As we take a step into the school year, it’s easy to think of it as the end of fun. With tests, homework, and clubs hoarding your attention, stress can build up until it just becomes unbearable. The news suggests that we participate in exercise, mindfulness, or other activities to help cope, but you know what we need more of? Video games.
Sports require athleticism to really have fun, mindfulness just puts you to sleep, but video games offer an easy way to escape reality with almost instant gratification. If you’re wondering about where to even start your exploration of the wondrous worlds games give you, here are some of the hottest, highest quality, and most fun games that came out this summer.
“Baldur’s Gate 3”
“Baldur’s Gate 3” allows you to explore a world of endless possibilities, achieving a level of fantasy immersion and freedom that has not been done before. By taking inspiration from the legendary tabletop game “D&D”, “Baldur’s Gate 3” allows you to play as anything from a human soldier to a barbarian half-elf criminal.
The game also offers turn-based combat with a variety of ways to strategize and fight. Magic, archery, and dual wielding weapons are just some of the options available. This flexibility keeps gameplay fresh, as you can experiment with different combos and team compositions as you go on your journey.
There is rarely any situation where the game limits your gameplay. You can forge alliances, customize your team of four members, and even romance some bears. Pure fantasy freedom is the identity of “Baldur Gate 3”.
“Final Fantasy XVI”
The Final Fantasy franchise has been the gold standard for its genre since it debuted in 1987. Continuing the series’s decades old legacy, “FFXVI” improves on its action-packed combat system while incorporating the RPG elements that made the games great in the first place.
The game makes great strides from the last installment, as it fixed the main issues that have plagued the other recent installments. Final Fantasy XV was criticized for poor writing and a rushed open world. But, that isn’t the case for the newest for this game as its mesmerizing graphics and music are able to enhance their storytelling and enable us to experience an emotional saga. Iconic musical pieces like the classic chocobo theme combined with new original tracks like “Titan” help immerse you into the world.
The combat system and gameplay doesn’t fall behind either. The new character switching is fun and intuitive, while the enemies are interactive and thus actually interesting to fight. When you master the mechanics of the game and learn when you should use your special abilities, that’s when the combat of “FFXVI” starts to click.
“Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon”
“Armored Core 6” was made by FromSoftware, the same studio that created Elden Ring, and released more than a decade after the last Armored Core game came out in 2012. Using this extended production time, the game has produced top of the line graphics, dynamic movement in combat, and customizable robots for you to control as you tear through enemies. It offers nonstop fun with its big boss fights, while it lets you eviscerate hundreds of other robot minions on the way.
The game doesn’t require intense mechanics or strategizing to win, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less fun. It’s easy to find yourself playing this game for hours at a time as you mow down armies with your flying tank equipped with double gatling guns, sticky grenades, and target locking missiles.
The summer of 2023 was filled with great worlds to discover and play around in. If you ever feel overwhelmed by your responsibilities, try blowing off some steam by playing these games.
