Introduction
Able AA games often don't get as big as AAA games that's just how it works. And that means you may end up missing some really good ones. Hi folks, it's Zaid Ikram, and today on Speed Tool, here are 10 double-A games you shouldn't have skipped.
Evil West
Start with number 10, it's Evil West, which was developed by Flying Hog Games, the guys behind the pretty good Shadow Warrior reboot games. Evil West may be the most generic title of all time. I don't know what it is with the word "West" in game titles, but there's Weird West, Hard West, Blood West what's with all the "Wests"? I'm fairly certain I didn't mention all of them here. The name isn't doing this one any favors, though, but the game itself is solid as hell. The story is nothing to write home about it's kind of your bog-standard "It's the Wild West, but there are vampires." Like exactly what you imagine that to be, that's what it is. Also, it takes a little while for the combat to click, but once you've got a lot of powers and your weapons are unlocked, this game is nuts. It plays like if you combine the God of War reboot games with Doom Eternal, which sounds ridiculous, but once you get into the flow, that's what it feels like, and it's really good. There are some awesome boss fights that get mixed up in here too. It's a slow start for sure, drip-feeding you new pieces of equipment while you explore the frankly kind of dull Wild West locations, but this is one of those games that gets a lot better as it keeps going. You get your money's worth with this one too. Unlike Shadow Warrior 3, which is pretty short, they made sure the campaign here was fairly lengthy, and the drip feed of new equipment and enemies never stopped until the end. It's not a game I'd recommend at full price necessarily, but if you can get it at a discount, it is a fun trip, and it's also on Game Pass. Just remember, it does get better as it goes along the first few hours are a little slow.
Outcast: A New Beginning
At number nine is Outcast: A New Beginning. This old-school throwback feels like something from the early 2010s with a 2024 coat of paint. For some people, that's enough to start running away screaming, but for a lot of people with some nostalgia for that period of gaming, or, hell, the original Outcast from 1999, I think there's a lot to like with this game. It's an unabashedly traditional open-world game with your standard map covered in icons, but the nonlinear structure is what I appreciate. Combat's fairly basic, the activities you can do in the open world aren't always that exciting, but the world design is impressively vast, and as you unlock new traversal powers, things get a lot more interesting. Being able to rocket around these environments at high speeds is so much fun; it is easily the highlight of the game, and any side quest that encourages movement powers is the best. Anyone who's burnt out on open-world games, stay far away from this one because I laid it right out there for you: it is a traditional open-world game in a lot of respects. But if you still find some wonder in exploring strange alien worlds in a low-SS but fairly polished package, you may like this one. The story's goofy as hell "Here you are; there's something wrong with your comm link." "I turned it off." "You did what?" "What are you doing?" "We took this from them; I'm sure they'd want their relics back." "We could use it to parlay." "You know we don't have the clearance to do that." "I came looking for you; your father wants to see us at HQ." There's a bunch of alien jargon and silly relationship drama to sit through, but dialogue segments are pretty short at least. Now, if the main character's clever quips are charmingly lame or just embarrassingly cheesy, I'll let you decide, but still.
The Thaumaturge
At number eight is The Thaumaturge. This story-heavy investigation RPG has one of the most intriguing and unusual settings I've seen in a game. It's set in an alternate universe 1905 Warsaw, and you play as a guy with the power to summon, um, PersonaI mean Salutos which are little freaky demonic creatures that you use during the game's JRPG-inspired combat. I didn't say Persona for no reason there; it's a pretty weird game, though. You're summoning these demonic entities to fight mostly regular guys with sticks and stuff, but it's a more grounded take on your usual JRPG tropes, and the game is all the more interesting because of it. This is one of those games that you pretty much immediately know if you'll be into it or not based on seeing it, but I'll say that as somebody who is curious and likes that type of game, the game ended up surprising me. It's way better and more polished than you'd expect.
Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy
And number seven is Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy. The Trine series has always been solid, but this newest entry pushes the series to the next level of quality. Normally, I wouldn't put a side-scroller on a list like this because, I don't know, these types of games don't typically lean double-A I'd more say indie—but the production quality in this game is so good, I feel like it counts. After the disappointing and only half-finished third game, developer Frozenbyte came back better than ever with game number four, The Nightmare Prince, and I figured they'd stop there. But in 2023, they released the fifth entry to the series and managed to surpass their already stellar work with A Clockwork Conspiracy, a game that manages to blow everything previously seen in the series out of the water in quality and ambition. This is still mostly the same Trine that you're used to: you have three characters, and they all have their abilities, but this entry mixes things up with a lot better pacing and even more interesting puzzles. The combat has never been the strongest part of the series, but Trine 5 probably has the best fighting and bosses in the series by a long shot. The game's beautiful too; it's like this for the entire game, and the places you go only get more interesting and creative as it goes along. You'd think they'd be running out of juice at this point in the series, but they just keep getting better.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
Number six is Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. This one just came out, and we've already done a "Before You Buy" on it, so I'm not going to talk about it too much. But the latest game from Don't Nod is another solid entry in the God of War reboot-like genre. It's set in the colony of New Eden in early colonial America, and you play as a banisher, a guy responsible for exorcising ghosts. The bulk of the game is spent investigating hauntings, talking to people, and piecing together mysteries, which are all pretty universally satisfying and interesting to explore. This is one of those games that relies on the quality of the writing, and for the most part, the game succeeds in telling an emotional story. What surprised me about it was just how much more there was to it, though. There's a lot of exploration, side quests, and combat in this game, and while the combat isn't as tight as God of War, it's pretty entertaining once you get your head around it. "Hold fire! That fellow's not dead." "I can't hold!" It's a sort of spiritual successor to Vampyr, which is another solid double-A from Don't Nod that deserves a second look. This Banishers game manages to expand on a lot of ideas from that game while retaining a unique identity. It's never quite as polished or as well-paced as the games it's partly imitating, but it's another game I ended up being pretty pleasantly surprised by.
