Thanks to Nvidia for sponsoring the video and giving away an RTX 3080 Founder's Edition. To enter, click the link. Best of luck! gleam.io/ayGXZ/nvidia-rtx-3080-founders-edition-giveaway
I was waiting a long time for this video.... I was also waiting a long time for the ps5... I got both within 24 hours of one another... Next gen begins on 2/2 🐵🤯💦🍷🏊💦👌
Can only agree with this. Especially Ori is a game that i wouldve never picked up (or noticed) and it is one of the best gaming experiences for me this year!
I don't understand how Astros playroom gets ahead of games like last of us 2, Spiderman, Demons Souls, nioh 2, half life alyx, gears tactics, even the glitchy cyberpunk.
Ori and the will of the wisps felt like a magical dream. I loved this game so much. I also love the ost and can’t stop listening to it. What an experience this game was.
I can genuinely say nobody in the industry does this type of stuff the way you do. You value our time, make us laugh, think, sometimes even move us, even for a silly thing like a top 10. Thank you so much. Keep it up
Nr. Ten - 1:44 Nr. Nine - 6:00 Nr. Eight - 9:07 Nr. Seven - 12:33 Nr. Six - 15:38 Nr. Five - 18:43 Nr. Four - 22:03 Brief intermission - 35:34 Nr. One - 26:11 Nr. One (again) - 29:26 Nr. One (the final one) - 32:45 Closing Thoughts - 36:44 Outro - 37:31
10: Horizon zero dawn 9: Astro's Playroom 8: Immortals: Fynx Rising 7: Hades 6: Kentucky Route 0 5: Ori and the Will of the Wisps 4: Risk of Rain 2 3 top games: Final Fantasy VII Remake, Wasteland III, Ghosts of Tsushima
Guess he hasn't finished Cyberpunk yet, which is odd since he made a review of it a while ago. He should've waited until he finished all the games he was playing from 2020 before making this list but I'm sure he'll make up for this mistake when he realizes.
@@sirbirbton I think I'm just getting baited here, but have you considered that maybe he just doesn't think CP2077 is that good? Like, the game is a god damn mess, I wouldn't blame anybody for not even considering it when thinking of GOTY contenders.
@@sirbirbton He said in his previous video that he couldnt put cyberpunk in his top 10 because of all the problems it has. He said he enjoyed it, but he enjoyed these games more
you're the first reviewer i've seen to put risk of rain 2 on a GOTY list and it makes me happier than it should. even after getting all the achievements and having almost 300 hours in it i still go back sometimes for quick runs or to mess around with mods. i love that game to absolute death, so thank you. now i should probably actually play hades at some point lmfaooo
@@brendanhatherall720 And if you really like how the song sounds, you have another fantastic version from risk of rain 1, "coalescence". It's beautiful and haunting.
It could work in the way that Hades did. Or even minecraft or subnautica. I can say, for sure, that I will buy and play any game From Soft will make. So them having bloodborne 2 for 18 months of early access allows those fans like me to participate in the building process and pledge their money early allowing for better development. It works when games come out when they are done and not on a certain date regardless of their polish/finish.
@A . B Shah This is an oversimplification. Unity was a great evolution of the Assassin's Creed formula up until then. Origins was a bold new direction. Rogue was...something. Assassin's Creed is basically, potentially as ubiquitous and longlasting as any other titan-franchise like Mario or Pokemon or whatever, because it can basically take any shape or form and still have appeal and be marketable
@Darth Revan Yes Assassin's Creed story ended with AC3. Ubisoft should have dropped the future stuff after that, and focus on making good period piece open world games. But at this point they have to slap the Assassin's Creed name on anything they make, case in point assassin Vikings.
Considering that Origins and Odissey are excellent, I don't get this circlejerk that Shillup has against it and now he's blowing his load against it just because of Tsushima. It has not died at all wtf.
I thought the same and didnt touch an AC game since Black Flag... Then I got Valhalla and although its not really an AC game but I'm having a blast 130 hours in...
Bruh, Bugsnax, more like suksnax. lolol, also Doom is Boom, and Ghost is China in another country. “If you know that guy and you, you won boiii” -Sun fricking Zu. I already won boiiii.
Its actually one of the only games I played through multiple times just to experience all the other plot points and multiple ways the story can lead you, instead of just watching all the endings on youtube
As someone who couldn’t properly get into wasteland 2 i absolutely loved wasteland3. One of the few games i was actually sad it was over after completing it. It feels in depth yet accessible. Despite a handful of bugs and occasional crashes, i just loved it. Will probably replay again when i get a series x (eventually) and praying for some sizeable dlc!!
I love isometric RPGs and xcom combat, but i really really hate how the combat in wasteland 3 is designed so that your entire team takes its turn at once. Some of those early encounters where the enemy gets its turn first and you get absolutely massacred in a single turn are just frustrating. I wanted to love wasteland 3, i really enjoyed wasteland 2, divinity, pillars of eternity, baldurs gate, the old isometric fallout games. But I just couldn't get into it because the combat doesn't feel right. I hope someone makes a mod that implements a more traditional initiative roll system for the game. Also I hate how you get so many squad members with so many skills that you never lack for whatever skill check you need. Its never a choice. You get everything.
Um... About half a year ago this comment section was 80% people shitting on everyone that liked The Last of Us 2. If anyone needs to learn that lesson it's definitely Skill Up's community.
Depends on what games you like and prefer over others. You can only stay subjective up to a certain point. For example, if you were to say that cyberpunk 2077 is your GOTY and you like it more than anything released this year, everyone has the right to shit over your opinion.
@@GrimJackal I mean it depends. If someone comes ahead and tell me they liked TLOU2 because of the graphics and gameplay, sure that's fine. I'll take it. But if they try to convince me that they liked TLOU2 because of that dumbass story which seems like it was written by two 13 y/o teenage emo brats who know nothing about human emotions and depth of a story, I will gladly tell them that they have poo for brains.
Your "what if" list for open world games could be summarized as not doing anything new and just "what if morrowind again"...and I fully agree with that concept.
Have you played Morrowind in the last couple of years? It’s Janky as hell my dude. morrowind wouldn’t make it in this climate. Open world concepts with little linear structure is eaten alive in today’s climate (no mans sky comes to mind).
@@kaingates did you watch his video? I'm not referring to morrowind as a whole, just his list of how open world games should evolve in the future (no quest markers, open exploration, etc) .
Actually, seems to me that he described soulsborne games, in fact they had a certain influence in the direction many RPG went (probably also infuenced BOTW).
@@3adir_ Yes, I know. What I was referring to was the fact that saying "isometric Fallout" is like saying "wet water". There's no need to imagine it since it's already that thing.
@@Jandau85 Water is not wet. A thing can be made wet when introduced to water but water itself cannot be wet. But to annoy & weird out alot of women out there we prefer to use the word MOIST, to describe something that is wet.
@@Jandau85 i hear you man, the og fallout games will always be my favorite. I love 3 and new vegas, but ive never gotten such a sense of dread and hopelessness then i did from fallout 1. Such an amazing game
man I'm so happy you put Risk of Rain 2 on this list, it deserves all the praise it's gotten. Loved the list, I'll definitely be checking out your picks
@@ChumpLord maybe, though hades definitely deserves all the praise it's getting, it's a great game. but i'm kinda sad that RoR2 has gone under many people's radars
Itll happen Nomura has some incredible story ideas but he needs someone to help him organize and reel in the ambition. For all the insanity Kingdom Hearts story is, some incredible story telling from Nomura has come from it. Hilariously enough the murder mystery from the gotcha app is so good it would rival stuff like Knives Out
Risk of Rain has such a genius music, i didn't even hear that particular song you started the segment with, and still didn't even doubt i knew where it was from.
Needs a year to get patches out to fine tune driving, add some features like police and eradicate the bugs. But I wouldn’t pay attention to the people who say the game is trash regardless, they just want to be “quirky”
The sad thing is the game would have been on a lot of GOTY lists if CDPR execs didn't push the game out the door half baked, and kept setting release dates that were too soon. The developers were angry, and rightly so.
I am so glad to see Ori getting some well deserve recognition. That said, I also understand 2020 ended up been a year with tons of fantastic videogames to play.
