Ubisoft has plenty of well-known franchises, like Rainbow Six, Assassin's Creed, Rayman, and Splinter Cell, but Trials has to be my favorite. With Trials Rising, in particular, I've spent over 750 hours in it. That has to be the longest recorded time I've spent on a game, and I don't regret it one bit. Trials Rising has to be one of my favorite games of all time and a title I've really warmed up to in recent years. 4d543z

A talented Trials Rising modder designed an Elden Ring mod that features sites of Grace-inspired checkpoints and even an Erdtree. Countless Elden Ring mods have hit the web since the role-playing title's release in late February of this year. Some fan-made builds introduce quality of life changes, like reducing load times or adding coveted transmog features. Meanwhile, other PC mods bring in odd additions such as the ability to transform the already frightening Tree Sentinel into a Thomas the Tank Engine-esque figure.

Trials Rising is a game that carries forward the classic gameplay of the series, but makes severe missteps that ultimately make Rising a step backward for the Trials franchise. With a promise of a globe-trotting campaign that eschews the sci-fi framing of 2014's Trials Fusion or the over-the-top wacky comedy of 2016's Trials of the Blood Dragon, Trials Rising should be a no-nonsense return to form for the series; instead, publisher Ubisoft felt content to allow XP bars, forced grinding, lootboxes, and convoluted currencies ruin the righteous purity of Trials.