9 Essential Video Games Releasing In August 2017

4. Absolver

With For Honor and ARMS, 2017 is definitely the year of Souls-like combat systems, though Absolver is one of the most unique, as it does away with the majority of weapons altogether.

Instead predicated on mastering a variety of martial arts and utilising attacks and defence from all angles, the mysterious story sees you wandering into a forbidden land, only to trade blows with all you come across. Set in a semi-open world, each area you visit to will have a different aesthetic, set of enemies, bonuses and general difficulty level - so if you wander into some ancient ruins and get your face boxed off, perhaps it's time to practice a bit somewhere else.

Absolver also dynamically populates the world with other players to spice things up, and gameplay looks to make every haymaker and roundhouse land with a satisfyingly meaty squelch, meaning that even if it does take you 20 tries to beat the first boss, at least it'll be a blast.