Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 He knows exactly what his audience wants. A crunchy, blood-and-guts third-person shooter set in the dark, far-future city. War hammer universe, the game draws clear inspiration from Gears of war franchise by portraying the player – and more importantly, up to two friends – as an armour-wearing space marine, shooting, stomping, and slashing his way through hundreds of hostile aliens. In case that description wasn’t clear enough: this game is simply a game explosion.
4. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
(PlayStation 5)
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth It contains multitudes. The second installment in a planned trilogy Final Fantasy VII Remakes is an absolutely gigantic game, featuring a massive open world, a fantastic action-based battle system, and a roster of minigames and side quests that seem endless because they almost are. The strategy here was clearly ‘more is more’, and there is no doubt that this ultimately leads to ‘more of a good thing’. But he is also a great credit for this Final Fantasy VII A remake project that even after playing for dozens of hours, only to reach an ending so confusing that I’m not quite sure what that even means, I still can’t wait for the third installment.
3. Metaphor: rifantasio
(PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows)
A fantastic fantasy political thriller with real insights into both the fantasy genre and politics, Metaphor: rifantasio It took home the award for Best Narrative at the 2024 Game Awards, and rightly so. When the assassination of a king leaves the fate of an entire kingdom in doubt, an underclass boy assembles a group of like-minded citizens to challenge a general who intends to exploit the power vacuum. metaphorIts battle system is cleverly designed to maximize the strategic maneuvering that makes RPGs interesting while minimizing the grinding that makes them boring, but it’s the dense, twisty story, and especially the unexpected fantasy flourishes, that will stick with you.
2. Silent Hill 2
(PlayStation 5, Windows)
There were many reasons to doubt A Silent Hill 2 remake. Konami has mismanaged the survival horror franchise for two whole decades. This time, they’ve handed the keys over to Polish developer Bloober Team, whose previous track record in horror games has been spotty at best. Somehow, the Bloober team rose to the occasion, and updated Silent Hill 2 Without sacrificing the original game’s eerie sense of place, the unsettling sequences of cruelty and violence, or the unusual psychological depth of its story, which culminates with one of the most memorable revelations in video game history. One hopes that Konami is ready to build on this unexpected success story further silent hill Games in this context, because it has been a long time since this misty city had a clear path forward.
1. Balatro
(PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows, Mac OS, iOS)
Reaching the era of ballooning video game budgets, Balatro It is the anti-AAA title. It was developed by one person. It features simple pixel graphics and has no story at all. How it plays is just poker with a roguelike twist: a series of pars, chosen by the player, that turns each round of play into a race for a high score by shifting the cards and their values to whatever suits your play style best. It couldn’t be simpler, it couldn’t be more addictive, and it’s now available on mobile, with free updates arriving at an impressive steady clip. This is the kind of game I recommend with a warning: be careful, or Balatro He could Completely Take control of your life.
This list, originally published on July 24, was updated on December 12.
