19. Nier: Automata (2017)
Action/Adventure/RPG | Metacritic Score: 88
Image via Square Enix
Nier: Automata is a ridiculously fascinating, odd, and beautiful trip packed with unique concepts. Few games can transition between genres and styles as smoothly as Automata does. This “action RPG” set in a dystopian future offers a variety of gameplay options and a captivating narrative with numerous other endings that urge exploring every inch of this enchanting universe. Few video games attempt what Nier: Automata achieves, so you should try this Yoko Taro-helmed adventure.
Nier: Automata also deep dives into many philosophical debates with its narrative. However, it demands your attention for the same. The game’s storytelling decisions will have you think and remember many aspects of the game even after you’re done playing.
18. Horizon Zero Dawn (2017)
Action/Adventure/Open World | Metacritic Score: 89
Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment
One of the most exquisite open-world games ever designed can be found in the Horizon series.
Horizon’s world is inhabited by enormous, impressive mechanical relics that roar and gnash, and players face their prey while armed with a horrifying assortment of faux-natural weapons. We were cautiously optimistic when renowned PlayStation developer Guerrilla Games announced they were leaving the Killzone franchise to create an open-world robot-dinosaur-hunting game.
Thankfully, in the end, what emerged was an expansive, wonderful, and singular open-world action game with just the perfect amount of RPG components that come together to create a fantastic debut in what we hope will become a core franchise for PlayStation Studios. One of the most thrilling PlayStation 4 experiences is taking down a massive boss with an active strategy of well-placed missiles and melee attacks. The greatest parts of other open-world games are combined in Horizon Zero Dawn to create something new, delightfully refreshing, and entertaining.
17. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (2019)
Action/Adventure/Open Zone | Metacritic Score: 89
Image via Electronic Arts
Jedi: Fallen Order for a Star Wars is simply one of the best Star Wars games we’ve received in a long, long while. It’s a genre mix that borrows from the action and excitement of Uncharted and the combat and exploration of a light-hearted Soulslike, and it works out beautifully in the end.
As Cal, you explore the galaxy, re-learning abilities deeply stored in your subconscious memory. The game uses this aspect to tell stories from Cal’s childhood – as a young Padawan learns his way around the Force. This works well in the combat system.
During your journey, if you die, you can respawn and hunt down your enemy who delivered the final blow. The first strike against them fully restores your health and Force meters (along with your lost XP), enabling you to fight them at your best. This gameplay loop aims at inspiring you to go roguelike and explore territories that you initially found challenging. This, mixed with jumping, wall-running and quirky puzzle-solving, makes for a lovable game overall.
16. Dark Souls 3 (2016)
Action/Adventure/Open zone | Metacritic Score: 89
Image via Bandai Namco Entertainment
Some of the most stunningly stunning locations FromSoftware has ever created can be found in the Kingdom of Lothric and the kingdoms that lie beyond. Even though several of its sites (such as the Catacombs) reuse ideas from well-known places, they are distinctive enough to stand out from the similarities to earlier games. There was never a time when their strong map awareness didn’t hold the series’ authenticity.
The scathing new moves in Dark Souls 3 called weapon arts, which add variety and style to an already powerful combat system, are only rivaled by the game’s brutal worlds and the beasts that roam there. One second, you’re slicing enemies in half with my greatsword’s devastating weight; the next, you’re transforming the enormous chunk of curved steel into a graceful weapon of terror.
15. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019)
Action/Adventure/Open Zone | Metacritic Score: 90
Image via FromSoftware
We stand by the saying – Sekiro is FromSoftware’s most challenging game to date. Primarily because of how combat works – it relies heavily on your raw reflexes and timing.
The timing-based lock-on fighting of strikes and slashes in Sekiro and how you navigate the same superbly designed levels that interconnect and provide new shortcuts between small bastions of safety to resupply are familiar. The Sculptor’s Idols are where you’ll rest, regain your healing draughts, reset defeated foes, access your character progression, and of course, teleport between them for a quick fast trip. They are functionally identical to bonfires from Dark Souls or Lanterns in Bloodborne.
14. Shadow of the Colossus (2018)
Action/Adventure/Open World | Metacritic Score: 91
Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment
The compelling environment and moving narrative in Shadow of the Colossus continue contributing to its enduring impact. Standing on the shoulders of this giant has allowed many contemporary fantasy games to be a success. Without going overboard, SIE Japan Studio and Team Ico are masters at bringing magic to life.
Since video games are based on mathematical code and promise fairness and order, many people play them as an escape from the injustices of the real world. However, Shadow of the Colossus’s story, rules, and structure conspire against the player from the outset; the game is rigged from the start, and it is in these conditions that you must discover your significance. In the end, this is the difficulty many of us now confront since factors outside our control impact our behavior.
13. Bloodborne (2015)
Action/Adventure/RPG/Open Zone | Metacritic Score: 92
Image via Sony Computer Entertainment
One of the most challenging and accomplished titles of its generation debuted as a Playstation 4 exclusive. FromSoftware’s world of Bloodborne is complicated and disturbing. Even in its horrifying world, you’re left astounded by the stories you uncover and the characters you cross paths with. Bloodborne’s deep, terrible, snarling groups of deformed monsters and stark-raving, bloodthirsty lunatics always have something in store for you.
Every time you meet your demise, you’re left a little broken. However, whenever you face a familiar enemy, you’ll be older, wiser, and more robust – ready for the most heinous creatures to emerge from the darkness and rip you apart once more. Bloodborne is an awful, evil world where every benefit carries risks, and horror permeates everything. And even though its obstacles seem enormous and unreachable, your talent and tenacity will finally win out, making the experience something like no other.
12. Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt
Action/Adventure/Open World/RPG | Metacritic Score: 92
Image via CD Projekt
The expansive fantasy epic from CD Projekt Red has emerged as one of the most celebrated games of all time and has raised the bar for open-world RPGs. Every alley, water body, road, building, and mountain in The Witcher 3 offers something new to explore in its darkly beautiful environment that spans across its continent.
The Witcher 3 and its two enormous expansions stand out thanks to Geralt’s expertly crafted side stories and monster-hunting adventures. The base game has more than 60 hours of content, and thanks to its two DLCs – Blood and Wine and Hearts of Stone – you’ll always have fantasies and monsters to explore.
11. Journey (2012)
Adventure/Puzzle | Metacritic Score: 92
Image via Sony Computer Entertainment
The trip in Journey encompasses an almost complete experience of human emotions. The anxiety that emerges from investigating the ancient caverns beneath your destination is skilfully combined with the awe from cresting your first hill and seeing the mountain on the horizon. The loneliness and desperation that await near the mountain’s freezing crest only heighten the fun curiosity of running into a fellow traveler—another player having their own experience—and wordlessly cooperating with them to explore this world.
Journey continues to be one of the most powerful video games in recent memory, whether you’re playing it for the first time or returning to it after three years. It is unquestionably a classic of the contemporary adventure genre, with outstanding environmental storytelling, impactful music, and an emotional conclusion.
