Even though it feels like the last six and a half (almost, right?) months have dragged on for several decades, we're actually only just over halfway through the year. To mark the occasion, review aggregator Metacritic has decided to celebrate the games that have kept us smiling during this hellish year.
Its 20 best-reviewed games of 2020 so far makes for some pretty interesting reading (and it's certainly different from our own top 10). The games compiled are a varied bunch, and represent the titles that really struck a chord with critics. Remember, the titles on the list are where they are because of their average scores, based on scores given across multiple reviews. You might agree, you might disagree. Let's take a look, shall we?
Command & Conquer Remastered Collection - 83 (Petroglyph Games)
Command & Conquer Remastered
"I cherish the memory of playing Command & Conquer 25 years ago," Julian Benson wrote in his GAMINGbible review. "And yet was surprised to find myself getting frustrated at the slog of completing some of the missions in the first game's campaign. But, given the choice, I still wouldn't change a thing about this remaster."
MLB The Show 20 - 83 (SIE San Diego Studio)
Sony
Sony's PS4-exclusive licensed baseball sim was a hit with fans and critics when it launched earlier this year.
Deep Rock Galactic - 84 (Ghost Ship Games)
Ghost Ship Games
An excellent a cooperative first-person shooter with fully destructible sci-fi environments. Well worth a look.
If Found... - 84 (DREAMFEEL)
DREAMFEEL
If Found... is a truly unique visual novel centred on a young transgender woman attempting to make sense of a post-apocalyptic sci-fi world.
Lair of the Clockwork God - 84 (Size Five Games)
Size Five Games
A wonderfully written and brilliantly designed adventure that blends together point-and-click puzzle solving with platforming action.
Panzer Corps 2 - 84 (Flashback Games)
Flashback Games
Turn-based WWII strategy action with an almost embarrassing amount of content to its name.
Streets Of Rage 4 - 84 (Dotemu)
Dotemu
"It can't be overstated that this is an experience that won't be as rich, as rewarding, as exciting to younger players as it will be to those who were raised on the Mega Drive," Mike Diver wrote for GAMINGbible. "But for anyone with fond memories of this genre at its peak, on home consoles and in arcades throughout the 1990s, it's unlikely you'll play a better game of its kind than Streets of Rage 4 in 2020."
Nioh 2 - 85 (Team Ninja)
Team Ninja
Super-challenging Dark Souls-style action with more than enough of its own ideas to drive the genre forward in a promising new direction.
Desperados III - 86 (Mimimi Games)
Mimimi Games / THQ Nordic
"I was already a big fan of the series when I started playing Desperados III," wrote Julian in his review of the game, "but I've been so taken with how well this old series lives up. The real-time tactics genre was big in the '90s and '00s, with games like Commandos and Syndicate being well-known names on PC, but they'd largely disappeared over the last 15 years. It's a real joy to dive into a wholly new game that shows how engaging a style of play it can be. Hopefully, this won't be the last of its kind."
Monster Train - 86 (Shiny Shoe)
Shiny Shoe
A turn-based strategy game with roguelike elements and a cracking name, Monster Train is a game you can (and will) lose hours to.
Final Fantasy VII Remake - 87 (Square Enix)
Final Fantasy VII Remake
"An unshakable takeaway from Remake (part one) is that it needed more time," Mike wrote in his review. "Time enough to turn around all the moments, of which there are too many, where the magic disappears. Maybe the rumoured scrapping of significant chunks of the game, to essentially start over in 2018, did happen, and what we're seeing here is the end product of a relatively rushed finish. But whatever the reason(s) for this not impressing as it might have, our fingers, toes and chocobos are all crossed for part two seeing the promise of this project blossom as magnificently as a flower girl's garden."
Legends Of Runeterra - 87 (Riot Games)
Riot Games
A League Of Legends spinoff that's been considered by critics to be a worthy rival to Hearthstone.
DOOM Eternal - 88 (id Software)
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"In every way, developer Id's new shooter is bigger than its predecessor, more developed, more thought out," Julian wrote in his review. "On paper it's a much richer game than the 2016 comeback, but it's one that interrupts you, stopping your flow too often. The first few hours of the game see frequent pauses for tutorial messages and cutscenes - and these interruptions make for a poor introduction."
Dreams - 89 (Media Molecule)
A tricky one to review, Dreams is essentially a creation tool with near-limitless possibilities. Video games, art, movies, and so much more can all be built from the ground up... but it takes time.
Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition - 89 (Monolith Software)
Nintendo, Monolith Soft
"Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition is the best game released for Switch so far in 2020," Mike wrote in his review. "Its roots might be a decade long, but its excellence in the context of the here and now, in comparison to other role-players on the platform, cannot be undersold."
Animal Crossing: New Horizons - 90 (Nintendo)
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I wrote in my review: "I'm happy to report that New Horizons - the first new Animal Crossing in nearly a decade, if we don't count spinoffs - is really, properly brilliant. It's a charming, rewarding, immensely relaxing game, one whose slower pace offers a welcome alternative to the more intensive AAA releases of the last year or so."
Ori And The Will Of The Wisps - 90 (Moon Studios)
Moon Studios
"I believe that Ori And The Will Of The Wisps is the best Xbox One game yet, and 2020's first real contender for Game Of The Year," I wrote in my review. "The sequel to Moon Studios' critically acclaimed Ori And The Blind Forest is a confident, visually striking metroidvania that combines smart puzzles and brutal combat with in-depth exploration and some of the best platforming action I've experienced in some time."
Half-Life: Alyx - 93 (Valve)
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The consensus on Valve's first new Half-Life in quite some time? Virtual reality finally has a story-driven game that is absolutely essential, and manages to tick every box.
The Last Of Us Part II - 94 (Naughty Dog)
Sony Interactive Entertainment
"What I find myself contemplating the most after finishing The Last Of Us Part II, is that much like the game's story, I'm still conflicted," Mark Foster wrote in his GAMINGbible review. "It's a game of several fundamental improvements - breath-taking graphics, mechanics that are a joy, outstanding performances across the board, and the sense of a deeper world having been built upon.
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"But there's still the glaringly obvious issue of the story's wonky pacing, and what you actually do to advance it. As a video game sequel it ticks all the boxes of being bigger and better with more to say. But as a story, as an experience following one of the most critically acclaimed tales ever told in this medium, it sits uncomfortably on a knife's edge, waiting for the passage of time to pull it one way or the other."
Persona 5 Royal - 95 (P-Studio)
"P-Studio have managed to take a near-perfect game in Persona 5 and elevate it to another level," James Daly wrote for us in his review. "It gets in your head like never before thanks to its refined blend of dungeon-crawling RPG action and satisfying high school simulator mechanics. In a year where Final Fantasy VII Remake is set to take the world by storm, the Persona series has done what it always does and produced something even better."
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So that's that, then: in the critics' eyes, Persona 5 is the game of the year, so far. Our own, slightly different list of the best games of 2020 so far can be found here.
Featured Image Credit: Naughty Dog/Microsoft/Square Enix/BethesdaTopics: Xbox, The Last of Us Part II, Nintendo, PlayStation