This quartet of high-action offerings, come year end, should be primed to collect multiple accolades. And while Uncharted 4, The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine, and Dark Souls III draw three well-praised series to a close, new kid Overwatch shows there's always room for fresh ideas.

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Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

PlayStation 4Closing out the Uncharted quadrilogy with a first entry on PlayStation 4 -- or second, counting the Nathan Drake Trilogy released October 2015 -- Uncharted 4 was received as a tour de force and a trumping of the set-piece spectaculars and consistent genre iteration that the franchise had become known for.Deft characterization achieved even greater nuance over a storyline that reaches back to well before 2007's Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and, through an epilogue, extends a decade or more into the future.

The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine

PS4, Xbox One, Windows PCAs the second of two sizeable expansions for 2015's genre-defining action role-playing adventure The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the May 2016 release was widely considered even more comprehensive than its foundation. Like Uncharted 4,The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine closes out its parent series, at least in current form; a vampire-hunting storyline takes players into new environs via a sophisticated web of intrigue, brought to life through a number of well-executed performances. By contrast, where Uncharted 4 saw its characters mature in age, perspective and pursuits, the near-immortal Witcher's leisure interests are as R-rated as ever.

Overwatch

PS4, Xbox One, PCWith World of Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft the base of its studio output, Blizzard Entertainment has hardly been known as a well of new franchise opportunities -- until Overwatch. The studio's first attempt at a first person shooter was so highly polished upon release this May that it became an immediate essential, delivering a vibrant, accessible, yet delightfully multi-layered multiplayer online shooter with a roster of 21 diverse playable characters and the ability to switch between them at will.

Dark Souls III

PS4, XBox One, WinPCExpected to mark the end of the Souls series -- one which started on PlayStation 3 as international demand for Japanese imports helped bring surprise hit Demon's Souls to a global audience -- Dark Souls III also brings things full circle by adding magical powers back into the armory, that players use to try and survive, even conquer, its rambling ruin of towers and pits. Tweaks to the Souls formula were made to make for a faster experience, bringing in elements from PS4 spin-off Bloodborne, making it somewhat of a known quantity (especially in comparison to earlier entries) but a suitable conclusion to the series' arc nonetheless.