Andrew Zhou

While backlash to recent decisions from extraction shooter has caused some players to jump ship, even popular alternatives have pressing issues of their own. Released in 2017,, developed by Battlestate Games, was one of the original pioneers of the popular PvPvE extraction shooter genre – which continues to grow with big names like Bungie reviving its series in the space – and swiftly gained popularity for its unique gameplay and unforgiving mechanics. Despite several controversial decisions and ongoing problems, however, the game has mostly managed to retain its relative popularity.

While fans of the Soulslike genre await the release of 's DLC in June, there are plenty of other games in the genre to tide them over, including indie Soulslike , available on Xbox Game Pass. Developed by Aggro Crab, is a somewhat lighter take on the Souslike genre, with more customizable difficulty options and a more overtly humorous tone than most other games in the genre.

Although the impending departure of from PlayStation Plus is unwelcome news for subscribers, there might be a silver lining for more general fans of the series. Originally released for the PS4 in 2017, very quickly became one of the most popular games on the console, enough that it later received a sequel,, and was ported to PC in 2020. Later on, the game would become part of Sony's ongoing subscription service, PS Plus, allowing more PlayStation owners to play it at a reduced cost.

As the series enjoys renewed interest and popularity across all its games, largely thanks to the breakout success of the TV series, it could be the perfect time for the series to return to its classic style of gameplay. Having made the shift from the series' classic style in the transition from to, modern games have largely found success — but the popularity of certain other games on the market could show demand for the old way as well.

Despite the massive, unexpected success of , the game's overwhelming popularity and fast-paced content release schedule might be turning into a double-edged sword. A sequel to the less-known developed by Arrowhead Games Studios, previously best known for their series, exploded in popularity shortly after its release, taking the industry — and the developers themselves — by surprise. Since then, the game has managed to maintain a large and active playerbase to participate in its ongoing galactic war, but some of the game's bigger issues might be falling by the wayside.

With the first season of the TV show wrapped up, it's a good time to brush up on the story of . Considered by a sizable contingent of fans to be the best of the modern games, has garnered considerable praise for its approach to the factions, history, and gameplay of the series and for, in some opinions, striking a good balance between the classic, isometric games and their first-person shooter sequels.

With the release of 's second DLC expansion,, the game received all of its planned content — but newer players may not get to experience the DLC until significantly later portions of the game. As a more story-oriented package than 's previous DLC, focuses heavily on under-explored aspects of the original game's story and lore, centering primarily around the mysteries of Leviathan, the only Eikon to be mentioned, but not seen, during the base game's main story.

Following 's 1.6 patch, which has made several major additions to the game, players have begun to discover hidden features and interactions that weren't specified in the update's patch notes. Among the major additions introduced by the patch, which included several new crops, seasonal outfits for NPCs, expanded multiplayer, and a number of visual improvements, players have begun to discover some less obvious additions — including one trick that could significantly speed up in-game travel times.

Although thefranchise has found plenty of success with its Bethesda-developed entries, it could be exactly the right time for a sequel to . A spinoff game that followed after the success of, still holds a unique place in the series, offering a setting and story that hasn't been replicated within the universe ever since, and a devoted subsection of fans still see it as the best game that the series has to offer.

After players beat with any ending, the main menu will present the opportunity to restart the playthrough with the same character, retaining most items and forms of progression. As with most games that have a new game plus system, however, not everything carries over, and players may want to carefully consider completing any unfinished content in the base game before starting a new playthrough. Especially in the case of, the game's open-world nature and limited fast travel systems could complicate starting a new game plus playthrough.

Though might not be set to receive additional content in the future, developer Larian Studios has continued to fix many of the game's most pressing glitches and bugs — including those relating to persistent issues with major characters like Lae'zel and Nightsong — with continuous updates, patches, and hotfixes. Despite being one of the biggest games released in 2023, and a winner of many game of the year awards, has also been notoriously riddled with bugs since its release, as is usually the case with most large scale RPGs (and especially systems-heavy CRPGs).

Although has many mechanics that make it uniquely difficult compared to other open-world RPGs, the obscure and deadly Dragonsplague is possibly the game's most punishing mechanic. Released 12 years after the original, the sequel features an all-new map and greatly expanded systems, but with a new, wider audience, some of the game's new or returning mechanics have proven to be somewhat controversial.

Although the general playerbase of has picked up a number of important victories in the ongoing Galactic War, the newest Major Order could prove to be an all but impossible task. Serving as the main system that pushes the ongoing narrative of forwards, the Galactic War measures the playerbase's collective efforts on multiple fronts of a galaxy-spanning conflict, with Major Orders representing major pushes against one enemy faction.

