The Best Video Games Of 2020

Squeaking in right at the end of the year, CD Projekt Red's massive and ambitious futuristic RPG doesn't quite live up to its unstoppable hype machine, but it's still a staggering accomplishment. Set in the neon dystopia of Night City, players have almost unfettered freedom to explore, from the seedy underworld to the heights of mega-corp opulence and influence. The future of this world is in the cybernetically enhanced V though, a runner on the mean streets, caught in a conspiracy that involves the fate of the city and the digital ghost of Keanu Reeves (well, kind of). Night City may be a corporate-run hellhole, but with heaps of customisation options and a multitude of ways to tackle almost every encounter, it's a hellhole that players will be putting their mark on and making discoveries in for years to come. But all of this comes at a price. If you're playing the game on PC or one of the next gen consoles, then congratulations. But anyone attempting to play Cyberpunk on a base PS4 or XB1 is, for the time being, in for a world of pain. If you fall into the latter group then we strongly advise you to wait for either the promised fix (due early 2021) or until you get a more powerful console.

Capcom continues to revamp its horror heritage in 2020, with this update of the PS1 classic Resident Evil 3: Nemesis following in the footsteps of last year's brilliant Resident Evil 2 remake. While not quite as sharp overall as that effort, RE3 still absolutely shines, with dramatically improved dialogue, performances, and controls. The shorter run time – it can be clocked in a few hours if you know what you're doing – actually works in its favour, making former STARS operative Jill Valentine's attempt to escape the doomed, zombie-ridden Raccoon City while being pursued by the relentless Nemesis bioweapon an even more tense race against time. The inclusion of the brand new asymmetrical multiplayer game Resident Evil: Resistance makes this survival horror a killer package.

Is this the game that saved 2020? Nintendo's idyllic island getaway certainly arrived at the right time, allowing players to virtually escape the COVID-19 lockdowns and take up residence on their own island paradise. The gentle gameplay loop of simply living life and building a community is captivating in the best way, and there's real excitement to be found in simple pleasures like catching an undiscovered fish or creating the perfect outfit. More committed players will enjoy the freedom to eventually reshape the island itself, allowing you to live out design dreams on a grand scale. Whatever you do in Animal Crossing: New Horizons though, the point is just to relax and enjoy your time – something we all need right now.

The Ori games have proven to be sleeper hits, never getting the attention or focus that its Xbox stablemates Halo or Gears enjoy. Ask anyone who's stepped into these beautiful fantasy worlds though, and they'll tell you they're truly magical experiences – gentle fables wrapped up in unexpectedly hardcore platforming gameplay, and held in a Metroidvania shell that begs players to constantly explore and seek out every hidden secret. Will of the Wisps improves on the first game with new abilities, improved combat, and new time-trial challenges to overcome, all told through stunningly animated visuals. An overlooked masterpiece.

Doom Eternal showed that Bethesda's 2016 reboot of the classic Doom series wasn't a one-off, and that there's still room in gaming for unapologetically dumb and gloriously over-the-top shooters. Eternal took the speedy carnage of its predecessor and upped the ante with greatly enhanced manoeuvrability, bringing in grappling hooks, leaping, and wall-climbing to turn the hulking Doom Slayer into a nigh-unstoppable force, dispatching demons with surprising grace while parkouring around the aftermath of an invasion from Hell. An absolute blast, in every sense.

Ubisoft's long-running stealth action series finally gets to history's most notoriously subtle and secretive culture, the Vikings. Okay, so Assassin's Creed may have all but given up on the stealth aspect of the series with Valhalla, but this Nordic-cum-Medieval British saga is the best the series has offered since switching to a more open-world RPG approach with Origins. Controlling orphaned warrior Eivor, you'll explore some of the series' most impressive locations yet, while building a new home for your clan. A more aggressive approach to combat, including the ability to dual wield weapons and lead raids on enemy encampments, makes Valhalla a different creed of assassin, but one that stands out for its differences.

EA has been on a roll with Star Wars games lately. Last year's brilliant Jedi: Fallen Order marked a return to high-budget, story-driven single-player adventures for the franchise, and fans were this year treated to this resurgence of the classic X-Wing vs TIE Fighter games. While Squadrons includes a multiplayer mode, developer Motive Studios really entrenches players in the Star Wars universe through the brilliant single player campaign. Alternating between the New Republic's Vanguard Squadron and the Galactic Empire's Titan Squadron, you'll find yourself right in the midst of the action, be it escorting important ships or stealing a Star Destroyer. Like The Mandalorian, it's a rare look at that galaxy far, far away without the Jedi, Sith, or space magic utterly dominating the narrative, which makes for a nice change. It's also fully playable in VR, on PC or PS4 using PSVR, providing a truly immersive experience – although the terrible field of view in the Imperial fighters gives a clear indication why they kept losing.

