Bug fixes, clever DualSense support, and truly stunning graphics turn this iconic PS3 title into the PS5's standout must-play. Whether you're a veteran or new to the world of Boletaria, you won't want to miss this special game.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is, by far, the best remake I've ever played even though it was based on a really fantastic game. If you haven't already picked it up, you should definitely pick up Intergrade for the PS5. If you have, you can pick up the INTERmission DLC separately for a couple chapters of fun with everyone's favorite Wutai ninja, Yuffie Kisaragi.

The Last of Us may not have needed a remake, but there's no denying the sheer quality of it. Its visuals, from the environment to the character models, look like they're plucked directly from a movie. The new lighting and shadows make for a more realistic experience, without completely changing the atmosphere. Its gameplay, especially the shooting, still needs some fine-tuning, but every improvement just serves to make a near-perfect game even better.

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is this year's summer blockbuster on PS5. Taking players through diverse and gorgeous worlds with excellent combat and platforming, Rift Apart is a ton of fun to play.

Horizon Forbidden West is superior to its predecessor in almost every way, and Zero Dawn was already a fantastic game. Guerrilla Games takes huge narrative risks that pay off big time, setting up Aloy's greatest threat yet and further developing her relationships. The gameplay is likewise just as excellent, with incredibly responsive and fun combat alongside a vast open world to explore.

Deathloop is a well-crafted, intelligent murder puzzle worth solving, regardless of your experience with immersive sims or roguelikes. There are a few bugs at launch though.

If you haven't played it before, Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut is the way to go, offering an expansive journey of a one-man war against the Mongols. If you've already bought the main game, the upgrade is a little tenuous, but players who enjoyed the first go-around should find plenty to like here as well.

Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves is by far the smoothest way to play these two Naughty Dog titles. However, the upgrades are fairly light overall.

One of the biggest reasons to dive into the game is the visual fidelity, which is exceptional. The reflections on the ray-traced cars are something to behold, while the highly detailed circuits and accurate interiors create a sense of immersion that is well worth experiencing. Great sound design is tied to this immersion, as are the Dualsense features, putting the PS5 version some way ahead of its PS4 counterpart. Polyphony Digital has created a love-letter to long-time fans of the series as well as giving plenty of reasons for new players to jump in, and the game celebrates car culture to a degree that few games in this genre come close to.

What's worse, for the most part, you can't customize the on-screen controls. You can control the size and location of the D-pad a little bit, but you have absolutely no control over the size or location of any of the attack buttons, which feels insane compared to other, similar mobile games.

Asgard's Wrath 2 is the best VR game ever made. It's hard to believe something this deep and complex can be made on a standalone VR headset, and the mashup of Zelda and Skyrim-like gameplay will constantly surprise and delight players as they venture through all 100+ hours of gameplay.

Owlchemy Labs has another hit on their hands with Cosmonious High. Delivering charming fun for all ages with a deluge of puns, memorable — if one-note — characters, and fantastically varied puzzle designs, Cosmonious High will be remembered as a classic VR game, even if it's not quite as groundbreaking as Job Simulator.

Returnal is a tour de force for Housemarque and Sony, and is one of the best games I've played this year with gorgeous visuals, a surprising story, and great roguelike gameplay.

If Batman: Arkham Shadow's overall quality and fun factor lead other publishers to trust that storied franchises can be handled by proven developers like Camouflaj, then I consider it a win for any fan who wants more from a series or universe. Arkham Shadow isn't just a win for the Meta Quest platform or VR; it's a win for the industry as a whole. It proves that successful games can branch out to new mediums without ruining the original feel, and that's what really matters to me.

Death Stranding Director's Cut is for fans of the series who want to replay this title in all its glory on a PS5, but it's mainly for newcomers thanks to tweaks to the early game that make it more accessible.

Iron Man VR is the perfect example of how a game port should be. It's the same great game with better controls and crisper visuals, which is great considering how darn good the game actually is. If you're even remotely a fan of Iron Man's character from any Marvel movie, you owe it to yourself to pick this game up.

Mothergunship: Forge delivers a clean roguelite experience, with a snappy loop, an innovative spin on its genre, and fun gunplay. It's not the biggest game on the Quest — let alone in its genre — but what it lacks in content, it makes up for in fun.

Resident Evil Village takes everything you loved about the franchise and combined it with some homages to classic and modern horror to create something unique in video games today. It's an absolute spectacle, showing off the best of the RE Engine and the PS5 as a bonus.

Young Souls is a beautiful-looking game with challenging combat, but it does not have enough variety to keep it interesting when you're having to put up with multiple crashes and glitches.

The story of Moss is an intriguing tale that's told in a playful way via, you guessed it, a storybook. Fans of platformers and action-adventure titles will surely love it, especially if recent games like Elden Ring have proven to be too long or frustrating.

If you enjoyed the original Among Us, then you'll absolutely love how the VR port captures its spirit while improving on the mechanics. Thanks to proximity chat and motion-control tasks, The Skeld feels like a real ship crewed by real people, which makes the Imposters' betrayal that much more personal. It's too bad the game only launches with one map, but we're hopeful that the other maps will come to the game later.

