With challenges built around art as a means to success, you literally paint a world back to life and along the way experience a beautiful story, make some genie friends, and try out some pretty clever mechanics that make Pixelopus’ next adventure one to anticipate. Don’t worry about being the most exacting artist in the world, or even having all that much artistic talent to begin with - Concrete Genie encourages you to paint scenes and animate the environment with only a few guidelines of what to include, but it never judges you for how you approach those goals. At the heart of what makes it so special is a painting mechanic that prioritizes expression over precision. Celeste is the first of three games on this list that IGN awarded a coveted review score of 10.ĭeveloper: Extremely OK Games | IGN’s Celeste Wiki | HLTB: 8-37 hours Concrete GenieĬoncrete Genie comes from one of the smallest studios in the PlayStation first-party suite, but Pixelopus’ latest creation packs as much heart and ingenuity as bigger first-party games.

This, along with its dense, eerily gorgeous world, make Bloodborne stand apart from - and arguably above - its Dark Souls brethren.ĭeveloper: FromSoftware | IGN’s Bloodborne Wiki | HLTB: 33-75 hours CelesteĬeleste is one of the best modern platformers, thanks to its tight controls, excellent level design, heartfelt story, and Lena Raine’s dynamic soundtrack (which is well worth listening to whether or not you end up trying Celeste).

What may have been the general consensus pick for best Soulsborne game before Elden Ring, Bloodborne takes the Dark Souls formula (including its punishing difficulty) and adds faster-paced moment-to-moment combat, allowing for a more aggressive playstyle. With its campaign clocking in around 60 hours, it’s the longest game to mainline on this list.ĭeveloper: Ubisoft | IGN’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Wiki | HLTB: 60-136 hours Bloodborne A Viking tale set within England’s Dark Ages, Valhalla “walks a fine line between historical tourism, top-shelf conspiracy theory, and veiled mysticism against the backdrop of a grounded and focused story,” according to IGN’s review. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is Ubisoft’s biggest, boldest take on the series to date.

Download dark souls ps5 for free