Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (PC)

At its heart, the story is about Senua's struggle to come to terms with her illness. In the process, she learns to find the strength within herself to endure, and to make peace with her past. And in a profound and physical way, we go through those same struggles with her, and come away with a better understanding of a piece of something that many people in the world struggle with.

Hellblade successfully weaves metaphors of grief and loss into fundamental game mechanics and rich folklore, and through these I felt like I truly was able to understand how someone else sees the world.

Ninja Theory surrounds players with uncertainty and doubt, creating a narrative-focused journey that is compelling even when it isn't traditionally entertaining.

An incredible atmospheric story reinforces Hellblade's serious subject matter in this vivid tale of harrowing darkness.

With the increased focus and acceptance of so-called "walking simulators" there's a huge market they can tap into, and I hope they end up doing that in the future. I enjoyed pretty much every facet of Hellblade that didn't involve combat, which unfortunately pops up a little too often on top of the aforementioned technical problems -- just enough to grate.