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crystalnet · 3 years

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Current X-book Mood-Ring Guide

There are an awful lot of X-books on the shelves right now. They are most of my monthly haul. No joke it is at least 12 books at this point. So, in order to cope with that, I’ve organized all the books into one of four different categories, aka “booster-pack” themes. Click through if you want to jump aboard the best X-men run since Morrison before the boat pushes off for the Hellfire Gala this summer! These are the 4 categories:

-Mainline Blue/Gold-style

-Jr. Mutants Academy

-2nd-Wave Krakoa Niche (aka “the good stuff”)

-Cetera

#1. Mainline Blue/Gold-style

Mood-color/vibe: Actually 90s-style Blue/Gold and like bright primary colors (but also muddy-ass colors from X-factor).

Books included: X-men, Excalibur, Marauders, X-force

Typical Pokemon: Scott Summers, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Betsy Braddock, Kate Pride, Beast, Black Tom, Storm, Bishop, Emma Frost, Rogue, Gambit, Jubilee, Kid Omega, Domino, a Pyro, Iceman, Avalanche. Rare drops: Apocalypse, X-23, Synch, Darwin, Kid Cable, Fantomex (in that Giant-Sized!)

These be the books for someone who wants those direct, mainline, core-members-style lineups. On the main book (adjective/word-play-less X-men) Hickman/Yu have worked wonders with their run, but it hasn’t been a stable team, instead focusing on Scott and his adventures dealing with some of the more prominent threats to Krakoa.

So it’s essentially been a revolving door of a book with Cyclops sometimes leading assaults against major problems and sometimes just being a dad to teenagers from the future, and it’s been generally great.

Meanwhile, the teams we find on the other 3 books could basically be a main X-men team if you just throw Jean/Scott/Logan onto them (except for X-force because Logan is usually on that one, actually, and Jean sort of is..)

X-force: Wolverine usually, Kid Omega, Beast, Jean (quitting?/back-up), Domino sorta, Sage, Black Tom Cassidy, Colossus once? Forge sorta. [Lot’s of backup or sometimes-members on this team but kinda centers on Beast, Omega, Wolverine and Jean or Domino]

Excalibur: Betsy Braddock, Rogue, Jubilee, Gambit, Avalanche, baby/dragon Shogo, Apocalypse (honorary, mia)

Marauders: Kate Pride, Storm, Emma Frost, a Pyro, Iceman, Bishop

On X-force, you get a little Morrison-homage energy going on what with Beast being sus, Quentin Quire having a character arc and dating a cuckoo and then all the body-horror. This one hasn’t been amazing and the art sometimes has issues for me but it’s been a solid expansion on Krakoa-Era lore.

On Marauders, you get a book centered on Kate Pride and the Hellfire Club. It’s been aight but I’m not the biggest Kate fan. Definitely has heart and the art has been beautiful.

Excalibur started a little weird for me... I lack the references or attachment to Otherworld or Davis/Moore-era Excalibur so I don’t think I’m even really the target demo, but I will say it recently, post-X of Swords-- which it set up single-handedly basically [along w/ one ish of X-men]-- has gotten more interesting in recent months. The Betsy + Kwannon stuff was great! And Howard did great with Apocalypse before he went off to another dimension. (points off for iffy color-palettes sometimes).

#2. Jr. Mutants Academy

Mood-color/vibe: Pastel

Books: New Mutants, X-factor, Children of the Atom, Cable

Common Pokemon: Magik, Cable, Rachel Summers, Doug, Warlock, Armor, Boom Boom, Scout, Dani, Warpath, Karma, Glob, Beak, Daken, Eye-boy, North Star, Rachael, Prodigy those Children of the Atom kids, Magma, Rahne, and a lot of lil kid mutants runnin’ around in Akademos/the Wild Hunt area of Krakoa whose names I don’t know yet.

This is the junior-crew club. New Mutants would be in the Blue/Gold books practically due to being part of the first wave of post-HoX/DoX books, but its basically been 3 different books/teams over its run and along w/ Children/Cable/X-Factor, it feels like there a whole handful of books offering up junior-crew shenanigans specifically.

So New Mutants has been all over the place, starting with a lineup of OG Claremont era New Muties, then focusing on a team consisting of Glob, Armor and Boom Boom (perpetual...”young adult” I guess?), now settling on a new team under Vita Ayala with Magik and Warpath heading up a squad of young ‘uns (beautiful art on the recent stretch). Hopefully it’s settling into its self now, because I can see longevity for this new squad... maybe.

I still have to read the 2nd issue of Children of the Atom, but am intrigued by it. X-factor meanwhile seems to be focusing on queer representation with people like Prodigy, Daken, North Star and Rachel on the same group together. Polaris started out the lead of that title only to be plucked out by Duggan (or the fanbase) for the main X-team coming up. This honestly makes sense, because even though she isn’t drawn this way, shouldn’t Polaris be considerably older than someone like Rachel? Eh.

Also, in issue #4 of X-factor we had a beautiful homage to the Academy X mutants, with several cameos, so it seems like Marvel is intentionally using these junior-crew books to acknowledge all the various junior-crews, whether it be OG Claremont kids, Generation X people, the kids intro’d under Morrison and Whedon, or even the dang ‘ol Academy X ones, they seem to all be getting at least some representation in some book.

Also Cable owns. Didn’t know I’d like the Kid-Cable guy until this book and his appearances in the main title, but now it’s confirmed. Him dating Esme, Kid Omega dating Phoebe? These crazy telepaths! Anyway, I hope Duggan’s main-team book is more like Cable than Marauders, in terms of pacing and characterization, but they both have beautiful art!

New mutants: Karma, Magik, Mirage, Scout, Warlock, Warpath and Wolfsbane

X-factor: Daken, Eye-boy, Polaris (quit?), North Star, Rachael, Prodigy

#3. 2nd-gen Krakoa Niche aka “the good stuff”

mood-color/vibe: purples, metaphysical/cosmic pallets, tertiary colors

books included: Hellions, S.W.O.R.D., Way of X

common Pokemon: I mean they’re basically all rare drops

This is the good stuff! Who would have thought. And when I think about it, Way of X and S.W.O.R.D., as part of the second wave of Krakoa-era books that started with Cable, both address some of the core issues and ideas that the whole HoX/DoX mini kicked off better than-- or at least more directly-- the other books. So I guess the non X-men, first-wave Krakoa books feel “mainline” in terms of their team lineups, but in terms of content, these newer ones almost feel more relevant by design. S.W.O.R.D. focuses on the cosmic context of the mutants post-Krakoa and Way is Kurt’s first spot-light moment in the era and is expressly concerned with Kurt’s addressing of the deeper moral quandaries that a people who have conquered death will be faced with. I mean, it's expressly about religion and like, spirituality-- a very tall order, but first issue pulled it off super deftly.

Also Hellions is better than it has any business being! Read this if you want savagely dark humor and some very obscure mutants + Havok/Psylocke/Sinister. But if I had to reccomend one, it’d be a tie b/w S.W.O.R.D and Way. First issue of Way was exceptional and got right into things and Kurt’s very well-written and will surely prove a meditative lead for a book like this, whereas S.W.O.R.D is epic in scale while still have sick character moments/dialogue. Manifold had a great issue or two and is now my favorite new mutant, even in the context of a somehow-actually-good King in Black tie-in. Damn! And everything going on b/w Magneto and Fabian Cortez (who was made to argue for why mutants should be allowed to murder “flatscans”/humans to the whole Krakoan council this week whilst naked. It’s fantastic. Hell, even the Snark-War sounds...interesting? What’s happening to me.

