Part 4 of the annual Gamer Crash Awards is finally here! If you missed any previous categories, you can catch up with these handy links right here: End of Year Superlatives; Small Game/Indie; Soundtrack.

Well, here we are. The final day of 2020 and my final post of this year as well. What better way to celebrate than by talking the best games of the year. Thankfully, it was a year marked with a ton of major releases, meaning that there was a lot to pick from in 2020.

Before we jump in, a couple of house rules. Below, you’re not going to see everything that was released in 2020, many of which you’d probably expect to see in a “Game of the Year” style list. I haven’t played everything. I’m one person with limited time so there are instances where I have to pick and choose what I’m going to devote my time to. I can acknowledge that games like The Last of Us 2 are good and probably deserves to be here. However, I haven’t played it as of yet so it wouldn’t be fair for me to put it here. How can I judge something, I haven’t played?

With that said, there’s still a ton of amazing games which I just had a ton of fun playing and really left me impressed this year. So, without further delay, here are my personal nominees.

Hades – Supergiant Games

Ghost of Tsushima – Sucker Punch Productions

Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo

DOOM Eternal – id Software

Persona 5 Royal – Atlus

Ori and the Will of the Wisps – Moon Studios

Spellbreak – Proletariat

and the winner is…

Ghost of Tsushima!

I’m a big Sucker Punch fan and the franchises they’ve come to be known for. Unlike many studios, Sucker Punch typically takes its time between releases, with no better example of this current generation where they launched inFAMOUS: Second Son as a PS4 launch window title and now ending the same generation seven years later with Ghost of Tsushima.

In a year marked with a lot of disappointment and a global pandemic that has really changed the way people live their life, Ghost of Tsushima was a breath of fresh air. While we’re all trapped at home, the unbelievable gorgeous world allowed us to get our and explore. It gave us an escape in a time when we all needed one the most.

The world is absolutely stunning, based off of the real Tsushima Island in Japan. Featuring diverse biomes, beautiful particle effects, and a landscape that begs you to venture off the beaten path to explore all combined to really pull you into this game and never let go.

In addition to the incredible world building, players could live out their Samurai fantasy as Jin Sakai, one of the last remaining Samurai after the Mongol Army invades and basically ravages the defenders of the island. Trapped between his ideals and beliefs as a Samurai and taking on the mantle of the Ghost, players will experience the emotional journey that Jin goes on to save the people of his home.

Combat feels extremely satisfying and if all that wasn’t enough, Suck Punch put out a major piece of DLC for free. Legends is a multiplayer mode that lets players experience more of the supernatural elements of Japan through story missions as well as 4 player survival modes. With 4 different customizable classes, it’s a welcomed addition to an already wonderful experience.

All in all, Ghost of Tsushima is a must play for all PlayStation owners and my favorite game of 2020.