Thanks to its focus on speed and a relatively high-skill ceiling, Redout 2 might end up being too niche for some. This also means that it's a rather one-of-a-kind game these days, and if going down insane tracks at high speeds in futuristic rocket ships sounds fun, Redout 2 can be a great time.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure is a fantastic way to cap off the Crossbell storyline, and if you've played Trails from Zero, you're going to have a wonderful time. If you haven't, however, you'd be better off with spending your time there than jumping into its sequel.
WWE 2K23 successfully builds upon the foundations laid down by its predecessor. While it's still far from the best pro-wrestling game out there, it's the only one we really get with a modern roster anymore. With that caveat in mind, however, WWE 2K23 remains a blast to play. It's got a great roster, a host of new features and match types, and its new take on the MyRise career mode is incredibly fun.
Despite its focus on co-op, The Outlast Trials presents a strong early showing through its early access release. It runs well, has an interesting setting and story, and the co-op can be incredibly fun if you play it with the right group. The only downside is that jump scares might not be everyone's cup of tea.
Despite its sometimes-awkward writing, Miasma Chronicles manages to tell an interesting story full of twists and turns in a world that's incredibly interesting and well thought out. And while its aspects of exploration are lacking, the game still manages to be a fun time thanks to in-game special abilities and the fun world-building that goes alongside making the story a blast to play.
The System Shock remake is the best way to experience the original System Shock in all of its glory. While this is a largely faithful remake, the changes it introduces, like the modernized interface and controls, are a welcome change and make System Shock an absolute joy to play.
Forspoken's In Tanta We Trust feels like an earnest attempt at addressing criticisms the game got when it was first released. Its writing is much improved, the smaller scope helps make the DLC feels like a more focused experience, and the game's combat is improved quite a bit with the addition of new spells and abilities. The only real downside is that you'd have to play through the story of Forspoken for the DLC to make much sense.
Trepang2 doesn't really care about its setting and story. Instead, it just wants to give you some guns, the ability to slow down time, and just set you loose on some corrupt corporations and a shady cult. It features fantastic gunplay and some excellent enemy AI to play around with, and despite the visual clutter, you'll quite likely find yourself having a good time.
AEW: Fight Forever offers the perfect combination of simple, fun gameplay that can be learned in a couple of minutes, but has incredible depth. Pair that with an excellent roster, a fun career mode, and an incredible amount of match types and unlockables, and the game ends up being a dream come true for fans of the fun, arcade-styled wrestling games of the past.
Aliens: Dark Descent is one of the most unique takes on not only the strategy genre, but the survival horror genre as well. Despite a middling story and a terrible tutorial, it's one of the most interesting and rewarding games out there.
Jagged Alliance 3 successfully taps into everything that made the franchise great to begin with, giving us a unique blend of genres that mixes turn-based tactical gameplay with some light RPG elements.
Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening is a unique take on the strategy genre that chooses to focus more on the administration aspects of war rather than the battles. Coupled with in-depth mechanics for managing your economy, as well as a surprisingly deep political system where you have to pay attention to how well your officers are doing, you get a unique management-styled strategy game that is absolutely worth your time.
30XX carries with it the legacy of the Mega Man X franchise in its aesthetics and general gameplay, but its more modern features like a level editor and its randomly generated levels add more replayability to the game. The core gameplay might seem simple at first, but its superbly designed levels and boss fights will quickly demand that you get familiar with its movement techniques as much as possible if you want to make any sort of progress.
Witchfire is a game rife with potential that will hopefully be realized throughout its stint in early access. It has an addictive gameplay loop that makes you attempt at least "one more run" thanks to its fast-paced melding of first-person gunplay and magic. The only real downside right now is the relative lack of content.
The console release of Gloomhaven continues the trend of making it one of the best board game-to-video game adaptations out there, and there are a lot of deep combat mechanics for players to sink their teeth into. Inconsistencies in the interface and being balanced around multiplayer are the only real downsides to Gloomhaven on the PS5.