It’s not finished yet but what a year 2020 has been! KLS and I have been staying (and working) from home for nine months now and will continue to for at least six months more. Lots of time for indoor hobbies then, like playing games! Well yes and no. Yes since we didn’t travel and rarely go out. No since we’re still very busy working, in my case more so than usual since teaching online is so much work!
I also had an event this year involving my left eye (which I never blogged about…) that unfortunately changed the way I can play games. I’ve worked it out now, but it led to a bit of a hiccup in my hobby for many weeks as I was adapting to the symptoms.
But my favourite hobby continues, and as always I bought and played games in 2020. I know there’s a month-ish left to go in the year, but with Christmas on the horizon I doubt I’ll buy any more games so now is as good a time as any to make the annual post.
In total, I purchased 50 games in 2020. This is a slight drop from previous years, but is in-line with my average over the past decade or so of buying a game a week. Of the 50 games purchased this year, a third of them were bought in a five day period in Japan in January, and none were bought between the release of Animal Crossing (on March 20) and mid June. Here’s the breakdown of titles bought by system:
As you can see the Switch has the majority (26 of them) and aside from the PS4 the remainder of the systems I bought games for is very retro! You’ll see the 3DS and Vita are gone (for good?): as I predicted they both retired in 2019. Every non Switch/PS4 game was bought in Japan, and most were Wizardry games 🙂
Here’s the breakdown in terms of dollars spent:
Of course it’s mostly Switch, but mostly due to the amount of games rather than the price. As with recent years I rarely buy games at full price, and am instead content to wait six months or so until they drop to about half the original cost. I made an exception in 2020 for Animal Crossing, but the best deals I got in 2020 were $1 for a brand new PS4 game (Journey To The Savage Planet) which was mispriced at Walmart, and $0.58 for a Switch digital game (Doom 64) since I used credit I’d earned buying other games. Notably one of the most expensive games I every bought was in 2020 as well – a used GBA game (Steel Empire) for $78. It was worth it 🙂
Incidentally this has very much been the year of the Switch. The system has come into it’s own in a big way, and many great games have been released for it (and are still to come). New versions of the Playstation and XBox have recently been released, but for me right now the focus is very much still on the Switch. I more than doubled my Switch collection in 2020, and it’s now 1 game shy of becoming the Nintendo console for which I own the most games. (The same is true for PS4, which at 114 total games is one game shy of surpassing my PS2 collection.)
As for the best games I played this year? Well the winner is surely Xenoblade Chronicles for Switch, but it’s the same game that came out almost a decade ago that I gave my game-of-the-year award to then, so I’ll let it go this time. I played a lot of other great games this year, here are three of the best:
Animal Crossing New Horizons (Switch)
This became a phenomenon when it was released. A game about escapism and happiness was tailor-made for an epidemic, and led to Switch shortages that even continue now many months later. You’ve probably heard about it – it’s already one of the best selling games of all time – and the hype is real. It’s loads of fun, with massive amounts of customization, and can eat up your time before you know. I played it religiously for several months and then stepped away. I’m not done for good; I just needed a break so I could play other games!
God Of War (PS4)
This one came out a while back but I only bought it at the tail end of 2019 and played it this summer. It’s a relaunch of a game series from the PS2 era and it’s astonishingly good. In fact it’s probably the best action game I’ve ever played and excels in every area: story, graphics, gameplay and design. I loved it so much I got the platinum trophy, which I rarely care about these days. It’s dirt cheap now so if you haven’t played it, you should.
Ring Fit Adventure (Switch)
This is a fitness game using a circular device into which you place the Switch controllers. You play through a surprisingly complex RPG (with stats, items, equipment, techniques etc) which is fully controlled by yoga and exercise moves. Do a series of squats to defeat the enemy! Run on the spot to get to the boss! Tighten your abs to defend! It sounds gimmicky but feels very natural when you’re playing and is loads of fun. This one was almost impossible to find for many months (we got lucky in the summer) since I assume every Switch owner bought this as well, but I’ve been playing it since I got it and dutifully ‘do my Ring Fit’ every day now. Is it making me fitter? I can’t say, but I’m happy It’s giving me exercise as we move into a freezing winter.
Before I end this years summary, a brief shoutout to Puzzle & Dragons. Yes I’m still religiously playing my little ‘phone game’, and have now surpassed eight years without a single missed logon day. I’m well, well, well into the endgame but it’s still fun and still – in my opinion – unsurpassed in it’s corner of the market. Try it if you haven’t yet!
