Uploaded January 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
As a perpetually late gamer, I'm not the best person to tell you what my favorite games of the most recent year were. I don't play enough new games on time to have an informed opinion and I wait literal years for things to go on sale. So... this one's for us!
Here are some 2020 games I obsessed over during quarantine — and then some I've been impressed by in the years since. Happy New Year!
Intro (and Honorable Mentions): 0:00 - 2:36
#6 - An Island at War: 2:37 - 5:52
#5 - iHeartGPU: 5:53 - 7:07
#4 - Off the Beaten Path: 7:08 - 10:03
#3 - Home in the Hand: 10:04 - 13:09
#2 - Atlas Can Rest his Weary Bones: 13:10 - 15:32
#1 - My Game of the Year 2020: 15:33 - 21:59
A Retrospective on 2024: 22:00 - 24:39
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Follow me or support the channel if you're able!
-- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/solidarf.bsky.social
-- NPCs of Gaming: instagram.com/npcsofgaming
-- Buy Me a Coffee: ko-fi.com/solidarf
-- Website: aarafafzal.com/npcs
Please don't feel any pressure to donate -- as comments, shares, Tweets, and signal boosts help just as much. :) Genuinely, every little bit matters, as I would like to be able to do all this regularly — and the Ko-Fi is there as a potential tip jar.
Works Referenced:
-- "The Best Video Essays of 2024" (BFI Sight and Sound)
bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/polls/best-video-essays-2024
-- "These Video Essays Do Not Exist" (Anthology) by The Essay Library
youtu.be/kGfa6EroxiY?si=RBCRhUI8B7ZHD3dj
-- "19 Video Essays about Adaptation" (Anthology) by The Essay Library
youtu.be/RqqJ90yqJyo?si=fyFpMDUuRFhlI52n
-- "27 Video Essays about Seasons" (Anthology) by The Essay Library
youtu.be/ewoXycDfy4k?si=VqKD2lltxTe_otNF
-- "MicroEssay Mixtape Vol. 6: Food for Thought" (Anthology) by LambHoot
youtu.be/5Votljeybfg?si=2ZYvpGJgpKpfsT4M
-- "The Dark Road to Kingdom Hearts IV" by PostMesmeric
youtu.be/D0VT5g03NIU?si=OUxrFJQliAARJ5Td
-- Follow Palette Swap!
https://bsky.app/profile/paletteswap.site
youtube.com/channel/UCTBFjqR9J3PNvcU0476l5Nw
-- "Unlimited Lives Helped Me Laugh at My Own Misfortune" (Article by me) @ Palette Swap
https://paletteswap.site/true-colors/unlimited-lives-helped-me-laugh-at-my-own-misfortune/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BEHIND THE SCENES:
-- I meant to finish this in December so... even my video about being late is late. Never say I can't commit to the bit.
-- If you want a full Top Ten, my #10 pick would be Spider-Man Miles Morales. I felt I didn't have a lot to say about it other than that I had a great time playing it, I *loved* the final cutscene, and I preferred Miles's moveset over Peter's from Spider-Man (2018). That said, the game felt more iterative than anything else... and I was let down by how the antagonist's story ended.
As a perpetually late gamer, I'm not the best person to tell you what my favorite games of the most recent year were. I don't play enough new games on time to have an informed opinion and I wait literal years for things to go on sale. So... this one's for us!
Here are some 2020 games I obsessed over during quarantine — and then some I've been impressed by in the years since. Happy New Year!
Intro (and Honorable Mentions): 0:00 - 2:36
#6 - An Island at War: 2:37 - 5:52
#5 - iHeartGPU: 5:53 - 7:07
#4 - Off the Beaten Path: 7:08 - 10:03
#3 - Home in the Hand: 10:04 - 13:09
#2 - Atlas Can Rest his Weary Bones: 13:10 - 15:32
#1 - My Game of the Year 2020: 15:33 - 21:59
A Retrospective on 2024: 22:00 - 24:39
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow me or support the channel if you're able!
-- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/solidarf.bsky.social
-- NPCs of Gaming: instagram.com/npcsofgaming
-- Buy Me a Coffee: ko-fi.com/solidarf
-- Website: aarafafzal.com/npcs
Please don't feel any pressure to donate -- as comments, shares, Tweets, and signal boosts help just as much. :) Genuinely, every little bit matters, as I would like to be able to do all this regularly — and the Ko-Fi is there as a potential tip jar.
Works Referenced:
-- "The Best Video Essays of 2024" (BFI Sight and Sound)
bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/polls/best-video-essays-2024
-- "These Video Essays Do Not Exist" (Anthology) by The Essay Library
youtu.be/kGfa6EroxiY?si=RBCRhUI8B7ZHD3dj
-- "19 Video Essays about Adaptation" (Anthology) by The Essay Library
youtu.be/RqqJ90yqJyo?si=fyFpMDUuRFhlI52n
-- "27 Video Essays about Seasons" (Anthology) by The Essay Library
youtu.be/ewoXycDfy4k?si=VqKD2lltxTe_otNF
-- "MicroEssay Mixtape Vol. 6: Food for Thought" (Anthology) by LambHoot
youtu.be/5Votljeybfg?si=2ZYvpGJgpKpfsT4M
-- "The Dark Road to Kingdom Hearts IV" by PostMesmeric
youtu.be/D0VT5g03NIU?si=OUxrFJQliAARJ5Td
-- Follow Palette Swap!
https://bsky.app/profile/paletteswap.site
youtube.com/channel/UCTBFjqR9J3PNvcU0476l5Nw
-- "Unlimited Lives Helped Me Laugh at My Own Misfortune" (Article by me) @ Palette Swap
https://paletteswap.site/true-colors/unlimited-lives-helped-me-laugh-at-my-own-misfortune/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BEHIND THE SCENES:
-- I meant to finish this in December so... even my video about being late is late. Never say I can't commit to the bit.
-- If you want a full Top Ten, my #10 pick would be Spider-Man Miles Morales. I felt I didn't have a lot to say about it other than that I had a great time playing it, I *loved* the final cutscene, and I preferred Miles's moveset over Peter's from Spider-Man (2018). That said, the game felt more iterative than anything else... and I was let down by how the antagonist's story ended.
