13 best PC games (September 2022)
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PC gaming has always been about pushing technological boundaries. It’s the platform video games were born on, and it’s played host to dozens of genres that are still popular today — some of which are still barely playable without a mouse and keyboard.
As the world of console gaming has caught up with that of PC games from a technical perspective, the identity of a “PC game” has been muddied. It’s helped make more types of games available to more players, which is a net positive. But it’s also created a burning question: What makes a “PC game” in 2022?
To answer that question — or rather, to show how superfluous that question has become — the Polygon staff has compiled a list of the games that define the exciting, amorphous experience of playing games on PC in 2022. Some of these are available on other platforms, and some are just as good with a controller as a mouse and keyboard. Meanwhile, if you’re one of the lucky ones who has gotten their hands on Valve’s handheld, we have a separate list for the best games on Steam Deck.
Without further ado, here are the 13 best PC games you can download on your PC today.
[Ed. note: This list was last updated on Sept. 22. It will be updated as new and noteworthy games come to PC.]
Destiny 2
Image: Bungie
Destiny 2 combines a typical loot-based shooter with Bungie’s best-in-class gunplay, and the result is one of the greatest MMOs on the market.
The Destiny franchise has had some rough patches, and was met with mixed reception at its initial launch. But in the eight years that it’s existed, Bungie has drastically improved the formula via multiple expansions and a complete sequel. Now, the studio has one of the most well-supported live-service games in 2022.
Every few months, Destiny 2 gets a new season or expansion, adding missions, activities, and endgame content like raids.
Each of these different activities then provides its own unique rewards, creating an endless loop of grinding new activities for new weapons, which you’ll then use to grind the next season’s content. What makes that fun and not tedious, however, is Bungie’s extremely smooth gameplay, which can remain fun thousands of hours and nearly a full decade later.
Remarkably, Destiny 2 is only getting better. 2022 not only saw the series’ best expansion yet, but it also delivered an excellent story and added new weapons the likes of which players have never seen. In a world filled with hobby games that you can play for years without stopping — especially on PC — Destiny 2 is worth all the time you’re willing to put into it.
Destiny 2 is available on Windows PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.
Dwarf Fortress
The new, more legible version of Dwarf Fortress, coming to Steam sometime soonImage: Bay 12 Games/Kitfox Games
If you’re ever in the mood to play god, you can do a lot worse than playing Dwarf Fortress.
As the title might suggest, this is a simulation/management game about building, optimizing, overseeing, and, accidentally or not, destroying a fortress full of dwarves. What the title doesn’t tell you is that you’ll have to consider the region’s soil type, elevation, and weather patterns. You’ll also have to take the attributes of each of your seven starting dwarves into account — their skill sets, physical characteristics, and mental dispositions. After beginning the construction and management in each new randomly generated world, you set about growing your colony and observing, as any number of unforeseen factors can go well or very, very wrong.
As explored in this excellent Eurogamer video by Chris Bratt (who went on to found People Make Games), Dwarf Fortress is so nuanced and complex that a colony’s cats have been known to die en masse because they had walked through the puke of drunken dwarves, proceeded to lick their paws clean, and promptly died. The comments on this video are full of similar instances of emergent simulation (ranging from disturbing to hilarious) and they showcase how deep, absurd, and wonderful Dwarf Fortress has the potential to get during any given playthrough.
Playing Dwarf Fortress may not turn you into the most benevolent god — the dwarves have free will, after all — but you’ll almost never get bored. —Mike Mahardy
Dwarf Fortress is available on Windows PC, Mac, and Linux via the Bay 12 Games website, with a new version coming soon to Steam.
Elite Dangerous
Image: Frontier Developments
Elite Dangerous may be old, but she’s got it where it counts, kid.
The spacefaring MMO has everything you could possibly want in a game of its type — it’s just that some of the bits are a little better than others. The first-person shooting, for instance, is just OK. But Elite more than earns its spot on this list for the sense of exploration, discovery, and danger that comes with every flight.
That’s because this circa-2014 game features a realistic re-creation of all 400 billion star systems in our galaxy, each one with dozens of bodies that you can visit, and even walk on, in first person.
It remains one of the best reasons to buy a VR headset — or build a working cockpit inside your home office. —Charlie Hall
Elite Dangerous is available via Steam and the Epic Games Store.
Fortnite
Image: Epic Games
Fortnite is the ultimate video game playground. Is it a battle royale? Is it a building game where you can make custom maps and games for friends? Is it still that weird zombie game that it was originally marketed as? The answer to all of those questions, inexplicably, is yes.
