This year’s spread of role-playing games runs a pretty interesting range compared to years before. With the launch of new PlayStation and Xbox consoles, there are some new titles to experience right alongside remakes and sequels alike. Very few RPGs have been released exclusive to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S|X, so these particular platforms will see the least amount of entries for this year alone (Demon’s Souls for PlayStation 5 being the sole entry on this list). It’s otherwise been a solid year for telling engaging stories across a wide variety of role-playing mediums.
Also in Wccftech’s Best Games of 2020 lists: Action, Adventure, Horror, Platformers, Shooters, Strategy & Simulation, Sports & Racing
Hades (10)
Supergiant Games’ roguelike action RPG boasts one of Wccftech’s lone 10/10 scores in 2020 and for good reason. This Greco-Roman epic refines the ‘one more run’ that makes roguelikes so addictive while building up towards a narrative that will keep gamers engaged for many hours to come.
Hades is near perfect, offering exactly what you expect and yet somehow exceeding your wildest expectations. From the art design to the gameplay to the narrative, Hades is proof of the incredible creative power that SuperGiant Games have been honing for the last nine years.
Demon’s Souls (9.5)
I don’t think there will be a single RPG Game of the Year list published in 2020 that doesn’t include Demon’s Souls as one of the top picks. Bluepoint Games has given the grandfather of the modern Souls genre the respect it deserves, polishing everything up to next-gen standards while keeping the core gameplay and formula nearly 1:1 intact (the addition to send items directly to your storage in lieu of being over-encumbered is an underrated feature). As the hardest RPG on this year’s list, it’s going to take some dedication and perseverance in order to survive within Boletaria until the end.
The most underappreciated Souls game is ready to take its place atop the pantheon. Demon’s Souls has always been one of From Software’s most intricate, atmospheric, and satisfyingly-challenging games and Bluepoint’s technically-impeccable remake elevates it to a new level with beautiful, fluid visuals and an assortment of smart gameplay tweaks. All From Software fans need this game, and even those who have struggled with their games should consider giving it a try. Once you start playing Demon’s Souls you’ll be hard-pressed to exorcise the game from your PS5.
Final Fantasy VII Remake (9.3)
The first part of a full-reimagining of Cloud Strife’s adventures in Midgar was finally released, years after the first teaser trailer and even longer since the PlayStation 3’s famous tech demo of the RPG’s opening scrawl. Shifting the focus from the signature ATB combat of the original game into action worked well for this particular RPG and brought with it some new surprises for fans of Avalanche’s bombing mission and more. Final Fantasy VII Remake is only the first part of something greater so only time will tell if the second part makes a return on our favorite RPG lists in the coming years.
Final Fantasy VII Remake is a masterful modernization of the series’ classic formula. The game is an extremely solid JRPG that looks, sounds and plays great, despite some pacing issues and linearity. That said, the unexpected story twists may sour the experience a bit for those who expected a faithful remake.
Wasteland 3 (9.0)
Sometimes a really great RPG doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel in order to provide a compelling experience. Wasteland 3 is mechanically dense but without overwhelming the player with arbitrary choices and being bogged down in menus.
Wasteland 3 is the role-playing game that fans needed this year, as it has everything an RPG needs to be great: excellent story and writing, amazingly varied combat, a huge amount of customization possibilities, and a world that truly reacts to the player and changes with his or her choices.
Cyberpunk 2077
You’ve probably heard and read a lot about the technical shortcomings that have plagued the launch of Cyberpunk 2077 on consoles, particularly the older PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
On PC (as well as Google Stadia), though, Cyberpunk 2077 is a vastly different experience that’s not at all far removed from what fans had been anticipating for years. Night City offers an impressive amount and quality of content that is only matched by CD PROJEKT RED’s previous title, the widely acclaimed The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, while also giving players far more varied gameplay and RPG options by comparison. Wait some time that the bugs and performance issues are ironed out if you must, but do not make the mistake of dismissing it out of hand.
Nioh 2 (9.6)
Sequel to 2017’s Souls-like Nioh, this new installment maintains that same core experience while offering a more polished experience, not to mention new enemies to slay and new tools to play with.
Nioh 2 builds upon the successes and failures of its predecessor and offering new tools to battle with the role of a half-yokai as the player character. Some may say this iteration is even more brutal than the first!
Yakuza: Like a Dragon (9.1)
First teased as one of Sega’s April Fool’s Day jokes, the transition from active combat to something turn-based was a change many fans didn’t know they needed in the Yakuza series. There were a ton of new additions to the series, from a new protagonist and party system, that fits right at home with the signature street walking and side questing that the long-running JRPG franchise is known for.
The mean streets of Yokohama offer the opportunity for a new cast, a new suit, and a new hero. Ichiban Kasuga might not be the role model in the same way that Kiryu-chan was, but this dragon’s quest might be the most fun Yakuza title to date!
Honorable Mentions
The Yakuza Remastered Collection brought three of Kiryu’s most expansive titles together into one neat package for PlayStation 4 (and soon coming to Xbox Game Pass), giving each title an upgrade to 1080P60 and an overhaul of much of the localization, restoring lost minigames and giving the English translation a cleaner interpretation. Xuan-Yuan 7 is a recent Taiwanese-developed action RPG that focuses on ancient Chinese mythology and the philosophy of Mohism. While the English translation is pretty rough, it’s a unique experience that draws inspiration from some of the greatest in the genre such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
