While Japan has seen the likes of Theatrhythm Dragon Quest and Theatrhythm Final Fantasy All-Star Carnival, it’s been nine years since western fans last got their fix. As part of Final Fantasy’s 35th-anniversary celebration, Theatrhythm Final Bar Line is a nearly perfect culmination of the work developer indieszero started over a decade ago.

As a rhythm game, it's both accessible and rewarding. As a celebration of the Final Fantasy brand, it's virtually unmatched.

For a series that began exclusively on touch screens before offering an optional button control scheme in its sequel, Theatrhythm gameplay maps remarkably well to standard controllers. Most note triggers can be activated by pressing any face button, shoulder button, or trigger. Meanwhile, slide triggers let you swipe with either analog stick.

This simple setup makes a world of difference for easing newcomers into things, and it provides options for all. Most players will likely gravitate toward face buttons due to those being the defacto input for most console rhythm games, but more experienced players can settle on the triggers or shoulder buttons to offer instant access to every possible trigger arrangement on the harder difficulty settings.

Screenshot by GameSkinny

While this switch is inevitable for those hoping to engage with high-level play, Theatrhythm Final Bar Line doesn’t force you to reach such a high bar. The game's core progression revolves around series quests, with each Final Fantasy game getting its own miniature questline. However, some titles are grouped together into one series, such as the Final Fantasy 13 sequels.

You move along a linear path, clearing songs to progress through the series. Completing each song unlocks it for use as a standard music stage, divorced from any of the optional quests. This is where Theatrhythm Final Bar Line caters to multiple audiences without compromise. Those who want to just play for the core experience can do exactly that. The satisfying gameplay remains the same regardless of your party composition. However, completionists and role-playing fans will get a lot out of the RPG systems.

Quests vary in difficulty, with most of them being as simple as clearing with a certain score or having a specific character in your party. However, roughly one-third of the quests are difficult enough that you'll have to make calculated decisions regarding party composition and skill loadouts. The quests that ask you to defeat bosses within a specific period of time or deal a certain amount of damage are nigh impossible to complete without strategy and focus.

Screenshot by GameSkinny

The move to a controller as the only input method has a profound impact on the high-level experience. By ditching the resistive touch screen, indieszero has created far more exciting gameplay scenarios. Dual slide triggers require flicking two analog sticks either in the same or opposite directions. These are among the most satisfying notes to rainbow critical, the equivalent to perfect timing.

Additionally, any difficulty mode beyond basic frequently tasks you with complex combinations. For example, you might be required to hold down a hold trigger while timing multiple slide triggers. The sense of accomplishment afforded by these expanded controls is unmatched within the Theatrhythm series.

Self-improvement is a huge part of any rhythm game. However, not everyone is intrinsically motivated to chase a higher score. After all, everything can be unlocked on the basic difficulty here. That’s why scoring systems are so integral to a proper feedback loop. Thankfully, Theatrhythm’s extensive grading system clearly communicates your progress with ranks ranging from F to SSS.

It helps that the RPG elements can also factor into this feedback loop. With a party of healers as a safety net, some will find the extra help useful for clearing more difficult songs.

To shake things up further, there’s the new Endless World mode, which unlocks after finishing the main game. Endless World replaces Curtain Call’s Quest Medleys and acts as an endurance run, putting you in an endless series quest with a total of three life points. Unlike the core series quests, failing to complete a quest here results in losing health. The run ends once you’ve lost all of your life points.

You'll need to min-max to survive, and the game keeps track of your best runs, with a perfect chain streak tracker that carries from song to song. It's an addictive wild card that can add hours of play to Bar Line's other modes.

Screenshot by GameSkinny

The sour note in the orchestra is that some of the most iconic Final Fantasy songs are only available in the Deluxe Edition of the game. While there are 90 post-launch DLC songs planned and the base game includes up to 403 songs when event stage versions are accounted for, locking 27 quintessential tracks behind what amounts to an $80 paywall flies in the face of the 35th-anniversary celebration surrounding this release. 

Songs like Final Fantasy 8’s "Eyes on Me" or Crisis Core’s "Why", and Final Fantasy 10’s "Zanarkand" theme (which was in the original game 11 years ago) just aren't available for those who pick up the base game. 

There are also some odd filler songs and a lack of attention to specific FF titles in the base game. There are four versions of "One-Winged Angel" in the base game, along with multiple renditions of a few other songs like "The Man with the Machine Gun". These additional renditions would have made for more tasteful inclusions within a deluxe edition for hardcore fans in lieu of omitting others from their respective entries.

To be clear, my review code provided by Square Enix was for the premium deluxe edition, which comes with all the DLC and the exclusive deluxe edition songs. Despite being given access to this extra content, there are better ways Square Enix could have accommodated for a deluxe edition for all fans.

Theatrhythm Final Bar Line Review — The Bottom Line

Screenshot by GameSkinny

Pros

• The franchise's most complex and satisfying gameplay.
• Staggeringly large tracklist.
• Addictive progression systems.
• Proper grading system incentivizes consistent growth.

Cons

• Iconic songs locked behind deluxe edition.
• PS5 version with instant load times would be nice.

Theatrhythm Final Bar Line is one of the finest rhythm games of all time. Even if you don’t have a special attachment to the Final Fantasy series, you’re still bound to connect with this game on some level. It’s impossible not to with some of the most iconic, exciting, and evocative songs in all of gaming. It helps that such memorable tracks are backed up by the franchise's most engaging and complex gameplay to date.  

For as accessible as this game can be, many of Final Bar Line’s most noteworthy additions exist for those well-familiar with the series. Aside from the generally more complex triggers, this version of Final Bar Line introduces a fourth difficulty setting for many songs that truly tests players. 

Most quests also include rewards and collectibles, too, such as character CollectaCards or memory or album CollectaCards. The album and memory CollectaCards largely consist of screenshots of either cinematics, gameplay, or artwork from various points across the franchise's timeline. The inclusion of these further reinforces Square's commitment to crafting the ultimate Final Fantasy extravaganza. The amount of content is so staggering that it's daunting. It's just too bad some is locked away in the more expensive version.

[Note: Square Enix provided the copy of Theatrhythm Final Bar Line used for this review.]

Dreamcast cult-classic Samba de Amigo looks to be getting a revival very soon. Announced as part of the Nintendo Direct stream, Samba de Amigo: Party Central will be released on Nintendo's platform this summer. Not a whole lot of info was shown, but we did get a couple of seconds of gameplay.

Things don't seem dramatically different from previous installments. If we had to guess, this will likely play similarly to the Wii iteration of Samba de Amigo. With Joy-Con being decent enough Wii remote replacements, it shouldn't feel too out of place. Taiko no Tatsujin works fine enough on the console, for instance.

Details on the eShop reveal that Party Central will contain 40 songs from "the world's most popular genres" and that additional DLC will be released post-launch. This could mean that the soundtracks from the original Samba de Amigo and Wii installments will be made available.

There will also be an online option called "World Party Mode." You'll be able to take 12 amigos on the dance floor with you and battle against eight players in a global competition. Your amigos will have a range of customization options available, so you'll have the chance to add your personal touch to everyone. It seems like fairly standard but welcomed stuff.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central is scheduled for a June 2023 release. There is no word on whether or not this will remain a Switch exclusive in the future.

Hi-Fi RUSH probably shouldn't exist, and it definitely shouldn't be as good as it is. But this rhythm action game from Tango Gameworks is a blast from the jump, a rollicking love letter to color and music and an era when games had things to say but didn't take themselves too seriously. I was in love with it almost immediately.

Hi-Fi RUSH is the story of Chai, a music-obsessed young man named after tea who dreams of being a rockstar. His right arm is disabled, so he volunteers for Project Armstrong, a pilot program for replacing fleshy limbs with cybernetic ones. During the process, Chai's iPod is accidentally fused to his cybernetic implant. He's deemed a defect, and robotic goons are sent to hunt him down.

Fortunately for Chai, his robotic arm gives him the ability to summon a weapon (which looks suspiciously like a Gibson Flying V), and, as it turns out, having an iPod fused to your chest has its benefits. Everything in Hi-Fi RUSH syncs to the song playing on Chai's iPod. Enemies attack you on beat. The world pulses with the beat. Environmental hazards change with the beat. 

Chai's attacks always land to the beat, too, but hits are more powerful, with greater knockback, if you time your button presses to hit on-time. Time your dashes right, and you'll get more of them, too. Dealing damage further builds up a meter Chai can use to unleash special attacks, and it's worth using whenever you can since that meter depletes at the end of each combat encounter.

Hi-Fi RUSH also scores you as you play, assigning points and a rating from D to S based on how well you perform. Clearing enemies quickly, avoiding damage, and nailing your timing increases your score, so it's a good thing to learn quickly, especially if you're after high scores. Killing enemies also drops gears, which can be used to upgrade Chai's abilities, buy new combos, and acquire new special attacks.

Nailing a perfectly-timed combo and hearing a crowd roar feels fantastic, and getting to add a few notes to the soundtrack yourself is a pretty great feeling, even if you're just fighting regular enemies. Hi-Fi RUSH is also kind enough to just let you play how you want; you can turn off the meter tracking the beat, so there's no drawback if you don't have a ton of rhythm initially. Just keep going, and you'll pick it up eventually.

Between combat encounters, you'll hop and jump through the world performing basic platforming, play the odd rhythm mini-game, explore Hi-Fi RUSH's world, and grabbing collectibles and power-ups. Levels are linear, but they're a blast to play around in. Like in combat, landing jumps and dashes in rhythm allows you to go higher and farther; plus, it's just plain fun.

Platforming is pretty basic, but because everything in the world moves to the beat, that, too, quickly turns into a rhythm game. Being on beat so you land on a platform before it falls or a moving part before it's out of range means paying attention and being precise instead of just going through the rote motions.

To say Hi-Fi RUSH is visually striking is an understatement. Everything is beautifully cel-shaded, lovingly animated, and electrically rhythmic, jumping with every musical note. Hi-Fi RUSH's world is so vibrant and colorful that it's hard not to get caught up in it. It helps that the characters are so endearing. 

