Introduction:

It's basically trite at this point to say this year has been challenging, but one positive out of everything is that I've been fortunate enough to have the time and funds to play a huge number of games that I've heard so much about, yet never was able to before now. I grew up on almost exclusively Nintendo games and then branched out to indie games in college I could play on my laptop, so I was more than excited when I bought the base PS4 that came bundled with God of War, Last of Us, and Horizon Zero Dawn for $200 (and I snagged Bloodborne for $15 while I was at it).
What ensued was a year of frenzied gaming-- never in any year of my life have I played games as much as I did this year. I enjoyed it, but there were also some surprising drawbacks to placing such an emphasis on gaming as a primary hobby, and I'll discuss those towards the conclusion. But man, there were some absolutely fantastic games that I played this year and I want to share my thoughts on them! Not every game I played this year was PS4, but most were.
Since literally every game I played this year was a good game, I have stratified my rankings into three overarching tiers: Best, Great, and Good. I was lucky enough to not even need a Meh tier this year. Lots of games within the same tier could probably have their orders switched, but I did my best. And all but two of these games I was patient™ on, which is a fun side note.
Disclaimer*:* These rankings reflect my personal opinions on the experience I had after finishing the game, rather than my thoughts on its overall quality as a product for everyone. There are a few rankings that are sure to ruffle some feathers-- I know that God of War, RDR2, Journey, Undertale, and Nier: Automata for example are great games, but they didn't resonate with me nearly as much as some others. So know that I appreciate them and those who hold these games so dear.
Without further ado, let's get going!

The BEST:

1. Bloodborne (PS4): Quite simply, I'm still chasing the feeling I had after playing this game for the first time. So much so you could say, that I played it 7 times this year. Never has a game enraptured me with its shocking world, brutal combat, and the best DLC I've ever played. I want to talk about Bloodborne (and all the souls games, really) constantly, learn everything about them, and play them forever.

1. Last of Us Part II (PS4): One of two games I broke being patient™ on, I waited a couple months before diving in just to stop working to avoid spoilers. I enjoyed the first game but this absolutely blew me out of the water. On a gameplay level I couldn't believe how fluid and visceral the combat was, how immense the encounters were with countless approaches to every situation, and how fun it was to play. The narrative was challenging and forced me to grapple with the same emotions as the protagonist initially, then brilliantly the player and character on divergent emotional tracks as you become more shocked and uncomfortable with what happens. I encourage anyone who hasn't yet to play with an open mind and avoid trying to reduce the story to a single theme or message. It may not be your cup of tea, but it was mine.

3. Outer Wilds (PS4): This game feels like it was made just for me. I love space and rocket physics, I love discovery, and I love it when a game makes me feel clever. The level of wonder and curiosity I felt while playing can only be compared to what I experienced with Breath of the Wild. This game is difficult to talk about without spoilers, but if discovery and outer space get you excited, there is nothing like Outer Wilds.

1. Dark Souls III (PS4): Yeah, I like souls games. While certainly less groundbreaking than DS1 and perhaps less atmospheric than Bloodborne, DS3 is a grand experience with, in my opinion, the best bosses in all the souls games. It's also the best souls game for experimenting with different playstyles without needing to watch 6 hours of VaatiVidya to figure out how to be a pyromancer.
   
2. Control (PS4): Objectively speaking, this game might not have the same merits as the others in the "Best" category. But it sucked me in with it's completely unique visual style. It felt like a strange acid trip and I was always excited to see what was next. The powers and combat were fun even if not terribly original (and even though the gunplay wasn't too strong) but I was completely enthralled by the nonchalance of the cast amid mind blowing supernatural activity. Far from a perfect game, but give it a chance if the style seems intriguing to you!
   

The Great:

1. The Last of Us Remastered (PS4): One of my most anticipated games when I picked up a PS4, having watched my friends play some of it. Though it didn't blow me away as much in 2020 as it might have in 2013, I thought it had decent gameplay, a great story, and a stunning world. The cities and post-apocalyptic environments were a pleasure to soak in, packed with detail, and well paced. Definitely a deserved classic.
   
2. Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4): In a lot of ways, this game isn't good as an open world game. It doesn't do a great job of compelling you to explore and engage with all the cool stuff it has. The sidequests are kind of bad, many characters forgettable and oddly animated. But this game is this high on the list because it's just so much fun taking down machine dinosaurs. They nailed gameplay in a technically beautiful world, and actually surprised me with the quality of the main story line. Not groundbreaking, but solid and a joy to play.
   
3. Death Stranding (PS4): For being one of the best games I have ever played, Death Stranding kinda sucks. I absolutely adored the premise and the world Kojima crafted, and delivering packages was really enjoyable. I loved figuring out traversal and just soaking in the graphics. I'm not one that normally cares about technical graphical showcases, but this game has made me reconsider how important graphics can be to an experience. Unfortunately, the dreadful gun mechanics, broken driving, constant NPC interjections, and the game's refusal to just end already kinda bogged it down. There's a lot here though that won me over and is an experience unlike anything I've ever played.
   
4. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo Switch): The other game on this list I was not patient™ for, since I bought it for my wife... and then got sucked in. Truth is, as a non-creative type, I just loved this game as an outlet for my creativity and expression. I loved having projects like my zen garden, my Domino's Pizza restaurant, and then getting to share them with my friends. I've heard it said something along the lines of "It wasn't the best game of 2020, but it was the game for 2020".
   
5. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PS4): Once I adjusted my expectations of what this game was and was not, it was great. While it doesn't reward open exploration as much as BoTW and Skyrim did, it simply has the best quests of any open world game I've played. Very rich environments and stories, and I even thought the gameplay was more than serviceable. It did kind of drag on by the end though. Also, disclaimer, I haven't played the DLC (sorry).
   
6. Return of the Obra Dinn (Nintendo Switch): I had hoped it would blow me away in a way similar to Outer Wilds, and while it didn't quite reach the same heights for me it was great nonetheless. I loved the nautical setting, the critical thinking and deduction required, and the way it was balanced perfectly between leaving you totally on your own and confirming bits at a time. My only real complaint is that I felt the true ending didn't really reveal anything about the story I didn't already know, I guess I expected some grand reveal.
   
7. Doom Eternal (PS4): White-knuckle, heart pounding, insane. The game forces you to engage with every mechanic it throws at you and is brutally challenging, but all in the best way. Though the gameplay was better than DOOM 2016, I actually preferred the latter since Eternal's levels felt more like a silly mario level than a tense demon-infested place. I get what they were going for and they executed well, I just prefer the more serious tone.
   
8. Hades (Nintendo Switch): Biggest surprise of the year for me, I didn't actually expect to like it. Hades is perfectly polished and a big step forward for integrating its excellent narrative with its roguelike structure. It's very easy to play without investing too much, making it great for unwinding. It deserves all the praise it's getting.
   
9. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Remastered) (PS4): All the mainline Uncharted games are on this list but I enjoyed 2 the most. The set pieces were the most memorable, and I enjoyed almost every second. These games aren't as high on the list because, no matter how you dress it up, it's a pretty simple affair ultimately in terms of gameplay but it nails the style of game that it is.
   
10. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (PS4): An amazing game in its own right, but was ultimately disappointing for me as a From Software fan. I found that what I appreciated most about Souls games was the tension of not knowing if you could make it to the next checkpoint, the terror of encountering something surprising and having to deal with it. Sekiro litters checkpoints left and right, which is of course great for its more boss-focused design, but left me far less immersed in the environments personally. I also wished I had more options for playing aggressively rather than just memorizing the parry patterns. In any case, these gripes are my personal preferences coming through and any hardcore gamer owes it to themselves to conquer this behemoth of a challenge.
    
11. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 (PS4): Pure, unadulterated fun. I was absolutely addicted to the core gameplay and the levels, especially in the first game, were so cool to explore. For me the core loop started to get stale by the time I finished all the challenges on the levels, but for those that wanted more there is almost an endless amount of bonus challenges to tackle.
    
12. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4): There's definitely a strong argument that this is the ultimate uncharted game to play-- best gunplay and options in encounters, by far the best puzzles, and the delivery of the story is leagues above the rest of the series. I simply think that Uncharted 2 had the highest highs, so 4 is a tad lower. That, and the beautiful story set up was not brought together in a satisfying way; it in no way felt like Drake had earned Elena's forgiveness, but they kind just glossed over it. Still, a must play and Naughty Dog games at their best.
    
13. Subnautica (PS4): I wanted to love it more than I did. I was hooked on exploring and discovering the mysteries of the alien underwater, but I think I do better with games with less of a survival focus. I got really far into the game, but didn't actually finish since eventually the slow drip of clues started to get a bit too slow for my tastes, and the survival and basebuilding began to get tedious. Minor PS4 technical issues aside though, This is a dang good survival game, and immense in a terrifying and wonderful way.
    
14. Monster Train (PC): Slay the Spire is one of my all-time favorites, so I was pretty excited to be gifted this. It's a blast as a deckbuilder, and I think it was smartly designed in how it throws significant and strong rewards at you at every phase of a run, whereas StS often forces you to make the best of an iffy situation. Had a great time, but I lost interest after 15 or so hours since most runs tend to feel fairly similar. Still would absolutely recommend for StS and deckbuilding fans.
    
15. Spelunky (PC): Not the hardest game I've ever played, but definitely the most unforgiving. The controls took a while to get used to but once I was engaged, the game is a tight, slick, and enthralling adventure and test of skills. Full of secrets (I've only scratched the surface) and deeply satisfying to conquer. But boy, is it unforgiving.
    
16. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Remastered) (PS4): Another strong entry in the Uncharted series, just a tad weaker than 2 I think. I will credit it though with having the most memorable environments and locales in any Uncharted though!
    

The Good:

1. Read Dead Redemption II (PS4): *Full disclosure, I'm still playing through act 5 at the time of this post.* This one is really tough for me to fully form an opinion on. On the one hand, I think this is the most stunning and immersive open world I've ever seen. Deeply authentic towns, regions, unparalleled attention to detail, and great characters and a decent story. But the way the missions force you to do things explicitly one way with terrible hand-holding just isn't fun to me, and makes Uncharted games feel like open-world sandboxes by comparison. There's a lot of quality here and I've enjoyed many elements, but have been disillusioned by others. NakeyJakey explains what I felt far better than I can (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvJPKOLDSos&t=392s). Still a good time though.
   
2. God of War (PS4): Like RDR2, an incredible technical achievement, for me hands down the best looking PS4 game, best voice acting, and for most people this should be towards the top of your must-play list. At its best, the characters are great, the combat is crunchy and satisfying, and the world beautiful. I just felt that for far too often the game was far from its best-- too many combat encounters didn't feel like I was a God of War but rather smacking a giant meat sack of health, so many secrets and puzzles that I just stopped caring about because finding treasure chests isn't fun when the rpg/loot elements feel so tacked on and pointless, endlessly recycled bosses... for me it was just pretty good, nothing like the game of the generation in my eyes. That said, most people don't seem too bothered by the things I found mediocre, so the sheer spectacle (looking at you world serpent!) and great moments make this well worth the price of admission!
   
3. Undertale (PC): I did not play this game the way it was meant to be played, let's say that up front. It was a gift, and I played about a half an hour every month for a year and just finally finished it. I loved the music, it was charming, and I see why people love this game so much. I think it just didn't hit those highs for me and I was left with a fairly silly little 8-bit game. Which was good. I'm glad I experienced what it had to offer but didn't leave a huge mark on me.
   
4. Superhot (Google Stadia): I had wanted to play this game forever but couldn't justify spending $20 on it, so I was pleased when I got a free Google Stadia kit and got to play it free! Really neat blend of stylized retro computer flavor and a fabulous central time-stop mechanic. A great 2 hour experience but tough to recommend as more than a novelty.
   
5. NieR: Automata (PS4): I have made it through 1.5 playthroughs so I know I haven't gotten the full experience, but I wasn't enjoying it enough to continue. I think every game developer though should learn from the brilliance of this game-- constantly keeping the player on its toes by not confining itself by a genre and by focusing on what's fun and cool, rather than convention. Excellent music. I get the hype, and the healthy dose of existential musings was interesting... it just didn't ultimately click for me. I can't unequivocally recommend this game to everyone, but if the premise and style stand out to you, this could be your next all-time favorite game.
   
