RPGWatch - Game of the Year 2020

Update: It is no longer possible to vote.

Here is your oppotunity to vote for the game of the year in 2020 and the most anticpiated game of 2021. As usual you can vote for first, second and third place. The voting will last until next week Monday the 25th of January.
At that time I collect the results, do some stuff with them, even I don't understand and then somehow I end up with some winners that look reasonable.

This is our Game of the Year contest for 2020. In this contest we ask you to vote for the RPGs you felt were the best in 2020(we ask you for the best, runner up and third best RPG).

In addition we also would like to know which three RPGs you are looking forward to most in 2021.

Note that these lists are based on games that in one way or the other got covered at RPGWatch. The resulting list is derived from a much longer list, which has been reduced in length somewhat in cooperation with our forum members. In addition we have removed the games that are add-ons or DLCs as much as possible. You might feel that some games should not be on these lists for some reason. If you feel heart-broken over our decisions, don't vote for those games or don't vote at all and discuss it on our forums if you like. More information on how we got to this shorter list can be found here and here.

In total our GOTY consists of making 6 choices. If you feel you do not have anything to select you can select no game. Note that if you select the same game multiple times, your entire vote will be invalidated.

As always, voting is restricted to registered users only and those with at least 10 posts.

More information.

Wow…this has been a slow rpg-year for me, the slowest in decades (I think). I couldn't find a single 2020 game on the list that I had both played and wanted to cast a vote for.

Game of the Year Picks

1. Cyberpunk 2077
2. Wasteland 3
3. Assassin Creed Valhalla

Most Promising for 2021

1. Baldur's Gate 3
2. Solasta: Crown of the Magister
3. Urban Strife

It's tough when you have not played a large %. I know there are a couple games on the list that have the potential to be in my top 3 once I've played them.

I actually played a lot of games (for me) in 2020 but I did a little catching up on my backlog. Finally got around to playing the From Software PC games for the first time and a couple other less RPG type games. So I had a good year just not a ton from that list. Ended up voting for Wasteland 3 and Cyberpunk and nothing.

The most anticipated of next year are the most fun to vote on anyway! Voted for Elex 2, Elden Ring. 3rd choice was the hard one. Could have been any of about 5. In the end I went with Atomic Heart (sorry Colony ship, it was so close), I really liked that last trailer and have been in more of an action RPG mood lately.

Game of the Year 2020 Picks

• Troubleshooter: Abandoned Children
• Wasteland 3
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III

Most Promising for 2021

• ELEX 2
• Baldur's Gate 3
• Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous

Nice picks but is Elex 2 getting released next year? News has been sparse.

It was tough picking the most promising as other games have my interest also.

• Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
• Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness
• Vampire - The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2
• Encased
• Alaloth: Champions of the Four Kingdoms
• Gothic Remake
• Elden Ring
• Nighthawks
• Gamedec
• Edge Of Eternity
• The Waylanders
• Mechajammer

I still have to play The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
Nice picks but is Elex 2 getting released next year? News has been sparse.

Will 50% of the list be released in 2021? Many will miss, that's just the way it is now days. It was an option so I took it!

I'm following the German Piranha Bytes Youtube Channel. It's pretty clear that ELEX 2 will be at least announced in 2021. PB is working longer than usual on this game.

Originally Posted by xenocide
Will 50% of the list be released in 2021? Many will miss, that's just the way it is now days. It was an option so I took it!

Yeah I know that but the game hasn't even been officially announced yet.

Anyway I was just curious and don't want to make a big deal about it.

Originally Posted by HiddenX
I'm following the German Piranha Bytes Youtube Channel. It's pretty clear that ELEX 2 will be at least announced in 2021. PB is working longer than usual on this game.

Last news on that channel was the announcement it was delayed due to Covid-19.

Yep - originally they wanted to announce ELEX 2 in 2020. But Covid-19 made development and marketing slightly more difficult. In the end the game will be more polished.

Well, this won't be hard - I've only played a few of the games on the list, and two of those were the original versions, not the re-masters (Amalur) or ports (Persona 4). So… maybe only two for me to choose from?
Oh well, the "looking forward to" parts will be a bit more interesting.

Originally Posted by HiddenX
Yep - originally they wanted to announce ELEX 2 in 2020. But Covid-19 made development and marketing slightly more difficult. In the end the game will be more polished.

Probably a good thing given how Cyberpunk 2077 was affected by the virus. So I agree take their time and hopefully the virus wont affect development to much.

Well I only played one of the games for GOTY for 2020 and that was Cyberpunk so it took first, second, and last place

Much more interesting list for upcoming and I had to actually think on that one as I had a three way tie for third place. But in the end I went with:

1 - BG3
2 - Pathfinder WOTR
3 - ELEX 2

The other two were the vampire and werewolf games from WOD. But the vampire one may never see the light of day (haha) and the werewolf one just has too many detractors and not sure I even consider it an RPG for that matter.

ELEX may not come out in 2021 but I am looking forward to it. So figured that was the best option. There were a couple others on the list as well.

At least I recognized at least half the list for 2021. I wasn't even familiar with most of the 2020 ones.

EDIT: I fixed my vote

@wolfgrimdark - Myrthos said:

Note that if you select the same game multiple times, your entire vote will be invalidated.

Wasteland 3 was the only RPG on that list I played so it got my vote automatically, but it is a good game regardless.

Nothing for 2nd and 3rd choice.

Anticipated for 2021
1 - Encased
2 - Pathfinder WOTR
3 - BG3

I went for Cyberpunk 2077 as my favourite. Yeah, it's full of issues, disappointing on some levels even without the bugs, but I enjoyed it and haven't played much else.

I went for Elex 2, Vampire Bloodlines 2, and Geneforge 1 remake as my most aniticipated. If I were allowed a fourth I would have gone with Mechajammer.

Unfortunately, I had played NONE of the games on the 2020 list, but I sure wish I could choose more than 3 on the most anticipated as there's at least 6 I'm quite interested in. Finally decided to go with Elex 2, BG 3, and Solasta as I'm enjoying the 2 EA's and I loved the first Elex. (Guess I'm a PB fanboy)

I only played two of the games, Wasteland which i really enjoyed and dungeons of nah…something which was quite fun but not really top material but in lieu of others they got my vote

I have played none of the 2020 games as well, with the exception of Chimera Squad, which was not good. Looking forward to BG3, Solasta, PF:WotR, and VM:B 2. And Realms Beyond: Ashes of the Fallen if this one ever comes out…

I have not played any of the games for 2020 yet, but do have Wasteland 3 and Cyberpunk. To me it was a pretty "meh" year in rpgs, just in terms of what looked interesting and potentially something I would want to play.

I hate to say but 2021 doesn't look much better. Solasta, Dark Envoy, Encased, and the new Pathfinder game are all on my radar, but not games that I think will be masterpieces or anything landmark-worthy like that. I still have my fingers crossed for Realms Beyond, which would be my most anticipated if I knew it was coming out this year, but with their known development troubles, who knows.