The Binding of Isaac: Repentance official artwork and logo

[Update]: The Binding of Isaac's final and absolutely massive expansion Repentance has now been unleashed!

After already going through a few rounds of "this is totally the final expansion guys," it seems that Edmund McMillen and The Binding of Isaac team are now finally serious about it. As such, The Binding of Isaac's "FINAL FINAL FINAL mega expansion" Repentance will be launching on March 31, 2021 to not only bring the series to an end (at least for now), but to also make it one of the most insanely replayable games around.

You can expect to see 130 new items to toy around with (which brings the total number to 700), over 100 new enemies and enemy variations, and even a fully fleshed out alternate path that leads to new chapters and a unique final boss. There will also be 25 new random bosses, 2 new playable characters, 5 new challenges, over 100 new achievements, and perhaps most importantly of all, 5000 new room designs to explore!

Axiom Verge giant robot head screenshot

Regardless of how good a metroidvania game may be, there always comes a point where you've beaten it so many times that there is no mystery or challenge left. Or rather, that used to be the case. These days, thanks to the ever-growing popularity of modding, many metroidvania games have randomizers that shake up the whole experience and make each playthrough almost as mysterious as the very first one.

In this regard, Axiom Verge is no different. However, instead of leaving everything at the hands of modders, the Axiom Verge team has now decided to join forces with them and release an official randomizer game mode! It's currently only available as a beta update on Steam and the Epic Games Store, though once sufficiently tested, it'll be released for free on all platforms.

Dead Cells official artwork from the Fatal Falls DLC

[Update]: The Fatal Falls DLC has now arrived alongside two fancy new biomes to explore.

Nearly a year has gone by since The Bad Seed, Dead Cells' very first piece of DLC, but the long wait for additional content will soon be over as the second DLC is just around the corner. And I really do mean that, because the Fatal Falls DLC will be launching onto PC and consoles this January 26th!

In terms of content, Fatal Falls is once again going to be on the smaller and cheaper side of things. You can expect to see two new mid-game biomes filled with an assortment of traps and neat-looking enemies. The Undying Shores will have you scale a massive sea cliff, the Fractured Shrines will have you hop across a bunch of floating islands, while the boss focused Mausoleum will have you face off against an aging gardener that loves flowers, mushrooms and trying to chop your head off with a giant scythe!

Cyber Shadow official artwork with logo

[Update]: Cyber Shadow has now been released, and unsurprisingly, it's quite a challenging game!

If you're in the mood for some good ol' fashioned slicing and dicing through hordes of pixely enemies, you might want to keep an eye on the upcoming Cyber Shadow. To put it simply, Cyber Shadow is a Ninja Gaiden inspired retro action-platformer with plenty of challenging bosses and levels filled with all sorts of secrets and upgrades to collect.

You can get a pretty good idea of what all of this looks like in gameplay terms, as well as what kind of soundtrack you'll be jamming out to, through the recently posted trailer. Have a gander:

Darkest Dungeon official artwork and logo

[Update]: Darkest Dungeon 2 is heading into Early Access on October 26, 2021

While not exactly the most Christmassy game given that it's all about suffering, madness and death, Darkest Dungeon is still a pretty darn good game to spend the holiday season with. As such, I am more than happy to say that the Epic Games Store is currently giving it away for free!

Naturally, the giveaway won't last long, so make sure to pick up your Christmas present sooner rather than later. Once you have it unlocked on your account you'll be able to play it whenever you want and for however long you want, so a little bit of haste right now is well worth it.

Stardew Valley splitscreen co-op screenshot

[Update]: Stardew Valley's ConcernedApe is working on a charming new life sim - Haunted Chocolatier!

Last year Stardew Valley's Update 1.4 brought with it an impressive amount of new content, but all of that pales in comparison to what has just arrived with Update 1.5. The freshly released patch not only brings with it a plethora of new content and quality of life improvements, but also some features that have been continuously requested ever since Stardew Valley first launched, things like splitscreen multiplayer!

You can also expect to see a sizable new location to explore, tons of new dialogue, new characters to interact with (including one that's fully fleshed out just like the original villagers), and even a new farm designed with veterans in mind. Speaking of which, there's also a new "Advanced Game Options" button on the character creation menu that lets you customize your playthrough and really shake things up.

Monster Sanctuary official artwork and logo

[Update]: Monster Sanctuary has added New Game Plus and two extra difficulty modes.

If you're a fan of Pokemon but wish there was a greater focus on exploration and using your abilities to help you reach new and exciting places, then you might want to check out the freshly released Monster Sanctuary. It is essentially Pokemon meets Metroidvania, though with enough unique ideas and flare to make itself stand out from the crowd.

So not only will you be able to roam across the world in order to capture and train an assortment of monsters, but also specialize them through skill trees, as well as further enhance their potency with special weapons and accessories. Outside of the 3v3 battles, however, you'll also be able to use the monsters' unique abilities to help traverse the terrain, solve puzzles, and also open up new pathways.

Fall Guys official Season 3 artwork and logo

[Update]: Fall Guys' futuristic update has brought in Squad Mode and a bunch of new maps.

Fall Guys is one of those games that requires a constant influx of new maps and game modes in order to stay fresh and interesting. As such, I am very happy to say that the recently launched Season 3 update has brought in exactly that, and in far greater quantities than ever before!

To be more specific, Season 3 has added seven snowy new maps to mess around with, as well as a plethora of festive costumes to acquire as you go. While there are some repeats of old ideas, the good news is that most of the new maps are either based around new mechanics or twist some of the classic ones in new and interesting ways. Needless to say, it's all pretty good fun!

N1RV Ann-A screenshot of one of the characters

While its name may be a bit unwieldy, VA-11 Hall-A tells a remarkably engaging cyberpunk story filled with all sorts of wacky characters. So if you're like me and you were hoping to get your hands on the sequel, N1RV Ann-A, I'm afraid I have some bad news.

Not only is N1RV Ann-A continuing the 2020 tradition of being delayed, but it doesn't look like it'll be launching any time soon either as the developers have now set its release date as "when it's done." The reason for this, as is often the case with games that turn out to be hits, is that N1RV Ann-A has grown significantly more ambitious than its predecessor and thus requires a lot more work to fully finish.

Cave Story+ official artwork and logo

In an era before indie games were widely accessible, or even that popular, Cave Story managed to pierce through the fog and become quite a phenomenon. For good reason too, because its combination of storytelling and hectic Metroidvania action was and still is highly compelling. So if you've somehow never given it a try but you're a fan of Metroidvania games, consider this your lucky day!

I say this because Cave Story+, the newer and more polished version, is free to grab over at the Epic Games Store. The catch, as you might guess from the title, is that the giveaway will only last for one more day, so you might want to hurry before it's too late.