Last year these same people called him a pretentious Kojima fanboy and a shill for being one of the few UA-camrs who said Death Stranding is a masterpiece, but whatever......
@@ggs27 nope, but when a reviewer has the same taste as you it will obviously make them more reliable and relevant for you personally. You're trying to make it more controversial than it needs to be
@@Shredow2 too little too late tbh. If the game was like that from the start it would of hat potential but it had one of the worst releases I have ever seen
Yep. But, all in all, I'm glad he actually got to experience it properly. It's true that it's a little tough in the beginning to get invested in the world, to experiment with the game mechanics without a guaranteed positive outcome, but I will never get tired of hyping this game (maybe I should ask the devs for a free copy of Forbidden West? :P). The graphics are great (even on base PS4), the combat is amazing and expansive (assuming you're taking full advantage of the different options; even I barely touched on the consumable traps except for one mission kinda asking you to do it), the main character is believable and I loved piecing the story together as well as the what happened with the "ancients". Most important, it still didn't answer all questions by the end of it and so leaving more to be desired. That being said, I understand it's not necessarily a game for everyone, but it's a travesty to ignore it, especially since you can get it for 10$ almost all year around.
@@razvanzamfir1545 I like everything about HZD except for the way they present the stories. The lore is interesting but there's too many "secondhand storytelling" as in an NPC/recording telling you the interesting story that has happened. I wanna experience the story, not be told it. As such, I'm never really invested in the stories except for Aloy's personal story. I end up didn't care about the various towns and its people and didn't care about the history of the world. Then again, I was playing HZD while also playing The Witcher 3, so maybe the stark difference in storytelling quality between the two games made me not appreciate HZD. But still, all in all, if you own a PS4, HZD is a must buy.
I played outer wilds because of Skillups recommendation last year, probably the most memorable game I've ever played. I think it's still criminally unknown but will be looked back on as something special.
Horizon: the combat is great cause you never feel like you’re in complete control. Fenyx: the combat is great cause you always feel like you’re in complete control. >.>
It reminds me a lot of KZ1. It's full of generic design (following trails, ubi towers,etc), a lot of limitations (0 parkour, next to none npc interaction in what is supposed to be an RPG) and an overall bland narrative (can't remember a single name of any other character other than the Zavala dude and Aloy, both of which aren't that interesting either). But it has charm to it and some strong aspects (lore and robot combat mostly). I would love to see Forbidden West be the KZ2 of Horizon and finally win me over. I think if the sequel has more confidence and ventures more into doing it's own thing instead of emulating other games in the genre it could turn out to be a fantastic game.
@@EatThePath-7 THANK YOU the game is so fun but it's so badly bogged down by a generic story, generic characters, and some awfully generic game design. It's so full of better potential that can hopefully be fulfilled in the sequel.
They loaded all of the interesting story in the back half of the game, I think. And loaded too much open world BS in the first half. I love the game but it has flaws for sure
I was never able to finish it. I might go back to it, but the 10-15 hours I put in just felt boring. I always felt myself mindlessly drifting from marker to marker with no real purpose. The highs were really good and made me stick through, but then I'd quickly get in another rut where the story was just boring and none of the side quest were enjoyable.
@@simonvoncramon1367 Totally agree with you. I put nearly 20 hours into Horizon Zero Dawn and was never able to get into it. I eventually quit it and deleted it from my hard drive.
I rarely watch recommendation videos, I tend to skip through them to be exposed to games I might not otherwise run into and I would prize myself lucky if I get a good recommendation out of it. Your content has me positively surprised, you speak with passion and seem to really value the experiences these games offer. That warms my heart, and in addition it's just inspiring! Thank you for sharing your passion, I got loads of awesome games I want to play now
Hey, your writing on that Kentucky Route Zero section really struck me and impressed me with your level of appreciation and emotional exploration. I’m new to your channel but wow you are much more than a video game journalist, my friend.
Except it’s gotta be fun/make sense to figure out. I joined the fighters guild and was told to clear out some rats. My weapon doesn’t damage them. Legit curious what I’m missing in that equation
@@Level_Eleven Hahaha, fair point. I remember first getting off the boat, my sense of exploration took over, and instead of heading into town I turned around and found a cave where a ghost outright stomped me (it was many levels higher).
@@sabus1265 lol I actually got bored to death in HZD (which is not a bad game) and I felt like Yakuza 7 was something fresh and different than the bunch games with similar narratives I've been playing in the last years. Now the series got me hooked.
I actually started playing it after watching his positive impressions, now I'm like wtf. I played most of the games on this list and while they are great, they were on similar level or less fun than yakuza. Also, the narrative was way better and fresh than most of these games. Maybe it's because I'm new to the series but what a game..
Listening to you doing what you love, which is writing about what you love, which is video games - which I also love - is just so infectuous. You really make this medium feel as special as it is, past all the bullsh*t in the current industry. I love video games so damn much. My favourite game I've ever played - The Outer Wilds - woul'dve never crossed my mind if not for you. You really help me remember why I love games so much and I feel like it's okay to love games, something often perceived as a useless passtime. Thank you for sharing your passion, we can feel it and it's infectuous.
Thank you or putting into words exactly what I was feeling. Both the sentiment towards Ralph's videos and The Outer Wilds, which has also become one of my favourite games because of the SkillUp recommendation.
@@gigachadbodypillow614 Disagree. They each have their strengths, and Ralph's is spitting essentially poetry about games. If you watch their 3 min "breakup" video, they lay it out pretty well
I probably got the total opposite with what most people do: tried play BoTW, around 20 hours in and still doesn't get the game's appeal But I played HZD a year after its release date and loved every bit of it and played it non-stop lol
As i love CRPGs , i was pretty hyped for Wasteland 3, but it really was a rocky road for me. The highs were really high, but the lows ( mostly technical nature ) were driving me crazy and led to me not finishing it. But i played it on Gamepass, so i paid basically nothing for it and i hope to actually buy it at some point and come back to it.
@@TheQoogle Yeah quite a buggy launch.Having spent many hours in fallout and TES games tho...well, can't say I'm not used to buggy games with top stories.
I love RPGs, but I wish it wasn’t Turn Based. I know people who love this will hate me for it, but I’ve never been into that form of combat since I was a kid.
@@GigglingStoners i finished the 2nd one actually. I played the directors cut edition tho 5 years after it came out and it was in a fine technical state after all that time. I assume this will be the case for 3 as well in a bit of time.
So, basically, considering that in 2 weeks I've already spent 35 hours on New Vegas recently I should avoid wasteland 3 like the plague, or suffer the health risks, got it.
My best gaming experience this year: - BoTW using CEMU ( Modded BoTW is BEAUTIFUL) - Hades - DOOM Eternal - Among Us ( I know, shallow, but giving me chance to socialize is making me less anxious, and friend play session is just as absurd and messy as you can imagine) - Oxygen not Included ( just play this year)
"What if the next big AAA open world game had no map markers and you had to talk to NPCs to find where stuff was?" They did that a long time ago. It's called Morrowind. Then they fucked it up.
@@brendan2415 i mean i wouldn't say downhill every company has some fuck upgame like fallout 76 and wolfenstein young blood BUT Doom this year was So good
Maybe, but the modern version of that is called souls-borne games (In fact ,it's said that Demon's Souls started its development as Sony's response to Oblivion).
@Bzake Yikes. Try not to have a fucking aneurism over it. It's just an opinion, dude. Honestly, not even sure why you're getting all pissy about it when they obviously didn't stick with the "geographical game" design for open world games. Just don't play Morrowind.
This guy is literally the only reviewer that is honest and real. He actually suggests games that are genuinely good and discourages games that are actually bad. Crazy right?
This. To see ror2 on his list and not drg is seriously questionable, the co-op genre has been starved for a new good game for years, we had l4d2, then payday2, risk of rain's co-op mode hardly feels like co-op, while DRG feels like the best designed co-op game on the market, and I doubt that will change anytime soon, back4blood certainly isn't going to do any better.
I came here to say this. I was deeply disappointed not to see it on his list, but co-op and multiplayer games don't seem to be his favorites to begin with. Rock and stone!
