Armored Core 6 

FromSoftware has done an excellent job with Armored Core 6 and made this entry a glorious comeback for the long-running series. Taking place on the planet of Rubicon 3, Armored Core 6 tasks players to partake in increasingly tough battles against different kinds of mechs. There’s just a distinct sense of power fantasy that comes from controlling a heavily armed mech, and the developer’s signature difficulty makes sure that this power fantasy always feels earned.

Street Fighter 6 

Street Fighter 6 adds plenty of new elements to this long-running fighting franchise including but not limited to a full-fledged open-world, and it gets all the better for it. The core fighting mechanics are extremely solid, and it’s a lot of fun to experiment with different characters and find out what catches your fancy. Street Fighter 6 has a really high skill ceiling, and it makes climbing to the top ranks really fun with its selection of diverse game modes.

Mortal Kombat 1 2023 

Mortal Kombat 1 2023 is an excellent new fighter that’s easy to pick up but difficult to master. There’s just a vast list of combos available for each of the dozens of characters, and mastering each of these moves lists one by one is a consistently enjoyable experience. The combat really kicks into high gear on higher difficulties, where you must study your opponent’s moves and quickly devise a strategy to defeat them all in a matter of seconds – and that is something that will keep you coming back for more.

Dead Space Remake

Dead Space Remake is a faithful recreation of the 2008 horror classic, and developer EA Motive has done a job of cleaning up its many rough edges. What we get as a result is a modern first-person shooter that’s every bit as addictive as it is scary. Sure, the encounters are not as frequent as other action horror games – but Dead Space Remake offers plenty of player freedom with its selection of different weapons, abilities, and dismemberment mechanics which makes it all so endearing in the first place.

Hi-Fi Rush 

Tango Gameworks surprised us all with the recently released Hi-Fi Rush, which is easily one of the most well-designed games in recent memory. The entirety of the game world moves to the beat, and you must keep in time with the rhythm as you dish out damage to your foes. It’s a simple gameplay loop that manages to be extremely satisfying due to its rhythmic nature, and it’s made all the better through the use of catchy tunes among others.

Final Fantasy 16 

Final Fantasy 16 features over-the-top, fast-paced, hack-and-slash combat, which makes the resulting experience nothing short of extraordinary. The combat feels extremely polished and fast-paced, and using your abilities and weapons in creative ways not only looks really flashy but also provides a distinct sense of power fantasy. Add to that some amazing Eikon fights, and Final Fantasy 16 becomes a really addictive game.

Batman Arkham Knight

Batman Arkham Knight might just be the end of the Arkham games as we know, and it wouldn’t be an understatement that Batman went down in style. There are a few rough edges here and there, but Arkham Knight nails the rhythmic combat that the series is known for. The parry timings are generously large, the moves really flow into one another, and there are plenty of combat challenges for players to test their mettle.

Ghostrunner 2 

Ghostrunner 2 excellently builds upon what came before in new and interesting ways, and what we get is a sequel that is bigger and better than the original in almost every conceivable way. The one-hit one-kill mechanic is utilized to the fullest extent, and players are expected to do a meticulous ballet of wall slides, slashes, and slides to clear out large rooms of enemies. Ghostrunner 2 has a really high skill ceiling, which is what motivates you to go back and do it all over again – and that is what makes it all so intrinsically addictive in the first place.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus 

MachineGames’ delivered an excellent shooter with Wolfenstein: The New Colossus, which smartly marries the chaotic shooting of 90s first-person-shooters with modern gameplay conveniences and open-ended design. The New Colossus really embraces the chaos with dozens upon dozens of enemies filling the arena at any given point and the ability to dual wield any weapon type, and that makes the experience really fun and replayable.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is an excellent sequel that does a fantastic job of taking what worked in the original and ramping it up to eleven. Everything from the traversal to the story and the combat has been improved in significant ways, which makes it all the more addictive. Parker and Miles both have different movesets and special abilities and chaining them together to create a flurry of hard-hitting combos delivers a power fantasy like no other. Add to that plenty of combat challenges, and Spider-Man 2 becomes a really fun action game. 

Soulstice 

Soulstice is in many ways a glorious throwback to hack-and-slash classics like Onimusha, and it does a really good job of simulating that flashy combat design that made those games so great in the first place. Soulstice’s unique mechanic of controlling two conjoined characters also adds a fresh twist to the experience.

Lies of P

Lies of P tells the story of Pinocchio in a rather unique fashion thanks to its dark fantasy setting, but it’s an experience that has plenty to love as well. The combat draws heavy influence from Bloodborne, so it naturally revolves around striking a careful balance between aggressive strikes and calculative dodges. It also infuses some of its own mechanics like attachable prosthetic tools and customizable weapons into the mix, which makes it feel unique in a way. It obviously has a learning curve to it, but once you really get to grips with the systems – Lies of P becomes a really captivating experience.

Elden Ring

FromSoftware knocked it out of the park with Elden Ring, and it truly feels like an amalgamation of the developer’s best works to date. The combat system is still about managing stamina and carefully dishing out damage to your opponents, but what makes it so addictive is the sheer variety of weapons on offer. You can be a master sorcerer with a buffet of spells under your belt or you could be tank dual-wielding heavy swords. The challenging enemies and compelling NG+ options make it really difficult for players, which is what makes Elden Ring so much more addictive. 

