As we step into 2021, we can all agree that 2020 is a year that the world would likely rather forget. However, in an incredibly turbulent year for humanity, at least good video games continued to keep us occupied as we watched the Earth burn (quite literally, in some countries) around us.
We asked GameRevolution’s readers to cast their votes for this year’s Readers’ Game of the Year 2020 and you did so in your droves. Check out your top 10 games of the last year below, and then find out the GR team’s favorites games in our official Game of the Year 2020 list right here.
Readers’ Game of the Year 2020
10. Streets of Rage 4
The legendary side-scrolling beat ’em up series returned with arguably its greatest entry to date, and GR’s readers clearly appreciated this solid revival. A throwback to those halcyon Genesis days, Streets of Rage 4 still didn’t rest on its laurels, offering up more combos, killer moves, and ludicrous characters for players to brawl with. Pure ’90s fun.
9. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla whisked us off to viking country, letting us sail our ships and raid villages with cool, long hair and beards in an even cooler climate. GameRevolution may not have been so enamored with it in our review, but our readers were, naming the action RPG as one of their favorite games of the year.
8. HadesÂ
One of the year’s biggest under-the-radar breakout hits, Hades is the perfect example of a game that encourages you to have just one last go before you realize it’s 4 AM and you’re still slicing up demons in the Underworld. We could barely stop playing Hades this year, and our readers felt the same way.
7. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2
Few remakes have had as much care and effort put into them as Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2, which made dramatic improvements to the originals across the board while retaining what made them so fun in the first place. It received our top score in our review, and our readers thought highly of it, too.
6. Persona 5 Royal
When you’re playing the updated and improved version of one of the very best games of its generation, you know you’re in for a treat. Persona 5 Royal added enough to warrant existing fans revisiting it, while presented the best option for those who had yet to play it. This was an entire game’s worth of content added on top of an already excellent package.
5. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Animal Crossing: New Horizons was GameRevolution’s Game of the Year 2020, and while our readers may not have been quite as into it as we were, there was certainly appreciation for Nintendo’s cuddly life sim across the board. New Horizons was a true highlight of 2020 in a year that had very few of them, and even in 2021, we’ll still find time to return to our island in the sun.
4. Final Fantasy 7 Remake
Final Fantasy 7 Remake did what a remake should do — it dramatically shook up an incredible but aging classic, while also adding its own spin. The end result was a must-play for Final Fantasy and RPG fans alike, with incredibly slick combat mixed with gorgeous visuals and a gripping story.
3. Cyberpunk 2077
Surprised? Cyberpunk 2077 was one of the most controversial games of the year, releasing in an incredibly shoddy state on PS4 and Xbox One while having its fair share of problems on PC, too. However, it seems that GameRevolution’s readers were willing to overlook those faults and focus on what the game did right. As outlined in our review, there’s still plenty to love about Cyberpunk 2077, and these positives outweighed the negatives for many of you.
2. Ghost of Tsushima
It was another strong year for Sony exclusives, with Ghost of Tsushima providing a sprawling adventure with a gorgeous world to explore and fluid, satisfying combat. Not only was GoT‘s single-player engrossing, but the game also received ample post-launch support. Its free Legends DLC added an unlikely wave-based multiplayer mode to the mix, which was much better than it had any right to be. Ghost of Tsushima was a game that went out of its way to please its audience, and this is shown by its position in our Readers’ Game of the Year awards.
1. The Last of Us 2
Despite the myriad exhausting controversies that encircled The Last of Us 2, it was a landslide victory for Naughty Dog’s sequel in the GameRevolution Readers’ Game of the Year 2020 awards. While it may not have given many the follow-up they wanted, that was never Naughty Dog’s goal in the first place. Instead, the game told a difficult story of the impact revenge can have on a person, featuring some brutal and surprising twists that got everyone talking — for better or for worse.
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