Chai, robo-cat companion 808, and partner Peppermint, are just plain fun. Chai is a likeable goofball that tends to dive headfirst into trouble; it's hard not to root for him. 808 is adorable, and Peppermint often keeps Chai in check, which is a good thing. Their dynamic is playful and infectious, and I enjoyed spending every minute with them.

Hi-Fi RUSH is funny, too. Whether it's a visual gag where a robot laments his life after dropping a stack of boxes, Chai flying through a wall in a fashion that evokes classic Looney Tunes, or one of the hilarious collectibles scattered throughout the game, Hi-Fi RUSH is always laugh-out-loud entertaining.

I had a smile on my face the whole time I was playing, and any game that so effortlessly nails such a feeling of joy is something pretty special. 

Hi-Fi RUSH may be silly, but it also has some surprisingly biting critiques about corporations and capitalism under the hood. Announcements about workers having to schedule sick days six months in advance or obsolete robots getting recycled before they can even say goodbye to their friends feel depressingly modern, and having the guts to portray that, even in an otherwise fairly lighthearted game, is pretty rare.

H-Fi-Rush Review — The Bottom Line

Pros

• Incredible visual and sound design.
• Interesting story and characters.
• Accessibility options to help you stay on rhythm .
• Extremely funny.

Cons

• You have to finish the game to replay a stage.
• There could be more licensed tracks.
• Audio/video lag can really mess with the experience.

As you'd expect, Hi-Fi RUSH's soundtrack is fantastic, from the original songs that pepper most of the game's levels to the licensed stuff that ranges from Nine Inch Nails to The Prodigy and The Black Keys. The cherry is that the music is always perfect for whatever you're doing, and Hi-Fi RUSH cranks it up when it matters. Beating the brakes off a giant, evil QA robot while Nine Inch Nail's "1,000,000" plays in the background is something I can't ever imagine getting old.

And at the end of the day, I can't imagine any of Hi-Fi RUSH getting old. It's so vibrant, so full of life, and so unique. It stands out in a world where many AAA releases seem determined to be anything but. Add in the replay value of chasing high scores and Rhythm Tower, which functions a lot like Devil May Cry's Bloody Palace mode, and this is a game that you can play for a long time.

Featured image via Bethesda

Metal: Hellsinger has one mission: deliver Doom-quality FPS action to a heavy metal soundtrack featuring some of the biggest names in the genre. I'm happy to report that it succeeds with flying colors.

This is the complete package, with satisfying gameplay, fantastic music, non-stop action, and a story that hits familiar beats but is both well-told and well-acted. There's also no filler — Metal: Hellsinger knows exactly how much game it needs to get its point across and adds nothing extra to take away from the experience.

Metal: Hellsinger Review — One Helluva' Tune

You can't talk about Metal: Hellsinger's gameplay without talking about its music. The two are inseparable. As a rhythm shooter, your performance and combat effectiveness are directly tied to how well you shoot to the beat of each level's unique track. Thankfully, none of the early songs are particularly fast or challenging to sync your shots to, with the tutorial level being particularly forgiving.

That doesn't mean the tutorial soundtrack is lacking, though it is one of the shortest songs in the game, befitting the level's brevity. Everything you learn in that first easy experience carries over into the rest of Metal: Hellsinger. Slaying to the beat, as the game's marketing calls it, is essential, and there are both audio and visual cues to assist you in shooting along with the music.

The percussion is more pronounced to rise above the noise of gunshots and exploding demons. The aiming reticle takes up a good portion of the center of the screen as well, ensuring the beat markers are easy to see even in the most hectic of scenarios.

As you make your way through the game, the HUD becomes less and less of a factor as you become more and more accustomed to the combination of gunplay and music.

Difficulty in Metal: Hellsinger ramps up quickly and follows how music gets harder: it gets faster. The first two levels — the tutorial and Voke — are relatively casual songs compared to the high-tempo shred-fests of the mid and late game.

Every level has a short learning curve as you get used to the new beat, but because of the precise controls and enjoyable shooting mechanics, you'll want to engage with the music. The shift in soundtrack when you reach a boss can be a little jarring after 20 or so minutes of learning a new rhythm, but never enough to cost you anything.

All of these factors come together when you're in the thick of things, exploding and dismembering demons with the weaponry on offer. You start with nothing more than a sword and a particularly talkative, flame-spewing skull. Throughout the first four levels, you'll add a shotgun, dual revolvers, a rocket-launching crossbow, and a pair of infernal boomerangs, which are more deadly than you'd think.

Every weapon on offer is incredibly effective if properly used. Still, the dual revolvers are by far the most consistent because of their damage over long ranges and their Ultimate ability, which summons a second instance of the player character to do damage on your behalf. Paired with the shotgun as a backup, I rarely found a need to use the crossbow or boomerangs except to add some variety to my loadout.

What was never in question was my desire to be at the highest bonus tier. Metal: Hellsinger is, after all, more than just a shooter. It's an arcade-style shooter with scores and multipliers and buffs. The higher your score multiplier (called Fury), the more of the music you'll be able to hear, and at maximum Fury (16x), not only will you be raking in the points, you'll be able to hear the vocals as well. Every enemy you shoot and kill to the beat raises your Fury, but taking hits reduces it, so staying aggressive, accurate, and deadly is paramount.

The dynamic music usually works as intended, with the melody increasing in complexity and intensity the better you do. If you swap between Fury tiers, however, the music can get a little muddled, and it goes from kickass to mildly bungled quickly. This can frequently happen in boss fights, especially on a first encounter, taking what are otherwise amazing fights and transforming them into garbled messes. Not unlike the encounter at that point, really, but off-putting all the same.

There are also challenge rooms called Torments that provide selectable and increasingly powerful buffs that make getting high scores even easier. These Torment levels won't add more than a few more hours to your playtime, but they do get quite challenging and don't give much room for error.

Hell is a Sequence of Arenas

Metal: Hellsinger's story is primarily told through hand-drawn cutscenes with plenty of exposition from your friend Paz, the talkative skull. The levels themselves add little to the narrative, existing primarily as a well-realized and aesthetically interesting series of arenas for you and the demons to fight in. Free of Paz's dialog, expertly voiced by Troy Baker, each level could be a featureless collection of rooms filled with demons and accomplish the same purpose.

That's not to say the setting isn't appreciated. Hell has been associated with metal music for a long time, and having a long series of generic arenas set to this game's fantastic soundtrack would be confusing in the extreme. In other words, while the levels themselves are uninteresting from a layout perspective, combined with the rest of the game's aesthetic and tone, they function exactly as they're meant to.

The story follows much the same throughline. You are the Unknown, a particularly angry and tenacious damned soul in Hell who had her voice stolen from her by the Red Judge (voiced by Jennifer Hale) eons ago.

Following an extended stay in an extradimensional prison, she forces her way out with the help of Paz, who calls himself the Pulse of the Universe. You then spend the next four or so hours of in-game time carving a path of destruction through increasingly more hostile levels of Hell, taking down Aspects of the Judge on your way to killing the Devil herself.

The story is done well, but the overarching narrative relies on more than a few cliches and is content to tell you what happens rather than let you experience it. There are a few twists and turns, but you, as the player, have almost no say in what goes on in the cutscenes, and they serve primarily as window dressing that connects each level. There are some plot holes as well, which the game tries to handwave these away, but they are all the more noticeable for it.

All that said, there is nothing offensive about the story of Metal: Hellsinger, and there are a few cool surprises along the way. While it was frustrating to see it lean on old tropes as much as it does, I was invested enough in the Unknown's plight primarily because she's such a cool character, reminiscent of Doom 2016's Doom Slayer. She's more a force of nature than character sometimes but has enough emotive presence to be engaging in a way that made me want to see her succeed.

Metal: Hellsinger Review — The Bottom Line

Pros

• One of the best soundtracks of the decade.
• Fantastic gunplay and music integration.
• Satisfying fights no matter what you're killing.

Cons

• A trope-y story more told than shown.
• A small selection of weapons, some of which are more fun than effective.

Metal: Hellsinger doesn't overstay its welcome. It knows exactly what it wants to be and gets it done in the space of no more than five or so hours. It is the perfect length, its music is just this side of perfect, the gunplay is terrific despite the limited weapon selection, and every level is enjoyable enough to play again and again.

The enemy variety is surprisingly large for such a tightly-built experience, with every mob needing a different approach and each boss taking a new spin on established mechanics. The later game enemies are some of the toughest challenges, but by the time you face them, you'll have enough mastery that they won't take long to overcome.

Metal: Hellsinger's only real failing is technically its narrative, but that isn't even a failing so much as it is a secondary concern for the game it wants to be. I'd have liked it to take a few more risks and be a little more engaging, but like the rest of the game, it does exactly what it means to and then gets out of the demon-slaying.

All in all, Metal: Hellsinger is a short, sweet, and immensely enjoyable experience worth every second of your time. It more than earns its purchase price. I cannot wait to see what the team at The Outsiders makes next because if this outing is anything to go by, they have one Hell of a future ahead of them.

[Note: Funcom provided the copy of Metal: Hellsinger used for this review.]

From Beatsaber to Crypt of the Necrodancer, there's no shortage of unique titles in the rhythm genre that aren't Guitar Hero, Rockband, or Rocksmith. BPM: Bullets Per Minute from developer Playtonic Friends is one of those games that mixes genres to create something that might not at first seem to gel.

A first-person rhythm roguelike shooter, BPM: Bullets Per Minute was first released on PC back in 2020. We really enjoyed it, calling it "musical Doom," saying that it's "difficult to master but highly satisfying." On October 5, PlayStation and Xbox owners will be able to get in on the metal-infused action. It will release on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Series X|S.

Like other rhythm games, BPM: Bullets Per Minute tasks players with playing to a beat — just here that means shooting, reloading, jumping, strafing, and dodging "to the beat of an epic rock soundtrack," as the developers put it. 

Alongside getting five new playable heroes, or Valkyries as they're called, three new weapons, a new chapter, and two new difficulties, the game will also get enhancements for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, hitting 4K 60fps on each platform. 