6. Star Wars Battlefront II (PS4): Picked this up for free with PS Plus, and while there's not a lot here that's that special it was honestly super nice comfort food gaming. I just enjoyed shooting stuff in really cool Star Wars settings, a franchise I love. For what it was, I had a blast, minus the fact that I personally feel Jedi/heroes really kinda ruin the game for me. Unfortunately, it also is nothing more than a basic mass multiplayer battlefield game, so don't expect anything crazy.
   
7. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (Remastered) (PS4): Definitely weaker than its successors, but still a really fun romp with trope-y but effective narrative and characters, and totally serviceable gunplay. This would be much higher on the list, and I honestly had a great time with it, but man the final third of the game was really painful to play. The switch to zombies was bad, and just wasn't fun to play through.
   
8. Until Dawn (PS4): I did not think I would like this game at all, I don't care for cheesy horror and definitely am not interested in interactive movies. But if you have a significant other or group of friends to play this with, it can be a great time! I played with my wife and we were honestly pretty engaged with the characters and the story was well told and had plenty of nice jump scares. There's not much game here, but for what it is it was a neat experience.
   
9. Shadow of the Colossus (Remake) (PS4): There were some incredible highlights to this game like the flying colossus and the sand worm, and the scale of the encounters with the epic music has earned this game a place as a masterpiece and classic to so many gamers. The remake looks stunning and it was exciting to see what type of colossus was up next. Unfortunately, every great moment I had was accompanied by an equally frustrating moment with mediocre controls and a couple of colossus that were so bad (looking at you, little bull/lion Celosia) that made me have to put down the game for a few days. A great game let down by some dated and poor elements.
   
10. Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin (PS4): Souls games are my favorites, so it pains me to put this game so low. The best areas in the game (Heide's tower, Drangleic Castle, etc) are up there with the best in the series and most of the excellent combat found in the other games is more or less present here. But I think 2/3 of the game is bogged down by drab areas that feel more like a mario level designed to kill the player more than an area that could really exist. The Iron keep was the worst offender, the area was absolutely nonsensical and like so many other areas, enemies were placed in a way designed to frustrate the player with difficulty rather than engage them with challenge. Bosses were also mostly forgettable, but I did love the Looking Glass knight and the Pursuer!
    
11. Journey (PS4): Look, I'm as surprised as you that this game is on the bottom of the list. I honestly expected to love it. An artistic, beautiful marriage of environmental storytelling and unforgettable online interaction? A smooth and cathartic movement system? It has all these things, and no doubt deserves the acclaim and love it has from so many gamers. It just didn't resonate with me. Especially the ending, I felt for sure that there would be some great climax that contrasted with the struggle of the icy segment, but instead it fell a bit flat. Maybe I'll give it another try someday.
    

Conclusion, Gaming Patiently, and a Warning:

There you have it! I'd love to hear what surprised you in my rankings, where I'm horribly wrong, and what games you recommend I play next! Personally, I'm considering Persona 5 (though I'm not super into JRPGs), Dishonored 2 (am curious about immersive sims), and Jedi Fallen Order.
Gaming patiently is a strategy I absolutely endorse. Not only has it allowed me to form my own opinions of games independent of hype, but has allowed me to play a huge quantity of incredible games for honestly pennies. The average cost per game of everything I played this year was under $20. Now, more than ever, is an amazing time to get a PS4 and be a patient gamer, due to both the relative inexpensiveness and the sheer volume of outstanding games. I still will probably buy the big nintendo titles at launch and occasionally buy into hype, but most of the time it just isn't worth it anymore.
Finally, a friendly warning as a personal story for those of us who deeply love games and devote a lot of time to them. Like many kids, I was pretty limited by my parents growing up on what and how much I was allowed to play. I loved gaming but it was somewhat of a forbidden fruit. In college, I loved gaming and definitely played more, but still was very busy with social activities, studies, and other hobbies. Now, as a working adult with a comfortable job, I suddenly have more time and money than I have ever had in my life, and thus this giant list of games I played was created. For the first few months it was enthralling; all I wanted to do was play. Over the course of the year, however, it has become clear to me that requiring so much of my happiness and fun coming from having a game to be excited about can have some drawbacks. In the middle of a pandemic, if I'm sitting on the couch waiting for video games to make me happy and they just aren't giving me the same enjoyment that Bloodborne did when I played it for the first time, I'm just gonna be stuck there on the couch, slowly getting a bit depressed when my main source of fun isn't cutting it. So what's the point? Well, enjoy your games! Don't let anyone stop you from loving what you love. But if you start to burn out, please take care of yourself and engage in other hobbies, get outside, and keep things balanced. For me, doing so has made gaming all the sweeter.
Thanks for reading and indulging this long post!

Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor, and this should not be taken as financial advice. I eat the peels of oranges and throw out the fruit. This is for entertainment purposes only.
Just wanted to run through a few points on GME in hopes of having some quality discussion. I’m going to try and focus on the long term potential of the company, and less about squeeze related potential.
For a moment, lets forget about the GameStop hype train, and get down to the basic facts and fundamentals of the business, in hopes of trying to pick apart it’s future potential in the world of gaming. Video games are a $150 billion industry, with that expected to grow twice the GDP by 2023 Source. This market is largely untapped at the retail level, the reasons for which can be argued into the dirt. Yes, brick and mortar businesses are the next blockbuster, I get that. But even when Blockbuster was dying, there were other competitors fighting for every movie rental customer out there. And do you remember going to Blockbuster every Friday or Saturday night with the family because it was movie night, and how enjoyable it was to wander around to pick out the nights movie? Perhaps GameStop could corner this potential nostalgia for younger generations? Parents are still going to need to go to the mall to pick out school clothes or groceries. Why can’t they dump their kids at GameStop while they go do the shopping the way they left us in the magazine aisle of the grocery store?
Understandably, the gaming industry is shifting towards digital and online purchases. Does that mean children will never ever leave their house again? Look how cooped up Covid has made you feel. I would kill to go to a mall right now. DFV believes that while the shift is happening towards digital gaming rather than physical discs, it is not happening at the speed everyone thinks, and likely won’t see it’s full realization until the next generation of consoles in about 3 years Source DFV. DFV notes that while numbers are hard to pin-point, estimates that between 40-50% of games are still purchased in physical format. Switch Animal crossing had sales split right down that middle at 50/50 digital/physical. This buys GameStop at least a few years of revenue from physical sales while the transition is made towards a more digital consumer basis.
GameStop has already made it clear that they are to reduce store locations considerably due to rising costs their leases, and overseas brands almost entirely liquidated. It is still too early to say if they will reopen storefronts overseas, but I think that will largely be based on the success of their new test stores.
An experimental store was opened in Tulsa Oklahoma, and proved very successful while trying out new strategies like DnD and tabletops style game rooms. Much like the video game market, the tabletop market is widely untapped and has a massive market for purchasing new games, accessories, figurines, paints, dice, you name it. Furthermore, offering a place to play creates atmosphere, with in-store purchases for DnD or WarHammer 40k sessions only an arms-reach away, opening up the opportunity for spur of the moment product sales. Geek culture has come out of the woodwork in the last decade, and it’s here to stay. I think GameStop could potentially offer a place of gathering for all sorts of like-minded tabletop gamers. They also floated ideas like PC building stations, and learning to program a video game. These are massive growing industries and GME could be the stepping stone for those that are too intimidated by them.
We’ve all heard the “Brick n mortar is dead” counter argument from the bears, but while there may not be a place for 5700 GameStop locations world wide, it does have its place in this world. Apple products are all available on their website, or even through BestBuy, but why is the Apple store at the mall always packed when you walk by it? How often do you see people in there who don’t even intend to buy anything? Product image is a powerful force, and should never be discounted. Seeing an artificial line up outside the Pandora jewelry store creates an image that their market (mainly younger to middle-age females) cannot walk by without feeling compelled to see what all the fuss is about. Or when you go out on the town, do you go to the club with the dude trying to solicit you to go inside, or do you go to the bumping one with the loud music sexy girls waiting in line trying to get in. Walking by and seeing a Super Smash bros tournament going on will cater to their consumer basis in the same fashion.
I feel that GameStop has already taken many steps in this direction, and is well underway towards becoming this powerhouse business within the gaming industry. With board members like former Nintendo COO and CEO Reginald Fils-Aime Watch this to see this guys massive potential! He’s already a widely known face and well loved within the gaming community, and could fall into GameStop promotion without breaking a stride.
We all know of Ryan Cohen’s success in cornering a market in pet toys and food that could’ve easily been filled by Amazon. How did he do this? Through outstanding customer service. People were willing to pay more because of the relationships he built with his clients. Things like sending hand-written cards to pet owners goes a long way.
Ryan of course brought with him 3 of his Chewy buddies to the exec team, including Kelli Durken the new VP of customer care. Chewy scored a Net Promoter Score of 86 in 2018. Anything less than 80 is bust for those of you who aren’t familiar with the rating, and is not easy to obtain. I believe this was largely part of Durken’s efforts.
GameStop’s bonds will also be maturing on March 15, 2021. With share prices so much higher than expected, they will easily be able to pay back investors on this loan should they choose to raise capital via issuing more shares from the treasury. GameStop before the massive hype was also considering buying back shares, which of course would raise their value considerably, as well as put any short-sellers in a bind as they are further reduced from the available share float from which they are shorting.
OR AS A BONUS THIRD OPTION, GameStop could issue a one-time cash dividend to all shareholders, as an appreciation to all those investors supporting the company (Lets say it’s $25 / share, $25 * 51,000,000 available shares = $1.275 billion) HOWEVER, if you are currently shorting any shares, you now must PAY $25 per share. If 100% of shares are currently shorted, then shorts are coughing up $1.275 billion. This is essentially a direct cash transfer from short sellers to share holders and has little direct benefit to GameStop, but we can all speculate on what this would do for publicity given the current thoughts on GME shareholders and Hedge funds that are shorting GME. I don’t know all the ins/outs of this, feel free to provide more info if you know more about this.
Will any of these moves carry over to the $150billion gaming industry? Or will people just order video games off Amazon and Wal-mart and play CoD in their basement? This of course does not touch on the potential for e-sports, as I feel that would almost deserve a post for its own discussion. I even read potential for an agreement with console makers / developers to “trade-in” digital copies of games for credit towards another, with GameStop acting as the hub which you can do this, taking a $0.50 commission. That’s free revenue for virtually no cost. Curious to hear more thoughts on that model. Source
I encourage you to poke holes in the potential I see. My opinion is obviously biased at this point, and welcome any alternate views or theories for discussion. It seems hard to have quality talk regarding GME without spamming memes or getting voted down by bots and bears.
Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor, and this should not be taken as financial advice. I eat the peels of oranges and throw out the fruit. This is for entertainment purposes only.
Position: Diamond handing 2326 shares. I just like the stock.
Tl;dr:

• Potential to corner gaming market
  
• Physical games still in demand for a few years
  
• Test store in Tulsa Oklahoma very successful
  
• Expansion into tabletop / board games market
  
• Powerhouse of talent welcomed to the board
  
• Bonds maturing March 15, 2021. Opportunity to clear debt or even screw shorts.
  
• Still potential revenue for in-store trade ins on a digital market.
  

I am here with another year of reflection and prediction. I have done this for 2020, 2019 and 2018 as well: You can see those predictions here:
2020 mid-year: https://www.reddit.com/nintendo/comments/i3i7jm/state_of_nintendo_in_2020_7_month_retrospective/
2020: https://www.reddit.com/nintendo/comments/ee2xav/state_of_nintendo_in_2020/
2019: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/189706-nintendo-switch/77354321
E3 2018: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/189706-nintendo-switch/76268685
2018: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/189706-nintendo-switch/76150741
Keep in mind that this is meant to drive discussion, don’t be a hater. Predicting the future of company plans from a fan perspective is not a precise science and some may be correct and many may be wrong. State what you think will happen in the coming year and why to add to the discussion.

