12 Best Video Games Of 2020 - Ranked Per Month

ESSENTIAL video games you should play in 2021.

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Sucker Punch

Thank God for video games.

2020 was, to put it mildly, quite the year. With the outside world increasingly resembling a sci-fi dystopia thanks to COVID-19, riots and cartoonishly incompetent global leadership, video games provided a much-needed distraction from the malevolent fustercluck that was 2020.

While other entertainment industries were hit hard by the events of the year, the gaming industry managed to stay strong and release quality entertainment for the public to enjoy during this most trying of years.

In this list, you'll see the best game released for each month of 2020, counting back from December all the way to January.

This does mean that some great games didn't make the cut due to being released in a crowded month (looking at you, March), but hopefully you'll understand our reasoning behind each pick even if you don't agree with it.

2020 may have been a s**t sundae of a year, with the inviting whipped cream of the opening weeks giving way to the fetid excrement that comprised the rest of the year, but at least these twelve juicy cherries helped make it a bit easier to swallow.

12. December - Cyberpunk 2077

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CD Projekt RED

Starting at the end we have the most controversial game of last month, if not the entire year.

Let's get the issues out the way first:

Yes, the last-gen versions of the game were appallingly broken, unplayable messes that almost entirely dissolved all the goodwill CD Projekt had from the Witcher and GOG.

Yes, even the working versions were seriously buggy (it's hard to take someone's last words seriously when they deliver their dying speech with a gun lodged through their head like a comedy arrow), and yes, Keanu Reeves' performance as Johnny Silverhand was disappointingly flat (sorry Keanu, love you in Face the Music, though).

HOWEVER, although CD Projekt's technical work left much to be desired, their much-vaunted writing chops proved to be as strong as ever, resulting in one of the most memorable adventures of the year.

Excellent characters, some best-in-the-world city design and excellently written side-quests helped make Night City last year's most atmospheric video game locale.

Other games may had longer run-times or bigger worlds to explore, but few had Cyberpunk's personality or sense of place.

Contributor
Contributor

Hello! My name's Iain Tayor. I write about video games, wrestling and comic books, and I apparently can't figure out how to set my profile picture correctly.