S.W.O.R.D.: Fabian Cortez, Magneto, Abigail Brand, Peeper, Manifold, Wiz-Kid, Mentallo, Fenzy

Children of the Atom: Cherub, Marvel Guy, Cyclops-Lass (?), Gimmick, Daycrawler

Hellions: Havok, Psylocke, Empath, Orphan-Maker, Nanny, Wild Child, Sinister, Greycrow

#4. Cetera

Mood-color/vibe: colorless, “normal” element

Books included: Fallen Angels (complete 6-ish mini), All the damn Wolverine books, the uh Sword of X “guidebook” and the new Peach Momoko Demon Days books and whatever X-men Legends is.

These are titles which are either complete or don’t fit in with other things or in Demon Days or the X-men Legends’ books’ case, I think don’t even occur in-universe. And per usual of course there are multiple Wolverine books... the main one seems fine.

Anyway all-in-all, these books are doing weirdly well. Mutants as a concept shouldn't be able to be spread this thin story-telling wise, but the books don’t really feel redundant and most are filling a specific niche or purpose. I may be dropping some of the first-wave Blue/Gold style books (Marauders and X-force I'll probably just check in on from time-to-time), but S.W.O.R.D., Way, the main book under Hickman or Duggan and Hellions all have me verrrrrry satisfied. Even standard stories in the Krakoa era feel special, and that speaks to the power of Hickman’s vision. Hellfire Gala, here we come.

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itsthegameilike · 4 years

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Just some fic recs (part 2)...

It’s been a while since I’ve made a rec list and that seemed tragic to me as I’ve spent most of my quarantine surviving off fic. So here we go! The popular fics are hidden away for today and there is more Wangxian on here than I’d care to admit, but I Hyperfixated. Still, the ships are numerous and various.

Promises We Make -- Mayarene Rose; Wangxian Lan Zhan has taken to visiting the Yiling as often as he can, bringing as many rabbits as he can carry. It is not against the sect rules so there's no reason for him to feel guilty about it. And after all, he made a promise. Or the one where Lan Zhan sneakily moves into the Burial Mounds and this may or may not have helped stop a lot of bad things from happening. **If you’re feeling sad, this is the fic for you. It can take any bad day and make it better. Lan Zhan brings every goddamn rabbit in Cloud Recesses to the Burial Mounds a few rabbits at a time just as an excuse to visit Wei Ying. Then he kind of just stays? And everyone loves him? And Wei Ying is an absolute dumbass about the whole thing? Which tracks.

Screw Poetry, It’s You I Want -- intertwiningsouls; Pynch Adam tries to navigate a crush on his best friend, his first time having a group of friends during the holidays, and the mysterious notes that keep showing up in his locker. **Fair warning this fic is not finished and on hiatus, but I still think it is absolutely worth reading anyway. I reread it often and then get sad it’s not updated, but, you know, fic writer’s lives are hard. I know this deeply. Anyway, it’s soft, it’s cute, and Ronan is perfect.

apastron -- kissmesexybatman; Shatt "This was the mission: three people were set to travel half a year out to the edge of the solar system, traversing space no human eyes had ever seen, to explore the possibility of life in the most extreme of conditions." The first six months of the Kerberos Mission. **This fic is quiet and meditative and a little lonely, but it is so, so beautiful. I loved it the first time I read it and I love it now. There’s some very good ace representation and love just pours from this fic. Love for people and love for space.

How Fragile We Are, Between the Few Good Moments -- nineandthreequarterrs; Wolfstar By the time it’s dark, there’s a fire crackling before them. The tent is set up. There are two chairs propped up by the fire. They have cooked and eaten dinner, and they are sitting in silence. It reminds Sirius of the dinners at home after he got sorted into Gryffindor, or after his mother found the letters from his friends, or lately, whenever he dares to show his face around the house at all. What lives in that space isn’t actually silence. Silence is absence. This thing that hangs between him and his mother, now between him and Remus, is the presence of something suffocating and cutting. It doesn’t serve as a placeholder for noise, it serves as a punishment. It cleaves him to the bone, flays him until he wants to cry. The soft, knotting feeling in his chest he feels when he wants to let tears out but can’t is rising in him. Sirius doesn’t know how to kill except to hiss, “Well if you’re mad at me just fucking say so.” **This takes the moment where Sirius lures Snape to the Shrieking Shack and nearly gets him killed by Remus in his werewolf form-a scene that should be utilized like this more frequently-and creates something absolutely lovely with it. The fic is quiet and subtle and deals with the abuse Sirius suffers and Remus’ rightful anger in a delicate and true way. I adore it.

Likewise Variable -- ssstrychnine; Wolfstar James has plans, Peter is the nurse, Sirius keeps fake blood up his sleeves, and Remus just tries to stay alive. **One of those classic Marauders fics where everyone is batshit crazy except Remus, who ends up doing batshit crazy things because he loves his friends. And Sirius. Especially Sirius. He ends up playing Romeo and Sirius plays Juliet and the pining and angst is unreal. A trope I’m trash for and very well executed.

flowers boldly blossoming over withered grass -- LilyMaxwell; Wangxian It’s in the dawning years after Jin Guangyao’s death that Wei Wuxian learns what it’s like to live and love without a second thought. **The first fic I found in my endless search through pages and pages on ao3 where I saw a characterization of Lan Zhan that resonated with me in the same way he did in the show. I have a thing for soft and quiet fics and this one is no exception. Lovely and beautifully written.

Like Knives -- All_My_Characters_Are_Dead; Bakushima Bakugou was disappointed in him. Bakugou thought he was weak, thought he was useless. Bakugou knew he’d broken, and Bakugou was mad at him for it. **I love this fic a lot. It takes Bakugou’s anger and uses it to full angst advantage. Kirishima overhears Bakugou and misinterprets Bakugou’s intense worry for anger. And then emotions happen.

Garden War -- Cibee; Drarry Harry and Draco are quarantined in their houses, a lake across from one another. What better ways to spend this time than to annoy each other with letters and attempts to prove that their garden is better? **I did my best to avoid quarantine fics, but you know, easier said than done. This one is super cute. Mostly epistolary, Harry and Draco just make fun of each other and garden and then get together. Like, what the hell else do you want?

light fires at night (to push back the void) -- inthesea; Andreil The first time Andrew realizes he wants to hear the words, Neil isn’t even doing anything. He’s just sitting there, staring at the horizon with that stupidly dramatic faraway expression of his, and letting the cigarette burn down between his fingers all the way to the filter — an outrageous waste of good nicotine, if you asked Andrew. (Or: 20+ times Andrew and Neil say I love you, and one time they say it out loud.) **One of the two truly popular fics that shows up on here. This fic changed my life. It killed me and then brought me back to life. It’s essentially a series of vignettes starring Andrew and Neil and like...it hurts and it heals and it loves. I would die for this fic to continue existing even when I don’t.

the hidden source is the watchful heart -- sombregods; Wangxian Wei Wuxian comes back to the Cloud Recesses for the winter months. He and Lan Wangji learn that emotional intimacy and physical intimacy are not (yet) quite synonymous.They have time to figure it out. **I have the biggest soft spot for relationships where sex and romance aren’t intrinsically intertwined and take some time to navigate. And in my mind, Lan Zhan and Wei Ying have exactly that kind of relationship, so this fic was all I ever needed. If that’s your thing, this is a must read.

