Assassin's Creed and Total War have proven that video games can be better than any tattered textbook at bringing history alive – though they do tend to retread the same old battlegrounds of western Europe. China's Everstone Studio is hoping to change that, letting players loose on an open world 10th-century China in its debut game, Where Winds Meet. Here, we are put into the sandals of a nameless young martial artist and transported back to the dramatic fall of the Southern Tang dynasty, where the sudden poisoning of Emperor Li Yu thrusts our hero into a dangerous new world. Despite its indie origins, Where Winds Meet looks like a game with a big budget behind it, drawing comparisons to Sucker Punch's multimillion dollar samurai epic Ghosts of Tsushima. Its sprawling depiction of southern China is a sight to behold; comb through the gameplay videos and you'll see its hero roaming across a luscious countryside one minute, stumbling upon a serene wildlife-filled pond the next and then being pursued by bandits after dark, dodging arrows on rain-soaked rooftops.

The audio features of the PS5′s DualSense controller also shocked me. Iki Island introduces new enemy types, including warriors who chant to energize and strengthen the enemy forces. The rallying cry for this new Mongol army includes the ancient practice of Tuvan throat singing, and its hauntingly beautiful, droning notes will creep through your controller. The clarity of the audio through my controller made me feel as if I was fighting in a fourth dimension. Pairing this with effective tactile feedback of metal, cloth and wood undulating through my controller with every sword strike, and this year-old video game found new ways to absorb the player into the experience.

I think the thing that really got people at a deep level was this idea that we weren't actually making one story,

With every new generation of consoles and components, video games grow closer and closer to replicating reality. From the glistening sweat on star athletes' faces in sports franchises like "Madden" and "NBA 2K," to the soft swaying of grass in samurai thriller "Ghost of Tsushima," game-makers are always leveraging the latest in granular detail to sell the immersive power of the medium. Tristan Cooper, who owns the Twitter account "Can You Pet the Dog?," never set out to create a social media juggernaut. Rather, he was just trying to point out what he felt was a common quirk of many high-profile games: While many featured dogs, wolves and other furry creatures as hostile foes of the protagonist, those that did feature cuddly animal friends rarely let you pet them. Cooper says the account was particularly inspired by his early experience with online shooter "The Division 2." "'The Division 2′s' apocalyptic streets were rife with frightened dogs that you could not console or help in any way," he wrote in an email to The Washington Post.

You can attribute much of the PlayStation 4's amazing run of the last seven years to its exclusive titles. While Nintendo remains the most prolific producer of high quality exclusive console games, Sony amassed considerable might during the PlayStation 4′s run, acquiring acclaimed studios that would go on to produce titles that would sweep awards shows. It's why Microsoft has invested in its own studios, including last year's atomic announcement that Xbox now owns Bethesda Game Studios, the creators of the "Elder Scrolls" series. Gene Park: "Bloodborne" was a game so good, it helped me completely get over my last, serious and long-term relationship. It was early 2015, and there were going to be some big changes in our lives. I was looking to move out of Hawaii, while she wanted to expand her local business's footprint. Our relationship was already on the rocks before "Bloodborne" released, and we'd already had some legendary battles and arguments between us, you know, the kind that end in screaming matches and tearful apologies.

While some forms of entertainment like movies and sports were hit hard by the pandemic, gaming actually thrived in 2020. Since we were all stuck indoors, we spent a lot more time in front of screens, discovering new experiences, replaying older classics and a few of us even made a dent in our backlogs, aka the "pile of shame." To that end, the Engadget staff presents a slightly different list of our favorite games of 2020: not just the most impactful titles that came out this year, but also the older games that kept us company during this crazy time. I have already spilled so much digital ink on this game this year that, had you asked me to pick my best of 2020 a month ago, I would have picked something different like Miles Morales or Fall Guys. Animal Crossing is fun, I thought, but I've done everything I want to do in the game and I really should be focusing my critical eye on the fancier, flashier titles from more powerful systems. But then the winter update arrived, bringing with it new holidays and reactions and hairstyles, oh my!

This story will continue to be updated. It's a big night for video games, where the top achievements will be honored at The Game Awards, which will be broadcast live online from Los Angeles, London and Tokyo. Nominated for the top award, Game of the Year, is "The Last Of Us Part II," "Hades," "The Ghost of Tsushima," "Animal Crossing: New Horizons," "Doom Eternal," and "Final Fantasy VII Remake." Among other games that raked in multiple nominations: the Sony PlayStation 4 exclusive "The Last Of Us Part II," released in June, earned the most (10). "Hades," a PC game also released for the Nintendo Switch in September, earned eight, while "The Ghost of Tsushima," released in July, got seven.

The ongoing covid-19 pandemic placed a brighter-than-usual spotlight on gaming in 2020, with an isolated population looking for entertainment they could enjoy from the safety of home. How fortunate then that alongside the year's many maladies, 2020 also delivered some of the most memorable games in recent years. From laid-back life simulators to an anticipated sequel that scrutinized cyclical violence, the gaming world was replete with options for anyone who wanted to get their minds off the consistently grim reality around them. The reintroduction and reimagination of the classic "Final Fantasy VII" highlighted the early spring, while the November debut of the PlayStation 5 ushered in a next-generation hero the gaming world both needed and deserved. Even with multiple delays pushing the much-anticipated "Cyberpunk 2077" beyond our Dec. 1 cutoff for Game of The Year consideration, there was no shortage of worthy contenders for that title.

"The Last Of Us Part II" leads the way in nominations for The Game Awards. The Sony PlayStation 4 exclusive game, released in June, earned 10 nominations Wednesday for the annual "Oscars" for video games. This year's ceremony will be held Dec. 10 and broadcast live from studios in Los Angeles, London and Tokyo. Collecting eight nominations: "Hades," a PC game also released for the Nintendo Switch in September. Another PlayStation game, "The Ghost of Tsushima," released in July, earned seven nominations.

"Devil May Cry 5" offers an entirely new playable character, and not just anyone, but Vergil, the handsome, soft-spoken brother of hero Dante and the series antagonist. This is Vergil's first return to players' hands since the 2006 special edition of "Devil May Cry 3." Along with ray-traced graphics, it's practically an entirely new game with a beloved fan-favorite and long-missed character. Vergil runs through the same story chapters while receiving very few updates. Besides, "Devil May Cry 5" was already a stellar-looking title on the older consoles, already hitting the 60-frames-per-second mark that other series are only now catching up to. The ray tracing is nice, but merely a bonus that will go unnoticed; this series doesn't emphasize graphical fidelity so much as it does performance.