Completely agree with HZD. They struck gold and then bogged it down with busy work. Something about it makes me feel this is one of my all time favourites. But it’s hard to go back to once you stop as it can feel like a chore or completely overwhelming. Hopefully, they’ll sharpen up the experience in the sequel because it really is an amazing world with amazing combat and enemy design 🙌🏾🙌🏾
i just didnt see the greatness of the pathless. it was just too same-y after some time. the music is forgetable, the world looks good and the flow is also nice
@@Exel3nce it's a boring ass game, I spent 6 hours simply activating towers and the bosses were really lazy and not challenging whatsoever, it's simply not worth a 40 dollar price tag
After giving the 1st place to Outer Wilds last year and leading me to play one of my now all-time favorite games, I'm gonna take your word on the games in this video very seriously
@@ido8 Its a personal list, all right. But on a channel with how many subs? Hard to put out a 2020 list without Alyx, Cyberpunk or TLOU2. His choice for GOTY 2019 was great because it put the spotlight to a game that was actually outstanding but most people ignored it. There is no such game in this years top 3, though.
Well said. I played it during my vacations and kept me entertained like no other game since god of war. I finished the game and went to UA-cam to watch some spoilercasts. Can't wait for the sequel.
"Immortals Fenyx Rising has a total playtime of 20 hours" **looks at save file where I'm only like a third of the way through the campaign and I have 35 hours clocked**
great to see wasteland 3 getting some recognition. It was buggy for me, but they were relatively small and didnt have any meaningful impact on my experience. I was genuinely gutted when it finished. I wanted more. I very rarely feel that way after long RPGs. it was such a surprise for me. loved the combat and RPG elements. great, great game.
I generally wait 3 months before picking up a new game and it worked out really well for wasteland. It’s a great game though, I’m having a blast with it right now (I admit I haven’t tried co-op tho:)
@@glendogdangler agree. although I only had a few crashes with wasteland 3. Playing this game started to make me think about the general state of games in 2020. I had bugs on Ori, Spiritfarer and this during a small period of time in 2020. was frustrating on all three (spiritfarers bug actually killed the game for me) but with wasteland, they were luckily ones that I could overcome, albeit frustratingly...
He's one of - if not the best - reviewer/writer TBH. And he doesn't bend to sponsors etc to write fake reviews. If he doesn't like it, he just says it so, and if he likes it, he says it so too. But in a way that it is worded so beautifully, that you end up sitting through 40 minute of a "bad game" review, just to listen how and why he felt that way in a very pleasant way XD
Is it overtly political? As a conservative, I’m weary of getting beaten over the head with “capitalism is bad” messages. Or is it broader look kind of thing?
@@jias333 nice man! Lol I hope I’ll be able to complete it in its entirety sometime soon. I’m just taking my time and enjoying all of it as much as I can. Such a profoundly unique experience.
@@TheFloodFourm Aside from it probably needing more enemy variety, the gameplay loop is great for me. Love the vaults and puzzles etc. I'm a big mythology guy so just walking around discovering stuff I know is all part of the fun ha
The backstory to Horizon Zero Dawn is a joy to discover and piece together. It's actually pretty damned smart to let the pieces come to the player out of order, because the questions become more pertinent as to why certain things took place, and it makes the big reveals even more emotionally powerful as everything starts to slot together.
When i need a genuine, honest and TRUSTWORTHY critique of a game, i come to this channel. When skillup tells me a game is good and to play it. I 100% do it and have yet to be disappointed.
Haven't seen the vid yet, but what a wonderful job youve done weathering all varieties of controvery in 2020. Its a testament to your integrity. I still owe you over outer wilds tho! Best recommendation anyone has ever made to me.
I still owe this guy a huge thanks for his nier automata review. Would probably never have tried it otherwise. I hope everything is fine with him and his brother though! They both haven’t uploaded that many videos lately/ this game of year video seems a little late?
Immortal was a great surprise for me. The first Ubisoft game where I wanted to collect everything and I even started newgameplus on nightmare difficulty
I’m at 15 hours at this point and have just now finished the valley of eternal spring. I never do competition runs on games but I think I’m accidentally doing it on Immortal Fenyx Rising. It’s one of the first open world games I’ve played in which I start the game up with nothing but the subconscious intent to continue exploring. That being said, I’ve played but never owned Breath of the Wild, so I sadly can’t compare whether that game is the reason I love Fenyx Rising so much or not, but even if it is a “breath of the Wild clone” if the game is amazing and has a deeply detailed story and insanely fun world, I don’t really care if they took inspiration from another game or not.
The only issue there is that it really doesn't work for similar reasons. Theyre hard games and I find myself remembering the bosses more than the open world levels. The open world is much more confined and detailed, but that limits the whole exploration thing. I just think a game about discovery probably shouldnt be the hardest thing
@@dropkickpherby6994 Yeah you have to get VR headset, but you don't need the index as it works on all VR kits, so a paywall of $300-400$. Anyway Skillup has more than enough money and already owns a VR kit he just never reviewed it (or played it).
@@hittman1412 it's got a slow start but really pulled me in. Those stupid side quests in chapter 3 slow things down, but by the time you get more stupid side quests later in the game you're having a ton of fun so they dont really bother you. The main story is great and the combat is awesome .
@Alex A I guess so, all I see is u campaigning for a game to be on his list. Not sure where the joke is, esp seeing how u sit there and go into detail why it should be on his list. But I guess it's there somewhere . Doom was a good game but it didn't make my top 10 either, so he isn't alone on that
Anyone who mentions that game on any side, to attack or defend, has lost. The only winning move is not to join increasingly-pointless culture war battles.
Your comments at the end of this video have aged really well with Elden Ring. I really hope the game is a paradigm shift for the industry towards the old way games were made. Map markers and accessibility are great, but we've lost the sense of wonder that comes with video games as a result. The best part of video games as a kid was turning it on and just going. No map. no UA-cam videos. No builds. You just played and figured it out.
I luckily got the PS5 in early December. I remember loading it up and my 5 year old niece and 10 year old nephew were visiting and I loaded up Astro for them to play. I thought to myself, “It’s a kids game” and walked away to deal with life around the house. I’d go back and check on them and after a bit, I would stay longer, and be away less. By the time my sister was ready to leave with her kids, we were in a gaming sesh hesitantly passing the dual sense when we died. After they left, I didn’t stop until my wife came in to mentally nudge me into shutting it down. Then I passed her the controller... As my wife is not a “gamer”, to see her get into it was fun. If you’re a grown up and have a hard time with the kid like graphics, don’t worry. This silly little tech demo has a magical way of keeping your hands on the Dual Sense. It’s fun and that’s what’s important. Game of the year? No no no. A must play for every single human on the planet? Meh. No. A family friendly game that will make all ages smile and shows off some cool new tech on consoles, that will keep you engaged...looking forward to cool new features of the cool new controller, yes yes yes!! I remember when I got to the part where you have to blow on the controller to create wind for a propeller. I was blown away and literally took a minute or two to figure out how the f**k they did that. (The secret is the mic on the controller. If you’re using a headset you blow into that mic) I enjoyed my time with that silly little tech demo. If you looked over it in the 5, just give it a chance. It’s all fun.
This video is brought to you by a product that is sold out and has been for months and will be for months that everyone wants and cannot buy. Why even waste the money on ads? Make more cards!
When Skillup (don't remember the Laymen brothers real name) said he was leaving Laymen Gaming to focus on his channel he fking meant it! this is some consistent and high quality content right here, keep it up dude!
How have no reviewers even mentioned Tsushima Legends? That would by far be my GOTY, turning an existing game on it's head and making genuinely fun and creative ways to force single players (like me) to enjoy playing with others.
Thanks to Nvidia for sponsoring the video and giving away an RTX 3080 Founder's Edition. To enter, click the link. Best of luck! gleam.io/ayGXZ/nvidia-rtx-3080-founders-edition-giveaway
K
Love the vids
What should we replace pogchamp with skillshare?
I was waiting a long time for this video.... I was also waiting a long time for the ps5...
I got both within 24 hours of one another...
Next gen begins on 2/2 🐵🤯💦🍷🏊💦👌
I think you need to revisit days gone but on ps5
I have to admit, a LOT of my favorite gaming moments from 2020 came from your recommendations. Have a good 2021.
Skill up cooking collab? :D
Can only agree with this. Especially Ori is a game that i wouldve never picked up (or noticed) and it is one of the best gaming experiences for me this year!
