Metaphor: ReFantazio has been a long time in the making. It was announced in 2017 as Project re Fantasy through a weird long video that said very little. Since then, Atlus has swapped the Project for Metaphor and scoured Google Translate to find a cool way to say'fantasy.' It's also made a giant fantasy JRPG -- and after rolling through a demo at Summer Game Fest last weekend, I'm dying to play it. ReFantazio is the first original title by Studio Zero, a relatively new Atlus division headed up by Katsura Hashino.

When I was a kid, I was only allowed to play video games on Fridays and Saturdays – an attempt by my parents to keep my gaming passion under control. For the rest of the week, I was happy doing other things and reading my Nintendo magazines, but come Friday evening, I was ready to pick up a controller. I would stock up on Haribo and fizzy juice on the way home from school in preparation for an evening in front of the TV. My parents, presumably grateful for a few hours of peace, would throw a Pizza Hut delivery through the door of the spare room where our games consoles lived and leave my brother and I to it. We would sit and play Zelda or Diddy Kong Racing or another parent-approved, non-violent obsession of the day until we were commanded to go to bed.

For nearly a year now, the coronavirus pandemic rendered most summer vacations and holiday getaways impossible, rerouting itineraries to our living rooms. But there is a silver lining for those seeking a change of scenery amid our extended staycations. Already these past 12 months we've seen a rise in those spending their idle hours in video games, and certain titles can actually help scratch that itch to travel. Some games fit that need to hit the skies literally, such as "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020," which lets players fly a plane across a hyper-realistic Earth crafted from satellite imagery. Still, this doesn't replicate exploring a foreign country's culture or taking in the sights and sounds of a bustling city far from home.

Omega Force now has a track record of innovation when given the license to various brands. "Hyrule Warriors" and its 2020 follow-up, "Age of Calamity," saw Omega Force adopting the collect-a-thon mechanics of "Breath of the Wild" into its game. Its "Attack on Titan" series also uses the same Musou premise, but instead of spamming the same combos on the ground, you fling yourself across the skyline just like in the anime. Sony's "Spider-Man" games get plenty of deserved love for their swinging mechanics, but Omega Force's "Attack on Titan" games are too often overlooked for capturing the feel of a swashbuckling and speedy anime episode.

While some forms of entertainment like movies and sports were hit hard by the pandemic, gaming actually thrived in 2020. Since we were all stuck indoors, we spent a lot more time in front of screens, discovering new experiences, replaying older classics and a few of us even made a dent in our backlogs, aka the "pile of shame." To that end, the Engadget staff presents a slightly different list of our favorite games of 2020: not just the most impactful titles that came out this year, but also the older games that kept us company during this crazy time. I have already spilled so much digital ink on this game this year that, had you asked me to pick my best of 2020 a month ago, I would have picked something different like Miles Morales or Fall Guys. Animal Crossing is fun, I thought, but I've done everything I want to do in the game and I really should be focusing my critical eye on the fancier, flashier titles from more powerful systems. But then the winter update arrived, bringing with it new holidays and reactions and hairstyles, oh my!

It had just turned April when we declared that 2017 was a great year for video games. The post-holiday quarter is usually fairly quiet for new releases, but in 2017 it brought us legitimate contenders for game of the year in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Horizon Zero Dawn and Persona 5 -- and that's not to mention Resident Evil 7's return to form. Now the year is almost over, and we've had a stunning Mario game, another great Wolfenstein title and even an Assassin's Creed game that exceeded all expectations. Getting an entire editorial team to agree on just one game is tough, and ultimately not that fun, so we didn't try. Instead, we each picked the one game that stood out to us the most -- avoiding duplicates -- and then named the title we're most looking forward to for 2018. I never expected that an Assassin's Creed game would end up being one of my favorite games this year. But yes, Origins really is that good. I didn't think I'd have patience for yet another massive open-world game, let alone one in a franchise that's embodied the worst elements of big-budget game development.

In-game shops are more than handy outlets to transform random metal scraps and tired old gear into new and useful items. Shops offer a reprieve from the action of whichever digital world you've entered, allowing you to take a moment, breathe and consider the situation from afar. Do you want to play as a gun-toting tank or a sneaky spy? Is your bow powerful enough for the battles ahead? Do you have enough health potions?

Every now and then, it's wise to stop and recognize the good things in life. And right now, it doesn't get much better than the video game industry. After dozens of Slack conversations about all the exciting titles and hardware coming out this year, a handful of Engadget editors got together to formally celebrate the year in gaming so far. Plus, we gazed into the future and offered suggestions on ways to make 2017 even better. So sit back, clear your mind and join us in an appreciation of everything good the video game industry has to offer in 2017.

This Morning After is brought to you by the death of phone calls on flights (hooray!), how Persona 5 manages to digitally manifest Tokyo and the news that the most valuable car company in the US is now Tesla -- with a lot of that value resting on the incoming cheaper Model 3. We'll write you a note'Planet Earth II' on Ultra HD Blu-ray is a good reason to buy a new TV If you've been waiting for some ideal 4K demo material, the sequel to HDTV-seller Planet Earth will do the trick. Thanks to the bitrate afforded by Ultra HD Blu-ray plus the expanded color range and contrast of HDR, Devindra Hardawar claims "it completely justifies the existence of the doomed disc format." Yesterday Spanish authorities reportedly arrested Peter Yuryevich Levashov, and according to a statement by his wife, linked him to alleged hacking of the US presidential election. Later, the US DoJ and FBI announced that Levashov is suspected of operating the "Kelihos" botnet that hijacked Windows computers to send spam, but did not mention any ties to the election. It's reportedly pumping up to $875 million into LG Display.Google might bring curved screens to its next Pixel phone Google is investing up to $875 million in LG Display to develop its own stable supply of flexible OLED screens for its Pixel phones, according to multiple reports.

Two years ago I took my first trip to Tokyo. The city exceeded my wildest expectations, an addictive blend of ramen, neon nightlife and tranquil parks. I spent a fortnight exploring the place, absorbing every street, shrine and video game store that wandered into my peripheral vision. It was a glorious adventure, and I would give anything to go back there. Tokyo, however, is an expensive place to visit, especially if you live on the other side of the world.