A Heart’s a Heavy Burden -- idratherhaveyou; Wangxian There was fire and magic and death, screams and blood, but rage was Wei Ying's song at night, the beast he became taking control, protecting what it could and destroying those that did harm.Years ago, when Wei Ying had newly discovered this particular power of his, when he’d picked his side—to simply fight everyone who didn’t fight for those weaker than themselves—he’d remembered more.To him, this was better. Better to forget things best forgot. **A Howl’s Moving Castle AU **A shameless self-promotion, but I love this fic to pieces, so I thought it seemed fit to add. Not quite finished, but I promise it will be. I just take two of my favorite pieces of media and have a real good time. There’s magic, Lan Zhan and Wei Ying love each other a lot, and A-Yuan does god’s work.

Siren Song -- Becky_J_1022 When Damen is cursed by a Siren in exchange for the revenge his heart desperately desires, his life is thrown into chaos, and betrayal lurks around every corner. Despite his better judgment, he allows a beautiful young man to seek berth on his ship, not knowing that he has granted refuge to the one man who has every reason to want him dead. Laurent may be the key to breaking Damen's curse, and Damen could help restore Laurent to his throne—but if they have any hope of helping each other, they will have to untangle their bitter pasts first. **Listen, man, this fic is balls to the walls fun and also everyone should read Becky’s fics. Not enough people do. She makes sentences beautiful. Just so beautiful. And she loves to and you can tell.

#fic recs #the untamed #wangxian #andreil #tfc #wolfstar #drarry #harry potter #bnha #bakushima #trc #pynch #voltron #shatt #writers are wonderful creatures #i love and cherish you all #thanks for you work

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olympicreads · 5 years

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king of scars by Leigh Bardugo rating: ★★★ 1/2 warning: this review contains spoilers. the paragraphs containing them will be marked accordingly.

I’ll find a way. All his life, Nikolai had believed that. His will had been enough to shape not only his fate but his own identity.

I was on the fence about giving this book 3 or 4 stars... Because this is a 4-stars novel, but I know that Leigh Bardugo can do much better, so I thought I’d be more strict in this case. I wish I was giving it the 5 stars it should’ve had, though. However, I can't do that in good conscience, because in more than one way this book was a regression to the bad aspects of The Grisha Trilogy.

I’m not going to say that this book was terrible, because it wasn’t. Leigh Bardugo is an incredibly talented author. The prose was great. The book as a whole was great... If you consider it a stand-alone.

King of Scars, as we know, presents us three main perspectives: Nina’s, Zoya’s, and Nikolai’s, with a fourth in the second part of the book: that of a new character called Isaak. I will be dividing this review into sections for each character, highlighting my likes and dislikes for each of them.

Nina Zenik

She is the only one that’s had a POV before this book. Incidentally, she’s the one who’s characterization jumped out the most at me, especially in the first half of the book.

[spoilers] When we first see her, she’s in Fjerda as a spy, working along with a familiar face, Adrik, and a new one, Leoni Hillis. She’s been on a mission for over two months, and for over two months she’s been dragging Matthias’ body along, refusing to bury him, hallucinating his voice in her head. That was my first indication that there was something “funny” going on: Nina had already let him go in Crooked Kingdom:

“In the next life then,” she whispered. “Go.” She watched his eyes close once more. “Farvell,” she said in Fjerdan. “May Djel watch over you until I can once more.” - Crooked Kingdom, Chapter 39.

And yet, despite having already accepted Matthias’ death, she drags his corpse along with her. I’m not going to lie: when she finally does bury him, I teared up. Her eulogy was beautiful. That doesn’t mean that it should’ve happened when it did. The importance he is given to Nina is far greater than that he had in Six of Crows. She loved him, but she loved Ravka too. She also loved her friends, and she missed her life at the Little Palace.

But for the first half of King of Scars, all she thinks about, all she cares about, is Matthias. I thought, “ok, maybe she’s rationalizing all the things that happened during her time at Ketterdam, her obsession with him is just a way to cope with PTSD”... but this all goes to hell when, despite her feelings, she willingly moves in with Brum at the end of her arc. She deserts Ravka and infiltrates Brum’s home instead of, oh, shooting his ugly face? When she’s got him defenseless, she chooses to keep him alive and not take him to Ravka for trial, despite the fact that she’s learned from him that they are planning something that relates to a Lantsov that’s not Nikolai, and that her country is at the brink of a war. She neglects to tell this to her allies as soon as she finds out and deserts the Second Army. [end of spoilers]

All of this plus the fact that almost nothing that happens during her arc is connected to the other POVs makes for an overall confusing portion, the poorest of the novel, that’d have been so much better if Nina hadn’t had a perspective in Six of Crows. She was wildly OOC, in my opinion. But again, that doesn’t mean that everything about her parts were bad. I loved Hanne, one of the newly introduced characters, and I love her chemistry with Nina. I really hope they get together in the second book.

Nikolai Lantsov

I love him. His inner dialogue is one of the wittiest I’ve read, and we can finally see that he’s as sharp on the inside as he is on the outside, despite his insecurities (or maybe because of them). The first half of his story was the easiest, most interesting to read. Learning about his trauma, his struggles, his (literal) inner demon, and how he puts on a smart-ass brave face in spite of everything he has on his plate, plus seeing his wit first-hand, was great. One of my favorite parts of the book, along with Zoya’s, but that’s for later.

[vague spoilers]

The second part, though... I don’t know how much the Grisha Saints are based on Orthodox ones, but I’m not a fan of their storyline. While I’m not entirely familiar with Orthodox tradition, I am (or, well, I was brought up as) Catholic, and unless I’m severely mistaken, there are many similarities in the way Saints are depicted by both. However, the way that they were showed in King of Scars left a lot to be desired, in my honest opinion. Saints are not “edgy” and “inhuman”. Alina was a more accurate representation of the “older” or more primitive versions of Saints than Lizabeta and Grigori were in King of Scars. While the idea of powerful Grisha who helped people in a way that made them be seen as miracle-workers or holy people is alright, them being “beasts” or animals doesn’t follow any traditional lore that I am aware of.

The idea of them being “wickedly evil”, or of someone like the Darkling being considered for Sainthood is not feasible I think, if not for anything else than the facts that he wasn’t a man of faith, he didn’t perform any miracles, he wasn’t a martyr, and he wasn’t particularly heroic or loved by the people, so I don’t see how he could be proclaimed a Saint or get such a large cult following that is not, let’s say, “Satanist” or heretic (to be fair, neither do most of the characters who have at least a pair of working braincells, but I digress). Hell, one of the Darkling’s own nicknames was “the Black Heretic”, so why the U-turn?

I suppose, though, that we could be given an explanation for this last part in the following book, so I’m going to be open about it.

[end spoilers]

Zoya Nazyalensky

I. Love. This. Woman... So much. She’s amazing. She’s one of the strongest, as of now most fleshed-out characters Leigh Bardugo has written, on par with Inej Ghafa, my overall favorite. Her POV was the one I enjoyed the most, her inner dialogue as sharp as her tongue, her story heartbreaking, and her personality as unapologetic but lovable (for those of us not under her glare, at least) as ever. I loved reading about her thoughts, her opinions, her likes and dislikes (though mostly her dislikes), and she’s 100% the type of female character we need more: women who don’t take no shit, but who are still human. Those who are strong but have feelings other than “murder”, that are not defined by what other expect of them, but still bask in the benefits their reputations as heartless give them.

