Last year I published a post of my played games, but the title was mistakenly named Media List 2020. It was a games list so this year it was properly named. This year I wrote much less about each individual game, so I dedicated a small space to comment on each entry.

By far, the most important game I played was Cyberpunk 2077. At least, it was supposed to be the most loved and commented game. Whatever, here is a list of games of all games I played this year.

2021-01-13: Totally forgot to include both Battlefield 4 and Battlefield 1.

Finished

• 3 out of 10 Season 1 (7★★★★★★★): the self-mocking humor is funny, but the gameplay is monotonous.
• Abzû (6★★★★★★): Underwater abstract exploration. Due to the short length, it was ok.
• Battlefield 1 (9★★★★★★★★★): the best in the series. The split stories, all good, allowed me to explore multiple gameplays.
• Battlefield 4 (6★★★★★★): awful. The invincible hero trope to the last moment. Cinematic after cinematic.
• Control (7★★★★★★★): it was on my wish list for quite some time, then Epic gave it for free. However, I must admit it was a bit off for me. The weird story never fulfilled me, and the levels and flow were a bit repetitive. My impression is that Jesse, the protagonist, was at the same time omniscient and suffering from amnesia. Dr. Casper Darling (played by Matthew Porretta) was a fun character though.
• Cyberpunk 2077 (7★★★★★★★) I enjoyed quite a lot. Finished every single quest. Still, expectations were higher.
• Gunpoint (8★★★★★★★★): quick, easy, and charming puzzle-platformer.
• Hyper Light Drifter (5★★★★★): loved by many. Not me. Hard and confusing, despite beautiful. I gave up.
• Imperialism 2 (8★★★★★★★★): finally played to the end the other day. The clunky old graphics and controls get a bit in the way.
• Little Nightmares (7★★★★★★★)Little Nightmares (8★★★★★★★★) (as watcher): I’ve made my wife play this, a bit every night. Despite the lack of gamer’s finger coordination, she did fine and loved it. We will definitively play the second installment eventually.
• Offworld Trading Company (7★★★★★★★)(campaign mode): the campaign mode lacks openness and does not add a great story to compensate.
• Quadrilateral Cowboy (7★★★★★★★): this very quirky game about hacking and programming. Very experimental, both for visual and gameplay.
• Tell Me Why (8★★★★★★★★): my wife played this game with me. She loved the theme, but she really sucks with the camera controls. We talked about the themes and storylines for weeks. I decided to be by her side to help her play the amazing Life is Strange because she was liking the game but associated it with mental gymnastics to just make the character walk.
• Tharsis (6★★★★★★): a survival digital board game. We have to manage action points, mitigate bad dice rolls and survive for about 5 turns. Short and agonizing.
• Watch Dogs 2 (8★★★★★★★★): after playing a couple of Ubisoft open-world games lately (1 FarCry, and 2 Assassin’s Creed in just the last 2 years), I was expecting the same generic main protagonist and blend story. But I genuinely liked this entry. Marcus is a likable dude and despite the exaggerated characterization of hackers, it had several storylines right.

Not finished yet (for one reason or another)

Many projects barely begun. Installed to test, but mostly in limbo—WIP or collecting dust. Unfinished tales of exploration and hesitation.

