It’s officially autumn this week! Though, at least on the east coast, the weather hasn’t gotten the memo and is still hanging out at around ‘80 degrees. So now I’m stuck inside freezing air-conditioned interiors. Yes, I can tweak the temperature, but then the AC still messes with my breathing. Ugh. I can’t win.
What I can win at, though, is a video game. And if you’re in search of one, I and my comrades here at Kotaku have some solid recommendations for you to check out. Let’s get into it.
Silent Hill f
Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows PCs (Steam Deck: “Unknown”)
Current goal: Unlock a new ending.
Few genres in gaming excite me more than horror. Yes, I’m a masochist and the struggle of a solid survival horror game is wonderfully cathartic. The frights, the opportunities for rich thematic exploration, the evocative sound design and haunting soundtracks, I’m here for all of it. And thankfully, Silent Hill f delivered everything I love about this genre and then some. It’s arguably my favorite game of the year thus far (watch out Avowed, MGS Delta, and Clair Obscur) and, this weekend, I’ll be returning to Hinako’s Japanese mountainside village to unravel more of her dark, potentially cautionary, tale.
Silent Hill f has multiple endings, so I’ve got a pretty clear goal this weekend: I want to unlock at least one more. The first ending, which seems to be universally the same for any first playthrough, introduced so many new questions, along with a stunning revelation of what might be really going on with all these damn monsters and lengthy hallucinatory episodes. An unfortunate bout of the flu (or whatever it was) has kept me out of reach of exploring more of these dark depths this week, but I’m finally well enough to suffer once more. – Claire Jackson
Sonic Racing: Crossworlds
Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, Switch 2, Windows PCs (Steam Deck: “Verified”)
Current goal: Roll around at the speed of sound
Finally, I can tell y’all you should play Sonic Racing: Crossworlds this weekend. The blue blur’s latest kart racer is full of depth, style, and some of the best interactions ever between its huge cast of characters. It’s so good I can almost forgive it for falling into the annoying crossover slop trend that simply will not die because people love to see things they like in other things they like. I’ll race around as Shadow the Hedgehog on my sick hoverboard, even if it means I have to look at that damn talking sponge in the other lane. I love that guy, but there was a reason he never got his license. We should not be allowing him to drive around just because he’s in a different universe. It’s not safe. — Kenneth Shepard
Hades 2
Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, Windows PCs (Steam Deck: “Verified”)
Current goal: Make it to Chronos
It’s nice to have Hades back again, but more and different. Would it have been cool to see Supergiant Games make something else instead over the last five years? Maybe. Will they make so much money from both Hades 1 and Hades 2 that they can make something even more wild next time? Probably. But in some ways they’ve been making the same game since 2011’s Bastion. Some are more linear than others. Some lean more into story and characters while others lean more into mechanics and systems. But there is always some form of isometric action, beautiful art direction, and moody narrative.
The roguelike loop isn’t for everyone. I get that. It’s not always for me either. But as life gets busy and more of my gaming gets confined to little screens held in my hands in-between everything else demanding my time and attention, I appreciate the little 15-minute bullet hell snacks awaiting me in Hades 2. It’s like having a portable arcade cabinet oozing with in-game designs that somehow look just as good as the panel art and cool nuggets of Greek mythology littered about for me to digest on my own time. All of the cozy-sim additions weaving their way into my hack-and-slash rage-out sessions? TBD on how I feel about them. But it’s nice to be home again. – Ethan Gach
Baby Steps
Play it on: PS5, Windows PCs (Steam Deck: “Verified”)
Current goal: Stay chill
The latest existential puzzle game from the maker of hit frustration-sim Getting Over It is called Baby Steps and it’s as clever, gallling, and bizarre as you’d expect. Developed by Bennett Foddy, Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, and others, it puts you in the role of a man transported into a AAA open-world video game where even the simplest navigational tasks feel unwieldy and insurmountably tedious. I’ve only had a couple of hours with it but the awkward bipedal movement mechanics, free-form exploration, and comedic beats have all worked together to keep tugging me along. Is it a pointless game for smart people? Quite possibly, which is why I’m intent on not giving up, even when it wants me to. Just beware the dong. – Ethan Gach
Town to City
Play it on: Windows PCs (Early Access)
Current goal: Finish all my houses
Town to City is a cozy builder that revels in the details but doesn’t overwhelm you with them. You design houses that attract people who make stuff which lets you build more stuff and attract more people and so on and so forth. In keeping with similar building sims, the objective is to have fun making stuff rather than stress out over managing a spreadsheet of tradeoffs until you’ve “solved” the game’s underlying resource problem. The voxel art style looks lovely and streamlines building, plus the tools strike a nice balance, offering plenty of options without shoving too much in your face too early. The music is nice and the vibes are chill. It’s by Galaxy Grove which also made Station to Station, a superbly relaxing train sim from a few years back. Town to City is that but for people who spend too much time marveling at the inviting walkability of old Mediterranean town squares. – Ethan Gach
And that wraps our picks for the weekend! What are you playing?
