Game of the Year 2020: What should’ve been nominated
On Nov. 18, the Game Awards announced their nominees for the 2020 award show. Despite receiving a heavily divided reception from both audiences & critics, Naughty Dog’s The Last Of Us Part II leads the pack with ten nominations, including Game of the Year.
The other games nominated for Game of the Year include Ghost of Tsushima, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Hades, DOOM Eternal, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The Game of the Year nominees are some of the best of the best from the past year of gaming. However, there are some games that deserved nominations as well. Here are some games that should’ve been nominated for the Game of the Year award.
Half Life: Alyx
Gamers have been begging Valve software for a Half-Life 3 ever since Half-Life 2 debuted in 2004. Half-Life: Alyx isn’t quite what fans asked for, but still left many gamers satisfied. This is a VR (virtual reality) first-person shooter that truly takes advantage of every aspect of virtual reality gaming.
Critics & audiences praised Alyx for its use of VR and how it places gamers right in the middle of the action. The story is intriguing and the gameplay is far beyond what other virtual reality games are doing right now.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
This is a sequel to Ori and the Blind Forest developed by Moon Studios and published by Xbox Game Studios. Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a platform-adventure game that has players solve puzzles as they jump, climb, and leap across a beautiful landscape. The graphics are simple but are so crisp and colorful. The environment is creative as well as incredibly easy to interact with.
It tells a fascinating story that is easy to follow, but also expands as the players continue to move forward and complete various challenges. The game has been praised for its beautiful graphics and its magnificent musical soundtrack. It’s surprising this game got snubbed by the Game Awards as its reception is fantastic.
Nioh 2
Need a new game to rage quit at? Nioh 2 has you covered. Nioh 2 is an action role-playing game from Team Ninja. It is similar to Dark Souls or Bloodborne as players face an onslaught of enemies of increasing difficulty. The combat is challenging but endlessly rewarding as players defeat enemies utilizing combos and dodges.
The bosses feel almost impossible, but deliver a huge sense of accomplishment once they are defeated. Nioh 2 is quite a frustrating game, but a great one for gamers looking for a challenge.
Dreams
Dreams is a playable game creator from Media Molecule and is a Playstation exclusive. Dreams allow for endless creativity as players develop their own games or attempt to recreate iconic games of the past. Some people simply create funny games to mess around while others create insanely impressive playable games within a game.
Even if you’re not someone who is there to create, you have almost infinite options of online games developed by other players. Dreams is a nice relaxation from the violent and difficult games that populate much of the market.
Star Wars: Squadrons
After Jedi: Fallen Order, it appears as though EA is finally figuring out how to correctly make Star Wars video games. Squadrons continues their streak with a fun space adventure that simulates fighting in a space battle between The Empire & The Rebellion. The game does an amazing job at recreating the flying sensation and putting players right in the middle of the action.
It’s also a game that takes full advantage of VR with a great level of detail, allowing Star Wars fans to live out their dreams of flying in an X-Wing or TIE Fighter. Squadrons takes what many consider to be the worst aspect of Battlefront and gives it a complete makeover.
Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla expands the Assassin’s Creed franchise to now explore Vikings’ history & lore. The game features a beautiful, open-world setting with brutal combat that harkens back to what made the Assassin’s Creed games so enjoyable in the first place.
Critics & audiences gave Valhalla great reviews, calling it one of the best in the franchise. The open-world setting truly allows players to take full advantage of what everything has to offer from side quests to simply exploring the environment.
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These are just a few of the many great games deserving a nomination for Game of the Year for 2020. Gamers can check out the Game Awards on Dec. 10th to find out which game will be taking home the prestigious Game of the Year award.