2020 Retrospective

What a year, this is definitely one that will go down in history if only for how the world was shut down economically. Not going into what should have been done, so with the global pandemic hitting many industries, programmers had work from home orders which in turn caused numerous delays to titles that were being prepared for release. Regardless we still saw a steady stream of high-quality titles and the completion of DLC for titles of previous years.
DLC releases
Fire Emblem: Cindered Shadows (February) final DLC with the season pass included new characters and a bonus story playable at any time focused on the catacombs below the school
Super Mario Maker 2: The final update included new snow mechanics and a world maker where you could create a full Mario game (April)
Luigi’s Mansion 3: saw the release of two multiplayer packs (April)
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The final expansion “Fantastic 4: Shadow of Doom” (March)
Pokémon Sword/Shield: Two expansion packs in one pass “The Isle of Armor” (July) and “The Crown Tundra” (October) for the first time in a Pokémon game, bringing back many favorite Pokémon
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: finished the first character pass with Byleth (January) and had previously announced a second waiver of character pass with 6 characters. Currently we have seen 3 – Min Min (June), Steve from Minecraft (October), and Sephiroth (December) and 3 more to go.
Major Releases
Super Mario time
Celebrating his 35th anniversary, Nintendo came out with a slew of products starring our favorite Italian Plumber. First was Paper Mario: The Origami King (July) which advanced past the previous two entries but was not quite back to its RPG routes like fans want. Next was Super Mario 3D All-stars (September) which included ports of Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy. Adjusting control schemes to account for the lack of analog triggers and pointing controls, the ports were solid but not the best way to play the games. Also missing was Super Mario Galaxy 2 from the package and any extras like documentaries making the games. An MMO-platformer Super Mario 35 (October) was also released free to NSO subscribers where you compete to complete levels in the original Super Mario Bros. Lastly was a Game & Watch version of the original Super Mario Bros.
Pokémon Battle
As stated before, we got the first DLC ever for a Pokémon game and it came in two packages “The Ilse of Armor” and “The Crown Tundra” which added extra Pokémon (both new and old) and new areas to the game. Some criticism on the way the DLC was handled as if you bought the expansion for the wrong version, it would not work despite being the same content. Pokémon Home (February) final arrived on the Switch. The spin off Mystery Dungeon series came in the form of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX (March) which was an updated port of the old Mystery Dungeon games. A free puzzle game Pokémon Café (June) to little fanfare. Also promises of a new Pokémon Snap which was delayed into 2021.
Other notable releases
· Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore (January): port of the Wii U game with a few added extras and English voice acting.
· Animal Crossing: New Horizons (March): hit at the start of the pandemic, added features and a promise of evergreen additions made this game Switch’s best-selling game that has not been a pack-in (ie only beat by Mario Kart 8 Deluxe). This game allowed gamers to escape reality and build their own island.
· Streets of Rage 4 (April): Return of the 2D brawler
· Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition (May): a remake of one of Wii’s top RPGs with newer graphics, and a cleaner layout, it also included a bonus mission that connects the ending to the sequel.
· Bioshock Collection (May): A collection of all three critically acclaimed Bioshock games for the first time on an Nintendo console.
· Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (June): A collection of various minigames like Connect Four, various card games, Mahjong and more. Barebone options and quick online play for random or with friends.
· Jump Rope Challenge (June): A free exercise type game that makes use of the joycon to mimic jumping rope
· Burnout Paradise Remastered (June): An open world arcade racer that was critically acclaimed at its original release and updated for modern consoles. Also shows EA putting in more dedication to the Switch console.
· Kirby Fighters 2 (September): A fighting game starring Kirby and his power ups and nobody else.
· Hades (September): Rogue like game that tells the story as you die. Many different gameplay styles depending on which weapons you use.
· Ori and the Will of the Wisps (September): Metroidvania that is visually stunning and developed originally only for Xbox.
· Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit (October): Not wanting to give up on the AR experience, Nintendo released toy RC cars that you control with the Switch and a free software download.
· Pikmin 3 Deluxe (October): not done porting all their Wii U games to Switch, this includes all the added DLC at no extra charge
· No More Heroes/No More Heroes 2 (October): Ports of the Wii games with better graphics and framerate and alternate control style to prepare for the upcoming sequel.
· Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (November): Based on the past events of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, this musou game changes up its formula but still plays like a musou game.
· Doom Eternal (December): competent port of the PS4/XB1 first person shooter by Bethesda.
· Among Us (December): Shadow dropped indie title that has taken mobile and Twitch by storm.
While not the best year, it was far from empty. Still lacking some key releases such as the sequel to Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Metroid Prime 4, Bayonetta 3 and Super Mario Odyssey 2. There are many Nintendo teams that we have yet to see titles. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic a lot of development has been postponed due to work at home directives set by government.

Current Release List for 2021

· Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The Game (Jan 14)
· Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy (Jan 26)
· Cyber Shadow (Jan 26)
· Little Nightmares 2 (Feb 11)
· Romance of the Three Kingdoms 14 (Feb 11)
· Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury (Feb 12)
· Persona 5 Strikers (Feb 22)
· Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection (Feb 25)
· Bravely Default 2 (Feb 26)
· Harvest Moon: One World (Mar 2)
· Balan Wonderworld (Mar 26)
· Monster Hunter Rise (Mar 26)

First Party Software

Nintendo Entertainment Planning and Development Tokyo
Kenta Motokura
In charge of the team that was previously under Yoshiaki Koizumi (whom was promoted to Deputy General Manager of the Tokyo office). This team was previously the lead development group of Super Mario Odyssey and developed Super Mario 3D All-stars for September 2020. Due to ports being easier to produce. Now that has wrapped up and they have created an update to allow for inverted camera controls, chances are they have been placed back on developing a sequel to Super Mario Odyssey which will likely be seen in 2022.
Koichi Hayashida
The other team that helped with Super Mario Odyssey also did the port of Captain Toad: Treasure Trackers. They have been busy working on a port of Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury for Switch due February 2021. They have been focused on implementing numerous changes to that title including: full 3D movement, online gameplay, and amiibo support with Cat Mario and Cat Peach. With all the extras being added, this game probably got pushed out of 2020 and into 2021 due to the pandemic changing the development lifestyle. Also, there is a highly likelihood was that they were working with Motokura’s group originally on Odyssey 2 but plans changed to get out more games for Mario’s 35th Anniversary. I expect them to fold back into Motokura’s group on Odyssey 2 when their port is completed.
Nintendo Entertainment Planning and Development Kyoto
Eiji Aonuma
Known as the “Zelda team”, there are two core teams. I believe both are working under Hidemaro Fujibayashi and Hiromasa Shikata to help develop the sequel to Breath of the Wild. Nintendo knows that Zelda sells consoles and what they have shown at e3 (2019) while stating the title is “in full development”. Nintendo know the popularity of the Breath of the Wild game and wants grow on that title. They have done so with the musou game Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity in which this team has assisted Tecmo Koei with development and the overall story. In September 2020 during an online presentation for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Aonuma stated that gamers will have to “wait a bit longer before we can provide more updates” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifm8tpcO4vw). With the 35th Anniversary of the Legend of Zelda series coming in 2021, I do expect this title to be a highlight for the holiday season as long as the game is not pushed back due to unforeseen circumstances in development.
Hideki Konno
This team is the team behind the Mario Kart series. Their latest endeavor was with Augmented Reality (AR) and developing Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit which was released this past October. Not having a full game released since Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in 2017, they have been developing something over the past 3 and a half years. The problem though is MK8D still sells incredibly well and if they develop Mario Kart 9 that will cannibalize any additional sales of their previous title. While chances are they could have altered their development to change it from Mario Kart 9 to another kart racer such as Donkey Kong Racing, I think gamers will probably see something from them when Nintendo showcases a newer model Switch (either the rumored PRO or an actual Switch 2) so I would not expect a full game release until 2022 at the earliest.
Hiroyuki Kimura
Super Mario Maker 2 and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe were developed under Kimura with the help of Takashi Tezuka. In April 2020, Nintendo released the final major update for Super Mario Maker 2 which included a World creator, where you can make your own full fledged Mario game. They also released New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe in January which is an updated port of the Wii U game. There have been rumors of a new Wario platformer being developed which this team has likely been developing. Chances are likely that we will hear about their new title this year.
Kosuke Yubuki
Previously worked on ARMS in 2017 and its DLC. This producer also worked with Konno so it is likely this team was folded back into the Mario Kart team to prepare something for this year or next. It is possible they are working on an ARMS follow up, but with the success of Smash and one of its main characters Min Min being the first of the second waive of Smash DLC, it is unlikely. Most likely working on something brand new which we may see in 2021 or the following year.
Hisashi Nogami
This is the young producer in charge of both Animal Crossing and Splatoon series. He worked with another young producer Aya Kyogoku on Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer. With the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons taking an evergreen approach with constant DLC content, especially when it comes to special occasions. A more seamless online experience and a lot more to do, I am sure this group is still working on Animal Crossing. Its next game will be a while away while they focus on Animal Crossing in the current future. Do not expect anything new from this team for a while.

2nd Party Studios

Camelot Software Planning
Their last title was Mario Tennis Aces (2018) and its respective DLC. Being a smaller studio, it takes some time for development. The team was hit harder due to the pandemic. Now, with all the DLC on Mario Tennis Aces completed early 2019, they have likely been busy in full development on Mario Golf. Most likely will see Mario Golf sometime in 2021. It is likely they were probably aiming for a 2020 title buy delayed the development into 2021 – so expect a release this year.
Game Freak
They just released the 2 DLC packages for Pokémon Sword and Shield for the Nintendo Switch this year to mixed review. They typically have something Pokémon related out each year and they also developed their own title Little Town Hero last year meaning they have been hard developing some titles. Current rumors suggest either a Let’s Go remake of Gold/Silver or a full remake of Diamond/Pearl since Ruby/Sapphire were the last full remakes. Personally, I think we will either see Sword/Shield 2 or a whole new Pokémon game due out this year since they have been incredibly busy, are a larger studio that works on many titles at once, and have not had a big release in 2020.
Grezzo
This team just release the port of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening in 2019. Mostly known for their 3DS ports of Zelda titles and TriForce Heroes, chances are they are still working on the Zelda franchise. With 2021 being Zelda’s 35th Anniversary, there have been many rumors of a collection or ports of some of the older Zelda games to be released in 2021. Since 2018, there has also been rumor of a Zelda: Skyward Sword port (which was shot down by Aonuma) (https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-11-26-nintendo-fans-excited-by-zelda-skyward-sword-nintendo-switch-port-reports)
Good Feel
They released Yoshi’s Crafted World in 2019 and has likely they have started on the next Yoshi game as it tends to sell well and it is what they know. It is also possible that Nintendo has given them another 2D IP to work with such as Wario Land, however; I think that series might be in development by the 2D Mario team under Kimura. It is highly likely that we will see something from them in 2021 and depending on how the pandemic hit their development cycle it may have either a 2021 or 2022 release.
HAL Laboratory
Developer of all things Kirby, we have seen some smaller Kirby titles lately. Their last games were Kirby Fighters 2 and Part-time UFO both digital only eShop games. They have teased something for early this year but on the smaller scale (https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/12/kirby_developer_hal_laboratory_teases_new_projects_for_20211) . I think they may also have a full-fledged Kirby game due this year as our last one was early 2018.
Intelligent Systems
This team was hard at work as it finished the DLC on Fire Emblem: 3 Houses and released Paper Mario: The Origami King in July of 2020. They also continue to work on Fire Emblem Heroes on mobile as that is Nintendo’s highest grossing mobile project. Growing the studio in 2019 to be able to handle numerous projects at a time, they likely have a few titles in development. The biggest rumor is that Nintendo is readying another Fire Emblem game but a remake of an older title. Current rumors are remakes of Geneology (next one in line for a remake) or Binding Blade (the game that introduced Roy). If it is a remake, then we will likely see the release in 2021. If it is not a remake, then creating the scenario will take some time so we will likely see the game this year with a release for 2022. Chances are they are likely working on another title as well but that probably won’t be seen until 2022.
Next Level Games
Last responsible for Luigi’s Mansion 3 and its DLC that was released in 2020. They have also worked on Metroid and Punch-out! With actual 3D Mario titles being handled internally by Nintendo’s Tokyo studio, they are likely working on something new. Possibly a sports title, new Punch Out, or even a 2D Metroid (though I doubt this despite rumors of development). We may see what they have developed this year, but I would expect a 2022 release to be more realistic for what they are working on.
NDCube
Responsible for Super Mario Party in 2018 and they did Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics for 2020, which was a barebones release in the form of options. Considering the lack of DLC for Super Mario Party, chances are they are working on a sequel to the game that sold well. The single problem if they are working on Super Mario Party 2 is that the original is still selling incredibly well even 2 years after release with over 12 million units. Even if the game is ready this year, I think Nintendo will hold out on Super Mario Party 2 until 2022.
Monolith Soft
Responsible for help with Breath of the Wild and the Xenoblade franchise. We did not hear much from them in 2019 or 2020 with their only release being a remake of the original Xenoblade Chronicles in May. In 2017 they advertised jobs for a new fantasy action-RPG which likely was transferred to their help with the Zelda franchise. I believe we will see the sequel to Breath of the Wild this year and first glimpse of a new Xenoblade game for 2022.
Retro Studios
This year also marks the 35th Anniversary for the Metroid series. Unfortunately, the series is not as high priority as many other Nintendo franchises. With the sequel of Breath of the Wild likely coming out this year, it will be the focus for Nintendo in 2021; we probably will not see any development from Metroid Prime 4 until 2022. Nintendo knows that they need to make Metroid Prime a quality title so they will give Retro Studios as much time as they need for the title. As for the long-rumored port of the Metroid Prime Trilogy, I still have hopes that we will see some information on it this year, potentially in August to support the anniversary and prepare for Metroid Prime 4 the following year.

