One sentence about each of the 24 games I finished in 2020

I began 2020 intending to review every one of the games I finished during the year. Although I did that—to a point, via this post and this post—until the end of June, I completely dropped the ball after that.

I'm going to try to make up for things here—although, again, only to a point. Instead of writing multi-paragraph reviews of each of the 24 games I finished in 2020, I'm going to devote just a sentence to them.

Here are the blurbs in question, which I've organized according to when I completed them. (Alice in Wonderland was the first game I beat in 2020, while Paper Mario: The Origami King was the last.) 

Should you want additional details on any of these games, let me know in the comments section of this post. Or hit me up on Facebook or Twitter.

Alice in Wonderland (DS)

A unique, touch-controlled Metroidvania that's far more challenging than its awesome, adorable art style implies.

Detective Pikachu (3DS)

This Pokémon-themed adventure game may be aimed at kids but adults can enjoy it, too—as long as they don't have a deep-seated hatred of Pikachu, of course.

Heroland (Switch)

Made by folks who previously worked on Fantasy Life and Mother 3, Heroland is a theme-park-based, board-game-esque RPG with a superb soundtrack that intrigues until it overstays its welcome.

Hey! Pikmin (3DS)

A beautiful, blissfully short side-scroller that does a surprisingly brilliant job of combining the Pikmin series' characters and controls with thoughtful platforming action.

Pokémon Shield (Switch)

I loved Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! when I played through it in 2018, and I loved Pokémon Shield even more when I played through it last year—thanks mainly to its charming, Pokéfied British setting, slew of appealing new 'mons, and thrilling "Wild Area."

Raging Loop (Switch)

A terrifyingly engrossing visual novel that features "Werewolf"-inspired gameplay and a Groundhog Day-ish looping story.

Deadly Premonition Origins (Switch)

One of those "greater than the sum of its parts" games, with the positive parts of Deadly Premonition Origins being its quirky, compelling characters, WTF story, and weird soundtrack, and the negative parts being its "please don't make me do that again" combat and QTE segments.

Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories (Switch)

I've never had to live through a natural disaster myself, but I kind of (only kind of!) feel like I have thanks to this adventure game, which is harrowing not just because of drama and trauma it puts you through, but because of its iffy graphics and even iffier frame rate.

SaGa Scarlet Grace: Ambitions (Switch)

Another RPG that's shockingly similar to a board game, SaGa Scarlet Grace: Ambitions offers players a wide-open world, a minimum of direction, a ton of potential party members, and a predictably sublime OST.

The World Ends With You (DS)

A dual-screened action RPG that makes full use of all that acreage during its thrillingly chaotic battles, supported by some of the most stylish visuals around and fabulous, pop-tastic soundtrack.

Void Terrarium (Switch)

One part post-apocalyptic roguelike, one part human Tamagotchi—all set to an appropriately (and enjoyably) industrial OST.

Mr. Driller Encore (Switch)

Mr. Driller goes to a theme park and adds some much needed depth and variety to his eponymous series' previously straightforward race-to-the-bottom-of-the-screen gameplay.

Moon (Switch)

A melancholy "anti-RPG" that sends you into a game world to clean up the mess of an unhinged hero by saving the souls of slain creatures and helping its human inhabitants in various ways.

A Short Hike (Switch)

If you've ever dreamt of exploring—by land or sky—a mountainside getaway as an anthropomorphized bird and at your leisure, this is the game for you.

Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers (Switch)

A touching, vaguely EarthBound-esque RPG that lets you time travel and tackle mechanical foes with the assistance of a robot that can transform into a boxer, cowboy, and more.

Kirby Mass Attack (DS)

Using your DS' touch screen to control up to 10 Kirbies through a series of side-scrolling and puzzle-filled stages is cool; if only it were more fun.

Part Time UFO (Switch)

Leave it to the masters at HAL Laboratory to create an instant classic that combines a claw crane, a balance-puzzler, and the most sickeningly sweet soundtrack you've ever heard.

Yomawari: Night Alone (Switch)

Yomawari proves that survival-horror games don't need to be remotely realistic to be fully and properly unnerving.

Super Princess Peach (DS)

Forget what you've read about this vivacious platformer; in my humble opinion, Super Princess Peach is every bit as good as your average Kirby, Yoshi, or even Mario side-scroller.

Bubble Bobble 4 Friends (Switch)

Take the Bubble Bobble that started it all in 1986, replace the simple-yet-snazzy backdrops with ones that are simply boring, remove all the character from its kooky cast, and make the overall experience more awkward as well as less enjoyable, and you've got 4 Friends.