[slight spoilers]

The only problem I had with her POV, one that is extremely easy to fix, is related to her backstory. It’s established that her father was a Suli man, meaning that Zoya is now canonically a biracial woman. This is amazing! The most beautiful, powerful Grisha in all of Ravka (or, dare I say, the Grishaverse) is a woman of color. However, the way that this was established left something to be desired: there was absolutely no indication other than that of her mentioning it that she’s in any way Suli. Compared to Inej, whose culture is shown in absolutely every part of her character, the difference left me a little bit disappointed.

I’d be completely fine with it if she hadn’t known her father, or if she had been taken to the Little Palace when she was too little to remember anything about her family, but she lived 9 years with her parents, and she never makes absolutely any mention of any cultural aspect that she likes or misses about her heritage. This could be done in different ways: a throwaway comment about liking a particular type of Suli food, an art piece that reminds her of Suli art she liked/hated as a kid, a cultural tradition that she still participates in privately, a type of cloth, anything. None of that is there, though, so I was left with the impression that Zoya was whitewashed. Not in the “common” way, of for example a white person playing a black character, but in the characterization sense.

A little bit more on that: when you’re writing characters of color, you have to be careful of many things. To name a few: not falling into stereotypes, making sure colorism has no bearing in the story, not oversimplifying issues faced by people of color, especially if you’re not part of that group, and that you’re not putting a “poc” label on a character that is otherwise white. The last one is in my opinion what has happened with Zoya. This can be avoided (and resolved) easily by including nods towards her culture. An acknowledgment that she’s not a monoracial white Ravkan through anything other than just one comment about how her father was Suli would resolve this issue and give us the most badass WoC in the Grishaverse.

[end slight spoilers]

Isaak

[major spoilers]

As for Isaak, I don’t have a lot to say about him, because overall I think he didn’t need to have a PoV in the story. He wasn’t a character we knew from before, so we didn’t care about him. He dies at the end of the story, his only purpose is to look like Nikolai and have the shortest almost-romance ever. All of this could have been shown through the eyes of either Tolya or Tamar, who always followed him around, so they could’ve shown the same story with no problem. All in all, his part wasn’t bad, but I didn’t care about it, which could maybe be a problem on itself.

Lastly, my biggest problem, left for last: it doesn’t make any sense to me that Nikolai and Zoya would willingly align themselves with the Darkling. Zero. They were extremely and personally affected during the Civil War, the book does an amazing job of showing their trauma as a result of it, but by the end they willingly accept to work with him? No. I don’t want to believe that. It’s a disservice to the sacrifices the characters made in The Grisha Trilogy. Are you telling me Alina lost her power, her friends, faked her death and married Mal for that? For the Darkling to be back? This ending is a disservice to her sacrifice. I didn’t like that plot-twist at all, and I really look forward to the next book, to know how this is all going to play out, because I’m extremely unsure about how good this development will be, story-wise, for the duology.

[end spoilers]

However, and to wrap my longest review yet, I want to say that this isn’t a bad book. The writing is fantastic. The characters, whether I agree with their characterization or not, are fleshed-out and sympathetic. The pacing is great, I read the whole novel in less than two days. While the world was already established in previous books, we got a lot more of depth and information about Ravkan and, mostly, Fjerdan and Shu culture. Bardugo remains one of my favorite writers in the YA and Fantasy genres, but because she is capable of so much, I wanted to give her work a review that reflects what I think of her talent, and of how much more I think she can do as a writer.

"Yet now that the time had come to speak, Nikolai did not want to tell this story. He did not want it to be his story. He’d thought the war was in the past, but it refused to remain there.”

#lbardugo #review #book review #kos spoilers #my review #king of scars spoilers #leigh bardugo #my diverse recs #3 stars #king of scars

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guidetoenjoy-blog · 5 years

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The best PC games around – essential pick-ups from every genre

New Post has been published on https://entertainmentguideto.com/awesome/the-best-pc-games-around-essential-pick-ups-from-every-genre/

The best PC games around – essential pick-ups from every genre

The best PC games

With unparalleled accessibility and endless upgradability, it’s no wonder that millions of gamers around the world think PC is the best place to play. Because of the platform’s history, curating a list of every great PC game throughout the ages would be a tough task, so we’ve put together a listing of modern titles that’re the best PC games to spend your time with right now.

So, in alphabetical order, here’re 50 of the best PC games around.

Cities Skylines- Honorable mentions: Prison Architect, Tropico 5

In an alternate universe where EA and Maxis didn’t drop the ball, this slot is occupied by the latest and greatest SimCity release. In fact, Cities: Skylines developer Colossal Order was miserably certain its project wouldn’t be greenlit thanks to SimCity’s announcement- but its subsequent pratfall only stimulated Paradox more eager to bring PC gamers what they wanted most.

The best way to describe Cities: Skyline is” SimCity but make use of people who liked the same things about the series as you did “. The indie squad has demonstrated tremendous commitment to ongoing support, too.

Civilization 6- Honorable mentions: Total War Rome 2, Endless Legend

Dissatisfied with the style of the world right now? Fire up Civ 6 and it’ll be 2019 before you know it.

This latest entry into Sid Meier’s Civilization series is an astonishing day sink, with the possibility to spend more than 1,000 hours across multiple games scrapping your style to global domination using strategy, diplomacy, and, when everything else fails, all out war.

The AI can be shonky at times- confounding itself and get stuck in the same flurry of actions- but there’s a lot to love here. Each of the present 24 civilization leaders are colourfully animated and bursting with personality, and there’s enough variety in their strengths, weakness and unique divisions to make playing different nations fun.

CS GO- Honorable mentions: Arma 3

To be honest we didn’t think anything could ever out Counter-Strike: Source as the go-to competitive shooter on PC( and for some people, both CS: S and the original CS remain their primary shooter ), but good ongoing support on top of the experience and panache of Valve’s development team has proved us wrong. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is now one of the top eSports titles in current circulation, and a damn good time even for the less competitively-minded.

Global Offensive was also available on consoles but like every Valve game support outside of Steam was restriction. Steam is where you’ll find the best of the best, if you fancy being humbled.

Cuphead- Honorable mentions: Nuclear Throne, Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth

Because of its unique art style, Cuphead has been on just about everyone’s radar for years. Thankfully, when it ultimately reached, the game was just as good at it seemed.

Cuphead is tough but accessible, and while the amount of projectiles on-screen can reach near bullet-hell different levels of madness, it entirely nails that artery-bursting, desk-smashing difficulty that has you fistpumping with every hard won victory.

DOOM- Honorable mentions: Wolfenstein 2, Bioshock Infinite

If your rig can run it, DOOM on max sets is a beautiful sight to behold. Well, as beautiful as monstrous demons from hell getting ripped to pieces with a chainsaw can be.

Fast-paced and ultra-violent, DOOM isn’t for the weak of belly- not just because the enemies leak strawberry jam like a poorly packed barbecue, but the ardor with which Doomguy doles out infernal punishment from a first-person view can leave some feeling nauseous.

This is no-holds-barred action at its eye-widening, engrossing best.

DoTA 2- Honorable mentions: Heroes of the Storm

DoTA- and MOBAs in general- might have started life as a Warcraft 3 mod, but with DoTA 2, it’s blossomed into a fully-fledged cornerstone of the eSports MOBA scene- with nearly $140 million won as prize money to date.

There’s a vast amount to get to grips with in DoTA 2, where developers Valve attained the trade-off of a steep learning curve for unparalleled depth. Once you’re up to velocity with the meta heroes and builds though, DoTA 2 offers a tense and engrossing competitive experience.