Aww. Good content creators can recognize other good content creators.
Yeah if Skillup or ACG recommend a game highly I know it’s worth checking out.
Finally played Nier Automata because of Skill Up in 2020. Super glad I did
Timestamps:
1:44 - Horizon Zero Dawn (PC)
6:00 - Astro's playroom (PS5)
9:07 - Fenyx Rising
12:35 - Hades
15:40 - Kentucky Route Zero
18:43 - Ori 2
22:05 - Risk of Rain 2
26:11 - FF7 Remake
29:30 - Wasteland 3
32:45 - Ghost of Tsushima
got timestamps for the music aswell?
Thanks
I don't understand how Astros playroom gets ahead of games like last of us 2, Spiderman, Demons Souls, nioh 2, half life alyx, gears tactics, even the glitchy cyberpunk.
@@lawjef why he doesn't have timestamps in the youtube playbar is a mystery to me... maybe a matter of upload?
@@jiggswut1124 Because it's his list. Not an "objectively better than" list.
Ori and the will of the wisps felt like a magical dream. I loved this game so much. I also love the ost and can’t stop listening to it. What an experience this game was.
Nvidia giving away the entire 3080 stock, that's pretty neat.
See, I find this rather funny
Gold
Lmao
That would be really funny if it wasn't actually true.
It’s depressing that this is like the best chance I have of getting one even with the money in my account to buy one
I can genuinely say nobody in the industry does this type of stuff the way you do. You value our time, make us laugh, think, sometimes even move us, even for a silly thing like a top 10. Thank you so much. Keep it up
ACG and Skill Up are pretty much modern poets at this point
Nr. Ten - 1:44
Nr. Nine - 6:00
Nr. Eight - 9:07
Nr. Seven - 12:33
Nr. Six - 15:38
Nr. Five - 18:43
Nr. Four - 22:03
Brief intermission - 35:34
Nr. One - 26:11
Nr. One (again) - 29:26
Nr. One (the final one) - 32:45
Closing Thoughts - 36:44
Outro - 37:31
Brief intermission was incorrectly stamped ( should be 25:34 ). If only YT allowed you a brief window to edit/delete your damn comments.
THX!
Thank you!
Also, who uses Nr. instead of No.?
@@A_Gomes1122 Poland
Thank you…
10: Horizon zero dawn
9: Astro's Playroom
8: Immortals: Fynx Rising
7: Hades
6: Kentucky Route 0
5: Ori and the Will of the Wisps
4: Risk of Rain 2
3 top games: Final Fantasy VII Remake, Wasteland III, Ghosts of Tsushima
Guess he hasn't finished Cyberpunk yet, which is odd since he made a review of it a while ago. He should've waited until he finished all the games he was playing from 2020 before making this list but I'm sure he'll make up for this mistake when he realizes.
@@sirbirbton I think I'm just getting baited here, but have you considered that maybe he just doesn't think CP2077 is that good? Like, the game is a god damn mess, I wouldn't blame anybody for not even considering it when thinking of GOTY contenders.
Thanks kind stranger
@@sirbirbton He said in his previous video that he couldnt put cyberpunk in his top 10 because of all the problems it has. He said he enjoyed it, but he enjoyed these games more
No Half Life Alyx? Man he missed out on a real gem.
"There arent many games that are written like this"
Shows dialogue:
"Does a bear poop in the woods?"
11:59
It's highly philosophical, of course
come on the reaction of the bear sold it totally hahaha
Not gonna like bc it's at 222 likes and it's beautiful
"what if?" ... And he starts describing Morrowind, made 18 years ago.
Or 2 Gothic games. That part of the video was very strange.
Dude I said that also as he was describing it at the end! Morrowind is the GOAT of open world, playing it still to this day
Dude! I was thinking the same.
I thought the exact same as you guys. Man Morrowind was a difficult but worthy experience.
@@thenordiqsomm morrowind is the goat of all games
you're the first reviewer i've seen to put risk of rain 2 on a GOTY list and it makes me happier than it should. even after getting all the achievements and having almost 300 hours in it i still go back sometimes for quick runs or to mess around with mods. i love that game to absolute death, so thank you.
now i should probably actually play hades at some point lmfaooo
do you know which track was playing when the Risk of Rain 2 part started? sounded dope as hell
XIV The track is called “Con Lentitud Ponderosa”. It’s the song that plays during the lead up to the final boss.
Hades is absolutely incredible, my personal goty- check it out
@@brendanhatherall720 And if you really like how the song sounds, you have another fantastic version from risk of rain 1, "coalescence". It's beautiful and haunting.
is that a power pfp
“Early Access should be adopted across the industry” yeeeeah I will never agree with that.
yeah the industry basically already is producing early access xD
Adopted*
It would work but not with every game ofc
At the least they should do free beta testing or a demo before release
It could work in the way that Hades did. Or even minecraft or subnautica.
I can say, for sure, that I will buy and play any game From Soft will make. So them having bloodborne 2 for 18 months of early access allows those fans like me to participate in the building process and pledge their money early allowing for better development.
It works when games come out when they are done and not on a certain date regardless of their polish/finish.
The real GOTY is Mr.Krabs overdoses on ketamine
I see you are a man of culture
I see you a man of culture
I see you are a man of culture
I see u are a man of culture
i see you are a man of culture
"Assassin's creed died on the beach. Ubisoft deserves to suffer"
@A . B Shah This is an oversimplification. Unity was a great evolution of the Assassin's Creed formula up until then. Origins was a bold new direction. Rogue was...something. Assassin's Creed is basically, potentially as ubiquitous and longlasting as any other titan-franchise like Mario or Pokemon or whatever, because it can basically take any shape or form and still have appeal and be marketable
@@rumncoke76 very true. Immortals is a good example its great game but valhalla is not so great.
@Darth Revan Yes Assassin's Creed story ended with AC3. Ubisoft should have dropped the future stuff after that, and focus on making good period piece open world games. But at this point they have to slap the Assassin's Creed name on anything they make, case in point assassin Vikings.
Considering that Origins and Odissey are excellent, I don't get this circlejerk that Shillup has against it and now he's blowing his load against it just because of Tsushima. It has not died at all wtf.
I thought the same and didnt touch an AC game since Black Flag...
Then I got Valhalla and although its not really an AC game but I'm having a blast 130 hours in...
Supergiant Games are one of my fav studio since Bastion. Their motto "We make games that spark your imagination like the games you played as a kid."
10. Horizon 1:45
9. Astro 6:00
8. Phoenix 9:08
7. Hades 12:34
6. kfc 15:38
5. Ori 2 18:43
4. RoR2 22:04
1. ff7 26:11
1. wl3 29:27
1. sushi 32:45
Awesome work buddy. Fuck shill up no time stamp.
If number 1 isn’t Bugsnax we gonna fight
Bruh, Bugsnax, more like suksnax. lolol, also Doom is Boom, and Ghost is China in another country.
“If you know that guy and you, you won boiii”
-Sun fricking Zu.
I already won boiiii.
@@c.i.a.932 i just had a fucking stroke reading your babbling
@@CRIMX0N Not just a stroke. It gave me Ebola and Winnie the Pooh’s Chinese flu as well.
@@c.i.a.932 the fuck did i just read?
more like the last of us part 2 🤡
Glad to see Wasteland 3 getting some solid attention from a list like this. It definitely surprised me just how much I loved it.
Apart from the assets bugs crashing the game, is in incredible.
If I could play it longer than hour without crashing, I'd love it too.
Its actually one of the only games I played through multiple times just to experience all the other plot points and multiple ways the story can lead you, instead of just watching all the endings on youtube
As someone who couldn’t properly get into wasteland 2 i absolutely loved wasteland3. One of the few games i was actually sad it was over after completing it. It feels in depth yet accessible. Despite a handful of bugs and occasional crashes, i just loved it. Will probably replay again when i get a series x (eventually) and praying for some sizeable dlc!!
I love isometric RPGs and xcom combat, but i really really hate how the combat in wasteland 3 is designed so that your entire team takes its turn at once. Some of those early encounters where the enemy gets its turn first and you get absolutely massacred in a single turn are just frustrating. I wanted to love wasteland 3, i really enjoyed wasteland 2, divinity, pillars of eternity, baldurs gate, the old isometric fallout games. But I just couldn't get into it because the combat doesn't feel right. I hope someone makes a mod that implements a more traditional initiative roll system for the game. Also I hate how you get so many squad members with so many skills that you never lack for whatever skill check you need. Its never a choice. You get everything.