Crucially, Fortnite is also the only game where you can swing around using an official Spider-Man web slinger while dressed as Goku before subsequently blowing away Commander Zavala from Destiny with a shotgun, chopping down a tree with the Staff of Ra from Indiana Jones, and then get sniped by Darth Vader as he rides by on a wolf. It’s chaotic video game nonsense, and there’s nothing else like it.
Fortnite is the “it” game of the past five years partially because it’s the only thing out there that lets you dab as Kratos, but also because it’s an excellent shooter that’s a ton of fun to play with pals. It takes the old “fun for the whole family” moniker and really follows through with it — there’s truly something for everyone. Whether you want to compete for your Victory Royale or just make stupid machinima with Rick Sanchez and a Xenomorph, Fortnite can give it to you.
Fortnite is available via the Epic Games Store.
League of Legends
Image: Riot Games
League of Legends is one of the most important video games of the past decade, and it has helped set an example for what a continuous game should look like. It’s an incredible live-service game with tons of new content added each year. It’s a complex strategy game that never plays out the same way twice.
It’s one of the biggest esports in the world. And it’s completely free to play. While League wasn’t the first game to claim any of those accolades, Riot learned lessons from League’s predecessors (such as Starcraft and the original DOTA mod) to push the envelope of what a prestigious competitive game could look like, and has managed to keep it relevant for 13 years.
In true MOBA form, 10 players matchmake into a game together and are split into two teams. Each player on each team is then assigned a role, and they can choose from over 160 different characters to support their allies. During the match, the goal is to reach the other side of the arena and destroy the enemy team’s base. This results in a tense push and pull between both teams, gathering gold and empowering their heroes.
It’s extremely complex — almost like learning a new language — but that complexity is what keeps the game interesting and fun. After thousands of matches, there’s still nothing quite like spending an entire Saturday playing League of Legends and getting a new experience almost every time.
League of Legends is available via Riot’s client.
Microsoft Flight Simulator
Image: Asobo Studio/Xbox Game Studios
Microsoft Flight Simulator is truly a modern marvel. It pulls more than two petabytes of Microsoft Bing map data into a high-quality, VR-compatible flight simulation. Then it feathers in live air traffic and real-world weather, just because it can.
Float planes, ski planes, military jets, racing planes, even Halo’s Pelican — it’s all there, along with more once you access the in-game third-party storefront. And while MSFS is also compatible on Xbox consoles, it shines on PC, opening up a whole world of tinkering for dedicated fans.
Just plan ahead and make sure your hardware has enough USB ports for the joystick, throttle, pedals, head-tracking peripherals, and multi-function displays. Ohh, I could get a ButtKicker and a cup holder and.
.. —Charlie Hall
Microsoft Flight Simulator is available via Steam and the Microsoft Store.
Return of the Obra Dinn
Image: Lucas Pope/3909 via Polygon
Return of the Obra Dinn is that rare game I wish I could forget. Not because it’s heavy or overly traumatic, but because I want to experience it again with fresh eyes. Like Outer Wilds, it’s a game that relies heavily on discovery and the use of newfound knowledge.
The less known before playing Return of the Obra Dinn the better, so just take our word for it and go play for yourself… Not convinced? Fine. I’ll spoil that you get to play as an insurance investigator. If that doesn’t get you to install, nothing will.
Jokes aside, Return of the Obra Dinn puts you in the shoes of an insurance investigator (that part wasn’t a joke) for the East India Company in 1807. Armed with a magic pocket watch, it’s your responsibility to discover what happened to the good ship Obra Dinn, a merchant ship lost at sea five years prior.
Each area you investigate on the ship will treat you to a short vignette and some dialogue or music. You then use that information to fill out your ledger and determine the fate and name of each soul aboard.
It’s a difficult game to describe, but I haven’t stopped thinking about it since its launch in 2018. The music and visuals are intoxicating, and the game manages to surprise over and over again. Sadly, I’ll never be able to play it as a newcomer again — as I already know the fates of those aboard — but I can enrich your life by sharing it with you.
Return of the Obra Dinn is available via Steam.
Satisfactory
Image: Coffee Stain Studios
Management and automation games are old staples of PC gaming, and Satisfactory is one of the modern best.
In Satisfactory, you play an employee of a space corporation who is dropped onto a hostile and unfamiliar planet.
Your job is to use the planet’s resources to build up an incredible factory for your overlords, producing more and more technologically advanced items that you’ll eventually send back to the mothership via a giant space elevator.
The catch with Satisfactory is that it’s all in first person, and you’re just one small employee in what can turn out to be a giant factory. Not only do you have to visualize how to lay out your factory floor without a god’s-eye view, you’ll need to gather resources from miles and miles away — areas that are difficult to reach on foot — and make difficult decisions. Do you want to run a thousand-meter pipe filled with oil to your factory? Or do you want to mine that oil, package it into barrels, and build a train that will deliver to your factory on a set schedule? And how are you going to handle the power situation when you accidentally blow a fuse and your oil production halts all your other machines?
