Elden Ring is an awe-inspiring achievement. Both a summary and bold step forward, it fuses FromSoftware’s best and most effective ideas with an endlessly engaging open world. Its combat is the most refined of the series, challenging yet accessible to new players. Elden Ring includes an incredible amount of quality content. More importantly, it offers a captivating, polished experience fraught with danger and filled with beauty.
There is no question that the free update makes The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt a better game. It looks better, it controls better and the many, minor improvements add up to a significantly improved experience. The Netflix-based DLC is not a cheap tie-in but a well-made and completely integrated new chapter worth playing. Short of an actual remake, the update brings a seven-year-old game within spitting distance of the best current-gen title. The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt update breathes new, exciting life into a genuine classic.
Armored Core VI is not just fan service. It’s an incredible synthesis of a respected franchise and lessons learned over ten years of game design. For longtime players of Armored Core, the new game moves the series forward in a remarkably successful way. While it’s an entirely different experience, gamers coming from Dark Souls will still recognize FromSoftware’s core philosophy of challenge, persistence and reward. Armored Core VI is fast-paced, brutally difficult in places and extremely satisfying to play.
It has been a very long time since I played a game as assured, polished, and emotionally affecting as Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2.
The Quarry is a significant evolution of the formula established with Until Dawn. This time around the performance capture, cinematography and complex branching story are even more impressive. The game’s biggest achievement, though, are its setting, narrative and characters. While they don’t entirely transcend the stock tropes of genre fiction, they are far and away some of the best in any videogame and absolutely the equal of big-budget horror films. The Quarry is a must-play for horror fans. Gamers who enjoy great narratives, memorable characters and intriguing choice-driven mechanics will love it too.
I think it’s no exaggeration to say that Immortality is often brilliant. The acting, writing, editing and videography are meticulously intentional and if the path through the woods isn’t always clear, the trees are unfailingly interesting to study. While it isn’t perfect, I’m glad that games like Immortality exist. There are so many games that are sequels, copycats, reboots, remakes and retreads that you forget what originality actually looks like. All of Barlow’s games have been excellent but Immortality is probably the richest and most thought-provoking of the three.
A Plague Tale: Requiem doesn’t reinvent what made the first game great. Instead, it builds on what worked and makes everything better. From graphics and sound to combat, A Plague Tale: Requiem adds a layer of depth a polish we didn’t even realize was missing the first time around. A lot of gamers missed A Plague Tale: Innocence, but everyone should play this altogether amazing sequel.
Diablo IV is the true successor to the second game, returning the franchise to its dark, gothic roots with a wild, operatic narrative and bold characters. Gameplay is as addictive as ever, and the sprawling campaign is only the start of a massive amount of content to experience. While Blizzard keeps nudging Diablo’s design towards MMORPG-style multiplayer and co-op, there’s no lack of fun for solo players, even if some bosses are better with friends. With off-the-charts production values and compelling characters and combat, Diablo IV is just about as good as the genre can get.
Asgard’s Wrath 2 is one of the most impressive open world RPGs I’ve played in any format. That it’s in VR and on a wireless headset is sort of astounding. Asgard’s Wrath 2 is simply a must-play for new Quest 3 owners and a compelling reason to pick up the hardware. It’s hands down VR’s Game of the Year.
So many videogames treat their human characters as singularly good or evil, or worse, as disposable cannon fodder that exist only to be killed. In addition to its excellent platforming, puzzles, and action, Psychonauts 2 impresses the most because it treats human frailty and failure with warmth, compassion, and humor that is never cruel or demeaning. Inside our heads, we’re all just bundles of doubt, random connections, ill-considered motivations, and weird memories mixed with kindness, aspiration, and delight. I’m grateful to Psychonauts 2 for the reminder.
Like Sekiro and Team NINJA’s Nioh games, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty demands a lot from the player, specifically persistence, creativity and let’s be honest, decent timing and reflexes. In lots of key areas it’s a pretty traditional Soulslike, with all the challenges and rewards that come with the genre. Wo Long’s particular brilliance lies in its new mechanics and the way they flow in and out of every encounter. While some moments and fights can seem like insurmountable, immovable walls, getting around, through, or over them is never boring. Wo Long both honors the genre and pushes it forward in an exciting way.
For anyone who has even the slightest interest in Formula 1 racing – and thanks to the Netflix documentary series Drive to Survive there may be many with their curiosity piqued – F1 2021 will become their new sports gaming pastime. Catering to both casual newcomers and the most exacting simulation-seekers, F1 2021 offers a mind-blowing amount of polished and entertaining content, whether your preference is to race alone or with others. With the new Braking Point single-player story and improvements and expansions to just about everything else, F1 2021 is that rare instance of an annual sports game that has managed to continue to get better with every release.
Setting aside it coming from such a small team, I think The Ascent is miraculous in a couple of ways. First, the detailed world-building, environmental storytelling, and atmosphere are maybe the best expression of the cyberpunk aesthetic I’ve ever seen in a game. Second, the developers have seemingly cataloged every annoying mechanic in RPGs and action games — from death to rapid travel to inventory management — and found a way to make them less onerous or disappear altogether. The Ascent is not an easy game, either mechanically or thematically, but it is completely engaging if for no other reason than to see into a very convincingly realized future.
New Tales from the Borderlands is immensely entertaining, exceptionally well written, and acted with pitch-perfect attention to character.
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is a challenging and extremely entertaining stealth action and tactics game. It has a charming setting and story, with characters and mechanics that encourage creative and varied approaches to combat. There aren’t nearly enough great pirate games, so I’m glad Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew sailed into port.
Legacy of the Void is an excellent conclusion to Blizzard's trilogy. While one can get impatient with the familiar mission structure, it's impossible to argue with the excellent faction balance and action. As a genre, real time strategy games have lost a bit of appeal and the StarCraft 2 trilogy doesn't move them into new territory. Let's leave that for the next generation. Right now, there's Legacy of the Void. It's all good.
Chivalry 2 marries ridiculously violent melee combat to a tone that completely undercuts any notion that the mayhem should be taken seriously. With that out of the way, it provides accessible but ultimately challenging swordplay and the promise of nearly endless multiplayer fun. It doesn’t try to do everything, but instead picks a lane and absolutely owns it.
Townscaper exists in that special chill vibe genre that includes games like digital coloring books and virtual bubble wrap, but it also nudges gently up against city builders as well, only without any of the complications or stress. It makes you feel like a creative, relaxed time traveler, bringing into existence a peaceful, little perfect town out in the middle of a perfectly calm sea. Townscaper doesn’t try to do a lot of things, instead it does one thing very, very well.
If you thought Groundhog Day would have been even more awesome with guns and assassinations or that Dishonored would have been a better game if only Quentin Tarantino had directed it, you’d probably enjoy Deathloop. Despite some issues with pacing, bugs, AI, and mechanical clarity, Deathloop is smart, funny, intricately designed, and driven by engaging action, cool puzzles, and relative freedom to approach its objectives in various ways. Deathloop is an addictive and rewarding shooter and one of the most ambitious action games this year.
Like the previous DLC for Dead Cells, The Queen and the Sea adds a lot of new content. It isn’t free, but the new weapons, outfits, biomes, and bosses are varied and fun. If you’ve bounced off of Dead Cells’ style or combat, Queen and the Sea won’t change your mind. Heck, you might never even see it, though it’s sure worth the effort. But for fans of the game, and especially for those wanting to wrap up some loose story ends, this is a must-have expansion. It’s a great coda to a now-classic game.