Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss revels in the player working to unravel the unfathomable in Lovecraft's influential universes. This is a game about eerie atmosphere and piecing together mysteries, taking players on a claustrophobic journey through infinite horrors.
Pragmata shines as a new IP that rarely plays it safe. Confident in its vision and unique third-person hacking combat, Capcom uses the relationship between its two protagonists to deliver an action game with plenty of heart.
TAMASHIKA is undoubtedly a surreal, bizarre game that uses psychedelic visuals and whiplash action to funnel players into a flow state. Yet it is a game that also feels intimately familiar and natural to the roots of the FPS genre.
ChainStaff embraces the past to fuel its patently insane premise, execution, and creature design. This is one weird game that, through its minor annoyances, should delight retro fans seeking an 2D shooter that frequently surprises.
People of Note proves the flexibility of turn-based RPGs when care is taken with both combat and content. Centering the game around its musical core pays off in dividends with a heartfelt narrative and engaging combat that frequently surprises.
Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered is a welcome addition after the Soul Reaver games received the treatment. Though fans may wait for Blood Omen to have its moment, having this 2003 with a suite of upgrades could make it palatable for newcomers to be drawn into the Legacy.
Despite Marathon being a punishing crucible that will throw players to the wolves, its uncompromising vision can't be denied. Bungie's peerless gunplay makes this extraction shooter shine in a bleak alien world where players hunt each other for personal gain.
In the transition to fully three-dimensional worlds, Super Meat Boy 3D does a phenomenal job at retaining the blistering challenge of the pioneering original. While nearly everything is retained in the dimensional shift, a few unique issues do hold it back.
Dying Light: The Beast Restored Land continues Techland's tradition of meaningful post-launch content and support for its games. Here, players can tackle Castor Woods with a new hardcore, solo survival mode along with a slew of updates for the base game.
Minishoot' Adventures avoids being a shameless ripoff of classic Zelda by incorporating twin-stick shooter elements into its fluid gameplay. The result is a brisk adventure that constantly feeds rewards and surprises to the player.
John Carpenter's Toxic Commando is as over-the-top as its name implies. By introducing just enough twists to a tried and true formula, it's hard to resist the allure of four friends banding together to eviscerate hordes of monsters.
Sumerian Six fills a very niche hole that few developers have capitalized on. Its six characters and complex maps give players a wealth of options to creatively take out power-hungry Nazis, where careful planning is the best reward.
Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf delivers emotional gravitas through its gorgeous world, expressive characters, and moving soundtrack. Rich gameplay and clever puzzles cement its place along the best platformers of its kind.
Parsing through its varying harsh systems, Death Howl's difficulty becomes a true reward. Satisfying deck building is the player's primary weapon against evolving oppression in this haunting spirit world about death and living.
God of War Sons of Sparta is a surprising return to Kratos' Greek origins, showing players his time as a child soldier in Sparta. While the Metroidvania framing is fascinating, it does limit many of the series' strongest elements.
LOVE ETERNAL juggles the task of delivering a harrowing, razor-sharp platformer with a moody, haunting narrative. Its bite-sized length constantly makes an impact, striving to be one of the most unique games you will play.
Once players round the hurdle of its initial difficulty spikes, Nioh 3 becomes a festival of player choice in its deluge of loot-based combat. A focus on open zones and a second combat style give the formula renewed energy to carry players into the rich endgame.
BlazBlue Entropy Effect X brings the stellar roguelite by way of fighting game to a broader audience. Incorporating a massive roster with deep combat turns it into one of the genre's flashiest and most entertaining spectacles.
Romeo is a Dead Man is classic Suda51--an irreverent fever dream that constantly threatens to topple any notion of what a game can or should be. Like many of Suda's other works, it will be polarizing regardless of finding a method to the madness.
Dark Auction positions itself as a visual novel with one of the more intriguing premises tackled in the genre. Players comfortable with a rather straightforward pace and lack of challenge will likely enjoy the ride and some of the strange twists in store.