There's no official word on how much BPM: Bullets Per Minute will cost on either platform, though the game currently retails for $19.99 on Steam. 

It takes a lot to get me to notice new roguelikes. Despite a genuine fondness for the genre, a seemingly constant stream of mediocre releases has soured my interest. Not every game can be a Dead Cells or Hades. For this reason, I wasn't surprised to learn that a title like Echo Games’ Rhythm Fighter flew way under my radar.

Previously released on PC and now headed to the Nintendo Switch, this colorful action title offers the genre's basics: randomly generated levels and items, a card system, and multiple in-game currencies. 

By themselves, none of those things inherently make Rhythm Fighter stand out. And while the premise might raise an eyebrow – animals taking up arms to defend Earth from violent vegetables sounds interesting – there are plenty of other games offering similar content.

Thankfully, Echo Games did a little more than just copy and paste popular gameplay mechanics into Rhythm Fighter. 

Rhythm Fighter Review: A Decent Beat

All of Rhythm Fighter’s action takes place on a horizontal plane. Players move left to right (and vice versa) as they navigate the game’s segmented levels, though diverging paths, often located at the top and bottom of the screen, allow for a bit of exploration. Some areas are safe havens, housing shops that sell health items and powerups. Others might lead to environmental challenges and secret encounters.

The idea is to move through a level while collecting as many boons as possible before heading to the boss area. If you survive that final encounter, you move on to the next level. Rinse and repeat.

Of course, all of this is easier said than done. That's partially because of the game's rhythm-based combat. In order to be successful, you have to move and attack on the beat while learning the capabilities of each enemy as they also move to the beat at different speeds.

A carrot might be a pushover, but a Tai Chi practicing cabbage knows how to throw a punch. Luckily, every enemy has a tell to help you better get in the groove. For example, one might have a windup or glow that lets you know they’re going to attack.

The last thing to contend with is moving and attacking in relation to space. Basic movement is tied to a hop, so moving forward and back one space at a time is simple. Two spaces are needed to roll past enemies and environmental hazards, though, and certain attacks can only land if an opponent is right in front of or behind you. Other moves can target enemies several spaces away.

What makes things challenging is how frequently Rhythm Fighter mixes up opponents. Some throw slow-moving projectiles several spaces in front of them. Others try and bait you into moving close (staying out of a fire-breathing cayenne pepper’s attack range while landing hits on a constantly moving tater is tough). And that’s to say nothing of the difficult boss fights. Not only do they have long health bars and devastating attacks, but they also spawn several minions to get in your way.

It doesn’t take much to become overwhelmed at any given moment.

Lighthearted and Accessible

Most of my time spent playing Rhythm Fighter was pleasant. Besides being a little too repetitive in places (despite its more random elements), I enjoyed battering veggies as they hipped and hopped in my direction. The techno-like beats kept things lighthearted, too, a deceptive measure considering how challenging the game can be.

There are some extra bits that help make death more palatable, though.  

Hitting various in-game achievements — like beating a certain number of a given enemy — unlocks new characters, modes, and features. A training bot lets you spar with enemies and bosses that have been previously encountered. Collectible hearts can be used to level up characters. New weapons eventually become available, randomly showing up in chests and shops during play.

With all of these things working together, Rhythm Fighter’s difficulty curve bends back towards the player. These types of features are there to keep you invested by offering progressive based incentives, and they help make Rhythm Fighter slightly more accessible.

The same can be said of the game’s rhythm mechanics and customization options. Landing multiple hits or moves on the beat boosts your attacks, eventually powering up your character, something that's essential to tackling the game's really tough enemies. That said, while missing the beat or getting hit saps your strength, it doesn't prevent you from attacking or moving; the game doesn't stop you cold just because you’re off the beat.

Hints encourage keeping the sound on, but Rhythm Fighter’s visual cues make it possible to play without being able to hear the music. If you don’t jive with the basic control schemes, you can change the button layout manually, and if you're struggling to stay on beat, you can adjust the music’s tempo to account for any possible delays.

There isn’t anything here that’s groundbreaking or as inclusive as, say, Marvel’s Spider-Man. But there's been some effort placed on making a challenging game that people with varying skill levels and needs can play.  

Rhythm Fighter Review – The Bottom Line

Pros

• Entertaining rhythm-based combat
• Somewhat accessible
• Decent music

Cons

• Unremarkable gameplay
• Repetitive to a fault

Echo Games’ Rhythm Fighter isn’t as unique as it wants to be. While it offers a lot of the genre's staple mechanics, it doesn't do much with them — Rhythm Fighter often feels like the "lesser version" of something else. 

On the other hand, its rhythm-based combat, achievement system, and accessible nature offer compelling arguments to keep the game downloaded on my Switch.

Will I be playing Rhythm Fighter a month or two from now? Probably not. Am I enjoying my time with it at the moment? Certainly.     

[Note: Coconut Island Games provided the copy of Rhythm Fighter used for this review.]

Control

ESRB Rating: T
MSRP: $39.99
Platforms: XB1, Series X|S
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• Amazon (XB1, Series X|S Physical)
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Control may very well be on of the greatest games of the last generation. Developed by Remedy Games — who also brought us the incredible Alan Wake, as well as Quantum Break and Max Payne — Control wows with super slick gunplay and super power usage.

It's a game that pulls players into an engaging world with engaging combat.  The Federal Bureau of Control is under siege and supernatural abilities are commonplace. Fans of the X-Files or sci-fi horror should not miss out on this action-adventure game.

We couldn't help but gush about it in our review, saying that "Control is undoubtedly Remedy's biggest and weirdest game yet. In many ways, it's also their best, all while it paves the way for a Marvel-like connected universe." Yeah, it connects to all of their previous games in some fashion, creating a video game universe unlike any other. 

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning

ESRB Rating: M
MSRP: $39.99
Platforms: XB1, X|S
Get it on:

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• Amazon (XB1, X|S Physical)
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• Microsoft Store (XB1, Series X|S Digital)
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Kingdoms of Amalur didn't get the fairest shake with its original release on the Xbox 360, but the Re-Reckoning version of the game on modern platforms brings this much-talked-about RPG to life — and with a wealth of additional content on top of the original version's already robust world and gameplay.

This is one of those re-releases that original fans dream of, but also one that's accessible to new fans. Thankfully, many of the hiccups from the original game have been ironed out here, so it's both faithful and the best way to play the game. 

If you're a loot hound — or know someone who is — and like RPGs, Re-Reckoning is a no brainer. 

In our review, we said that "Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning feels like a breath of fresh air. Just like the game's protagonist, it rises from the ashes, with a blank slate and zero expectations, to deliver a powerful story, addictive gameplay, and a shockingly stylish world that's pulsing with personality and is ripe for exploration."

Wasteland 3

ESRB Rating: M
MSRP: $59.99
Platforms: XB1, Series X|S
Get it on:

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• Amazon (XB1, Series X|S Physical)
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• Microsoft Store (XB1, Series X|S Digital)\n
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  • Currently included with Game Pass Ultimate
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After waiting for a sequel to Wasteland 2 for six years — and suffering through a few delays along the way — fans finally got their hands on Wasteland 3 earlier this year. Luckily, it was all well worth it. Mixing tried and true CRPG mechanics with modern sensibilities, Wasteland 3 is an unmitigated success. 

There's no surprise that there's a lot to do in Wasteland 3, a game that can take upwards of 71 hours to beat for those looking to uncover everything. Sure, a single playthrough isn't as long as some other RPGs on the Xbox platform, but there are so many different builds and ways to play the game, that multiple playthroughs are almost essential. 

There's story, there's strategy, there's combat. It looks absolutely fantastic, and it's funny, to boot. 

We said that "Wasteland 3 is, without a doubt, one of the best games of the year. Despite its dark, gloomy atmosphere, it manages to shine through humor and characterization. The world-building is second to none, with a wide range of locales to visit, creating a sense of epic-scale and adventure. It’s a game where your choices have real consequences as you play judge, jury, and executioner."

Streets Of Rage 4 

ESRB Rating: T
MSRP: $24.99 - $34.99
Platforms: XB1, Series X|S
Get it on:

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• Amazon (XB1, Series X|S Physical)
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• Microsoft Store (XB1, Series X|S Digital)\n
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  • Currently included with Game Pass Ultimate
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They say you can't keep a good fighter down, and with Streets of Rage 4, developer Dotemu proves that one of the best beat em' ups of the 1990s is still one of the beat em' ups of 2020s. 

The most obvious change is the game's updated coat of paint, which looks absolutely gorgeous on last- and current-gen consoles. Peel back the surface just a bit, and you'll find a game that pays respect to the franchise but makes enough thoughtful changes to forge its own path. Combat is as you'd expect it, though that doesn't mean it's any less effective. 

After playing Streets of Rage 4 earlier this year, we said "Streets of Rage 4 is the best kind of revival. It absolutely revels in the franchise’s roots, but the designers have put a lot of thought into what does and does not work in the old arcade beat-‘em-up formula." Read more here. 

Maneater

ESRB Rating: M
MSRP: $29.99
Platforms: XB1, Series X|S
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• Amazon (XB1, Series X|S Physical)
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• Microsoft Store (XB1, Series X|S Digital)
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Maneater may be one of the most surprising games of the year, and if you like action-packed chaos and mayhem, one of the best.  

Fans of Jaws and Shark Week will revel in the chum-filled waters of Maneater, which follows an orphaned bull shark out for revenge. As your growing shark swims from the alligator-filled swamps of Fatwick Bayou to the sailboat-clogged harbor of Prosperity Sands and beyond, you'll chomp down on everything from fish and turtles to swimmers and bounty hunters. 

You'll even unlock new skills, evolutions, and deadly shark skins along the way, giving you extra bones to rip your prey to shreds or electricity to shock them when they fall in the water. 

We gave Maneater a 9 because of all of the things it does so well, with our review saying "In a time of global crisis, however, a game where you can turn your brain off and eat anything and everything in sight is just the kind of detachment we need. Even if it wasn’t on your radar at all, Maneater is a title that will gobble you up for a few hours of blissful escapism."