• 3 out of 10 Season 2 (7★★★★★★★): the same as the first season. Funny and awkward. About to finish.
• A Plague Tale Innocence (8★★★★★★★★): beautiful production. Played just the first couple of levels.
• Assassin’s Creed 3: It’s a big cut scene with some on-rails gameplay. Hated so far. :(
• Astrologaster (8★★★★★★★★): indie small game. Crazy humor. I liked it very much so far.
• Blair Witch (7★★★★★★★): did not care much about the lore, but it’s a nice horror game.
• Black Mesa (8★★★★★★★★): the official/non-official Half-Life 1 remake. The original one I did not play at the time. This remake is superb!
• Crying Suns (7★★★★★★★): very similar to FTL, with a delightful story and context. My current run is in Chapter 4 and about to finally finish.
• Doki Doki Literature Club: not my style, but I heard so many good things about it that I’m intrigued.
• Ghostrunner (7★★★★★★★): 3D puzzle game action game. Think about 3D Super Meat Boy.
• Gris (8★★★★★★★★): beautiful first level.
• Heaven’s Vault (7★★★★★★★): highly anticipated game, played a bit and liked the story so far. As far I can tell, there is space for multiple run-throughs to explore all possible branches (not sure if I would do it).
• Just Cause 4 (7★★★★★★★): repetitive like its predecessor. But it was crashing too many times. Hardly coming back.
• Observation (7★★★★★★★): excellent storytelling, despite the clunky controls.
• Overcooked 2 (8★★★★★★★★): my family loved it, and I’m trying to play the campaign with my wife
• Snake Pass (5★★★★★): 3D puzzle game, installed to play with my nephews, but its controllers, and especially the camera, are too clunky and annoying.
• Supraland (8★★★★★★★★): from nowhere, this game is surprisingly hard and much longer than I anticipated. Still, I’m loving the sarcastic tone and the bucketload of jokes.
• Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments (8★★★★★★★★): the best game in the series. 4 cases with somewhat similar mechanics and styles. Just one to go.
• The Stillness of the Wind: installed.
• Unravel Two (8★★★★★★★★): still to finish with my wife. She struggles to use the joystick, but this game is quite forgiving, due to the slow pace. The light story allows infrequent plays.
• Wilmot s Warehouse: it works. It’s all that I can tell so far.
• XII: installed, played 2 levels. Unique style but old controls.

Not finished yet (still from previous years)

Yet, there are some games that I did not quit definitively, but they are still to be played (therefore, not yet rated). A few are installed even still.

• Baba Is You (7★★★★★★★): played some levels. To the second or third “world”, if I remember. SUPER clever.
• Bad North (7★★★★★★★): nice but I still have to give it more time to shine.
• Detention (7★★★★★★★): I was far in this indie horror game. I think I formatted the HD and lost the saved game.
• Else Heart Break: it’s working. It’s all that I know
• Everspace (6★★★★★★): FTL in 3D. You command a ship that has to fight, explore and trade point to point, in a similar fashion to the famous indie game. I liked it but did not love it. Probably I am not continuing to play.
• FAR: Lone Sails (5★★★★★): I liked the concept, but I felt lacking.
• GRID 2 (7★★★★★★★): played A LOT. Top-tier racing games. Beautiful, despite the age.
• Hand of Fate 2: I liked the first game, despite the flaws. This second installment is more complete at every level. I shall play it. I’ve read the developer closed doors.
• Kentucky Route Zero: this acclaimed game I was super excited to try.
• Shadow Tactics (8★★★★★★★★): I really liked the thinking of this game. It’s definitively one that I will try to complete sooner than later.
• SOMA (6★★★★★★): I haven’t given it time to blossom, but I was not utterly involved either.
• Subnautica (7★★★★★★★): it took me time to understand the whole open concept. But a saved save was lost, and I’m not in the mood to retry it.
• Sunless Sea (6★★★★★★). The procedurally generated world is amazing, but this was not my cup of tea. Probably I am not continuing to play.
• Superhot Mind Control Delete (7★★★★★★★): played several levels already, yet to finish.
• The Pillars of the Earth: loved the book. I barely started the game, so maybe it should not be here.
• The Quiet Sleep (8★★★★★★★★): in this weird indie game, you play the internal mind of a troubled guy during 3 scenarios.
• War of Mine (8★★★★★★★★): I’m far in my third play-through, but I’m still to see the game credits.
• Witness (7★★★★★★★): quite adorable. Some puzzles are difficult and make you feel smart. Yet, the lack of pressure makes it an eternal secondary game. It’s also difficult to put it in a “continuous play” category because you need to know at what point are you.

Continuous playing

I play them eventually. Most of them are strategy games.

