GameReviewPad’s Game Recommendations for Black Friday 2020
Below is a list of GameReviewPad’s game recommendations for Black Friday 2020 put together by Louis Hughes and myself (Andre). These are general recommendations of only the game, so you’ll have to track down the best deals yourself, Sorry!
BEST VALUE: XBOX GAME PASS (with or without Black Friday)
Andre: Xbox Game Pass for PC
As someone who recently built a brand new PC, Xbox Game Pass for PC couldn’t have flourished at a better time for me! Titles like Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Gears Tactics, Wasteland 3, Microsoft Flight Simulator, and many others are on Game Pass to save you plenty. The best side effect of Game Pass is that you will play games that you wouldn’t consider playing otherwise, so it will no doubt expand your horizons as a gamer. Any deals for cheaper rates for Xbox Game Pass should be an immediate buy, but the regular cost is still a steal in itself!
Louis: Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
One of the biggest advantage Xbox has is their Game Pass service. While the number of games available is small compared to PlayStation Now, you get more value. There are three options: Game Pass for Console, PC, and Ultimate. Ultimate gives you Game Pass for console, and PC with Xbox Live Gold. If you are interested, Game Pass Ultimate (3 months) will be on sale.
Louis Hughes’ Black Friday 2020 Recommendations
Star Wars: Squadron
I feel this is the best recommended game to purchase on Black Friday. Thanks to the cluster known as Battlefront II, EA has been doing their damnedest to right the wrong. Jedi: The Fallen Order was the first right step by having a single player experience, and now with a game people wanted since the Rogue Squadron series on N64 and GameCube.
Doom Eternal
Only feel the need to get this game if you don’t own an Xbox console, as the game is available via Game Pass. The previous one reminded me of the FPS games I missed playing compared to the more realistic ones. The sequel ups the carnage from the get-go, and while some questionable features like platforming is added, it doesn’t stop from the nonstop rampage you’ll get with this.
DragonBall Z: Kakarot
While it feels like these games are released yearly, this game is every fan’s dream of an open world DBZ game. You do follow the story that every fan knows by heart, but you get to explore the world and do side quests, including one based on the best filler episode of Goku getting his driver’s license.
WWE 2K Battlegrounds
While the reactions to the game have been mostly negative, thanks to the microtransactions, I feel this game is still worth recommending for Black Friday. The arcade nature of the game is fun, but due to limited moves and modes the fun starts to fade after a few matches. While the story mode is great, it feels rushed and padded out. This is a perfect buy for a party get together and nothing more. God, that recently announced AEW game can’t come soon enough.
Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid
While this game was released awhile back by Limited Run Games, this edition has a new publisher, Maximum Games. This is a must for Power Rangers’ fans, as the gameplay was created to be easy to pick up, but hard to master. This 3-v-3 fighter has Power Rangers old and new joining the battle, along with a story mode and voice acting from the original team. This edition comes with Season 1 DLC, so you’ll be getting a lot of value for the price. However, if you have Game Pass, it’s available on there.
Catherine: Full Body
This game was a surprise hit when it was released back in 2011 with its puzzle element gameplay while at the same time having a mature storyline that is still relevant. This edition adds more content including a new character. To me, the biggest improvement is the easier difficulty setting. I stopped playing the game because the puzzles started getting too hard (I played on Normal), but I wanted to see how my choices affected the ending. That and the puzzle (in the level) had lots of spiders!
Trials of Mana
If you’re looking for a JRPG fix I would give this a purchase. This remake of the classic SNES game has revamp graphics from the ground up and an option to listen to the Japanese or English dub. The combat takes a new change as it’s real time instead of turn based. The only drawback is if you get the Switch version because it runs at 30fps while the Playstation 4 version is 60fps.
Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered
With the new movie hopefully coming to theaters March 2021, I consider this game the real Ghostbusters III until the director made the game non-canon. The story takes place after the events of the sequel and has you as the rookie Ghostbuster tagging along with the crew. If you missed out on the game’s original release back in 2009, you’re in for a treat. There is a lot of fan service to the first two movies along with more details on events that happen. My only gripe is that I wished they added the Wii version as bonus content since the visuals for that resemble The Real Ghostbusters animated series. If you own the original game, you can play it on Xbox One/Series via backwards compatibility.
Street Fighter V: Championship Edition
It’s no secret that Street Fighter V started as a bust, but with updates and fixes the game has redeemed itself. With more modes and a rebalanced roster, Championship Edition is something fans can call a real Street Fighter game. As an added thank you, if you have the older version of SFV, the game updates to the Championship Edition for free.
