Quarterlies 2020! The Qt3 forum readers’ choice for best game of 2020 is …

HADES

It wasn’t ever close, even with the late surge of the Microsoft Flight Simulator thread, which brought MSFT investors within 55 points of the runaway winner. I wrote a review of the game, and @tomchick wrote an anti-review, but this isn’t about the Qt3 establishment: it’s about the popular opinion. So here is what you had to say about the BEST GAME OF 2020:

@geggis said that there was not much more to be said. @CF_Kane echoed this with: “There is not much more that I can say about this game that others on the thread have not said better.” Is that a consensus, my brothers? Here is how the numbers shook out.

1 Hades 135 34 16 8 5 3 2
2 Microsoft Flight Simulator 80 23 8 5 4 2 4
3 Cyberpunk 2077 58 17 5 4 3 3 2
4 Animal Crossing: New Horizons 41 12 4 2 2 3 1
5 Wasteland 3 37 9 4 2 3 0 0

First number is total points, second number total votes, the third number is the number of 1st-place votes, then 2nd-place votes, etc.

Cyberpunk 2077 was third, even though it was hated by @tomchick who by corollary hates the country of Poland. I didn’t think Tom Nook was still a viable candidate in 2020 but Animalistic Crossings: Recent Horizonings for Make Glory of Great Penbladia which was released under the title of Animal Crossings: New Horizons proved me wrong. Following up on that was Brian Fargo. Ok, Wasteland 3. That rounds out the top 5.

For those who have been nursing old wounds, I would point out that a flightsim took second place in this year’s voting. Do you hear that, @Rod_Humble? Did it have multiple ordnance loadouts? Or a dynamic campaign? I leave you to answer this pressing question. Maybe @XPav can help.

Once, again, thanks for voting in the once-yearly ex-cathedra declaration of what is actually good and what is not. I thank @arrendek for doing all the work, and leaving me to read off the cue cards. Next year, I expect dozens of new game genres to emerge for our amusement.

Here is a link to @arrendek’s amazing tally sheet so you can certify the results yourselfs.

I thought something was weird with the votes, but I computed it: second number is the number of total votes, then 3rd number on is 1st place votes, 2nd place votes, etc.

I can’t quite believe the best Assassin’s Creed game in years did not crack the top 5. Hopefully, it’s still somewhere in this board’s top 10. Otherwise, a lot of people have overlooked a really good entry that will happily keep you entertained for 100 hours.

I was surprised Wasteland 3 was not for me at all when I tried it. But I can appreciate why the other games made it in. That said, I’m on last gen and Cyberpunk 2077 might possibly be a 2021 game for me. For 2020 though, I quickly shelved it and didn’t miss the shoddy mess one bit.

I didn’t participate in the listing but I will say; 2020 was one utterly miserable year for bug-ridden messes. There were a host of titles I was simply not allowed to finish due to various degrees of technical incompetence. That includes (but is not limited to) Cyberpunk and Wasteland 3. Perhaps I just chose… poorly.

Even from a gaming perspective, I will not look back on 2020 with kindness. Not even new Doom music could make it cool.

You mean Ghost of Tsushima? I jest, of course, but I can’t fathom putting Valhalla above Odyssey.

Heh. Touché. :)

Maybe we should run a Quarterlies just for those 3 games. I would be curious how they stack up. My experience with Odyssey was very superficial, and I haven’t played Ghosts. So not a fair shake. But Valhalla is the unputdownable one for me.

Once again, Qt3 members chose the best game to honor in the top spot. Salut!

I disagree, but hey, at least it’s a pretty good game. ;)

I’m sure I’ll probably like AC: Valhalla, but considering I’m still working on finishing Black Flag, it’s not going to be anytime soon.

Do we have a list of all the games voted for ?

In the voting thread arrendek posted one for the purposes of dupe finding.

Yeah but I didn’t see them in order of votes obtained. Like what were games 6-20 ? :)

My initial question could have been clearer.

I post them.

Honestly the fact that a Nintendo Switch exclusive game cracked the top 5, with this crowd, is probably more surprising than anything to me. It is exactly the type of game that earns its spot on the list, while also being exactly the kind of game I’d expect like 5 people at Qt3 to vote for because it falls very far outside the scope of interest here.

I can’t speak for others, but my nomination for ACNH was almost entirely due to COVID lockdown and the work-from-home situation. It was just the right amount of gentle silly charm and relaxing grind for me during the stressful year. In a normal year, I doubt it would’ve cracked my top 10.

It probably wouldn’t have occurred to me to list it if I hadn’t seen others do so, because it’s become, sad as it sounds to type this out, pretty well woven into the everyday fabric of our lives over here, to the point where it didn’t even strike me as “a game to nominate,” and once I realized that, of course, I had to list it.

ACNH was a game I’d never have played if it wasn’t for my wife wanting me to be a secondary on her island so we can share in the experience, so I can see that being true. And it ended up being one of only two games I voted for (the other was WL3) all because those were the only two 2020 games I played.

Hades wasn’t on my radar, and still isn’t, because it’s not a style of game I gravitate towards; I didn’t even hear about it until goty lists started up. Sorry reviewers. Flight Sim and CP2077 are on my to-play list, so I’ll get around to them eventually.

Best part of these lists is I have the opportunity to, perhaps, find something new in the mix that otherwise doesn’t float to the top because it’s not popular enough.

ACNH made my list for similar reasons. I didn’t even play it! I just watched my wife and son play it while riding shotgun, and providing tips (such as eating fruit and hitting rocks breaks them, which is bad because you need iron ore to expand).

Also the only 2020 video games I played were BSG Deadlock Season 2, and Hades, so it wasn’t like there was a lot of competition on my list :)

Lol, nicely done! Now I have to play Hades! Pretty great year for games imho!

Here’s a link to the voting tally sheet for all the other games and scores you all want.

@Brooski Can you drop it in the first post?