Widescreen: Celebrating modern gaming milestones before Sony, Microsoft debut new consoles

A new generation of video gaming begins next week when Sony and Microsoft introduce the obviously named PlayStation 5 and the confusingly named Xbox Series X. Both will set you back $499 if you can find one, which you probably won't - not next week, anyway.

But the current console generation that began in 2013 with the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 is still going strong, with big-ticket releases like "Cyberpunk 2077" and "Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War" still coming by year's end. With the expensive new machines in short supply, now might be the best time to leap into the generation on its way out - expect some eyebrow-raising deals for Christmas.

And if you do, these are five games definitely worth a look, each one a milestone in the modern era of video gaming:

"Assassin's Creed Odyssey" (2018)

The largest, most ambitious game in one of the medium's prestige franchises lets you choose your avatar: stern and shouty Alexios, or his sister, the funny and plucky Kassandra. Voiced by "Eurovision" actress Melissanthi Mahut, Kassandra is one of the most engaging characters in all of video games, a beacon of light in a series that needs it. "Odyssey" demands more than 100 hours of your time in Ancient Greece if you wish to sail to every island, slay every mythological beast and find every underground treasure. Kassandra's charisma is what keeps you going. The next chapter in Ubisoft's franchise, "Assassin's Creed Valhalla," arrives Tuesday, Nov. 10, in stores. (PS4, Xbox One X, PC)

"Bloodborne" (2015)

I am terrible at this game. I don't understand this game. I never want to play this game again. So why is it listed here? Because "Bloodborne" represents the ultimate challenge in single-player console gaming, a punishing horror/action/role-playing game that demands incredible dedication and dexterity. Those who love this game and its ilk have made a newly remastered version of its 2009 precursor, "Demon's Souls," one of the most anticipated PlayStation 5 games. There are gory delights to be found in the Gothic, Lovecraftian world of "Bloodborne," but I was too busy getting killed by the werewolf in the opening scene to find them. Will you have better luck? (PS4)

"Celeste" (2018)

One of many current-gen games made to look and play like a relic of the '80s, this allegory for depression and anxiety climbs higher than its peers. "Celeste" has its title character scale a wintry mountain and battle her inner demon (literally) with just two button commands, jump and dash, but the game changes how you utilize those basic controls through unique obstacles and physics in each of its levels. This game is hard - it keeps track of how many times you die, and I cracked 2,000 before reaching the summit - but its rewards far outweigh its frustrations. (PS4, Xbox One X, Switch, PC, Mac)

"Fortnite" (2017)

The most all-encompassing video game since "Minecraft" didn't begin its life as a 100-player battle royale, but "Fortnite" has become the definitive example of a genre that gave us "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds," "Apex Legends," "Call of Duty: Warzone" and dozens of other games that throw a bunch of players into an ever-shrinking arena until one is left standing. "Fortnite" has the added attraction of "Minecraft"-adjacent construction, live experiments like the black hole that swallowed the game map in 2019, and corporate tie-ins that have become increasingly ambitious and absurd. Remember how the last "Star Wars" movie talked about a strange broadcast from long-dead Emperor Palpatine? The characters didn't get to hear it in the movie, but "Fortnite" players did in a special live event. I'm sure that was a purely artistic decision. (Available on every major platform)

"Horizon Zero Dawn" (2017)

Sony's premier console exclusive does a lot of things that other games have done just as well or better. The bow-and-arrow combat feels like the 2013 "Tomb Raider" reboot. The open-world exploration is often compared to "The Witcher III: Wild Hunt." Studying your prey for weaknesses and patterns is so much like "Monster Hunter" that "Horizon's" hero, Aloy, became an unlockable character in "Monster Hunter: World." But Aloy's story, brought to life by Guerrilla Games and actress Ashly Burch, is what makes "Horizon Zero Dawn" a classic. She's a young hunter in a far-future America under tribal rule and overrun by sentient, animalistic machines - and she discovers she has a deep connection to these leviathans. It's a collision of tropes, to be sure, but the story unfolds with uncommon intelligence and detail; you'll actually want to listen to every voice log and read every text file you find along the way. Next year's "Horizon Forbidden West" can't get here fast enough. (PS4, PC)

• Assistant News Editor Sean Stangland got bored with his Nintendo Switch before he even tried "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild." (For shame!)