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Turtle Beach’s 2020 Game of the Year Picks

Turtle Beach’s 2020 Game of the Year Picks

It’s fair to say that most of us would like to forget 2020. As far as years go, it was a real dumpster fire. Let’s not focus on the negatives, though. Let’s turn to one of the positives, which was the many amazing games that came out this year. Countless developers and publishers released their works of art, even while dealing with a shift to work from home. These titles gave us the smiles, laughs, cheers, and excitement that we so desperately needed in 2020.

The Turtle Beach crew tasked themselves with figuring out which game they’d put above all others in 2020. The title that they loved just a little bit more than everything else. In such a strong year for games, coming up with a winner is no easy task. Still though, the gang powered through and came up with their favorite title. Read on to see what games made it to the top of the heap!

Hades

“This was a tough one for me. If you asked me four months ago, I would have definitely said Animal Crossing. Then Hades came to the Switch, and that’s when everything changed. I’m not usually one for roguelike games, but between the beautiful art, the engaging story, and the amazing characters, I couldn’t stop coming back to this one. I kept finding myself wanting to play one more run-through to get a little more out of the experience. The story and characters are what really shine here, something you don’t see in too many roguelikes. I really cared about these characters and always wanted to learn more about them. Along with that, the almost endless struggle to escape Hell perfectly sums up 2020. I’ll be playing this one for a while.” – Brandon Ribero, Writer

“This is the roguelike for people who hate roguelikes, and a solid game all around. This should be what every future game of the genre aspires to. Fully voiced, solid gameplay, meaningful victories, and failures. An engrossing story with a world that is both familiar (the Greek Pantheon) and not at the same time. With a great soundtrack to boot, you will be unlocking more and more 100s of hours in.” – Justin Musser, Social Team

Immortals Fenxy Rising

“My 2020 GOTY goes to Immortals Fenyx Rising. This charming open-world title launched as Ubisoft’s newest IP and absolutely stole my heart. Take some of the mechanics of Breath of the Wild, add a souped-up version of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s combat, toss in a colorful and fun story set within Greek mythology, and in my opinion, you get 2020’s biggest surprise. The early humor is a bit cringe, but as you go on, it gets drastically better, dealing heaps of laughs while interjecting the perfect amount of heart. The moment-to-moment gameplay, exploration, and combat are top-notch, and the world is alive with breathtaking aesthetics that compliment the varied biomes. Immortals snuck under the radar, launching a week before Cyberpunk, but it instantly jumped to the top of my list.”  – Jason Onorad, writer

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

“2020 was not the best year for about a billion reasons, but gaming managed to be one of the few bright spots. Video games provided an amazing escape for people during a very tough time, and is still doing so today. Millions turned to Animal Crossing: New Horizons for normalcy, and countless other games as a way to connect with friends. I personally have poured hundreds of hours into Fortnite this year, as it’s been an incredible way to stay in touch with loved ones while having some fun. That alone almost made it my game of the year, but there’s one other title I feel deserves the praise just a little bit more.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps, the follow-up to Ori and the Blind Forest, is everything I could want in a video game. The visuals are absolutely gorgeous, the gameplay is as tight as a Metroidvania gets, the size and scope is far beyond the first title, and there are some unbelievable action sequences. Those elements make for a fantastic experience, but it’s the combination of the game’s story and music that really sealed the deal for me. The soundtrack is so damn good that it legit brought me to tears a few times, but not as much as the story did. To tell such a sentimental and meaningful tale without dialogue is a true achievement. If Pixar made video games, Ori and the Will of the Wisps is what they’d come up with.” – Kevin Cassidy

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla

“Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla is not a perfect game. Is it too long? A bit. Is combat repetitive? It can be. Are there bugs? Hell yes – but it’s also a pretty fantastic Viking-themed anime epic (or soap opera, your choice), with a surprisingly large and likeable cast of characters.

While playing I was constantly impressed with how events would unfold, how characters were introduced or interacted with one another, and just how invested in the story and setting I was becoming because of it. It really does feel like a well put together season of a TV show or anime, and even after doing every bit of story available in the game I just wanted more when I got to the end. Yes, an Assassin’s Creed somewhere like China or Japan would be amazing… but I’d love a Valhalla 2 first.

NOTE: I cannot have GOTY 2020 talk without mentioning Hades and Cyberpunk 2077, too. Truly unique storytelling experience, all three of them.” – Vincent Fazio, Social Team

Half-Life: Alyx

“Half-life: Alyx for me. Valve finally released a new Half-Life game for the first time in 13 years and the game managed to push graphics, sound and gameplay while being a masterclass in VR game design. This is game that needs to be experienced first-hand, not read about online or watched on video.” – Juan Jimenez, Social Team


Kevin Cassidy has been covering all things Nintendo for over 15 years now and has been leading the weekly GoNintendo Podcast for just as long. Kevin is also quite passionate about pro wrestling, anime, comic books, and more! Follow Kevin on Twitter via @GoNintendoTweet.