The games of the Quarantine.

2020 was the year of the quarantine, so been coupled up inside I went through my backlog which was very extensive, and after a whole year I am barely done. There are way too many good video games to play.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild- I got a Nintendo Switch this year and obviously the first game I played was Breath of the wild. This game is exceptional in every sense of the word. Playing this after 3 years it came out, while some of its ideas I didn’t find that revolutionary, but the things that it does with its open-world are really quite something. The odd story bits are quite cool and really well done but they are very far in between and I felt like what this game was missing is some ongoing narrative with more complex side quests but I still spent upwards of 100 hours and had a great time.

Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu- I have been a Pokemon fan since when I was 7 and this is the first console Pokemon game so naturally I was excited yet cautious as I had heard that it's more of a casual game aimed at newcomers. I really liked this, it has a ton of charm and if you like me grew up watching the animated series, you will find a lot to love here.

Snipperclips- A charming Co-op puzzle game on Switch where you cut up your friends to fit into shapes. In Snipperclips, the aim is to solve puzzles by cutting the paper characters into shapes. By playing solo or with up to four players, you’ll pop some balloons, transport office supplies, or play some basketball. I had a great time with it.

Stardew Valley- This is a game that is even made better by the pickup and play nature of switch, so I was really excited to dive in it again and it's just as charming as ever. It is a relaxing game where you tend to a farm, date people in the town nearby, and go fight monsters in the mine.

Dead Cells- I like hack n slash games such as Diablo, so dead cells seemed like my cup of tea and it turned out to be a blast to play. It’s rogue-like where you have to start from the beginning every time you die. The moment to moment gameplay is really tight and really fun with its hack-n-slash combat. This is great for pick up and play and a great game on switch.

Resident Evil 2 Remake- I have never played a resident evil game before this remake of Resident Evil 2. Having heard great things about this game and this being a modern reentry for a newcomer like me, I dived straight in, and while I didn’t like it as horror games are generally not the type of games I play but the labor of love is visible that went into making this game. It’s a gorgeous looking game, where you stuck in a police building where you have to solve environmental puzzles and figure out a way to get out while at the same time being pursued by a hulking figure where if you get caught its game over, probably the reason why I could not stick with it as emergent gameplay is just something I jive well with.

The Last of Us Remastered- The Last of us is one of the most highly regarded games and I have tried multiple times to get into it and for some reason, I just couldn’t, so after seeing the hype around its sequel I finally tried to give it another go and Holy Hell! this time it just clicked and was as good as everyone says it is. I absolutely loved it. That story even if going in I knew how it all ends, was still so great. Really well-done video game. I am extremely late to the party, 7 years to be precise but I’m glad I finally gave this a chance and it did not disappoint.

The Last of Us Left Behind- An extra chapter to the wonderfully amazing last of us. Hell Yeah! This is one of the best DLC’s I have ever played. It’s so well done, especially the dual split story set in the two malls. It’s like watching a well crafted emotional movie. Kudos! to Naughty dog and making me feel even worse that I wrote of this game for so many years.

XCOM 2- This is the best turn-based tactics game I have ever played and I loved every minute of it. I was seriously obsessed with this game and played the heck out of it.

Yes, Your Grace- I played this briefly, the core concept of Reigns (the mobile tinder-like swiping game) fleshed out more is a cool idea but I did not find the story to be that great.

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy- I love uncharted games which are essentially Indiana Jones the video game, huge set-pieces, and amazingly detailed environments. Last year I finally played Uncharted 4 which ended the saga of Nathan Drake, and Lost Legacy set in India is a smaller game where Nadine Adler and Chloe Fraser who have appeared in previous uncharted games take center stage. This game is fantastic, beautiful to look at, and is the perfect length most video games should be.

Middle Earth: Shadow of War- A sequel to one of my favorite games Shadow of Mordor set in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings world, Shadow of war is everything that its predecessor was. It’s bigger, more complex sometimes to its detriment but is a really fun game that I wish I would have played sooner. It’s a solid game where I feel like after 20 hours it should have been over, some things do feel unnecessarily tacked on. So I did finish it and while I like a lot of things it does, the combat and especially that ending cinematic song which was dope, the rest I would have been perfectly fine if it had been pruned just a little bit.

