Control manages to mix Remedy’s classic third-person shooter action formula with trippy Inception-esque reality bending to craft a really intense game. The story might get a little *too* mind-bendy at some points, and the writing leans more towards heavy exposition, but it all comes together amazingly.
Orcs Must Die! Unchained cleverly mixes action and strategy gaming to create a fun and light-hearted horde defense game. Its F2P implementation is subtle and works well, and the game is a great way to whittle away a few hours where you feel like killing something.
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.
Hollow Knight takes the classic metroidvania formula and builds on it by creating a deep, harrowing world for you to explore. Its smooth, intense combat and innovative progression system are sure to draw in fans of the genre.
While it’s lighter on the scares than its big brothers in the horror genre, Perception ends up being much more memorable due to its well-crafted story and unique way of creating danger. Its central mechanic forces you to be careful and quiet, and its final chapter delivers a wallop that more than makes up for a slower start.
White Day: A Labyrinth Named School offers gamers an updated version of a Korean survival horror classic. The jumpscares can be a little hackneyed, and the plot a little clichéd, but the game offers a surprisingly deep and unsettling experience to those who are patient and willing to deal with the occasional bug.
Observer manages to construct a truly disturbing Orwellian reality and put the player at the heart of a sinister plot that’ll definitely creep them out. It borrows a lot from cyberpunk classics, and while it feels derivative at times, it manages to create its own cyberpunk experience and deliver a fresh take on horror gameplay
A treat for the eyes and ears, Zoink Games' Fe offers more actual gameplay than similar indie titles, but its choice to restrict player information can be frustrating at times. It’ll take some getting used to, but it ultimately rewards the player for being patient.
The Swords of Ditto is a charming, beautifully illustrated dungeon crawler with goofy but loveable characters and fun combat, but its roguelike design makes it feel grindy at times. It’s still enjoyable, but it certainly needs some tweaking to improve balance.
Runner3 is an amazingly crafted arcade experience that’s perfect for short bursts of hair-pulling runny goodness. It sticks to the Runner formula and it doesn’t do that much to change things up, but it does push all the dials up to 11, and the result is a really layered arcade title.
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
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
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
Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is a title that’s not afraid to take some risks, and the result is a very unique –if sometimes flawed – tactical action game. It’s a great title for casual fans of the genre, although more discerning tactics fans will probably enjoy it more for its stealth and its storyline.
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.
Ode is another great atmospheric game with rich visuals and immersive sound design. It may not grab people looking for more action and adventure, but it manages to create a smooth, mellow ambience that’s entertaining in its own way
Space Dave! is a great little action title that lets you jump in for some quick and chaotic Space Invaders-esque mayhem. It might not have much depth beyond its running and gunning, but it definitely has a ton of fun in a byte-sized package.
Wartile takes on the familiar Viking setting and mixes it with classic tabletop and strategy mechanics. It’s got an intuitive system that doesn’t get complicated over time, and a solid loot setup. Even if you’re not a big fan of tactical games, Wartile is worth a spin.
The 25th Ward: The Silver Case shows exactly why Japanese studios are so good at crafting visual novels; they’re not afraid to take risks and confuse the audience in the interest of telling a unique story. Suda51 may be more well-known for other titles, but this ranks among his classics, and it’s a must-play for fans of visual novels.
Haemimont Games and Paradox Interactive's Surviving Mars mixes the best of the 4X and city building simulation game into a futuristic package, but its weak end-game might bore some. Thankfully the game has mod support on PC and enough achievements for console players to last.