The aging mechanic in Sifu presents an engaging challenge, while the visuals and combat keep you invested. The backtracking and slow progression can be frustrating though, and the story could be better.

Tentacular offers up dozens of interesting puzzles to solve, set throughout a fascinating origins story of the giant you'll be playing as. The pacing is a bit slow, but puzzle and physics game fans should have a great time with the mechanics.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is an excellent debut game from developer Ember Lab. Pulling from legendary franchises like Pikmin and God of War — with a splash of Ori and the Blind Forest for good measure — Kena manages to balance a compelling story with engaging gameplay and a charming art direction to create a worthwhile adventure.

The Last Clockwinder provides a wealth of cleverly-designed puzzles that won't just challenge your brain but also keep you on your toes (literally) as you attempt to move as quickly as possible to harvest fruit efficiently. These puzzles, juxtaposed with an intriguing storyline about the mystery of the lost caretaker, make this unconventional puzzler a successful formula to follow.

There may be some growing pains as Respawn balances the game and tweaks it even further for touch screen controls, but between its Battle Royale and Team Deathmatch modes, it'll keep players entertained for quite some time.

The world of good mobile team-based shooters isn't exactly deep, which is what makes Catalyst Black such a breath of fresh air. The title has mechanics that are easy enough for anyone to learn, intuitive and fun controls, and best of all, is genuinely fun to play.

Assassin's Creed Nexus VR isn't just a triumphant first entry into the VR space, it's a brilliant return to the series' roots in a substantial way. The amount of variety in the game is staggering, and you'll be regularly surprised by not only what you can do, but how much content Ubisoft was able to include in such a well-produced and made title.

MLB The Show 21 continues to create the most consistent sports product out there. It doesn't get bogged down by microtransactions, offers tons of modes, and features enough improvements to once again be a must-play for fans.

Solar Ash looks and feels awesome to play — when it works. When it doesn't, it's a frustrating experience.

Metro Awakening tells a new tale in the Metro universe with a more personal story and viewpoint than we've seen before. It's visually fantastic, although the resolution should be a bit higher on the Quest 3. Overall scenario variety is impressive and it successfully mixes stealth elements with some traditional horror moments in a uniquely interesting way, building upon prior Vertigo-developed shooters. The 12-hour campaign's story is compelling and will surprise you more than once with its direction.

After the Fall is a 4-player co-op zombie shooter that pits players against the Snowbreed, a unique family of zombies that enjoy residence in post-apocalyptic snow-ridden LA. A glorious 80's setting with plenty of tropes fills the halls of this arcade shooter, begging players to kill more zombies in order to upgrade weapons and trudge through more difficult levels alongside their friends, all in the comfort of your favorite VR headset.

There are plenty of action and horror games on PS5 that give you a much more varied experience and are paced in such a way that the engagement will last throughout a full runtime. Why Ghostwire: Tokyo couldn’t do that will always be a mystery.

Outcasters isn't the stellar killer-app that Stadia so deparately needs, but it offers enough to pad out the Pro subscription for Google's cloud gaming service just a little bit further. It's an extremely fun game that delivers on the promise of being easy to pick up and play but difficult to master.

Temtem is a shallow imitation of Pokémon, though the little things it does to mix up the formula go a long way at making it feel fresh. In its current form, it's no Pokémon rival, but being in Early Access means it has plenty of room to grow. [Early Access Score = 60]

Submerged: Hidden Depths is a shallow and tedious exploration game focused on exploring the ruined and flooded remains of a lost world. During your journey, you'll find peace and serenity, but little in the way of engaging gameplay. It's got some charm hidden beneath the surface, but not enough to hold your interest.

Cities: VR is a decent adaptation of Cities: Skylines that’s hindered by the hardware of the Quest 2. With only a small area of land available for your city and features like terrain editing missing, the core loop feels a bit too simple and can get stale fast. Still, the basics of a good city-building sim are here, and it’s an accessible entry point for players new to the genre.

Disney Mirrorverse is a sleek new contender in the action RPG gacha space, but at the end of the day, it's just that — another gacha game.

When Blizzard first announced Diablo Immortal, fans were a bit wary about whether the game could live up to the Diablo name. Thankfully, not only does the game present a classic Diablo experience in a smaller form but it does so nearly flawlessly, albeit with a sharper focus on grinding than any other Diablo game.

Bonelab is a near-perfect blend of sandbox and narrative gameplay that stretches the technical limits of the Quest 2. Its heavily physics-based gameplay is ground-breaking in many ways, offering ways for creative players to dispatch enemies like never before. Be warned, though, that this intense game isn't for the faint of heart or stomach and will make many people motion sick with its intense movements.

Biomutant's interesting premise is soured by dull characters, forgettable stories, passable combat, and frequent performance issues. There could be a lot of life in this world based on what's there, but it just doesn't materialize into anything satisfying as a whole.

Cyberpunk 2077 is an ambitious, open-world game, and Night City feels alive, but it's often contradicting itself on its core aspects and often does the basics to get by.

