Eurogamer: the best games of this gen as voted by critics and devs

[joffocakes]

I think I'd really enjoy an Uncharted game if they had an option to remove the combat or at least shorten them significantly and up the frequency of the puzzles and exploration instead.

 

I've been trying to get through 4 since it came to PS Plus and it is much better than the first three but I've been on the Madagascar section for ages now and struggling to finish it.

[MK-1601]

A lot of 7/10s on that list. And a lot of games getting mentions for having been played for hundreds of hours. There are games I've played for an evening or a sub-10 hour campaign this gen that mean more than 500 hours of grinding in a looter shooter. But what you play often and recently is what you recall.

 

I came to Titanfall 2 late, I really struggle to see why you'd put it ahead of Doom 2016. It's an efficient game stamped out with the Call of Duty production process. The writing doesn't connect at all. No characters, no stakes, no sense of place. (I'm just talking about the single player here.)

 

Threes is the choice of someone who has played one mobile or handheld game in the past ten years.

 

I genuinely don't think Nier Automata's devs would agree it gets within ten rungs of BOTW out of all the games of this gen. Of the many, many janky games with devoted fanbases out there, it is probably one of the ones doing something interesting.

 

Re: the comparative merits of 3D platformers. I love Astro Bot (first game since the 3D coin op boom to blow me away with its sheer audiovisual impact) but it's a thin wisp of a game next to Odyssey.

 

I'd put The Last Guardian and No Man's Sky on there. And Edith Finch, Streets of Rage 4 and Noita.

[Raoull duke]

Casually opened this thread like four hours ago, and looked at the list. "Threes" never even heard of it, weird name for a game. So I googled it and then got it from the Play store and have now been playing it for four hours straight. 

 

I have to get up in the morning. Oh dear. 

 

[Stopharage]

On 19/09/2020 at 10:22, squirtle said:

We're including the Wii u but not the Switch? In that case, where's Nintendoland? One of the most overlooked gems in recent history. There is so much in that game, so much creativity and technical wizardry it's almost overwhelming. The ninja throwing stars game is sorcery of some kind and the depth hidden in the Zelda, Metroid and Pikmin games is completely unexpected. And don't get me started on the fun to be had in Mario Chase or The Animal Crossing fruit game. It always saddens me that this got such derision from so many quarters.

During lockdown, I was going into school looking after the keyworker’s kids. For 90 minutes of each day they would have a ‘cultural’ session. Some teachers would bring in films, others might have them in the music room etc. I took in a WiiU with a load of games including Nintendo Land. None of them had heard of it or played it before and were clamouring for Mario Kart. 
 

The instant they played Mario Chase they were transfixed. The hilarity of it all, seeing the prey’s face on the tv, the urgent shouting that ‘he’s in the red zone’, the communal enjoyment of some fairly simple game modes etc. 
 

Great games don’t have to be complicated. They don’t need the most amazing graphics. Great fun and simple gameplay are what Nintendo Land delivers in spades. So many super gaming experiences, from the Luigi Mansion ghost hunt, to the Zelda arrow fest. 

 

Teaching can be a hugely rewarding job at times and it’s that sense of achievement  which keeps people in the profession. A few weeks back one of the students came up to me and said that after he’d raved about it to his parents,  his Dad picked up a WiiU in the holidays and that the family had spent hours playing Nintendo Land. All 5 of his family had played it, from his 7 years old sister to his sceptical Mum. 
 

It’s not a perfect game, but by heck it’s accessible, lovingly made, fun and engaging. There’s a very low barrier to entry so it’s a great way of introducing non-gamers to what we see in the medium. 

[scottcr]

We don’t deserve games like Nintendoland. 

[Vemsie]

6 hours ago, MK-1601 said:

A lot of 7/10s on that list. And a lot of games getting mentions for having been played for hundreds of hours. There are games I've played for an evening or a sub-10 hour campaign this gen that mean more than 500 hours of grinding in a looter shooter. But what you play often and recently is what you recall.

