Rather than letting its awful story simply be a good excuse for its excellent gameplay, Forspoken insists on constantly interrupting your fun to throw some truly bad exposition your way. Forspoken's character building and lore are a disaster but it manages to make it up with its incredible combat and traversal mechanics.
Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is far from the most original game out there. It wears its 16-bit influences on its sleeves, and developer JoyMasher certainly isn't a stranger to this specific kind of game. However, there is a level of expertise on display in Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider that ends up making the game a pure joy to play, thanks in no small part to its snappy controls, excellent visuals, and a stunning soundtrack.
Far Cry 6: Lost Between Worlds feels more like an experiment rather than a full-fledged release. The roguelite mode doesn't really add any new compelling element to the game, and the core shooting in Far Cry 6 certainly isn't strong enough to carry an expansion on its own. While Lost Between Worlds might be an attempt to bring players back to the game, the expansion doesn't really offer anything in the way of rewards for actually doing so.
Need for Speed Unbound feels like a breath of fresh air. The arcade-style racing has seen quite a significant improvement from its predecessor, and the game's general styles and sensibilities definitely make it one of the most unique-looking racing games out there. All in all, and this is weird for a Need for Speed game, but there's little to complain about. The cars feel great to drive in, and just about everything looks gorgeous.
Marvel's Midnight Suns, unfortunately, is one of those games that I can only recommend if you're willing to stick around its noticeable issues. As it currently stands, the game has the foundations for a phenomenal turn-based strategy game, and the gameplay variety offered by the different heroes you can play is a lot of fun. The writing and story, however, are not good reasons to play this game.
Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0's battle royale is an iterative upgrade. If you enjoyed the original Warzone, you'll enjoy the new one. The DMZ mode, on the other hand, is new, and a lot of fun thanks to the fact that you're never sure if you're going to run into another player as you try and complete your own objectives.
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, in acting as a short middle chapter between Marvel's Spider-Man and its upcoming sequel, doesn't really have the luxury to introduce radical new concepts that might turn the game on its head. Rather, it's a fun, short romp through New York once again, but this time as a new protagonist. Its tightly-paced plot tells a great coming of age story for a new Spider-Man, and its greatest strength is the fun ensemble cast.
There's nothing in the Bloody Ties expansion that warrants returning to the game, especially if you've been playing it since release. Its story is rather boring, and its new combat encounters are dull.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure, while downright gorgeous and playful, doesn't really offer anything when it comes to even remotely challenging gameplay. In that aspect, and many others, it feels like a game made distinctly for children. While that's not entirely a bad thing, there are plenty of other 3D platformers out there with better gameplay and more interesting level design. Even kids can get bored of a game if it's too easy, after all.
While Star Ocean: The Divine Force may not be the most revolutionary, prettiest, or most action-packed JRPG out there, its fantastic cast of characters and generally fun story do quite a bit to make the game's 40+ hour journey feel quite cozy. Add in the fact that you're guaranteed to get some uniqueness through its two protagonists having their own bespoke story beats that warrant multiple playthroughs and you've got plenty of JRPG to bite into here.
Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection on PC is a phenomenal way to play both Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.
Scorn is an interesting game to play. Lacking any real story to follow, it instead relies on your own curiosity to see it through. You'll be interacting with all sorts of disgusting things, and fighting off horrifying creatures, and if you're the kind of person who can not only stomach the aesthetic, but actually enjoy it, Scorn will undoubtedly be a wonderful experience. For just about everyone else, though, maybe look at a couple of screenshots and trailers and see if you can stomach the aesthetic first.
Serial Cleaners offers up an incredibly unique premise, some fun characters, and a lot of great levels with a surprising level of interactivity to tell us stories that aren't really told too often. Couple that with a great sense of style to evoke the 90s and Serial Cleaners becomes a surprisingly interesting game.
Shovel Knight Dig, while far from being the furthest departure from the franchise's classic gameplay, still manages to be a unique experience thanks to the unique twist of having to use a platforming move set to make progress by traversing vertical space. The Shovel Knight gameplay is still as crisp as ever, and Shovel Knight Dig's story and progression systems do a great job of staying out of the way, and ultimately encouraging you to try one more run.
Metal: Hellsinger is an easy game to recommend-the music's great, it feels really good to play, and it looks great. The only real caveat to all of this is that, if you're not a fan of metal music, Metal: Hellsinger might not have much for you. While its combat is great, the music is what truly elevates it from being just another boomer shooter.
Scathe has a lot of clever and interesting ideas. Unfortunately, it's the execution that lets it down. Somewhere underneath the agonizingly-slow progression, pointless plot, and a visual mess as a result of its desire to also be a bullet hell, Scathe is a game with potential that's sadly never reached.
Thymesia does more than enough to make its way out of the shadow of Bloodborne. It offers some fun levels to go around killing enemies in, and the combat is fast-paced, responsive, and most importantly, a lot of fun. Even its skill tree has some great ideas. This might not be the game for those who don't like a challenge, but for those who do, Thymesia is excellent.
Two Point Campus is a great management sim that manages to be quite deep, without adding unnecessary complexity, and its main campaign makes for a fun tutorial, and the writing is downright hilarious. The only real downside is that it doesn't really do much new if you've already played Two Point Hospital.
If you haven't already heard about Marvel's Spider-Man, it's a great game, and the new PC release is basically the best way to play it. Alongside great performance, the PC version also supports some niche PC options, including Steam Controllers, and the Steam Deck verification means that it can also run on Linux.
As Dusk Falls is an incredibly easy game to judge within its opening hours. If, by the time you finish the first chapter, you find yourself liking the characters and wanting to know what happens, As Dusk Falls is great. If it can't grab you by that point, however, there isn't any other reason to keep playing, thanks to its dull gameplay and hit-or-miss art style.