GOTY 2020 Best Game: Getting a short-list

This is the long list for the best game for the GOTY 2020. The idea is to narrow this list down to something like 30. Using the h-index as a means to establish that is just one way and not the only way. Feel free to share your input on what should be removed from the top 30 and what should be added.

ID	Title	News Posts	Comments	Ratio	h-index
1	Cyberpunk 2077	145	4243	29,1	36
2	Wasteland 3	81	1210	14,8	18
3	Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem	97	404	4,1	10
4	Assassin's Creed Valhalla	16	288	16,9	9
5	Horizon Zero Dawn	11	293	24,4	8
6	The Dark Eye: Book of Heroes	15	139	8,7	8
7	Genshin Impact	15	126	7,9	7
8	Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls	6	116	16,6	6
9	Yakuza: Like a Dragon	17	101	5,6	6
10	Iratus: Lord of the Dead	14	74	4,9	6
11	Hellpoint	20	67	3,2	6
12	Frontiers	49	113	2,3	6
13	Torchlight III	6	88	12,6	5
14	Troubleshooter: Abandoned Children	6	73	10,4	5
15	Godfall	9	64	6,4	5
18	Iron Danger	18	70	3,7	5
19	Popup Dungeon	27	55	2	5
20	Crusader Kings III	8	138	15,3	4
21	The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos	4	60	12	4
22	Hades	6	43	6,1	4
23	Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning	6	42	6	4
24	Gears Tactics	8	45	5	4
25	Mortal Shell	7	37	4,6	4
26	Empire of Sin	11	45	3,8	4
27	Tears of Avia	9	37	3,7	4
28	Langrisser I & II	8	31	3,4	4
29	Conglomerate 451	10	32	2,9	4
30	Fairy Tail	9	28	2,8	4
31	The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance	9	20	2	4
32	XCOM: Chimera Squad	4	121	24,2	3
33	Fort Triumph	4	29	5,8	3
34	Vampire's Fall: Origins	3	20	5	3
35	Persona 4 Golden	5	26	4,3	3
36	Cloudpunk	5	19	3,2	3
37	Bloodlust 2: Nemesis	5	18	3	3
38	Othercide	9	30	3	3
39	TRIALS of MANA	10	26	2,4	3
40	Starpoint Gemini 3	18	39	2,1	3
41	Eternal Radiance	7	16	2	3
42	Fae Tactics	7	16	2	3
43	Immortals Fenyx Rising	7	16	2	3
44	Vaporum: Lockdown	8	18	2	3
45	The Feud: Wild West Tactics	3	25	6,2	2
46	The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III	2	18	6	2
47	Dreadlands	2	16	5,3	2
48	Banner of the Maid	5	27	4,5	2
49	Morbid: The Seven Acolytes	4	21	4,2	2
50	Corruption 2029	4	17	3,4	2
51	Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars	3	13	3,2	2
52	The Alliance Alive HD Remaster	2	9	3	2
53	Nox Archaist	3	11	2,8	2
54	Star Renegades	2	8	2,7	2
55	Stirring Abyss	5	15	2,5	2
56	The Falconeer	6	16	2,3	2
57	Alder's Blood	4	11	2,2	2
58	Broken Lines	4	11	2,2	2
59	Horizon's Gate	6	14	2	2
60	Warlander	4	10	2	2
61	Chronos: Before the Ashes	6	13	1,9	2
62	Windbound	4	7	1,4	2
63	Crumbling World	4	6	1,2	2
64	Soul of War	1	38	19	1
65	Arcante	1	17	8,5	1
66	Sentinels of Freedom	1	14	7	1
67	Endless Dead	1	8	4	1
68	The Pale City	2	10	3,3	1
69	Hylics 2	1	6	3	1
70	Planet Stronghold 2	1	6	3	1
71	SpaceBourne	1	6	3	1
72	Aria Chronicle	1	5	2,5	1
73	THE LONGING	1	5	2,5	1
74	1971 Project Helios	3	8	2	1
75	Celestian Tales: Realms Beyond	2	6	2	1
76	Shadow Empire	1	4	2	1
77	Wintermoor Tactics Club	3	7	1,8	1
78	Heroines of Swords & Spells	2	5	1,7	1
79	STORY OF SEASONS: Friends of Mineral Town	2	5	1,7	1
80	Pendragon	1	3	1,5	1
81	Grand Guilds	2	4	1,3	1
82	KATANA KAMI: A Way of the Samurai Story	2	4	1,3	1
83	Death end re;Quest 2	5	7	1,2	1
84	Battle Hunters	2	3	1	1
85	Behind the Horizon	1	2	1	1
86	Dread Nautical	2	3	1	1
87	OMORI	1	2	1	1
88	Slasher's Keep	1	2	1	1
89	OUTTA GAS	2	1	0,3	1
90	The Revenant Prince	2	1	0,3	1
91	Haven	4	1	0,2	1
92	Yes, Your Grace	4	1	0,2	1
93	Bonfire	1	0	0	0
94	Ikenfell	6	0	0	0
95	Koi Unleashed	2	0	0	0
96	Miden Tower	1	0	0	0
97	Ruinverse	1	0	0	0
98	Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin	1	0	0	0
99	Sierra Ops	4	0	0	0
100	Sink Again	2	0	0	0
101	Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception	2	0	0	0
102	Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth	0	0	0	0

I don't personally think games that are re-released on the PC platform on a given yeare should be considered best games of that year. But I expect I'm in the minority on that one.

