Escape artists

Sometimes you just need to get away from it all – to put life on pause for a few hours, and happily get lost in a fantasy world. Indeed, videogames are such a powerful form of escapism that there are those who would (and frequently, irritatingly do) argue that’s all they’re good for. This is not true, of course, but neither is the idea of videogames solely as didacticism or social commentary. As always, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Set in the series’ alternate universe of Strangereal, combat flight sim

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (p38) is less about pure fidelity than you might expect. The aircraft might be real-life replicas, Unreal Engine 4 visuals polished to a high shine, but for series brand director Kazutoki Kono, Ace Combat has always been about creating the illusion of reality to capture would-be fighter pilots’ imaginations.

Battle-royale shooter Stormdivers (p42), meanwhile, is Housemarque’s attempt to face financial facts. It’s brutal out there, and people resonate with that, as 2018’s most popular genre proves. But there is evidence of the old ways that undercuts this: particle effects, teleport-dashes and the familiar Housemarque rhythm of dodging into and out of danger, of exerting a miraculous kind of control over the situation.

And then there’s Small Talk (p46), a tale of a party at the end of the world. In this setting – at once surreal and familiar, filled with people with televisions for heads and very relatable problems – allegory is a tool for introspection that often transcends the game itself. It’s startlingly fresh, an examination of why we enter these worlds and what we’re running away from, hidden behind pastel-coloured layers. Some of the most astute games mix logic and magic, and can be an escape or a mirror, depending on what you need. Nowadays, we feel as though we need both.