Even more evidence has emerged pointing towards the release of the long-rumored Grand Theft Auto trilogy remaster. @videotech_ on Twitter looked at the back end of the latest Rockstar Games Launcher update, and sure enough, they found slots for Grand Theft Auto III, San Andreas, and Vice City.
It seems the new Rockstar Launcher update from today has began preparing for the new remasters for the GTA Trilogy. pic.twitter.com/qgqu9aegdL
This comes less than a week after Korea's Game Rating and Administration Committee released a rating for Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition.
A Kotaku report from August of this year originally said that the three classic GTA games would head to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC, Stadia, and mobile devices. The games will apparently feature a mix of "new and old graphics." Rockstar has yet to officially address the rumors of the trilogy.
The rumored GTA trilogy isn't the only remaster in the works for the series. Grand Theft Auto 5 is coming to next-gen consoles, but it was recently delayed to 2022. The remaster has received a lot of backlash from fans on the internet ready to move on from GTA V.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is out today, and there's hope that it might be a big hit in the competitive fighting game community. It's impossible to look at gameplay of the newest platform fighter starring the likes of SpongeBob, Nigel Thornberry, CatDog, and other Nicktoon stars without drawing deep parallels to Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. series.
The Melee community is still highly active today, bringing CRT televisions to tournaments and playing Melee online through modified versions of the game. Despite Nintendo's tendency to shut down select Smash-related community events, the Melee fanbase has endured due to a deep love of the game.
But in addition to their long-term love affair with Melee, many players in the Smash community are hyped at the idea of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl: a new fighting game with competitive ambition, rollback netcode, and no Nintendo involvement. IGN spoke to multiple Smash pros about their excitement for this new fighter ahead of its release.
Another Platform Fighter Joins the Fray
Toph — the player, not the character — started competing in the Melee scene over a decade ago. Besides competing, he's also known for commentating, streaming, and podcasting about competitive Smash. He says he's excited for Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl because it's exploring a type of game that still has a lot of room to grow.
"It feels like a new genre," Toph says. "There aren't really that many big platform fighters that people have mastered. I think it's cool to see another one."
Platform fighters differ from traditional fighters in that the goal is to knock the opponent off the stage, rather than deplete all of their health. Apart from Smash Bros., the most well-known platform fighters are Brawlhalla and Rivals of Aether, two indie hits that haven't quite managed to break through to the mainstream. Toph thinks this game's inclusion of recognizable characters could help it go a long way.
"I think a lot of people care more about that stuff than they like to admit. People are excited about SpongeBob and Patrick, the Ninja Turtles, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. People love those franchises," he says.
In a video on our IGN Compete channel, Smash God Mango echoed the excitement within the community.
"I've only seen positives from everyone in the Melee community, and even in the Ultimate community," Mango said. "We all grew up with Nick, so it's just so many things we like clashing, we're all out of this world excited."
Will Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl Be Competitively Viable?
Of course, these comments are just pre-release hype. It remains to be seen how pro Smash players will react upon touching the game for the first time, but there are signs that Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl will be a hit with Smash fans.
Ludosity is the developer of All-Star Brawl. The studio previously worked on Slap City, another platform fighter inspired by Smash Bros. The Smash community latched onto Slap City, and Zain, one of the best Melee players on the power rankings right now, says the developer choice has people intrigued.
"When I heard that the creators of this game made Slap City, I was like, 'oh this is gonna be legit,' because I know a lot of my peers in Melee really loved their experience with Slap City as a competitive outlet," Zain says. "Listening to the developers talking about it, it's obvious they've played Smash at a competitive level and have an understanding of it. I'm really curious to see what kind of things are shared with Melee and other Smash games, as well as the unique things it will be offering."
As far as changes go, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is introducing a handful of new mechanics to the genre. Players can grab and throw their opponents in mid-air, they can turn around while in the air, and there's a rock-paper-scissors setup with up attacks, mid attacks, and down attacks that can shift the flow of a battle. There's no limit to how long you can shield, either. Of all these changes, grabbing is the one getting the most attention.
"Grabbing is crazy in this game," Toph says. "I hope grabbing isn't too strong."
Zain also thinks grabbing has the potential to be a big game-changer.
"I think a lot of people are frightened by the prospect of what you can do [with grabs]. Are you gonna be able to just chain your opponent in the air and combo it? It's exciting for me because it's completely different," Zain says. "It's hard to say without actually playing the game, I'm open for that kind of change."
And, of course, wavedashing makes its grand return. For those unaware, wavedashing is a movement technique in Smash Bros. Melee performed by air dodging diagonally into the ground. To the naked eye, it looks like a wavedashing character is sliding around the stage at a high speed. The technique was removed from Smash sequels after Melee. After wavedashing was shown in one of Nick All-Star Brawl's gameplay showcases, the Smash community caught wind of a viral tweet, and went nuts.
HugS, a Samus main who has been active in the Melee community for well over a decade, agrees that the game could be a hit in the competitive community.
"The team behind it is great and they're giving the characters vast movement options," HugS said. "It's tough to know how it'll play out now, but the fact that you'll have so much agency over how you play your character seems promising."
Solid gameplay isn't the only thing Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl needs to catch on. When we asked what else would be important for the game's success, online play was the biggest answer.
"It's tough to know how it'll play out now, but the fact that you'll have so much agency over how you play your character seems promising
Online Play Is the Key
Melee launched on the GameCube 20 years ago, a console lacking any online play. But since then, Melee players have taken things into their own hands. Project Slippi is an in-progress tool that allows Melee players to compete online with rollback netcode. Rollback netcode is key to smooth online matches, especially in fighting games where every frame counts.
Rollback netcode and online play have become even more important in the last 18 months, as in-person fighting game events have been basically nonexistent due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Zain says Project Slippi and its rollback netcode helped keep the scene alive.
"With Project Slippi and rollback netcode, it really did save the scene. We had a bunch of tournaments that were really competitively viable," Zain said. "It's crazy to see the longevity of Melee, and how strong it is to survive a literal pandemic."
