Vampyr is a fun action RPG that dives deep into horror lore to put you in the shoes of a brooding newly minted vampire who explores the dismal streets of Victorian London. You can build up an impressive array of abilities throughout, and by the end, you’re one tough undead fellow.
Moonlighter expertly mixes a game about being a merchant with a game about being a warrior, and it presents this mix with heaps of charm. It may end a little quickly for some, but the experience is well worth a look
Gray Dawn takes on the familiar territory of religion and the supernatural, but it does so with a surprising amount of maturity and dedication. The story will have you scratching your head, but its multiple endings each offer some emotional payoff.
While there’s plenty of the classic Gundam customization here and decent combat to let you try out your creations, New Gundam Breaker’s cookie cutter plot and serious performance issues hold it back.
Pode is a heartwarming experience about friendship and working together, and it’s best enjoyed with a friend. It can be a little tricky at times, but overall it’s fairly smooth and enjoyable.
INK is a decent little platformer that has a fun concept at the start but doesn’t really do enough with it. It’s good for a few little bursts, but more serious aficionados of the platforming genre won’t enjoy it as much.
Aggelos sticks pretty rigidly to the classics script, and while that means getting bogged down by questionable design choices, it also makes for a great modern classic that relies on good level design instead of randomly generated levels
Yakuza Kiwami 2 totally revitalizes an underrated gaming classic and applies the lessons Sega learned throughout the series’ evolution. It’s still unique and even weird at times, and it can still be a little rough around the edges, but few series manage to take you deep into a criminal underworld and tell such compelling stories.
The Low Road is a light romp through corporate espionage that features a great cast and top-notch writing, as well as some very compelling moments. Its puzzles are a bit lackluster at times, but it’s still a great way to pretend you’re a 70’s spy.
Dragon Quest XI is very much a classic J-RPG, and while a lot of the ideas here have been done before, they haven’t been done this well. It’s a great example of a game that doesn’t innovate, but definitely enhances the classic formula and improves on it
Transference is an example of a first-person narrative driven game done right. From its tech singularity premise to its balance of story and gameplay, the game manages to craft an experience that's immersive and interactive without feeling like another walking simulator.
Forza Horizon 4 is an excellent blend of arcade racing and racing sims, and it’s probably the best installment of the Horizon series thus far. It offers a breathtaking open world to drive through and some very accessible racing for mainstream fans, along with a bit of tinkering for people that like their racers a bit more technical.
With a new world to discover, Assassin's Creed Odyssey continues on the path set by Origins, giving more choice to the players, with a bigger focus on RPG and the comeback of naval warfare. A definitive evolution of the series, and shouldn't be missed.
Frozen Synapse 2 keeps the core gameplay fairly consistent and adds a new campaign mode which is a bit flawed but interesting nonetheless. The sequel also manages to refine the terrific tactical gameplay of the original Frozen Synapse to create a tighter squad combat game.
The Escapists: Complete Edition is unpolished in many regards, but under that rough lies a diamond that will shine brightly and hook you for hours. Its flaws end up working in its favour as you start feeling the desperation of a prisoner who’s just tired of being stuck, and eventually you need to use your wits and a little bit of hustle to get the job done.
Timespinner wears its influences on its sleeve, but it wears them proudly and manages to pay tribute to the 2D RPG Castlevania games and other great metroidvanias. It crafts a unique and often engrossing new world, and by the end, I felt like I had really relived the classics, and not in a bad way.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 manages to take the series forward while still holding on to what made it great in the first place. There are lots of changes here, but they all feel like changes for the better. It’s still comfortable in its old spot, but it knows what the fans want and it delivers.
Mazen enjoys anything with over-the-top violence, dark humor and a real challenge. He's still pretty big on single-player games and he's always looking for new titles he might've missed out on, so if you know about a crazy new title that's flying under the radar, look him up!
Diablo III: Eternal Collection on Switch introduces gamers to perhaps the most refined version of the game, and it offers an immersive dungeon-crawling experience that you can play on the go. It runs very smoothly and looks great, but expect to sink a ton of time in if you want to get good.
Party Hard 2 builds on the formula of its predecessor to offer a brutal, sadistic, and very creative mass murder simulator. It may not feel all that new, but it’s got enough tricks up its sleeve to justify another couple 3 AM murder sprees