Dark Souls 3- Honorable mentions: Nioh, All of Dark Souls

Souls is a special series, and picking simply one game to represent it on a list is tough. It’s fitting then that Dark Souls 3 plays like a greatest hits, with all the strengths and weaknesses that come with that tag. It might not be as zeitgeist-shaping as the original, or have the same context or subtlety, but everything that you fell in love with is there in spades.

Dark Souls 3 also manages to be the most accessible Souls game, but doesn’t lose any of the challenge. The motion velocity might be quicker and some of the systems streamlined to be less confusing, but that doesn’t detract from the same core loop-the-loop that sits as the foundation for the whole series- die, and get ready to die again until you achieve glorious victory.

Dishonored 2- Honorable mentions: Deus Ex Mankind Divided, Prey

Immersive sims are synonymous with PC, and Dishonored 2 utterly nails the genre. Each map is a rich sandbox where you’re given a simple objective and how you reach it is your choice- leaving you to use every weapon in your arsenal as you see fit.

This means that every level plays almost like a puzzle to be solved, and you’ll be constantly be thinking, “what happens if I do this”, and “what happens if I go over there? ”

Dishonored 2’s dual playable results, Emily Kaldwin- the usurped queen- and Corvo Attano- the grizzled royal defender- have distinct power defines. Emily’s youthful indignation lends itself to a more destructive, violent playstyle, whereas Corvo is more adept at remaining undetected. This only adds even more replayability to a game that are currently has a whole host of different solutions.

Divinity: Original Sin 2- Honorable mentions: Tyranny, Shadowrun Dragonfall

For more than 15 years, Belgian maestro Larian Studios has been churning out quality RPGs in the old-school mould of genre classics. The recently published entry, Divinity: Original Sin 2, is a sequel to 2014 ’s Divinity: Original Sin- which itself is a prequel to the 2002 OG Divine Divinity- and a high water-mark for the already acclaimed series.

Original Sin 2 expertly mixes its nuanced tactical combat and memorable narratives and side quests with an incredible sum of option. The variety of potential interactions that can arise in every situation mean that the game’s formula bides fresh for the entirety of the its considerable length.

What’s more, you can party up with three friends and explore in four-player drop-in co-op, and this is an experience well worth sharing.

Dream Daddy- Honorable mentions: Huniepop, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havok

The world of dating sims can be a strange one, but the best in the genre approach their characters with a heartwarming earnestness that makes them a pleasure to befriend.

In Dream Daddy you play as a single Dad who’s upped sticks to a new township with your daughter, Amanda, in tow. In a fortuitous turn of events, your new home Maple Bay is stuffed full of eligible daddies just waiting to be wooed. With Amanda’s blessing, you can choose to date any of seven hunky parents, revealing more and more about their personality as your relationship grows.

There are normal and secret ends to unlock for each perfect pop too; enough to keep any would-be matchmaker busy.

Elite Dangerous- Honorable mentions: Star Citizen

A few years ago it felt like you couldn’t move for all the upcoming space sims, but very few of them have materialised in any form a sane person would pay a retail price for. Elite: Dangerous practically wins over its genre buddies by default just by being a playable, full-featured game you can buy as opposed to something you’re allowed to look at in trailers while gibbering for a release date.

It’s also great, though, which is why it’s here. We don’t have much hope for the console constructs, to be honest; what you want is a powerful old beast of a PC, all the situates turned up as high as they can go, and a gorgeous universe to go and explore. At least one of those things is yours for the taking, courtesy of Frontier Developments, and nearly justify an investment in the first one so the second becomes a potential.

Europa Universalis 4- Honorable mentions: Hearts of Iron 4

Ah, grand strategy. How better to live out your imperial fantasies than at the helm of an endlessly growing empire that responds totally to your beck and bellow.

While Civilization V also occupies this list, Europa Universalis 4 stands out because of its straighter representation of history and the world as we know it, rather than a haphazardly made map each time. You’re still guiding your nation through centuries of diplomacy, trade, and warfare, but now there are random events to contend with as well. These can reflect the real world challenges that a nation in your opt part of the world might face, or come entirely out of leftfield- meaning there’s always room for a spanner in the works of your best laid plans.

To deplete Europa Universalis would take hundreds of hours on its own, but add the ceaseless release of new DLC packs and- even if they’re a bit pricey – you’ve got a strategy game for the ages.

EVE Online- Honorable mentions: Warframe, Black Desert Online

EVE Online is like nothing else out there. Where most games are lorded for their deep worldbuilding and painstakingly crafted lore, EVE’s greatest legends played out in real period between real players.

Hardcore members of this profession-based space sim have formed sophisticated corporations which fuel the game’s functioning economy. In times of peace the organic-feeling world is a marvel of role-playing. But when shit makes the fan, EVE Online plays host to more political intrigue and calculated backstabbing than a glossy series of HBO drama.

If you’re in the market for a “living, breathing world” that’s more than a marketing buzzword, EVE might be your purse.

Fallout 4- Honorable mentions: Skyrim

One of, if not the, best thing about Bethesda RPGs is the exceptional community of modders that painstakingly add hundreds of hours of fun to the vanilla experience with their hard work. So when the “Enhanced Edition” of Softworks’ previous highwatermark, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, was released and broke years of mod support, it was a weep shame.

It induces sense then to recommend one of Bethesda’s more recent endeavors, Fallout 4, which not only offers another romp into the transcendently awesome Fallout universe, but updates the underlying game mechanics enough to finally make it a competent shooter as well.

While the newly-voiced main character hampers some of the game’s ability to provide flexible role playing, the main narrative is interesting, the side quests are superb, and there are plenty of secrets and pop-culture references to unearth in all regions of the Commonwealth.

FF14 – Honorable mentions: Elder Scrolls Online

Final Fantasy 14 is one of the greatest redemption narratives in gaming. After a bumpy launch which find the game scrapped just after release in favour of a wholly revamped version, Final Fantasy 14 re-emerged with a reworked interface and gameplay, better optimisation and a snazzy new tagline: A Realm Reborn.

Now with virtually 12 million characters generated worldwide, FF14 is a thriving MMO community that’s merely been bolstered by the release of the critically-well-received Stormblood expansion.

The main depict for new players is the story missions, which tell the suitably grand tale of war between the adventurers of Eorzea and the invading Garlean Empire. But there are plenty of side quests- called Leves- to combat through as well; each oozing with that trademark Final Fantasy panache.

Fortnite- Honorable mentions: Team Fortress 2, Totally Accurate Battlegrounds

Fortnite is the biggest game running, and it’s not even on Steam. It’s been a slow-burn, but right now, Fortnite seems unassailable in its global domination, violating well and truly into the mainstream thanks to its popularity on mobile and with kids and streamers alike.

While the paid Save the World PvE game mode is fun enough and a good way to earn free V-bucks, it’s the F2P battle royale mode that’s taking the world by storm. The combining of a low barrier of entry, a simple to learn but hard to master gameplay loop-the-loop, and tense player-versus-player opposes constructs Fortnite a compelling proposition.

GTA 5- Honorable mentions: Saints Row 4, Sleeping Dogs

Yes, GTA 5 is on our PS4 and Xbox One best of listings. Yes, it’ll likely go on every listing we ever stimulate. It is just that good. It is a titan of our times.

But also it’s especially good on PC. Even though Rockstar has not been staggeringly supportive of modding( arguably fair enough, given how hard it must be to police GTA Online ), the GTA 5 mod scene is a gift that maintains on giving. The video editor has enabled some cracking bits of art and craft. And, of course, on Ultra decideds the PC version of GTA 5 outshines all the others. Sorry.

