The Winner
Shenmue 2
The way Shenmue hit this site is hard to explain. I don’t know why we decided to play them. Obviously, the release of Shenmue 3 had an effect on that decision, but that was 2019, and we didn’t start until 2020. Whatever the reason, though, the games were a revelation. The vision of the series in creating a fish out of water story is STILL unparalleled in video games. The best open worlds, the best rendition of a coming of age story.
It really stung to learn that those people who have been obnoxiously insistent that Shenmue is an overlooked masterpiece were… 100% right? But they were. There is nothing like Shenmue, and looking at the way the industry makes games, there may never be again.
The Runners-Up
Shenmue 1
So I just laid out the argument for Shenmue as a series being the Backlog Star of 2020 for us. But what separates 2 from 1? Well, 1 is a great story about embarking on a martial arts revenge story as a clueless kid. It’s about trying to make sense of the extreme events that have happened to you in the context of an ordinary small town. How does one even go about getting revenge? I guess you need to… go on a trip? To find the killer??? How do you track them? How do you get the money?
All of that is really wonderful and unique. Shenmue 2 doesn’t really do that. Those undertones are there, but it’s far more about being on your own in a foreign country. Getting lost, asking for directions, making friends, having misunderstandings. Shenmue 2 is about going far away from everything you’ve ever known and all your support systems, and realizing the moment you arrive that you actually have no plan. What a beautiful game.
Yakuza Kiwami 2
People call Yakuza the spiritual successor to Shenmue, and that’s not totally incorrect, but I think it’s more accurate to say that it took a lot of lessons from Shenmue. Yakuza’s focus on hyper-competence, familiar settings, making friends, and side activities differs WILDLY from Shenmue’s “lost and confused” simulator. Still, the similarities are there, and it IS funny that all of our Backlog Stars are of a similar heritage.
What is the lesson here? Make games about interesting people exploring communities. Don’t try too hard to make the world extraordinary, because there’s so much to be gained from the ordinary. And goddammit, tell a good story! You do that, and Scanline Media will be there for you.
—–
We spent a lot of 2020 playing old games, and appreciating the genius buried within. 2020 wasn’t a terrible year for games, but the past will always hold a wealth of treasures. That’s the end of Day One of our Gimmick Awards. I hope you’ll stick around for the next 4 days and 12 categories of awards.
A big thank you to Zwimmy (@zwimmy on Twitter) for our Game of the Year art!