• A Total War Saga: TROY (8★★★★★★★★): One of the Epic Store exclusives (for a time), it impressed me. I’m about to finish my first campaign, playing the Amazons.
• Cities Skylines (8★★★★★★★★): After my friend mentioned that he was lost hours and hours designing his hometown, I reinstalled it and started to lose hours and hours too.
• Democracy 3 (8★★★★★★★★): always in Vogue.
• Hidden Folks (7★★★★★★★): success with small kids and non-gamers alike
• RimWorld (8★★★★★★★★): MUCH more complex than Prison Architect, offered a great variety of procedural content. I did not finish a single play-through, but it’s really special.
• Rome Total War (8★★★★★★★★): I played a lot last year. But it’s quite a long game. Once I finish it once, I might close it once and for all. The Troy is heavier but ultimately better in every aspect.
• Scythe (9★★★★★★★★★): the award-winning board game that I still have to give a beginning-to-end match.
• Stelaris (7★★★★★★★): slow-paced super broad space strategy. The sense of exploration is still amazing
• Surviving Mars (7★★★★★★★): a loved board game that I played a couple of matches solo. I was not hooked, but I may still give it another try.
• Ticket to Ride (9★★★★★★★★★): played online with family and friends. Always a success.
• Wingspan (9★★★★★★★★★): immediate success with my family and friends. Special mention to my 6-year-old nephew’s comment: “It’s the best game I ever played”. He was assisted and played quite well.

Next games on my radar

Finally, here is a list of games that I already have in my collection that I plan to play in the next months.

• Hitman: I’ve never finished Contracts, but just because I was obsessed with being perfect. I hope to play more relaxed this one.
• Assassin’s Creed Syndicate: hope to be better than the 3.
• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (7★★★★★★★): liked the first title, Deus Ex: Human Revolution (8★★★★★★★★). I hope to like this one too.
• We Are There Together: I bought to play with my wife using the family feature on Steam (she shares all my games). However, it is not included in the Play Together, so I am required to buy it twice. 😐 Trying to convince another soul to play with me.
• Heavy Rain: I will play this critically acclaimed story-driven game from Quantic Dream with my wife.
• Beyond: Two Souls (8★★★★★★★★): another story to play accompanied.

What a surprise! After playing several Ubisoft open-world games lately, I was expecting another result of a generic and repetitive side quest generator with a superficial storyline over it.

I was a bit reluctant to start WD2. I read that the original title was overpromised and under-delivered. The second one flew on my radar at the time. Recently I got it through the Epic free game initiative. Then I read some reviews and comments from the launch time and there were good ones. So I decided to check it out. Not without flaws, I enjoyed the time, the story, and the gameplay.

Likable Protagonist

Far Cry 3 presented the very iconic and infinite memerable villain Vaas Montenegro. However, the Ubisoft writing team struggles to create memorable protagonists. I cannot name a single great protagonist in Far Cry and most Assassin’s Creed (old and new entries) are plain boring. AC3’s Ezio Salvatore da Firenze is the top of mind. AS Odyssey’s Kassandra was nice, despite being put in a split role with her unnecessary male version Alexios.

The player spends hours living the life of another person that she/he cares so little about. It’s sad really.

Marcus Holloway is a new entry on the likable protagonist list. Optimist, clever and lighthearted. His motivations seem reasonable and believable. However, there is a cognitive dissonance playing Marcus as an armed gangster, shooting at police and mob armies. From start to finish, all cutscenes present him, as well the other members of the DedSec crew, as non-violent watchdogs. People that fight to preserve individual liberties and respect life and diversity. Using machine guns to kill everybody on site feels wrong. I tried to play as much as possible in the way I understood the character: low profile, clever hacker.

For the rest of the crew, it’s a mixed bag. The only one that will definitively stick in my mind is the masked engineer Wrench. Horatio, the guy that works on Goog… Nudle becomes relevant. The rest is the rest.

For villains and NPCs, none are worth mentioning. The main villain, Dušan, is both an idiot and annoying.

References

The hacker theme is presented as the usual Hollywood cliché. Type furiously into the notebook and any bank account in the world is yours!