There are near countless formulae for new factory setups, and each problem you come across becomes increasingly more difficult to solve.
But these puzzles are also extremely rewarding, ensuring that every area of your factory — the refineries, the power plants, etc. — all come with their own memories and triumphs.
Satisfactory is available via Steam and the Epic Games Store.
Total War: Warhammer 3/Immortal Empires
Image: Creative Assembly/Sega
Sometimes, video games just can’t help themselves. They grow vertically, with so much systemic complexity that they destroy any chances at balance or elegance. They grow horizontally, with bigger maps, more characters, or new magical spells, until they’re bloated beyond repair. Eventually, they collapse beneath the massive weight of their own making.
Total War: Warhammer 3 is not one of those games.
What began as the first fantasy installment in a history-oriented franchise has become a trilogy-capping grand strategy game in which armored mammoths, sex-crazed demons, bipedal machine-gunner rats, dragon-mounted high elves, and four-headed hydras clash in massive battles.
Like the first two installments in the trilogy, Warhammer 3 is half empire-building, half real-time strategy. You expand your territory, improve your cities, build your armies, and march them off to war. When they encounter an opponent’s army or attack an enemy city (maybe it has valuable resources? Maybe it’s a strategic chokepoint? Maybe it just looks fucking cool?) the camera zooms in to real-time strategy battles on scales that aren’t comparable in any other game.
Unlike its predecessors, however, Warhammer 3 is an exercise in excessive scale. It combines the campaign maps and every single faction from all three games into one massive mode called Immortal Empires, in which you’re just as likely to see a world war play out between ogres, dwarves, vampires, and undead Egyptian pharaohs. Immortal Empires all but redefines sandbox video games, and it has all the makings of a desert island title. —Mike Mahardy
Total War: Warhammer 3 is available via Steam and the Epic Games Store.
It’s also available on Game Pass via the Microsoft Store.
Valorant
Image: Riot Games
Valorant is Riot Games’ take on tactical shooters. But since it comes from the creators of League of Legends, it infuses its harsh, hyper-accurate gunplay with unique heroes in a vibrant, colorful environment. The result is one of the best and tightest shooters out there, with loads more personality than its dreary, militaristic peers.
In Valorant, you’ll play on a variety of maps as both offense and defense. The offense will need to plant a bomb at one of several key areas on the map, and the defense will need to defuse that bomb. If the bomb goes off or the defenders are all killed, the offense wins. If the bomb is defused or the offense is all killed, the defenders win. The rules are simple enough, but the characters add an extra layer of complexity.
Each round, players can buy weapons and abilities — the latter being unique to the Agent they selected at the start of the match.
Some characters can place cameras to spy on opposing players, while others can resurrect themselves after death. Some characters can shoot arrows, while others can create massive clouds of poison to block off areas. These characters all work differently with one another, allowing coordinated teams to create devastating combos with their abilities.
Unlike League, the UI is relatively clear and easy to understand. But the skill ceiling is just as high as Riot’s other competitive games, and you can be easily outmatched by better players. This makes Valorant daunting, but also exciting. It’s a game where you can really feel your skill level increase over time, which helps losses feel like learning experiences and wins feel absolutely incredible.
Valorant is available via Riot’s client.
Warframe
Image: Digital Extremes
What began in 2012 as a game of ninja combat in narrow spaceship corridors has, over the last decade, become one of the strangest, funniest, most breathtaking science fiction worlds in video games.
It’s also free.
Warframe is a game about collecting the titular cyborg space assassins and mowing through tens — or even hundreds — of thousands of enemies on planets, moons, and star bases across the solar system. It has dozens of different crafting systems, customizable dojos and landing crafts, three open worlds, daily and weekly events, and even a dedicated convention every year in London, Ontario.
Warframe can be a grind, sure — unless you spend real money in its marketplace — but the combat, which plays like a mashup of third-person shooters and Musou melee encounters, is satisfying enough to last you the several hours until your next new character, weapon, or upgrade. Whether that new addition to your arsenal be Frost, the defensive ice warrior; the Secura Lecta, a vicious whip that increases your credit yield; or Corrosive Projection, a mod that decreases the armor of enemies in your vicinity, there’s something new around every corner. It’s a collector’s dream, and it’s replete with gratuitous sci-fi violence..jpeg)
—Mike Mahardy
Warframe is available via Steam and the Epic Games Store.
World of Warcraft
Image: Blizzard Entertainment/Activision
World of Warcraft is still the household MMO name, with Final Fantasy 14 only catching up in recent years. But unlike Final Fantasy, World of Warcraft has remained exclusive to the PC with mouse-and-keyboard controls. It’s also 18 years old and still going strong.