Gunpoint- Honorable mentions: The Swapper, Sperlunky

First there was nothing. Then there was Gunpoint. Now there are imitators- but nothing does it quite as well as Tom Francis did that first time, even if you can knock it over pretty quickly with your whizz-kid brain.

Gunpoint is a sort of stealth puzzle game in which players must infiltrate various houses without being identified by guards. Making use of existing securities systems and eventually even rewiring grids altogether is far more satisfying than merely ninja rolling across a doorway.

Hearthstone Witchwood expansion- Honorable mentions: The Elder Scrolls Legends, Chronicle: Runescape Legends, Gwent

Hearthstone, with each passing expansion, cements its place at the head of the card battling table further and further. While its original appeal might’ve had more to do with WoW nostalgia than anything else, it’s grown into its own distinct entity, and is now just as popular with gamers that’ve never set foot in Azeroth.

Regularly updated with new cards- like the most recent Witchwood expansion- Hearthstone manages to stay fresh by constantly introducing new mechanics. The RNG can be frustrating and the implementation of the new standard competitive format, which rotates cards out of circulation after a certain amount of time, can make it difficult to maintain a competitive deck if you’re not playing all the time. But the additions of the Dungeon Run solo adventure Monster Hunt mode have stimulated it immeasurably easier to enjoy the game for cheap.

Hollow Knight- Honorable mentions: Ori and the Blind Forest, Owlboy

Hollow Knight is a beautiful indie Metroidvania filled with lush animation, tight platforming and tense action. You play as The Knight, a mysterious character exploring the ruinings of the insectoid kingdom of Hollownest.

Despite its nebulous narrative, Hollow Knight is gripping thanks to its absorbing environments and original character design.

It’s not an easy game either, owing to some twitchy platforming and combat. A lot of foes won’t go down without a fight, and you’re almost certainly going to die a couple of times on some of Hollow Knight’s more difficult boss.

Homeworld Remastered Collection- Honorable mentions: Stellaris

If VG247 expanded its editorial remit to cover classic games, this would be a very different listing- but in both parallel cosmoes, Homeworld builds the grade. One of a number of properties put up for auction when THQ folded, support for Homeworld had well and truly ended and you couldn’t even buy the classic games any more, so the fanbase was hungry both for a re-release and for something new.

Gearbox’s Brian Martel was one of those fans, in the enviable position of being able to do something about it. The developer is not merely gave its boon and financial support for spiritual successor and now official sequel Homeworld: Shipbreakers, it put together a wonderfully tasty package in Homeworld: Remastered Collection. Both games in classic and updated kind, with a combined multiplayer suite? Yes, please. The classic gameplay is as strong as ever, by the way.

Into the Breach- Honorable mentions: Invisible Inc

From the sadistic minds behind FTL: Faster than Light, Into the Breach is an addictive turn-based strategy where you squish bug-like foreigners with giant fighting robots. What more needs to be said?

You fell your mechs onto a square grid populated not just with foes, but obstacles and objectives based on the type of mission you’ve undertaken and terrain you’re battling on. Your task is then to clear the field of hostiles in a certain amount of moves, involving considerable forethought and planning to get the job done effectively. While the premise is simple, completing the hardest challenges Into the Breach has to throw at you isn’t- and once you factor in the scalable difficulty modes, there’s some serious replayability here too.

Kerbal Space Program- Honorable mentions: RimWorld

In Kerbal Space Program you design, build and launch rockets from first principle. If this sounds like a doddle to you, you’ve been playing too many crafting survival sandboxes; constructing things takes more attempt than slapping the appropriate number of resources down on a blueprint.

Getting Kerbals into space is hard, but every time you blow one up or leave them endlessly orbiting the moon as a corpse, you’ve gained something: you’ve learned what not to do. It’s almost like a rogue-like with persistent character progression, only what’s being carried over is your knowledge. Get your little Kerbals to new reaches of the solar system, and then get them back again, is an absolute triumph.

League of Legends- Honorable mentions: SMITE

Another of the heaviest eSports hitters around, League of Legends is easier to get into than Dota, but is still retains a high level of strategic depth.

LoL has the largest roster of heroes of all the major MOBAs, with original and interesting champion designs that mean you’re pretty much always going to find someone new you want to try out. That choice is limited somewhat if you really want to play the metagame, but there’s still decent variety in the top pickings.

In terms of gameplay, we’re talking bread-and-butter stuff- two teams try to destroy each other’s Nexus while working to raise their individual power level- but here it’s executed brilliantly. The delicate balance that League of Legends manages to create between fast-paced action and strategic positioning attains it one of the best in the genre.

Life is Strange- Honorable mentions: Dreamfall Chapters, TellTale’s The Walking Dead

Originally episodic but now totally bingable, Life is Strange is an engrossing narrative of high-school drama, rekindled friendship, and day travelling. What’s better is that the first episode is now free, entailing you can get a savor of the waterside township of Arcadia Bay with no strings attached.

As Max, an 18 year-old wouldbe photographer, you explore the parallel mysteries of your new-found powers and the disappearance of fellow student Rachel Amber, all the while trying to fit into a new school and make friends.

From its drizzly Oregon setting to its jangly hipster boulder soundtrack, Life is Strange perfectly captures the feeling of teenage angst and adds a supernatural twisting that’s interesting until the credits roll.

Minecraft- Honorable mentions: Terraria

You can argue that it wasn’t until its Xbox 360 release that Minecraft entered the public consciousness, but it was and remains a culture phenomenon on PC. More than 20 million purchases on a single platform is a huge amount by any measure, but the PC version of Minecraft is also where updates drop-off first, where mods and custom servers happen, where most of the amazing video content is attained, and where educational programs are carried out.

Minecraft is also credited with kicking off or at least popularising a bunch of industry tendencies- paid early access schemes, crafting sandboxes and of course indie as multi-million dollar success tale.

Overwatch- Honorable mentions: Team Fortress 2

Overwatch’s charming cast of playable heroes inspire undying fealty in their legions of fervent fans- and it’s easily to find why. The visual design of this lavish and slickly presented competitive shooter is as stylish as its gameplay is tactical and engaging.

It might’ve been a bit light on content when it first made shelves, but Acti-Blizz’s ongoing supporting has consistently refreshed the competitive meta with tweaks and new heroes. There’s something for everyone the roster, with strong heroes in every architype- from twitch-heavy offensive characters like cyborg-ninja Genji, to slower-paced, defensively minded characters like the mounted gun Omnic Bastion.

Recently Blizzard has doubled down on Overwatch’s esports potential with the multimillion dollar Overwatch League, where teams representing cities from around the world compete for a huge award pond.

Papers, Please- Honorable mentions: Her Story

Papers, Please starts off simple- check the documents, stamp them or reject them- and get very hard very, very quickly. It’s not just the increasingly finicky regulations handed down by your government overlords and the constantly ticking clock; the misery of applicants and the escalating political tension stimulates your role as a border guard feel like a penance. Of course, it pays the bills- if and only if you do a good enough job.

Channeling a kind of generic Cold War East European flavour, Papers, Please isn’t really about any specific place or time so much as it is about depressingly universal themes of hope, hopelessnes, bureaucracy and everyday people whose lives are just grist in its mill.

PayDay 2- Honorable mentions: Hotline Miami

Oh sure it came out on consoles, including current-gen, but the PC version is simply the best PayDay 2 experience. Not to get all Master Race on you, but PC multiplayer aficionados are generally better equipped to deal with the kind of gameplay PayDay 2 fosters and often demands- leadership, teamwork, communication and patience, as opposed to racing to get the most kills.

