameplay and music if you will). The endgame run is worthy of the most intense character action game, heck there's a one on one boss fight that's like a JRPG tinged character action game, Square went all out with the bosses and as someone who tends to equate "JRPG boss fight" with "grinding" I couldn't be happier with the result, even if my oblivious self would wander into some with materia blindspots, (the Arsenal? More like the arsehole, always remember ALL your elements kids)
What surprised me most was how endearing the main cast was, while some aspects of Barrett's immediate loud and abrasive nature certainly raise some eyebrows in 2020, there's a lovable big lug of a proud papa in there whose passion and beliefs shine through with such vigour it makes me want to go commit some eco warrior crimes, find me on top of a London subway train, except I wouldn't do that because I'm a coward and train delays really rustle me something fierce.
I already touched upon Cloud but it's worth repeating how enjoyable it is to see this standoffish and rather self centred muggins be thrown into a ton of uncomfortable scenarios that pull back the curtain on the illusion of Cloud Strife *foreshadowing*
And Aerith, I was supposed to be in the clear here, I didn't grow up playing FF7 like most my age, I wasn't supposed to be ensnared by her easy-going charms, I got straight up waifu'd here and I ain't even mad.
Tifa is also a playable character in this game.
Sometimes I feel like FF7R is at its best in the odder moments or the quieter ones, when the more relevant than ever before Shinra sucking the planet dry plotline takes a backseat to the daily life in the slums or the wild sleaze of Wall Market, when you partake in zany minigames to earn your right to a fabulous dress.
I'll also commend the balls on Square to do what they did with the story, part meta analysis on remakes and fandoms, part building on (or continuing on) the legacy of the wider FF7 universe that doesn't shy away from the complexities within its offshoots.
And now I'm locked in for Square Enix's wild ride, I even went and got myself up to speed by finally tackling my PS1 FF7 blindspot, I'm ready to make all sorts of dramatic gasps and grunts at whatever awaits the future of these remakes.
4. Paper Mario: The Origami King
Paper Mario's pivot from simplified JRPG to a more hands on approach at puzzle adventure gameplay has certainly been a contentious decision, the game's developer interviews this year led to the stealth reveal of the nebulous shadow council of Mario franchise quality control, which leads to an interesting view of what limitations Origami King is shackled with compared to its freewheeling ancestors from a pre sticker star era. After the already divisive Super Paper Mario plane flew too close to the sun, Intelligent Systems have had to earn back the right to putting hats and names on Mario's now rigid bestiary, we're still a long way from even N64 Toad Town but it's amazing what sharp writing and just leaning into those limitations can do.
Now granted, for me this had already been proven by the flawed yet under-acknowledged and vilified Colour Splash, left seemingly to a dishonourable fate to perish with the WiiU alongside the few other yet to be ported first party titles of seemingly lesser value. Its legacy and improvements to the adventure paper Mario formula live on through Origami King, a title which improves further upon certain nagging issues, one of which went beyond simply flattening the creases.
And now is the part where I present to you my bold take, The Origami King offered arguably the best boss battles of 2020 and almost certainly the best boss battles of the entire series. An astounding bounce back after the "use this specific one use/quantity consumable item or die" approach of Sticker n' Splash's rightfully ridiculed boss design. To understand how this came about we must first address the base battle system, one that attempts to blend the turn based, timed hits formula of the series into an on the clock puzzle solving encounter. It's an inspired but imperfect system that has the potential to make every battle unique which doesn't work too well with the idea of trash mobs using up the limited formations even with a few enemy specific wrinkles thrown in, still its ring system sows the ground for boss battles to invert the formula with a lineup of more distinct encounters.
Moving from the center of the ring to the edge, Mario now has to reach the boss at the middle of the arena by using limited moves to create an optimal path using the very same board shifting scheme as the standard battle system yet with an execution that feels wholly different.
This core conceit is wonderfully manipulated by the league of stationary (yes, it's exactly what it sounds like) using their primary applications to modify the board, elastic bands change your direction, hole punched pits end your run if you fumble into them, tape limits your ability to move the stuck down segments of the board and so on. Of all the "it's paper" gimmicks this series has ever had this is Intelligent Systems finally splashing out on that luxury stationery set after a history of cheap notepads.
Throw in how character positioning and method of attack is key to nailing boss vulnerabilities and their phases changing before it gets one note, the battles lead to some experimentation that ties back to the game's central puzzle solving ethos, and when it comes time to end the fight it's probably gonna involve some satisfying WAGGLE, sometimes I am but a simple man who likes to shake his controller like a bit of a twat as the exclamation point on a well earned victory.
The Origami King delights in dropping Mario into another batch of absurdist scenarios, participating in a stage play that can't settle on a genre in front of an actually captive audience, a very literal whispering woodland and flat out turning into Paper Wind Waker for a chapter. No area of the game is quite alike to another one, and to me this is actually one of the core tenants of Paper Mario as a series, as much as timing your boots onto faces. Truthfully, after watching the sister series Mario & Luigi grind itself into a repetitive grave (RIP Alpha Dream) I'm glad that Paper Mario opts not to stagnate, even when it misses the mark with the likes of Super n' Sticker there's something to be said for trying new things and it turns out paper is pretty versatile as origami itself shows.
