With humanity inevitably ruining the Earth, it was high-time we packed our bags and started colonizing new solar systems. The furthest colony on the edge of the system is Halcyon, owned and operated by mega-corporations who mistreat their employees and force everyone to produce more resources to be sold to the other worlds. With your ships engines dying out on the edge of space, it was decided it was better to leave your colony ship adrift and deemed “missing” to avoid wasting resources like food for all those colonists in cryo. By blind luck, wanted criminal Phineas Welles has brought you back from the dead to help, but he has no idea what kind of person you are. Will you be the savior? The sinner? The psychopath? Play the game how you want to play. While shorter than the average AAA game, The Outer Worlds is a blast with the ability to adapt the game based on your decisions on the fly. Not only is the narrative a fun blockbuster ride, but it encourages you to play over and over again to find out every possible outcome.
The year is 1348. France has been stricken with a brutal plague and is swarmed with thousands upon thousands of rats. Amicia’s little brother, Hugo, has been very sick for some time and kept in isolation for ages, but despite this he has been able to overcome the plague. Their family home is soon invaded by the English, led by an Inquisitor searching for Hugo. The children barely escape with their parents and servants slaughtered. Amicia must now guide her estranged brother through the plague-ridden, infested countryside while avoiding the English invasion as they try to reach freedom and escape capture. Why is the Inquisition after Hugo? Where did all of these rats come from? A Plague Tale: Innocence is a game of stealth and fear, the characters are often helpless in a one on one confrontation and so must rely on distraction and sneaking to reach freedom. It is a terrible time of suffering, but a tale worth seeing through to the end.
How far will you go for your duty? How far will you go for honor? As Wolf, a shinobi and personal bodyguard to Kuro, the Divine Heir, you must protect the child with your very life. Beginning with the assault of the kingdom on all sides, Kuro is kidnapped and you are left for dead with your arm severed at the elbow. Outfitted with a versatile prosthetic arm to aid in your quest to free the heir, you must battle across the land in a surreal version of the 16th century Sengoku period and use your mastery of stealth and the sword to slay your enemies and return Kuro to their rightful place. A tale rich in culture and masterfully executed, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice appeals to Souls-like gamers regardless of their interest in Japanese lore.
When the Beached Things arrived, everything changed. Creatures from a place between life and death, BTs bring with them chaos and destruction, feeding on the living and surrounded by a powerful rain that forces everything it touches to rapidly deteriorate. The United States fragmented into smaller colonies, the United Cities of America. Closed off from one another, humanity relies on porters – those hired to deliver supplies from town to town – for survival. These individuals brave the elements, the BTs, bandits, and terrorists to bring salvation to the people. You’ll play as Sam, a porter who is tasked with setting up a communication network between these cities and bringing the people together once more while trying to stay alive in the beautiful wilds of what remains of the United States. Death Stranding is a game less about the destination and more about the journey in a unique narrative style we have yet to see before.
Not everything is as innocent as it seems. A clandestine organization operating in New York known as the Federal Bureau of Control monitors and contains all paranatural activity around the globe. Siblings Jesse and Dylan had unfortunately encountered a paranatural event in their hometown of Ordinary, Wisconsin, only for the FBC to arrive and take Dylan away. Jesse finds the office of the FBC, the Oldest House, in search of her brother only to mysteriously be promoted to the new Director of the Board. The FBC has been invaded by a deadly force, the building itself is changing shape in ways that bend reality, and Jesse can feel the hum of supernatural abilities at her fingertips. Why has Jesse been put in charge? Who is attacking the Oldest House? Where is her brother? The game has a winding plot with many secrets in every corner and each decision you make could mean life or death. It is surrealism at its finest, boarding on Lovecraftian levels of cosmic horror and unknowable creatures. Control’s use of powers and incredible characters redefine the way a third person action game is played and challenges you to think on a different level. Can you maintain control?
Honorable Mentions
The Walking Dead: The Final Season
The climactic final chapter of Clementines harrowing journey through the zombie-infested wastes. Set a few years after the events of the previous game, Clementine is protecting a young boy named AJ through the post-apocalypse where they encounter a number of other kids trying to survive within their former boarding school. As with most Telltale games, TWD: The Final Season is loaded with quick time events, brutally difficult decisions to be made, and for the first time the introduction of open-ended action sequences, leading to a multitude of player-controlled options.
A beautiful tale of perseverance against the darkness. Entrusted with protecting the world against the coming darkness, the Bergsons family live at the edge of the forest, always training and preparing for the day the terrible things would come out into the world. A somber and visceral tale of banding together as a family to stop the horrors from beneath the earth, it is a tale both beautiful and tragic.
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