PlayStation – PS4 / VitaBest Adventure Games

The Shapeshifting Detective is a unique game that provides a solid mystery with a creative twist on the usual means of information gathering.

Horror fans, heed the Call of Cthulhu and plunge yourself into an expertly produced Lovecraftian mystery in a finely paced, hybridized adventure/RPG package that, while mostly linear, delivers more depth than its contemporary genre rivals.

The Gardens Between is a lovely time with a neat puzzle mechanic that takes place in a breathtaking world, packing an impressive amount of effort, creativity, and TLC into an experience that sadly won’t last more than a couple of hours.

STAY is a game that requires dedication, both to its digital protagonist and its puzzle solving, and features the kind of narrative that’s best digested via discussion with others who’ve played it. Eccentricities aside, it provides the kind of fodder that transcends the superficial and is recommended for anybody willing to face a slice of real-world drama.

For a game about the undead, The Wardrobe is ironically packed with life. A few unfair puzzles can’t dampen its sheer enthusiasm and sense of fun.

The adventure gamer’s platformer, Forgotton Anne’s endearing exploration of lost objects come to life is sure to please all but the most dexterously challenged.

The 20-plus hour commitment to The Pillars of the Earth is well worth it to enjoy this interactive towering tale, faithfully adapted to near-perfection by Daedalic. For patient gamers, this is not a narrative adventure that should be missed.

Detroit: Become Human looks and sounds great, and includes key player choices throughout, though it could have benefited greatly from a tighter script. While it’s commendable that Quantic Dream tried to cover hot-button issues in a big-budget video game, it works better when focused on the personal character moments than the bigger themes that don’t dig deep enough to make a meaningful impact.

Gorogoa is a clever, well-balanced tile-based puzzler that shines through its visual illusions. If you’re seeking an innovative game with unique brain-teasers and gorgeous graphics, this game is for you.

On a surface level, Part 2: Unbound continues where The Fall‘s last installment left off, but several changes have been made to both story and gameplay formulas, for better and for worse, including an overreliance on combat that may not appeal as strongly to hardcore adventure gamers.

An incredible game that takes all the best parts of how classic adventures used to be made and then adds so much more to ensure it stands up to today’s standards. Thimbleweed Park is a gem that will be remembered for at least another 30 years.

As a game it’s fairly simple and repetitive, but if the idea of a well-crafted, emotional story gives you shivers, Last Day of June is an interactive experience you need to play.

Bloober Team’s >observer_ marries cyberpunk and body horror tropes into an intense, disturbing sensory feast, for the most part successfully.

Once the momentum picks up, the three-part Bear With Me is a funny, well-written point-and-click adventure, with memorable characters that will stick with you for a long time.

Newcomers need not apply, but fans of the Danganronpa series are in for a treat, as the story and characters are among the best we’ve seen, while the gameplay introduces just enough tweaks to keep things interesting.

Breathtakingly beautiful and fiendishly logical, XING: The Land Beyond will spark your ingenuity and kindle a keen delight as you trek its entrancing pathways.

A little more story and gameplay variety would have filled out its generous play time better, but there is plenty of reason for both puzzle and platforming fans to enjoy RiME.

Beautiful but deadly, this entertaining time-looping murder mystery doesn’t pose much challenge but is well worth the gamble for its unique style and charm.

Full Throttle is another cherished page from the annals of genre history restored for a brand new audience. Though the remake will have limited appeal to those familiar with the highly polished original, the game belongs in the library of every adventure gamer, and it’s as enjoyable now as it was two decades ago.

Although it will leave you wanting more, with its elegant storytelling and ability to generate emotion, What Remains of Edith Finch stands as one of the best interactive stories on the market.

While shorter than the last instalment, and the easiest of the three to boot, the final chapter of The Journey Down brings closure to series veterans and, more importantly, makes the entire trilogy required gaming for adventure fans in general.

Though still an enjoyable adventure with high production values, The Last Wind Monk marks something of a tonal shift in the series. Part of what made The Inner World so appealing was its charm, and the sequel ends up leaving a little of that behind in favor of a darker story full of challenging puzzles.

The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker is engrossing, disturbing and erudite, and though it’s a little lacking in plot it’s full of welcome ideas.

If you cherish piecing together clever, dramatic plot fragments and don’t mind lots of backtracking while rummaging through dimly-lit locales, then you owe it to yourself to play Empathy: Path of Whispers.

Using straightforward challenges and dreamlike scenarios, Blackwood Crossing weaves a hauntingly surreal tale with uncommon flair.

Gone Home does only one thing but does it superbly, telling a touching story solely through exploration that makes it well worth experiencing.