Overkill Software has kept up support with new content and patches for PayDay 2 over the years, and you are able to even play the game wholly in VR. There’s always something new to find and collect, and the nature of the game means even running the same missions repeatedly can have wildly different results. Get a crew together, example the joint, and go for the loot.

Pillar of Eternity- Honorable mentions: Planetscape Torment, Wasteland 2

Once again, imagine if this were a list of the best PC games of all time. Clearly it would not be complete without a bunch of Infinity Engine games like Baldur’s Gate and Planescape Torment , not to mention other classic CRPGs like Fallout. In the absence of these vintage treasures we offer Pillars of Eternity, a love letter to a golden age of PC RPGs, crowdfunded to be the successor fans wanted even if they did have to wait ten years for it.

Pillars of Eternity is remarkably faithful to the formula, with a huge casting of diverse, complex characters, robust customisation and oodles of compelling content. If you’ve never tried a classic CRPG it may not be the very best basic starting point, but if you’re even partly interested you’ll find plenty to love.

It’s sequel, Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, is a brilliant game too- and well worth the investment if you enjoyed the first.

Portal 2- Honorable mentions: The Witness, SUPERHOT

Portal 2 is a victory of clever design and exceptional world-building, managing to make the player feel like they’re ingeniously breaking the game at every turn, when that was the correct solution all along.

It’s not just top-quality puzzles that constructs Portal 2 stand out from the crowd though- there are plenty of laughs from Ellen McLain’s star turn as GlaDOS, writer of The Office and Extras Stephen Merchant as Wheatley, and the lovably stupid turrets.

Project Cars 2- Honorable mentions: DIRT Rally, Assetto Corsa

When you think of the lackluster recent efforts from once great racing series, it’s brilliant to ensure new names lining up at the grid. Project Cars 2 is a strong racing sim that offers a solid driving experience, great visuals, and tons of licensed supercars to push to the limit.

Racing fans are notoriously hard to please, but there are some growls that have to be aired. The aggressive AI is sometimes difficult to deal with and penalties can feel unjust, while some players report issues with graphical stuttering. If you can get things tuned how you like them though, Project Cars genuinely hits the place.

PUBG- Honorable mentions: H1Z1 Battle Royale

Though the fervour around PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds may have cooled somewhat in recent months, it was better provides one of the tensest competitive shooting experiences around.

With a stronger focus on realistic weapons and environments than it’s cousin, Fortnite, PUBG laid the groundwork for the battle royale genre to take the world by storm. Not merely does it require intense concentration to hold your nerve as you stalk the large surroundings in search of unsuspecting prey, but the bursts of explosive activity require deadly precision and lightning-fast twitch skills.

It’s still buggy and rough, but there’s tons of fun left to be had.

Rainbow Six Siege- Honorable mentions: Insurgency

When it first released to decent reviews, we don’t believe anyone expected Rainbow Six Siege to have the sheer staying power it’s demonstrated since it dropped in 2015.

Now in its third year of consistent content updates, Six Siege offers something different in the competitive shooter space. There’s less emphasis on all-out fragging, in favour of coordinated team maneuvers in tight, destructible environments. Get used to constantly evaluating the bullet-repellant abilities of every surface around you- and try not to let the habit bleed into your everyday life.

You choose from nearly 40 Operators- each with their own kit and special abilities- and fighting in various categories of small squad game modes. Year Three kicked off with Operation Chimera, which added a new PvE horde mode where you fight infected zombie-ish animals.

SOMA- Honorable mentions: Outlast

Back when YouTubers only attained hundreds of thousands instead of millions of dollars, squealing at jump-scares was in vogue and Frictional Games’ Amnesia: The Dark Descent was many content creator’s go-to. But while it won popularity for its noisier moments, what Amnesia did better than pretty much anything else was create a creeping gothic ambience that dripped tension and menace- so that when something did inevitably emerge from the dark “youre ever” good and ready to shit your gasps.

Five years later, with a few lessons learnt and a new sci-fi setting, Frictional re-emerged with SOMA, an exceptionally immersive and unsetting experience that stays with you far past the game’s near ten-hour runtime.

SOMA improves on everything that stimulated Frictional’s back catalogue great, as well as being mechanically tighter too. As you explore the underwater PATHOS-II research facility, solve light puzzles, and investigate the mystery of your surroundings, things start to get weirder and weirder before the tension reaches its crescendo at the game’s disturbing conclusion.

Starcraft 2- Honorable mentions: Warhammer 40 K Dawn of War 3

The StarCraft franchise was essential to the growth of the eSports scene. Shooters have always been important, and MOBAs have risen to prominence these days, but the tens of millions of dollars handed out at prizes at tournaments today would never have passed without Starcraft. What says eSports more than a packed arena of cheering Korean fans threatening to Zerg Rush their heroes on the stage?

Starcraft 2 is the template that most modern competitive RTSs follow, and has earnt the reverence that it’s afforded in the gaming community.

Stardew Valley- Honorable mentions: Slime Rancher, Farming Simulator 17

Stardew Valley is simply the best farming sim around. While it might not be the most realistic, or the most visually impressive, Stardew Valley more than induces up for those working deficits with exceptional charm and oodles of magical moments.

The game centres around the player’s revival of their grandfather’s dilapidated old farm, raising livestock, sowing crops and making food to sell at marketplace. There’s also a number of light RPG parts where you can fight through dungeons filled with ogres, craft items and forge relationships- some of them romantic- with the townsfolk in surrounding villages.

Developed almost single-handedly by designer and programmer Eric ” ConcernedApe ” Barone, Stardew Valley shows how a clear vision exacted by a lean team can produce something that’s severely special.

Sunless Sea- Honorable mentions: Don’t Starve

“Eat your crew” is a hell of a tagline, and you will eat them, at the least once. This unusual rogue-like is set in the same fascinating universe as browser-based escapade Fallen London, but in addition to the darkly beautiful fiction this time there’s a stressfully difficult survival and exploration game to conquer as well.

Roaming the Sunless Sea in silence as your food and fuel ticking ever downwards, eyes and ears straining for any sign of ogres or pirates, hoping to find a port in need of whatever bizarre cargo you’re carrying – it’s a unique and challenging experience. Survive long enough to pass a trait to your successor and begin constructing a heritage of captains; Sunless Sea is not a game to be conquered in a single lifetime.

The sequel, Sunless Skies, is currently out in Early Access, but due a full release soon.

The Forest- Honorable mentions: Ark, Dying Light

Early Access survival-crafting games were all the rage in 2014, but while some remain in a perpetual state of beta, others are actually coming out as full releases and starting to look properly good.

The Forest situateds itself apart from its contemporaries by being both a fulfill resource-gatherer and spoopy as flippin’ heck. You find, the wooded peninsula that your player-character determines themselves on isn’t as idyllic as it first seems. Infesting the woodland and network of subterranean caves is an intelligent society of cannibalistic mutants that grow more twisted and freaky the deeper you delve.

During the working day- while the mutants are less aggressive – you have to stockpile your resources and craft a fortified base, because come nightfall you’re going to need everything you are able to lay hands on to fend off the ravenous beasties.

The Stanley Parable- Honorable mentions: The Beginner’s Guide, Firewatch

Nominally a game with a very straight forward if surreal story line and a clever narration gimmick, The Stanley Parable only opens up for those who wilfully play with it. While many games expend a great deal of effort ensuring the player knows they have to go from A to B and trying to prevent them doing anything else, The Stanley Parable openly engages with the tropes of modern story-driven gameplay by rewarding you for doing the things a few gamers will always do: disobey. Wander off. Fiddle. Wall hack.