3rd Party collaborations

Bandai Namco
Collaborating with Nintendo on the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and its DLC, there are still 3 character-packages to go before they are finished with that game. Additionally, they are the development team behind New Pokémon Snap, which was originally due 2020 but delayed into an unknown time 2021 – so expect that title. The Tales team is busy on Tales of Arise which is not bound for Switch, so outside the DLC and Pokémon game do not expect much.
Bethesda
The parent company Zenimax was recently purchased by Microsoft. The sale included Bethesda and all its partnering companies. The last release was Doom Eternal released in December 2020 and was a digital only release. The move from physical to digital only was due to the fact it came 9 months after the main PS4/XB1 release. With no Switch games scheduled on the horizon and its recent acquisition and focus on next generation, I think we have seen the last Switch game from Bethesda
Capcom
They have ported many of their older titles (REmake, RE0, RE4, RE5, RE6, Rev1, Rev2 DMC 1,2,3) to Switch and have brand new games: Monster Hunter Rise and Monster Hunter Stories due in 2021. With the Capcom leak, there is a game due Q4 of 2021 called Biohazard Outrage which is rumored to be Resident Evil Revelations 3 and featuring Rebecca Chambers. There was also a leak of a new Dragon’s Dogma and Ace Attorney 7 which are rumored to come to Switch.
Electronic Arts
They have pledged 14 games from April 2020 to March 2021 fiscal year. EA has kept the games closely guarded and it is unsure if the global pandemic has postponed any of the planned games. Still waiting on Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 and some Plants vs Zombie games.
Koei Tecmo
Since Nintendo has invested heavily in this studio, they have worked increasing hard for Nintendo hardware. They finished the Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 DLC, assisted with Breath of the Wild in 2017, assisted with Fire Emblem: 3 Houses and released Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity in 2020. They co-own the Fatal Frame franchise with Nintendo and it has a game that is rumored to be in development. There is also a possibility of a port of the Wii U game to come to Switch. It is likely they are helping with the sequel to Breath of the Wild as well. Lastly there has been a year long rumor on the return of Ninja Gaiden and it seems that Switch would be likely candidate for that game considering how well their games are selling on Switch
Platinum Games
They are working on Bayonetta 3 and have a good relationship with Nintendo. Being in development the over the past 3 years, I do expect to at least hear something about the title in 2021 if not a release but I have been wrong before.
Ubisoft
I went out on a limb last year and said Assassin Creed ports and they are working with Nintendo on a new Star Fox game. We have seen ports for Assassins Creed 3, Liberty, 4: Black Flag and Rebel. New Assassins Creed games are a bit too much for Ubisoft, but I still think we will see another Nintendo collaboration and I am positive it will be a new Star Fox game. Ubisoft will also continue to support Nintendo with Just Dance and look forward to a lot of their smaller titles to also come to the Switch.
Sega
Their biggest releases were games along the Sega Ages line (which they recently discontinued https://nintendoeverything.com/sega-confirms-the-end-of-sega-ages-but-teases-more-plans-for-switch-and-past-titles/), Puyo Puyo Tetris 2, and Football Manager 2021. They also released Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo Olympics late 2019. They are likely working on a new Sonic game for Switch and while the Sega Ages line is gone, they are still open to port older titles on the system.
Square Enix
Bravely Default 2 has a release date of February 2021 after being pushed out of 2020. They have also released in 2020 a few collections of older games, Trials of Mana, and Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory which is a music game spin off for the Kingdom Hearts series. Rumored to have The World Ends with You 2 in development for Switch. I would also expect some more collections to come out (or at least ports) and a rumored new entry in the SaGa or Mana series.
Take Two Games
Released 3 collections for Switch in May of 2020 with their 2K Games development studio. I think they likely will have some more games in development, especially with the way EA has provided lackluster support in the sports games field. There has also been a long rumor of Rockstar developing Grand Theft Auto V for Switch but that seems to be more of a dream than an actual rumor as Rockstar is working on development of GTAV for PS5 and XSX. Ports and complication packages being quick and easy turnover, I am certain they will delve into their back catalogue and find a release for the Switch in 2021.

This dreadful year isnt quite over yet I dont think I am planning on buying/playing anymore games so I figured I might as well make this post now. A few years back, I started posting these type of end of the year reviews on here and it started a bit of a trend on this subreddit that people seemed to enjoy so I'm back! Unfortunately, I didnt keep a list this year so this is all off the dome piece. I might have forgotten a few.
Doom (1993): I tried playing Doom on PC many years ago and while I found it enjoyable, I just didnt feel compelled to finish it. However, I bought the Switch port for 3 bucks and it was absolutely incredible and perfect for me to play in bursts (Switch ports are going to be a common theme). I found it quite refreshing to play a game that was purely devoted to fast paced action. No filler, no fat. My only gripe was the labyrinthine levels getting kind of tiresome after a while. I also wasnt a fan of the chapters that were added after the original release. It's not a steep drop in quality but you can tell that those last two episodes or whatever they're called were developed after the fact. They play very differently and are a little obnoxious in terms of enemy placement. The base game however is really damn good.
Animal Crossing New Horizons: The most interesting aspect about this game will be the time it came out in. I honestly think this is something people will be citing for decades to come, about how a relaxing game with cute animal villagers and calming tasks offered some true escapism during a very weird time, yadda yadda yadda. I had a lot of fun playing with my friends. It was refreshing to have so many people, especially a lot of my girl friends playing online. Added a nice social dynamic and it was so much fun designing and checking out everyone's island. Personally, I kind of lost interest around the Easter update. It just isnt my kind of game despite the fact that I can appreciate a lot about it.
Spyro Reignited (Spyro 1): I havent played the other two yet. Let's just say, this game is absolutely beautiful, like a DreamWorks movie you can roam through. The platforming is fun, I actually like the methodical collect a thon element to the levels. They could have easily gone overboard but managed to keep everything straightforward and fun enough to stay entertaining. I do think this game becomes a bit of a slog in the later levels but I'm hard pressed to find a 3D platformer that doesnt suffer the same issue.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3: Absolutely incredible game. I was initially complete ass at it and still dont consider myself that good but I ended up really enjoying this one. Ngl, I was working from home and every now and then I would take a break to decompress and just do some tricks. It was an absolute blast. Soundtrack was dope too.
The Last of Us Part 2: i'm in the camp that thought this game was incredible and I really wish there wasnt such a nasty discourse surrounding it. I can definitely see people's issues with it, but I personally thought Naughty Dog knocked it out of the park.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 and 2: I swear I usually dont buy games full price, but 2020 made me say what the heck. Having only played THPS3, I thought this remake would be perfect for me and it absolutely was. The soundtrack was so good, all the courses were loads of fun and a game like this is sorely missed in the modern era.
Bulletstorm (Switch): Never did I think I would be playing this game on a handheld. What on earth. It's absolutely surreal for me because I still consider Bulletstorm as a modern title in my head. I opted out of playing the OG and decided to just do the Duke Nukem campaign. It's easily better than the original. Theres just something so compelling about Duke Nukem deciding to help people he doesnt know. I thought the original was eye rolling and cringe but the Duke Nukem campaign is actually one of the funniest games I played.
Star Wars Episode 1 Racer HD: Even more surreal than Bulletstorm is playing a childhood classic in crisp HD on a handheld with better performance than ever had before. I managed to beat this game in 5 hours on Switch, whereas I had never been able to beat the N64 version in my 20 years of playing it. Yes, the performance and improved textures made THAT much of a difference. A beautiful and fun high octane racer that suffers from being either brain numbingly easy to trivially hard. You often wont see any other racers because you're so far ahead. And on the off chance you fall behind, theres no way to catch up. Trust me. The rubberbanding is ridiculous.
Uncharted Lost Legacy: This game was just sitting on my shelf 70% completed for a long time so I decided to finally finish it up. It's a nice spin off with a really fun last level. It's more of what was great about Uncharted 4 but reduced to a smaller scale. And that's completely fine.
Sonic Forces: Complete ass. I really thought the whole 3D Sonic sucks stuff was blown out of proportion for the longest time, but oh my lord, what an abomination this game is. Terrible story, baffling tone and bland level design. You have these vapid kid friendly characters running around fighting an apocalyptic war and it doesnt work at all. You can create your own character which was goofy fun but these levels are a chore compared to the Sonic ones. Thankfully, this game was free on PS Plus so no real skin off my ass.
Donkey Kong Country: After 10 years I have finally beat this game thanks to Switch Online. Such an absolute blast. I loved the secrets, the music is just masterful and will be played on my deathbed and the level design had a lot of charm. I played a little bit of DKC2 as well and wow, what a step up. Both games ooze style and feel "cozy?" Sure they are difficult and frustrating but they also are fun and charming enough to be relaxing.
Super Mario World: Same story. Finally beat this game after being introduced to it over a decade ago. I really wanted to love this one but the 2D Mario games just dont do much for me beyond a nice fun barebone distraction to kind of turn my brain off to. I am glad I finally beat it, I respect its place in history and I had fun with it. The art style has aged so well too. But I have little to no desire to really play through all of it again.
Dark Souls: I didnt think I would ever be able to say "I beat Dark Souls." I first got the game on 360 for free and put maybe 15-20 hours into it. Rung the first bell, got to the depths and just stopped playing it. I realized these games just weren't for me and I dont know, I just associated them with depression and a "gluttonous" waste of time. Well, 2020 came by and I'm hella depressed and got plenty of time to waste so hell yeah, let's beat Dark Souls! I bought the Switch version and exclusively played it in handheld mode which was amazing. I cant believe I missed so much of this game. I thought it ended kind of abruptly tho. I really wish there had been something a bit more conclusive. It took me about 50 hours to beat and I had a lot of fun. I never summoned other players on 360 either so doing that here on Switch for the first time was pretty cool. I am currently doing NG+, something I never do in games, but my curiosity just got the best of me. In about an hour or so, I have already managed to ring both bells. It's just a testament to how tightly designed this world is that From developed where you can struggle for 60 hours and then later breeze through the same game in 4. Aside from one or two of the late game areas, everything here felt very tightly designed and woven. Definitely among my all time favs now.
Minecraft: Never played Minecraft in my life lol. I remember when it came out and thinking it looked kind of neat and then a few years later it blew up bigger than before. I have never seen a game come out and then perpetually get super super popular 3-4 years after release like Minecraft did. Like Dark Souls, I associated Minecraft with being a waste of time and pointless. However, playing with my friends has made the experience very fun. I have gotten lost for hours already just designing my home. I can see why this was and still is so popular.
Crash 1 (N-Sane on Switch): Prior to owning the NSane trilogy, the og Crash 1 was the only game in the series I played. I dont even have childhood nostalgia for it, I played it on PS3 in 2018 and just fell in love with it. The difficulty, the charm, the music just all felt nice. Clunky, frustrating and sloppy but nonetheless fun. The remake was a great way to get back in. Yet again, the novelty of a handheld Crash remake was just too good to pass up. While I do wish the originals were included as a bonus, the remakes seem really well done. I like how you can redo bonus stages now. ALSO despite this, is it me or is the remake actually a tad harder? Particular those Road to Nowhere bridge levels induced a lot of rage in me that I havent felt with a game in a LONG time. I remember it being a hard level but I just got annihilated here and watched almost all the lives I accrued dwindle to single digits. That being said, it's still the same fun game I remember. Controls smoother in most ways. I also restarted mid-playthrough once or twice for no real reason. I just really like those opening levels and stocking up so many lives so I didnt even mind it. I am still on Crash 2 as of now but since I never had the OG, it doesnt have the novelty of being comparable to anything so it almost feels like I am playing a really good DLC with a few tweaks in presentation. So far the level design is much more streamlined.
Star Wars: Jedi Outcast (Switch): If you're gonna play this game on a console, get this version. Just do it. This game is absolutely insufferable if you aren't able to play with gyro controls or a keyboard/mouse. Aspyr didn't bother to add autoaim and instead of being true 16:9, they stretch the image and chop it. It just seems like such a lazy port which is weird because Episode 1 Racer by them was so well done. I havent even got a lightsaber yet and I just got tired of it. It's not a good FPS. The gunplay is not satisfying and the level design is pretty bland. And I am just gonna say it, I dont care about Kyle Katarn at all. He's a fan favorite BECAUSE he was specifically written for these video games in a time where there weren't any new Jedi in the Star Wars universe aside from Luke. He's just really a tame mix of Han and Luke. I got this game for 5 bucks so it was whatever, I had some fun with it and got a few levels in but I just dont feel compelled to continue much.
Doom 64: Another Switch port. I actually like this better than the original. It may not have that bombastic soundtrack but the gunplay feels so much more impactful and visceral. I also like the new art direction and the level design. The enemy placement feels a lot more focused too.
Super Mario 64: Played this with 3D All Stars. It's still a masterpiece in my book and it feels nice to have a portable edition of the OG game. Wish Nintendo at least made it 16:9 but whatever it's not a big deal for me. I have noticed a lot of newcomers are dismissing this game as archaic and that's it aged poorly which I get where they are coming from but that still just makes my blood boil tbh lol. SM64 is still a masterpiece in 3D design, structure and platforming. The movement is some of the most fluid to this day. The camera isnt good? No, you just need to adjust it. That's all. That's a mechanic of the game and it's been that way since 96.
Bastion: I heard Hades was real good so I decided to buy one of Supergiants previous games first. At 3 bucks, this was a steal and absolutely gorgeous in handheld mode. I love the art style and narration and I like how many weapons and abilities you can swap between. I also appreciated the ability to make the game more challenging along the way with different quirks. Very rarely do games let you set the difficulty in interesting ways like that, especially through the use of in game items like that. Certain items make enemies more aggressive, better at blocking, land more critical hits, etc. Easy to pick up and play.
Halo 3: I played this on MCC through PC and it was an absolute blast. I played Halo 3 online in 2009/2010 and while that wasnt late or anything, many people had already transitioned to MW2 and later Reach so the online community was just a little tiny bit past its peak. Being able to play in 2020 with so many active users, interactions and fun moments. I felt like players were willing to do more risky maneuvers than I ever saw on 360. It was really really cool and it kind of saddens me that this game is 13 years old which probably seems absolutely ancient to kids and teens today. Just for reference, when I first played Halo 3, Goldeneye 007 was the same age as Halo 3 is now and not a single kid in my class knew or cared about anything from the N64 era. It might be showing its age, but it's still a beautiful game. Also while I thought the story for Halo 3 was a step down from the first two games, the campaign is an absolute blast and looks gorgeous in full HD and high framerate.
So that's it. Those are the games I played in 2020. My goal is not to buy any new games next year and just finish/revisit games that I've being meaning to for a while now.