3. Hades
Stop me if you heard this one before, I'm not big on rougelikes/lites due to their procedural and repetition focused design. I'm also someone whose never found Supergiant's previous works to be not much more than okay games elevated via strong presentation. And yet here I am absolutely loving Hades, a title that feels like the well earned culmination of building upon the devs previous works, this one is all style and all substance.
Hades is a game that had me stop to ponder a few things about roguelike design based upon the game's own merits. Its ability to weave plot and character threads around its central die and retry premise is among the most notable steps I've seen in video game storytelling for years, one that truly leverages the unique strengths of the medium and its genre to do something that can't be truly replicated by other forms of media. And from a gameplay standpoint, the idea that combat heavy games and especially character action games could leverage this format to create replay value and explore their combat systems without going by a linear stage by stage gameplay model.
Let's talk Hade's combat, because in a world where the quality of an action game among those into the genre and its offshoots is often focused on how deep the well goes, I find Hades offers a perfect alternative perspective of taking an easily approached core brawling system and building layers of variance and choice around it. The basics are simple, you've got a standard combo, a special move, a casting spell and a dodge. Around this base you augment it with Godly boons and alterations that can completely change how the same weapon is approached, the fact that each run will offer you limited options pulled out of an incredibly vast hat ensures you end up exploring all sorts of possibilities instead of falling back on the same tools.
Hades is the kind of game where you just have to compare what literally Godlike builds you've ended up with compared to your friends also playing the game, who in turn share their lineup of options that managed to make the best of an initially shaky situation. The sheer amount of mix and match is addictive, Hades is like being a kid at Pic and Mix but sometimes you just don't always get the options of jelly snakes and you instead dare to add white chocolate mice with your fizzy cola bottles, does and pic and mix still exist? Certainly NOT in this pandemic I'd hope.
The weapons are truly a display of quality over quantity, using the timing focused bow is of course massively different to wading in flailing with gauntlets, the shield offers a defensive offensive with all the kinetic frisbee action of the best Captain America action scene. The game always finds ways to incentivise mixing things up, the guiding hand of the developer deities is understated yet pretty excellent at manipulating you into reaching out of the comfort zone with a masterfully orchestrated collection of drip feeding and upgrade options. Us mortals were gifted with choice but you might be surprised at how often the powers that be carefully coerce you into experiencing the wider riches of the experience.
Oh cripes, there's characters to talk about as well! Look you've all seen those stupid sexy gods and goddesses, impeccably voice acted in a way that gives life to characters that are seldom seen beyond their ONE image with a few minor alterations. Now that's the power of well delivered dialogue right there, of which there seems to be an endless amount, you could convince me the voice actors get called up each month to throw a few new lines in and I'd instantly believe you.
In conclusion Hades is a game with crunchy action without crunchy development, absolute winner.
2. Ori and the Will of the Wisps
At its very core, Ori is a game about movement.
Right from the literal jump you've got the lower arc compared to platforming counterparts that ensures Ori has to bound from surface to surface and nimbly slink up walls to achieve verticality, combined with the animation that conveys a sense of swiftness you have a character that embodies the art of woodland scampering. Playing as Ori is akin to looking out your window and seeing a skittish squirrel making its way from ground level to pinging from wavering tree branches in mere seconds, the game's environments now teem with greater life as the earth itself ever so slightly deforms from the weight of the creatures bounding along its surface, it's a meticulously crafted world in a game design sense but also one that never feels static and gamey in itself despite the impressive clarity of interactive elements in such a visually dense environment.
This is just me touching across the very base of Ori's movements, now we factor in the lithe acrobatics to his leaps, his twirling from springy fauna and the spin n' fling from outstretched branches to launch from like an acrobat. The forest is a playground for your traversal and the more you play the more various bits of the environment reveal themselves to be an accessory to your expanding options of clinging, grappling, launching and then some. You start the game hopping up stumps and utilising any outcrop to further your gradual ascension, by the end the game has become a perfect outlet for "the floor is lava" as your platforming repertoire allows one to laugh in the face of gravity as movement systems build of each other to make you a master of flight, but it's not really flight it's just platforming with style.
Maybe this all sounds a touch familiar to anyone who played The Blind Forest, and in truth it should be as Will of the Wisps is a sequel that iterates on this core in various ways that supplement it. These improvements basically hit a checklist of every main issue one could have with Blind Forest, Will of the Wisps arrives packing less linearity, much improved combat, boss fights, more involving skill/upgrade systems, NPCs and side quests. Blind Forest was a rather lonely game, Will of the Wisps brings more life into the forest and the quest feels more personal, especially for me because I have to save an adorable Owl from an abominable Owl, this is very important to me. More open to player expression as well with the expanded combat options and progression of the second half of the game,
Gonna quickly highlight the Wellspring as an excellent piece of level design, it's everything great about Ori crammed into one area. Gradually journeying through the water mill using both interior and exterior, staionary mechanisms going from one type of platforming to another as you turn more and more of the pieces back on and gain a strong new mobility tool in the grapple. Eventually leading to a crazy rotating room where the level design remains clear despite the constant shifting, capped off with one of the series oh so excellent chase sequences that puts you to the test with a frantic on the fly need to apply everything you learnt from the level design prior.