As you might expect from a game that’s old enough to vote, World of Warcraft hasn’t always been one of the best PC games out there. It’s had moments of brilliance and eras of serious disappointment. But even as the quality of WoW’s content has ebbed and flowed, it’s always offered an incredible world to adventure in, peacefully by yourself or in a boisterous group of buddies. It’s become a staple in the lives of millions of fans over nearly 20 years, and it’s always there for players who want to run a quick quest or upgrade a piece of gear.
As for 2022, World of Warcraft looks to be exiting its most recent dark period with the upcoming Dragonflight expansion. While the game isn’t publicly available, I’ve played most of the experience on the beta, and it already seems like an excellent reminder of why I — and others — have loved World of Warcraft for years. It’s a return to pure fantasy and simplistic systems that reward your time, rather than asking you to grind for days for minuscule but mandatory improvements.
World of Warcraft is available via Battle.net.
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen
Image: Firaxis Games/2K Games
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen is one of the best video game turnaround stories since Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn. What started as a buggy and sometimes frustrating follow-up to Firaxis’ beloved XCOM reboot was rejuvenated with the War of the Chosen expansion, and is now one of the best strategy games in recent memory.
Like the first game, XCOM 2 is all about fending off aliens from another world with your army of soldiers. It’s a turn-based tactical game, so you’ll move each of your characters individually before ending your turn, causing the computer to move in response to your actions. It’s like a chess match where you upgrade and bond with your pieces between matches, and then have to say goodbye if the enemy ever takes them. (You can turn the permadeath setting off, but I highly recommend keeping it on).
War of the Chosen, on the other hand, added new enemy types and allied factions, which eventually offer entirely new soldier types for you to control. That bonus content is great, but it’s the way that content flows into the base campaign that solved the issue of vanilla XCOM 2’s frustrating and breakneck pace. With the expansion, players have so many more challenges to overcome and avenues to explore that it feels like an entirely new experience — where you’re constantly doing something new.
There are challenging new bosses to hunt, a wider variety of mission types, and undead enemies that have the ability to disrupt your play style.
It’s a brutal game, and lives up to the endless memes of high-percentage shots that inevitably miss at the worst possible moments. But each encounter — be it an individual firefight between two opposing soldiers or an entire mission — tells a story. Not one written by Firaxis, but one crafted by you and your decisions.
If you love base/resource management, strategy games, or both, you’ll find a game that you can play over and over again with XCOM 2: War of the Chosen.
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen is available via Steam and the Epic Games Store.
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Game over: 10 films about computer games and gamers Simulations of table tennis and simple games have mutated from a couple of pixels into a multi-billion dollar industry full of heroes and villains, success stories and failures, expensive blockbusters and small indie projects.
In this regard, the gaming industry is very similar to the film industry, where films about computer games and gamers are regularly made. We have selected 10 interesting examples for you to pay attention to.
Still from the film «Pixels», dir. Chris Columbus
First player, get ready
Ernest Cline’s 2011 book, Ready Player One, is the perfect combination of everything a typical modern-day geek might want. Joyless world of the near future, unbridled nostalgia for the 1980s, which consists in endless references to old films, games and TV shows, fun adventures. Therefore, it is not surprising that the rights to adapt the book were sold before its publication, and in 2018 the film Ready Player One was released, directed by the legendary Steven Spielberg.
In 2045, the population of the Earth spends almost all their free time in the virtual reality of the OASIS — a vast universe where there are no restrictions and problems of the real world.
The eccentric creator of the OASIS, James Holliday (Mark Rylance), a big fan of 1980s pop culture, has hidden Easter eggs in his brainchild that should lead the seeker to the coveted prize: control of all virtual reality. Everyone dreams of finding all the Easter eggs, including the average guy Wade Watts (Ty Sheridan). And he is opposed by a giant mega-corporation that wants to fill the OASIS with advertising and paid content.
«Jumanji» 1995 has long been considered a classic family adventure movie. Partly based on the book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg, Joe Johnston’s film starring Robin Williams boasts great effects, makeup, humor and a compelling storyline. A good idea can’t lie idle in the bins of Hollywood for long, and in 2017 the world of the crazy board game returned to the screens in a new incarnation with the film Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. The direct sequel to the original with Dwayne Johnson performed well at the box office, and in 2019The sequel saw the light of the year: «Jumanji: The Next Level».
Times change, and Jumanji has to change with them. A mysterious board game has turned into a video game that lures four teenagers into it. They find themselves in a dangerous jungle in the bodies of avatars endowed with strengths and weaknesses. Now they have to figure out the rules of the game in order to survive and find a gem that can return them to the real world. But first they must get used to new roles and sort out old conflicts.
