2020 might compete in the Most Pivotal Year in History Award, but it had its fair share of surprises. I had the time to attack start to finish several games. I reused the commute time to play. Below is the list that I compiled using the new GOG Galaxy app, that tracks games even from other stores.

The list of movies I’m going to skip this time, since it would not fit into a single post.

Games

• Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (9★★★★★★★★★): I loved this game, setting and its protagonist Cassandra
• Dishonored: unique story, gameplay and visuals
• Hellblade Senua s Sacrifice superb visuals and premise
• Half-Life 2: amazing game, even today
• Prey (8★★★★★★★★): these guys from Arkane Studios also know how to write and make all characters relevant
• >Observer_ (8★★★★★★★★): super weird setting that caught my attention
• Rise of the Tomb Raider (7★★★★★★★): messy story, despite the good gameplay loop
• Dishonored Death of the Outsider (7★★★★★★★): while it have the same not the same
• Farcry 3 Blood Dragon (7★★★★★★★): hahaha some over the top jokes
• Virginia (7★★★★★★★): lovely story
• A Way Out (7★★★★★★★): I’ve played with my girlfriend, together.
• Frostpunk (7★★★★★★★): I tend not to like rougelike or crazy-difficult, but this one surprised me
• Shadow Warrior 2 (7★★★★★★★): hahaha some over the top jokes (again)
• The Council (ep 1) (7★★★★★★★): amazing premise and the first episode is nice. I heard that the other episodes are not great
• Tacoma (7★★★★★★★): passive, calm and nice story
• Ape Out (7★★★★★★★) die and repeat
• Assassin’s Creed: Origins (6★★★★★★): beautiful but boring and another AC messing story
• Framed (Collection) (6★★★★★★): interesting premise
• Metro 2033 (Redux): the amount of DeusExMachina moments is off the charts. the same for best friend companions that dies in the very next scene.
• The Red Strings Club (6★★★★★★): weird
• Bioshock Infinite: I really did not like the story and not the gameplay
• Realpolitiks (5★★★★★) interesting take on politics and economics simulation
• Farcry 5 (5★★★★★) beautiful but boring and another FC forgetting story

Finished in 2018-2020 (before pandemic)

• Doom (9★★★★★★★★★) (sort of: a bug near the end broke the saved game)
• Thomas Was Alone (8★★★★★★★★): once I decided to restart and go to the end, I enjoyed so much the humor
• Hollow Night (7★★★★★★★): difficult as hell
• Gorogoa (7★★★★★★★):
• Quarantine Circular (7★★★★★★★): the same creator of Thomas was Alone. The same humor
• The Line (7★★★★★★★): classic whada fuck moment on gaming history
• Sexy Brutale (7★★★★★★★): great premise
• The Turing Test (7★★★★★★★)
• Shadow of War (6★★★★★★): (sort of a bug near the end broke the saved game)
• Rime (6★★★★★★): samey
• Captain Spirit (5★★★★★): lack in every aspect from its sister game Life is Strange

Not finished yet (for one reason or another)

• Superhot Mind Control Delete (7★★★★★★★)
• Offworld Trading Company (7★★★★★★★) (campaign)
• The Quiet Sleep (8★★★★★★★★)
• Shadow Tactics (8★★★★★★★★)
• GRID 2 (7★★★★★★★)
• Hand of Fate 2
• Subnautica (7★★★★★★★)
• FAR: Lone Sails (5★★★★★)
• Bad North (7★★★★★★★)
• Ori and the Blind Forest (8★★★★★★★★)
• Kentucky Route Zero
• Detection
• Rome Total War (8★★★★★★★★)
• Else Heart Break
• Gunpoint (8★★★★★★★★)
• Baba Is You (7★★★★★★★)
• Everspace (6★★★★★★)
• The Pillars of the Earth
• Sunless Sea (6★★★★★★)

Continuous playing

• Stelaris (7★★★★★★★)
• Democracy 3 (8★★★★★★★★): always in Vogue
• Scythe (9★★★★★★★★★): the award-winning board game
• Surviving Mars (7★★★★★★★)
• Offworld Trading Company (7★★★★★★★)
• Imperialism 2 (8★★★★★★★★)
• Ticket to Ride (9★★★★★★★★★): played online with family and friends
• Hidden Folks (7★★★★★★★): success with small kids and non-gamers alike

In preparation of the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077!!!

This title-provoking book tries to tell a very important lesson: not everything is worthy of your attention and worries. Most of the things that make us worried and down could be easily avoided if we maintain a strict rule of not giving a F.

It’s kinda a Buddhism in the modern blogger language. Like the book, Buddha says desire leads to suffering. So you must clear your mind of all desires, not giving a f*ck about stuff. Especially material stuff.

The first third of the book is pretty nice. Is a bit thought-provoking, giving you a sense of perspective on your life. I liked this part very much. I believe that it’s worth a reread from time to time. The second and third parts direct the same philosophy towards more practical aspects of life, like relationships, love, and work. There the advice becomes a bit too narrow and full of must-do and must not do kinda lists.

Overall, I liked the book. It’s that kind of self-helping book that shakes a bit the status quo and makes us reevaluate our lives.

In the same vain of critically acclaimed Limbo and Inside (review pending :P), from Playdead Games, Little Nightmares, from Tarsier Studios offers a great action puzzle adventure, full of mysteries.

The game, unlike the mentioned ones, are played in a 2.5 world. It’s mostly 2D, but there are some things that require the Z axis. To be quite frank, it is partially one of the problems with the game. More of that later.

The story is a bit clearer than the Playdead games, but it still is a clueless journey. All these games offer a minimalist approach for storytelling. One can argue that it is a valid and logical choice in a situation where you are alone and running away from danger. However, the lack of exposure let the players in the darkness most of the time. You might eventually discover whada heck is going on, but chances are you will play-throughout the game without know much.

In a scale, Inside is mostly undecipherable, Limbo is an understandable (due to the simple boy runs premise) and Little Nightmares might have the most clear story.

The giant grotesque figures are super creepy, but after some deaths, they do not offer the terror that one might except. They fall mostly in the range of stranger than from pure evil that want you dead.

The controls caused me several problems. I was expecting to use the game pad, but the analog joystick was too imprecise, especially during running. I was often falling into the void because I was running towards the camera instead sideways. I had to change to mouse+keyboard scheme, which was weird for such a game. Ironically, the 2.5 feature of the game was not that important. It mostly could be replaced to a tracked walk towards the Z axis, making the game essentially a 2D.

The visuals are amazing. It totally delivers the premise of uncanny familiarity and strangeness. The awkward feeling that you know something is not right is present here. Your character is relatable. Its fragile nature makes the whole adventure more epic.

Because it has a chapter-like story. One could try to replay its best parts to manage to get achievements or contemplate better the scenarios.

Note: I like the game so much that I was compelled to try it’s 3 expansions. Nice.

This small game is a 2D action-horror game.

It all happens in a middle of an alien-like invasion. They transform every human into a zombie like creature. The whole country (maybe the whole world?) is trying to survive. The train system is basically the only transportation system available.

You control a train conductor. You have to guide your train to station after station, performing some missions to save humanity.

It has simple controls, effective story, nice mechanics. You might even run a second time (because it is a quite short adventure) in order to do every possible achievement.

The fourth installment of the Old Man’s War series focuses on the same events of the third book, The Last Colony. This time it uses the perspective of the little girl Zoe, the adopted daughter of John Perry and Jane Sagan.

She is quite brilliant and clever. As a teenager, she is experimenting with love, fear, and adventures for the first time.

And you might find many important events from the previous book.