As Xbox Game Passcontinues to add new games to its library, including major releases from prior years like and, the service is scheduled to receive one of 2023's biggest games. Game Pass regularly rotates games in and out of its library, with some new titles playable on launch day, and others being added on a monthly basis. However, many games in the Game Pass catalog don't stick around forever, and will eventually be rotated out, so it's best for subscribers to play the games they're interested in as soon as possible.

For players having trouble with the overbearing difficulty of 's hardest operations, the game's newest booster could offer an easy solution. As part of 's ongoing battle pass system, the recently added Cutting Edge Warbond has introduced several new weapons, armor pieces, and cosmetics to the game — and, while not every new piece of equipment has proven to be effective in every situation, the Warbond does hold some potent options for high-difficulty missions.

Despite splitting its galactic war relatively evenly across multiple factions, hasn't managed to maintain an equal divide between the Terminid and Automaton fronts, with the playerbase generally favoring the Terminids. As the galactic war of progresses, however, with the potential for new factions to be added, there are some potential ways to alleviate the relative unpopularity of fighting automatons — that is, if the disparity between them is seen as an issue worth trying to solve.

Further expanding its impressive catalog of games, Xbox Game Passwill be adding one of 2024's most anticipated RPGs to its lineup in April. With new games being added to the service each month, Game Pass boasts a consistently expanding library, sometimes even including major titles immediately upon their release, and while some games only stay for a limited time, the catalog generally gains more than it loses.

Of the many possible points of interest that players can find in , one secondary objective in particular offers potentially the most value, making it an absolute priority for any squad that wants to gain as many rewards as possible. Clearing side objectives and destroying enemy camps in can be vital to successfully completing missions and speeding up the resource grind, as each additional objective completed can offer both extra end-of-mission rewards and powerful field benefits.

As a major part of 's ongoing Galactic War, Major Orders task the entire playerbase with defending or liberating certain planets, sometimes representing significant milestones in the game's overarching narrative. However, with how the mechanics of liberating planets function, Major Orders can sometimes be unexpectedly difficult to complete, even with the majority of the game's active players focusing on contributing to the war effort. Alongside some other notable factors, like the involvement of a GM overlooking the overall progress and advancement of the war, Major Orders can pose a tougher challenge than players might expect.

Although is, for the most part, a game that's easy to learn in terms of moment-to-moment gameplay, the exact workings of the galaxy-spanning war for liberation that the game centers its overarching progression around can be a little harder to intuit. Pitting players against (at the moment) two different factions on separate fronts of an unending war, centers much of its overarching narrative and gameplay progression around liberating and occasionally defending planets from Terminids and Automatons, with Major Orders designating specific objectives for the entire playerbase to achieve over periods of time.

Although has a wide variety of items, not all of them will be vital parts of a playthrough, but it can often be hard to know what to hold onto. Ingots and gems are common finds in, which may set up the expectation that they'll be used in some kind of crafting system, either through the game's own Combine function or through one of the many blacksmith NPCs such as Dammon. Players who do hold onto these items, however, will inevitably end up having to contend with a cluttered inventory and carry weight restrictions.

Although the playerbase of has developed a meta, pinning down the game's best weapons and Stratagems, a new update from developer Arrowhead Game Studios promises to shake up the game's existing options in a future patch. With the game's first few updates having been almost totally devoted to fixing bugs and server issues, 's gameplay has yet to see any significant updates, although additions like new Stratagems and weapons have been teased by the developers. With the game's server issues mostly fixed, however, Arrowhead seems to be gearing up for a more gameplay-focused update.

Although has a wide variety of devastating Stratagems for players to call down on their enemies (or their fellow Helldivers), one tool in particular stands out, especially against the more heavily-armored Automaton faction. As gets further from its somewhat troubled, but wildly successful initial release, players have started to pin down a sort of meta for the game, finding which weapons, Stratagems, and armor are the most effective for any given situation. Even among the game's best tools, however, one specific Stratagem stands out, especially at higher difficulties.

With (currently) two distinct factions spanning several planets at a time, has plenty of enemies to fight, some of which require specialized strategies or weapons, and all of which can pose a deadly threat if taken too lightly. Among the game's roster of enemies, however, a select few particularly stand out for being difficult to deal with and, especially on higher difficulties, requiring good squad coordination and well-put-together loadouts.

Although updates for continue to make improvements to the game, one issue with the game's multiplayer still has yet to be addressed. Despite building a good reputation for its deep RPG gameplay, ambitiously-sized world, and reactivity to player choice, has been plagued by numerous bugs and glitches since launch, and although many of the game's most major issues have been fixed by post-launch updates, some have persisted.