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl will feature rollback netcode, a feature that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on Switch lacks.
..apparently the Nickelodeon fighting game HAS rollback netcode "on supported platforms" according to a dev on the Discord
Toph says a smooth online experience could help this game to catch on.
"Removing those barriers of friction of being able to get into a game, and being able to feel like you're playing a good game, it's gonna matter to people even more than they realize," Toph says. "I think a lot of people accustomed to Smash Ultimate's netplay experience aren't going to be able to put this game down, if it really is the rollback netcode that they've kind of advertised. It matters a lot."
Now, the prospect of a competent platform fighter without Nintendo's involvement is sure to have some members of the Melee community contemplating jumping ship to Nick All-Star Brawl. Plus, Ludosity's apparent goal is to foster a competitive community makes the new game even more enticing.
"I think the competitive Smash community has felt at times pretty burned by Nintendo and their willingness to talk about competitive features," Toph says. "It seems like the developers of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl are very warmly receptive to that sort of thing."
HugS, who has been very vocal pushing back against some of Nintendo's business decisions related to Smash, says the combination of recognizable characters and the community's frustration with Nintendo could "make this the perfect storm for people to prioritize a game that might actually rival Smash in the platform fighting genre." He says the main problem is the apparent lack of voice acting in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl.
However, Toph also says Smash players are so invested in their craft that there's nothing Nintendo could do to drive them away permanently. While some players who feel burned may end up moving on, the players we spoke with agree that Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl won't have a negative impact on Smash's competitive popularity.
"We love Smash. We love the game. Whether you're a Melee player or an Ultimate player, they're just great, great competitive games," Toph says. "We might not agree with some of the decisions Nintendo makes, but we see the games they put out and their business decisions as different entities. I think it's possible to love Nintendo games without necessarily agreeing with their competitive philosophy."
So, it seems there is room for Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl to fit alongside Melee and Ultimate in Smash-lovers' hearts.
"I do think a lot of Melee players will support the Nickelodeon game by competing in it and streaming it, alongside Melee," Zain says.
Overall, the players we spoke to are feeling good about Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, and it won't be long until we start to see how the scene will shake out.
"When something like Nick All-Stars comes out, where it looks awesome gameplay-wise, it has awesome characters, and it has better online than Nintendo's ever given to its games, as well as actual developer support into the competitive scene, it's obviously just a no-brainer to funnel support into there," Zain says. "I've never had this intention with anything but Melee, but I want to become the best in the world at it, even if it's just for a little bit."
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is out now on Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Logan Plant is a freelancer writer at IGN
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But what is House of the Dragon, and how does it tie into the events of Game of Thrones? Read on for everything you need to know about the time period and what characters and events we're likely to see form the backbone of the new series. Here are the topics we cover here:
House of the Dragon on HBO: The Time Period
What Is Fire & Blood?
House of the Dragon: The Cast and Characters
The Doom of Valyria Explained
House of the Dragon on HBO: The Time Period
House of the Dragon is expected to be set roughly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. That's a pretty significant jump back in time, though not nearly as huge as what we would have gotten from the now-canceled Age of Heroes prequel. That series was set some 5,000 years in the past and likely would have explored the first war between humanity and the White Walkers.
Instead, House of the Dragon is set in the era of another formative event in Westerosi history – Aegon's Conquest. That was the destructive war where Aegon Targaryen (later dubbed "Aegon the Conquerer") waged war on the Seven Kingdoms and ushered in the reign of House Targaryen. That conflict is so significant that recorded history in Westeros is divided into BC (Before the Conquest) and AC (After the Conquest).
However, we may not actually see Aegon's Conquest in the series. The Targaryens ruled the Seven Kingdoms for nearly three centuries before finally being overthrown during Robert's Rebellion in 282 AC. House of the Dragon is specifically set in between the birth and death of House Targaryen.
The series will focus on the beginning of the end of the Targaryens' reign and the bloody civil war known as "The Dance of the Dragons." There, Aegon II battled his sister Rhaenyra for the right to rule and both would-be monarchs wound up dying in the ensuing civil war. That conflict is especially poignant because it marks the beginning of the disappearance of dragons from the known world, a sign of the larger doom to come for House Targaryen.
Basically, expect a firsthand view of what it's like living in the Seven Kingdoms while a Targaryen sits on the Iron Throne. As Ser Barristan Selmy put it in A Game of Thrones, "King Jaehaerys once told me that madness and greatness are two sides of the same coin. Every time a new Targaryen is born, he said, the gods toss the coin in the air and the world holds its breath to see how it will land."
House of the Dragon is expected to be set roughly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones.
What Is Fire & Blood?
A Song of Ice & Fire creator George R.R. Martin has spent years fleshing out the historical background of Westeros in various side-stories and guide books. The most significant of these is an illustrated companion book called The World of Ice & Fire. Originally, Martin had planned to include a detailed summary of House Targaryen's tumultuous history. But after that summary grew in the telling and evolved into a lengthy manuscript, Martin opted to publish it as a separate pair of novels.
The first of those, Fire & Blood, was published in November 2018. The book gets its name from the slogan of House Targaryen. It chronicles the Targaryen family history over the course of seven generations of rulers, from Aegon I through his descendant Aegon III. Presumably, the second, untitled book will continue chronicling the fall of House Targaryen culminating in the doomed reign of the Mad King Aerys II. However, Martin has said that book is still several years away from publication (a phrase that should be all too familiar to Game of Thrones fans by this point).
We're not anticipating House of the Dragon to be a straightforward adaptation of Fire & Blood, hence the name change. The book is often criticized for taking a more dry, historical approach to chronicling key events in Westerosi history, inviting comparisons to J.R.R. Tolkien's posthumous Lord of the Rings prequel The Silmarillion. House of the Dragon will likely use Fire & Blood as a backbone to tell a more narrative-driven story in the era before Game of Thrones.
