I've not had this much fun with any Minecraft style game for a while now, and the clever design of Portal Knights in terms of how it offers the adventure keeps me jumping back in. I take a break now and then to add a bit more to my home area, craft a few more bits of equipment when I have my resources and look to improving my storage at my home workshop. When a game can draw you in like this and the minutes turn into hours, you know you've got a good game with a solid foundation that the developers keep on building atop of. I've seen Portal Knights transform from the PC original build to where it is today, and honestly, I can't wait to see what they do next!
Rockstar have pushed out the boat in terms of every single system at play in this game, from the amazing world itself - which is one of the best looking games, with some of the best looking effects and atmospherics, to the level of detail on the characters and physics simulation for clothing and other materials. This is what I really call a Next-Gen game, and it pushes the bar so high it's going to take a while for the rest of the industry to catch up to this one. The AI is fantastic, for every single entity in the game. From the townsfolk, to the gunslingers, gangs, animals, and tiniest critter -- it's all working madly to bring this world to life. Enemies won't rush at you blindly, unless they think you can be flanked, or that's how they're feeling in terms of the fight. Mostly though, they'll use cover. Wolves will hunt in packs, cougars are ambush predators and they hit and run...
Prey is a great game, one of the classic science fiction games that combines thoughtful design with kick-ass exploration and player choice -- you don't want to miss this one, just watch out for the photocopier -- I thought I saw it move!
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun is a great game, one that has a ton of replay value and allows you to experiment with various ways to achieve your mission objectives. If you're a fan of Commandos from the old days, then this game will bring that back with a modern gameplay twist.
Dishonored 2 is great, it manages to keep to the style of the first game, improve on it no end and provides a superb playground for stealth or out and out bloodletting.
Gears of War 4 is an excellent game. Not only is it a fine looking title, but it plays smoothly and has a rock-solid frame-rate. The suite of multiplayer modes and the new Horde Mode are the icing on the Chainsaw Cake.
Stardew Valley is a brilliant game, fun, engaging and packed with things to see and do. The gameplay loop is satisfying and one hour and easily turn into six when you play it.
DD:DA HD is a great game made even better by the high res texture packs and tweaks. It is a game that everyone who loves Dark Souls and Action-RPGs needs to play at least once, or twice, or forever. No other game quite presents dragons like this one either!
The Surge is a refreshing take on the *Souls formula, it joins Nioh in that regard and forges its own path towards something quite unique and extremely interesting -- it's a definite must-own game for *Souls fans and could entice new players with its gritty sci-fi setting.
Darkest Dungeon is a beautifully atmospheric side-on animated hack and slash, dungeon crawler that lets you assemble a party of four stalwart heroes. You begin your journey in a Hamlet that you can eventually restore and build-up to accommodate new buildings and new features to allow you to survive that much longer. Here you'll recruit your heroes from a roster in the Stage Coach, which initially starts out pretty thin with only a few members and low-rank heroes to choose from.
Shadow of Mordor is an excellent game that is elevated by the Nemesis System and its many other features working together. It's a great tale in Middle Earth that is faithful to the concepts of Tolkien's world and echoes the tragedy of the likes of Hamlet and Macbeth. I highly recommend this game on new-gen platforms and PC where you can truly appreciate the Nemesis System and open world in all its hi-def epic nature.