"This is my list damn it!" Absolutely! We need to stop shaming people for the games they enjoy and insisting other games are better.
Um... About half a year ago this comment section was 80% people shitting on everyone that liked The Last of Us 2. If anyone needs to learn that lesson it's definitely Skill Up's community.
Depends on what games you like and prefer over others. You can only stay subjective up to a certain point. For example, if you were to say that cyberpunk 2077 is your GOTY and you like it more than anything released this year, everyone has the right to shit over your opinion.
@@GrimJackal I mean it depends. If someone comes ahead and tell me they liked TLOU2 because of the graphics and gameplay, sure that's fine. I'll take it. But if they try to convince me that they liked TLOU2 because of that dumbass story which seems like it was written by two 13 y/o teenage emo brats who know nothing about human emotions and depth of a story, I will gladly tell them that they have poo for brains.
@@WrektSK people can love the last of us 2 for anything. Not everyone has to jump on a hate bandwagon
@@GrimJackal exactly and everyone was saying how cyberpunk2077 would destroy the last of us 2, boy how the tables have turned.
Your "what if" list for open world games could be summarized as not doing anything new and just "what if morrowind again"...and I fully agree with that concept.
The past is the future
Actually the first game that came to my mind was Arena but, yeah, Morrowind is basically a more refined and focused Arena
Have you played Morrowind in the last couple of years? It’s Janky as hell my dude. morrowind wouldn’t make it in this climate. Open world concepts with little linear structure is eaten alive in today’s climate (no mans sky comes to mind).
@@kaingates did you watch his video? I'm not referring to morrowind as a whole, just his list of how open world games should evolve in the future (no quest markers, open exploration, etc) .
Actually, seems to me that he described soulsborne games, in fact they had a certain influence in the direction many RPG went (probably also infuenced BOTW).
"...imagine isometric Fallout..." - So, basically, Fallout?
@@3adir_ Yes, I know. What I was referring to was the fact that saying "isometric Fallout" is like saying "wet water". There's no need to imagine it since it's already that thing.
The sad fact is that most people only know Fallout as the 3d games and MAYBE heard about the 2d ones.
@@Jandau85 Water is not wet. A thing can be made wet when introduced to water but water itself cannot be wet. But to annoy & weird out alot of women out there we prefer to use the word MOIST, to describe something that is wet.
@@Jandau85 i hear you man, the og fallout games will always be my favorite. I love 3 and new vegas, but ive never gotten such a sense of dread and hopelessness then i did from fallout 1. Such an amazing game
@@Cap_The_Captain what if I add what makes women wet into water? Will that water now be moist?
The best thing about SkillUp is he can describe a game in the fewest words possible while still fully encapsulating what's best about it.
man I'm so happy you put Risk of Rain 2 on this list, it deserves all the praise it's gotten. Loved the list, I'll definitely be checking out your picks
Yes
If hades didn’t come out this year the game would have so much more talk about it. Love risk of rain 2.
@@ChumpLord maybe, though hades definitely deserves all the praise it's getting, it's a great game. but i'm kinda sad that RoR2 has gone under many people's radars
That Naoki Yoshida "dude, stop" stopping Nomura going full nomura is something i can definitely imagine
Itll happen Nomura has some incredible story ideas but he needs someone to help him organize and reel in the ambition. For all the insanity Kingdom Hearts story is, some incredible story telling from Nomura has come from it. Hilariously enough the murder mystery from the gotcha app is so good it would rival stuff like Knives Out
Risk of Rain has such a genius music, i didn't even hear that particular song you started the segment with, and still didn't even doubt i knew where it was from.
It's from the boss stage.
Yeah, Chris Christodoulou makes great music. First game's good too.
It hurts in my heart that cyberpunk didn't make it to your list, and it hurts even more because it really doesn't deserve to be in it.
Yes it does. On PC it does.
@@raveouscarlias4479 No it really doesn't even on PC
Needs a year to get patches out to fine tune driving, add some features like police and eradicate the bugs. But I wouldn’t pay attention to the people who say the game is trash regardless, they just want to be “quirky”
CyberBug 2076< Doom Eternal
The sad thing is the game would have been on a lot of GOTY lists if CDPR execs didn't push the game out the door half baked, and kept setting release dates that were too soon.
The developers were angry, and rightly so.
Astro's Playroom won me over in minutes. It's got so much life and so much charm. I love it!
I am so glad to see Ori getting some well deserve recognition.
That said, I also understand 2020 ended up been a year with tons of fantastic videogames to play.
"THE TOP 10 GAMES OF 2828"
*top 18
Agreed. Def a bad font choice... 🤣
Your vids are great man, one of the few quality reviewers out there
Last year these same people called him a pretentious Kojima fanboy and a shill for being one of the few UA-camrs who said Death Stranding is a masterpiece, but whatever......
Shillup gets payed to put out his reviews from the publishers. His brother Gayman has way better content.
@A . B Shah Yeah, because if you think differently of Last of Us 2 you can't trust someone's taste and you're wrong.
@@ggs27 nope, but when a reviewer has the same taste as you it will obviously make them more reliable and relevant for you personally. You're trying to make it more controversial than it needs to be
@@silverhost9782 But you don't need to 100% agree on a critic to trust them
"Wasteland is like Fallout if it was really smart"
So.... Fallout 1, 2, and New Vegas?
So the ones not made by Bethesda
@@TheLinkrules123 Yep. Though I hear Fallout 76 has an OK story now that they added one.
@@Shredow2 too little too late tbh. If the game was like that from the start it would of hat potential but it had one of the worst releases I have ever seen
@@Shredow2 No lol. If anything it is a much weaker story than even Fallout 4, so don't even mention it.
@@TheRPGentleman I haven't played any fallout past NV, so idk personally. I'm just saying what I've heard.
This is the closest we will get to a horizon zero dawn review
Yep. But, all in all, I'm glad he actually got to experience it properly. It's true that it's a little tough in the beginning to get invested in the world, to experiment with the game mechanics without a guaranteed positive outcome, but I will never get tired of hyping this game (maybe I should ask the devs for a free copy of Forbidden West? :P).
The graphics are great (even on base PS4), the combat is amazing and expansive (assuming you're taking full advantage of the different options; even I barely touched on the consumable traps except for one mission kinda asking you to do it), the main character is believable and I loved piecing the story together as well as the what happened with the "ancients". Most important, it still didn't answer all questions by the end of it and so leaving more to be desired.
That being said, I understand it's not necessarily a game for everyone, but it's a travesty to ignore it, especially since you can get it for 10$ almost all year around.
@@razvanzamfir1545 I like everything about HZD except for the way they present the stories. The lore is interesting but there's too many "secondhand storytelling" as in an NPC/recording telling you the interesting story that has happened. I wanna experience the story, not be told it. As such, I'm never really invested in the stories except for Aloy's personal story. I end up didn't care about the various towns and its people and didn't care about the history of the world.
Then again, I was playing HZD while also playing The Witcher 3, so maybe the stark difference in storytelling quality between the two games made me not appreciate HZD.
But still, all in all, if you own a PS4, HZD is a must buy.
@@akmal94ibrahim I didn't read most logs, but did listen to most audio logs. I agree it's far from the same story telling as in the Witcher 3.
@@razvanzamfir1545 Rost and Sylens were very believable and compelling characters imo. Hard to come by in video games.
Its personally my favourite game of last gen just cause I was so engaged with it.
Glad to see my boy is still simping for Outer Wilds. More people need to play it
aw man, that game. I know its the whole point, but the 20 mins timer was just too frustrating for me.
I played outer wilds because of Skillups recommendation last year, probably the most memorable game I've ever played. I think it's still criminally unknown but will be looked back on as something special.
Such an interesting and unique game. Shame it doesn't seem to have gotten that much attention
Even though it sounds amazing I can't stand games with enforced timers so have to skip
@@Corusame it really doesn't come into play for the most part, you can get a lot done in 22 mins :)
Horizon: the combat is great cause you never feel like you’re in complete control.
