Black Mesa

A remake of the original Half-Life. Never played the original Half-Life but this feels a lot like HL2 so I'll assume they did it justice. A fairly long campaign filled with combat and physics puzzles. The base game was made back when video games actually had soul and this remake feels like one of the best games I've played in years.

Code Vein

Anime Dark Souls. Not as punishing as Dark Souls, and quite a bit more straightforward with less getting lost in huge mazelike structures. Allows you to partner with an NPC who will help you fight through enemies and can heal and die just like you. Has a varied cast of likable characters that are much more involved with the story than Dark Souls' solo protagonists.

Enshrouded

Open-world survival crafting. Kind of like Valheim, but without as many bosses, and progression feels much, much slower. I guess I would say it can't be rushed like Valheim? Forces you to focus on exploration and discovering things at your own pace. Something about the slower pace and not being able to rush end-game makes it a more enjoyable experience for me. Super in-depth building system. Only issue being that because progress is slow, you'll be occasionally unlocking new building items or materials later on and think "Oh shoot, I wish I had had this when I was building that one thing".

Inscryption

A card game roguelite with a lot of story and puzzles to solve. I'm generally not a fan of card games, but this one manages to throw in enough extra stuff alongside to make it a very fun experience.

My Time at Portia

Like Stardew Valley, but you're a carpenter instead of a gardener, and the game is 3D instead of 2D. Collect resources to complete work orders for people around town. Get asked to help with town projects and watch the town expand and advance with new technologies. Has a dedicated storyline that plays out involving building, combat, and a bit of exploration.

Not For Broadcast

Managing the cameras and shots of a news station. Uses live action recordings of real people/actors. Mostly a bunch of strung together minigames, but it's a great experience. The story manages to be both emotional and comical. The actors are great at their roles. (Jeremy Donaldson is my hero) And the minigames aren't awful. If you've ever played Papers, Please (also recommended below), it's kind of like that with keeping up with an increasing number of silly things you need to juggle as the game progresses.

Papers, Please

You play as a border guard in charge of checking passports of people coming into the country. As the nation starts tightening down on security you're given an increasingly difficult number of documents to ask and check for, along with having to deal with any terrorist threats than come up. Great main menu music.

Project Wingman

A game made by fans of the Ace Combat series. Fun aerial combat and a compelling story. Feels just like playing an actual Ace Combat game.

Project Zomboid

Open-world survival crafting zombie game. Sounds generic, but the game has a serious amount of mechanics working under the hood. As far as zombie/survival games go, this is incredibly in-depth. Incomplete passion project, but constantly being worked on. Got a surge of popularity when they added back multiplayer. (It was missing?) Will probably get another surge when they add human NPC's in a year or two.

Wandersong

A story about being a hero. Great, great story with a great moral. Filled with platforming and puzzles all based around singing and music. Bit of a silly, cartoony game, but I would personally consider it a must-play and I would highly recommend giving it a chance.