Dirt 5

ESRB Rating: E
MSRP: $59.99
Platforms: XB1, X|S
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• Amazon (XB1, Series X|S Physical)
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• Microsoft Store (XB1, Series X|S Digital)
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Dirt 5 isn't to be overlooked if you've got the itch for a good racing game, especially if you enjoyed its predecessor, Dirt 4. It improves on many of that game's mechanics and systems, even if the Xbox versions aren't able to use the awesome haptic feedback features available in the PlayStation 5 version. 

Dirt 5's varied terrain, comprehensive career mode, and lush visuals are a feast for anyone who enjoys the genre even a bit. But don't go into this thinking it's Gran Turismo: this is a rally racer through and through. 

You can read more about Dirt 5 and all it has to offer in our review, where we said it's "a huge racer with tons to do," has "gorgeous presentation," and comes packaged with "tight, responsive controls." 

Ghostrunner

ESRB Rating: M
MSRP: $29.99
Platforms: XB1, Series X|S
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• Microsoft Store (XB1, Series X|S Digital)
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Ultra fast-paced and brutal, Ghostrunner can put even the highest skilled players to the test with its cutthroat swordplay and silky smooth maneuverability. An action-packed platformer set against a neon cyberpunk futurescape, Ghostrunner is part Mirror's Edge, part Ninja Gaiden where precise timing and movement a strategic keys to success. Get hit, and you die. You'll have to start from the checkpoint. 

This is a solid buy for anyone who's all about gameplay and isn't too worried about story, at least in the traditional narrative sense. If you pay attention, there's a lot to learn from its world.

We gave Ghostreunner a solid 8, saying, "it's fast, frenetic, and, even in the face of its weaker moments, endlessly satisfying."

Cake Bash

ESRB Rating: E
MSRP: $19.99
Platforms: XB1, Series X|S
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• Microsoft Store (XB1, Series X|S Digital)
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There's nothing better for the soul and bad for your interpersonal relationships like a good, old-fashioned party game. Cake Bash doesn't just make you compete with friends in its minigames, campaign, and multiplayer modes — it makes you hungry too! You are trying to become the tastiest treat around, after all.

Our review for this indie darling perhaps says it best: "With a variety of entertaining games, some lively stages, and good replayability, it’s a fun experience, especially with friends. We only wish there was more of it on offer. Though some minigames feel a little finicky, it’s otherwise a sweet treat all around." Read more about Cake Bash here. 

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2

ESRB Rating: T
MSRP: $39.99
Platforms: XB1, Series X|S
Get it on:

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• Amazon (XB1, Series X|S Physical)
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• Microsoft Store (XB1, Series X|S Digital)
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There's no series that does skateboarding better than Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. Sure, there's the Skate series, which has received favorable marks over the years, but nothing holds a candle to the prolificness of the THPS franchise, or its grip on the cultural zeitgeist 21 years after the launch of the first game. 

This faithful remake of the first two games in the series can't be beat — even compared to more recent entries. it makes you forget that 2012's Tony Hawk's HD ever existed. 

Featuring absolutely no cut content from the first two games in the series and even some new additions (skaters, boards, and online multiplayer), as well as tricks from later games, Pro Skater 1 + 2 isn't to be missed.

That doesn't mean it's perfect, but we gave it high marks for its graphics, faithfulness, and old-school arcade feel. Read more about it in our review.

Immortal Fenyx Rising

ESRB Rating: T
MSRP: $59.99
Platforms: XB1, Series X|S
Get it on:

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• Amazon (XB1, Series X|S physical)
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• Microsoft Store (XB1, Series X|S Digital)
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Immortals Fenyx Rising may look like just another open-world Ubisoft game, and while it may share certain aspects with games like Assassin's Creed Odyssey, such as its Greek mythology trappings, it takes some of those elements and flips them on their head. 

As expected, there's a lot to do here, with plenty of places to explore, myriad items to discover, and tons of skills to unlock. There's "breezy combat and excellent writing," and the art style is inviting. It helps that the game is funny too. 

For us, "Immortals Fenyx Rising has undeniable charm." It's well worth the price of admission for fans of Ubisoft, open-world games, or just plain ol' well-made games.  

Journey to the Savage Planet

ESRB Rating: T
MSRP: $29.99
Platforms: XB1, Series X|S
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• Amazon (XB1, Series X|S Physical)
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• Microsoft Store (XB1, Series X|S Digital)\n
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  • Included with Game Pass Ultimate
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You may not have heard about Journey to the Savage Planet since it had a relatively quiet launch way back in the beginning of 2020, which was about 624 years ago at this point. But that doesn't mean it isn't a 3D action-adventure game well-worth checking out. 

Zany, satirical, and totally bonkers, Journey to the Savage Planet sends you to planet AR-Y 26 as part of an exploration expedition meant to find a habitable planet for humanity. It's a tale we've played through before, but the character behind Journey to the Savage Planet — not to mention its creative design choices and fun gameplay — make it stand out. 

Players can explore and conquer solo or in co op, though co op is relegated to a purely invite-only system. There's unfortunately no couch co op or online matchmaking here. 

We gave the game an 8 for getting "exploration and traversal" right, as well as it's "colorful and light-hearted" world. We said that "Journey to the Savage Planet is an amalgam of many genres in a single 15-20 hour experience" that stands as a "charming debut from a promising new studio."

Star Wars: Squadrons

ESRB Rating: T
MSRP: $39.99
Platforms: XB1, Series X|S
Get it on:

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• Amazon (XB1, Series X|S physical)
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• Microsoft Store (XB1, Series X|S Digital)\n
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  • Part of EA Play through Game Pass Ultimate on console
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Star Wars fans have waited a long, long time for a proper space-flight combat simulator — since the days of the legendary X-Wing and Tie Fighter series. Star Wars: Squadrons delivers (in spades) a thoughtful and respectful modern take on that classic gameplay. recent updates to the game have added the much-requested B-Wing, custom multiplayer matches, and new starfighter armaments. 

Between a campaign worthy of the storied series and the intensely immersive flight and combat to the blood-pumping multiplayer that serves as a nice middle ground between the old games and Battlefront 2's Starfighter Assualt mode, Squadrons is not to be missed by any fan.

In our review of the game, we said "Star Wars Squadrons is an instant classic and an ode to the space combat sims that came before it. It's the closest thing to a new X-Wing or Tie Fighter we're going to get."

Watch Dogs: Legion

ESRB Rating: M
MSRP: $59.99
Platforms: XB1, Series X|S
Buy it from:

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• Amazon (XB1, Series X|S physical)
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• Microsoft Store (XB1, Series X|S Digital)
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Watch Dogs: Legion is the third installment in the Watch Dogs franchise that began back in 2014. While it features similar gameplay and world-building as its predecessors, the most interesting mechanic Watch Dogs: Legion brings to the table is the ability to recruit any character in London to the grander cause. Such an ambitious addition works extremely well, too, adding a sense of depth unseen in the first two games and a whole heck of a lot of character types to dive into.

Never before has being a part of a rebel hacker group been so slick, so much so in our review, we said that WDL "throws out a decade of Ubisoft's cluttered-map open worlds in favor of exciting systems that deliver unique emergent moments consistently."

It's not perfect — as of this writing, there's still a pesky game-breaking bug near the end of the game in the Series X version that Ubisoft is working to fix — but it's a solid entry in the series all fans should check out. 

Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War

ESRB Rating: M
MSRP: $59.99 - $69.99
Platforms: XB1, Series X|S
Get it on:

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• Amazon (XB1 Physical)
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• Amazon (Series X|S Physical)
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• Microsoft Store (XB1, Series X|S Digital)
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This year's Call of Duty should be a given for any FPS player with an Xbox Box One or Xbox Series X|S. The perennial first-person shooter's newest offering brings with it a ton of multiplayer gameplay and plenty of weapon customization options to keep any fan busy. There's a sizeable campaign mode, to boot, not to mention the always-popular Zombies mode. 

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is on both Xbox One and Xbox Series X natively, though owners of the Xbox One version is backwards compatible with the Series X, or it can upgrade to the Xbox Series X version at no additional cost. So it's really a win, win, win. 

In our review of Black Ops Cold War, we gave it top marks for a "tight, high-action campaign mode, tons of weapon customization options in multiplayer, [and for having] plenty of content right away." We also said that, unsurprisingly, "zombies mode is hard to put down."

Grounded

ESRB Rating: T
MSRP: $29.99
Platforms: XB1, Series X|S
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• Microsoft Store (XB1, Series X|S Digital)\n
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  • Currently included in Game Pass Ultimate
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If you've ever wondered what it would be like to play in the backyard of Honey, I shrunk the Kids, you'll want to give Grounded a look. It's a survival adventure game where you're small and the world is big — literally. 

Grounded may only be in Early Access through Xbox Game Preview with its story and systems still in development, but it already has a lot to offer. You'll craft spears and shovels, hunt bugs, build shelters, and survive myriad dangers — all while trying to get un-shrunk. 

On top of what's currently available, Obsidian has been dutifully adding new elements and mechanics to the game since it released in July. The extensive development roadmap can be seen over on the Grounded website. 

In our Early Access review, we said that "Grounded proudly reveals its unique take on the well-tread survival genre by injecting familiar mechanics with a youthful spirit. With Grounded, Obsidian walks back years of survival games moving ceaselessly toward dreary post-apocalyptic worlds and instead imagines a colorful little-big sandbox where insects are intimidating behemoths."

Gears Tactics

ESRB Rating: M
MSRP: $59.99
Platforms: XB1, Series X|S
Get it on:

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• Amazon (XB1, Series X|S Physical)
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• Microsoft Store (XB1, Series X|S Digital)\n
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  • Currently included in Game Pass Ultimate
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Xbox One actually has a surprising number of good tactics games in its catalog: XCOM and XCOM 2, Wargroove, Battletech, Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, Mutant Year Zero, Battletech, and Into the Breach are just a few. But fans can add Gears Tactics in as one of the best entries. 

As with other similar genre games, there are squads, there are over-head perspectives, there are action points, and there are abilities like overwatch. Since Gears Tactics is a prequel to the original Gears of War, the story gives Gears fans another look at the franchise's universe, 12 years before the first game. 