Despite the generally positive reception of , some aspects of the game's monetization have drawn accusations of being pay-to-win, on top of the game's standard $40 price tag. Like many other online service games aiming for continuous support and updates, includes a number of microtransactions that can grant access to additional in-game items. Unlike most other games of its type, however, offers items that can have tangible gameplay effects, as opposed to just selling extra cosmetics.

Although rumors regarding a successor console to the Nintendo Switchhave become more common as the Switch presumably nears the end of its lifespan, the latest potential leaks indicate that a prospective Switch 2 launch could be significantly later than fans might expect or want. Released in 2017, the Switch has been a massive success for Nintendo, and a strong recovery from its less successful predecessor, the Wii U. As the Switch approaches the start of its eighth year as Nintendo's main console, however, expectations are growing for the rumored release of the company's next major gaming device.

While the gameplay of mostly lends itself towards straightforwardly shooting, bombarding, or otherwise directing harm toward enemies (and often squadmates), the game still has room for plenty of creative strategies, including some that involve friendly fire that's between enemies instead of players. Though the game differs from the original 2015 in perspective, being third-person instead of isometric, it still retains the original game's chaotic, explosive gameplay and its tendency to create situations where players will call down orbital strikes on each other's heads — accidentally or otherwise.

Following an explosion in popularity and a rocky launch, a new patch for promises to address many of the game's most pressing technical issues. As a relatively unexpected sequel to the original, which released in 2015, makes several notable changes, the most significant of which is the switch from the original game's isometric, top-down point of view to a third-person perspective.Despite its status as a sequel to a relatively lesser-known game from almost nine years ago, however, has seen a very successful launch, quickly becoming Sony's best launch on Steam.

Despite (or partially because of) a massively successful launch, has still been subject to many of the same problems that other recent online multiplayer launches have faced, with unreliable matchmaking, overloaded servers, and a host of technical issues that can hold the game back by a significant amount. Developed by Arrowhead Game Studios, who have previously developed the first game and the original 2015, is a strong departure from studios' previous focus on isometric, top-down games — although it still retains a strong tendency towards friendly fire.

Although the DLC expansions for , and, have released to generally positive reception, they're still notably missing a major feature from the DLC of the previous generation. As the second generation to expand through the release of DLC, rather than a third version along the lines of or, have seemingly solidified DLC expansions as the late-generation approach to releasing more content as the franchise moves forward. However, the change hasn't made the franchise any better at retaining its features.

Despite drawing comparisons to, the core gameplay of centers more heavily around building bases than battling creatures — which unfortunately means that moving bases, or building multiple bases, can be a tedious and time-consuming task. Luckily, the game has built-in features to mitigate the need for multiple bases and rebuilding structures, which can make moving an already-built base much easier than simply rebuilding it from scratch, or having to manage multiple locations in different parts of the world.

As 2024 kicks off with a variety of new game announcements,the newest game in the yearly series, , has also been revealed, along with a set release date, three cover superstars, and several modes that will be present in the game. Launching with three different editions, the most recent iteration of the series promises to let players relive the extensive history of the WWE and will include a variety of famous wrestlers, old and new, to play as and against.

Three years after it was first teased by Bethesda Softworks, , developed by Machine Games(makers of the modern series), has had a full reveal at the 2024 Developer_Direct from Xbox, revealing many of the game's major characters. As a game set in the same continuity as the movies, includes a number of returning characters, but also includes some additions that are completely new to the game.

Starring a new cast of characters, tells an all-new story, with an ending that leaves the game open to further sequels. The first major entry in the franchise since the 2010 release of, takes the form of an action-heavy metroidvania with a narrative centered around protagonist Sargon's quest to rescue the kidnapped Prince Ghassan from the old city of Mount Qaf, which is where the game mainly takes place. While the story is mostly straightforwardly told, there are a few significant twists.

Although news regarding the upcoming DLC,, has been scarce, a behind-the-scenes addition to the game could indicate that it'll be releasing sooner rather than later in 2024. Similar to the pre-launch cycle for the game itself, the advertising for has been practically nonexistent outside its announcement, which has driven a fair amount of speculation that more concrete trailers for the DLC would appear at various gaming events near the end of 2023.

Although horror isn't the biggest or most prolific genre in gaming, 2024 is still looking to bring some major releases within the genre, with highly anticipated titles like and the remake of set to launch this year. Following the well-received horror remakes and sequels of 2023, which included games like,, and, 2024 is set to see the release of smaller original titles along the lines of and, with genres ranging from more action-oriented survival horror titles to more exploration or text-based games.