Fenyx: the combat is great cause you always feel like you’re in complete control.
>.>
Skill Up: "What if the next big AAA open world action game had no map markers, and you talk to NPCs to find where stuff was."
Elden Ring: "Ohhhh!”
Just play Gothic 1 and 2. Problem solved.
Is that the next game we’re overhyping?
@@thelegendofstonecoldstevea3205, Always has been.
@@Farozurshad dont be mad when you end up getting another cyberpunk then
Horizon Zero Dawn is the most uneven game from last gen. When its good, its really good. I have high hopes for the sequel.
It reminds me a lot of KZ1. It's full of generic design (following trails, ubi towers,etc), a lot of limitations (0 parkour, next to none npc interaction in what is supposed to be an RPG) and an overall bland narrative (can't remember a single name of any other character other than the Zavala dude and Aloy, both of which aren't that interesting either). But it has charm to it and some strong aspects (lore and robot combat mostly).
I would love to see Forbidden West be the KZ2 of Horizon and finally win me over. I think if the sequel has more confidence and ventures more into doing it's own thing instead of emulating other games in the genre it could turn out to be a fantastic game.
@@EatThePath-7 THANK YOU the game is so fun but it's so badly bogged down by a generic story, generic characters, and some awfully generic game design. It's so full of better potential that can hopefully be fulfilled in the sequel.
They loaded all of the interesting story in the back half of the game, I think. And loaded too much open world BS in the first half. I love the game but it has flaws for sure
I was never able to finish it. I might go back to it, but the 10-15 hours I put in just felt boring. I always felt myself mindlessly drifting from marker to marker with no real purpose. The highs were really good and made me stick through, but then I'd quickly get in another rut where the story was just boring and none of the side quest were enjoyable.
@@simonvoncramon1367 Totally agree with you. I put nearly 20 hours into Horizon Zero Dawn and was never able to get into it. I eventually quit it and deleted it from my hard drive.
I rarely watch recommendation videos, I tend to skip through them to be exposed to games I might not otherwise run into and I would prize myself lucky if I get a good recommendation out of it. Your content has me positively surprised, you speak with passion and seem to really value the experiences these games offer. That warms my heart, and in addition it's just inspiring! Thank you for sharing your passion, I got loads of awesome games I want to play now
After 2020 Ori definitely became one of my favourite game series ever. Man, that spider boss. The bad memories 😂
Same Bro, only the spider really made me rinse and repeat many times, only time I truly invested in learning a boss battle.
Hey, your writing on that Kentucky Route Zero section really struck me and impressed me with your level of appreciation and emotional exploration. I’m new to your channel but wow you are much more than a video game journalist, my friend.
You should watch the whole Kentucky Route Zero "review"
It's an amazing video
@@sfaulk136 Seems I must!!
Your hopes for open-world games sounds a bit like Morrowind. Not trying to be snarky or insulting, but it is why I loved that game so much.
Except it’s gotta be fun/make sense to figure out. I joined the fighters guild and was told to clear out some rats. My weapon doesn’t damage them. Legit curious what I’m missing in that equation
@@Level_Eleven Hahaha, fair point. I remember first getting off the boat, my sense of exploration took over, and instead of heading into town I turned around and found a cave where a ghost outright stomped me (it was many levels higher).
GoT and Doom Eternal were probably the most fun I've had with video games in years.
Once again, Yakuza like a dragon gets shafted
And he put horizon zero dawn instead 🤦😆🤡
Which released back in 2017. Nobody cares about a pc port, that doesn't make it 2020
@@sabus1265 lol I actually got bored to death in HZD (which is not a bad game) and I felt like Yakuza 7 was something fresh and different than the bunch games with similar narratives I've been playing in the last years. Now the series got me hooked.
@@sabus1265 ??
I actually started playing it after watching his positive impressions, now I'm like wtf. I played most of the games on this list and while they are great, they were on similar level or less fun than yakuza. Also, the narrative was way better and fresh than most of these games. Maybe it's because I'm new to the series but what a game..
Listening to you doing what you love, which is writing about what you love, which is video games - which I also love - is just so infectuous. You really make this medium feel as special as it is, past all the bullsh*t in the current industry. I love video games so damn much. My favourite game I've ever played - The Outer Wilds - woul'dve never crossed my mind if not for you. You really help me remember why I love games so much and I feel like it's okay to love games, something often perceived as a useless passtime. Thank you for sharing your passion, we can feel it and it's infectuous.
Thank you or putting into words exactly what I was feeling. Both the sentiment towards Ralph's videos
and The Outer Wilds, which has also become one of my favourite games because of the SkillUp recommendation.
@@gigachadbodypillow614 Disagree. They each have their strengths, and Ralph's is spitting essentially poetry about games. If you watch their 3 min "breakup" video, they lay it out pretty well
I probably got the total opposite with what most people do:
tried play BoTW, around 20 hours in and still doesn't get the game's appeal
But I played HZD a year after its release date and loved every bit of it and played it non-stop lol
HZD is a bootleg BOTW
HZD excels in every area BOTW fails in. Story, worldbuilding, enemy design, and combat is so much better.
@@weaverquest combat is worse. The rest you’re right. Music in HZD is pretty bad too.
@@SparkySpice0911 BOTW has meh combat and only a handful of different enemies. It was innovative but it's not aging well at all.
I loved BOTW but I got bored of it pretty quick, the combat is extremely limited. I spent 4 or 5 times longer playing Horizon.
Finally, someone who put Ori on their list. That game didn't get enough recognition.
its been on most top 10s....
Is Ori an Xbox exclusive?
@@dsb8283 pc and xbox and switch only
@@rafimando2111 thanks for the info. Unfortunately not systems I play on. Looks great though
@@dsb8283 So, Playstation? Lol 😂👍
Ubisoft wanted SO HARD to be CDPR that CDPR turned into Ubisoft
That's some brutal truth inception shit right there. Hail Stan!
Finally, wasteland 3 getting some love!
As i love CRPGs , i was pretty hyped for Wasteland 3, but it really was a rocky road for me. The highs were really high, but the lows ( mostly technical nature ) were driving me crazy and led to me not finishing it. But i played it on Gamepass, so i paid basically nothing for it and i hope to actually buy it at some point and come back to it.
@@TheQoogle Yeah quite a buggy launch.Having spent many hours in fallout and TES games tho...well, can't say I'm not used to buggy games with top stories.
I love RPGs, but I wish it wasn’t Turn Based. I know people who love this will hate me for it, but I’ve never been into that form of combat since I was a kid.
@@TheQoogle Same like the second one then; good thing I didnt try it
@@GigglingStoners i finished the 2nd one actually. I played the directors cut edition tho 5 years after it came out and it was in a fine technical state after all that time. I assume this will be the case for 3 as well in a bit of time.
So, basically, considering that in 2 weeks I've already spent 35 hours on New Vegas recently
I should avoid wasteland 3 like the plague, or suffer the health risks, got it.
Having played Wasteland 1 and 2, I can guarantee that 3 will take a huge chunk outta you. it's great.
Besides a few bugs (and one game breaking bug with the decoy grenade), Wastelands 3 is my favorite game of 2020.
I have 4000 hours in New Vegas
@@emulation2369 I have 85,000 hours in New Vegas
Maybe give it another 6 month of wait and you'll enjoy it thoroughly like i did
My best gaming experience this year:
- BoTW using CEMU ( Modded BoTW is BEAUTIFUL)
- Hades
- DOOM Eternal
- Among Us ( I know, shallow, but giving me chance to socialize is making me less anxious, and friend play session is just as absurd and messy as you can imagine)
- Oxygen not Included ( just play this year)
"What if the next big AAA open world game had no map markers and you had to talk to NPCs to find where stuff was?" They did that a long time ago. It's called Morrowind. Then they fucked it up.
Morrowind was awesome. Bethesda games have gone downhill since in my eyes
@@brendan2415 i mean i wouldn't say downhill every company has some fuck upgame like fallout 76 and wolfenstein young blood BUT Doom this year was So good
Maybe, but the modern version of that is called souls-borne games (In fact ,it's said that Demon's Souls started its development as Sony's response to Oblivion).
@@eryklvl Doom was awesome but that was made by id, I'm referring to the decline of their open world games really.