House of the Dragon: The Cast and Characters
While the series remains shrouded in mystery leading up to its 2022 debut, we know House of the Dragon draws from Fire & Blood and is produced by Martin, Vince Gerardis, Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik. Martin and Condal are also serving as co-showrunners, while Sapochnik (who directed acclaimed Game of Thrones episodes like "Battle of the Bastards") is directing the pilot.
Unsurprisingly, the show's cast is heavy on members of the Targaryen family. The series stars Paddy Considine as the benevolent King Viserys I Targaryen, Emma D'Arcy as his firstborn daughter (and doomed would-be monarch), Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and Matt Smith as Viserys' brother Prince Daemon Targaryen. But much like Game of Thrones, expect the series to showcase a massive ensemble cast of characters from all walks of life. House of the Dragon also stars Olivia Cooke as Rhaenyra's political rival Alicent Hightower, Rhys Ifans as Viserys' Hand of the King and Alicent's father, Otto Hightower, Steve Toussaint as wealthy adventurer Lord Corlys Velaryon, Fabien Frankel as the penniless but extremely gifted swordsman Ser Criston Cole and Graham McTavish as Kingsguard member Ser Harrold Westerling.
Notably, that cast lineup doesn't yet include Aegon II. However, we expect he'll be added to the series at some point as the show delves deeper into the fall of House Targaryen.
One intriguing possibility is that House of the Dragon might give viewers more insight into the mysterious city of Valyria. This ancestral home of House Targaryen was once among the greatest powers in Essos (the continent to the west of Westeros). The Targaryens were among numerous wealthy, dragon-riding families living in this technologically advanced wonderland. However, the Targaryens fled the city a century before Aegon's Conquest, avoiding the mysterious cataclysm that left Valyria an empty ruin.
In Game of Thrones, the only other surviving relics of Valyria besides Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons are the handful of Valyrian steel weapons owned by powerful lords. We learn the technology to forge those weapons was lost with the city itself. While House of the Dragon will take place well after the destruction of Valyria, it's always possible we'll see flashbacks to the city's golden age and learn more about the events that led to its demise. It would certainly be one way to set House of the Dragon apart from Game of Thrones.
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Ubisoft has announced Ghost Recon Frontline, a PvP first-person shooter that will be free-to-play. With support for over 100 players, it's an objective-focused spin on the incredibly popular battle royale genre. Public play testing will begin this month, but a full release date has yet to be announced.
Ghost Recon Frontline’s flagship mode is Expedition, in which 102 players are divided up into teams of three to battle for victory on an island map. To win, a team must find and claim three pieces of intel, which will allow them to then head to a designated drop zone and extract from the map. When the extraction helicopter is called, though, other players are alerted and have the chance to attack and steal that team’s extraction in order to claim victory for themselves. It’s an objective design that sounds like a blend of Ubisoft’s own Dark Zone from The Division, and Crytek’s Hunt: Showdown. Ubisoft also notes that there are other tactics that can be used to win.
Aside from rejecting the last-team-standing approach to battle royale, Ghost Recon Frontline also ignores the idea of a shrinking circle. You’ll have access to the entirety of its 16 square-kilometre map for the full duration of a match. That map is divided into four different biomes and hosts 20 different landmarks.
A character class system will allow you to tailor your tactical approach. Three have been revealed so far; the Scout is designed for long-range encounters and tracking enemies, the Assault class is best suited to close-range fighting, and the Support can set up defences such as turrets. Each class has a special active ability, two gadgets, and three passive skills. These classes are attached to customisable ‘Contractor’ characters; you will start with two, and more can be recruited as you progress. This allows you to create a pool of Contractors that can be tailored for specific tactical approaches. Interestingly, you can change what Contractor you are playing as during the events of a match, so you’re not permanently locked into a specific class and playstyle.
Another new idea Frontline boasts is “TAC Support”, which allows teams to call in airdrops of supplies, paid for using funds earned through completing objectives. This includes basic things like new weapons, but also items designed to reshape the battlefield, such as bulletproof barriers and even an entire sniper tower.
Developer Ubisoft Bucharest has been working on Ghost Recon Frontline for three years, and aims for the game to be a multiplayer suite with multiple modes. The first alternate game type to be announced is Control, a 9v9 mode in which teams fight for domination over an area. While this is a smaller, arena shooter-style mode, all the tactical tools and Contractors from the main Expedition mode will be available to use. New modes are planned to be introduced each season.
A full launch date for Ghost Recon Frontline has yet to be announced as the game is still considered in "early development", but a closed test on PC for European players will run from October 14 – 21. Registration of interest for participating in the test is live now. Ubisoft states that this will be the “first” test, and that tests on other platforms will be announced in later phases. Ghost Recon Frontline is listed to eventually release on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia.
Despite this year’s many game delays — God of War Ragnarok, Hogwarts Legacy, Horizon Forbidden West, Gotham Knights, and many others were pushed into next year — 2021 has thus far been a great year for video games. The first full year of the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S era has brought us nearly 60 games (so far) that IGN awarded a review score of 8 or higher.
As we enter the final quarter of the year, we've compiled a list of every such game — new, standalone releases (no DLC) that received an 8 ("Great”), 9 (“Amazing”), or 10 (“Masterpiece'') from IGN. Click through the gallery below or continue scrolling for our full list of 2021's 58 best games, ordered from lowest score to highest.
Note: This list will be updated through the end of the year if/when a new game receives a qualifying review score.
