Meet Streets of Rage 4 on its own terms and you'll discover a sometimes cheap, yet often rewarding revival of a once dead franchise. The soundtrack is stellar, art design fantastic, animations superb, and controls precise. But, if you expected all the former sins of the genre to be absolved after 26 years you'll have to look elsewhere.
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is a must-play for both fans of the franchise, and gamers in love with farming oriented life-sims. It doesn't opt to break new ground, but instead play to its strengths, leaning on what made the experience great 17 years ago.
As a conclusion to Remnant: From the Ashes narrative, Subject 2923 is mediocre, but more than makes up for this fault by introducing a wealth of lore for purists, a solid new biome with a fantastic variety of secrets to discover, and exceptional new boss battles. The story may not be the greatest, yet Subject 2923 manages to conclude Remnant with a bang, not a whimper.
The Outer Worlds: Peril On Gorgon is story DLC done right. It builds and expands on the existing world while providing a fun, meaty new narrative for fans to dig into. It doesn't address all of the issues players had with The Outer Worlds at launch, but that doesn't stop Peril On Gorgon from being a worthy addition to Obsidian's spacefaring RPG.
Spellbreak is a good battle-royale with great combat. It's graphics and world-design won't "wow" anyone, but the ability to dish out devastating magical destruction in chaotic duals is unlike anything else currently on the market.
Despite its often less-than-subtle nods to Nintendo's Breath of the Wild, Genshin Impact does enough differently to stand apart. Throw in punchier combat, a more traditional story packed with interesting characters, and an outstanding score and Genshin Impact easily sits among the upper echelon of games released this year. Hopefully miHoYo relaxes the stamina system and gacha rates soon, because Teyvat is a world absolutely worth revisting. They're just making it difficult for anyone but gacha fans to find the motivation to hold on.
If you are new to the Torchlight franchise then Torchlight III is an excellent jumping on point. At $30 it's a great binge game to play with friends while we all wait on the next-gen onslaught that's just around the corner. But, if you're a hardcore ARPG fan looking for something deeper then you may be better served elsewhere, namely by Torchlight II.
Amnesia: Rebirth won't dramatically shift the modern horror landscape like its predecessor did ten years ago, yet it's an excellent addition to the genre nonetheless. It's an excellent marriage SOMA's narrative sensibilities with The Dark Descent's more terrifying pacing, capable of standing out in the now crowded market. It won't replace SOMA as my all-time favorite horror game, but it's up there.
Bravely Default II doesn't do all that much to differentiate itself from the games that came before it. How you'll feel about that will depend on what you want out of the game: do you want something that is familiar and comforting, or a title that innovates on a decades-old formula? If you're here for the former you'll absolutely enjoy your time with Bravely Default II, even if some of its failings start to grate on you. If you wanted the latter then the excellent combat, art, and music will help you overlook Bravely Default II's otherwise tired tale.
Despite some flaws, Evil Genius 2 is a doomsday device built to dominate your free time. It's addictive, easy to understand lair building and retro Spy-Fi aesthetic will pull you in and not let go, even after hundreds of hours. It's a shame the titular Geniuses don't feel all that distinct, and that the otherwise stellar UI has some annoying issues, but that won't stop Evil Genius 2 from taking over your world. It feels oh-so-good to be oh-so-bad.
Subnautica: Below Zero doesn't reach the same heights as the first game, but it's proof Unknown World's 2018 survival game wasn't a fluke. The act of exploring a mysterious underwater world whilst trying to survive is nearly as captivating in Below Zero as it was then. I'm still not a fan of the survival genre, yet I loved every moment I spent with Subnautica: Below Zero. I may know most of the tricks by now, but that didn't make the experience any less magical.
If you are still enjoying Valhalla then Wrath of the Druids is worth a gander. Hopefully the Siege of Paris expansion breaks the mold a little, but for now this first expansion acts as a serviceable excuse to revisit Assassin's Creed Valhalla, if nothing more than to tour about 9th century Ireland.
Dead for Daylight for the Switch does the bare minimum you'd expect from a competent Switch port, but performance issues make the asking price hard to swallow.
Destiny 2 has never been this accessible, and the foundations Bungie has laid for the future are largely solid. The core "new" content of the expansion may be a bust, but Bungie has proven that by going independent to better pursue their own creative vision they could make Destiny 2 a far better experience for everyone. Destiny 2: Shadowkeep stumbles over itself in spots, but the faults are not enough to put a damper on what is an impressive update to game as a whole.
I may have wanted more out of Saints Row: The Third Remastered, but it's still as much a blast to play today as it was in 2011, and now it's prettier to boot. Grumbles aside, what more could I ask for?
World War Z: GOTY Edition has everything it needs to be a compelling AA darling: multiple engaging game modes, a solid progression loop, a well polished core gimmick, and competent sound and weapon design. But, much like its standout zombie swarms, the myriad amount of bugs can prove too much to handle.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Greymoor is a solid new Chapter in the Elder Scrolls saga, despite hewing too closely to tradition at times. The main story may be a bit of a bust, but the variety of excellent side-stories on offer proves The Elder Scrolls Online is one of the best story-oriented MMOs on the market.
If you live for long-term loot grinds, visceral combat, and everything anime then Phantasy Star Online 2 will amuse you with hundreds of hours of entertainment.
If you wanted more of the same then Superhot: Mind Control Delete's idiosyncrasies will probably frustrate you more than entertain, but if you look beyond them you'll find a wickedly addicting game beneath. Mind Control Delete may rely too heavily on rolling the dice to extend its playtime, but fans willing to put their qualms aside will discover yet another fine entry in the series.
Rocket Arena is a fine hero-shooter with a novel twist on the formula, and I absolutely dig its "World of Tomorrow" aethestic, but unless it drops the box price and goes free-to-play the competition will knock it out of the arena; that's just the nature of today's market.