@Bzake Yikes. Try not to have a fucking aneurism over it. It's just an opinion, dude. Honestly, not even sure why you're getting all pissy about it when they obviously didn't stick with the "geographical game" design for open world games. Just don't play Morrowind.
I love how many times you managed to sneak Outer Wilds footage in there. Such a brilliant game right
This guy is literally the only reviewer that is honest and real. He actually suggests games that are genuinely good and discourages games that are actually bad. Crazy right?
For me, what took Wasteland 3 from a good game to a god game was that amazing soundtrack, so beautiful...
Better than Undertale?
I’m afraid you forgot the real GOTY: Deep Rock Galactic
Rock and Stone brother!
This. To see ror2 on his list and not drg is seriously questionable, the co-op genre has been starved for a new good game for years, we had l4d2, then payday2, risk of rain's co-op mode hardly feels like co-op, while DRG feels like the best designed co-op game on the market, and I doubt that will change anytime soon, back4blood certainly isn't going to do any better.
And not just the co op is perfected. Drgs procedural generation is a technical marvel, with every meter of every cave feeling fresh and unique.
I came here to say this. I was deeply disappointed not to see it on his list, but co-op and multiplayer games don't seem to be his favorites to begin with. Rock and stone!
Rock and Stone!!
Completely agree with HZD. They struck gold and then bogged it down with busy work. Something about it makes me feel this is one of my all time favourites. But it’s hard to go back to once you stop as it can feel like a chore or completely overwhelming. Hopefully, they’ll sharpen up the experience in the sequel because it really is an amazing world with amazing combat and enemy design 🙌🏾🙌🏾
Was hoping to see Pathless on the list after that intro! Def one of my top ten. Glad you finally got to enjoy Horizon and Ori though. Good list
i just didnt see the greatness of the pathless. it was just too same-y after some time. the music is forgetable, the world looks good and the flow is also nice
@@Exel3nce yeahhh, i was disopointed.
I wish he put horizon as an honourable mention because it’s not a 2020 game and gave another game a spot instead
@@Exel3nce it's a boring ass game, I spent 6 hours simply activating towers and the bosses were really lazy and not challenging whatsoever, it's simply not worth a 40 dollar price tag
@@fatbroccoli8 there isnt much one could give a place for
Sike! Game of The Year goes to Outer Wilds again! Outer Wilds baybyyyyyyyyy. Game of the year.
GAME OF THE CENTURY BAYBEEEE
Overrated imo
I feel bad about Avengers. Crystal Dynamics has a long solid positive history.
Its their fault they fucked it up. It should have been a narrative masterpiece like Spider-Man PS4 but noooooo it had to be a looter
I waited for your Horizon PC review after your tweet appreciating it back in August.
Glad it made it to the list here, coz i loved this game
Horizon zero yawn
After giving the 1st place to Outer Wilds last year and leading me to play one of my now all-time favorite games, I'm gonna take your word on the games in this video very seriously
Last years list was great, but he messed up big time this year.
@@fuchssteinert2017 why? I mean, his reasons for putting the games here sounded valid enough
@@fuchssteinert2017 how can you "mess up" an opinion lol? Its a list of games he enjoyed the most, not games that are objectively good.
@@MyNameIsSalo He even couldnt decide on a number one game. Would have hurt nobody to choose Tsushima. There are bigger problems in our world, though.
@@ido8 Its a personal list, all right. But on a channel with how many subs? Hard to put out a 2020 list without Alyx, Cyberpunk or TLOU2. His choice for GOTY 2019 was great because it put the spotlight to a game that was actually outstanding but most people ignored it. There is no such game in this years top 3, though.
The risk of rain 2 soundtrack is a bop
nothing else like it exexpt for the outer wilds ost
@@nickmushong2311 the celeste soundtrack is also amazing
I loved Ghosts of Tsushima but boy FF7 takes it for me. That game was incredible
If it wasnt locked at 30 fps :( ghost in 60 fps is incredible
Well said. I played it during my vacations and kept me entertained like no other game since god of war.
I finished the game and went to UA-cam to watch some spoilercasts. Can't wait for the sequel.
GOT was my GOTY aswell, amazing game.
I'm really happy Hades is in your top 10. It was my favourite game of last year, though there were many I didn't play.
"Immortals Fenyx Rising has a total playtime of 20 hours"
**looks at save file where I'm only like a third of the way through the campaign and I have 35 hours clocked**
Expected Playtime times 3 = My actual playtime
Yea I thought the same thing hahah I'm 40 hours in and have 3 areas done hah
@@jaredrace4599 you guys die a lot or what?
@@NeroVuk na just play the game to complete not run thru
@@NeroVuk I just take my time with games, i don't rush them, ill check out every side quest i come across and generally play on a higher difficulty
great to see wasteland 3 getting some recognition. It was buggy for me, but they were relatively small and didnt have any meaningful impact on my experience. I was genuinely gutted when it finished. I wanted more. I very rarely feel that way after long RPGs. it was such a surprise for me. loved the combat and RPG elements. great, great game.
Great game but buggy as hell on consoles unfortunately, can’t play more than 1-2 hours without a crash
coop seems buggy as fck
I didn't see anything about it but it seems amazing
I generally wait 3 months before picking up a new game and it worked out really well for wasteland. It’s a great game though, I’m having a blast with it right now (I admit I haven’t tried co-op tho:)
@@glendogdangler agree. although I only had a few crashes with wasteland 3. Playing this game started to make me think about the general state of games in 2020. I had bugs on Ori, Spiritfarer and this during a small period of time in 2020. was frustrating on all three (spiritfarers bug actually killed the game for me) but with wasteland, they were luckily ones that I could overcome, albeit frustratingly...
wow man, you're language is beautiful, it almost brang tears to my eyes the way in which you describe some of these games
He's one of - if not the best - reviewer/writer TBH. And he doesn't bend to sponsors etc to write fake reviews. If he doesn't like it, he just says it so, and if he likes it, he says it so too. But in a way that it is worded so beautifully, that you end up sitting through 40 minute of a "bad game" review, just to listen how and why he felt that way in a very pleasant way XD
I don't know why seeing ori and the will of the wisps made me so happy but oh my god you have no idea
I still dont know what Kentucky Route zero is, but i love hearing you talk about it
I own Kentucky Route Zero and I still don't know what it is lmao
Took the words right outta my mouth!
Is it overtly political? As a conservative, I’m weary of getting beaten over the head with “capitalism is bad” messages. Or is it broader look kind of thing?
@@fakedemocracy The game predates Trumps presidency. Its episodic.
Wouldnt recommend it if you hate reading, but it is an experience
@@fakedemocracy you'll find something to hate about the game and then spam comment sections about how sjw it is or something
“Controlling Ori is like steering the wind.” Wow, so well said! Thanks for describing how awesome Ori’s movement is.
Risk of Rain is a memory i do not want to forget.
@@TheOneWhoisSilly123 loll
I love playing the first game on my Vita !
Hades is the first game that I’ve replayed simply to get the true ending.
Hades is astounding man. I’m no where near done with it yet but damnit it’s so good! I cannot stop playing it.
@@rocketscientist14 Im over 200 hours in, have seen every piece of story and dialogue and I still cant put it down
@@jias333 nice man! Lol I hope I’ll be able to complete it in its entirety sometime soon. I’m just taking my time and enjoying all of it as much as I can. Such a profoundly unique experience.
@@rocketscientist14 definitely, unlike Mr. Skillup its my 100% undisputed pick for GOTY. Drink it in!
Hades is the first game I actually cared about enough to 100% and that says a lot
Finally someone gave gen sakie the rewards he deserves.
Did he say 20 hours playtime for Immortals?! I'm 25 hours in and haven't even freed 2 gods yet 😂
20 hours at a speed-run! 😂
It sound like B-lined past a lot f optional content. How is the variety holding up for you?
These reviewer types play games very differently from most people. I don't play that many games, so I take my time with the ones I decide to play.
@@TheFloodFourm Aside from it probably needing more enemy variety, the gameplay loop is great for me. Love the vaults and puzzles etc. I'm a big mythology guy so just walking around discovering stuff I know is all part of the fun ha
boomers calculate game length by speed running the campaign, nothing else.. this is the way
I feel like Kentucky Route Zero is being mentioned every single year
and I still haven't played it...