We played the game when it released in early 2020, saying "Gears Tactics takes the intense third-person action of the console game into the realm of PC-centric turn-based tactical strategy. Thanks to intuitive controls, Gears Tactics is easy to get into even for players who have never played a turn-based tactical squad game before. It’s just a shame there’s not more here."

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

ESRB Rating: E
MSRP: $29.99
Platforms: XB1, Series X|S
Get it on:

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• Microsoft Store (XB1, Series X|S Digital)\n
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  • Currently included in Game Pass Ultimate
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Ori and the Blind Forest is one of the best platformers to launch on any platform in recent memory. Released in 2015, it currently has an 88 on Metacritic and a commanding 90 on OpenCritic. So how would Moon Studios and Microsoft Studios follow that? With a sequel that's just as good — if not better. 

Ori and the Will of the Wisps takes most everything fans love about the original game and improves upon it. It's draw-droppingly gorgeous world is only rivaled by its tight platforming mechanics and fulfilling Metroidvania design. There's a lot to do in Will of the Wisps, making it a game fans can come back to again and again. 

In our review of the game, we said "Ori and the Will of the Wisps is another triumph return for the series — a beautiful game with only the smallest blemishes to its luster. If you want to play a beautiful, often difficult Metroidvania with some of the most satisfying combat and traversal mechanics the genre has to offer, Ori and the Will of the Wisps will give you plenty to be excited about."

The holiday shopping season is here, which means it's time to stock up on games — or buy them for other people, of course. 2020 marked the launch of Sony's PlayStation 5 and Microsoft's Xbox Series X and Series S, all of which are backwards compatible with their respective prior platforms.

Although Halo Infinite was delayed out of the Series X|S launch window, leaving the consoles without a launch exclusive title, there are tons of great games ready to fill the void, some third-party, some first-party. 

In making this list, we tried to avoid overlap with our other list marking the essential games for the PlayStation 4 and PS5. Maybe it's a misguided endeavor because so many great games launched for both platforms, but we had to draw the line somewhere for each list or both would go on and on. 

Here's that list so you can find even more great Xbox One and Series X|S titles, like FUSER, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, Doom Eternal, Resident Evil 3, and more. 

Here we're focusing on some of the other essential titles for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S owners to pick up this season and into 2021, from shooters and space flight sims to everything in between. There's something for any sort of gamer in this list, so let's get started.

It’s been a long journey for Kingdom Hearts fans. Starting as an elevator conversation two decades ago, the series ultimately evolved into an unprecedented crossover between Disney and Final Fantasy, helmed by Square Enix veteran Tetsuya Nomura.

Though Kingdom Hearts 3 wrapped up the “Dark Seeker Saga” last year, Nomura isn’t done with the franchise, and now we have Melody of Memory. Launching on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, this spin-off brings us a rhythm game not too dissimilar to Square-Enix’s previous rhythm game — Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy — and it pulls off the concept fantastically.

Kingdom Hearts: Melody Of Memory Review — Simple But Clean Fun

One of Kingdom Hearts’ biggest strengths has always been its soundtrack, and Melody of Memory knows it, delivering 143 songs from almost every entry in the franchise.

Taking place after Kingdom Hearts 3 (more specifically, the Re:Mind DLC), Melody of Memory starts with a retelling of the Dark Seeker Saga, which covers everything from the original Kingdom Hearts to KH3. Melody of Memory is not particularly story-driven and benefits from this approach considerably.

You’ll spend most of your time with the game's World Tour mode, a campaign that lets you visit each location via a world map. All of this map is explorable by way of the Gummi ship in a manner reminiscent of the PS2 Kingdom Hearts entries. From Destiny Islands to Toy Story, Melody of Memory provides a comprehensive look at the series' history.

Progressing through the game isn't simply about beating stages. Each song has three collectible stars, earned by hitting set criteria in each stage, like not missing a certain number of attacks or for reaching a particular score. With three difficulty options available, it's possible to complete songs solo, and with such an emphasis on high scores, there's plenty of replayability here.

One of Kingdom Hearts’ biggest strengths has always been its soundtrack, and Melody of Memory knows it, delivering 143 songs from almost every entry in the franchise. With the exception of Face My Fears, all of Utada Hikaru’s theme songs are present, as are classic tunes like Traverse Town, Vector To The Heavens, and The Other Promise.

Despite being one of the more prominent pieces of Kingdom Hearts music, Dearly Beloved features a new remix in the opening menu but as a playable song, it's curiously absent. Overall though, fans will likely approve of what’s on offer.

Each stage is on-rails and comes in two forms, all explained through in-game tutorials the first time you play them. Memory Dives are less common but more cinematic, playing out to iconic cutscenes, and players need to hit the notes as they appear to progress.

Red notes only require a simple attack, yellow notes require a direction input while doing so, and green notes require an input be held down for a set period of time. It’s a simple approach, but the wider joy comes from reliving classic series' moments, a sentiment that may be lost on new players.

Field Battle stages see you working as a three-person team with Sora, Donald, and Goofy, though some worlds include guest characters like Aladdin, Hercules, or Ariel. Your goal is to reach the end, earning EXP. That, of course, requires battling enemies as they appear in your path. When they do, two circles will appear on them, the outer one slowly closing in. Successful attacking comes down to hitting enemies as these circles overlap, and attacks are ranked based on timing.

Multiple enemies often align on each stage, letting you strike them all at once. Others launch ranged attacks for Sora to avoid by jumping, while some can only be reached during a jump. For larger foes or enemies out of reach, ability crystals appear that utilize special skills or magic. Some sections also feature green notes in mid-air to obtain, so Sora can glide into them as you hold down the jump button.

Missed attacks reduce some HP and to clear a stage, you only need to have some left (since it doesn’t regenerate over time). Though you can’t access them manually during a song, players can pre-set items before going in, so that, for example, potions automatically activate when reaching a certain percentage of health. Others take effect once you’ve beaten the stage, such as EXP boosts, and completion also rewards items. That includes materials like gems, which can be synthesized via a Moogle in your team menu.

By turning Kingdom Hearts into a musical experience, Square Enix has found a winner with Melody of Memory.

For the most part, Melody of Memory gets it right, combining some smooth gameplay with good enemy variance between levels to keep things lively. My only real criticism here is that it can feel a bit messy when multiple enemies emerge; getting flustered is quite easy. But, thankfully, their appearances are generally well-coordinated. Landing attacks in-line feels satisfying and better yet, the whole system doesn’t feel out of place for a Kingdom Hearts entry.

After the impressive visual update we saw in Kingdom Hearts 3, it’s somewhat baffling, however, that Square Enix has taken a step back here, returning to the visual approach we saw in earlier entries. Admittedly, there’s not much wrong with that alone, but the presentation here lacks the shine that KH3 brought us and feels underwhelming by comparison.

Why this is the case isn’t particularly clear, though, as a guess, it might be to invoke a sense of nostalgia, considering Melody of Memory’s premise.

Anyone looking to play with friends is in luck, though, as this entry offers a two-player co-op mode for field battle stages. Vs Battles are also included here, letting you compete against other online players or AI opponents. In this mode, where you lose points if you run out of HP, there's a unique trick meter, letting you trip up opponents once the meter is filled, and since this is a battle for the highest score. It takes a little time to unlock since it's reliant on World Tour progress, but it ultimately makes for an enjoyable multiplayer experience.

Kingdom Hearts: Melody Of Memory Review — The Bottom Line

Pros

• A big celebration of the wider series
• Solid rhythm mechanics
• Excellent soundtrack

Cons

• Basic visuals
• A couple of key songs are missing
• Easy to get flustered with multiple enemies

By turning Kingdom Hearts into a musical experience, Square Enix has found a winner with Melody of Memory. Celebrating the wider history of this historic franchise, there’s a sense of nostalgia that will be lost on newcomers, but any rhythm game fans would do well to investigate it further.

Drawing upon a rich soundtrack that ranges from original songs to Disney hits, there’s a lot to love in this new spin-off, but don’t expect any major story developments.

[Note: Square Enix provided the copy of Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory used for this review.]

Square Enix is releasing a Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory demo on October 15 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. The Kingdom Hearts rhythm game demo is already available on the other side of the international date line for those with accounts from other regions.

The Melody of Memory demo includes six playable songs, four field battle stages, and two co-op stages. Some with early access to the demo have shown the tracks the demo includes.

Field Battle

• Welcome To Wonderland
• Hand In Hand
• Rustling Forest
• Wave of Darkness I

Co-Op

• Sinister Shadows
• All For One

Dive Into The Heart -Destati- gets thrown in the mix as a tutorial stage.

The full Melody of Memory game boasts a track collection of over 140 songs spanning the Kingdom Hearts series and 20 playable characters, among other features. And because it's Kingdom Hearts, Melody of Memory combines a canon chapter with re-tellings of key moments told from Kairi's viewpoint.

Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory releases November 13 for PS4, Xbox One, and Switch. Stay tuned to GameSkinny for more Kingdom Hearts news as it develops, including our review.

[Source: Gematsu]

The Metronomicon

I have no idea why this game didn't get more attention when it came out. A mix of Final Fantasy and Rock Band, Metronomicon layers strategy-based RPG-style battles with a rhythm overlay, tasking players with playing different parts of a song Amplitude-style in order to unleash different attacks.

It's difficult, but when you finally put together the perfect combo without a missed beat, it's incredibly satisfying.

That's it for our best rhythm action games of all time. What games would you have included? Let us know over on Twitter!

Child of Eden

I could have easily put Rez or Rez Infinite in this slot, but for my money, the game's Xbox 360 followup, Child of Eden, is the best of all three if you're looking for a rhythm rail-shooter.

It is currently unavailable on current-gen marketplaces, which means that even though it is backwards-compatible with the Xbox One, you're out of luck unless you can dig up your old Xbox 360 disc, which is a shame because it is legitimately one of the most beautiful games ever made.

Where Rez skewed more digital, with a cyberpunk-inspired aesthetic, Child of Eden is decidedly more organic and psychedelic. The graphics hold up today, punching well above their weight, and it is, oddly enough, one of the only games ever to pull off Kinect integration in a satisfying way.

