Since I recently made a list of books I want to read in the coming year, I feel that it is only appropriate to make the same list for games, as well. I have actually attempted to make this list before, but I often fail at it because I set too high of expectations for myself. In reality, I only play a few lengthy games a year, with the average title I play being more akin to a short, indie experience. Therefore, I will try my best to keep my list realistic, but no promises. Let’s see what 2020 has in store for my backlog!
1-4.
World of Warcraft
The Elder Scrolls Online
Final Fantasy XIV
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Since I’m trying to keep my expectations in check, I will admit that I don’t believe that I will finish all four of these games. Instead, my purpose for putting these four MMORPGs on this list is to make sure I give all of them a try. I started falling in love with the genre late this year through my return to Star Wars: The Old Republic (though I want to play far more of it next year, which is why it earns a spot on this list), so I suspect that 2020 is going to be a year where I spend a lot of time finding the MMO that’s right for me.
5. More Final Fantasy Games
I’m not going to put a specific entry in the Final Fantasy franchise here (apart from XIV, which I listed above), as I want to keep my options open. Since my brother and I both want to beat every mainline entry in the series, I need to make sure I’m still beating at least one a year for the foreseeable future. If I had to take a guess, I imagine that I will beat VII this year, as I’d like to play the original before playing the highly-anticipated remake coming out soon.
6. Pillars of Eternity
I love fantasy RPGs, but after beating The Witcher 3 last year, I feel like I have hit most of the well-known titles within the genre. Therefore, I’m going to start working on some other, smaller titles, such as Pillars of Eternity. I’m particularly excited for this one because it’s developed by Obsidian, which is the studio responsible for many of my favorite games, such as Fallout: New Vegas and The Outer Worlds.
7. Papers, Please
Return of the Obra Dinn is one of my favorite games of 2019, so I am incredibly excited to play the developer’s first game sometime soon.
8. Undertale
I’m trying to work my way through a number of classic indies, and Undertale is definitely one that I should have picked up before now.
9. Disco Elysium
Disco Elysium took a lot of people by surprise by winning quite a few Game of the Year awards. I’m definitely intrigued by the concept of a dialogue-based RPG, so I hope to get to this one soon.
10. GRIS
GRIS looks beautiful. Honestly, I have no specific, compelling reason to play this beyond wanting to be immersed in the unique art style.
11. Fallout 3
Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, and even Fallout 76 are all games I adore. For some reason, however, I’ve never actually finished the title that launched all of the modern Fallout titles. Hopefully, I get around to it in 2020.
12. Borderlands 3
I really meant to get to Borderlands 3 earlier than I did. I’ve gotten a decent way through the game, but it’s hard to coordinate schedules with my friends to finish it off. If I can’t get everyone together to finish it, I may start a solo character in order to see the end for myself.
13. This War of Mine
I love dark and gritty games that make me think about the ramifications of every action I take. Given this fact about me, I cannot believe that I have waited this long to pick up This War of Mine.
14. The Red Strings Club
After playing Va-11 Hall-A earlier this year, I need some more cyberpunk games in my life. The Red Strings Club sounds eerily similar, so I’m psyched to give it a try.
15. Analogue: A Hate Story
I played two of Christine Love’s visual novel experiences this year and loved them both. Therefore, I am incredibly excited to get into the rest of her work in 2020, starting with Analogue: A Hate Story.
16. Human Resource Machine
I started Human Resource Machine a long time ago, but I get frustrated with the puzzles easily and haven’t actually finished it. 2020 is the year that I finally polish off one of my longest-running game saves.
17. Jedi: Fallen Order
I have been watching all of the Star Wars movies recently, which gives me the perfect opportunity to play Jedi: Fallen Order with some actual context regarding the events that happened before the game.
18. Death Stranding
I love playing weird games once in a while, and Death Stranding, given its divisive reputation, has the potential to be either an amazing or horrible experience. I’m curious to see which side I land on after finishing it.
19. Spider-Man
I have been meaning to play Spider-Man since it first came out, but I just haven’t had the time to dive into it. Since the end of the console generation is coming up and I imagine this will be one of my favorite games of the generation, I need to make sure I get to this one soon.
20. Assassin’s Creed Games
I have recently played Assassin’s Creed II and Odyssey within the past few years, and both of these games are personal favorites of mine. Therefore, I hope to get to some more titles in 2020. My first priority is probably Origins, so I can get a little more context for the current story in preparation for the next entry in the series.
Well, that’s a long list! I doubt I will finish all twenty, but I will get to as many as I can! While I don’t want to spoil the surprise, I have a few other plans for 2020 beyond this list that I will be sharing soon.
Have you played any of these games? Did you enjoy them? Let me know in the comments below!
The Hannie Corner 
Yessss Assassin’s Creed is one of my favorite franchises. Undertale is also a fave, be careful of spoilers though! Good choices!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I just bought Origins recently, so I’m hoping I manage to start that one up soon!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sweet! Have fun!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great list. Highly recommend Pillars of Eternity, felt like a real spiritual successor to Baldurs Gate 2, also one of my favourite games. Also Papers Please, great game. You’ll have a lot of fun in 2020
LikeLiked by 2 people
Pillars of Eternity is one I’ve started and played a little of and I’m enjoying it quite a bit so far!