Silence offers a captivating mix of innocent delight layered over an undercurrent of wistful sadness, wrapped up in lovely art and music. The story could have done with a bit more flesh on its bones, but it’s filled with nuance and heart.

The Last Guardian is a game that can hold its own with the best. It’s a story about a unique bond of friendship, filled with both sadness and triumph that will make you cheer out loud even while wiping your tears.

A disappointing present-day storyline infringes upon the dark historical tale of Yesterday Origins, but outstanding production quality, nonstop quests, and a few spirited acts go a long way towards saving the day.

This iteration of Batman gives fans a first-hand opportunity to dive deeper into the complex life and mind of Bruce Wayne, the duality of his own identity, and the struggle of responsibility in saving a city overcome with corruption and villainy.

A revival of a classic adventure series, the episodic King’s Quest is itself an instant classic, giving each new installment its own unique focus. Wise, brave, and compassionate adventurers alike should definitely consider having a crack at it.

What happens when time ceases to exist, when the world becomes empty? How do normal people respond to the end of the world itself? Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture follows six different characters, each telling their own story, and each connected to landmarks in the world that evolve as the game progresses.

Obduction is clearly not aimed at impatient gamers with older hardware. But Myst enthusiasts and exotic-world explorers will find a whole new stupendous universe to fall in love with, and fans of mind-bending challenges will find themselves in paradise… most of the time.

With no puzzles or combat, enjoyment of ABZÛ will sink or swim with your willingness to simply appreciate a serene exploration of stunning ocean vistas more fantastical than any sci-fi adventure.

Some may find Demetrios‘s outlook offputting, but if you like your humour on the snarky side you’ll find a surprisingly substantial adventure here.

A masterly remastering of the LucasArts classic. If you haven’t yet contended with Earth’s vilest extremity, it’s time to finally embrace the Day of the Tentacle.

Series fans will definitely want to catch a ride on the Rufus Time Travel Express, as the countdown to disaster in Deponia Doomsday packs a grin-inducing, mind-boggling, oft-repeated wallop.

Jesse and his group of friends revere the legendary Order of the Stone; four adventurers who slayed an Ender Dragon. The Order are the very best at what they do: Warrior, Redstone Engineer, Griefer, and Architect. While at EnderCon, Jesse and his friends discover that something is wrong… something dreadful. Terror is unleashed, and they must set out on a journey to find The Order of the Stone if they are to save their world from oblivion.

Alex is a bright, rebellious teenaged girl who brings her new stepbrother Jonas to an overnight beach party on a decommissioned military island. But the night takes a horrifying turn when you unwittingly open a ghostly rift spawned from the island’s cryptic past. How you deal with these events, your peers, and the ominous creatures you’ve unleashed is up to you.

The Witness is highly unconventional but will enchant players who come ready to surrender their imagination to its unusual charms and challenging puzzles.

Sometimes awkward but sometimes brilliant, Life Is Strange brings a fresh new perspective to episodic, choice-driven storytelling.

SOMA is both great horror and great science fiction that stands above the competition in a crowded genre.

When eight friends are trapped on a remote mountain retreat and things quickly turn sinister, they start to suspect they aren’t alone. Gripped by fear and with tensions in the group running high, step into the quaking boots of each of the eight terrified characters as you search for clues to the deranged killer’s identity. By making life or death decisions using the sophisticated “butterfly effect” system, everything you do will drastically alter the course of the story - and the fate of each character.

Rhys, a Hyperion ‘suit’ with dreams of being the next Handsome Jack, and Fiona, a Pandoran con artist looking to score her biggest ever swindle, are thrown together as unwilling partners in an adventure to recover cash they both think is theirs. The journey will take them on a wild ride where gangsters, bandit lords, and Vault Hunters are just some of the obstacles you’ll encounter.

With Broken Age’s release the Double Fine Adventure comes to an end, and the result is a standout game that delivers on its promises. Play it.

In Grim Fandango Remastered, one of the best games of all time has been resurrected for modern audiences. It’s still a classic, and it absolutely belongs on every gamer’s (digital) shelf.

An epic tale that reunites some much-loved characters and recreates the magic of good, old-fashioned point-and-click adventuring in a hyper-attractive world, the Book of Unwritten Tales 2 is a must-play for fans of the genre.

Even with a few rough edges, Dead Synchronicity stands as a modern adventure classic, telling a dark, sad and brutal tale that will leave you wanting more, but equally satisfied.

Bursting at the seams with challenging puzzles and thought-provoking science fiction, The Talos Principle is a philosophically-minded first-person puzzler that’s well worth your time.

Though it poses little in the way of challenge, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter delivers a gripping, gradually unfolding tragedy set in a beautiful open woodland environment that you are free to explore at will.