From our review: The Artful Escape is a truly joyful musical journey through outer space in which the performances of its cast and the quality of its soundtrack are every bit as stellar as the eye-popping celestial realms it crisscrosses through. It’s not for those who’re after a traditional platforming game challenge, and if listening to indulgent ‘80s-style guitar solos doesn’t appeal to you then Francis’ nonstop noodling may well get on your nerves. But if you’re up for an infectious mix of goofy good humour and brazen guitar worship, then there hasn’t been a musical adventure as excellent as The Artful Escape since Bill met Ted. – Tristan Ogilvie
From our review: Blue Fire provides an impeccable platforming experience with the just right balance of abilities to master and challenges to test you, making its bleak and corrupted world a joy to explore. Its Zelda-like dungeon experiences may end a bit too soon before it begins relying on overly familiar backtracking, but it doesn’t dull the fun of dashing around obstacles and fighting enemies alike. And even when the pacing of its main path falters slightly, the irresistible lure of its inventive challenge rooms kept me coming back for more. – Brendan Graeber
From our review: Boomerang X is a wonderful twist on a single-player arena shooter with excellent environmental story-telling, an interesting weapon, and a buttery smooth combat system. Even though it's completely linear, it still has the strongest Metroid Prime vibes I've felt from a game in ages, and I loved battling through each area as I moved deeper into its mysterious island. I just wish it were longer, because I was having such a great time playing it. – Seth Macy
From our review: Bravely Default 2 is a long, familiar journey with excellent customizable combat and jobs systems that let you make your party and your playthrough truly your own. Its character and enemy art that was excellent on the 3DS doesn't translate all that well to the higher resolution of the Nintendo Switch, but the beautiful backdrops and environments get a massive boost from and look fantastic. And while the grind is real and repetitive fetch quests abound, it's so easy to pick up and put back down that it feels like less of a grind and more of a constructive way to kill some time. With plenty of old-school sensibilities and tons of improvements on the formula, Bravely Default 2 is almost everything I crave from a JRPG outside of a grand story. – Seth Macy
From our review: Cyber Shadow is a wonderful merging of old-school aesthetic and modern design sensibilities, much like Shovel Knight was back in 2014. Sure, its story is forgettable and some of its checkpoint placements are far enough apart to make me hesitant to apply a “tough but fair” label without caveats, but the way it evolves and changes over the course of its seven to eight hour campaign thanks to excellent level, enemy, and progression design is exemplary. Combine that with what’s an early contender for best soundtrack of 2021, and it’s easy to see Cyber Shadow as the start of something great for both Mechanical Head Studios and Yacht Club Games. – Mitchell Saltzman
From our review: Though it wears its overly obvious influences on its sleeve, Eldest Souls is an incredibly satisfying boss rush that still manages to set itself apart. Its brilliant combat is complimented by a smart skill system and some incredible pixel art. Designed with replayability in mind, it’s a little bit of a bummer that its impressive customization doesn’t really blossom until partway into your first playthrough. But one thing that’s there from the start is that feeling of immense glory after every hard-earned victory: Ceremoniously slumping onto the living room floor, clutching the carpet for dear life with one hand while exhaustedly flipping off the television with the other. – Joseph Knoop
From our review: F1 2021 is the best-looking and most customisable instalment of the long-running Codemasters series to date, and the ability to tinker under the hood of the core career experience and play co-op with a friend is very welcome. With the addition of Braking Point it’s also arguably the boldest F1 game so far. The characterisation is a little underdone and the E for Everyone approach means it’s quite an airbrushed take on the F1 world compared to Netflix’s tense and profanity-laden Drive to Survive, but injecting a story mode into the F1 series was a risk well worth taking and I’m certainly looking forward to more of it. – Luke Reilly
From our review: I don't think I've ever enjoyed learning as much as I did during my time with Game Builder Garage. Game Builder Garage is a powerful game design tool overflowing with charm and personality. Anyone with a little patience and desire to learn can start creating games with its robust system of Nodons. No coding knowledge is required, but you'll learn concepts like evaluations and conditional statements without even realizing it. I do wish it allowed you to look under the hood and see the actual code, but not being able to see all those lines of boring text don't detract at all from the fun of making games. The tremendous variety of Nodons available make it possible to pull off some really complex stuff and I'm really looking forward to seeing what creations the Game Builder Garage community cooks up. – Seth Macy
From our review: Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection is an old-school action platformer that’s not too cruel to compromise, allowing you to fine tune its challenge level relative to your individual skill and tolerance for pain. Its seven-level story mode may be slightly short, but it packs in plenty of variety and unique challenges to navigate, and bolsters its replay value with the addition of the alternate Shadow levels that unlock after your first playthrough. If Capcom had added further flexibility to Arthur’s movement and attacks – and maybe had some fun with the story – this would have been a truly sensational second coming, but regardless Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection is still a supremely spirited comeback. – Tristan Ogilvie
From our review: I Expect You To Die 2 is a clever, surprising, and fun escape room-style puzzle game that’s certainly worth exploring. You’ll need to stomach a lot of restarts to see it through to the end, but its best interactive moments and its focus on comfort and ease of access make doing so worth dying over and over again for. Regardless, once I’d unraveled everything there was to see across the three-hour campaign, I was left without much to do except hope that an actual spy came along and flashed my memory, Men In Black-style, so I could play the whole thing again with fresh eyes. – Gabriel Moss
From our review: Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a wonderful first game from Ember Lab, combining its outstanding pedigree in art and animation with some really solid combat, fantastic world design, and a great balance of action, platforming, puzzle solving, and exploration. The result is an open-world action-adventure that harkens back to the days of the N64/Gamecube-era Zeldas, Okami, and Star Fox Adventures, while also adding some modern sensibilities and a distinct personal touch. It is elegant in its simplicity, though sometimes that simplicity left me wanting more options to vary up my combat approaches, and I never got to know Kena herself as well as I wanted to. Even so, outstanding enemy variety and intense, memorable boss battles more than carry it through its nine-hour adventure. – Mitchell Saltzman