LikeLike
That’s a challenging list, Hannie. Not sure if I’ll ever get back to SWTOR, having indulged a few years ago – I still love the Star Wars universe. I’ve been trying to catch up with the AC franchise but got sidetracked with an RPG called Greedfall from the AA studio Spiders; I’m on my 3rd play-through. Your list has a few titles I need to check out.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I really enjoyed SWTOR and want to finish off my main character’s story. My main issue was that I wanted to play an MMO for the social aspects, and SWTOR is the most single-player focused MMO that I have ever seen. I haven’t grouped up with anyone for the fifty hours I’ve put in so far!
LikeLiked by 1 person
If you exclude the times I played with my wife, I didn’t team up with others for ages. I did eventually when in a guild on the right time zone.
LikeLike
I had the same reason as you for wanting to pick up Gris! The art style and music was what drew me to it in the first place, and Rachel and I enjoyed it far more than we ever would have thought! It’s a compelling game with a bittersweet story and message (Rachel and I cried, not going to lie), and it only took us about four or five hours to play.
Undertale is also a great game. A bit silly, but the story actually runs deep and a little dark if you look into it too much. But the characters are definitely fun, and the music is phenomenal!
Haven’t played anything else on this list, but I hope you enjoy them all!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’m psyched to play Undertale. I kind of doubt it will resonate with me like it did with others when it first came out, but I’m still excited to give it a try.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m on the opposite side 😂 i LOVE long/non-ending games, I did tried a few indies, but mostly aren’t too happy of how short they are. (Mortician tale was a good one, but maan I wanted to play more..)
I played undertale.. but ended up stuck at some points and stopped playing ahahah 🤭 then I switched computer and didn’t loaded it back on it.
While i’ve seen people play and would seemingly love WoW… im just not fond on the « pay monthly to play » thing .. My ex also introduced me to papers, please — seems like oddly fun, or atleast to watch someone play ahah
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yeah, I really just like to be able to see the ending of games. The thing is, though, most of my favorite games are actually 30+ hour experiences, so I know I probably should be playing more large games, but the short ones just feel so satisfying to polish off in an evening or two…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah I see what you mean!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is reminding me that I need to finish Spider-Man. I started it and just never finished it even though it was great and I was having a blast while playing. Hopefully you can find the time to get to most of these throughout the year cause it seems like a great list!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I think Spider-man will be the perfect game to play after a hard day at work, where I can just swing from building to building and goof off.
LikeLike
I’m planning to do my games to play in 2020 list soon so this is great to get me thinking! You’ve got loads of great games on your list – I played Divinity: Original Sin 2 this year which was one of my favourite games of the year and really want to play Pillars of Eternity as well as it looks quite similar in many respects. I also played The Outer Worlds this year which was great! I’ve yet to play Gris or Papers Please though which are both ones I want to get to in 2020
LikeLiked by 2 people
Obra Dinn was just so amazing that I’m certain I’m going to enjoy Papers, Please. I’m still emotionally recovering from Obra Dinn, though, so it may be a little bit before I can handle playing another game from the developer.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice list! 👍🏻 I recently started FF7 for what must be the third time with a renewed determination to finish the game before the remake comes out in March. I still have to start Undertale at some point as well, considering it’s regarding as one of the greats of this decade.
I just finished Gris a few days ago and loved it! The art style is gorgeous and I wish I would have played it sooner. I’d love to hear more of your thoughts on it, Death Stranding too 😁
LikeLiked by 2 people
This will be at least my fourth time attempting to play Final Fantasy VII. I just find Midgar to be a slog.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m hoping to catch up with some FF when they start coming to Xbox Game Pass in 2020. I’m a good ways into Fallen Order and really enjoying it! My big catch-up is I finally got a Switch, so I’m finally starting Breath of the Wild for the first time.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’m thinking about playing 7 – 15 as they come to game pass, including replaying the ones I’ve previously finished. I think it could be a lot of fun, but we’ll see how my free time goes!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love this idea! I’ve played ESO, but not much, I really should give it more of a chance. Papers, Please is weirdly addictive, I’m not even sure why, but I really enjoyed it. Pillars of Eternity is a game I just started thanks to Tecsie. And, Spider-Man and AC is amazing! That’s the only games I’ve played from your list (although some of them are also on my to play list!). I hope you enjoy whatever games you get around to!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I just started because of Tecsie, as well! I don’t know how far I’ll get in it because I am kind of obsessed with FFXIV and thinking about replaying an old favorite of mine, but yeah, I’m glad I at least got it started.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fallout 3 was the first Fallout series game I played and that is an epic! And its dlcs are also valuable and masterpiece. You definetely should have a try but I think you may need to do some system adjustments and tests first if you play this game on win10.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yeah, I’ve tried to get into Fallout 3 multiple times, but I hope I can finally get to it for real this time. I just don’t like it as much as New Vegas, so it’s not as easy to get into. Still, I want to roll credits on it just so I can say I’ve done it.
LikeLike
I’ve bee waiting for death stranding on PC for a while now
LikeLike