Watch in Okko
Today, against the background of big-budget blockbusters with expensive special effects, Tron looks like a funny but outdated fantasy. However, in the 1980s, the film looked revolutionary: one of the first feature-length projects that actively used computer graphics on the screen. And since there were no programs capable of animating everything necessary at that time, the creators had to do everything by hand, constantly using different tricks. This made Tron a cult film that is highly respected among fans of the genre.
In 2010, the sequel Tron: Legacy was released, in which director Joseph Kosinski tried to recreate the spirit of the original, but with modern technology.
In 1989, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), the legendary video game developer, disappeared without a trace. 20 years later, his son Sam Flynn (Garret Hedlund) receives a cryptic message sent from an abandoned arcade that belonged to his father. There, Sam discovers a hidden basement with a large computer and a laser that suddenly digitizes it and uploads it to the Web, a virtual world created by Flynn. Sam becomes embroiled in a war against Clu, a sinister program and digital clone of a young Kevin Flynn.
Watch in Okko
After the release of Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game in 1985, Hollywood producers tried to bring science fiction to the big screen for decades. However, the writer was in no hurry to part with the rights for fear that his offspring could be spoiled. As a result, Card himself undertook to write the script for the adaptation, and in 2013 the full-length film adaptation of Ender’s Game premiered. The film, directed and co-written by Gavin Hood, is based on two books in the series: the first novel of the same name and Ender’s Shadows, the plot of which develops in parallel. It was planned that the picture will mark the beginning of an entire franchise, but poor box office and average reviews from critics killed this idea in the bud.
The action takes place in the year 2135, when humanity is waging a fierce war with a race of bloodthirsty insectoids. Earth has already survived two bug invasions and is preparing for a third. In order to survive him and defeat the enemy, the military collects gifted children in a special academy, including Andrew «Ender» Wiggin. They will be taught to act on the battlefield, to work together, but they still have no idea what these games can lead to and what price they will have to pay for them.
View in Okko
Pixels
In 2010, a French animated short appeared on the net. Titled «Pixels», the video was written and directed by Patrick Jean and featured classic 8-bit video game characters such as Space Invaders, Pac-Man and more invading New York City. The funny, well-made video turned out to be extremely popular, so the producers quickly bought the rights to a full-length film adaptation. The director’s chair was taken by Chris Columbus, director of «Home Alone» and «Harry Potter», and the main role went to Adam Sandler.
A mysterious alien race mistakenly takes video streams of classic arcade games sent back in the 1980s as a declaration of war. They invade the Earth, taking on the appearance of the characters of those same games: Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Arkanoid, Donkey Kong, Galaga. To counter the attack, the United States recruits former slot machine champions to lead the planet’s defenses. But first, they must find a way to work together and sort out old grievances.
GTA Online is a popular multiplayer computer game based on the Grand Theft Auto series (or rather, its fifth part). Players are given a whole city where they can rob, kill, rush in cars, fly fighter jets and have fun in every possible way. The creators of the action-comedy «Protagonist» very accurately transferred this chaos to the big screen. The fictional video game in which the main action of the film takes place is clearly inspired by GTA Online: a familiar mess unfolds in front of the viewer, as a variety of players in fun and crazy costumes have fun at full capacity. Only now, unlike in the real world, one non-player character (NPC) decided to fight back.
An ordinary bank teller named Guy (Ryan Reynolds) lives in the City and is quite content with his life. Yes, his bank is constantly robbed, constantly shooting around or blowing something up, but he has a fish and endless optimism. However, one day the unthinkable happens: A guy falls in love with a girl he sees on the street. He decides to find her and finds out that the world around him is not real, and he himself is just an insignificant video game character. But this does not stop the Guy, and he begins a real crusade to find his beloved and save all the inhabitants of the City.
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Gamer
In 2006, directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor rocked the movie world with their crazy action movie Adrenaline. Shot for $ 12 million, the film attracted the audience and collected a decent box office. Hollywood producers drew attention to the directors, and their next project, Gamer, has already allocated $60 million. The place of the hired killer Chev performed by Jason Statham was taken by a former military man forced to fight for the amusement of others, and the picture itself became a statement about the gaming industry and society. The action remained in place, but this did not save Gamer: the tape failed at the box office, after which Neveldine and Taylor returned to Adrenaline.
In 2034, programmer Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall) invents nanites that allow you to control other people and see the world through their eyes. Based on them, he creates two games: a life simulator «Society» with ordinary people and a shooter «Killers», in which all the «characters» are criminals sentenced to death. If they survive 30 matches, they can get their freedom. John «Cable» Tillman (Gerard Butler) is a crowd favorite who survived a record 27 matches, controlled by 17-year-old Simon (Logan Lerman). One day, Cable and Simon are approached by activists who want to stop Castle and the spread of nanites. But for this, you first have to get Cable out of the computer game.