In this sense, The Stanley Parable is one of the very few gaming experiences with a narrative to tell and respect for its players as more than a passive vehicle for the creator’s artistic vision. Also, it is hilarious.

The Witcher 3- Honorable mentions: FF 15

Few games are lauded with as much ardor as The Witcher 3, and it truly deserves every plaudit. This is the high-watermark for character-lead RPGs, constantly telling richly layered and engrossing tales across its main quest, side missions and narrative DLC.

The Witcher 3 follows Geralt of Rivia throughout the Northern Kingdoms on parallel quests to find Emperor Emhyr var Emreis’ daughter, Ciri, and solve the mystery of The Wild Hunt.

Geralt’s world is densely populated with Monster Hunts, hidden rich, and secrets to uncover, entailing you are able to spend well over 100 hours finding it all- as well as mastering the deep potions and crafting mechanics and combat ability tree.

The DLC packs are some of the best around too, meaningfully upgrading the core experience with even more quests to devour and areas to explore.

Titanfall 2- Honorable mentions: Battlefield 1

In 2010, some of the top brass behind the world-conquering Call of Duty franchise left Infinity Ward to find their own studio: Respawn Entertainment. After a spluttering start with the multiplayer-only Titanfall, they found their feet- critically at the least- with the brilliant Titanfall 2.

By blending the same frantic action and eye-bulging set pieces that stimulated Modern Warfare’s campaign live so long in the memory with an affecting buddy-movie storyline, Respawn crafted one of the best shooter campaigns in years.

It might not be the longest, but is often on sale for cheap.

Total War Warhammer 2- Honorable mentions: Warhammer: Vermintide 2

For years, Creative Assembly has been king of the historical strategy war game. With Total War Warhammer 2 they’ve brought the same ingenuity and depth to the table, just this time you’ve get Lizardmen instead of Carolingians. And when is anything not improved by the addition of Lizardmen?

Owning the first Total War Warhammer as well as the second is pretty much a necessity, since it unlocks a ton of content in this more recent game, but it’s worth it for the life-consumingly awesome campaign mode where you take part in an epic battle to control the Great Vortex.

Undertale- Honorable mentions: Kentucky Route Zero

The breakout indie hitting of the last few years, Undertale won hearts the world over by perfecting the delicate balance of in-joky, referential witticism without overdoing it.

Developed virtually single-handedly by inventor Toby Fox, it’s not just the story that induces Undertale special, but also the variety of its combat mechanics and puzzles. It might look like a typical retro JRPG throwback, but there’s a lot more going on than first satisfies the eye.

There’s also an entertaining meta-narrative that gives you a properly compelling reason to run two or three different play-throughs, and memorable soundtrack that blends classic game sounds with haunting piano and guitar.

West of Loathing- Honorable mentions: Jazzpunk

Back in the working day, flash adventure games were awesome. They might not have been the most graphically impressive, but they more than made up for it with sharp humour and chuckles-a-plenty.

West of Loathing is like the best flash comedy-RPG you’ve ever played- full of silly jokes, clever puzzles, and a simple combat system that’s fun without doing anything too fancy. Every area across the stick-figure Wild West has the potential for chuckles, and- like the best cowboy gunslingers- the jokes reached more than they miss.

What Remains of Edith Finch- Honorable mentions: The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Gone Home

Modern narrative adventure games- sometimes pejoratively referred to as” walking simulators”- can often prioritise style over substance and start to crumble under their own pretence. What Remains of Edith Finch however, is a exceptional journey through the lives of the Finch family, as told through a series of varied and delightful vignettes.

One minute you’re exploring the eerie rooms of the Finch household, then you’re flying through the air as an owl, or swimming as a shark in the ocean. The narrative is still at the center of its own experience, but the new levels of interactivity and inventive storytelling that developer Giant Sparrow has managed to craft into What Remains of Edith Finch make it a real standout.

World of Tanks- Honorable mentions: World of Warships

A former VG24/ 7 editor once called World of Tanks ” niche” on Twitter and was wailed at for days. The competitive online shooter has a huge and devoted playerbase from all over the world, because, it is about to change, the desire to get in a tank and blow up someone else’s tank is quite universal.

If you get really into it, World of Tanks can be incredibly expensive. There’s a massive variety of premium tanks available for buy, and its premium model in general is particularly aggressive. However, the glacial firing rates of your hulking war machines make for something truly unique in the online shooter space, forcing players to stance themselves strategically and overcome foes tactically rather than with brute force.

On PC, the piece de resistance is World of Tanks’ recent 1.0 update. By some miracle Wargaming kept the same minimum requirements while entirely overhauling the game’s graphics engine to bring it in line with current gen gaming. You can run World of Tanks on a potato too, so it’s good for those of us that aren’t blessed with infinite coffers.

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth- Honorable mentions: Guild Wars 2

There’s life in the old girl yet. While it might not be at its pre-Cataclysm peak, World of Warcraft continues to be played by millions of subscribers around the globe.

Endlessly imitated, WoW streamlined and standardised the blueprint for a modern MMO with its rich lore, differed action-RPG gameplay and deep roster of high-level and endgame activities. As a new player, the sheer quantity of content to slog through is a daunting proposition- especially when you’re forking out $15 a month for the privilege- but there’s a reason this game is venerated above all others.

The upcoming expansion, World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth, introduces four new races to the mix, raises the level cap to 120, as well as adding a host of new dungeons and raids including the golden city of Atal’Dazar.

XCOM 2- Honorable mentions: Templar Battleforce

PC has always been the home of turn-based tactics, and there are few games out there that do the genre better than XCOM 2. Set 20 years after the first XCOM reboot, Enemy Unknown, XCOM 2 freshens up the formula with a higher tempo to the gameplay and new mechanics like the concealing phase, which lets you carry out covert missions while you remain undetected.

XCOM 2 is a tough game, and it can feel a little capricious when your highly-trained super soldiers miss their target from point blank range, but it’s that moreish difficulty that keeps you coming back for time and again.

Your soldiers are vastly customisable, so it’s great fun to give your squad their own panache and personality- or recreate your favourite characters from other games. The only drawback is that it’s all the more heartbreaking when their head is inevitably squished by a hostile foreigner.

Battlefield 5- honest mention

The latest title from DICE assures us return to WW2 for some truly innovative and exciting FPS action. While items like the Union Jack gas mask might be a bit tone deaf, Battlefield 5 captures the camaraderie described by those who survived through the war, whilst giving you a taste of the horrors that would have ensued on the battlefield. War is hell, after all.

You can play the single-player War Stories that take you across different theatres of war or leap straight-out into its multiplayer, with an emphasis on tactics and positioning over twitch skills and a keen focus on team-playing and support classes.

Evergreen list

The best games of each platform

Best 3DS games Best PS4 games Best Xbox One games Best PC games Best Nintendo Switch games Best free Steam games Best Epic Game Store games Best free PS4 and Xbox One games Best PS4 exclusives

Best of genre

Best 3DS games Best PS4 games Best Xbox One games Best PC games Best Nintendo Switch games Best free Steam games Best Epic Game Store games Best free PS4 and Xbox One games Best PS4 exclusives

Best of series and misc

Best Witcher 3 mods Best games of 2018 Best Minecraft skins Best Final Fantasy games Best Metal Gear Solid games Best Minecraft seeds Best apolitical games Most riling things in video games Best Mario games Best Skyrim mods on PS4 and Xbox One

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