So much like books, I just haven’t played enough video games to get a Top 5 that were new to me in 2020. Add in a move where we had some of the gaming systems packed away for a bit, that even pushed back how many games I might have played. I’ve found also that I just don’t have a ton of time for bigger video games as well, though some of the ones that I do like a lot are bigger and longer games, it just makes it harder to get to new video games.

5 – Need for Speed

Need For Speed was one of the first gaming franchises that I really took note of. I’d play it on the computer a lot with and it was always a ton of fun. I like how it’s not that complex a racing game, and they have kept that for the most part. Some of them, more recent ones, try and add in too much story or complexity for kitting out your car, making it more like a Fast and the Furious movies than like original Need for Speed, and it just loses something. I want to go and race immediately, not have to drive around to find the next event, hope it’s a type that I have my car kit ready for. But the game is just a classic at this point, and some of them, Hot Pursuit 2 in particular are just awesome.

4 – Mario Kart

Needless to say, I like racing games. This goes back to what I said in the open, I like games that aren’t going to take multiple sessions that are hours long to play. I can sit down with a group of friends and knock out a Mario Kart tournament in a few minutes, and that has a group of people with it. I like Mario Kart slightly better than Need for Speed because while both are fun, Mario Kart can be more social, and while Need for Speed isn’t highly realistic in damage to your car or it blowing up, Mario Kart is less so, which just makes it that much more fun.

3 – Tales from the Borderlands

This is a kind of bigger game, but mainly it’s a kind of silly game. I love the Borderlands franchise and this is obviously completely different than those looter/shooters, but it is still a blast. Tales from the Borderlands tells a good story set in that world, and even ties into the 3rd (4th) Borderlands game. It does a good job of keeping the humor and tells what is a very traditional Borderlands story in a condensed and faster game play. I like that I can pick my story decisions and make changes to the world because of them. It’s not all amazing because there are some quick time events that are just annoying and feel like they are there so you, as the player feel like you’re doing something, if it’s been a bit between choices, but generally, like I said, just annoying. Great story overall though, and a lot of good choices.

2 – Borderlands Series

Next up we have the whole of the Borderlands series, Borderlands, Borderlands: The Pre-sequel, Borderlands 2, and Borderlands 3. These are just fun looter shooter games. This is a bigger series of games, and the 3rd one has been harder to get through because I just don’t have the time to sit down and play a ton, but I do really like that they are couch co-op and not that difficult to play. They give you a good silly time as you run around, blow up monsters, get crazy guns, blow up bandits, blow up bad guys, get more guns, and did I mention blowing stuff up with guns? That’s basically what the series is about, and the silly humor that it has to go along with it. Such a good time and easy to get into without having to be that good at the game, you can always just go do something else, shoot and blow up something else, and come back when you’re at the right level.

1 – Dragon Age: Origins

Finally, Dragon Age: Origins. I do like the 2nd one as well, but the 3rd one lost me a bit for a few reasons. What I like so much about Dragon Age: Origins is that it’s an “open world” game. By that I mean that you can do stuff in different orders, and explore different sections, but it is a pretty limited open world game. You can’t just wander off in a direction to see what is there, you’ll run up against how far you can go pretty quickly. And you can’t just randomly stumble into a late game quest. This is just an interesting story of a game that is told while giving you a lot of choices but you kind of work in quest batches that you can pick the order of but will always end up at the same ending spot. Now that might seem like your choices don’t matter, they do, some, but the dragon must be slayed no matter what.

Those are some of the top ones for me, a few that just missed the list would be Powerstar Golf, probably my most played game, because I can sit down and play it so fast, and couch co-op. Jazz Jackrabbit, Alpha Centauri and Tony LaRussa Baseball which I grew up with. 1943, a top scrolling flying game, and then stuff like Mortal Kombat and Super Mario, that I can play, but are easy to pick-up and set down.

What are some of your favorite games, with my taste, what games should I checkout?

Email us at nerdologists@gmail.com
Message me directly on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here.