However, the overall universe is set using several references to popular culture. Movies, music, and video games are often mentioned by characters. Some are more obscure, but most of the time these references are more common sense. For those that know them, they are quite fun. For those that do not, is an exotic flavor.

Some references are less subtle: There is a search engine and maps company called Nudle. A rocket launcher Galilei commanded by a millionaire much like SpaceX. I linked the main villain company, Blume, as Microsoft, but it’s my own thing.

Watch Dogs 2 does not take the story and theme too seriously. There is even a good dose of self-mockery about being a hacker/programmer. It’s not like FarCry’s Blood Dragon over-the-topness. WD2 translates complex problems into smaller bites to make them more accessible and fun to a broad audience.

Gameplay

As I said before, it is possible to be Rambo and shoot everybody. Like GTA, you will attract police attention and will die, respawn and try again. But I feel that is not the way it’s meant to be played™. Harder, but more satisfying, is avoiding direct conflict and using gadgets and powers to sneak. The same could be said for old Assassin’s Creed games (the new ones embrace direct combat as pillars).

The hacking abilities are more useful for small interventions, like distracting guards, than creating mayhem. Hacking citizens’ phones in the streets are fun for 10 minutes, then becomes quite useless. Event robbing their bank accounts, money in general, becomes irrelevant mid-game, after upgrading Marcus’ drones.

Most puzzles are repetitive, but fun mini-game.

In the end, the core mechanics are solid. Open-world games tend to be repetitive, but WD2 scrambles the same basic mechanics offering variety.

When you read this post, you probably already know: the Cyberpunk 2077 hype did not pay off. However, I would like to explore some personal insights.

Me-Character and My Character

As a Role Playing Game, you are someone else. A player might spend one full hour just tweaking the characters’ appearances, hair, weight, and eyelashes. Then calmly considering spending the scarce points on each attribute. One is not creating himself/herself, but a different being. Maybe a projection or simply experimenting with unique approaches.

Then the game starts.

You barely see yourself on the screen.

Shooters are much easier to do in first-person. CDPR said they opted for the first-person approach as part of the vision that the player should feel he is indeed there. They even removed some features of the game because it was not working well in the first-person.

But as I said before, since one spent so much love creating the character, it would be a wiser decision if one would see it more often. A third person would be a better decision. It was more valuable to see the custom V fighting than was seeing Geralt’s.

The result is that I have never really connected to the character that I created.

Also, there is a second take on character creation that is unique to Cyberpunk 2077 universe: augmentations and down-the-line customizations. A game advertised as being open regarding your physical appearance, it was noted by many the lack of visual modification during the game. Not even changing the hairstyle, present in a much less relevant The Witcher 3, was absent.

Clothing functions as both technical improvements and fashion. The game could embrace the idea each piece of clothing could have any game element or bonus. It would encourage players to find their style instead keep mixing weird styles just to get specific bonuses.

Bugs and Cars

The game was plagued by technical issues. There are hundreds of videos on YouTube with hilarious situations. CDPR had to reimburse many players, and it was removed by the PlayStation Store days after the release, due to the impossible state!

I had no crashes but a ton of buggy behaviors. Citizens’ reactions, random explosions, and enemies’ misbehavior. In some critical emotional moments, a bug can spoil the fun. I finished the game trying to do ALL the achievements. But one was impossible to achieve due to a bug in a side mission.

Then cars… The Witcher’s horse, Roach, was a delicious surprise and set the benchmark to address rideable in video games. Just before launch, Geoff Keighley (one of the few people that tasted it at the time) said driving was super satisfying. The cars felt so bad. Driving was a burden. Felt like balloons, weightless. Bikes are even worse.

I was hoping to drive like a vagabond, exploring each inch of the city. But instead, I was using teleportation all the time.

The pace that the fixes were coming was also much desirable. I finished the game in 3 months, but some patches were released back then. CDPR always had a top-in-industry attitude regarding enhancing their games after release, but this time I believe they are subpar.