Hitman 3 is more of the same but that's not necessarily a bad thing. IO Interactive surprisingly spends more time focusing on the story here than fans may expect, but it's worth it in the end for a satisfying send-off for an excellent stealth gaming trilogy. AI is still laughably dumb, not all missions hit the same high points, and the method of accessing all past content is extremely confusing, but it's an overall excellent conclusion.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game -- Completion Edition is a very long title for a pretty short game. There isn't a whole lot going on here that you haven't seen before if you've ever played a side-scrolling beat 'em up at any point in the last 30+ years, but it's a serviceable homage to an era of gaming's past with enough nostalgia fuel to make you smile while punching through a slew of ex-boyfriends.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a flawed but captivating open-world RPG rife with conflict and deranged beauty. What the Stadia version lacks in the advanced bells and whistles of its PC counterpart, like raytracing and reliable 4K, it more than makes up for in accessibility and smooth performance across a variety of devices. Not to mention it still looks great too.

Just Dance 2021 is the latest Just Dance game to offer more of the same. It's still a fun party game, but it's almost virtually identical to the previous iteration…and the one before that. And the one before that.

This latest endeavor from Tarsier Studios is a great improvement over its predecessor and delivers on its promises of a world full of "charming horror" perfectly. Little Nightmares 2 is unsettling, tense, and downright terrifying at times without ever losing the innocent exterior that draws you in. Definitely one of the first must-play games of 2021; it's got the benefit of being included at no extra charge in Stadia Pro for all subscribers. You do not need to have played the previous game before playing this one, but it will enhance the story's impact.

Fortunately, the Stadia version of Madden NFL 21 plays great and looks fantastic. As is the norm now with the Stadia version of AAA games, it plays wonderfully and doesn't have any noticeable issues with lag or latency if your connection is good enough. Anytime you play Madden online kicking does suffer from minor latency issues, but that's the case across all versions of the game — not just Stadia. This year it's worse than usual so you should absolutely expect to miss a few field goals and extra points. They must have changed the net code for how kicking is handled or something because even on PS4 and PS5 I was having issues hitting kicks just right and those issues persist in the Stadia version.

At first glance, it's pretty easy to write off Terraria as just another Minecraft clone, but this time with 2D pixel art visuals. While true on the surface, there is actually a whole lot more to Terraria than initially meets the eye. For all intents and purposes, the Stadia version is a perfect port of the excellent sandbox survival game with zero compromises compared to its dedicated console counterparts. But it still may not be right for you if you're not into extremely open-ended crafting games.

I genuinely like Outriders and find myself thinking about the flashy intensity of its combat periodically throughout the day, but I can't recommend the Stadia version of the game right now in good faith. There are just too many bugs and server problems still with zero indication from the developer or publisher that they're interested in addressing the problems whatsoever. The character classes are great, weapon modding is full of depth, and I enjoyed the story more than expected, so maybe once things get better, it'll be different, But right now, the Stadia version of Outriders is borderline broken.

Blue Fire is like if you took Ocarina of Time-era Hyrule and broke it up into a thousand platforms. As cool as that might sound, the game's difficulty varies wildly, and it's easy to get lost since there's no map in this Stadia version.

Control Ultimate Edition is an incredibly detailed game between the setting, story, weapon upgrades, and psychic abilities, making it a must-play for any Stadia player.

Humankind provides a solid foundation for the historical strategy genre with a unique twist, but the Stadia version may not be as feature-rich as other PC versions.

Riders Republic offers fun racing and tricks galore across dirt, snow, and air with a progression system that does not leave you behind in the dust, though the Stadia version may not be the smoothest experience out there.

Wavetale is a pleasant surfing adventure that is short, but does not overstay its welcome with unnecessary padding. This First on Stadia release is perfect for those subscribed to Stadia Pro.

Chorus is a space combat game with plenty of challenging dogfights and a ship that can be upgraded to one's content. Unfortunately, the story does not match the excitement of the gameplay.

Rainbow Six Extraction on Stadia provides gripping action with some smart twists, but wears out its welcome fast with a lack of variety and a necessity for having a pre-made group.

The similarities may be undeniable, but don't write Tower of Fantasy off as a Genshin clone too quickly. This MMORPG (with a hearty layer of gacha on top) has a lot to love and could be the new obsession in your life.

Like any other “X Simulator” game, the appeal of Cooking Simulator VR is admittedly niche. However, those with a passing interest in the concept will find a lot to like. Cooking Simulator VR gives players access to goof off and learn recipes in the comfort of a virtual kitchen. Anyone looking for a bit more challenge to put their skills to the test will find a surprisingly enjoyable career mode, too.

The Saints Row franchise returns after nine years with a new crew and a rebooted universe. The new entry still certainly has the humor and the gameplay of its predecessors.

Monopoly GO! is an excellent game when viewed through the casual, free-to-play lens. But with little gameplay to speak of, no real strategy involved, heavy monetization tactics, and a constant barrage of ads for IAPs, it can't be recommended as anything other than what it is: a well-designed time-waster.