59
PARADISE
KILLER
RELEASED 2020 | LAST POSITION NewMorgan: Paradise Killer takes the most
classically compelling premise in literary
history (there’s been a murder, you have
to solve it) and places it in one of the
strangest, most interesting videogame
worlds I’ve ever explored. Piecing
together timelines and motives while
interrogating characters named Doctor
Doom Jazz or Lydia Day Break never
gets old. It’s a visual novel for people
that don’t think they’d be into visual
novels. A true sleeper hit.SESSION
RELEASED 2019 | LAST POSITION 55Nat: Tony Hawk might’ve introduced me
to skateboarding, but Session understands
why I’ve come to love it. There are no time
limits and no high scores: just you, your
board, and an urban sandbox to destroy.
Session manages to make the simple
act of rolling around on your skateboard
feel incredible. Controls can be tweaked to
be as easy or tough as possible, and rare
that a game can make the humble ollie feel
satisfying. Challenges that’d be trivial in
THPS become hour-long battles to nail a
nollie heelflip into a lipslide off the sidewalk.
Admittedly, Session is still extremely
work-in-progress. Character models are a
bit janky, animations bug out, and the
physics are often hilariously broken. But
each new update brings a new way to
express your skating style, whether it’s
the introduction of freestyle primo and
casper tricks, or a new city block featuring
iconic skate spots.
James: Normally, I’d hold back on
recommending an Early Access game,
but Session’s impressive growth and
momentum easily make up for the jank.
It’s already had a total physics overhaul,
and an animation refresh is on the way.
New trick systems and levels show up
every couple of months, and with publisher
Nacon on board, we might see Session
pick up even more speed on the way to 1.0.61
56
GENSHIN
IMPACT
RELEASED 2020 | LAST POSITION NewSteven: Since its launch,
Genshin Impact has grown
in a way no MMO ever
could. Player housing, new
territories, and a bunch of
new characters – it’s crazy
how good this free game is.
Morgan: Technically free.
Its gacha money-making
tactics were overbearing
enough to turn me off.
Steven: You only have to
spend the money if you
want to.57
GRAND THEFT
AUTO V
RELEASED 2015 | LAST POSITION 50Wes: The online heists are
still some of the most
intricate co-op gaming you
can do today. Rockstar’s
online infrastructure is
terrible, though.
Morgan: Yep, finally
completing GTA O n l i n e’s
big Doomsday heist will
go down in the history
books of my friend group.
Unfortunately, so will all the
hackers and griefers who
tried to ruin our fun.58
CHIVALRY 2
RELEASED 2021 | LAST POSITION NewFraser: A game that lets
you chop off someone’s
limbs, pick them up, and
then use them to beat
someone else to death- all while you’re
screaming, they’re
screaming, everyone just
won’t stop screaming.
They’re really screams of
joy, though, because this
multiplayer medieval
combat romp is just so
much damn fun.
60
LOOP
HERORELEASED 2021 | LAST POSITION New
Harry: Don’t be put off by the aesthetic,
this is one of the most accessible games
I’ve played in 2021. It’s nostalgic style
belies an absorbing adventure that’s
wonderfully simple to start, but brutal to
master. You decide the difficulty of your
knight’s journey by adding monster tiles
for more gear and resources, or helpful
boons, colouring in the blackness with
often surprising results. Take your
resources or try for one more loop? For
much of 2021 I’ve struggled to choose.
The Top 100
FE ATURE