6 Games To Escape From Reality With

Play it on: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, Vita, Windows (Steam Deck OK), macOS, Linux
Current goal: Grind my stats enough to play more carelessly
Buy it from: Amazon | Best Buy

To say Timespinner is “inspired” by Konami’s classic Castlevania: Symphony of the Night understates the level of influence at play here. One glimpse of your heroine’s gait, the map, the heft and feel of everything, and you know: This thing’s a got-dang clone. That’s cool, though, as I’m in the mood for a little metroidvania comfort food, and the closer to the original recipe, the better.

As is my wont I utilized a password that unlocks the harder difficulty right from the start, leading to lots of two- or three-shot deaths early on. One boss about an hour in took upward of 20 tries, but I keep “getting there” eventually, which tells me this difficulty is just about right. If a game is good I’d rather be a little frustrated than float effortlessly through on cruise control.

Timespinner seems very well crafted, if highly derivative of one particular game. (The writing is particularly sharp, but keep in mind I’ve been exposed to lots of Starfield lately.) Where I’m at, the world’s just opened up for exploration and I’m looking forward to powering up a bit and perhaps finally getting above the difficulty curve. Nothing too wild here so far, but certainly pleasant. And look, a sequel just got announced. — Alexandra Hall