Story

At the very beginning, you have to choose the background story. There are 3 possible starting conditions. And the first act considers this choice important, pointing to it frequently.

Then it becomes irrelevant. The mid-game is a generic Ubisoft open-world game or GTA. V is on a brink of death, but the game’s open-world nature let her have romantic relationships, racing, and help other people that, frankly, could wait until you solve your most significant issue.

While not very original “there is a dude inside your head”, their take is unique and grounded. However, CDPR opted to use other very boring tropes like “He was supposed to die, but he miraculously survived”. No need to put a bullet in V’s head to wake her up in the next scene.

The mid-game is an “ensemble a killer team” theme. It was nice but the team and the final mission are less like Ocean’s Eleven and more like The Avengers: group a team of 3 guys and storm into the castle. A good point is the insertion of several recurring characters in side missions. From love affairs to super AI or ex-cops, the player starts to care about them after some time.

The final orchestrated act was also lacking due to a single biggest factor, IMHO: there are no good villains. A good villain has to be seen, tasted, and feared often. If you show Adam Smasher only once, 50 hours late you could not care less about him. The other Arasaka family members are the same.

Think about the great movie and video game villains. They have a considerable amount of screen time, so the viewer has the chance to witness his evil intentions. Darth Vader, Joker, Glados, LeChuck, Ganon, Bowser.

A very good aspect of the story is the cultural references and jokes. More than once, I was caught laughing out loud with some of them.

Conclusion

As one of the first games I have ever pre-ordered, I must say that knew what was coming. If I waited for some reviews first…

Cyberpunk 2077 is an ambitious project and several parts of it show it. However, despite the strong beginning, it becomes a generic open-world game with amazing graphics.

I finished the game and most of the achievements. 100+ hours on it. Yet, I feel disappointed. I even may get back to it in a couple of months or years, with extra content and numerous enhancements.

2020 might compete in the Most Pivotal Year in History Award, but it had its fair share of surprises. I had the time to attack start to finish several games. I reused the commute time to play. Below is the list that I compiled using the new GOG Galaxy app, that tracks games even from other stores.

The list of movies I’m going to skip this time, since it would not fit into a single post.

Games

• Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (9★★★★★★★★★): I loved this game, setting and its protagonist Cassandra
• Dishonored: unique story, gameplay and visuals
• Hellblade Senua s Sacrifice superb visuals and premise
• Half-Life 2: amazing game, even today
• Prey (8★★★★★★★★): these guys from Arkane Studios also know how to write and make all characters relevant
• >Observer_ (8★★★★★★★★): super weird setting that caught my attention
• Rise of the Tomb Raider (7★★★★★★★): messy story, despite the good gameplay loop
• Dishonored Death of the Outsider (7★★★★★★★): while it have the same not the same
• Farcry 3 Blood Dragon (7★★★★★★★): hahaha some over the top jokes
• Virginia (7★★★★★★★): lovely story
• A Way Out (7★★★★★★★): I’ve played with my girlfriend, together.
• Frostpunk (7★★★★★★★): I tend not to like rougelike or crazy-difficult, but this one surprised me
• Shadow Warrior 2 (7★★★★★★★): hahaha some over the top jokes (again)
• The Council (ep 1) (7★★★★★★★): amazing premise and the first episode is nice. I heard that the other episodes are not great
• Tacoma (7★★★★★★★): passive, calm and nice story
• Ape Out (7★★★★★★★) die and repeat
• Assassin’s Creed: Origins (6★★★★★★): beautiful but boring and another AC messing story
• Framed (Collection) (6★★★★★★): interesting premise
• Metro 2033 (Redux): the amount of DeusExMachina moments is off the charts. the same for best friend companions that dies in the very next scene.
• The Red Strings Club (6★★★★★★): weird
• Bioshock Infinite: I really did not like the story and not the gameplay
• Realpolitiks (5★★★★★) interesting take on politics and economics simulation
• Farcry 5 (5★★★★★) beautiful but boring and another FC forgetting story