Crypt of the Necrodancer

Crypt of the Necrodancer is another unique entry on this list. Although it is, technically, a rhythm game, an advanced sense of rhythm and syncopation won't really help you here. This roguelike dungeon-crawler is more about quickly making a plan of attack, executing it, and doing it to the beat, moving on every single one so that you don't break your combo. 

Oh, and this game is hard, too! You'll have to think ahead to avoid being one-shotted by a particularly vicious enemy, but once you learn the enemy patterns, it's an extremely satisfying romp.

Thumper

Thumper is a transcendental game in another way. The developers bill it as a "rhythm-violence" title, and they're not wrong. Everything about the game feels oppressive, and death is always creeping in around the corner.

Where the rest of the games on this list can induce a state of focused flow, Thumper is much more of a white-knuckle experience. You'd be surprised at how scary this rhythm game can be.

Sayonara Wild Hearts

Sayonara Wild Hearts is an incredibly special game. It blends a story of self-discovery after heartbreak with super-flashy graphics and tight controls. That would be enough to land it a spot on this list, but what makes the game iconic, and truthfully, one of my personal all-time favorites, is the soundtrack.

The game plays like a concept album, each song matching perfectly with its stage but also coming together as a whole to tell a larger story. The dream pop soundtrack stands alone as one of 2019's best albums, but experiencing it together with the game is almost a transcendental experience.

Bit.Trip.Runner

Sure, Bit.Trip.Runner doesn't have an all-star tracklist full of licensed songs, nor does it have photorealistic graphics or a deep story. But if there's one thing the Bit.Trip series is good at, it's stripping everything away in order to create a distilled, concentrated hardcore experience.

One of the more difficult games on this list, Bit.Trip.Runner may have you throwing your controller at the wall, but at the same time, you know you'll be back grinding that level soon enough.

Amplitude

In Amplitude, whether you're playing the PS2 original or the PS4 re-imagining, your reward for playing well is being able to hear more of the song. 

It's an interesting gameplay hook — instead of mashing buttons to the beat of the song, you control a ship responsible for playing each individual part of the song. You have to lay down the drum track, the vocal track, the synth tracks, and the guitar tracks, and as you do, the actual song takes shape in front of you.

It's a frustratingly fun way to motivate the player since your reward for nailing a particularly difficult section is actually being able to hear the sweet guitar solo that has been plaguing you for the last 30 minutes.

Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure

Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure didn't make as big of a splash as Elite Beat Agents, Rhythm Heaven, or any of the other less action-focused rhythm games on the Nintendo DS family of systems, and that's a shame because it's a very special game. 

It's Professor Layton by way of Rhythm Heaven, weaving a deep story (complete with Level-5's iconic beautiful animated cutscenes and voice acting) replacing brain-bending minigames with rhythm-based minigames.

The game does a great job of integrating these minigames with whatever is going on in the game's campaign, which makes the overall experience really special and immersive.

Just Shapes & Beats

In quickplay mode, Just Shapes & Beats is a joy to play given how it flips the rhythm genre on its head. Instead of pressing buttons to the beat of a song, the stage itself is what reacts to the music that is playing, as hazards pop up and dance around the stage.

Every single song in the game has a custom-created stage, with hazards that are thematically appropriate for the song's genre and mood. It's clear that a lot of effort was put into curating these stages.

The developers really didn't have to include a story mode here, but they did, and for a rhythm game with no dialogue, there are some amazing, emotional moments to be found here. Plus, the game recently got a pretty major update, adding a few songs from the Shovel Knight soundtrack (remixed, naturally) for free!

Beat Saber

It would be irresponsible not to lead off with Beat Saber. Even if it weren't a VR title, its slick visuals and amazing tracklist would be enough to land a spot on this list. But once you put on a headset, Beat Saber is an expert at inducing a deep sense of flow.

Your brain turns off, and you enter a trance-like state as you slash an endless stream of boxes. It's not until after you take the headset off an hour later that you realize you're drenched in sweat and your arms feel like they're on fire. 

It's worth it, though. Trust me. 

There are few feelings in gaming more satisfying than losing yourself in a song and mashing buttons to the beat to defeat an enemy or complete a stage. It just feels right, you know?

Slashing an enemy when the vocalist hits that high note, jumping over an obstacle during a soaring guitar solo, expertly parrying a blow as the high-hat hits. It's exhilarating, and it's one of my favorite genres of gaming. 

In that spirit, here are our favorite rhythm action games of all time. As a note, however, we're disqualifying games like Guitar Hero, Beatmania, and even Parappa the Rapper and Elite Beat Agents, given the fact that those games are more purely rhythm titles.

We love them too, so don't feel slighted if you don't see them on this list!

Online artist "Ribbon Black" has released to the public a fascinating find for any fans of the PS1 rhythm game classic Vib Ribbon; a press release copy of the game filled with previously unreleased information and data on the game.

Some of the more interesting information discovered in the press kit is an interview with and photos of the game's director Masaya Matsura, several unused key art images (one shown below), and even unused music found on a disc titled, DJ Cam Loa Project Meets Vib Ribbon. 

The disc mainly consists of a variety of different music by artist DJ Cam spanning multiple genres, but the standout is a track that seems to be an unused level track from Vib Ribbon itself.

Ribbon Black was unable to find the track anywhere else on the internet and has uploaded the track to Soundcloud for all to hear. The track is six minutes long and spans multiple genres, fitting in well with the rest of bizarre yet catchy soundtrack of Vib Ribbon. 

One of the previously unused key art images found in the press kit.

Ribbon Black has been kind enough to not only summarize a great deal of the more interesting information from the discovery in a blog post that you can read here to see everything else, and has also released the full contents of the press kit for others to play around with via dropbox.

Vib Ribbon is available now for PS3 and PlayStation Vita, and you can follow Ribbon Black on Twitter.

Persona 4: Dancing All Night was the reason I got a PlayStation TV. Though the remote play rarely worked, the interface was laughable, and it required a first-party memory card to be functional, I was ecstatic to get my hands on the game. 

Needless to say, I was completely hooked from the first moment. 

Part of the reason is that the Persona series has always had amazing music courtesy of Shoji Meguro, but the remixes featured in P4D topped the originals consistently. Many of them are mainstays on my workout playlist (especially Yuu Miyake's remix of “NOW I KNOW.”) But that's not what made Persona 4: Dancing All Night a great game.

What really made it stand out in a crowded genre was the fact that it featured a 20+ hour story mode, full of all of the twists, turns, and emotional climaxes that the mainline series is known for. It was unlike anything I had ever played, halfway between a visual novel and a rhythm game. I loved it, and it made grinding tracks to unlock costumes and songs insanely fun.

It's no surprise that I was so excited to review the Persona Dancing: Endless Night Collection that I pestered my editor about it weekly for months on end.

I mention this only to say that if you were/are planning on buying the Persona Dancing: Endless Night Collection because you expected Persona 5: Dancing Star Night and Persona 3: Dancing In Moonlight to offer the same depth as 4, you'll be sorely disappointed.

Let's Dance

For those of you who aren't familiar with the series, the Persona series of rhythm games are spin-offs of the mainline Persona games, taking place after the events of the main game of which they're numbered.

The controls are fairly simple and will feel natural to anyone who's played a button-based rhythm game before; simply tap or hold buttons to the beat, flicking the joystick to boost your score with optional scratches. You're also rewarded for hitting special “Fever” notes -- if you manage to hit three, you'll see a special partner dance sequence and really boost your score.

At higher levels, this really gets challenging in terms of visual stimulus -- there's a lot going on.

This is where things get a little wonky with the scoring system as well -- depending on where a gauge is by the time you end the song, you might not clear the track. This is super frustrating because it means that if you're looking to clear a song, the only thing that really matters is nailing the last third of it.

You could have a full combo going and then miss four notes at the end and fail the track, then miss 50 notes during the first half of the song and clear it if you're able to pull it together by the end.

The main draw of the rhythm portions is in the dancing sequences that play out as you mash to the beat. Each track has bespoke choreography, and if you can split your attention enough to watch as Ryuji and Futaba bust a move together, you'll be rewarded.

There's obviously been a lot of effort put in, and it culminates in a couple of group tracks in each game that really shine.

The Music

I'll say this right now: if you're not a fan of the music in the Persona series, skip this game. Seriously. Close out of this review tab and read something else, maybe one of our wonderful Red Dead Redemption 2 guides or our review of Pokemon Lets GO Pikachu and Eevee. 

But if you're a fan, each game in the collection offers dozens of tracks, featuring impeccable remixes by the likes of DE DE MOUSE, Lotus Juice, and even Hideki Naganuma, the mad genius behind the soundtracks to the Jet Set Radio series.

As a collection, the soundtracks shine, but as three individual games, you'll likely come up wanting. Each game doesn't really have all that many songs on its own, and many of them are remixes of the same song. Both Persona 5: Dancing Star Night and Persona 3: Dancing In Moonlight only have 25 songs each, and that's paltry for a rhythm game -- even if many of the songs are brand new.

Anti-Social Link

Now, in Persona 4: Dancing All Night, the paltry song list was excusable since the story mode was a sweeping, long, unexpected symphony that introduced each song as special, one with significance to the story.

Neither Persona 3: Dancing In Moonlight or Persona 5: Dancing Star Night has that to fall back on since they have both axed the story mode entirely.

In their places are a brand-new “Social” tab, which is supposed to be reminiscent of how you build up social links in the Persona games.

It's a cute idea. As the player makes progress, unlocks achievements, and hits milestones in the game, they'll be able to see scenes between the player character and the other characters. As they progress, they can even go into their private dressing rooms and play a pathetically simple game of hide-and-seek. It's very fan-service-y, with characters reminiscing on the events of their games and what they've been up to or how they have changed since.

It's nice, but... why?

I mean, why have a freaking HIDE-AND-SEEK mini-game in a rhythm game based on a role-playing game that itself is based on the folklore of a thousand different cultures? Why did they cut the one function of Persona 4: Dancing All Night that separated it from other cookie-cutter mash-the-button rhythm games? Why am I getting more and more enraged as I write these words?