From our review: Skyward Sword remains as charming as ever, even if it’s also still dominated by clunky controls and odd gimmicks that are exactly as weird as you remember them. The characters and story have aged like fine wine, the quality of life improvements help alleviate some of the Wii-era wonkiness, and the improved graphics and performance make this version look and play better than ever. Unsolved control issues aside, this airborne adventure is everything you might expect it to be, for better or worse, and playing through it again had me grinning ear-to-ear the whole way through. – Travis Northup
From our review: Shockingly creative in its fantasy fiction setup and addictive in its largely automated gameplay, Loop Hero is something new and interesting in the realm of RPGs and it does not disappoint. It stops short of being revolutionary though, and its reliance on a tired grind and dull stats is weak in comparison to roguelikes that emphasize trying unique new builds over optimizing existing combos. That gives it a shorter lifespan than many of its contemporaries – but there’s nothing quite like it. – Jon Bolding
From our review: This sprawling action adventure has way more meat on its bones than you may first expect if you’re only looking for a quick dive into a Tim Burton-esque wonderland. Lost in Random is loaded with tons of side quests, interesting lore, and a decent semi-real-time, semi-turn-based combat system that ends up getting bogged down by dumb enemy AI. Beyond that, the five worlds that follow the relatively drab intro section each offer their own unique quirks, struggles, and characters that won’t be forgotten any time soon. – Gabriel Moss
From our review: The Legendary Edition’s version of the original Mass Effect updates the first game of BioWare’s amazing sci-fi RPG trilogy enough that a modern audience can play through it and enjoy its spectacular story and characters without being asked to suffer much for the privilege. Combat and driving sections are still lackluster, but a universe this dense with rich lore and consequential decisions is a pleasure to come back to and to welcome newcomers into. After replaying, I’m surprised at how much I’m looking forward to diving into the next two games – stay tuned for those reviews. – Dan Stapleton
From our review: The Medium uses a unique reality-shifting ability to bring a new dimension to some tried-and-tested genre puzzle-solving mechanics. It presents an intriguing mystery to unravel and adds a tangible sense of urgency to your investigations by placing a truly memorable villain hot on your heels. It isn’t able to play with perspective as effectively as some of Bloober Team’s other work, but it’s brilliantly paced and palpably tense. An absorbing and nerve-racking journey from the shriek of its first jump scare to its very last gasp, The Medium delivers a psychological horror adventure that’s all thriller and no filler. – Tristan Ogilvie
From our review: MLB The Show 21 does a great job of opening its pristine baseball simulator to a brand-new group of players as it arrives on Xbox for the first time. Much like MLB The Show 20 before it, it still plays a bit too safe in most instances, only offering marginal gains over its predecessor with things like menu organization and improved customization. Nearly everything is visually nearly identical. Meanwhile, it kneecaps one of the series’ key continuity features by cutting off save transfers from previous games. That’s a puzzling decision, but it’s hard to believe it’d be a deal-breaker for long-time fans in the face of additions like the flexible new Stadium Creator, cross-platform multiplayer, and awesome DualSense support. MLB The Show 21 might not be an all-star but it’s still far and away the best baseball game you can pick up and play on any platform. – Gabriel Moss
From our review: Monster Hunter Rise mixes classic Monster Hunter ideas with some of World’s best improvements and a whole bunch of clever new mechanics of its own. Not all of them are slam dunks, but they are all fun – and the introduction of Wirebugs and the mobility they bring to every fight is so great I never want to give them up. The post-launch updates Capcom is already teasing can’t come soon enough, but Monster Hunter Rise is still a thrilling step forward in the series’ evolution toward the new normal World so boldly introduced. – Tom Marks
From our review: Minor oversights and frustrations certainly wore away at me over the 80+ hours I spent with Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin — during its campaign and beyond — but the journey was well worth taking despite the frequent grains of sand in my shoe. Its mercifully free, gacha-like monster hatching loop is always exciting, and its combat and customization are both accessible but still intricate and rewarding. Its story is enjoyable if a bit cliche, but exploring this gorgeous world from the backs of my favorite monsters is an absolute delight. – Casey DeFreitas
From our review: While the idea of another battle royale was an initially tiresome thought, Naraka: Bladepoint ended up being the refreshing take on the genre that I've craved for years now. Mastering the intricacies of its combat and movement systems will keep me happily busy for weeks and months to come. Yeah, boring bot matches and finicky servers can drag it down at times, but both are already becoming little more than a fleeting memory. If you fancy a challenging battle royale free of build wars and machine guns, Naraka: Bladepoint provides a genuinely clever spin on the genre’s familiar formula. – Kyle Campbell
From our review: After a 22-year gap, New Pokémon Snap is a successful modern reinvention of all the best ideas of Pokémon Snap, with more courses, more Pokémon, and more reasons to revisit familiar spots in pursuit of the perfect shot. Some of its supportive systems, like its photo scoring and tutorials, can drag down momentum or even frustrate at times. But at the end of the day, some artificial grade is utterly secondary to the clever environmental storytelling you’ll experience as you level up courses, the fun of discovering surprising photo opps, and the sheer joy of observing a moving ecosystem of believable, personable, and lovable Pokémon. – Rebekah Valentine
From our review: As a “Version Up” of the original Nier, Replicant Ver. 1.22 does a respectable job of updating the graphics and combat of the 2010 cult classic to a more modern standard by dramatically improving its environments, animations, and performance, while also going the extra mile and adding excellent voice acting to every single character in its world. It definitely shows its age in its combat and quest design, however, and while the improvements to combat certainly help smooth things out it still suffers from repetitive enemies, mundane sidequests, and a lack of evolution over the course of the 35 to 40-hour adventure you’ll need to complete to see all the endings. Just push through it and get to what’s truly excellent about Nier Replicant: its story and characters, both of which are still among the strongest I’ve seen in the genre. – Mitchell Saltzman
