If it seemed like this week would be a good time to catch up on your Steam backlog, you were woefully mistaken. Following a week of retro indies, we got a major new game this week in the form of Mortal Shell 2, one of the year’s best Soulslikes. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, though, as PC players have plenty of options to dig into this week. Whether you’re looking for a good horror game, something cozy, or an ambitious MMO, there are plenty of new games to try on Steam this weekend. These are just five highlights you can check out on Steam right now.
Mortal Shell 2: A Refined Sequel That Raises the Bar for Soulslikes
The original Mortal Shell wasn’t exactly a genre-defining Soulslike. The grim action RPG was par for the course, launching to perfectly middling reviews. The developers at Cold Symmetry appear to have taken that to heart, because Mortal Shell 2 is a major improvement. Critics have praised the sequel for its refined combat, which gives players a lot more ways to customize their playstyle thanks to reworked Shells. That goes hand-in-hand with an enticing map, filled with standout dungeons, that begs to be explored. It’s been a slow year for action RPGs aside from Nioh 3, so Mortal Shell 2 is a welcome jolt of action.
What makes Mortal Shell 2 stand out from other Soulslikes?
Unlike its predecessor, which was considered competent but unremarkable, Mortal Shell 2 delivers a genuinely refined combat system. The reworked Shells allow for significantly more playstyle customization, and the sequel’s map design — particularly its standout dungeons — rewards thorough exploration in ways the original did not. For a year that has been relatively quiet for action RPGs, this sequel provides a much-needed adrenaline shot.
The Sinking City 2: A Lovecraftian Survival Horror Pivot That Works
Speaking of hugely improved sequels, The Sinking City 2 sits in the same boat as Mortal Shell 2. The Lovecraftian horror sequel launched to significantly more positive reviews than its predecessor thanks to a full-on survival horror pivot that’s resonating with fans. Drawing clear inspiration from Capcom’s Resident Evil series, The Sinking City 2 is an ominous, gruesome third-person shooter that has you exploring the city of Arkham in the 1920s. Gory monstrosities await in dark alleyways, of course. If you don’t have time to get to it this weekend, at least get it on your Halloween playlist this year.
Why did The Sinking City 2 receive better reviews than the original?
The critical turnaround stems from a fundamental genre shift. The developers abandoned the original’s more fractured identity in favor of a dedicated survival horror design, explicitly modeled on the Resident Evil series. The 1920s Arkham setting, combined with a tighter, more focused third-person shooter framework, creates a consistently tense and gruesome atmosphere that the first game failed to sustain. The result is a horror experience that feels purposeful rather than scattershot.
Stars Reach: An Ambitious Galactic Sandbox That’s Still Very Early
The promise of Stars Reach is so massive that you can’t help but be curious about it. The indie MMO, which launched into early access this week, aims to give players a shared galactic sandbox to build in. It’s aiming to be a reactive outer space simulator where each decision a player makes can have a tangible impact on a planet’s ecosystem. It’s going to take a while for that vision to fully pay off; the early access version is indeed very early. So long as you don’t mind sifting through bugs to test a neat idea out, Stars Reach is interesting enough to toy around with right now.
What is the core gameplay loop of Stars Reach?
Stars Reach is designed as a shared galactic sandbox where player actions have persistent, systemic consequences. Every decision — from resource extraction to construction — can alter a planet’s ecosystem, creating a reactive and evolving universe. The current early access build is extremely rough, with significant bugs, but the underlying concept of a truly player-driven, planetary-scale simulator is compelling enough to warrant attention from genre enthusiasts willing to tolerate instability.
Starsand Island: A 3D Cozy Farming Sim with Skateboarding and Exploration
If you’re looking for a new cozy game, Starsand Island is your best bet this weekend. The farming sim has just about everything you’d expect from the genre: fishing, relationship building, animal ranching, and even a bit of combat. It even puts a greater emphasis on exploration than some of its genre peers, letting you skateboard around a scenic island. With its charming visuals, it’s a great game for anyone who wants the hook of Fields of Mistria in a proper 3D game.
How does Starsand Island differentiate itself from other farming sims?
The key differentiator is its emphasis on exploration in a fully 3D world. While it includes the standard farming sim staples — fishing, ranching, relationship building, and light combat — the ability to skateboard across a scenic island adds a layer of traversal and discovery that 2D pixel-art competitors like Fields of Mistria cannot offer. For players who enjoy the cozy loop of games like Fields of Mistria but crave a modern 3D presentation, Starsand Island fills that niche effectively.
Steins;Gate Re:Boot: A Visual Novel Classic Rescued from Mobile Obscurity
For the visual novel crowd, this week is a big deal thanks to Steins;Gate Re:Boot. The remaster celebrates the 10-year anniversary of 2016’s Steins;Gate by rescuing it from PlayStation Vita jail and giving it a modern makeover. New visuals, improved UI, and more make a genre classic feel new again. The main reason to play it, though, is just to experience the original game’s out-there time-travel story. The remaster even throws in some new story content that expands a rich world even further. It’s a hefty game, but one visual novel enthusiasts shouldn’t miss.
What is new in the Steins;Gate Re:Boot remaster?
Beyond the inevitable quality-of-life improvements, Steins;Gate Re:Boot introduces fully remastered visuals, a modernized user interface, and crucially, new story content that expands the game’s already intricate narrative. The remaster marks the first time the classic time-travel visual novel has been widely accessible on PC since its original PlayStation Vita release, making it both a preservation effort and a substantive update for returning fans.
This weekend on Steam offers an unusually diverse selection of high-quality releases. From the refined combat and dungeon design of Mortal Shell 2 to the survival horror reinvention of The Sinking City 2, the ambitious but buggy galactic sandbox of Stars Reach, the cozy exploration of Starsand Island, and the narrative remaster of Steins;Gate Re:Boot, there is genuinely something for every taste. Whether you are a Soulslike veteran, a horror enthusiast, an MMO dreamer, a comfort gamer, or a visual novel purist, the Steam storefront is unusually well-stocked this weekend. The challenge, as always, will be finding the time to play them all before next week’s inevitable wave of new arrivals.