Alas there was some seeping poison in this paradise for me, the original release on a base Xbox One was littered with issues that massively impacted the enjoyability of that first play through. The waters are cleansed now and the absolute madmen even used Moon Magic ™ to make a switch port which I'd have considered the most looney of port begging after my initial struggle xbox one experience.
Will of the Wisps wraps a bow on Ori's story and gameplay, they perfected their formula and left an a hopefully enduring mark on an increasingly crowded genre, the gold standard for platforming within a metroidvania.
1. Spiritfarer
Emotional manipulation in media is a heck of a thing, it can grab you, pull you in and elevate an experience beyond what it was prior and create a lasting memory. On the flipside, it can be overly expected, arriving with a sense of desperate inevitability and lead more to an eye roll than "something in your eye" if you're not buying what they're selling.
Video games can be particularly fertile ground for both sides of this equation due to the direct player input, I've played games that got me misty eyed at pretty standard story moments and others where the attempts to wring emotion had me just laugh because the brazen efforts had reached points of parody.
Spiritfarer's reveal trailer doesn't even hide that it's gonna be looking to collect player tears in a jar, the very premise of a game about assisting those passing over to the other side can only lead to loss and coming to terms with it, all delivered otherwise under a rather joyous Ghibli esque look that ensures you'll get to oscillate between jaunt and haunt.
By the time I'd sent off my last spirit, my floating fortress of perplexing architecture was now a mostly silent memorial to those gone, I'd never quite turned into a blubbering mess but onions may have been cut in the vicinity, hopefully not the NPC who is in fact an elderly onion.
There's something to be said for a game that taps into into that particular branch of the tearful tree where you're sad, but also kinda happy. Sometimes the departures offer closure, others led me wondering what more there was to know about a character and one case felt almost like a sudden betrayal reminding me just how someone you know can just vanish in an instant.
I'm not sure what genre Spiritfarer slots into, much like your seafaring ship it becomes something of hodgepodge that somehow manages to lean into its messy fit. At its core this is resource management outing, with a dash of adventure and a sprinkle of platforming.
I was surprised to find one of my favourite takes on ocean exploration in this game, setting your ship's destination to new islands and into unknown seas while using travel time to tackle microgames for resources or attending to spirits ensures that you're never just in a Wind Waker like waiting game. An addictive drip feed of content keeps an element of discovery and novelty despite the basic gameplay loop.
The platforming side fascinates me because this game doesn't need to have as fantastic game feel as it does, there's no threat, no dangerous death pits, yet Stella's gradually expanding tools for movement build upon playing with momentum. Sliding off a roof to gain speed while stylishly pirouetting off, launching into your wind catching hat glide, there are traditional 2D platformers that can't come close to how joyous this game can feel. The ziplines can lead to almost Sonic like bursts of acceleration and launch, all of this just for crossing NPC filled hub areas.
Also low key one of the funniest games of the year, the tone this game takes threw me for a loop, the shades occupying the map tend to be comically self absorbed, it can almost be a bit much at times with how many chuckles the game is trying to elicit, and then you send another spirit off through the gate and could really do with a pick me up.
It's tough for me to truly distil how this game ranks so highly for me, there's no doubt that while the various systems work great in tandem, they're not individually game changers. Progress is gated and occasionally confusing leading to me being asked for fried chicken for 5 hours of gametime as I try and find the character who'll trigger certain mingames for materials. Perhaps in an alternative universe there's a version of this game that's more replayable and more open to player expression or choice to lean into the city builder side of things.
While it's fun to spitball the same concept with alterations to make each players' experience more unique, the main thing here is that there is a specific scattershot story the devs wanted to tell, it's perhaps atypical for a title in this genre (of sorts) to be more laser focused and in turn that's kind of its own strength.
The journey is beautiful to behold, the detailed animation lends a magic to each action you take, right down to every spirit specific hug animation that completely sells the personality of the recipient. A true feel good title that doesn't shy away from the sorrows of life, one of the most fitting games for the tumultuous journey through 2020.
- [XBO] [Adventure] [Thunderlotus] Spiritfarer
- [XBO] [Metroidvania] [Moon Studios] Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- [Switch] [Roguelike] [Supergiant Games] Hades
- [Switch] [RPG] [Intelligent Systems] Paper Mario: The Origami King
- [PS4] [Action RPG] [Square Enix] Final Fantasy VII Remake
- [Switch] [Adventure] [adamgryu] A Short Hike
- [Switch] [Platformer] [Easy Trigger Games] Huntdown
- [PS4] [Platformer] [Mossmouth] Spelunky 2
- [PS4] [Shooter] [id Software] Doom Eternal
- [XBO] [Beat 'em up] [DotEmu] Streets of Rage 4