Emperor Rise of Middle Kingdom- This is an old game akin to the age of empires where the focus is commerce and to grow your settlement. I can’t believe this game, It came out in 2002 and it still is the best management city builder game I have ever played. It’s just so satisfying building a city and then fulfilling the needs of your citizens and see it grow into a prosperous empire also, the presentation is top-notch. I wish someone makes a remake of this game with today’s technology and that would be my dream game.

Tomb Raider- I went into it thinking it would be a serviceable Uncharted clone. I came out of it having enjoyed it just as much as Uncharted. The added RPG mechanics to the wonderful uncharted style gameplay of exploring old tombs and lost cities, its just so fascinating, and the voice acting and Lara croft as a completely rebooted character really worked for me.

Titanfall 2- I really can’t stress enough how good the Titanfall 2 campaign is. Also the perfect length. Felt like watching an amazing sci-fi movie. Short and sweet. Took me about 6 hours to finish. The story is so well written, surprisingly emotional with a ton of cool moments, the gameplay also a ton of fun, and BT is the BEST buddy! I hope there is a sequel to this, please. The number of times, I paused to look in amazement at what was happening and the places the story goes is simply masterpiece level.

Assassins Creed Odyssey: Legacy of the First Blade- Last year Assassins Creed Odyssey surprised and wowed me and was one of my favorite games. So I was excited to jump into its DLC and it was alright. The whole first assassin plot was okay but I didn’t feel the story was anything special also the main villain was extremely boring and I just didn’t care for the love interest that they just tacked on for no reason.

Assassins Creed Odyssey: The Fate of Atlantis- This is the second DLC and the scope is huge, It is divided into 3 chapters each have their own big open world with new quests and the story revolving around the underworld pantheon. It’s Sci-fi and I loved it. This game is phenomenal with its branching storyline and really good story to boot, the open world is out of this world literally and I really liked the new powers that are introduced, they are fun to play around with. All in all loved my time as Kassandra and hoped that they would give her a final goodbye but that never came.

Dishonored 2- I have been meaning to play this game for a while now, and this is the year I finally had the time to do so, and I am so glad that I did because this is truly a great game. The open-ended gameplay and the sheer amount of freedom it provides are amazing and even open-world games fail to provide this level of freedom. I absolutely loved the story which is only made better by a fantastic world design and characters. It’s definitely up there among this generation’s best games. I can’t wait to dive in as Corvo again and experience this game from another perspective and new powers.

Fallout 4- After 5 years, playing this game on and off on 4 separate systems, I finally managed to finish this behemoth of a game, and what an experience it was. I adore Bethesda games and Fallout 4 is my very first entry into the series so I was skeptical if I would enjoy it as much as I enjoyed Skyrim, once I started playing this, I had a great time. The main gameplay loop of exploring, scavenging for supplies then coming back to the base to modify your weapons or build your settlement is extremely satisfying and addicting. Also Bethesda RPG’s rule.

The Outer Worlds- After playing Fallout 4, I still had that fallout itch and I could have gone and played the many expansions of Fallout 4, but I didn’t instead I instantly went and started Outer Wilds. It's basically fallout set in outer space. While the scope of the game is nowhere close to fallout, I did enjoy what there was, but the later parts of the game fell flat for me, and by the time I rolled credits I was not sure if I liked this game.

Hitman (2016)- The new Hitman game takes everything great about Hitman blood money that I played growing up and amps it up with new mechanics and weapons, crowds you can hide in, and new gorgeous locations full of secrets to find. Playing is agent 47 this is a true sim in every sense of the word where the sky is the limit to interact and find subtle but sometimes crazy ways to assassinate your target. I’ve barely scratched the surface of it I’m sure I’ll return to it again, also that amazing music when you finish your mission and have to find an exit is just so good.

Control: The Foundation- Much like the main game, the foundation is brilliant. It’s the first planned expansion and its rules. I had so much fun diving deep into the lore of the oldest house and the story was good. Some of the side quests were brilliant and will stick with me for the rest of the year.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses- Started playing the Fire emblem series on 3DS and have been in love ever since. Fire Emblem is a turn-based tactics game and Three Houses, the latest entry on Switch mixes Persona’s social elements into the classic turn-based style combat. There are so many characters to befriend and to go on tea parties with also the story is gripping and that soundtrack slaps so hard. I did not finish this game and don’t know if I ever will, maybe someday!