We'll all be playing it before long IRL, don't worry.
I hadn’t even heard of it before watching this video
It's eh. In my opinion it's a bit too "artsy" for its own good but that's just me
Are they giving it away or do I have to engage in a capitalist transaction of exchanging something of value or their labor/art
As soon as he mentioned "late stage Capitalism" I knew I wouldn't want to play it. I don't want socialist politics in the video games that I play.
The backstory to Horizon Zero Dawn is a joy to discover and piece together. It's actually pretty damned smart to let the pieces come to the player out of order, because the questions become more pertinent as to why certain things took place, and it makes the big reveals even more emotionally powerful as everything starts to slot together.
Remember when we thought Cyberpunk 2077 was gonna be game of the year?
So happy to see final fantasy 7 remake getting love. Such a fantastic game and my personal game of the year as well
When i need a genuine, honest and TRUSTWORTHY critique of a game, i come to this channel. When skillup tells me a game is good and to play it. I 100% do it and have yet to be disappointed.
You definitely just put me on risk of rain 2
i think you might be the only reviewer who remembers and calls out Wasteland 3. This is easily one of my favorite RPGs. It's so good.
Doom Eternal, the most fun I had in a game last year. Period.
ye me too Eternal is definitely game of the year for me
BUT i think DOOM 2016 is better
@@MEYH3M is it because of the Marauder?
@@MEYH3M Is it because of tentacles?
@@MEYH3M Lol no Eternal is lightyears better especially in terms of combat and movement. Playing 2016 again you feel slow and combat is braindead.
Haven't seen the vid yet, but what a wonderful job youve done weathering all varieties of controvery in 2020. Its a testament to your integrity. I still owe you over outer wilds tho! Best recommendation anyone has ever made to me.
You a real one
I still owe this guy a huge thanks for his nier automata review. Would probably never have tried it otherwise.
I hope everything is fine with him and his brother though! They both haven’t uploaded that many videos lately/ this game of year video seems a little late?
Immortal was a great surprise for me. The first Ubisoft game where I wanted to collect everything and I even started newgameplus on nightmare difficulty
I'm over 45 hours and loving it!
I’m at 15 hours at this point and have just now finished the valley of eternal spring. I never do competition runs on games but I think I’m accidentally doing it on Immortal Fenyx Rising. It’s one of the first open world games I’ve played in which I start the game up with nothing but the subconscious intent to continue exploring. That being said, I’ve played but never owned Breath of the Wild, so I sadly can’t compare whether that game is the reason I love Fenyx Rising so much or not, but even if it is a “breath of the Wild clone” if the game is amazing and has a deeply detailed story and insanely fun world, I don’t really care if they took inspiration from another game or not.
So basically, Fromsoftware should make all games from now on. They know how to make a game that isn't taking you by the hand.
The only issue there is that it really doesn't work for similar reasons. Theyre hard games and I find myself remembering the bosses more than the open world levels. The open world is much more confined and detailed, but that limits the whole exploration thing.
I just think a game about discovery probably shouldnt be the hardest thing
Half Life Alyx was the most innovative and refined game of 2020
Unfortunately I don't think he played it.
Unfortunately that gem has a $1k + paywall to enjoy
@@dropkickpherby6994 Yeah you have to get VR headset, but you don't need the index as it works on all VR kits, so a paywall of $300-400$. Anyway Skillup has more than enough money and already owns a VR kit he just never reviewed it (or played it).
in terms of innovation, I would argue Dreams beats Half Life Alyx in that department
@@michaelshahoe tbf Dreams wasn't much of a game but more of an engine.
Putting FF7 Remake at number 1 is an instant like for me
I got bored of this game very quickly. Might try again
It's an instant hate for me.
@@hittman1412 it's got a slow start but really pulled me in. Those stupid side quests in chapter 3 slow things down, but by the time you get more stupid side quests later in the game you're having a ton of fun so they dont really bother you. The main story is great and the combat is awesome .
Hell yeah brother. FF7 nerds unite. GOTY for me as well. Can't wait for part two, even after the weird ending.
Damn bro spoilers
You didn't like DOOM Eternal as much as I did, and I'm upset enough to complain about it in the comment section.
hands down tightest gameplay in 2020
overrated as heeeeeell
So make your own video lol. This is his list
@Alex A I guess so, all I see is u campaigning for a game to be on his list. Not sure where the joke is, esp seeing how u sit there and go into detail why it should be on his list. But I guess it's there somewhere . Doom was a good game but it didn't make my top 10 either, so he isn't alone on that
This definitely should’ve made the list over horizon zero dawn. I understand it came out on pc this year, but it’s still a 2017 game
Yoshi-P : Dude, stop.
Couldn't say it any better LOL.
This list is fire. Though I was expecting a tlou2 joke in there but I'll settle for the good content, lol.
Anyone who mentions that game on any side, to attack or defend, has lost. The only winning move is not to join increasingly-pointless culture war battles.
@@RoyalFusilier same goes for cyberjunk
Your comments at the end of this video have aged really well with Elden Ring. I really hope the game is a paradigm shift for the industry towards the old way games were made.
Map markers and accessibility are great, but we've lost the sense of wonder that comes with video games as a result. The best part of video games as a kid was turning it on and just going. No map. no UA-cam videos. No builds. You just played and figured it out.
You’re the best games reviewer working today, and it’s not even close.
No he’s not but okay😂
@@tjlevey378 Who is?
I luckily got the PS5 in early December. I remember loading it up and my 5 year old niece and 10 year old nephew were visiting and I loaded up Astro for them to play. I thought to myself, “It’s a kids game” and walked away to deal with life around the house. I’d go back and check on them and after a bit, I would stay longer, and be away less. By the time my sister was ready to leave with her kids, we were in a gaming sesh hesitantly passing the dual sense when we died.
After they left, I didn’t stop until my wife came in to mentally nudge me into shutting it down.
Then I passed her the controller...
As my wife is not a “gamer”, to see her get into it was fun. If you’re a grown up and have a hard time with the kid like graphics, don’t worry. This silly little tech demo has a magical way of keeping your hands on the Dual Sense. It’s fun and that’s what’s important.
Game of the year? No no no. A must play for every single human on the planet? Meh. No. A family friendly game that will make all ages smile and shows off some cool new tech on consoles, that will keep you engaged...looking forward to cool new features of the cool new controller, yes yes yes!!
I remember when I got to the part where you have to blow on the controller to create wind for a propeller. I was blown away and literally took a minute or two to figure out how the f**k they did that. (The secret is the mic on the controller. If you’re using a headset you blow into that mic)
I enjoyed my time with that silly little tech demo. If you looked over it in the 5, just give it a chance. It’s all fun.
Ok
Once i hear the risk of rain ost i always get chills. Man its sooooo good
This video is brought to you by a product that is sold out and has been for months and will be for months that everyone wants and cannot buy. Why even waste the money on ads? Make more cards!
There’s no game out right now that justifies a 2080, let alone a 3080.
@@johnlocke4715 cyberpunk simps
@@johnlocke4715 probably cyberpunks the only one worth buying a 3080 for. That game looks stunning at max settings. But is it worth it? Probs not
@@IWantToStayAtYourHouse It looks stunning, but it's as shallow as a puddle. Graphics don't mean anything, that has been proved time and time again.
Love Horizon. Way more enjoyable to me than Botw.
It shouldn't be on a 2020 list though. That is a wasted spot.
@@strangeboy904 truer
When Skillup (don't remember the Laymen brothers real name) said he was leaving Laymen Gaming to focus on his channel he fking meant it! this is some consistent and high quality content right here, keep it up dude!
You're making me want to buy an xbox just for Ori. Great vid!!
Its on switch and pc if you have those.
@@tyler60904 nope. Thanks for the heads up though. Maybe when I borrow an Xbox from a friend, that's a big maybe.
@@JuliusCaesar103 thats unfortunate. I wish you luck on your journey! Haha
@@tyler60904 thank you buddy, I wish you the same.
So glad to see soms recognition for Ori 2 and ROR2, I loved both of them and still play ROR2 regularly since it's so damn fun
How have no reviewers even mentioned Tsushima Legends? That would by far be my GOTY, turning an existing game on it's head and making genuinely fun and creative ways to force single players (like me) to enjoy playing with others.