It’s officially the most magical time of the year, Twinfinite award season. Throughout the beginning of the year, we will be sharing our favorite games of 2020 with you. This time around we’re going to be taking a look at the best platforming games of 2020.
These games were a jump ahead of all other platforming games that released last year. All 2D and 3D platformers from 2020 were considered for the award, but only a select few made the cut.
The Best Platforming Games of 2020
Honorable Mention: Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Guides Editor Chris Jecks: Ori and the Will of the Wisps is not just one of the best platforming games of 2020, it’s one of the best games of the year hands down.
The game sees the adorable hero Ori embark on a quest through the forest, sprawling caves, vast deserts, and many more beautiful environments with their beloved owl buddy, Ku.
With a beautiful hand-painted art style, the world comes to life in this fairytale story. But looks can be deceiving, and Ori’s wistful 2D visuals are just the delicious eye candy to this fiendishly challenging platformer.
Doing away with the awkward save point system of its predecessor, Will of the Wisps instead focuses on pure platforming challenges. You’ll be bouncing off walls with pinpoint precision to avoid prickly obstacles on either side of a tiny safe haven of an uncovered wall.
Will of the Wisps also bucks the sequential upgrade system of the original title. You’ll instead unlock Shards as you progress, grinding buffs such as being able to stick to walls, or even ratcheting the difficulty up even further.
But it’s the combination of fantastic level design and precise controls that make Ori such a delight to play. Even if you do die over and over.
A particular high point that floods back to mind is when Ori is tasked with getting water flowing from a broken water mill. With each chunk of goo that Ori removes, the cogs of the mill begin to churn. The innards of the water mill become this ever-rotating puzzle that adds to its complexity, and the whole thing culminates in a race against the surging torrent of water Ori’s success.
I could go on for hours about Will of the Wisps’ fantastic boss battles, the intense platforming sequences towards the end of the game, the buttery smooth 120 FPS on Xbox Series X, the colorful cast of creatures, or the enormous map teeming with things to see and do. But you would be better off just downloading and experiencing it for yourself. You will not regret it.
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