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus- I did not expect much when I played the first Wolfenstein game and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was so naturally I was really excited to play its sequel and boy it was so worth it to finally experience one of the most bonkers stories with truly exciting and holy shit moments. It's just so satisfying killing Nazi scum with retro-futuristic technology. The characters and the story take the cake here as they are so brilliantly written. Set in an alternate reality where the Nazis won World War 2, Wolfenstein 2’s story is crazy in a very good way. It has so much heart in it and goes to entirely unexpected places. I was surprised throughout the journey it takes its protagonist “B.J.” Blazkowicz, what a great character! I had my jaw dropped so hard during so many of the insane over the top action set-pieces that happen in the game. This game needs to be experienced, one of my highlights this year.

Journey- This is a game that lasts for only 2–3 hours and yet in that short span of time, it left an indelible mark on me. I was truly floored by this experience where just its simple mechanics such as going down a hill and the feeling of racing in the sand dunes is exhilarating and spiritual at the same time.

Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order- What can I say about this absolute gem of a game, it's so well written, so well-paced, just the perfect star wars game which I did not know I needed. Props to Respawn, for introducing us to Cal Kestus and Bd-1, and also writing one of the best star wars story that I experienced. It's really entertaining and I can’t wait to see where this franchise goes also this game looks really good.

Rise of Tomb Raider- Follow up to the 2013 reboot of Tomb Raider, Rise improves on everything. I liked the story in uncharted better but the gameplay is hands down the star here and Lara is an amazingly realized character. Can’t wait to play the shadow of the tomb raider and finish the trilogy.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake- I have never been much of a final fantasy person, but with FF7 I not only finished it but adored every second of it. Its characters are so well realized and animated that it's sometimes difficult to see that I am playing a video game and not experiencing a multi-million dollar movie. The soundtrack has stuck with me and will go down as one of the best soundtracks ever.

Hades- What Supergiant games the developer of Hades have managed to do with a genre such a ‘rogue-like’ is nothing short of spectacular. With a fantastic soundtrack, an enthralling story, and one of the best gameplay mechanics around, this is a roguelike unlike any other. It is the king of roguelikes. This game is freakin incredible.

The Last of Us 2- Straight up, Last of us 2 is a masterpiece. A singular narrative achievement that can only be expressed as a video game. No movie, television show, novel, or album can do what this game does. This game is special and Ellie and Abby, its two main protagonists are so fully realized and so well written that it's hard to believe that these are not actual human beings. I have never felt such rage and connected more to a character than I have with Ellie. Also, that guitar sequence is the GOAT moment in all of the video games and entertainment media combined.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe refines the Mario kart formula and re-tunes and polishes it to an absurd degree, easily one of the most fun party games you can play on the Switch or any other console. The sheer variety of maps and characters that can be unlocked and the wildly different racecourses in the game are so full of Nintendo charm will keep you coming back just to play one more match. It's just that good.

The Jackbox Party Pack- There were no going out for dinners or meet with friends this year, but at least there was Jackbox. Rather than get bored or risk going out while stuck in quarantine, I and my family played the bulk of the days laughing through games like Fibbage, Bidiots, etc. Fibbage is one of the standout games where each player enters a lie to trick the other player to convince them that it's the correct answer.

Overcooked- Overcooked is a chaotic couch co-op cooking game for one to four players. Working as a team, you and your fellow chef must prepare, cook, and serve up a variety of tasty orders before the customers get restless and leave. This was so much fun playing with my brother and things can get actually so serious that we were both shouting at each other.

Witcher 3: Blood and Wine- Doing a definitive play-through of Witcher 3 which means getting the best ending, clearing all those question marks, and finishing all the side quests, contracts, and treasure hunts. It’s hard to believe this game came out almost 5 years ago and is still the best game I have ever played. There is simply no equal in the craft of the world and its storytelling is so well done. This game brings Geralt of Rivia’s story who is a Witcher to an end and what a remarkable ending it is. This is by far my favorite game of all time and I absolutely adored every second I spent in its rich and superbly crafted and complex world.

Super Mario Odyssey- Its charming and unique sense of style filled me with delight and I couldn't help but smile while playing this game. Super Mario Odyssey is an achievement in game design that only Nintendo can pull off and this game only cemented my belief. It is so wacky and so full of adorable moments, I loved every second of it. This game rediscovered my love for Mario and this being my first 3D Mario, I can't wait to play other 3D Mario games I have missed.