In 2004, Canadian author and artist Brian Lee O’Malley released the first part of his new Scott Pilgrim comic series. A graphic novel about a 22-year-old bummer from Toronto, heavily inspired by his love of video games, quickly became popular. Almost immediately, O’Malley received an offer to film the comic book, and British director Edgar Wright took the director’s chair. The picture «Scott Pilgrim vs. Everyone» was released in the summer of 2010 and remained almost unnoticed by the audience. Modest fees did not prevent the tape from gaining cult status, and in 2020, in honor of the decade, Scott Pilgrim returned to the screens with a re-release.
Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a typical representative of his generation. A gouging and slacker from Toronto, he plays bass in the band Sex Bob-Omb, enjoys video games and idle chatter with friends. Everything changes when he meets the mysterious Ramona Flowers. The girl charms Scott and reciprocates, but an unexpected obstacle gets in the way: before starting to fully meet, Scott must defeat Ramona’s seven evil exes.
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Black mirror. Bandersnatch
Black Mirror is an anthology series by Charlie Brooker, a fantasy dystopia about technology and how it affects people’s lives. When creating the project, Brooker was largely inspired by the TV anthology classic — the Twilight Zone series. In 2018, between the fourth and fifth seasons, Brooker decided to experiment and released the full-length interactive feature film Black Mirror on Netflix. Bandersnatch.» The theme remained the same, only the viewer himself decided how the plot would develop and what would happen to the characters. The project received average ratings, but collected many awards and nominations, including two Emmy awards.
England, 1984. Young programmer Stefan Butler (Fionn Whitehead) is working on a video game based on Jerome F. Davies’ fantasy game book Bandersnatch. Every decision in the process of creating a game is made by the will of the viewer: to accept the offer of help or not? Should I take the pills or flush them down the toilet? Try drugs or refuse? Each variation takes the story in a new direction, allowing for new plot twists and different endings. Will Stefan be able to make the coveted game, or will he go crazy due to stress and old injuries? You decide.
Issues of free will and «what a person is willing to do for fame» have long been popular among filmmakers. The approach to these questions changes with time. In the era of Twitch and OnlyFans, when the viewer is watching live and making decisions together with the content creators, the release of the Nerve movie is extremely relevant. The story centers on a truth-or-dare online game where players must complete increasingly dangerous missions for the Watchers and gain their approval.
Quiet and reserved high school student Vee (Emma Roberts) one day succumbs to the persuasion of her friends and agrees to take part in the online game «Nerve», where you can earn good money. Having become a «player», V successfully completes one task after another, until fate brings her together with a mysterious stranger, Ian (Dave Franco). The «observers» watching the match really like this couple, and they demand that all tasks are done by V and Ian together. Newly minted partners get down to business, but quickly realize that finishing the game and surviving is not so easy.
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Text: Alexander Fedorov
My path through FromSoftware games, their pros and cons / Computer and mobile games / iXBT Live
Every gamer has heard of the Japanese Hidetaka Miyazaki, who makes complex games. His studio has made many projects, but if you ask players to name their favorites, the answers will be different. I will try to look at the pros and cons of most of his games, with the exception of Demon Souls and Bloodborne. I’ll make a reservation right away — I went through all the souls as a warrior with a one-handed standard sword, also known as a long sword, with a parry shield and a long sword.
Content
- Dark Souls 3
- Dark Souls 1
- Dark Souls 2
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
- Conclusion
Elden Ring
00
Relations to this part are different. There are those who scold the ease of the bosses of the main game, but I am among those who admire the 3rd part and take into account the additions when judging the complexity of the bosses. This is the first Miyazaki game that I have dived into and completed. The game has become a difficult test, because the truth is that the first souls will be the most difficult for the player. It struck me that an ordinary ordinary opponent can hit no worse than a boss. I agree that the bosses in the game, for the most part, are not difficult, but each boss looks very impressive. When I defeated each boss, I read the description of the item associated with it, watched videos on You Tube. Fighting the bosses overwhelmed with different feelings, from anger to joy. I still remember most of the adversaries, because everyone has their own interesting and sad fate. The most beloved enemies were those that made them yell and rage.
