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Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor is easily one of the most enjoyably polished and compelling survivors-like titles out there, and though its technical shortcomings do grate on occasion, Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor will nonetheless give you an outsized amount of bang for your buck and keep you glued to its bug-destroying, mineral-mining mayhem in ways that will prove hazardous to your social calendar.
Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival isn't a perfect outing. Some of the creative choices, like adding in explorable sections, add more bloat for the sake of gameplay variety without adding significant substance. To boot, enemy AI in these parts of the game is very simple and offers little challenge. With that said, the true potency of this game comes from the more focused, linear areas, where the concepts and scares get the chance to really show themselves. There are some cool ideas in Hellraiser: Revival, and every Hellraiser fan needs to check it out.
Forever Ago is a quiet, somber yet hopeful exploration of grief, anchored by two wonderful performances in particular, that is unfortunately lacking from a gameplay perspective, but ultimately marks a solid debut for developer Third Shift.
SiN Reloaded finally delivers the polished experience Ritual Entertainment envisioned back in 1998. Nightdive Studios rescues this cult shooter with sharp 4K visuals, updated controls, and rich bonus content across both the base game and expansion. Confusing level navigation and dated enemy AI occasionally derail the momentum, but thunderous gunplay and cheesy action movie charm make this remaster a genuine treat for retro FPS fans.
Valheim is a generational survival crafting masterpiece that sets a staggering new high bar for the genre on PS5. Iron Gate's inverted survival philosophy, glorious low-poly aesthetic, and rewarding base building make every hour spent in Norse purgatory an absolute joy. While late-game difficulty spikes and minor terrain combat quirks introduce slight pacing stalls, its unparalleled sense of discovery, cozy homesteading, and epic co-op sailing make it an essential, defining title.
Order of the Sinking Star then isn't just Jonathan Blow's most epic puzzling odyssey to date, it also happens to be (Braid notwithstanding) his most accessible title in years. Though the delivery of its dialogue can feel disparate at times, that is nowhere enough to detract from the soaring calibre that Order of the Sinking Star ultimately achieves. Crafted with love at every turn (make sure you don't skip the credits) and infinitely more respectful of the player than Blow's previous title, The Witness, Order of the Sinking Star might just be the best puzzle game on PlayStation 5.
Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered brings a PS2 legend to modern hardware with a complete technical overhaul, rock-solid frame rates, and its iconic cheesy voice acting left completely intact. While old-school map pacing and brutal archers show the game's age, optional modern dodge controls and deep co-op gameplay make it an absolute blast for nostalgia seekers.
Silver Pines tries to mesh two very different genres, combining survival horror with 2D Metroidvania. This makes for a refreshingly paced approach to the formula, asking you to step into the shoes of a down-on-his-luck detective as he tries to figure out what happened in Silver Pines. The horror elements may not weigh very heavily on the experience, but it helps to build intrigue for the Metroidvania side of the game, making it very compelling to explore the map. Silver Pines makes a name for itself in spades.
If you miss the days of Burnout, classic Need For Speed games, Split/Second: Velocity and BLUR, then you'll be wonderfully surprised by Star Wars: Galactic Racer.
Heartworm is a good game; it just struggles with empty exploration and a story that's too convoluted to follow. Thankfully, its soundtrack and sound design, along with its retro visuals, do just enough to keep it from going under the radar.
Ghost of Yōtei is that rare sequel that not only maintains the essence of its highly successful predecessor, but also qualitatively leapfrogs it in just about every meaningful way and metric. Underscored by a grippingly furious tale of revenge inspired by a layer cake of classic Japanese samurai cinema, the best combat ever seen in a samurai title and the most compelling open world since Red Dead Redemption 2, Ghost Of Yōtei is a jaw-dropping demonstration of Sucker Punch Productions operating at the peak of its considerable powers. Ghost of Yōtei redefines the term 'must-have' and wholly validates PlayStation Studios broader approach to embracing single-player epics such as this. Though both Most Wanted and Echoes of Sekigahara are superb additions to the base game, it's really Echoes of Sekigahara that stands out, offering a full-blooded continuation of 2025's best game and providing a timely reminder to us all that no other studio can do open-world samurai action quite like Sucker Punch. Ghost of Yōtei Complete Edition is simply essential.
End of Abyss is the surprise hit of year, with its forebodingly atmospheric Facility, unsettling enemy design, and well executed minimalist philosophy, it brilliantly combines its multiple genres to create a distilled and engaging survival horror experience.
Toem 2 doesn't go crazy with new ideas and you solving the game's challenges offer up singular solutions, but this second go around has livened things up in ways you can't help but admire and respect. So go ahead, take another soothing photo adventure and embrace the new things Toem 2 has to show you.
Minecraft Dungeons 2 has been something of a welcome surprise overall. In an era where the modus operandi for dungeon crawlers is to go many layers deep on complexity and double down on sophistication and complexity, often to the detriment of your own time in ways that don't always feel meaningful or justified, Minecraft Dungeons 2 strips all of that back and is a properly compelling, though perhaps ultimately unspectacular distillation of everything I enjoyed about dungeon crawlers in the first place. Folks that have long been interested in dungeon crawlers games but don't know where to start? You start here.
In the end, Alien Breed: 35th Anniversary Collection feels like a litany of missed opportunities all wrapped up into one disappointing package. Not only were many of the games included in this compilation not all that great to begin with to put it mildly, but the absolute lack of any kind of real performance improvements, coupled with some truly annoying user experience flaws, mean that this package remains solely the vintage of those who either remain obsessed with the Alien Breed franchise, or simply want to see if, nostalgia aside, the games were as subpar as they remember them.
When it's all said and done there remains little better than turning on a dime right into the sights of an onrushing enemy pilot and tapping for the release of a locked-on missile before sailing through the resulting debris. Smart additions, including the debris and chain reaction systems, coupled with the more realistic weather effects and sense of scale make it so that Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is one such outing that resoundingly sticks its landing.
Frustration mounts from start to finish during Qliphah in Providence's Shadow. What could have been a unique, brand-new IP sadly fails to capitalize on its great ideas. Combat is convoluted, and its special mechanics don't always work as intended, and the investigation segments almost unlock on their own. There are glimpses of something good here, but bad design decisions constantly hold it back.
Silent Hill: Townfall is a decidedly strong new entry in a series that has been straining to restore faith in itself. Townfall smartly draws on cultural anxiety in step with generally horrific imagery to make a game that more than earns the Silent Hill moniker. While I'm sure the next game we see will be totally different, I would love for this team to get another go. I think it gets a bit too brave with withholding vital information, and certain puzzles are utterly nightmarish, but I'd be missing the forest for the trees with how rich this game is.
Remedy deliver another hit, boasting enigmatic and visceral combat, an incredibly stylish, mind-bending, kaleidoscopic cityscape, and a surrealist yet utterly captivating narrative. Control Resonant ranks amongst the best of 2026, and absolutely has to be experienced.
I guess that's the thing about games and art more generally, such works can hit you when you least expect it but most need it. Certainly in this sense, Woodo is a precious and touching labour of love that hopes to pay it forward. From a purely mechanical perspective Woodo is not especially innovative and certainly not at all challenging, but it is enormously relaxing, weapons-grade adorable and potent enough in its role as a distraction from all of the awful spectrums of crap going on in the world, that it is precisely the sort of salve that I need at this time in my life. Maybe it will be the same for you too right now and if not, Woodo will assuredly, yet quietly, earn its place at some later point in your lifetime when you need it most, like a toy from a forgotten youth left in a cupboard that you rediscover years later.