T.J. Hafer
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is one of the best-written RPGs in years, with exciting card battles that are kept cleverly fresh throughout.
Below is a gorgeous, atmospheric dungeon crawler that is difficult to take in at the pace it deserves because of oppressive survival mechanics.
At the Gates tries some ambitious new ideas that, in time, may leave a mark on the 4X genre. But today, it's far too broken to recommend.
Stellaris: Console Edition brings Paradox's grand 4X strategy to consoles remarkably effectively, but it's a few lightyears behind in important updates.
Tropico 6 stands out as an in-depth city-builder with a strong personality, but its economic systems are unwieldy.
Imperator: Rome packs more interesting strategic systems and detail into its vast historical sandbox simulation than its interface can fully handle, but they produce some excellent political scheming and warfare.
High skill cap melee combat is equally rewarding and daunting, though the archery and support roles could use some work.
Total War: Three Kingdoms uses excellent pacing and strong character mechanics to create a consistently exciting and challenging historical strategy campaign.
Warhammer: Chaosbane can stand proudly alongside some of the best games that have used the foreboding, Gothic Old World as a setting.
Steel Division 2 does almost everything Normandy 44 did as well or better, but just about everything new it tries gets bogged down in the mud.
Age of Wonders: Planetfall is a dazzling, slick, diverse 4X with snappy and exciting turn-based combat and a story I was always eager to discover more of.
Planet Zoo is a wildly satisfying park-builder with a menagerie of lovely looking animals.
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries checks most of the boxes I would have asked for out of a modern revival of the series.
Reforged is an uninspiring remaster, but Warcraft 3 itself is still a great game nearly two decades later.
Once its major bugs are resolved, Wolcen's clever ideas could let it compete with the heavyweights of the action RPG genre. For now, though, too much of the mayhem is caused by bugs to recommend it.
An underwhelming strategic take on the Three Kingdoms, especially compared to Total War.
Persona 5 Royal takes an all-time great JRPG and makes it even greater. Going above and beyond a re-release or a remaster, almost everything has been expanded and improved with an entire game's worth of new content and improvements.
Deep Rock Galactic is the best kind of four-player co-op game. Exciting combat, great missions, and lots of upgrades make this one a winner.
Othercide is a tactical roguelike with a flair for the dramatic, full of satisfying combat, careful planning, and sometimes heart-rending decisions.
A Total War Saga: Troy absolutely nails its Bronze Age setting and comes up with interesting ways to make the period work in its grand strategy framework, but its AI has trouble wrapping its head around it.