The little dragon Midir, who ruffled my nerves with his laser, but what was the delight after defeating him, and later the sadness when you find out that he was absorbed in what he should not let into this world. The nameless king who attacked non-stop and hurt. Giant Yorm, who needed to be hit with a special weapon, but I dealt meager damage with a sword. The dancer of the Cold Valley who visited too soon after killing the granny who was sitting in the temple. I really liked the slave knight Gael and sister Frieda as bosses, although I can’t call them difficult, but the essence of the slave and the 3 phases of the sister pleased me. I fell in love with this game. You walk, explore locations, beat ordinary enemies, swing, get into different places and constantly die. Until now, I run this product to enjoy, although I have already spent 721 hours in it. There is no plot in the game, but how interesting it is to learn new details about this world, and even more so when NPCs start talking to you. My favorite game, for sure.
| pros | Minuses |
| Beautiful world | Nothing is clear at first |
| cool bosses | Not obvious possibility and impossibility of parry |
| Boss difficulty | Silent main character |
| replay value | |
| Lots of weapons and armor | |
| Interesting lore | |
| 3 endings | |
|
Pumping, rings and more. |
|
| Interesting NPCs | |
| Music |
After part 3, I decided to take remaster 1 and plunge into the origins of the series. Immediately, I was pleased with the low attack speed of ordinary enemies. Parrying is easy, because the 3rd part is much faster. I began to use less somersault, more parried. If it’s easy with ordinary opponents, then it took a long time to get used to the slow attacks of bosses. The enemy swung, I’ve already rolled 2 times, and he attacks after and hits. This situation happened often. Over time, I got used to it, but in the addition, Artorias returned the feeling of speed. What do you remember about this game? Silence. The lack of music was annoying, especially after part 3, which spoiled with great compositions. The ability to pump armor hooked. It often happens that there is a certain armor, you love it and want to go through the whole game, but you take it off, because the characteristics begin to sag.
Naturally, cool bosses are remembered. Kalamit, which became a test, although there was already experience of killing dragons with Midir. The duel with Artorias was very beautiful, and his lore is mesmerizing. Manus has become a boss who vomits and thrashes, is associated with the abyss that absorbs everyone. Even after defeating him, you understand that this is a powerful creature that, years later, will cause problems. How many characters and bosses have the abyss swallowed? Great amount. Orshtein and Smough have become one of the most memorable bosses, because they attack together at once. The tasks with Soler and the keeper of the fire, who became blind, sunk into the soul. Every man wept for the knight who seeks his sun. I went through the game 1 time, I see no reason to return, because the developers in the subsequent parts correct and refine many aspects. This game feels good to this day, if you have not played it, then pay attention, for the sake of a warrior that loves to praise the sun and interesting bosses.
| Advantages | Flaws |
| cool bosses | very rare music |
| Bleeding, rings and more | Enemy actions are slow |
| Beautiful world | Critical attacks also work strangely from the back |
| First part of the series | Not obvious possibility and impossibility of parry |
| Lots of weapons and armor | Silent main character |
| Difficult bosses, but only a few | |
| Interesting NPCs |
The most controversial part of the series. Mostly scolded for being more of an RPG than an ActionRPG. I treat the same people. Passed and in this part a lot of things work strangely. The long sword has become a piece of plastic and deals negligible damage, and I stopped using the shield. Blocking an enemy attack with a shield used up too much stamina, and the parry animation is terrible, because after repulsing the enemy’s weapon, it falls on the ass, and we pierce it. Looks stupid. I went with a two-handed weapon. Armor and weapons are constantly breaking, which spoils the gameplay. There are few weapons, little armor, I mean good in terms of performance and appearance. Lor here is strange and crumpled. No matter how many times I watched a video about ENT, it was all to no avail, because there was no single picture. If you take individual moments, then it seems normal, but attempts to put everything together lead to a dead end. I went through this part once and definitely will never return, in the new game, plus they added red enemies, who were poked over the old ones.
The meaning is not clear.
Nevertheless, the game pleases with cool bosses, yes, knights, but excellent knights. A forgotten sinner who surprised by her appearance. Scorpion Nazhka, which reminded me of the movie The Mummy and the Scorpion King. Nashandra, who wove plots and is a shard of Manus. The ancient dragon killed with one blow with its flame and was very huge. The battle with the Ivory King was remembered as an epic mass battle that brought a lot of fun. The Smoky Knight and Ser Alonne have become favorite bosses that have been fired up many times over. Smoke Knight with his sweeping attacks, but Alonne with his sharp attacks and long-range attacks.
| pros | Minuses |
| There are cool bosses | Few difficult bosses |
| There are interesting NPCs | Too many consumables |
| Beautiful locations | Crystal weapons and armor |
| Strange lore | |
| Wacky Animations | |
| We wander a lot through dungeons and in the dark | |
| Leveling adaptability | |
| Curvature and game bugs | |
| Not obvious possibility and impossibility of parry | |
| Silent main character |
This game has become the most difficult for me. In Dark Souls, you can pump, if the boss hit hard, then you need to learn. This game leaves no chance, if you do not learn from your mistakes, then you will never go the way of a ninja. In this game, dialogues appeared, full-fledged, because the main character spoke, which was a huge progress. The story has become very clear and you don’t even need to watch videos that explain the events of the game. Everything is clear and understandable. The player was severely limited, because now there is only a katana, prosthesis, stealth and martial arts.