From our review: Old World can be vexing at first given how much more there is to manage on top of the usual 4X concerns we’ve gotten used to in the past decade or so, and the UI can feel cluttered as you're trying to piece it all together. But crucially, none of that added complexity comes without added rewards. The richness and human element that mortal characters and noble families bring is well worth coming to grips with all of the extra mechanics they introduce. Limiting your ability to give orders not only cuts down on long turn times in the late game, but opens up new strategies for playing tall or making the most of a less than great start position. It’s a fine balancing act, and while Old World doesn’t really become a "Civ killer," I don't think it's trying to be. For those who have the patience to master it, it's a satisfying and deep 4X that could generate interesting stories for ages to come. – Leana Hafer
From our review: Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous has to live up to the expectations of being a Pathfinder adaptation, a sequel to the fascinating if messy Kingmaker, and the next big ambitious isometric RPG. Perhaps shockingly, it succeeds at meeting those expectations, thanks largely to taking the step of implementing a turn-based mode from the beginning. It may take as long as organizing a tabletop campaign to actually finish, but the journey's still worthwhile. – Rowan Kaiser
From our review: Persona 5 Strikers' main story is every bit the direct sequel to Persona 5 that it seems, making this summer road trip with the Phantom Thieves essential for fans of the original (and probably pretty confusing for anybody who hasn't played it). Its lack of Persona’s signature social and calendar systems are the only places its spin-off status becomes a bit of a letdown, but even replacing turn-based combat with real-time action doesn’t stop it from recapturing the feel of its predecessor overall. Its structure is far closer to action-JRPGs like Kingdom Hearts than the musou’s Omega Force is best known for, but the varied playstyles of each character and the story that pulls them along made the fairly simple act of hacking through shadows enjoyable to the very last surprise. – Tom Marks
From our review: Psychonauts 2’s weird and wonderfully written story is full of interesting, nuanced characters that I instantly fell in love with. Most of its fresh ideas go a long way toward elevating the Psychonauts formula into the modern era, though its enticing new equippable pin system can be a little too stingy. Double Fine has also done a great job of expanding this universe toward both grander and more intimate threats without losing the joyous childhood adventure vibes of the original. It may bring a bit of that mid-2000s action-platformer clunkiness along with it, but Psychonauts 2 is still just about everything I could have hoped for from a sequel to one of my favorite games. – Tom Marks
From our review: Roaming the streets of Resident Evil Village is like visiting a disturbing and deadly Disneyland, where every attraction is a house of horrors. I got just as big a thrill out of revelling in its frenzied violence as I did retracing my steps through the gradually revealed recesses of its sizable village setting to uncover the darkest story secrets of its monstrous main cast. Boss fights are a bit of a letdown but the great variety of enemies throughout keeps things tense, especially on Hardcore mode. The fact that it's very much a throwback to the fast-paced action of Resident Evil 4 also means it largely takes a step back from the slow-burn scares of Resident Evil 7's excellent opening hours, which may well disappoint those who prefer more psychological dread to blowing off heads. But if you have an itch for action-heavy survival-horror, then Resident Evil Village will scratch it like a fistfull of Lady Dimitrescu’s freakish fingernails. – Tristan Ogilvie
From our review: The moment-to-moment gameplay of Returnal is sublime, with a great selection of weapons that each have a wide variety of interesting possible traits, meaningful strategic decisions that can either keep a run afloat or doom it to sink, and punishingly challenging yet rewarding gunplay that is consistently exhilarating. Even with all of this focus on action, it never drops the ball on the story. Its big issue is that runs last way too long, and there’s no way to save progress outside of putting the PS5 in rest mode. That saps the desire to immediately return and try again after a failure, though not enough to grind it to a halt. Even so, Returnal is an incredible roguelike, and one of Housemarque’s best games to date. – Mitchell Saltzman
From our review: Road 96 is a fascinating and frequently tense adventure, one full of oddball characters and offbeat diversions that made each trek I took feel unique and totally worthwhile. A few graphical and interface shortcomings and the occasional disconnect between story sequences provide some unwanted distractions, but I found them easy to ignore in favour of the many entertaining surprises I enjoyed along the way – a bit like turning up my favourite radio station in order to drown out the bickering of kids in the backseat. – Tristan Ogilvie
From our review: It’s understandable to take a look at Scarlet Nexus and write it off as “just another anime game,” but doing so would be a big mistake. This is an ambitious undertaking from Bandai Namco, one that attempts to blend the two disparate genres of character-action game and large-scale JRPG, and achieves an impressive level of success. Its combat and thin enemy variety don’t hold up all the way to the end of the combined 40 hours of its dual campaigns, but its story and characters absolutely do, and make for a surprise breakout hit of 2021. – Mitchell Saltzman
From our review: Skul: The Hero Slayer is an original take on a well-established genre, using its novel head-swapping mechanic to put a plethora of unique playable characters front and center. Though both its story and boss variety leave something to be desired, the quirky characters and satisfying, fast-paced combat had me eager to bone up on my skeletal skills even after the credits rolled. – Travis Northup
From our review: As a remaster, Sonic Colors: Ultimate throws in a decent amount of new stuff, but nothing beyond the frame rate and resolution bump really add up to anything that elevates the experience beyond what it was on the Wii. That said, it was already great in 2010, and still holds up as one of the best modern Sonic games to date thanks to its imaginative level designs, a laser focus on the things that make the series fun, and the addition of power granting Wisps that add a ton of variety to each level without compromising the speed that should define a Sonic game. – Mitchell Saltzman
From our review: TOEM is a short, satisfying little photography adventure packed with witty writing, goofy yet grounded characters, and a wealth of interesting, picturesque moments to capture. Though simple to complete, its diorama-like maps, cartoon style, and pleasing music and sounds make it an inviting world to stay in long enough to uncover all its secrets. Unpretentious and clever, TOEM encourages its audience to elevate the most seemingly mundane encounters through the scrupulosity of a camera lens, splashing its world with enough myth, humor, and joy to turn every moment into a photographable phenomenon as intriguing as the one in its title. – Rebekah Valentine