TDLR: I’m absolutely loving botw, but I don’t know if it’s because it’s that good, or due to how far video games have come since my day.
I haven’t really been into video games since the GameCube days, but my wife bought a switch a few months back to play Animal Crossing. I went ahead and bought the recent versions of the games that I used love. Mario Party was a disappointment, SSBU was good, but I LOVED Odyssey. My favorite game growing up was Mario 64 and Odyssey just took that to the next level. So I was surprised when I kept reading online how it was somehow inferior to BOTW. I had never played a Zelda game, but I decided to give a try. I’m so glad I did. It’s possible that I’m out of touch and easily impressed, but I love how much there is to do and explore in this game. I’ve played almost 100 hours (mostly without googling anything) and here’s just a few things that I love about it.
There are so many collectibles that you always have something to do. There different fruits/food, hunting to get meat, catching fish, ancient gear, korok seeds, monster parts, minerals, treasure chests, weapons, orbs, rupees, ect. There’s times when I’ll just hop on for a few minutes to hunt deer and hop back off.
I enjoy the enemies (except Talus). I’ve killed hundreds of Bokoblins and it never gets old, since there are so many ways to do it. There’s nothing like sneaking in to take out the scout before he alerts the others (or taking out the scout just realize there’s another and now there 6 yellow exclamation points popping up while you run away whistling for your horse and dodging arrows). I’ll paraglide in and take out half the enemies before landing, use octo balloons and a korok leaf to drop a bomb on them, or even recently I just walk in with my bokoblin mask, wait for them to gather around, and freeze them with a blizzard rod.
Lynels are perfectly terrifying. I remember my first encounter when I was just riding my horse getting ready for another horseback battle with a bokoblin when I realized it wasn’t that at all. Before I knew it, I was dead. I figured it just caught me off guard, so I snuck up on it, whipped out my best traveler’s bow and shot it dead on with a bomb arrow. Once I noticed I barely made a dent it the bar, I took off running, but died before I could make it back to my horse. Since then, when it comes to Lynels I’ve been strictly “flee on sight”. Atleast until my first divine beast when I needed to defeat one for shock arrows. By this time, my armor was better, I had more hearts, better weapons, a time stop stasis, and a strategy. I had defeated all three guardian types and passed the major test of strength. I even had food to increase my heart containers and attack power… I was dead in 60 seconds. But since botw isn’t linear, I was able to just switch my sheika sensor to treasure chests, and in less than a week I had found enough shock arrows just through exploring.
The shrines are generally pretty neat. There are some annoying shrines like the ball maze one, but for the most part I find them enjoyable. There are usually several ways to complete each one so I enjoy spending time trying to figure out what I need to do and how to do it, and then going to youtube to see how others did it.
The side quests are cute. Most of them aren’t very difficult or exciting, but they add a bit to the game to distract from the usual. Like yesterday I just realized that I had over a dozen restless crickets, so I hopped back on my horse to ride a full day to deliver the 10 crickets knowing full well the reward would be something like 100 rupees. But there’s so much to do during the trip that it’s worth it. I try to avoid travelling by shrine unless necessary.
The riddles are fun. Deciphering the meaning of the old songs to find hidden shrines is a blast. Some are pretty obvious, but the ones that require thought to figure out are so rewarding once you figure them out.
There’s obviously more that I enjoy like the scale and physics of the game, but I’ll end it here. I’m not a skilled video gamer. The only non-nintendo game that I play is NBA 2k. So I appreciate that botw can be enjoyed by those who don’t have the best reflexes and controller skills just with the sheer volume of content. Am I overrating it because I’ve been out of the game so long? Are there other games like botw that are vast and fun, but not necessarily that difficult?
Edit: Several people have recommended the DLC. What's a good point to buy it? Should I wait until I've done everything in the original or go ahead and get it at any time?

eShopperReviews 2020 Game Awards Day 5: Highest Honors
We’re finally down to it. What follows is the best of the best, the absolute cream of the crop of what 2020 had to offer.

Game of the Year: Bronze Award (Third place)

Pikmin 3 Deluxe - I wavered back and forth over whether to give this award to a game that first came out seven years ago, but when I thought back over the best new videogame experiences I had on the Nintendo Switch in 2020, warm thoughts of this game’s new campaign co-op mode kept coming up for me. Putting aside the fact that this game will be completely new to those who never got a Wii U, the ability to share this lovely experience with a friend takes this game to a whole new level, and makes it not only a huge improvement over an already-fantastic game, but one of the best games on the Nintendo Switch overall.

Game of the Year: Silver Award (Second place)

Hades - I have not previously been the biggest fan of developer Supergiant’s games. I thought Bastion was overrated, I liked Transistor a lot but it didn’t truly grab me, and I didn’t care for Pyre at all. So imagine my surprise when Hades absolutely blew me away with its excellent combat, its superb writing and voice acting, and brilliant reimagining of the relationship between Roguelike gameplay mechanics and story, transforming death from a frustrating element of the genre into a joyous part of the experience. If you enjoy games with great action, this is the one game in 2020 you absolutely needed to add to your Nintendo Switch library.

Game of the Year: Runners-Up

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity - Not only does this game improve on the already excellent combat and co-op play of the first Hyrule Warriors game, but it also expands on the story of the excellent Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in some clever and engaging ways, all while working that game’s mechanics and presentation into the Hyrule Warriors formula. This game was a delightful and unexpected surprise in 2020.
A Short Hike - While the game is, as the title says, quite short... it is nevertheless an absolutely lovely experience well worth playing, with a beautiful soundtrack, a delightfully positive tone, and fun platforming mechanics that make it a joy during its short-lived play time.
Among Us - No, the Nintendo Switch version doesn’t have voice chat (just like the other versions), and no, the Nintendo Switch version isn’t free (with ads) like the mobile version. It’s a measly five bucks for a fantastic port of one of the year’s greatest online multiplayer experiences that I still argue has improved controls that make it play better than the other versions. Yes, you really do need to get a separate Discord server and a group of friends together to play it at its best… but again, this is true of every version of the g-... you know what? Why am I being defensive about this? This is, in my opinion, the best version of one of the best games of 2020. It absolutely deserves to be mentioned among the best Nintendo Switch games of the year, and if you have a problem with me saying that, you’re totally sus.
Journey to the Savage Planet - I am honestly shocked that more people aren’t talking about this fantastic game. Taking much of the structure from the Metroid Prime games and adding a wealth of color and humor, this game became one of my early contenders for Game of the Year at a time no one seemed to even notice it was out. This is a truly phenomenal experience and while its graphics struggle slightly with the Nintendo Switch hardware, it’s still a wonderful game well worth playing on the Switch.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps - The Nintendo Switch version of the second Ori game isn’t the definitive version of the game like the first game was on Switch, but it’s no less of technical marvel, porting the absolutely gorgeous Xbox One game to Switch later in the same year with only a slight downgrade in graphics. However, putting aside the game’s gorgeous visuals and music, this is still an outstanding Metroidvania that, while not quite as delightful as the first game, is nevertheless one of the best games to grace the genre on the Nintendo Switch.

Game of the Year

Animal Crossing: New Horizons - I think most people can agree that 2020 was an all-around terrible year, not just in the videogame industry, but in general. So it was some incredible luck that Animal Crossing came out at the ideal time to be the perfect balm to help people get through the difficult and depressing times we’ve been facing. Animal Crossing’s warm, welcoming, low-pressure style of play made for a spot of sunshine in an otherwise dour year, and it was helped by the fact that this entry in the series brought a whole host of improvements that helped the series finally realize its potential as a way to enable gamers to truly make their little village their own, giving us incredible freedom at a time many of us were trapped within our own homes.
It’s not a perfect game, of course - the multiplayer gameplay leaves a lot to be desired, and players looking to play the game on multiple Nintendo Switch systems or save the game on the cloud were undoubtedly frustrated by Nintendo’s backwards approach to these features. But these are small complaints about a game that was such a force for positivity in bad times that it became a cultural phenomenon celebrated around the world. Full disclosure - I have not touched my copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizons in months. I have no doubt that my town is now covered in weeds and my villagers are sure to be vexed by my disappearance. But for a long while there, I was playing this game every single day for hours at a time, and absolutely loving it. If there’s any game that truly represents the best of what gaming had to offer on the Nintendo Switch in 2020, this is it. As such, it was my clear choice for the winner of eShopperReviews’ 2020 Game of the Year award.
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That's all for the 2020 eShopperReviews 2020 Game Awards! If you missed the other awards this week, be sure to check back at the Awards' Start Page to see the other awards that have been handed out!