Gameplay has changed. The player doesn’t have to worry about stamina drain when attacking, hit as much as you want. You can block most attacks, the main thing is to follow the concentration, and if you press the block button at the perfect moment, then the parry will work and the enemy will run out of concentration, which will make it possible to strike the last blow. The fight turns into a beautiful sword dance. But it’s not enough to parry here, because the enemy periodically uses a piercing attack, and we make a dash forward and press the enemy’s weapon to the floor with our heels, which greatly knocks him out of balance. The enemy has an area attack in his arsenal, and we jump over the attack. In words, everything is easy, but as long as you learn how to do it, a lot of time will pass and a lot of nerves will be spent, but everything will pay off. From the combat system, when you understand it, you get real pleasure. The bosses in the game are great. I can’t even pick one. Isshin, Genetiro, Monkey, Lady Butterfly, Owl’s father (in all endings), Demon of Hatred — they all give the player reason to get nervous. When you defeat every boss or mini-boss in this game, you will be overwhelmed with a sense of pride, anger and joy. A great game that moves Japanese culture to the masses.
| Advantages | Flaws |
| Beautiful combat system | Periodic bugs |
| The hardest bosses | Either you are a master of local battles, or you will not complete the game |
| Japanese culture | Very high barrier to entry |
| jumping | |
| stealth | |
| Prosthesis | |
| A plot that is sanely presented | |
| Music |
I liked this product, but with reservations. The open world worked for the game, despite the fact that repetitive bosses began to appear. When I started playing, I thought that the combat system here would be a mixture of Sekiro and Dark Souls. I really wanted to have a concentration scale, and parry was done with a perfectly pressed block button. I hoped that the game would have normal dialogues, but we got the same lore that needs to be collected bit by bit. The NPCs here are interesting, but their quests are terrible. In the open world, you will not understand what to do and where to go to help the characters. The world is very beautiful and I want to dive into it, I have already run 450 hours in 3 passages. We added a horse that is not afraid of anything and appears on the whistle under the main character. There is a sane system for fast travel between places of grace, because now from anywhere except dungeons, you can open the map and move to an open area. Lots of weapons, lots of armor. Added ashes of war, which are special.
receptions, there are also quite a few of them. Helpers (ashes) appeared in the game, whom we call with the help of a bell, to beat the bosses. By collecting resources, we can make various useful consumables, or you can simply buy them from merchants. Added an attack after the block, which will help if the parry is impossible. A critical hit can be applied to almost all enemies, including bosses. I was very surprised when I knocked out the balance of the dragon. There are many ways to win here, but don’t expect it to be easy.
Enemies are strong, bosses too. You will often find yourself in a situation where an ordinary enemy will cause more trouble than the boss. There are many main adversaries in the game, but a small number stand out, which is a minus of the game. Malenia, which has a powerful ult, is healed by hitting the player, 2 phases, inflicts rot and is just a beautiful woman. She shocked many players. In my opinion, if her healing from hits was removed, then the boss would be easier, but Hidetaka will not give easy ways. Mog the lord of blood infuriated with his 1,2,3 in Latin, because then he takes away more than half of his health 3 times, and I did not know that you can avoid this with the help of Mog’s shackles. This bloody opponent also flooded the arena with red liquid, which accumulated blood flow and gave more damage. The fidgety and jumpy Maliket, the fight with which was very tense and liked the most, because he does not have cheating chips, he just hurts and hits a lot. There are a lot of mini-bosses in the game, often repeated, sometimes two by two. I didn’t remember them, but the Guardian of the Tree, who was at the very beginning of the game, patted me. I didn’t even get a horse and ashes, but I went to this enemy, being not pumped. He killed me in 2 hits, it was difficult to get away from attacks in the area. I suffered for several hours, but still managed to overcome using a parry. When he found out that the Guard could be bypassed and get a horse, he got even more angry. The first time I went through the game without dust, but now I’m experiencing each of them, which updates the gaming experience.
Elden RIng is a great game, but it could be even better.
| pros | Minuses |
| open world | Few memorable bosses |
| Beautiful graphics | Incomprehensible quests |
| horse | Armor for show, because many opponents take away a percentage of health, and not a certain unit |
| New attacks | silent hero |
| Ashes | Lots of dual bosses |
| Difficult bosses | |
| Lots of secrets | |
| Exploring the world is interesting | |
| Lots of weapons and armor | |
| Music |
I can’t single out FromSoftware’s favorite game, because each has its pros and cons.