Okay, I'm going to go for a walk and calm down. Back soon.

The Verdict

It was snowing. The walk sucked. I'm still angry at these games.

Here's the problem with the Persona Dancing: Endless Night Collection. Rhythm games have already been perfected. Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero, and Rock Band represent the Platonic ideal of what a rhythm game should be. Yes, you need accessories to play them, but the trade-off is a sublime feeling of flow when you perfect your technique, one where you can lose yourself in the music. It's perfect, and it's why I love rhythm games in the first place.

In order for a rhythm game without a specialized peripheral to offer a gameplay experience that even comes close to matching that feeling, it needs to offer some above-and-beyond gameplay hook. Many touchscreen-based rhythm games get around this issue by timing the music to touchscreen taps in a way that makes it seem like the player is actually playing the notes, as if they're cueing the music on a synthesizer or piano.

Persona 4: Dancing All Night got around this with a story mode that turned the game into something more than itself.

As I said before, at the time, I had never played anything quite like Persona 4: Dancing All Night. It was a visual novel with branching paths, a wonderful and heart-rending mystery, and a climax that had me at the edge of my seat. And to top it all off, the whole story dealt with the power of music, of one specific beautiful song that you're able to hear as the credits roll.

Sure, when you finish the story, you're not left with much to do other than chasing scores, unlocking the rest of a paltry tracklist, and playing dress-up, but the story mode excused all that.

Persona 3: Dancing In Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing Star Night have no excuses. Despite the flash, they are both bare-bones experiences, and it's clear that the team couldn't bottle the same lightning they had for Persona 4: Dancing All Night. It's a shame, because bringing these games West was a pretty big deal for Atlus, riding on the massive success of Persona 5, and if the games under-perform, it doesn't bode well for a possible Persona 6 dancing game.

Having said that, the game mechanics work (with the exception of the weird gauge system,) and chasing scores is satisfying. It's also absolutely undeniable that the main draw here is in the music. It's all incredibly great, and the remixes do the originals justice. But without any kind of hook, without a story mode, without that draw, it's really hard to recommend Persona 3: Dancing In Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing Star Night unless you're a rabid fan of the series who will be content playing and replaying the same tracks to unlock costumes for characters.

For everyone else, just wait for the soundtracks to show up on Spotify or Amazon, and save your time and money.

Pros

+Persona 4: Dancing All Night is a unique, must-play rhythm game, and playing it on the PS4 is a joy. 

+The soundtrack bangs. 

Cons

-Tracklists are shamefully short at 25 per game. 

-Persona 5: Dancing Star Night and Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight both fail to include a compelling gameplay hook to motivate the player to play more.

[Note: The developer provided a copy of Persona Dancing: Endless Night Collection for the purposes of this review.]

After getting a teaser announcement about a new rhythm game under development by the same minds that created Gitaroo Man, Elite Beat Agents, and Parappa the Rapper, Keiichi Yano and Masaya Matsuura came clean with the launch of their Kickstarter for Project Rap Rabbit.

The new title will take rhythm-styled gameplay into RPG territory, orchestrating combat through dialogue exchanges filtered through rap battles. Inspired by other media like the Epic Rap Battles Of History YouTube series, the hook here is that rap battles are decided in real time through a “dialogue wheel”, which represents one of four specific temperaments.

The wheels will vary, with four types of expression: Coerce, Boast, Laugh, and Joke -- each of these rap-trees will have their own strengths and weaknesses, having specific uses against the enemies you’ll encounter in the game. This will force you to ad-lib your flow like a genuine freestyle rapper. 

The team behind the game is promising that Project Rap Rabbit will be the most stylish game that either Keiichi Yano or Masaya Matsuura has ever released. 

The campaign’s funding goal is about $1.1 million.Stretch goals state that the game was initially pitched as a PS4 console exclusive, but if the campaign reaches $3.1 million, the team will release an Xbox One version of Project Rap Rabbit, and they'll also bring it to the Nintendo Switch if it hits a whopping $4.9 million.

The project has already raised $95,000 on its first day, but it remains to be seen whether or not the team will be able to secure the money they’re asking for. If you want to find out more about the project, you can find the KickStarter for Project Rap Rabbit here.

For some strange reason, we are all drawn to stickers. The infatuation lasts longer for some than others, but at one point or another we have all covered a notebook, writing utensil, wall, or a console with a sticker (or a hundred). Why is this important in the game industry? Well, gamelets, PlayStation released a remastered version of PaRappa the Rapper earlier this month. And what's coming out next for this series?

PaRappa the Rapper stickers!

Take a look:

Don't these look fun?

PaRappa the Rapper was originally released by Sony on the PlayStation and PlayStation Portable. Now that the re-master is available on the PlayStation 4, Sony has decided to keep the hype up by releasing the stickers on iOS. Let's hope that Android follows soon!

Stick! Punch! It's all in... your phone, actually. Grab these funky-fresh PaRappa iMessage stickers for iOS devices: https://t.co/uFgPhh1Pq7 pic.twitter.com/igwsOhBCN0

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) April 19, 2017

For those of you who don't know, PaRappa the Rapper is a single-player rhythm game in which the main character, known as PaRappa, must rap-battle his way through the six stages of the game.

There's a "U Rappin" meter that gauges how well the player is following the beat. It rates you as Awful, Bad, Good, or Cool. I'm not going to go into all of the rules for gameplay, but let's just say you don't want to hit that Awful or Bad rating too many times -- it'll probably send you back to the beginning.

To get an idea about what it's like to play, check out the video below.

Will you be buying digital PaRappa the Rapper stickers anytime soon? Let us know in the comments below!

Throughout the years most of us have had some experience with rhythm games. Whether it be the peripheral invasion and subsequent living room takeover of Guitar Hero and Rock Band respectively throughout the 2000's, or the dominance of dancing games like Dance Dance Rev coming full circle with Ubisoft’s Just Dance games that utilized motion tracking. During much of this time, a rhythm game has been quietly building and maintaining its own niche audience: Osu!

In order to truly understand what exactly McOsu is, you must first understand what Osu! is.

Osu! is an open source rhythm game for PC and Mac, with derivative games released on mobile platforms such as iOS, Android, and even the Windows Phone. The gameplay itself is based on various rhythm games, such as Ouendan/Elite Beat Agents. But perhaps the official website puts it best:

While keeping some authentic elements, Osu! adds huge customization via skins/beatmaps/storyboarding, online rankings, multiplayer, and boasts a community with over 500,000 active users! Play the way you want to play -- with your own music -- and share your creations with others.

A tutorial to give you a basic feel for Osu!

So OK: What the Heck is McOsu, Then?

McOsu's (Short) History

Interestingly, McOsu was founded in this same spirit of open-ended customization. McOsu plays the exact same way as Osu! It uses the same notes, sliders, and spinners, too. You even use the same beatmaps you would otherwise load into standard Osu! The only substantial difference between the two is all of the extra mods that have been added into McOsu that are not in the base game, which I will get to in a bit.

First, it is important to realize the context in which McOsu was created. Its development started before Osu! became open source, and its alpha was released around the same time that Osu! went open source.

Reading through the Reddit announcement, which was posted onto the Osu! subreddit, you can see a conversation between McKay, the creator of McOsu, and Peppy, the creator of Osu!, in which they discuss the future of their respective games in a little bit more detail.

But the TL;DR is that Peppy doesn’t seem bothered by the existence of McOsu, even going so far as to inquire about McKay eventually helping with work on Osu as a community contributor.

McKay seems dissatisfied with the potential shackles of doing something like that, however. Working on an official product like Osu! comes with certain boundaries that are not so easily circumvented. Adding in certain features that he wants and has included in McOsu might be harder while keeping a clean, or intuitive UI.

McOsu's McUses

McOsu's biggest reason for existing is to practice. This is stated by McKay in both his Reddit announcement and on the game’s official storefront pages on both Github and Steam. It's also backed up by many users. They want to be able to practice songs more easily. The most prominent features for McOsu assist with this.

Options, Options Everywhere

Speed

In McOsu, you can change the speed of songs more easily and with greater finesse. For instance, changing the Beats Per Minute (BPM) will make the song go faster, but will not change the Approach Rate (AR), how fast the circle closes in on the note, or the Overall Difficulty (OD), the number of milliseconds you have to click the circle when it meets up with the note. Changing the Speed Multiplier, however, makes everything faster.

Scrubbing

You can scrub through the song to get to certain points that you might be struggling with. McKay even mentioned that he had been getting requests to create a bookmark feature, so that players didn’t need to scrub, but so that they could automatically skip to the place they wanted to practice. However, I do not think this feature has yet been added.

Rotation

You can make the screen rotate while you are playing, which some say helps them more naturally react to the notes rather than just use muscle memory to naturally get better at hard beatmaps.

Skipping 

You can skip past parts in a song that have no notes. Many argue that this helps them keep their flow going.

Novelty

FPS, Rainbow Notes, and VR

The game also features a lot of novel features too, like turning all the notes rainbow colored. Or a first person mode where the screen moves around and you “shoot” the notes.

Perhaps most intriguingly is the fact that the game supports VR play for the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift. This is particularly noteworthy since the VR market is so starved for content that any game is welcome. A solid adaption of a successful, quality rhythm game, like Osu, which has a huge database of user-generated content is all the more welcome.

NO Note Locking

One of the more notable changes in McOsu is the absence of note locking. Note locking is where the game requires you to play the notes in a particular order. The reason this is a problem in Osu! is that missing a note can cause the game to not register that you attempted to hit that note, meaning that when you move on to the next note it won’t register it because you didn’t hit the prior note. This, in turn, can cause you to miss a whole string of notes, which can possibly make you lose on a beatmap, especially on harder difficulties.

Reception

It is hard to tell how many people actually use McOsu. Parsing the subreddit it seems as if some people really love it and yet others used it for a little while but went back to just inefficiently practicing in Osu! A very common complaint is that McOsu feels different. Not worse, but different. Some people feel that playing McOsu throws them off when they return to playing Osu!, others just say something feels slightly off. Some discussions have said that McOsu seems easier and/or smoother than Osu! In short, I would suggest testing out McOsu for a while to get your own reactions on the game.

