Core Keeper (Windows PC)
The rural allure of Stardew Valley is relocated underground by Core Keeper. The top-grossing Steam game of the year is a gratifying mash-up of numerous previous fantasy homesteading sims (like Terraria, Valheim, and Minecraft), with the exception that your nimble survivor is now stranded in a vast network of procedurally created caverns. A perfect balance is achieved in Core Keeper between pleasant household duties and perilous dungeoneering. Yes, if I get to tend the garden by torchlight thereafter, I will occasionally gladly engage in combat with the monstrosities waiting for me at the abyssal depths.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus
There was no need for Pokémon to alter. In the past three years, we have seen the release of two DS classics—Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl—as well as new editions of the main series, Sword and Shield. The fact that all of those games had such strong sales shows that the Pokémon formula is still successful 30 years after Red and Blue. Pokémon Legends: Arceus, however, presents a different scenario in which Nintendo eschewed the too basic RPG trappings in favour of something a little more profound. Here you are, a lone Pokémon trainer in the wild, experiencing a clearer, spookier picture of what living among the wild Pikachus would actually be like. Poké Balls can be used to sneak up on Pokémon and surprise them, fight your target without being forced into a turn-based grind, and flee for your life after upsetting a massive Electrode. I've had dreams about playing this video game since I was approximately eleven years old because it's Pokémon meets Bear Grylls.
Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves
It comes as no surprise that Naughty Dog, a top PlayStation developer, packaged its PS4 Uncharted games with the subpar movie adaptation as the company routinely rereleases its previous library. The Legacy of Thieves, however, is unquestionably worth a look on the swanky PlayStation 5 if you missed Uncharted 4 or The Lost Legacy when they were first released in 2016 and 2017, respectively. The fourth and final game in the narrative was the first to properly examine Nathan Drake's selfishness; the Uncharted series normally portrays him as a rebellious man-child who becomes strangely whiny anytime he doesn't get his way. (It is additionally among the top action games from the previous ten years.) Additionally, Naughty Dog experimented with an open-world gestalt in The Lost Legacy, a mini-chapter that centres on two of the franchise's most adored characters, and it has me eager for whatever the firm has in store for us next. It's probably for the best that it will be a while before we see another Uncharted game. In the end, the series ended on a high note.
Strange Horticulture (Windows)
Strange Horticulture is a game about observing plants, as its name suggests. As distressed clients flood your door and demand particular herbal cures, you peruse a dusty tome packed with botanical theory before giving the requested specimen. Even though it sounds dull now, you'll start to enjoy Strange Horticulture's sophisticated deduction method as it finds its rhythm. With only a few hints, you are expected to go over an extensive list of phytologic disclaimers, gradually eliminating the exceptions and edge instances until you are positive that the man in your business requires the plant with blue blooms and triangle-shaped leaves. Finally, a computer game that makes us simultaneously feel educated and bucolic.
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Rainbow 6 Extraction
Rainbow 6 seems like a huge expansion pack. The game shares the same characters and weapons as Rainbow 6 Siege from Ubisoft, but forgoes squad-based multiplayer in favour of a horror-movie-style journey through an outrageous, viscerally terrifying alien apocalypse. Think John Carpenter's The Thing with SWAT squads as you and two pals struggle to accomplish a trio of challenges before falling victim to the horde in the franchise's sterile corridors and corporate antechambers, which have been overrun by oozing pustules, curdled zombies, and infectious muck. Extraction exceeded my incredibly low expectations; it reminded me of the best high-stakes XCOM missions with their grim, white-knuckle thrills. Have you left any of your pals behind in the churn? The parasite has them trapped, and your next goal is to release them, or they'll pay a harsh progression penalty. You recall what it was like to actually fear death in Extraction after so many co-op games that treat us with kid hands.
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