I assume this is PC only, given that several of the best games of the year aren't even on this list.

To the top 30 I would add

TRIALS of MANA
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III
Banner of the Maid
and
Vestaria Saga I (was released 30. 12. 2019)

because they are recommended and very popular on the RPGWatch Steam Curator.

Maybe worth to add - they are very good games
Horizon's Gate
XCOM: Chimera Squad

You can safely remove
Torchlight III
P.A.M.E.L.A.
Necromunda: Underhive Wars
The Dark Eye: Book of Heroes

(They have only many posts, because they are utterly bad - see Steam reviews)

I support removing Torchlight 3.

I had a peek at HiddenX's link to the RPGCodex's GOTY poll and submitted my vote without voting for anything, and a lot of the games didn't even look like games I'd likely play in the future either.

The two 2020 games I played this year are both Early Access/Kickstarter/Open Beta type stuff that hasn't been fully released yet & so hopefully I wont have forgotten about them by the time of 2021's polls!

I enjoyed Star Renegades but it doesn't qualify as an rpg even in the broadest of senses. Otherwise every rogue like would be an rpg such as FTL.

I've only played 3 or 4 games on that list so can't comment on others.

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by JFarrell71
I assume this is PC only, given that several of the best games of the year aren't even on this list.

That is the idea to limit it to PC only games.

Originally Posted by HiddenX
To the top 30 I would add

TRIALS of MANA
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III
Banner of the Maid
and
Vestaria Saga I (was released 30. 12. 2019)

because they are recommended and very popular on the RPGWatch Steam Curator.

Maybe worth to add - they are very good games
Horizon's Gate
XCOM: Chimera Squad

You can safely remove
Torchlight III
P.A.M.E.L.A.
Necromunda: Underhive Wars
The Dark Eye: Book of Heroes

(They have only many posts, because they are utterly bad - see Steam reviews)

P.A.M.E.L.A. and Necromunda are on my wishlist but I only keep reading bad things about them. I think I'll remove them quite soon. Oh boy, P.A.M.E.L.A. * could * have potential, it gives me a System Shock vibe but…
Anyway, I also support HiddenX's opinion on removing these 4 games from the list.

[EDIT: just removed today (Jan, 16th) both P.A.M.E.L.A. and Necromunda: Underhive Wars from my wishlist. The general feeling is that P.A.M.E.L.A. is abandoned by the devs (they don't even answer inquiries on Discord); and Necromunda… well, since it's kinda broken/buggy and the devs only care to release paid DLCs instead of fixing the game, then bye-bye, I won't even bother with it]

Originally Posted by HiddenX
You can safely remove
Torchlight III
P.A.M.E.L.A.
Necromunda: Underhive Wars
The Dark Eye: Book of Heroes

(They have only many posts, because they are utterly bad - see Steam reviews)

Add Frontiers to that group for the same reason.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Add Frontiers to that group for the same reason.

Definetly.
A huge disappointment as it didn't stick to KS plans but the charm got lost in experimentation.

Wow. So many games on that list that I haven't even heard about.

It would be nice to have a version of this list split by category : J-RPG, Tactic RPG, ARPG, etc.

I think Fates of Ort is worth adding. Thanks

I assume we're talking "Best RPG" here (not just "Best Game"), so I wouldn't really consider CK3. As much as I love Crusader Kings, it's not an RPG imho (but I guess that might be debatable).

Here is a new top 30, ordered by title:


Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Banner of the Maid
Conglomerate 451
Cyberpunk 2077
Empire of Sin
Fort Triumph
Gears Tactics
Genshin Impact
Godfall
Hades
Hellpoint
Horizon Zero Dawn
Horizon's Gate
Iratus: Lord of the Dead
Iron Danger
Langrisser I & II
Mortal Shell
Popup Dungeon
Starpoint Gemini 3
Tears of Avia
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III
TRIALS of MANA
Troubleshooter: Abandoned Children
Wasteland 3
Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls
Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem
XCOM: Chimera Squad
Yakuza: Like a Dragon

Looking at this list - 2020 was not so bad after all.

Originally Posted by HiddenX
Looking at this list - 2020 was not so bad after all.

It was a good year for some niches but woeful for others. Certainly not a hopeless year by any measure, as a whole, that's for sure.

Thanks @Myrthos

Aye, like HiddenX stated above, the prior year doesn't look shabby at all to me. Let's see how the voting goes, and please, no one show up to contest the results! =p

I like the updated list - takes care of every one of my thoughts