The Best Video Game of 2020
Best Video Game of 2020
Top 10 Video Game Easter Eggs of 2020
Welcome to MojoPlays, and recently, we had to make the tough decision regarding what to name our Game of the Year. There were plenty of excellent contenders from charming titles like “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” to action games like “Ghost of Tsushima” and “Hades”. After careful consideration (very careful given how often it was delayed), we have decided to name “Cyberpunk 2077” as MojoPlays’ 2020 Game of the Year. If you’re curious to see what else made it in our Top 10 Games of 2020, be sure to check that out after the video. For now, let us explain why a last-minute addition managed to steal the spotlight. Just to clear the air, we are by no means saying “Cyberpunk 2077” was more perfect than everything else. Like any other game, it comes with its own share of problems. It wasn’t the most stable game on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and the bugs were just as noticeable as “The Witcher III: Wild Hunt”...which is still a little buggy all these years later. However, “Cyberpunk” does a lot of things right, so much so that even our local grumpy critic, Ty, was willing to forgive the game’s “Fallout”-esque technical performance. (In fact, he’s the one that wrote this video.) Let’s get the big selling point that many games rely too heavily upon - the story. “Cyberpunk” manages to tell a compelling story filled with all sorts of twists and turns. It has its fair share of shocking and heartbreaking moments while exploring unique concepts and offering a bit of commentary on current events. Characters have been fully fleshed out with their own wants and needs and flourish with personality. Even characters you see a few times have some depth to them. As for the narrative structure, CD Projekt has clearly thought out their story from a variety of angles in order to fit the player’s actions and dialogue choices. Not to exaggerate it, but it’s unlike any other story campaign offered this year. Now for the important part in any game - the gameplay. If you’ve played any of the “Fallout” or “Borderlands” games, you can get a general idea of what the gameplay loop is like. Shoot baddies and complete quests to gain XP, leveling up rewards you with skill points and perks to beef up your character, etc. This cycle of self-improvement was just as strong in “Ghost of Tsushima” and “Hades”. What made “Cyberpunk” stand out, however, is how it gives you more tools to play the way you want to, and we’re not just talking about more guns. You can passively attack foes by hacking into their brains and messing with their sensors. This mechanic gives the player something to do even if they’ve run out of ammo or feel they’re stuck behind cover without sacrificing the combat’s intensity. That brings us to the next impressive feat in “Cyberpunk 2077” - character creation through gameplay. This is by no means an easy feature to implement especially in an RPG. Developers have to think of nearly every possible build a player may create and design character creation in such a way that it won’t break the game. Not only does “Cyberpunk” offer a wealth of upgrades, equipment, and perks, but it adheres to almost any playstyle imaginable. Sure, you can just blast through quests with brute force and guns ablaze, but you can also get through fights with hacks and short circuiting dudes! This form of “player choice” is also present in dialogue trees, allowing players to effectively portray their vision of V. It gives you plenty of opportunities to explore dialogue trees that may be tied to your life path or exercise your skills. Dialogue isn’t tied to a general category like Charm or Charisma, which is what many RPGs typically resort to. So, if you’re beefing up athleticism, you don’t have to worry about missing out on optional dialogue completely - you have your own paths! Of course, we cannot forget about the world of Night City. The region that was heavily and widely discussed throughout its marketing is vibrant and is brimming with life. It achieves a level of immersion that few open world games reach. In many open world games, it can be easy to spot NPCs that look too identical or simply follow basic animations. Some games even cycle dialogue too frequently which can really break the immersion (i.e. the “arrow in the knee” line from “Skyrim”). In “Cyberpunk 2077”, there are NPCs doing more than just standing around and looking pretty. They’re having conversations, living their own lives. In a way, this makes Night City as much of a character as Johnny Silverhand or Rogue albeit one that’s more of an entity than a person. And given how your view and experience of Night City may conflict with Johnny’s perception of it, it makes you question whether the city does need to be burned down. And that brings us to one last point. Games with morality systems often keep situations black and white. You’re usually presented with two options that are obviously good or evil. While this karma system gives enough reason to warrant another playthrough, “Cyberpunk” keeps morality a gray area. It’s about what you do and what you tell characters that can affect your campaign, and there are times where you may need to think quickly about what to say. It’s this level of intricacy within the level design and narrative that gives “Cyberpunk” a bit more replayability, which isn’t a common compliment you hear about when it comes to massive games like this. As we mentioned earlier, “Cyberpunk 2077” is by no means a perfect game - there’s simply no such thing as one. The technical performance is pretty shoddy on base PS4 and Xbox One, and we’re hoping things get in a more stable state than it is now. Even if it reaches the same level of stability as “The Witcher III”, we’d be happy. But for what “Cyberpunk 2077” does already, it does it exceptionally well. It boasts a lot of cool ideas in its gameplay and is complex enough to justify additional playthroughs. Even without the upcoming multiplayer mode, there’s enough going on here for us to name “Cyberpunk 2077” as MojoPlays Game of 2020!