Development Proceeds...

According to GitHub, development seems to continue at a steady rate. Although the developers have done a poor job of communicating with the fan base. For instance, the only major announcement I can find seems to be associated with the Alpha 20 release, which didn’t feature the Osu! Databases for loading beatmaps, meaning loading beatmaps was slow. Well, Alpha 25 added in Osu! Databases. Yay! That’s a pretty big deal. Yet their GitHub still uses the same feature video for Alpha Release 20. And that video was done in one take; I know because they say so in the video.

So what do you think about McOsu? Is it useful, or just treading too closely to Osu! (which itself could be said to tread too closely to its predecessors)? Had you ever heard of Osu!? If not, are you now interested in these games now? Both games are free, so if you have an interest in playing them there's no reason to not try*. 

You can download Osu! from their official website.

While you can download McOsu from Steam or GitHub. 

*Please note we are in no way affiliated with either of these games. I am merely making it easier for our readers to find these niche games. 

Polygon recently reported that Ubisoft acquired the studio that was behind DJ Hero and Guitar Hero Live. The musical titles' developer, FreeStyle Games is now Ubisoft Leamington.

The Studio was formed in 2002 and has made multiple rhythm-based games with Guitar and DJ peripherals.

After their last game didn't do as well as they expected, Activision decided to sell it to Ubisoft. Activision believed that FreeStyle Games can be a great asset to the Ubisoft.

In Ubisoft’s blog, Pauline Langourieux, current Managing Director of Ubisoft Leamington, wants to be more hands-on with productions within the studio. With that news, there will have to be someone to step-up, that's where Richard Blenkinsop comes in.

Richard has over 17 years of experience in the gaming industry as a producer, senior producer, and executive producer. He has worked on many games like Blur, Call of Duty 3, The Division, The Crew and more. He joined Reflections in 2012, which is one of the biggest studios within Ubisoft, and has then moved up from Associate Managing Director to Managing Director.

With all his experience serving as Managing Director for Ubisoft Reflection and now Ubisoft Leamington, it will bring them new forms of game development..

Mad Fellows Games is indeed mad for creating a rhythm action game which in part looks exactly like Rez. That is until you get into a tunnel, and it oozes the personality of Audiosurf.

Aaero is neither of these games -- actually, it's both of them...but better.

During both EGX 2015, and EGX 2016 I played Aaero, and it appeared in my games of the show for 2015, as well as Emma Spalding's for 2016.With all the sounds of music I hate, Aaero is the single most interesting game I've seen in the past few years -- other than Superhot, which is the most innovative shooter I've played in a long time.

Following the music line in this game makes you feel like you are playing the music. (Or in the case of vocal tracks singing the song.) I suspect it's a response to the act of following the line, the physical sensation of moving the stick, and the way you have to bob of weave throw the track that gives the feeling. I don't even like the music in Aaero, but the setting of the game is so engaging that I simply don't care.

All in all, it works perfectly. And I cannot wait for Aaero to come out.

While there is no release date for Aaero as of yet, it has gone into certification with Microsoft. So it won't be long until we have it in our hands. But for now, I will leave you with the sounds of Aaero:

What do you think? Are you as intrigued with this rhythm game as I am? Let me know down in the comments!

MOBAs are among the most competitive environments offered to gamers. It’s almost inevitable that if you start taking them seriously, you’ll end up becoming significantly more competitive to suit. That kind of intense competition can seriously take its toll, and this is why it’s not uncommon to see people raging or otherwise just getting completely fed up.

While it’s natural to get frustrated, it’s often best to step back from the game and take a break. A bit of time spent relaxing and getting back into a more positive mindset can go a long way in helping you climb through the ranks.

To that end, I’ve provided a short list of games MOBA players might enjoy for such a purpose. These games are chosen largely because they’re all on PC, they need some skill and awareness to excel at, but they can be as relaxed or as competitive as you choose to make it. I’ve also tried to keep them reasonably cost efficient -- after all, most MOBAs are so free.

osu!

For a period of time, osu! was the go to game during extended queues for a number of notable League of Legends streamers. It gained quite a bit of popularity for itself and other rhythm games, though few others on the PC really took advantage of it and the surge of attention eventually died down. osu! remains, however, and is really quite good.

Taking the gameplay of the Nintendo DS Ouendan games (or Elite Beat Agents), osu! is a rhythm game that sees you tapping or dragging buttons in time with the song’s beat. It can be as simple or as intense as you want it to be, with a slew of modifiers to apply for customised gameplay, not to mention some ridiculous difficulty settings for the truly dedicated.

Coming equipped with an editor, the game has a truly massive library of songs built and amassed by players over the years, so there’s likely to be something here to interest you. osu! is also fantastic for practicing mouse movements and coordination -- certain to give you an edge when you return to your favourite MOBA. You can download osu! on the official website.

Genre Alternatives: Stepmania, Audiosurf 2

Path of Exile

Famous for its Skill Tree of Doom, Path of Exile is a Free to Play Action RPG with a ridiculous amount of potential for customisation. Starting from basic archetypes such as indestructible tanks or mages raining fire on foes and going all the way to rangers throwing spectral greatswords or rapidly teleporting ninjas, Path of Exile has so many different ways to play the game.

While it ultimately boils down to lots of clicking as you kill and loot your way across the game world, Path of Exile is great for picking up, picking a crazy build, and seeing what you can do. There’s a huge amount of content in the game as well, and even replaying the same areas on higher difficulties can be quite the experience.

The game is regularly updated with new temporary Leagues providing unique spins on the game, as well as constant new features and cosmetic items. If you haven’t dabbled in Path of Exile yet, it’s well worth taking a look at. You can find it on Steam.

Genre Alternatives: Diablo 3, Torchlight 2, Grim Dawn

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

There’s little I can say about this game that hasn’t already been said. Sporting overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam years into its release, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is a delightfully twisted game that sees you roaming through randomly generated dungeons and fighting all sorts of grotesque and misshapen foes.

A staggering amount of powerups and items are available for you to find throughout the dungeons, many of which create interesting or strange combinations of effects that can completely change how you play. There’s a huge array of unlockables, playable characters, and hidden content to delve into and find. But most importantly, regardless of what items you get, getting there (or losing in the attempt) is entirely up to the player’s skill.

Whether it’s for a single quick run through the game or a marathon session with multiple playthroughs, The Binding of Isaac is a fantastic game that’s great to wind down with. Might not be for the faint of heart or weak of stomach, though… fair warning!

Genre Alternatives: Enter the Gungeon, Risk of Rain

Rocket League

Remote controlled cars playing soccer. Need I say more?

A surprisingly simple concept that has since taken the world by storm, Rocket League takes The World’s Game and shrinks it down to a handful of cars pitted against each other for control of an oversized ball. Featuring extremely tight controls that are quick to learn but very deep and involved to master, Rocket League can be as simple as you want it to be or end up becoming just as consuming and focused an activity as any MOBA.

There’s an array of customisation options for giving your chosen car its own stylish flair. There are a number of different maps and play modes from the serious 2v2 or 3v3 ranked games to the more ridiculous Rumble Mode. Rocket League is fast, it’s fun, and there’s nothing else quite like it. Well worth giving a shot.

Genre Alternatives: ...I don’t know, Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 maybe? There really aren’t any. Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars being the spiritual predecessor to Rocket League.

Team Fortress 2

Admittedly, jumping from MOBAs to an FPS is not always the best way to relax. Both genres can get quite heated and competitive, after all, and it can be quite frustrating or demoralising to go into this thinking you’ll be able to take it easy only to get sniped from across the map repeatedly.

But that’s why I’ve selected Team Fortress 2, because while it may be an FPS, the players have since made it into a virtual playground with plenty of less serious options. Exploring through the servers and maps, you might find all sorts of crazy new ways to play. From matches of dodgeball, to hide-and-seek prop hunt games, to fighting against one super-powered player, the possibilities are endless.

If none of that takes your fancy, there’s always just playing the core game itself. It’s a bit different now from how it launched, but there’s still a really good game at the heart of Team Fortress 2. With a staggering amount of weapons and options across all nine classes and huge amounts of maps, there’s never really a bad time to just kick back, relax, and grind some new hats.

Genre Alternatives: Overwatch, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

This is just a small sampling of good games that MOBA players might like to try when not playing MOBAs. Still, at the end of the day, just about any other kind of video game will suffice for the purpose. Perhaps you want to go roam around and slay dragons in Skyrim, or go exploring in World of Warcraft, or even just kick back and enjoy a visual novel. The world is your oyster.

It’s always worth remembering that we come to video games to be entertained and have fun. Amidst the eternal grind of competitive games and less than savoury insults being hurled back and forth, it can sometimes be hard to remember that. But it is something to always remember. If you’re not enjoying yourself, step back and give it a bit. The game will still be there when you’re ready, and you’ll be much more refreshed and able to give it your all.

What other kinds of games do you enjoy in between your MOBA sessions? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below.

(Header image courtesy of TeeTurtle)

Klang, an abstract rhythm game being developed by lone Norwegian developer Tinimations, will be released on Steam on September 22nd of this year.  

After 3 years of backbreaking work. #Klang IS FINALLY LAUNCHING ON SEPT. 22!!! Check out the game at #PAXWest2016 pic.twitter.com/f8FhLFyFGG

— Tom-Ivar Arntzen (@Tinimations) September 2, 2016

Klang is a rhythm game that seeks to escape the typical standard of most music games where the player is just matching buttons to the music, and strives to actually involve the players in the music itself through a blend of combat and 2D platforming.

The game features a soundtrack by electric dance music artist bLiNd, a stark but expressive visual style with bright but minimal color choices, and a motif of music that plays into both the visuals and the story in addition to the gameplay.

Klang will be published under Snow Cannon Games, and has a playable demo available at PAX West 2016 at their booth along with other titles.

If you are interested in picking up Klang, it will not be released until September 22nd, but it can be wishlisted on Steam as of right now.