2020 In Review
Here they are in play order:
- Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
- Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
- The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses – Cindered Shadows
- Legend of Heroes: Trails of Azure
- Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
- Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II
- Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 1
- Trials of Mana (SNES with my girlfriend)
- Trials of Mana Remake
- Astral Chain
- Persona 5 Royal
- Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition
- Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Connected
- Ys: Memories of Celceta
- Ys 7
- Mega Man 1
- Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III
- Lost Odyssey
- Dragon Quest VIII
- Tear Ring Saga
- Shadows of Adam
- Persona 4 Golden
- Ys: The Oath in Felghana
- Ys: The Ark of Napishtim
- Breath of Fire 3
- SAO Re: Hollow Fragment
- To The Moon
- Star Ocean: First Departure R
- Dragon Quest I
- Dragon Quest II
I won’t get into too much detail or I’ll be here all day so I’ll go over my highs and the lows.
The highs:
I was super hesitant about FF7R since I absolutely love the original, but it sucked me in and I fell in love.
The biggest surprise to me was P5R. I did not expect to love it as much as I did. I was really skeptical of the “slice of life” stuff. After playing P4G afterwards, I really grew an appreciation for how the developers built on the formula (and super thankful for the drop of procedural dungeons in favor or pre-planned).
I got on a Ys kick, with 8 being my only previous entry. Such a good series, that I overlooked for too long.
As a long time Dragon Ball fan, I was very happy with Dragon Ball Z Kakarot. It wasn’t perfect, but damn was it fun to Spirit Bomb everything to dust.
Biggest achievement was finally finishing Breath of Fire 3. I’ve started this game a dozen times over the last 20 years, and I am so glad I did.
The lows:
As a huge Sword Art Online fan, the first game let me down, but I did finish it. It was just such a mind numbing game loop.
I was disappointed in the FE:TH DLC, seemed very jarring compared to the base game.
I was also disappointed with the new post-game game for Xenoblade. It seemed like a big step back, especially when you look at how much Torna improved on XC2’s mechanics.
I almost rage quit DQ2 at the end. Every other step running into monsters that can just kamikaze you to death. Very frustrating. Rest of the game was fun though!
I have been playing SoS: Mineral Town on and off all year and it’s not as good as I remember, and just never felt that same charm I did back on Back to Nature. That’s fine, SDV 1.5 just dropped and it looks fantastic.
Looking forward:
In 2021 I plan on beating the rest of the DQ titles I haven’t beaten, and replaying XI now that the Definitive Edition is out. Excited for Tickington. I beat the launch version on the PS4 and it was my GOTY when I did.
I also plan on beating the rest of the Ys games.
I have Ys 9 and Cold Steel 4 pre-ordered on the Switch. My girlfriend has gotten into these games, and prefers portable over graphical fidelity so I’m making a compromise on them. Haha.
Looking forward to Persona 5 Strikers, SoS: Pioneers of Olive Town, Nier Replicant, and of course SaGa Frontier Remastered. SaGa Frontier is in the same boat as Breath of Fire 3 was. Started numerous times and never finished.