Game Of Thrones the game? It may not be an official license but nowhere has the backstabbing, scheming dynasties of George R R Martin's world felt so real than in the latest instalment in Paradox Interactive's grand strategy series. Create a ruler, forge alliances, arrange marriages, extort, murder, subvert and control your way to victory in a game that is as much about storytelling as it is about winning. With a streamlined, intuitive UI to stop newcomers from being overwhelmed and the ability to forge labyrinthine, alternate histories of Europe with every consecutive game, this is part historical simulator and part medieval soap opera! Your son's plotting to overthrow you, your daughter's run off with a Flemish prince and the Bishop of Doncaster has just discovered you're shagging his daughter - all in an afternoon's fun for Crusader Kings III.

With a clear and deliberate debt to Japanese samurai cinema – to the point it features a "Kurosawa mode" filter – Ghost of Tsushima proved itself one of the most beautiful games to grace the PS4 when it launched back in July. Developers Sucker Punch stripped back almost everything players have become accustomed to in games, from the UI to even direction markers. Instead, protagonist Jin Sakai – a fallen Samurai who must adopt stealthier, less honourable tactics to rescue his last living relative from the overwhelming might of the invading Mongol hordes – follows leaves on the wind to guide him to objectives. Throw in some brilliant sword play and a gorgeous world to explore, and you have the best samurai movie you'll ever play.

Practically willed into existence by fans who wouldn't stop asking about a modern update of the classic PS1 JRPG, Final Fantasy VII Remake could have gone very wrong. Instead, it proved to be a brilliant reminder of what players loved about the original, with its complex characters, rich world building, and themes of environmentalism are even more relevant and urgent now than they were in the 90s. Mechanically, it delights with a battle system that seamlessly merges modern real-time combat with the tactics afforded by the traditional turn-based style, and the whole affair is breathtaking to behold. The only downside is the episodic release – and the lack of any indication of when players will get to return to this world.

The existence of Half-Life 3 is little more than a meme at this point – and is likely to remain so, since Half-Life: Alyx still isn't that nigh-mythical title. Instead, it's an 'interquel', fitting between 1998's original Half-Life and 2004's Half-Life 2 and switching focus from Gordon Freeman to the eponymous Alyx Vance. As the first new, official Half-Life game in 13 years, it's perhaps a little cruel that it's a VR exclusive, limiting the number of players who can even access it, but for those who can, this is a watershed moment in VR gaming – a brilliantly delivered chapter of immersive first-person action with an engaging story. As close to a killer app as VR has gotten.

The Persona series nearly always does 'upgraded' versions of its core entries, adding in additional content. Persona 3 saw Persona 3 FES, Persona 4 yielded Persona 4 Golden, and now Persona 5 has evolved into Persona 5 Royal. Like its predecessors, the revamp brings in new characters, additional scenarios, and a few quality of life gameplay improvements, along with a better translation from the original Japanese. These combine to elevate what was already a hyper-stylish and engrossing JRPG into an absolute masterpiece of the genre – one good enough to return to even if you played the original P5.

Bluepoint's next gen update of Demon's Souls may have been a leftfield choice as one of the PS5's main launch exclusives but Sony's decision to resurrect FromSoftware's brutally-hard 2009 title resoundingly paid off. Perfectly recapturing the nihilistic dread and arcane game mechanics of the original, Demon's Souls recreates the game that spawned the entire Souls-like genre, harnessing the PS5's power to deliver one of the most beautiful console games ever made. It may not be for the faint of heart, but Demon's Souls is a vast, chasm-deep RPG that pits you against crushing demonic hordes spread across five distinct worlds, punctuated by a series of monstrous (and ingenious) boss battles that act as miniature crucibles to test your mettle, patience and sanity. You will die. A lot. And you will love it.

Shorter and sweeter than its PS4 predecessor, Miles' standalone Spidey game in an improvement in every way. A more focused story, fantastic supporting characters, and brilliant cast performances (including Nadji Jeter as Miles, Griffin Puatu as sidekick Ganke Lee, and Jasmin Savoy Brown as Miles' long-lost friend Phin Mason) make Miles' world a more personal and engaging one to inhabit, while Miles' more varied power-set – bioelectricity and camoflage, on top of the usual Spider-array – upgrades the combat and stealth aspects of gameplay. Spider-Man: Miles Morales is also a breathtaking showcase for the PS5's capabilities, with a recreation of New York City that's dripping in detail as you're swinging through the skyscrapers, and teeming with life at ground level. Spectacular, Spider-Man.

It's strange to remember that the first instalment in Naughty Dog's post-apocalyptic survivor drama actually debuted way back on PS3. Seven years later, the sequel finally arrives, again at the end of a console generation, but once more proving ahigh-water mark for gaming. Set four years after the original, Part II switches focus to Ellie, telling a tale more focused on revenge than survival. While there are a few new enemy types, open areas to explore, and sundry other updates, the developers have mainly stuck to what they do best – delivering a powerfully emotional journey, elevated by world class performances. An extraordinary gaming experience and one of the best pieces of storytelling this year in any medium, this is an absolute must-play title and our game of the year by some margin. Although playing a harrowing tale of survival and brutality set in the aftermath of a plague might not be the pick-me-up some are looking for mind the midst of a global pandemic.