Best Console Exclusives of 2020

It’s finally award season here at Twinfinite! Over the course of the next week we’re going to look back at our favorite games of 2020. That includes the plethora of memorable console exclusive titles the year has seen. These are the best console exclusive games of 2020.

Voted on by our editors and staff, these were the console exclusives that really stood out from the pack and sold some systems.

Best Console Exclusives of 2020

Honorable Mention: Demon’s Souls

Reviews Editor Zhiqing Wan: The PS5 launch lineup might’ve been missing some big hitters like the brand new Horizon game, or even a new Uncharted, but I think it’s safe to say that Sony and Bluepoint Games more than made up for that with the release of the Demon’s Souls remake.

While yes, it is technically a ten year-old game that still plays the same it did on PS3, pretty much everything else has been rebuilt from the ground up and polished to a shine.

As great as the PS3 game was, visually it was kind of a mess. Looking back at it today, the graphics look blurry and muddy, and everything just looks a little faded.

The remake, thankfully, brings FromSoftware’s vision to life and the game looks like what the developers had intended for it to look like all those years ago.

While some enemy redesigns are a little questionable, Demon’s Souls continues to prove that the Souls-like formula truly is timeless, and battling your way through Boletaria will never get old. Umbasa.

Best Console Exclusives of 2020

Honorable Mention: Final Fantasy VII Remake

Staff Writer Keenan McCall: A console exclusive should feel like an event which draws its playerbase together for a unified gaming experience. In that regard, few exclusives have succeeded the way Final Fantasy VII Remake did.

Reimagining and revitalizing the now legendary JRPG, FFVII Remake was an extended celebration for PlayStation 4 owners. For days, weeks and even months after its release, players came together to dig into the experience and wonders it provided, reveling in the long-awaited title’s arrival.

They swapped stories about the game’s stellar combat, and the difficulties of managing each party member’s strengths in order to overcome bosses like the arena’s Hellhouse.

They marveled together at the city of Midgar’s graphical beauty, and gushed about how it was the peak of what they’d seen in current gen gaming (save for a notorious untextured door).

Players even came together to discuss the revised and reworked parts of the story – divisive as they may have been – and tried to figure out what may come next for the now inevitable series of remakes. It was nothing short of a unifying moment for PlayStation gamers.

It spoke to Final Fantasy VII Remake’s quality, and made it stand out as a title that was well worth owning a specific console to experience.

Best Console Exclusives of 2020

Second Runner-up: Ghost of Tsushima

News Editor Giuseppe Nelva: Ghost of Tsushima is a fantastic game and an awesome achievement for Sucker Punch. It’s absolutely gorgeous, it plays like a dream, and it has a fantastic story to top everything off.

On top of that, I’ve rarely seen homages to a different culture created with as much love and care. It’s basically the best Japanese game I’ve ever played that’s actually not Japanese.

I have played it more than almost any other game in 2020, and I’m still happily playing it now in 2021.

The addition of a very enjoyable multiplayer suite for free simply served at the cherry on top of one of last year’s most delicious cakes. I can’t think of another game more deserving of a sequel, at the moment. There have been two Mongol invasions of Japan, after all.

Best Console Exclusives of 2020

First Runner-up: Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Staff Writer Rebecca Stone: Animal Crossing: New Horizons released at exactly the right time: it came at the start of the pandemic when so many people were spending more of their days at home. And it was the exact game that everybody needed at that moment.

When real life was too stressful to think about, we were able to escape to a deserted island right from the comfort of our living rooms. We crafted and customized in a peaceful world where the worst trouble was deciding which villagers to invite to live there with you.

Animal Crossing is the type of game where you can spend either short sessions quickly checking in each day to see what’s new, or long sessions carefully planning out how to terraform the land.

There’s no better platform for this type of game to live on than the Switch, which allows you to play both in handheld mode and on the TV screen.

During those first few weeks, it felt like nearly everybody was talking about Animal Crossing and sharing stories about their utopian lives on a deserted island.

The game quickly became the second best-selling Switch title with over 26 million copies sold in a fraction of the time of others at the top of the chart.

It’s rare to see a video game bring the world together the way Animal Crossing: New Horizons seemed to do.

Even if the hype might not be as strong nearly one year later, the game continues to inspire and unite others, and it will continue to be adored by many as long as the Switch is around.

Best Console Exclusive of 2020

Winner: The Last of Us Part II

Reviews Editor Zhiqing Wan: After the success of the first game, there was a lot of pressure on Naughty Dog to ensure that The Last of Us Part II would be a worthy and stronger successor. And the good news is that they managed to do just that.

Part II is a lot more grim than the first game, but it also develops Ellie as a character in a way that feels meaningful and appropriate for her trajectory in the story.

Our baby girl’s a lot tougher now than when she was only 14, but she’s also hardened and jaded, and a lot less forgiving and compassionate or empathetic when it comes to her enemies. It’s painful to see, but really, how else was this story going to unfold?

With The Last of Us Part II, we get to see Naughty Dog do what they do best: tell a story through subtle character cues and well-written dialogue, with plenty of action to go along with it.

Despite some pacing issues during the certain parts of the game, Part II never deviates from its goal to become the most utterly grueling and exhausting game you’ll play this year.

The game puts both Ellie and Abby through an immense amount of suffering over the course of the story, and you’re meant to suffer alongside them too.

It’s not a pleasant game to play by any means, but the result is one of the most unforgettable and outstanding games you’ll play in 2020.