Bayonetta and Vanquish 10th Anniversary Bundle
While Bayonetta got a lot of attention for its gameplay, Vanquish came and went. While both games are available to play if you own it on Xbox 360 on the new Xbox consoles via backyards compatibility, I still say this is a steal of a purchase. You’re not only getting two great action games, but they have been remastered to support 4K 60fps gameplay making it more hectic.
Saints Row: The Third Remastered
If you didn’t play this game in 2011, this remastered version is a good buy with enhanced visuals containing all the DLC of the game. While the game is backwards compatible from the Xbox 360 to Xbox One/Series, I prefer the remastered edition. The only drawback is the frame rate is locked to 30fps unless you’re playing on Xbox One X, PS4 Pro. Even then, I learned that you have to turn that feature on in the options. Hopefully, this new engine is a peek at what the upcoming Saints Row V is going to look like.
Final Fantasy VII Remake
I could leave this summary blank, but you’re getting a good buy on a remake of a game that brought RPGs to the forefront and made the PlayStation the RPG console. Despite the controversy of the game being in multiple parts, it manages to change the combat system to make it work without alienating the fanbase is nothing short of amazing.
Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath Kollection
Ever since the reboot back in 2011, the franchise has seen their popularity return. What made them change the game of the fighting genre is the inclusion of a well-received story mode. The Aftermath Kollection contains Mortal Kombat 11 along with the Aftermath story mode that continues the events of Mortal Kombat 11 along with Season DLC is a great get.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2
While a remaster was released in 2012, this attempt was met with praise. With a new engine and adding elements from later games, this brings back the fun of the franchise. Not to mention it managed to keep the soundtrack (for the most part) untouched.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered
Remember when Need For Speed was good? It took EA awhile to realize this, as they released the last good recent NFS game from 2010. While the remaster doesn’t look too different from the original game, at least you can play it on modern consoles. (Unless you have it on Xbox 360 then it’s compatible on newer Xbox consoles.)
Ghost of Tsushima
Ever since the first gameplay was released, I felt this would be the Playstation 4’s swan song. With the recent announcement of Sony continuing PS4 support till at least 2022, I feel this game showcased that you can still do amazing things with the console. With the game on sale for Black Friday, this should be every PlayStation 4/5 owner’s primary purchase. PS5 owners get to play in beautiful 4K with 60fps.
Andre Calvert’s Black Friday 2020 Recommendations
Ghost of Tsushima
Ghost of Tsushima was a game that had hype, but not as much as other 2020 titles. It delivered. Ghost of Tsushima is a beautiful samurai experience with enjoyable combat, a nice story, and this will likely be the game to get you to use Playstation 4’s photo mode due to the beautiful imagery.
Monster Train
Monster Train is an indie game that plays similar to Slay The Spire, but has a unique combat system that centers on unit placement and row management of your train. This is a roguelike deck building experience that is extremely addicting and challenging that will net you plenty of hours of gameplay.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
As a big fan of the Ori and the Blind Forest, Ori and the Will of the Wisps was near the top of my list to play in 2020. Still beautiful with an awesome soundtrack, It feels like ‘more Ori’ except Will of the Wisps has more combat options. If you didn’t like the first one then this one will probably not be your jam, but if you own Game Pass what are you waiting for?
Hades
I am big fan of Supergiant Games and decided to hold off of Hades until the finished product was completed out of beta. Hades is a solid package that straddles the line between roguelike and roguelite, but what really sets this game apart are the beautiful graphics and the ever evolving story that doesn’t make the game feel like a grind and makes me want to play more and more.
Wintermoor Tactics Club
This is an indie gem that released earlier in 2020 that caught me by surprised. This an original and unique tactics game with story-telling involving high school kids in a Dungeons and Dragons club battling other clubs in a snowball tournament. I was totally drawn to the game’s art style and soundtrack, but I was even more pleased the game didn’t have the ending I expected. This has been a big year for tactics games and Wintermoor Tactics Club is a reason why and should be in your library by the end of Black Friday weekend.
Final Fantasy VII Remake
I was one of the last people on left on earth to have never played any of Final Fantasy VII, but that changed earlier this year. In preparation for Final Fantasy VII Remake, I made sure to play the portion of the game that Remake was going be based on and now I sort of understand the craze. The storytelling in Final Fantasy VII Remake takes a lot of liberties, but the gameplay is extremely fun and the story diversions are somewhat interesting and even funny. Not to mention the soundtrack is stellar!
More games to be added….
