Take "System Shock," "BioShock," "Dead Space" and the Looking Glass immersive sims. Mix. The combat isn't great. Basically everything else is. Would have been twice as good if it were half as long.

Brilliant and virtuosic. Incorporates aspects of first-person exploration games like Gone Home, The Stanley Parable, and Firewatch while expanding the genre with new and daring interactive elements.

Act IV is so extraordinary that we're breaking our rule about recommending only finished games. Probably the best-written video game of all time. A meditation on loss and memory and human connection.

CS & JJ: Superb mechanics and level design marred by subpar narrative elements & frustrating loading. High-chaos Emily is probably the most fun way. JJ: Emily seems like a really bad Empress.

JJ & CS: Tragic, funny, sprawling--this is one of the best games ever made. It subverts all your expectations of a role-playing game while also fulfilling them. If ony the combat were better.

CS: A showcase title for PSVR from two former Harmonix designers. The first game in a long time that's giving me thumb blisters. JJ: It's very trippy.

CS: What if “Super Mario Bros.” were “The Road”? Beautiful and disturbing. JJ: Wordless and, without a question, one of 2016’s best games.

JJ: Historical drama w/o a black-and-white perspective. Action sequences are weak. Chris: Fast-moving, artfully shot and animated. End is unsatisfying.

JJ: You feel like the star of a John Woo movie. Chris: New mechanics are so rare that I recommend it despite some quibbles.

Chris: 'Novelistic. Smartly written, a lovely environment. A game by adults for adults.' JJ: 'A very well-written relationship between two characters.'