For situations where players have exhausted all their available options and brainpower, The Case of the Golden Idol also offers a fantastic in-game hint system. It doesn't overreach and offer solutions blatantly, but instead uses phrases like "consider the food on the dinner table, and everyone's personal eating habits" to point confused players in the right direction. None of the puzzles presented in the game are impossibly difficult (except for one late game chapter which suddenly threw maths in, but that could be my own personal shortcomings) and the story it tells about the golden idol itself is delightfully weird and fleshed out despite the game's short runtime. For anyone looking for 3-6 hours of cryptic crossword-like murder mysteries, The Case of the Golden Idol is a solid choice.
Elden Ring is a nearly perfect game.
Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, and San Andreas are some of the PlayStation 2's best games and helped to both pioneer and define the open world genre. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition does not provide the best way to experience these titles, nor should this be considered the "definitive" edition of the games included. The Definitive Edition is often prettier and slightly more modern in its controls and presentation, but missing features and poorly optimized content let down what could have been ideal remasters. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition feels rushed - and after twenty years, that's disappointing.
From a fantastic opening credits scene performed by Puddles Pity Party to its final exciting moments, I Expect You To Die 2: The Spy and the Liar delivers exactly what fans of the first game have come to expect - a campy spy adventure with increasingly deadly stakes, dramatically elaborate puzzles, and lots of physics objects to pretend to eat or simply throw across the room. For anyone with a fondness for James Bond stories or 1950's noir - and access to a VR headset - The Spy and the Liar is a fantastic choice.
Unavowed expertly blends fantasy and crime genres with stellar writing, acting, and artwork to create a game that is both memorable and entertaining, and should be experienced by anyone who thinks the glory days of Sierra On-Line are the only time period where great point-and-click games can be found.
Only a few new sights in the universe.
Hitman 3 is the best of the newer Hitman games and quite possibly the best Hitman game in the franchise.
Battle royale comes for Pac-Man.
XIII has only changed for the worse.
Wasteland 3 takes players to a new location and presents them with equally unfamiliar challenges, yet still perfectly demonstrates all of the reasons why this series has had die-hard fans for over three decades, and is absolutely worth playing for anyone looking for their next post-apocalyptic fix.
Destroy All Humans!'s remake definitely feels old-fashioned.
Ghost of Tsushima is the best Assassin's Creed game there is, and likely the closest many users will ever get to experiencing what it's like to be a samurai in 11th century Japan.
Aftermath gives MK11 the ending it needed.
Although they're mainly known for maintaining the video game distribution network Steam these days, it's important to remember how instrumental Valve's games have been in moving the video game industry forward. With the recent release of Half-Life: Alyx, Valve's most impressive title yet, it's hard not to think that a new era for virtual reality has either just ended, or just begun. Either way, the game is a step forward for new, more immersive ways to engage with the interactive storytelling medium, and once a larger number of players get a chance to experience Half-Life: Alyx for themselves it's likely many, many more people will be inspired to go out and buy their own virtual reality headsets.
Even with smaller stakes, XCOM's strategy shines through.
Asymmetry somehow brings it all together.
RE3 is good, but it's just more of the same.
DOOM Eternal is a fantastic game, taking all of the elements which made DOOM 2016 such a surprisingly enjoyable reboot of the franchise and implementing dozens of new concepts in a way which makes the entire experience feel fresh all over again.
Darksiders Genesis is a fantastic continuation of the series' traditional formula.
Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts offers hardcore sniping and lots of glitches.