Mad Rat Dead (Switch)

Come for the move-to-the-beat platforming action (and the amazing OST that coordinates it), stay for the surprisingly touching tale of a dead lab rat who just wants to relive his final day—OK, and exact revenge on the scientist who killed him.

Time Hollow (DS)

Anyone who had a blast playing through Hotel Dusk: Room 215, Ghost Trick, or any of the Ace Attorney games should give this similar offering from Konami a go ASAP.

Again (DS)

This CiNG-made point-and-click adventure game isn't quite as great as the company's other DS efforts—Hotel Dusk, Last Window, and Trace Memory—but it's close enough to be well worth your while if you dug those titles.

Paper Mario: The Origami King (Switch)

The Origami King gives me hope there's still some life left in Nintendo's depressingly inconsistent Paper Mario series, though I wouldn't mind at all if the next sequel's turn-based battles were more traditional than tactical as they are here.

See also: mini-reviews of the 19 games I finished in 2019

My favorite games of 2020: Moon, The Origami King, and Void Terrarium

I've spent most of 2020 ping-ponging between feeling terrified and traumatized. One of the few areas of my life that has bucked that trend over the last 12 or so months has been the time I've devoted to video games.

In fact, I've both played and enjoyed more games in 2020 than I have in many years. The three games I'm highlighting here are my favorites of the 45 or so I put at least some time into this year. Or at least they're my favorites of the games that came out between Jan. 1 and now. (I'll publish a similar post about my favorite games of 2020 that weren't released in 2020 shortly.)

Moon (Switch)

Although I'm a lifelong fan of role-playing games, I'm far from a stickler for tradition. As much as I adore old-school, by-the-numbers JRPGs (think Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light), I also appreciate attempts to deviate from the norm. Onion Games' Moon--previously known as Moon: Remix RPG Adventure--is a perfect example of the second category. So much so I hesitate to call it an RPG. What is Moon then? An adventure game, I guess. But it also features a liberal dose of simulation and puzzle elements.

Regardless, it's wonderful, not to mention wonderfully chill. There's no rushing while playing Moon. Hell, you can't even run while playing Moon. You saunter. You slowly scour Moon's modest surface in an attempt to help both its earthly inhabitants and its apparitional ones. The latter are the souls of creatures slain by a video-game's unhinged hero, while you are a real-world boy sucked into that make-believe world and charged with righting said madman's wrongs through the power of love.

Moon tends toward the obtuse and melancholic, but that just adds to its peculiar charm--as do the game's eclectic background tunes, which--in another delightful twist--you can change at will.

Paper Mario: The Origami King (Switch)

Although The Origami King is a more than fitting subtitle for this latest Paper Mario adventure, an even better one, in my humblest of opinions, would've been The Origami Odyssey. After all, this entry in Intelligent Systems' long-running RPG series feels like proper, globe-trotting trek. You zip from one eye-poppingly exotic locale to another while attempting to save Princess Peach (amongst other important--and far more interesting--tasks), sometimes via an appropriately recyclable vehicle.

The rest of The Origami King will seem a bit foreign to Paper Mario fans, too. In particular, this title's turn-based tussles are more like puzzles than the select-battle-options-from-a-menu affairs that are typical of the genre. I prefer the tried-and-true myself, though the new method introduced here grew on me by leaps and bounds once I became accustomed to it.

Even if you fall in love with these brainy fights from the word go, though, you're unlikely to consider them a highlight of the experience. Instead, you'll probably reserve that honor for The Origami King's witty text and wondrous soundtrack.

Void Terrarium (PS4, Switch)

Nippon Ichi Software's Void Terrarium does everything it can to turn off potential players. First there's its name, the full version of which is void tRrLM(); //Void Terrarium. Then there's its post-apocalyptic aesthetic, which seems more banal than breathtaking, especially early on. There's also its "human Tamagotchi" component, which is just... confounding--again, particularly at first.

And yet I found Void Terrarium utterly captivating. Sure, the desolate environments of this part-time dungeon-crawler can be samey, but if you're anything like me, you'll barely pay attention to them thanks to the game's heart-pounding soundtrack and surprisingly compelling story. Oh, and the robot-battling action on offer here is plenty exhilarating, too. Not bad for a title that started off looking like a real dud, eh?

Honorable mentions:

• Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories (PC, PS4, Switch)
• Mad Rat Dead (PS4, Switch)
• Part Time UFO (Mobile, Switch)
• A Short Hike (PC, Switch)

See also: my favorite games of 2020 that weren't released in 2020 as well as my favorite games of 2019 and my favorite games of 2018