The Games I Quarantined With in 2020
Video games have been a welcome escape
I don’t think I need to explain how rough the year 2020 has been any more than countless other publications and writers already have. In such a tumultuous year, the world has more than ever turned towards the comfort of video gaming. Society is largely confined indoors at home, so each video game release this year felt that much more important — we’re desperate for new indoor experiences, so we’ll take anything we can get our hands-on.
Though the global pandemic has impacted the release dates of several games, there was still plenty of fun to be had. I’d like to talk about some of the games that have helped carry me through my time in quarantine as well as distracted me from the ongoing (and seemingly never-ending) political news cycle. Note that this will be ordered by release date, not any personal ranking of mine.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
This game came right on time — what better way to spend extended periods of time inside than by simulating outdoor island life? The latest entry in the cozy, feel-good Animal Crossing series made its way to Switch this past March and ended up being my favorite in the series thus far. With more customization options than ever, adorable art and graphical direction, and some delightful new villager designs (Audie is perfect), I needed no other motivation to check up on my own personal island every day. The ability to fly to your friends’ islands is a welcome feature when physical contact with friends is limited, and the game provides ample options to express yourself in your online interactions. Whether playing in short bursts to do my daily tasks or completely overhauling the terrain of my island, New Horizons is truly a game I could play whenever.
Best thing about the game: The museum is gorgeously designed, and filling it out with the fossils, fish, bugs, and art that I collected was immensely satisfying.
Persona 5 Royal
Persona 5 always somehow infiltrates anything I decide to write about (pretty on-brand for a game about a troupe of thieves). It’s not a secret that I think the original Persona 5 is a masterpiece — from top to bottom, it’s a complete experience where almost everything serves to aid the game’s central tone and theme that it sets for itself. It was already a game where the positives allowed me to be able to overlook the majority of its negatives. Then, developer Atlus went and made it even better by adding new story events, some small but impactful changes to gameplay, a brand new party member, multiple new side characters to befriend, and an entire extra semester to spend at school. Suffice to say, this is by and large a purely improved version of a generational JRPG, and I’ll never stop recommending it. I do think the ending of Royal lacks some of the punch that the original had, but this is still the most polished and stylish turn-based RPG-meets-social sim on the market.
Best thing about the game: The design of the newly added Palace surpasses all Palaces from the original release. It is definitely the most fun to explore and has some amazing music and story to go with it.
Final Fantasy VII Remake
FF7R doesn’t retell the complete story of Final Fantasy VII, nor does it completely stick to the script and events told in the original. In fact, the remake’s ending seems to imply that there’s much more script-deviating to come in further installments. Those facts, however, didn’t stop me from being enamored with this game —between the world of Midgar, the lovingly rendered character models, the pitch-perfect voice cast, and a splendid soundtrack full of arrangements of some of gaming’s most memorable tunes, I was hooked.
It’s not just an audiovisual treat, but also a gameplay one — I’m a sucker for action RPGs, and FF7R feels like the developers at Square Enix finally figured out a way to make Final Fantasy combat that looks as cinematic as Advent Children while also having depth and being fun to play, a concept they’ve struggled with since Final Fantasy XIII. Though the game does have apparent flaws with some fairly bland side content and noticeable graphical inconsistencies, FF7R’s ability to capture the spirit and heart of what made the original so great while innovating in other areas grabbed me and didn’t let go. Though it seems that future parts could go in any number of directions, the first entry in this remake series has me hopeful that it will be a ride worth (re?)visiting.
Best part of the game: Wall Market, all of it. Maybe the most joyous level of gaming I’ve ever played. Should be experienced blind, if possible. Hits all the notes that the original did, but turns the dial up to eleven.
Hades
2020’s runaway indie darling can add me to the list of “people who thought they didn’t like roguelike games but sure do now,” a list that Hades has done ample work to expand courtesy of its official release this year. Controlling Zagreus, Prince of the Underworld, your task is to escape the land of the dead and join the Olympian Gods on the surface world. Standing between you and them are legions of monsters, spirits of the dead, and even your own father (Hades, it’s right in the title!).
When attempting to escape you begin with a weapon of your choice, and as you make your way towards the aboveground you’ll receive boons from the Olympian Gods in the form of buffs, extra abilities, or modifiers to your attacks. Mixing and matching these randomized boons is tons of fun, and incentivizes the player to experiment with a wide variety of gameplay styles. Like any roguelike, if you die, it’s back to the beginning —you’ll resurrect in the palace of the dead, where you can have a seemingly endless number of unique (and superbly voice-acted) conversations with the other denizens of the underworld in between escape attempts. Hades is an experience that always feels fresh no matter how many times you aim for the surface.
Best part of the game: Hades actually makes the roguelike structure feel natural with its storytelling — your Sisyphean task of escaping the clutches of Hades (the place and the god) is completely justified in the lore (you’re a deity and thus can’t actually die) and, thanks to its presentation and execution, feels like playing a myth that belongs amongst the Greek mythological canon.
That’s largely been my year of games in quarantine, at least the ones I played that will stick with me for a long while. Needless to say, if you’re looking for a way to kill time during this coming winter, I wholeheartedly recommend all four of these experiences. We’re not out of the woods yet in regards to this pandemic, but with the beginning of the end seemingly underway with recent vaccine developments, I’m hoping that I won’t have to make another list like this next year.