All of y'all's year reviews made me want to do the same, so I wrote down a few sentences of everything I played last year. I was surprised it was so much as my partner moved in with me and I expected to have a lot less time, but that actually didn't happen and Corona did its thing. I'm a bit late to the review party, but I needed time to write down my thoughts and didn't want to do it in one session.
Standard platform is PC, everything else is labelled.
Done:
Darkest Dungeon – halfway through (most tier 2 bosses). it was a nice and interesting start to a game I thought I liked, but 40 hours in I realized I was in fact not having fun. It was repetitive and the payout was very low for me as rewards felt small and especially upgrades to the village took a lot of time. I did play the game with too much emphasis on keeping every character alive, in a game that wants you burn them, so maybe that’s one me. But maybe it’s just not my type of game. Visuals, presentation and the IDEA of the combat system were nice, though. 5/10
Kingdom Hearts 3 (PS4) – finished story. Kingdom Hearts has become a burning pile of tires, but I hold it dear since the first game and I want to know what is happening. The visuals are amazing and the combat system is engaging, at least, yet a bit much at times, with way too many special interactions going on at all times. But KH3 is basically if the story has an alignment which is just true chaotic. The main story is…there, for most of the game, but nothing happens with it. Each world has its own story and both them and the overarching plot are almost completely irrelevant to each other. What a pity. Also, so many minigame and once-and-gone game mechanics, what the hell. I had fun, but it could have been so much better. And they skipped over most FF elements. 6/10
The Wolf Among Us – 100%. Played it with my partner who had already finished it years before. It’s one of the prime Telltale games and the first that I wasn’t familiar with the source material with. It has a very interesting lore and visuals for sure. Other than that, very much a standard Telltale game and you either like it or you don’t. I did enjoy it a lot with its interesting plot and characters. 8/10
Starlink: Battle for Atlas (Switch, digital version) – finished story. I like me some occasional space game. Starlink was an oddball in many ways for me. I probably wouldn’t have looked at it as I thought it’s just a toy merch game, but Starfox and the existence of a toyless version drew me to this. I know I could have played nicer looking version, but the tie-in with Starfox was actually not that shallow and came with a small unique storyline, so that’s the most Starfox I will get until Nintendo releases (and doesn’t fuck up) another full game. Due to its toy origins, the game has a few unique quirks, like the weapon, ship and pilot switching on-the-go to match enemy vulnerabilities and combat styles. The mix of planetary and solar exploration and gradual faction growth with even a few RTS elements sprinkled in worked for me. It was a lot of fun! 7/10
Injustice 2 – finished story, some achievement hunting, trying out all characters a bit and dabbled in the multiverse mode. I’m not a huge Beat’Em’Up player, but some concepts are too interesting to pass up. Given how few Heroe League (Avengers and Justice League) games come out well, I had to take my chances here. The story is…forced, but it works for this kind of game. The interactions between the heroes are pretty entertaining to watch. I can’t really judge if the combat system was good or not or balanced or not, but it worked for me, although some fights were pretty frustrating. 7/10
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales – 100%. Gwent really got to me in the Witcher 3. It was kinda sad to see that this is an entirely different card game (although closer to the online Gwent), but it was still a great one. Telling the really interesting story of Queen Meve, the game not only expands the lore of the really intriguing Witcherverse, it also tells it through this mix of roaming through a map and army fights presented by card battles. The visuals weren’t all too exciting, although the art style worked for me. The score was awesome, though, maybe even better than the one from W3. I can absolutely recommend this game to any person interested in card games and in the Witcher. 9/10
Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden – finished story and most content. I have so many tactical RPGs on my backlog, all with very interesting settings, but animal mutants in a postapocalyptic Sweden? That’s one of the freshest ideas in a while. The top hat wearing duck really sold it to me. Unlike many other games of its genre like XCOM, the areas are connected with each other like in more classic RPGs. Stealth kills played a huge part in this game as open combat makes the game a lot harder. It’s not a very long game, which I appreciated. However, the initial premise of its animal mutants really fell short as there were actually not that many in the game. I also would have liked to have more of the characters in my team, but the stealth advantages made some characters a lot stronger than others, so there was little choice in which people to take. Itemization and progress were alright, the combat is pretty much as in XCOM etc. 7/10
Cities in Motion – played some scenarios. Preparing for Cities: Skylines, I figured I should play this first. It’s an alright public transport planning simulation that made me excited for planning stuff throughout several cities. However, I have some serious issues with it. For once, this game punished you hard for planning public transport like in real life and creating ridiculously tiny lines (like 2 stations per metro line) was the only way to any meaningful amount of money. Also, the German scenario pack has 12 scenarios, but only 4 cities (other packs are similar). It’s interesting to revisit cities in different eras, but to rebuild everything every time is annoying. And the tasks you get are borderline asinine, like building a line with three stations in far ends of the map, which I circumvented with temporary lines that I immediately deleted after completing it. In its core it had great potential, but felt lazily executed. 5,5/10
BATTLETECH – finished story, some flashpoints and fooled around with mech components for a bit afterwards. Been a while since I dived into MechWarrior games, maybe a good 17 years. Battletech is…GOOD. Maybe my favorite game I have played that year. The campaign is great, has a good plot, but also gives you an open galaxy to explore at your own leisure. The hunt for new mech chassis in the midgame was the most fun I think. Building mechs, balancing your finances, keeping your people alive and trained, random events on board of your ship and upgrading your ship all felt meaningful and well interconnected. It’s also a turn-based tactical RPG, but it works with its own rules (like weapon groups and destroyable sections) and does so very well. 9,5/10
Batman – The Telltale Series – 100%. A solid game for both Batman and Telltale fans. The story was original enough and I always enjoy a plot that isn’t focused on the way overused Joker – who has his part, but a very interesting one. Not really much more to say here. 8/10
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch) – finished story and most of the map. Finally, I tackled this behemoth of this generation. I haven’t played a Zelda since Majora’s Mask and the reason for that was a lack of drive to finish either of the N64 installments. Now, 20 years and a friend with a copy available later, I felt urged to play it as I wanted to give back the copy. Didn’t expect much despite the hype, but I have to say this game is (almost) as good as people say. It’s one of the few games that really lets you do whatever you want in the order you want (after a brief tutorial). My partner is playing it right now and it’s interesting to see how different our approaches to the order of quests and also specific challenges are. It rewards creative problem solving due to its physics engine. It is not perfect, especially the weapon system is weird and non-permanency in weapons feels just odd. NPCs are not very well written. The world is rather empty and while that has a plot reason, it feels like there should be more at times. But despite that, the game is a lot of fun and deserves its reputation. 9/10
Monster Hunter World + Iceborne (PS4) – defeated everything up to Furious Rajang, about 350 hours played with a fixed group of 3 and sometimes two other RL friends. Probably the game played most intensely this year. I bought a PS4 Pro in February and soon after – also thanks to Corona – I started playing this with two other friends, almost daily for several months. I had played Tri a decade ago and liked the general idea, but hated a lot of outdated conventions (both from Nintendo and the game itself) back then. World does most things I hated so much better. The monsters are engaging and (mostly) fun, the weapons are diverse and have their niches, the progression system is addictive, I love the Palicos & the private suite customizations and there is so much to see and find in the few maps they have. Great game if you like the combat and if you don’t focus too much on story because that one is paper-thin. 9/10
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4) – finished story. I liked U2 and U3 a lot, so this was a must-play after getting the PS4. It’s probably the most graphically impressive game I have played so far. The combat felt a little forced at times, but I guess that’s the genre. Although sneaking felt more possible and rewarding than in previous titles (as far as I remember). The story is a typical “one last gig” thing, but I liked the inclusion of Drake’s youth and especially how they concluded the Drake saga (maybe?). It’s a very solid game and definitely a must-play for PS4 owners. 8,5/10
EVERSPACE – finished story, post-story and most side missions. I don’t like losing progress, but like Rogue-likes with in-between progression systems, so despite my first hesitation, I picked up this game as I was craving a new space game. Though having a VR, I never got to play it in that mode, but still, I had a lot of fun with it. Some runs were intense and discovering new elements always put an excited wtf face on my head. The in-universe explanation for it being Rogue-like worked for me and getting funds to improve your ships between runs was addictive enough to try again and again. Same with weapons, they were different enough to try out different ones. Just don’t expect too much content out of this, it’s not a big game. 7/10
GRID (2019) – finished base game and some of the season pass content. I was a big fan of the first Grid and played all games in between. But like them, this one did not manage to be as engaging as the first one. While I enjoyed playing through the different leagues and liked the variety of cars and inclusion of a team mate, I did get bored to go through every cup as some of them had a severe lack of cars within them. There was no upgrading of cars, money was meaningless for 99% of the game and a overall career feeling of the ‘story’ mode was absent. At least I didn’t have to basically only race against Ravenwest anymore and other teams were still relevant. I feel like Codemasters could do a lot more with the foundation they have created here, but fail to connect the races in a meaningful way. 6/10
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness (PS4) – finished story and most side quests. This was one of my most wanted PS4 titles before Horizon: Zero Dawn came out. I loved Star Ocean 1, 2 and 4 so much. 4 in particular was just great enough to fill the small void that FFXIII had left back then. I heard about the mediocre reviews of IaF. And it was…actually mediocre. What I forgot or never knew was that I got released as a PS3 game in Japan first. And it really, really shows. The game was UGLY. Not ugly ugly, but playing it directly after Uncharted 4 was quite a shock. Not that it matters too much. However, the second problem I have with this game is directly aim at its soul. The other games had you jumping between planets and several distinct locations. And IaF started very promising, hinting at similar qualities. But then, it just…went into its climax and ended. Sure, some parts are in actual space. But you have seen about 80% of the locations within the first quarter of the game, which is ridiculous. It’s such a pity as the game’s story and combat are actually very enjoyable and I loved just grinding, which is quite unusual for me. But the narrow scope of the game wastes a lot of potential and that’s a real disappointment to me as a fan of the series. It could have easily done so much better. 6,5/10
Risen – finished. Oh boy, this game was sitting in my backlog for a LONG time – probably since its release I wanted to try it out. Unfortunately, this is a case of being TOO patient. The game is horribly outdated nowadays, the combat is not much fun and punishes you hard even on easy difficulty. The quest flow, general plot, start and choice of character skills are good, but I do think everything else – graphics, item flow, combat, sound, art design - was pretty bad. This was two years before Skyrim, but it feels like it’s been 10, honestly. I am still curious about Risen 2, 3 and Elex, however. But I might skip the first two after this. 3/10
Team Sonic Racing (Switch) – finished story. Yes, story. It’s as good dumb as you would expect from a Sonic racing game. Weirdly enough, I performed a lot better in handheld mode. The minigames are frustratingly hard as drifting is way overdone. The actual racing is nice, but no match to Mario Kart 8, although I do appreciate the idea of teams with ultimate boosts and item sharing. 6,5/10
Yakuza 0 – finished story and most major side activities. God, this game completely surprised me. I was absolutely 0 interested in crime settings, but Humble gave me this gem of a game. My partner suggested to try it out together, but lost interest in it, so we stopped for 2 months. I then picked it up again by myself and got increasingly invested in the story, the combat system and the bajillion of side things to do. THERE IS SO MUCH TO DO! And most of it is fun, doesn’t overstay its welcome too much and helps develop the main characters a little bit. The Real Estate and Hostess Club minigames are basically entire games-within-a-game, the pocket racer would also work by itself and the Karaoke songs were absolutely adorable and are a must-see in all of gaming. While I thought that the game got bloated a bit due to the two characters both having their own full-blown story, but sharing a single game, the interconnection made it kind of necessary to not separate them. But the game felt a bit long thanks to that (and all of the minigames that felt kinda mandatory at times). Anyway, I am now completely hooked on the series and look forward to the next entry – although I really need some time off lest I encounter the good old Assassin’s Creed-like fatigue. But given I couldn’t give two shits about Yakuza – even though I fucking majored in Japan Studies – this is an amazing feat. 9/10
Additional note: Getting into Yakuza memes alone is worth playing this, but the more I read and watch about this game and the series, the more and more I appreciate this franchise.
Endless Legend with a few DLCs – finished two full games (~38 hours). I was in the mood for a 4X game and this one was poking in my side for a bit. Endless Space was quite enjoyable and the overarching plot kinda works? I enjoyed expanding, researching and the quest system as well, but it felt just like Civ5 in general, with a few exceptions of course. It was weird that the ‘ages’ weren’t really differentiated visually and that you kept using the same units throughout the whole game – also there are not many of them, but there is an intriguing RPG-like customization system baked into it instead, which was cool enough. The winter and sea fortress system was also refreshing (but probably brought in from DLCs). Factions had some differences that went beyond what Civ would do, but the really deviating ones (like lava or fungus people that need different ways of city building) were hidden behind DLCs I do not have. Two games were enough for me, but I may come back in the future. 7/10
Need for Speed: Payback (PS4) – finished story. Being a PSN+ freebie, I got a bit excited over the silly F&F story that I felt like seeing with my own eyes. And the game delivered on that - but not much more. My last true NfS was Hot Pursuit (2010) (and my NfS favorites: Shift 1+2), so it had been a while. But I realize that I do not need that speed anymore. While the game was ultimately enjoyable, especially cruising around, finding stuff and customizing the cars, I especially disliked the offroad races with their weird rubber band perfect traction AI which was really frustrating. The driving in general revolved too much around drifting everything, but I guess that’s full arcade racers for you. And the automatic car reset was a bit too eager at times. 5,5/10
Rise of the Tomb Raider (PS4) – finished story and Croft manor side story. Also a PSN+ freebie. I have played the first game and was quite entertained by it. As I played Uncharted not too long ago, I was able to compare those two games a bit and while Uncharted looks undoubtedly better (and I prefer non-supernatural stuff in this kind of game), I think that Tomb Raider is the better game overall. This might be due to the usage of a skill and weapon customization system, which made exploring places and looking for XP, resources and parts fun. I also think that limiting the game’s world to one location (outside the prologue) helped immersion a lot. The game has quite a bit of a different feeling than the first TR, but mostly due to Lara being kickass from the start instead of allegedly being a frail grad student that 20 hours later massacres armies of armed and trained mercenaries. I liked it quite a lot of the backstory with her dad and caretaker were quite interesting as well. 8/10
Not done / on and off:
League of Legends – almost exclusively ARAM, sometimes bot games for trying out stuff. Not much to say to this, it’s a notorious, but ultimately good MOBA. The new items overhaul was a bit of a big change, but now I am getting the hang of it, I think. Some of the new champions of this year are fun to play, like Samira, Lilia and Seraphine. One of my friends quit the game for good, I think, so only one other is left, and it’s the go-to game if it’s just the two of us. Sometimes I play by myself, but I try to play more single player games then.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch) – some 70 hours to built my house, the island is my partner’s. This is my first Animal Crossing and after hesitating at the beginning, I did enjoy it quite a lot. It’s very relaxing, you can work towards small goals, but without any stress. Interactions with other villagers will become repetitive, but at the beginning it feels very sweet. It’s also nice that Nintendo supports the game with free updates every month. 8/10
Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution! (Switch) – played through story mode until midway ARC-V. I have my YGO phases every now and then where I watch a show and play a corresponding game at the same time. The Switch game is pretty nice as it lets me play through all TV shows’ stories, lets me play with most characters’ decks, has reverse duels for every story battle, but I also can always use my own decks which is sometimes very necessary as some matches are VERY one-sided. There are also challenge battles against very good decks which are as difficult as I imagine actual competitive dueling. Two things I don’t like about this particular YGO game: No free battle vs. CPU and only 30 custom deck save slots. The Tag Force games were still ahead in that regard. Still, it’s a solid entry that can provide hundreds of hours of entertainment for YGO enthusiasts and is a great travel companion. 8/10
Undertale – I just can’t get into it, sorry. This is my second attempt and I got a lot further than last time (about one third in). But something just doesn’t click with me. Maybe the humor feels forced, maybe the retro graphics do, or maybe I get too hype-talked by people. I don’t know.
Super Seducer – almost done with the first one. We mostly play it together or with other people, to have a good time. I got this from Dunkey, but I have to say the first one isn’t even that funny. A lot of the explanation in how to approach women are cringy at best and predatory at worst. I guess it does teach how to behave better for some very inexperienced guys, but in general it shouldn’t be used as a guideline in how to get girls to talk to you.
Katamari Damacy REROLL – almost done. It’s a fun game for a silly afternoon. The controls are garbage, but it doesn’t matter too much. The humour is great and rolling up increasingly bigger things is weirdly satisfying.
Borderlands 2 – Playing with friends every now and then. It’s still fun and I haven’t explored all characters yet (although leave me alone with Krieg), so there’s still more to get out of it.
Jackbox 1-7 – I was a huge fan of the early YDKJ games 20 years ago, so I’m happy they are still around and have adapted new technologies to further their game concepts. The Jackbox games have become staples in many parties and were a major driver during corona to get people together online around the globe to play a few rounds of whatever minigame we wanted to enjoy. Some games are not good, of course, but the ever-growing library of minigames always manages to add refreshing new titles to the list. My favorites are Quiplash, T-K.O. and Champ’d. 10/10
Risk of Rain 2 – unlocked all characters, had a couple of runs with friends and by myself. I have to say I might not like the game too much. The characters are interesting and the upgrade system is addictive, but losing progress without much being gained from a run (except lunar coins and unlocked characters/skills) feels like making no progress at all, in a way. It’s fun to play with friends and you can somewhat relax and chat while jumping and shooting around. 6/10
Beat Saber – half of campaign mode, but mostly custom songs. I LOVE Beat Saber. It’s the reason I got a VR system this year (a used 2017 Vive, but I don’t need more for that) and I had a lot of fun (and exercise!) with it. It’s sad when your wanted songs have not been mapped or mapped really bad, but the existing database is really big and a lot of fun to go through. There are a lot of gameplay additions (like one-handed, 90° and 360° modes), but the standard mode is still the best (or most-supported). The latter half of the campaign is dumb as hell, tho - hitting a specific amount of combos within a very small threshold in both min and max is such a dumb thing. Mods make the game a whole lot better and some stuff should really be in the base game. 9/10
Audica – played through campaign mode and some custom songs. Not as good as Beat Saber, but it’s still very enjoyable. It’s hits the same spot, but with a twist. Mod support is not a big here, but still there. 8/10
Cities: Skylines + most DLCs – still working on my first city after 40 hours. Depicted as the penultimate city builder, I had to get into this at some point. I have to admit, it’s pretty good. As good as imagined? Maybe, maybe not. The base formula is not that complicated, but the DLCs add a whole lot of flavor to it. I can definitely recommend it, but I still have a lot of time ahead with it.
Postponed:
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Switch) – I started and had a lot of fun with it, but stopped after roughly 5-10 hours as my partner was taking over the Switch with BotW (she played Witcher 3 before, so I was able to player with the Switch in the meantime) and switching cartridges all the time is a pain in the ass. Will continue soon and am very excited to do so.
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Summary: 2020 was probably the most intense gaming year for me so far, mostly thanks to Corona. My top three are probably BATTLETECH, BotW and Yakuza 0, with some honorable mentions to Beat Saber, MH:W and Jackbox. My gaming year 2021 is going to look similarily awesome and I already planned to play so many very high-profile games: Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Paper Mario: The Origame King, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Starpoint Gemini Warlords (almost finished this one already), Darksiders 2, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Gran Turismo Sport, Persona 5 Royal, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Borderlands 3, GTA V.