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew
Number five is Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew. With Studio Mimimi, the makers of this game, and other tactical games like Shadow Tactics and Desperados III, shutting down, it's a fair time to give Shadow Gambit some positive attention. Their latest game never got the sales or attention their previous games did for whatever reason, but it's up there with some of the best tactical strategy games of all time. If you've ever played Shadow Tactics, you know what to expect here: a small group of unique characters with their special skills, a giant map full of enemies, and a whole lot of careful sneaking. That's the formula. Time-freeze your soul and enjoy. What makes Shadow Gambit different from the previous entries is just how nonlinear it is. You can recruit your crew in whatever order you want, and because you're not locked in regarding which character you bring to a mission, missions can be wildly different. It opens up your tactical options considerably, and in general, you get a lot more leeway on how you can progress in missions. Generally, your abilities are more overpowered and fun to use as well, which definitely helps Shadow Gambit out a lot, but it's also just a kind more forgiving, and fun game overall.
My Time at Sandrock
Number four is My Time at Sandrock. If you've played Stardew Valley, it's that but more. Well, okay, you can't beat Stardew in the amount of stuff it has now with all the updates, but it's very much in the shadow of Stardew, yet still manages to carve out its unique niche in the farm life sim genre. The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic Wild West town, and unlike a lot of games of this type, there's a much bigger focus on combat and exploration. The game is stuffed with fun little stories, goofy characters, and tons of stuff to do, making it one of the more entertaining and time-consuming farm sims out there. The story is nothing really to write home about, but what makes the game is the addictive loop of running around, gathering stuff, and crafting and building new things. It improves on pretty much everything about its predecessor, My Time at Portia, while adding a ton of new features and making the game more interesting overall.
Remnant 2
Number three is Remnant 2. The first game was an underrated gem with some caveats, but the sequel gets rid of a lot of those and turns the game into a truly great one. Remnant 2 combines Souls-like combat with a roguelike structure, and it clicks in a way that the first game only kind of did. The game's pretty unique with how it handles progression, giving you the ability to keep some of your stuff but still resetting enough to make new runs feel fresh. This is a game meant to be replayed multiple times, and it provides you with more than enough weapons, enemies, and areas to make each run feel special. The gunplay is a lot tighter this time around as well, and the multiplayer works a lot better. Remnant 2 is also a lot better at getting you straight into the action. There's less downtime than the first game, so you can spend a lot more time shooting and way less time talking to NPCs. This game improves on the original in every way.
Rebel Galaxy Outlaw
At number two is Rebel Galaxy Outlaw. This is a really weird one with an impenetrable story and a kind of dull protagonist, but it's a game I still have a lot of respect for. It's a combination of a sci-fi space shooter and an RPG with everything that entails. Space is split into large zones where you can visit spaceports, buy weapons, find NPC ships, do side quests, or explore and find enemies. Combat is arcadey and fun. I like some good arcade combat focus, and there are some interesting abilities to keep things from getting stale as well. There are even dungeons—like, space dungeons. There are a lot of space games with RPG elements, but this is more like an RPG with space elements. It somehow works, even though you never actually leave your ship. The devs put in a ton of work making each section of this game feel unique; you're not just getting around boring empty starfields, and that goes a long way to keep this game interesting. It's not for everyone, but if you like more arcadey space games like Freelancer or Everspace but want something a little more of a traditional RPG, then this game may work for you.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits
And number one is Kena: Bridge of Spirits. A kid-friendly Souls-like sounds like a terrible idea on paper, but Kena is one of the better games in the subgenre. It's not easy, especially when you're taking on some of the bosses, but it's also not punishingly hard, at least not most of the time. It's more of a hybrid game anyway; there's Souls-like combat, but the exploration is a pure platformer. Probably the most unique thing about the game is the Pikmin-like Rot Spirits, these cute little guys that you can command to help you in battle and can also be used to control parts of the environment for puzzle solving. It's a fun game overall with some fantastic animation and visual design. There are a lot of games that people say look like a cartoon come to life, but man, this game does look like that, especially in the cutscenes, which are still quite impressive even now. It's an odd game because it looks like it's something meant for kids, but the difficulty can be pretty punishing. If you can get past that, though, there is a lot of positive here.
Conclusion
And finally, at number one is Metal: Hellsinger. This FPS rhythm game hybrid has a killer look, and a fantastic soundtrack, and it is a hell of a lot of fun. The whole shooting-to-the-rhythm thing sounds like it might be awkward or frustrating, but the timing's pretty forgiving at least enough that it works and it can be extremely satisfying when you get the hang of it. It took me a while to be completely clear. The game starts easy enough, though; you have to rely on one weapon, so it's easy to keep everything to the beat. But as you progress and unlock new weapons and tools, and new, more aggressive enemies start appearing, it gets quite a bit trickier. New elements are spread out enough to keep things from being overwhelming, though. The only downside I'd give to the game is that the environments do start to get a little samey. There is variety, but it's all within the confines of your generic hellscapes, so the places do kind of start to run together after a while. Other than that, this game is an excellent experience. I mean, assuming you have tolerance for rhythm games some tolerance. It doesn't have to be a lot because there's a lot more going on than simply rhythm here. You can even just play the game and ignore all the combo stuff, but it's better if you engage with the mechanics—that's what makes it special, different, and unique in any way, shape, or form.
Outro
And that's all for today. Leave us a comment and let us know what you think. And as always, we thank you very much for reading this blog. I'm Zaid Ikram. We'll see you next time right here on Speed Tool.
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