The Best Game Animation of 2020

Here's a list of 2020 games that had amazing animation!

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Written and produced by Daniel Floyd

Special thanks to:
-Carrie Floyd
-Eric Luhta
-Soraya Een Hajji

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♪ "Color Pulse [Off the Hook]" by VGR

#2020 #animation

[mothersbasement]

Segue game was on point in this one Dan

[mr.potato]

These videos are basically like advertisements. I really want to play Ori and Necrobarista now

[BlizzardofKnives]

The Animal Crossing section reminded me of an old saying, an expert is someone who makes hard things look easy.

[NanakiPL]

I love the “2019 video omission that needed to be addressed ‘immediately’”…

immediately meaning in 2021 :P

[Scrizati]

Schmonic the bledgehog? Hmm, is it the long awaited final fantasy series! Can't wait :D

[faythsdream]

Watching the Spiritfarer segment, I kept hearing in my head.

[lvbboi]

If Art System Works made a Castlevania fighting game I'd literally have a heart attack.

[joseruirodrigues]

Congrats to Dan for being one of the few people/companies out there that, while giving The Last of Us Part II the end of the year praise it deserves as a game and/or technical piece, isn't also shying away from denouncing Naughty Dog's crunch enviroment and asking for better treatment of their employees.

Being the norm in the industry doesn't mean it is a good practice. And no game, as good as it can be, should be worth the wellbeing of those of actually made them. We should all ask for our games to be created in better environments.

[intilagos-brown]

one of the cool things in ff7 remake is how they kept some of the "goofy" animations of the original enemies which helps to maintain some charm of the old game rather than the whole thing being too serious.

[TheCanipaEffect]

Glad Spiritfarer got a shoutout! I'd love to see you have a go at covering 13 Sentinels and Vanillaware's 2.5D production in the future!

[OhNoTheFace]

When Barret takes off his shades, I feel things. God he is handsome.

So kudos to the model design

[supinearcanum]

Was totally digging this video then Dan talked about crunch. That took it to a whole nother level man, thank you for saying something, the games industry has a toxic relationship to work, and standing up to say something about it when you work in that industry can be incredibly difficult. I am so proud that you are being outspoken about injustice in a time when many would like those of us who want something better to be silent.

So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for having the courage to say something here to your public, in public, even if it could get you flak.

[Nestamachine]

If anyone was wondering what any of the games featured in this video were, here's a list of them all:

0:01 - Ghost of Tsushima
0:06 - Carrion
0:10 - Drake Hollow
0:12 - Valorant
0:16 - No Straight Roads
0:20 - Hades
0:24 - Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
0:30 - Later Alligator
1:31 - Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
1:48 - Spyro Reignited Trilogy
2:36 - Final Fantasy VII Remake
3:00 - Final Fantasy VII
4:08 - Animal Crossing: New Horizons
5:17 - Watch Dogs: Legion
5:24 - Marvel's Avengers
5:27 - Ghost of Tsushima
5:28 - Resident Evil 3 (2020)
5:30 - Star Wars: Squadrons
5:32 - Half-Life: Alyx
5:44 - The Last of Us Part II
7:08 - The Pathless
8:10 - Granblue Fantasy Versus
8:22 - Guilty Gear Xrd
8:24 - Dragon Ball FighterZ
8:28 - Guilty Gear -Strive-
9:02 - Ori and the Will of the Wisps
9:55 - Streets of Rage 4
10:47 - Paper Mario: The Origami King
11:36 - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy
11:45 - Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
11:49 - fault - milestone two
11:52 - Necrobarista
12:34 - Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma
12:38 - AI: The Somnium Files
12:54 - Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
13:57 - Spiritfarer
15:14 - 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
15:18 - Bleeding Edge
15:20 - Furi
15:22 - Demon's Souls (2020)
15:27 - Bugsnax
15:29 - Genshin Impact
15:34 - DOOM Eternal
15:37 - Yakuza: Like A Dragon
15:39 - Minecraft Dungeons
15:55 - Shmonic the Bledgehog

Thank you to the other users below who helped with this.

[JoyceW-Art]

I'm so glad you called out Naughty Dog for their crunch practices. I keep hearing more and more crunch stories and it's really putting me off of wanting to work in the gaming industries...
Which is a shame, cause as you said, there's so much beautiful talent and work out there filled with passion and skilled people!

[ROCKCHOMP]

I was blown away with how much care went into Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. Thing's like how expressive everyone's faces where and there's one scene in particular where Zelda runs her fingers over an object and how good it looked when it happened. The fight animations during the cutscenes are amazingly clear and easy to follow as well. It's definitely worth checking out!

[wssl]

uhhh, thank you for introducing me to The Pathless??? how have i not seen this before! this looks disgustingly gorgeous, instant buy. thank you so much dan

[Gilbot]

Man it is always so hype to see your top animations of the year. You never fail to deliver on high quality animation in these showcases and the video and narration are on point like always. Looking forward to 2021's video already! And thanks for standing up against crunch!!

[LudicGamer]

Kentucky Route Zero ended in 2020 after ~10 years of drip feeding us with chapters and supplementals. It's a phenomenal point-and-click adventure with animation that is both hyper-simple and meticulously complex. The game's whole vibe is this nebulous, languid, dream-like "tall takes of the American South crossed with the Twilight Zone" thing, and the animation sells it beyond belief. Highly recommend!

Great to see you back, Dan! A great way to welcome the new year! And, yes - Daffodil is best cat.

[LuxrayLloyd]

Yeah, I still am awestruck by how good animations are, both for realistic and cartoony styles

[normal]

I nominate Omori; it came out right on Christmas, so it makes sense that it hasn't gotten around to you yet, but the hand-drawn style is *amazing* and it takes a pencil & crayon aesthetic and animates it in this wonderful way that's both charming and horrifying at the same time.