A baby would probably be better at this than I am! The buttons don't make much sense, especially using two joy con controllers separately-but-together to make things happen. The "user manuals" I found online by Nintendo aren't making much sense to me, although I've made a tiny bit of progress (after much cursing)
I've had some success: I've hooked up the console to my TV and I've connected to the internet. So far I've been able to set up my Mii icon although it was a nightmare of trial-and-error to figure out how to use the buttons on the joy con controllers to navigate through the menu and make selelctions (and I did it with so much guessing and trial-and-error that I doubt I'd be able to repeat the process without stumbling).
Now I'm trying to set up the system to play RingFit Adventure... I've put the game card in the Switch and put the Switch back in the console, and I can see the game on my TV screen, but I'm confused trying to figure out how to use the joy con controllers to move on from here and play. I get stuck on some steps -- for example at one point the on-screen directions said to hit R but there is no R on the controllers.
I was trying to follow the RingFit animated directions on-screen to set up the thigh strap that holds one of the controllers, but I couldn't go fast enough and the video went past me... then things went from bad to worse because I couldn't restart the instructions to try again or start the whole process over. I'm stuck here, and I haven't even begun trying to set up the other controller that fits on the game's ring accessory, much less actually getting started playing.
Obviously, I need basic help with using the controllers to navigate the system! I'm stuck!
It would help me to see a video that shows someone playing a game and using the controllers (in slow motion -- haha) so that I understand the controllers and how they work. I think that sometimes you have to use the + and the - controllers, sometimes in combination but sometimes separately -- but it's all a mystery to me. The videos I've found so far assume I know much more about the system than I do and aren't breaking down the steps to a simple-enough level.
Most of you are experts and playing video games probably comes naturally to you, but can anyone suggest videos or resources that will "teach me like I'm a kindergartener" from ground zero?
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UPDATE: I am gob-smacked ... blown away ... bowled over ... speechless ... flabbergasted ... and so excited about the amount of help here and the encouragement & good wishes for success! And to top that off, the awards brought me to tears, and I'm not a crier. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I knew I could count on getting some advice, but I also am Reddit-literate enough that I expected lots of "Ok, Boomer" snide comments because of my gaming ignorance -- but everyone has offered incredibly helpful advice, with impressive information. It will take me a long time to read it all and try out the advice (that's an understatement!) but it's a fun goal that I look forward to. Because of all of your support, I don't fear making mistakes and have seen from your comments that I can always reach out for help. Reddit, you rock!! I'll post updates to share my progress. As I read your comments, I'll try to answer them but I can't answer them all (I mean, I'm old and life is short haha). My best wishes to all of you and warm thanks!
UPDATE #2: It's been a few days, and I've managed to get through 2 levels of RingFit Adventure! I've had to ask for help (thanks redditors!), and I've been watching videos that show how to hold the ring and maneuver through the game. I laugh at my mistakes -- like holding the ring backwards with the joy con facing the TV instead of facing myself, attempting to jump through doors that way. Nope! And in the abdomen press, turning the ring too far so it didn't work correctly. Most useful lesson: how to use the Home button to escape when stuck or frustrated! hahaha! --Oh, and I'm sore!!
I'm excited to start trying these other games I've downloaded thanks to redditors' suggestions: MarioKart8, Animal Crossing, Untitled Goose Game, Jenny LeClue, 1-2 Switch, Clubhouse 51, and MiniTrains -- to save my budget I still need to wait a while before buying Zelda Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey, but they're next!

I have one Nintendo voucher still available, and it expires next march 20. I want to decide on which game to spend it on, but I’m having a difficult time in doing so. Here in my country is just a PAIN to buy a Nintendo game, cause they’re too expensive (NSMBU and Kirby are still arround U$80,00 in any online store at this very moment, for example), so usually I only buy 1 each year, and therefore I prefer something that has a long lifespan and/or a great replayability. Also, do any of you think they could launch a new game between this period till march 20? My library right now include the following (which a I simply love):
Breath of the wild
Mario Odyssey/Tennis/Kart/Party/Rabbids
Smash Ultimate
Animal Crossing
Fire Emblem Three houses
Luigi’s Mansion3
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The games available through the voucher, and which picked my interest, are the following:
Super Mario 3D World – Never played it, but I thought it looked a little short after watching a some gameplay and seeing the worlds and how many levels each contain...
Pikmin 3 – Never played any Pikmin, but loved the demo. I aso don’t know if the lifespan or replayability makes it woth it in my case.
Paper Mario – Once again, don’t know about the lifespan (and also how challenging the game is, cause I like some intelligent and difficult strategy games).
Xenoblade – It looks wonderfull, but Smash Ultimate gave me a Spoiler, so I don’t know how much of the game was ruined for me...
Link’s Awakening – Never played the original, but I’ve heard it’s short.
Astral Chain – I’ve tried Wonderfull 101 demo and simply hated the controls, creating some phobia with platinum games, as I’ve seen friends of mine telling that they’re games are quite the ones wich you need to master to really enjoy (I don’t have time to master anything, I just play for fu non some breaks). Anyway... Maybe I’m missing out without knowing.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 – Loved the first, loved the second, but it looks like they decided to keep the bad things and remove the good ones from the previous entries (the many different skills from 1 and the quality of fusion attacks from 2). Maybe I’m being too exagerated and didn’t saw the good aspects of it yet.
Mario Maker 2 – I don’t play online and will not pay for it as well (hence why Splatoon 2 is not on this list [it could have been if it had bots like smash]). I love creation, but thought that it looked too superficial to my taste, given the many power-ups in Mario history that didn’t managed to get in the game. Also, I know that you can only upload 1 Super World online, but can you have as many as you like offline on your Switch? Didn’t found this info anywhere.
Yoshi – Looked short, but I love platformers like this one.
Mario Bros U Deluxe – I love Nintendo level design, but I hear mixed things about the levels in this one. Also, don’t know about it’s lifespan.
Donkey Kong Country – Never played any of those, but once again, lifespan...
Kirby – Loved the N64, but this looks too simple for my taste (and short).
Do you have any suggestions of wich one to get first between those? There’s the eternal rumour about a direct and a collection to celebrate Zelda franchise anniversary this year (I only played Breath of the wild), but I don’t think it will launch before march 20. Appreciate any help!

Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor, and this should not be taken as financial advice. I eat the peels of oranges and throw out the fruit. This is for entertainment purposes only.
Just wanted to run through a few points on GME in hopes of having some quality discussion. I’m going to try and focus on the long term potential of the company, and less about squeeze related potential.
For a moment, lets forget about the GameStop hype train, and get down to the basic facts and fundamentals of the business, in hopes of trying to pick apart it’s future potential in the world of gaming. Video games are a $150 billion industry, with that expected to grow twice the GDP by 2023 Source. This market is largely untapped at the retail level, the reasons for which can be argued into the dirt. Yes, brick and mortar businesses are the next blockbuster, I get that. But even when Blockbuster was dying, there were other competitors fighting for every movie rental customer out there. And do you remember going to Blockbuster every Friday or Saturday night with the family because it was movie night, and how enjoyable it was to wander around to pick out the nights movie? Perhaps GameStop could corner this potential nostalgia for younger generations? Parents are still going to need to go to the mall to pick out school clothes or groceries. Why can’t they dump their kids at GameStop while they go do the shopping the way they left us in the magazine aisle of the grocery store?
Understandably, the gaming industry is shifting towards digital and online purchases. Does that mean children will never ever leave their house again? Look how cooped up Covid has made you feel. I would kill to go to a mall right now. DFV believes that while the shift is happening towards digital gaming rather than physical discs, it is not happening at the speed everyone thinks, and likely won’t see it’s full realization until the next generation of consoles in about 3 years Source DFV. DFV notes that while numbers are hard to pin-point, estimates that between 40-50% of games are still purchased in physical format. Switch Animal crossing had sales split right down that middle at 50/50 digital/physical. This buys GameStop at least a few years of revenue from physical sales while the transition is made towards a more digital consumer basis.
GameStop has already made it clear that they are to reduce store locations considerably due to rising costs their leases, and overseas brands almost entirely liquidated. It is still too early to say if they will reopen storefronts overseas, but I think that will largely be based on the success of their new test stores.
An experimental store was opened in Tulsa Oklahoma, and proved very successful while trying out new strategies like DnD and tabletops style game rooms. Much like the video game market, the tabletop market is widely untapped and has a massive market for purchasing new games, accessories, figurines, paints, dice, you name it. Furthermore, offering a place to play creates atmosphere, with in-store purchases for DnD or WarHammer 40k sessions only an arms-reach away, opening up the opportunity for spur of the moment product sales. Geek culture has come out of the woodwork in the last decade, and it’s here to stay. I think GameStop could potentially offer a place of gathering for all sorts of like-minded tabletop gamers. They also floated ideas like PC building stations, and learning to program a video game. These are massive growing industries and GME could be the stepping stone for those that are too intimidated by them.
We’ve all heard the “Brick n mortar is dead” counter argument from the bears, but while there may not be a place for 5700 GameStop locations world wide, it does have its place in this world. Apple products are all available on their website, or even through BestBuy, but why is the Apple store at the mall always packed when you walk by it? How often do you see people in there who don’t even intend to buy anything? Product image is a powerful force, and should never be discounted. Seeing an artificial line up outside the Pandora jewelry store creates an image that their market (mainly younger to middle-age females) cannot walk by without feeling compelled to see what all the fuss is about. Or when you go out on the town, do you go to the club with the dude trying to solicit you to go inside, or do you go to the bumping one with the loud music sexy girls waiting in line trying to get in. Walking by and seeing a Super Smash bros tournament going on will cater to their consumer basis in the same fashion.
I feel that GameStop has already taken many steps in this direction, and is well underway towards becoming this powerhouse business within the gaming industry. With board members like former Nintendo COO and CEO Reginald Fils-Aime Watch this to see this guys massive potential! He’s already a widely known face and well loved within the gaming community, and could fall into GameStop promotion without breaking a stride.
We all know of Ryan Cohen’s success in cornering a market in pet toys and food that could’ve easily been filled by Amazon. How did he do this? Through outstanding customer service. People were willing to pay more because of the relationships he built with his clients. Things like sending hand-written cards to pet owners goes a long way.
Ryan of course brought with him 3 of his Chewy buddies to the exec team, including Kelli Durken the new VP of customer care. Chewy scored a Net Promoter Score of 86 in 2018. Anything less than 80 is bust for those of you who aren’t familiar with the rating, and is not easy to obtain. I believe this was largely part of Durken’s efforts.
GameStop’s bonds will also be maturing on March 15, 2021. With share prices so much higher than expected, they will easily be able to pay back investors on this loan should they choose to raise capital via issuing more shares from the treasury. GameStop before the massive hype was also considering buying back shares, which of course would raise their value considerably, as well as put any short-sellers in a bind as they are further reduced from the available share float from which they are shorting.
OR AS A BONUS THIRD OPTION, GameStop could issue a one-time cash dividend to all shareholders, as an appreciation to all those investors supporting the company (Lets say it’s $25 / share, $25 * 51,000,000 available shares = $1.275 billion) HOWEVER, if you are currently shorting any shares, you now must PAY $25 per share. If 100% of shares are currently shorted, then shorts are coughing up $1.275 billion. This is essentially a direct cash transfer from short sellers to share holders and has little direct benefit to GameStop, but we can all speculate on what this would do for publicity given the current thoughts on GME shareholders and Hedge funds that are shorting GME. I don’t know all the ins/outs of this, feel free to provide more info if you know more about this.
Will any of these moves carry over to the $150billion gaming industry? Or will people just order video games off Amazon and Wal-mart and play CoD in their basement? This of course does not touch on the potential for e-sports, as I feel that would almost deserve a post for its own discussion. I even read potential for an agreement with console makers / developers to “trade-in” digital copies of games for credit towards another, with GameStop acting as the hub which you can do this, taking a $0.50 commission. That’s free revenue for virtually no cost. Curious to hear more thoughts on that model. Source
I encourage you to poke holes in the potential I see. My opinion is obviously biased at this point, and welcome any alternate views or theories for discussion. It seems hard to have quality talk regarding GME without spamming memes or getting voted down by bots and bears.
Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor, and this should not be taken as financial advice. I eat the peels of oranges and throw out the fruit. This is for entertainment purposes only.
Position: Diamond handing 2326 shares. I just like the stock.
Tl;dr:

• Potential to corner gaming market
  
• Physical games still in demand for a few years
  
• Test store in Tulsa Oklahoma very successful
  
• Expansion into tabletop / board games market
  
• Powerhouse of talent welcomed to the board
  
• Bonds maturing March 15, 2021. Opportunity to clear debt or even screw shorts.
  
• Still potential revenue for in-store trade ins on a digital market.
  

What's all this about?

I'm Thopterthallid. I like to write guides that help people understand what a game is all about, what you can expect, and what's happening underneath the surface level. I wrote one for Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition, Animal Crossing New Horizons, and Super Smash Bros Ultimate.
This guide is going to try to help people better understand what the Hyrule Warriors series is all about, what changes to expect in Age of Calamity, and why the demo isn't as good of a taste of the full game as you might expect.

But first, a disclosure:

A lot of what I'm about to write about is purely speculation based on my experience with the Warriors series, what modest knowledge I have of game development, my time playing the demo, the hundreds of hours I've put into Hyrule Warriors 1, and patterns I've picked up on when putting it all together. They could throw a curveball and derail most of this topic, but I'm fairly certain I'm going to be correct about this stuff. I'm not here to come up with new ideas or soft predictions. I wouldn't write it here unless I was fairly certain about it with some evidence to back it up.
In short: Take what I say with a grain of salt, but know that I personally am fairly certain about what I say. I'm not here to spread misinformation or make wild guesses about how the game will be.

Is this Breath of the Wild 2?

No. To be very clear, this is NOT the same game that Nintendo showed off with Link and Zelda finding a mummified Ganondorf under Hyrule Castle. That is a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild and will play much more like it.
This is a prequel at best, and a non-canon spinoff at worst.

So just what is Hyrule Warriors? What is Dynasty Warriors?

Dynasty Warriors is a Koei Tecmo franchise that dates back to 1997. The best way to describe it is God of War meets classic Star Wars Battlefront. Two armies clash across a massive battlefield, and your job as an officer is to make sure the blue army wins, and you've got the strength, speed, and power to do it. You do this by capturing keeps or strongholds to spawn more soldiers for your side, tackling high ranking officers on the enemy team, supporting high ranking officers on your team, and most famously; slaying hundreds of enemies in a single combo string. Originally taking place in the Three Kingdoms era of ancient China (220–280 AD) Dynasty Warriors would go on to spin off into Samurai Warriors, and eventually get really wild crossovers such as One Piece, Gundam, Berzerk, Fist of the North Star, Persona, Fire Emblem, and probably most famously, Hyrule Warriors. The first Hyrule Warriors game was a crossover story between Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword, but features characters from across the timeline.
In short, Hyrule Warriors is a love letter to the series, but also a power fantasy game. You're meant to feel like superman, where your only weakness is not being able to be everywhere at once.

Is this game canon?

...Sorta? Not really? It's really confusing at this point.
The demo begins with some time travel nonsense which might actually place this game in an alternate timeline, and there's already a lot of plot holes and conflicting evidence. Until the game comes out, it's really hard to say if this is actually what happened 100 years before BotW, or if this takes place in a reality where BotW doesn't even happen.

Why is there so much controversy about Hyrule Warriors?

Dynasty Warriors, by it's very nature, is a very simple and repetitive game. For some people, that's a very big turnoff. That said, there IS a little more to it than just mashing buttons and slaying monsters. What the demo doesn't show off very well is that more challenging maps typically require a lot of priority management. Racking up kills is a great way to lose battles later in the game. After all, it doesn't do your team much good if you're just beating up Bokoblins off in a big field somewhere while King Dodongo and Ganondorf are ripping through your home base.
I'm not going to pretend that Hyrule Warriors is some grand strategy game, but to say that it's "just beating up millions of guys" is disingenuous. Yes, you have to be able to enjoy beating up millions of guys to enjoy this game, but there's more to it than that.
The demo does a poor job at showing the "organic battlefield", because we only see the first two story stages. Story missions in Hyrule Warriors have always been very scripted. Gates stay locked shut until you complete specific objectives. It's not until later in the game that you'll start having fires lit under you across the battlefield and you'll be forced to prioritize and neutralize objectives in the correct order.
It's very much not a game for everyone, and that's really hard to find out when it's a canon Zelda game we're talking about. Still, I urge people to at least try the demo.

What if you hate the demo?

The framerate and resolution are awful and make it almost unplayable: This one I suspect will be fixed by the time the full game releases. Demos are often made on very old builds of the game because they take a long time to make. It's not as simple as making the full game, and then taking away the parts that they want to save for the full game. "Removing" content from a game is actually very difficult. Take out one wrong texture or line of code and your build of the game crashes on launch, leave the wrong thing in and dataminers suddenly spoil the entire story online. For this reason, demos are often made from duct tape polished alpha builds of the game. They have LOTS of time to optimize and fix graphical hiccups. If you're worried about this, just wait for the reviews. It will be addressed in them.
It's too easy: Remember that we're basically only given access to the tutorial area. Two very scripted story missions, and a couple of bonus challenges that help us get our first couple of upgrades.
I don't enjoy the combat: This is a very valid opinion. It's not for everyone. Yes, the bokoblins and lizalfos are meant to be minor distractions at best, but if you don't enjoy fighting the moblins or guardians, then I suspect you won't enjoy the game.

Where is Adventure Mode?

For those of you who are unaware, Adventure Mode was an incredibly expansive mode from the original Hyrule Warriors. Once you completed the story, you had a multitude of huge maps to complete, each with over a hundred stages. It's where the "meat" of the game was.
As for Age of Calamity, I suspect Adventure Mode is being replaced with the chapters system we see in the demo. We're only given access to the first chapter, but as the story progresses I suspect we'll see bonus challenges more in line with the open-ended Adventure Mode stages. I'm really only guessing at this one. Adventure Mode was very popular, and I know that they'll find some what to include something like it.

How important is Age of Calamity to the story? Can I skip it?

In short? You can probably skip it if you really don't want to play it. Either one of two things will happen:
1: The story is canon, meaning you already know what happens.
2: The story is non-canon, meaning you don't need to know what happens.
I'm willing to bet that this game doesn't get even a hint of BotW 2 content until after BotW 2 has been out for a time. That said, I'd still really enjoy spending a bit more time with the Champions, even if it's a non-canon story.

Closing thoughts?

At this point, all we have to go by is the demo, and the datamined icons that reveal some potential other playable characters. If you have questions about the game or the series as a whole, let me know! I've spent a ton of time with Hyrule Warriors and while I love it, I'm not blind to it's flaws. I believe I can answer your questions with as little bias as possible.