Finished in 2018-2020 (before pandemic)

• Doom (9★★★★★★★★★) (sort of: a bug near the end broke the saved game)
• Thomas Was Alone (8★★★★★★★★): once I decided to restart and go to the end, I enjoyed so much the humor
• Hollow Night (7★★★★★★★): difficult as hell
• Gorogoa (7★★★★★★★):
• Quarantine Circular (7★★★★★★★): the same creator of Thomas was Alone. The same humor
• The Line (7★★★★★★★): classic whada fuck moment on gaming history
• Sexy Brutale (7★★★★★★★): great premise
• The Turing Test (7★★★★★★★)
• Shadow of War (6★★★★★★): (sort of a bug near the end broke the saved game)
• Rime (6★★★★★★): samey
• Captain Spirit (5★★★★★): lack in every aspect from its sister game Life is Strange

Not finished yet (for one reason or another)

• Superhot Mind Control Delete (7★★★★★★★)
• Offworld Trading Company (7★★★★★★★) (campaign)
• The Quiet Sleep (8★★★★★★★★)
• Shadow Tactics (8★★★★★★★★)
• GRID 2 (7★★★★★★★)
• Hand of Fate 2
• Subnautica (7★★★★★★★)
• FAR: Lone Sails (5★★★★★)
• Bad North (7★★★★★★★)
• Ori and the Blind Forest (8★★★★★★★★)
• Kentucky Route Zero
• Detection
• Rome Total War (8★★★★★★★★)
• Else Heart Break
• Gunpoint (8★★★★★★★★)
• Baba Is You (7★★★★★★★)
• Everspace (6★★★★★★)
• The Pillars of the Earth
• Sunless Sea (6★★★★★★)

Continuous playing

• Stelaris (7★★★★★★★)
• Democracy 3 (8★★★★★★★★): always in Vogue
• Scythe (9★★★★★★★★★): the award-winning board game
• Surviving Mars (7★★★★★★★)
• Offworld Trading Company (7★★★★★★★)
• Imperialism 2 (8★★★★★★★★)
• Ticket to Ride (9★★★★★★★★★): played online with family and friends
• Hidden Folks (7★★★★★★★): success with small kids and non-gamers alike

In preparation of the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077!!!

In the same vain of critically acclaimed Limbo and Inside (review pending :P), from Playdead Games, Little Nightmares, from Tarsier Studios offers a great action puzzle adventure, full of mysteries.

The game, unlike the mentioned ones, are played in a 2.5 world. It’s mostly 2D, but there are some things that require the Z axis. To be quite frank, it is partially one of the problems with the game. More of that later.

The story is a bit clearer than the Playdead games, but it still is a clueless journey. All these games offer a minimalist approach for storytelling. One can argue that it is a valid and logical choice in a situation where you are alone and running away from danger. However, the lack of exposure let the players in the darkness most of the time. You might eventually discover whada heck is going on, but chances are you will play-throughout the game without know much.

In a scale, Inside is mostly undecipherable, Limbo is an understandable (due to the simple boy runs premise) and Little Nightmares might have the most clear story.

The giant grotesque figures are super creepy, but after some deaths, they do not offer the terror that one might except. They fall mostly in the range of stranger than from pure evil that want you dead.

The controls caused me several problems. I was expecting to use the game pad, but the analog joystick was too imprecise, especially during running. I was often falling into the void because I was running towards the camera instead sideways. I had to change to mouse+keyboard scheme, which was weird for such a game. Ironically, the 2.5 feature of the game was not that important. It mostly could be replaced to a tracked walk towards the Z axis, making the game essentially a 2D.

The visuals are amazing. It totally delivers the premise of uncanny familiarity and strangeness. The awkward feeling that you know something is not right is present here. Your character is relatable. Its fragile nature makes the whole adventure more epic.

Because it has a chapter-like story. One could try to replay its best parts to manage to get achievements or contemplate better the scenarios.

Note: I like the game so much that I was compelled to try it’s 3 expansions. Nice.