From our review: It’s difficult to convey my enthusiasm for Twelve Minutes’ time-loop mystery without discussing what happens at the end, but like Inside, I’d be doing you a grave disservice by giving anything away. What I can say is that the payoff is worth it, and the clever way in which writer-director Luis Antonio flips the traditional point-and-click adventure on its head makes for a compelling bit of unconventional storytelling that could only have worked as a game. Throw in great performances from three respected actors and the result is a memorable crime worth solving. – Ryan McCaffrey
From our review: Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector beats the pants off of other recent 40K tactical games, making a run at skirmish wargame greatness. While it's limited in places and the interface can struggle, the tactical combat is well worth the time it takes to learn and the Momentum system rewards your strategic prowess with more capacity to dish out pain. From the diverse campaign missions to the straightforward skirmishes, I not only recommend Battlesector, but hope that it does well enough to warrant the addition of many new factions in DLC and expansions. – Jon Bolding
From our review: WRC 10 is a great rally game and a lovely, if a fraction flawed, ode to the… 49-year history of the World Rally Championship. The end result isn’t streets ahead of the already impressive WRC 9 – and it’s still making some of the latter’s minor mistakes – but WRC 10 is another successful example of KT Racing’s commitment to fantastic stage design and frantic, fast-paced, and occasionally unforgiving fun. – Luke Reilly
From our review: The more I played Ys IX, the deeper I fell for it. It looks, plays, and sounds similar to Ys VIII, but its emphasis on story and new movement abilities like grappling, gliding, and wall-running gives it a flavor of its own. Better still, action RPG fans who've long been "Ys-curious" can jump into Ys IX without fear of missing out on the ongoing story. The Court of the Crimson King welcomes all adventurers, new and old. – Nadia Oxford
From our review: Chicory: A Colorful Tale is a pristine little adventure with fun puzzles and smart, cute writing, all overlaid with an extremely clever and surprisingly rich paint mechanic that replaces the need for combat and enhances a genre I was already familiar with. Its characters are pleasant and fun to spend time with, and its world has the exact right amount of secrets, art features, and collectibles to appease those who want to explore for longer without overwhelming. All that on its own would be enough to recommend it, but the story that colors its play is disarmingly real, difficult, and heartfelt. Its world, writing, and gameplay work seamlessly together to challenge Chicory's audience not on grandiose hypotheticals, but in smaller, more personal feelings that may hit painfully, beautifully close to home. – Rebekah Valentine
From our review: I am having a ton of fun with Chivalry 2. The maps, outside of a few balance issues, are a total blast – everything from the shining armor to the soaring castle walls looks great and there are a huge range of objectives to keep things interesting. Whether I'm swinging a sword or plucking away with a bow, combat hits that elusive sweet spot between accessible dumb fun and rewarding, skill-based mechanics where the wheat is separated from the chaff. When you respawn and everyone around you is spamming the battle cry button as you rush headlong into certain death, you just know you're in for a rockin' time. I don't think I'll be putting away this sweaty coat of mail for a good while. – Leana Hafer
From our review: Even without the curses themselves, Curse of the Dead Gods would be a standout roguelite with excellent combat, a smart structure that eases you into its difficulty, and a great variety of enemies, traps, and bosses across its three distinct temples. That strong foundation is only made better by the fun randomization curses bring to each run, on top of the added strategic element that comes with having to balance the need to gear up quickly with the fear of taking on more corruption than you can handle. Its between-run progression systems didn’t do much to hook me compared to the simple drive to best its hardest challenges, but even without that carrot on a stick, Curse of the Dead Gods is a blessing in disguise. – Mitchell Saltzman
From our review: Death’s Door is a must for those looking to scratch the itch of a classic Zelda dungeon-delving game, with the added bonus of impeccable combat against waves of foes in a creepy world. Secrets are plentiful enough to offset the low variety of rewards, and the cohesion of puzzle-solving and combat encounters worked terrifically to challenge me in all the right ways. While I wish the adventure didn’t end so soon, as a reaper of souls I should know: nothing lasts forever. – Brendan Graeber
From our review: The Forgotten City is an incredibly unique and self-aware adventure game that does a fabulous job of exploring complex ideas stemming from a basic question: “what is objectively good?” If you’re expecting a full-blown action RPG that spans dozens of hours, this 10-hour jaunt and its fairly simple combat may only whet your appetite, but it still sports an impressive ensemble cast of likeable but flawed characters who each have something interesting to say. And without spoiling anything, there are moments where the writing is so good it’s practically leaping out of your screen, standing up there with some of the best moments in any RPG. – Gabriel Moss
From our review: This ingenious blend of RPG mechanics, visual novel-style storytelling, and deck-building roguelike gameplay is a beautiful recipe for a kind of game I never knew I wanted. Even though I’ve already spent the past week getting through each of Griftlands’ campaigns multiple times, I’m still looking forward to my next run – and the run after that. Campaigns are short and challenging, making them highly replayable and memorable adventures that reward your time. It’s kinda absurd that such an eclectic group of mechanics work together in such harmony, but once you’re bitten by their charms it’s quite hard to put Griftlands down. – Travis Northup
From our review: Grime is an exceptional Souls-inspired take on the 2D Metroidvania. An intricate, stone-carved world full of mysteries provides a sure-footed foundation for deep, finely-balanced combat and breathless, devious platforming. Best of all, it's a Souls-like that forgoes punishment in favour of encouragement, happy to lend a helping hand whenever you fall. – David Wildgoose
From our review: Guilty Gear Strive is a milestone 2D fighting game that raises the bar for anime-like fighters in terms of its visuals, online netcode, and sheer creativity found in all aspects of its design. It’s definitely a different flavor of Guilty Gear, with a heavier focus on fighting in the neutral and a slightly slowed down pace, but it maintains the series soul with absolutely wild character designs, flexible combo system, and a level of creativity both in its presentation and mechanics that is second to none in the genre. – Mitchell Saltzman
From our review: Rich, rewarding, and highly replayable, Hitman 3 is a superb instalment of IO’s idiosyncratic but much-loved stealth series. The fundamentals haven’t changed since 2016 but its collection of outstanding maps makes for a refined, reliable, and robust curtain-closer to the current Hitman trilogy. Six maps may sound slim but each one is huge and designed to be played several times over – and even then it’s very unlikely you’ll have uncovered all of its creative and surprising assassination opportunities. There really isn’t a weak one in the bunch. This barcoded butcher has made a lot of appearances over the past 20 years, but Hitman 3 is definitely one of his best. – Luke Reilly
