Returnal

We don’t say it enough but Returnal is probably one of the best games of this generation. Housemarque knocked it out of the park in this grueling roguelike that spins hell out of a procedurally generated alien planet. Selene, the game’s protagonist, is a rarity in games—a middle-aged woman—and Returnal follows her after she crash lands on a curious planet and tries to blast her way home. Everything from the movement and gunplay to the trickle of abilities and upgrades is finely tuned in Returnal, but it’s really the presentation that takes the cake. Helios feels alien. Its structures and biomes resemble our own, but there’s a menacing aura about them. The planet feels like it’s withholding something crucial from Selene, and no matter how hard she tries, she can’t seem to crack it. It taunts her, and by extension, you, and throws you for literal loops as you die and crash land again and again in search of a way to break free and go home. Get caught in Returnal’s loop by picking it up for $36 on Steam or Humble