Wild Hearts

Wild Hearts might have looked like a Monster Hunter ripoff at first glance, but the game was able to legitimize its existence upon launch with its fun gameplay and unique set of crafting ideas. The Kemono battles offer a diverse set of challenges to overcome, and you can use your knowledge of the Karakuri technology to craft interesting solutions to these challenges. The progression loop and the general smooth-flowing gameplay loop makes it all really addictive, and fans of Monster Hunter should definitely check this one out.

Gears 5

Gears 5 puts players in the shoes of Kait Diaz as she embarks on a grand quest to find the origin of the Locusts, and it’s a journey that’s punctuated with some really amazing firefights. The cover-based third-person shooting has been refined to an immaculate sheen and everything from the feedback to the balance and intensity are on point – which makes it all such an amazing experience. 

That’s as per producer Yasuhiro Kitao, who said in a recent interview with Eurogamer that FromSoftware tends to have multiple teams working on different projects simultaneously, and that it’s hoping to launch “new and exciting” games at “hopefully not so long intervals going forward.”

“This is a philosophy of ours that really hasn’t changed all that much in the past ten years, particularly since Miyazaki has been president of the company,” said Kitao. “This is an area we feel we’ve always strived to achieve: always making something new, always making something original, something that we find interesting and fun as players. So in this sense, really nothing much has changed. We do develop multiple titles simultaneously, we do have several teams working on different projects. We hope to stagger our releases and bring something new and exciting at hopefully not so long intervals going forward.”

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon is, of course, the next game the studio will release, but beyond that, it’s also currently working on Elden Ring: Shadow of Erdtree, which has apparently been in the works for at least a year.

What the Japanese developer might have in the pipeline beyond that remains to be seen. Back in 2021, leaks claimed that FromSoftware had partnered with Sony for a new PS5-exclusive Soulslike IP, and that it would be more similar to the likes of Dark Souls and Sekiro than Elden Ring in terms of its design. That project, however, remains unannounced, so we’re yet to find out how accurate those rumours were.

Back in 2018, the publication interviewed Miyazaki about Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. The latter mentioned that there were 3.5 development lines underway with two titles unannounced. One of them ended up being Elden Ring but is the other in development? Miyazaki responded, “Yes, development is currently in the final stages.”

Regarding his future, Miyazaki said, “I’m already working on my next title as a director, so I’d like to avoid giving too much away there… In the mid-to-long term, I would like to work on a more abstract fantasy than anything we’ve done in the past.” This may or may not be the above mentioned project that’s in the final stages  of development.

As for whether it’s the new Armored Core, which had images leak earlier this year, is unknown. Last August, it was claimed in leaks that FromSoftware was working on a PlayStation-exclusive Soulslike IP, which was supposedly going to be more in line with Dark Souls than Sekiro or Elden Ring.

As for what’s next for the studio’s, he confirmed that the team would continue releasing updates for Elden Ring. Other titles are also in development that Miyazaki won’t be directing. “As I’ve mentioned before, we’re developing several titles by directors other than myself in addition to the title that I’m directing, but we’re not at the stage where I can share any details yet. My apologies, but please give us a little more time.”

Elden Ring was released in February 2022 and continues to be a massive success for the studio. It’s sold 13.4 million units worldwide since May 11th and topped The NPD Group’s US sales charts for the same month. Stay tuned for more details and updates in the coming months.

Now, that same user has also posted screenshots that they supposedly got from the aforementioned survey itself (you can view them below, courtesy of Twitter user @EldenRingUpdate). The images are heavily watermarked, so the quality isn’t exactly pristine, but they do show a variety of locales and plenty of the game’s combat, all of which seems to fall in line with the details that were leaked via the survey.

Given the fact that this isn’t something that has been officially announced yet, it’s still best to tread with caution with this one, but with all of these leaks, that an Armored Core 6 is finally coming is looking likelier and likelier. Either way, we’ll keep and eye out for more information, so stay tuned for further updates.

Screenshots of the upcoming Armored Core game from the consumer survey by FromSoftware.

Source: https://t.co/rn0fLxrjJQ pic.twitter.com/rAKWGwS0Pt

— Mordecai (@EldenRingUpdate) January 10, 2022

Recently, a ResetEra user claimed to have received a consumer survey about a new mainline Armored Core game that featured two screenshots, a couple of gameplay clips, and text descriptions of some key details on the game. As per those descriptions (which you can read in full in the screenshots below), the game will be set in a sci-fi world created by Hidetaka Miyazaki (who, in case you’ve somehow forgotten, directed Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls 3, Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and the upcoming Elden Ring– in addition to Armored Core 4 before all of that).

The story seems to focus on “an unknown substance” called Melange that can “dramatically advance human society”- though it seems it also has destructive effects. Long ago, Melange “caused a cosmic catastrophe” that destroyed the planet of Bashtar, as well as the surrounding star systems. Now, with Melange activity being reported on the planet once again, competing factions are rushing to Bashtar’s remains, including governments, cults, mercenaries, and corporations.

The details make mention of extensive customization, “dynamic” third person shooter combat, and melee combat with blades and shields- and, of course, “an overwhelming sense of scale that only mecha can provide.” It seems that there’s an added emphasis on build variety, with the alleged survey boasting “a higher degree of customization”, while a larger map is also mentioned.

Of course, these are all unverified details, so until such time something is officially confirmed by either FromSoftware or series publisher Bandai Namco, it’s best to take this with a grain of salt. That said, it has been ten years since the last mainline game in the series launched, so an Armored Core 6 is long overdue at this point. Here’s hoping we hear something about it in the not-too-distant future. Until then, stay tuned for more update.