From our review: Fun, fast, and damn near photorealistic at times, Hot Wheels Unleashed is a surprising and brilliant arcade racer. Carefully detailed, highly customisable, and buoyantly uncynical, this toy racer defies all expectations with remarkable attention to detail, excellent track design, and an accessible handling model that still rewards high skill. The racing may be tiny but make no mistake: this game is enormous fun. – Luke Reilly
From our review: It Takes Two is a spectacular co-op adventure that lays down a path of great gameplay ideas and uses it to play a giddy game of hopscotch. It’s beautiful, breakneck-paced, and bubbling over with creativity, and playfulness and experimentation are rewarded at every turn. If you have any kind of co-op partner in your life, be they spouse, friend, sibling, or other (even a child, though the themes might be too mature for them), It Takes Two is a truly joyful trip you really need to take together. – Tristan Ogilvie
From our review: Knockout City is one of the best team-based PvP games to come out in years. It's a fresh take on the American schoolyard staple that proves that lowering the mechanical bar for entry doesn’t have to come at the cost of deep tactical gameplay. Every match has the potential to be a dynamic “combat” experience that even the most hard-boiled shooter fan can appreciate, all thanks to the clever balance between throws and catches, exciting special balls, and well-designed maps to brawl through. – Jarrett Green
From our review: Life is Strange: True Colors is a fantastic game that offers a great story with solid pacing, and unlike previous games in the series it left me with the feeling that every choice I made mattered. In picking up where Dontnod left off, Deck Nine has gone above and beyond to create the best game in the series to date and I am excited to see what the studio does with it next. – Taylor Lyles
From our review: Mass Effect 2 Legendary Edition remains the highpoint in an amazing trilogy, and its 4K makeover allows its graphics to hold up nearly as well as its strong gameplay, excellent story, and fantastic characters. With the DLC smoothly integrated into the flow of the campaign, this epic sci-fi RPG contains dozens of hours of exciting missions that explore the interesting backstories of your teammates and their respective alien cultures. The final couple of hours of the campaign are a truly brilliant culmination of the emotional connections we’re led to build with them. If you’ve played it before it’s more than flexible enough to give you a different experience this time, and if you haven’t you absolutely should. – Dan Stapleton
From our review: Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is a stunner. It not only gives the latest generation of consoles a game that looks as beautiful as the improved tech promised, but it’s also a fantastic experience to play. Insomniac has been around the Ratchet and Clank block plenty of times before, but Rivet and other new characters add so much charm, wit, and heart to a franchise I’ve loved for most of my life. That’s coupled with series-best action-platforming gameplay and incredible art and sound design across the board. Rift Apart may not be the biggest adventure around, but its big heart, wild weapons, and incredible detail easily make it one of the most memorable of the year so far. – Jonathon Dornbush
From our review: Subnautica: Below Zero is another big, frosty bite of one of the best open world survival games to come along since the genre's inception. It might not be as massive as the original, but there is so much style and substance packed into each trench, cave, and bloodthirsty shark-squid-thing that it's hard to complain. New vehicles, new gadgets, and across-the-board tune ups to technical performance and quality of life round out the experience skillfully. Whether you were ravenous for more Subnautica like me, or don't even know what you're in for, I don't think you'll be disappointed. – Leana Hafer
From our review: I’m very pleased to say that Bandai Namco has hit the mark in reinvigorating the 26-year-old Tales RPG series. Tales of Arise brings to life a beautifully realized world with a story that isn’t afraid to tackle heavy subjects and knows when to take its foot off the gas for a bit. Its characters feel real and relatable even in fantastical situations, and a fresh and fun combat system livens up their battles. Combined with plenty of quality-of-life improvements ironing out some of the series’ long-standing frustrations, this is an easy recommendation to not just fans of the long-running series but anyone interested in diving into an expansive action-RPG. – Terence Wiggins
From our review: Whether I'm fighting for my life, plundering forgotten barrows, or just watching the sun play across the water in a calm moment of respite, Valheim has created a world I'm consistently joyful to live in and discover more of. It’s definitely a traditional survival game at heart, which means the further in you get, the more you have to put up with some tedious grinding before you can get back to the good parts. But even at its early access launch, those good parts are already very good, especially when you get to take to the seas or test your skill against its imposing bosses. And the simple but exceptional art and music create a strong sense of place in which to do it all. Grab some mead and come join me by the fire. I don't think you'll be disappointed. – Leana Hafer
From our review: The magic of Wildermyth is that it loves stories so much that it builds its entire structure, from graphical style to prose to combat to campaign structure, around its characters becoming legends. It then cements those ideas in place with a Legacy system that turns those legendary characters into stories again, weaving design and storytelling together throughout. Wildermyth gives the impression of being charmingly ramshackle, but surprisingly flexible and tight under the hood, which all adds up to a truly special experience. – Rowan Kaiser
From our review: Despite its seemingly endless complexities, Deathloop is one of the most confidently designed games I’ve ever played. Arkane Studios has crafted a world made of ideas linked by meaningful connections; time influences space, space influences tactics, and tactics influence loadouts. Its unique, high-concept ideas around time loops and non-linear investigation work are implemented with elegance, making its systems feel effortless to navigate, learn from, and ultimately master. A new high watermark for Arkane and developers of similar games to aspire to, Deathloop is a game like no other. – Matt Purslow
From our review: Disco Elysium is a unique blend of noir-detective fiction, traditional pen-and-paper RPGs, and a large helping of existentialist theory. Its twisting plot, cast of memorable characters, and sheer depth of choice combine to create an experience that begs to be savoured. It hits on every single one of the marks it sets out to achieve and left me yearning to spend more time in its world. Removing any of the minor gripes I had with the original by adding new quests and a full cast of well-voiced characters, The Final Cut elevates Disco Elysium from an already phenomenal RPG to a true must-play masterpiece. – Simon Cardy
What's your choice for the best game of 2021? Vote in the poll below or let us know in the comments!