 

I came to Titanfall 2 late, I really struggle to see why you'd put it ahead of Doom 2016. It's an efficient game stamped out with the Call of Duty production process. The writing doesn't connect at all. No characters, no stakes, no sense of place. (I'm just talking about the single player here.)

 

Threes is the choice of someone who has played one mobile or handheld game in the past ten years.

 

I genuinely don't think Nier Automata's devs would agree it gets within ten rungs of BOTW out of all the games of this gen. Of the many, many janky games with devoted fanbases out there, it is probably one of the ones doing something interesting.

 

Re: the comparative merits of 3D platformers. I love Astro Bot (first game since the 3D coin op boom to blow me away with its sheer audiovisual impact) but it's a thin wisp of a game next to Odyssey.

 

I'd put The Last Guardian and No Man's Sky on there. And Edith Finch, Streets of Rage 4 and Noita.

Re: Titanfall 2. I agree that DOOM and especially Eternal do gunplay better. Titanfall 2 is snappy, doesn't outstay its welcome and has some super creative level design, but it's held back by braindead enemies, a lack of enemy variety and the mech sections aren't that fun. It's a blast, but Id's games are the superior shooters.
As for Astro, I personally found it more magical than Odyssey, which I found bloated and nowhere near as creative as the (imo) superior 3D World.

The Last Guardian is a masterpiece.

[BeeJay]

The only game on this list that I've not played is BOTW (I've just picked up a cheap copy on ebay thanks to a random £10 off voucher they sent me this morning).

 

If asked, I'd probably recommend all of the others but the only ones I've 'finished' are Uncharted 4 and Slay the Spire. Something about Uncharted games make them easy to flow over me. They never get too complex or require lots of energy so they are perfect evening games that I can pick up.

 

The only games on the list that I simply can't gel with are The Witcher 3, and Outer Wilds. I have given time to both, multiple times.

[squirtle]

2 hours ago, Stopharage said:

During lockdown, I was going into school looking after the keyworker’s kids. For 90 minutes of each day they would have a ‘cultural’ session. Some teachers would bring in films, others might have them in the music room etc. I took in a WiiU with a load of games including Nintendo Land. None of them had heard of it or played it before and were clamouring for Mario Kart. 
 

The instant they played Mario Chase they were transfixed. The hilarity of it all, seeing the prey’s face on the tv, the urgent shouting that ‘he’s in the red zone’, the communal enjoyment of some fairly simple game modes etc. 
 

Great games don’t have to be complicated. They don’t need the most amazing graphics. Great fun and simple gameplay are what Nintendo Land delivers in spades. So many super gaming experiences, from the Luigi Mansion ghost hunt, to the Zelda arrow fest. 

 

Teaching can be a hugely rewarding job at times and it’s that sense of achievement  which keeps people in the profession. A few weeks back one of the students came up to me and said that after he’d raved about it to his parents,  his Dad picked up a WiiU in the holidays and that the family had spent hours playing Nintendo Land. All 5 of his family had played it, from his 7 years old sister to his sceptical Mum. 
 

It’s not a perfect game, but by heck it’s accessible, lovingly made, fun and engaging. There’s a very low barrier to entry so it’s a great way of introducing non-gamers to what we see in the medium. 

And don't forget the coin drop game at the top of the tower to score presents to populate the plaza with. Our plaza is fit to burst!

 

I love that story, though. It's such a shame the game didn't take off as well as it should have.

[MK-1601]

32 minutes ago, Vemsie said:

As for Astro, I personally found it more magical than Odyssey, which I found bloated and nowhere near as creative as the (imo) superior 3D World.
 

 

Yeah, I think that's a fair assessment. There are loads of cool things in Odyssey (some of the transformations could support a game on their own) but it somehow lacks that feeling of wonder I associate with SMG and Astro Bot.