Nightfall? Never heard of it! Remasters, reboots, stealth ninjas and French RPGs are your weekend gaming plans!

It’s once again Friday, and while there’s an awful lot going on in World of Warcraft this week, you deserve a break, you know? Maybe you spent hours trying to get a Switch 2 (I hope you were successful!) and the new Nightfall event in WoW just isn’t scratching that itch. It’s okay, we’ve all been there! So let’s see what new games came out this week.

We’ve got a long rumored remake that shadow dropped (The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remaster), a stylish turn-based RPG (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33), a new title in a series I was pretty sure was long-since forgotten (Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero), and last but not least, a sci-fi action stealth game (Steel Seed).

Not-so-Elder Scrolls: The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remaster

Originally released in 2006, The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion took the gaming world by storm. A role playing game by Bethesda, it took the usual role playing trappings (create a character, pick skills, steal everything not nailed down) and stuck them in a first person gameplay environment with the introduction being narrated by the Patrick Stewart. Oblivion won multiple awards at that time, and was only shown up by The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim five years later.

Oddly enough for the last year or so, there’s been whispers of a remaster coming out “soon.” As these kind of rumors happen a lot, a good portion of the internet rolled their eyes and said, “Sure, Jan.” Yet those folks get to eat crow (please don’t eat any crows), as Bethesda announced the Oblivion remaster on April 22nd and released it that day as well. Adding in some quality of life changes, a graphical upgrade, and some AI changes, it’s still the Oblivion you know and love only with a fresh coat of paint. Bugs included, as a treat.

Get The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remaster for $50 on Steam (or play it for free on GamePass).

Bob Ross does not approve: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Every year, the Paintress awakens and inscribes a number on her monolith — and just like that, everyone of that age turns to smoke and fades away (Thanos would be proud). Every year, that number ticks down, and more people vanish. Every year, a new expedition heads out to end the reign of the Paintress, but none have returned. This is the world of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a turn-based RPG with some real-time elements inspired by Belle Époque France (the period of time between the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 until the outbreak of World War I in 1914).

Combat in Clair Obscur has a lot of real-time actions (think quick-time events) that the player needs to do in order to dodge, parry or counter, as well as chain combo attacks. While this can be changed a little within the menu of the game, it does not remove all of the quick-time events in combat — so note that going in. With a stellar voice cast (Charlie Cox even does voice work here), beautiful graphics and a gripping story, don’t pass on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Get Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 for $45 on Steam (or play it for free on GamePass).

Specter Valiant: Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero

The original Phantom Brave came out during the tactical RPG boom in the early 2000s — a time when Nippon Ichi Software was releasing many of these titles at one time (Disgaea, Phantom Brave, Makai Kingdom) — where you played as Marona, a young woman who can see and interact with phantoms, binding their souls to objects to give them temporary bodies so they can interact with the world at large.

Well, twenty years later, Marona and her phantom friends have returned to stop the sinister Shipwreck Fleet! Still able to bind phantoms to objects (and different objects give different stats; stones might give more defense, etc.) but now Marona can even bind phantoms to herself in a process called “confriending” giving her access to special attacks. Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero should be a fun, lighthearted RPG adventure!

Get Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero for $60 on Steam.

Stealth Robot Action: Steel Seed

Steel Seed is an action-adventure title by developer Storm in a Teacup (what a good name), taking place in a dark sci-fi world where you play as Zoe with her robot companion KOBY. It would appear that a catastrophic event made Earth uninhabitable, leaving only robots in control of helping the remnants of humanity; because of this, a gigantic underground facility was created with robots in mind, not humans, and Zoe will need to be cautious as she explores this desolate, almost-alien world. With multiple skill trees to upgrade from and the game designed around creative problem solving, Steel Seed looks to be a title you don’t want to miss.

Get Steel Seed for $34 on Steam.