Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite has a lot of history to live up to, and while it doesn't surpass any of the previous entries, Infinite does make a strong case for being the most accessible game in the franchise.

Knack II is more engaging than its predecessor, but there's still not much about this franchise that can make it one of Sony's defining original properties. This sequel is an easy game to enjoy, but Knack II fades from memory just as fast as the character can shift between forms.

With this latest entry on the PlayStation 4, Clap Hanz gives longtime fans and newcomers plenty of reason to hit the links, even if it doesn't quite live up to all its promise.

While the premise is about as ludicrous as one would expect from the Rabbids, there's a real strong game underneath all that goofiness. The strategic action isn't quite as punishing as some of the more established franchises in the genre, but Kingdom Battle still manages pack some smart gameplay tricks into a welcoming experience for Switch owners.

Madden has been good for a long time, but this year it's great. There are so many small improvements made to the core of Madden NFL 18's gameplay thanks to the new engine, it's hard not to be excited when hitting the gridiron every time you fire up a game. Even after hours of play, we're still noticing new ways in which players are reacting and moving between the hash marks.

Lost Legacy takes all of the positives of the series and combines them with protagonists that bring a fresh take on adventure to the series. We can only hope that this isn't the end of Chloe's and Nadine's stories, as the world of Uncharted is ripe for more exploration, and these two leads are more than up to the task of carrying the torch.

It's not easy to still find ways to innovate in the open-world space, but Voltion has managed to stay on the pulse of the genre well enough over the past few years. Agents of Mayhem is another strong entry in the developer's fan-favorite library, and has just as many memorable characters and moments as the best Saints Row titles. There are times where it feels like a bit of a grind, but even those elements are outmatched by Agents' charm. Saving the world has never been this vulgar or felt this good, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Nidhogg 2 is a game you can quickly lose an afternoon to, and you won't mind one bit. Few games are as friendly to players as all skill levels, while still providing intense matches and a few good laughs. Don't let the simple controls fool you. There's a lot of strategy to devise, particularly when you get continually matched up against your closest pals. The humor is delightful, and sometimes a little gross, but the cartoonish style makes it all work in tandem with the swordplay.

Still in its infancy, PlayStation VR is waiting for its killer game. Superhot VR is a solid contender, but one that falls short of the mark due to the hardware's imprecision. It's a puzzling game that rewards you for patience and thoughtful approaches to difficult situations, but those tracking limitations spoil the fun more often than not. All that considered, the challenge is addictive, and the implementation of virtual reality into the world of Superhot makes the game nearly as enjoyable as its original release.

A gorgeous game that requires a lot of patience and commitment, Sundered will challenge you early and often. Even with that in mind, Thunder Lotus Games has crafted another special game. The design is just wonderful, and the combat and platforming are easy enough to grasp that you don't need to be an expert action-platformer player to get the most from the experience. Yes, you will die, and it can be frustrating at times, but for every moment of brow-furrowing angst, Sundered presents an equal number of awe-inspiring segments to keep you coming back for more.

It would be easy to dismiss Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy as a nostalgia play, but it's quite a bit more than that. This collection celebrates a franchise that was once a hallmark of a bygone console, and that hasn't been relevant for quite some time. Vicarious Visions has done a fantastic job recreating everything that made Crash Bandicoot such an appealing series, and it's done it with style and improvements that only this latest generation could provide. Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy isn't for the impatient player, but it's a rewarding experience for anyone with the guts to get a little wild.

The Walking Dead: A New Frontier didn't just have an ambitious title, it also had a great deal of promise. The start of the third season was as memorable as anything Telltale had done before, but the story took turns in some strange directions that didn't have the payoff hinted at early on. Given Telltale's track record, we're not writing off the future of The Walking Dead, but A New Frontier's finish certainly raised questions as to whether or not Telltale has anything exciting left to say about this world.

NetherRealm Studios has been working with the DC Comics characters for a few games now, but Injustice 2 truly shows just how well the developer understands how to best translate comics to a fighting game. Just having the likes of Gorilla Grodd and Aquaman in a fighting game would have been enough for most fans, but including as much depth in the story, loot system, online options, and customization takes Injustice 2 above and beyond. It's not all that rare for NetherRealm to have success in the fighting genre, but to accomplish this level of excellence for players of all skill levels is a fantastic achievement.

For a penultimate episode, "Thicker Than Water" doesn't ramp up the stakes quite as much as some of Telltale's earlier efforts. With so little changing during the events of this fourth chapter in The New Frontier, it's hard not to be disappointed by the time seemingly squandered in this episode. Granted, the final moments accelerate things to a worthy climax, but save for those 10-15 minutes, everything that transpired in "Thicker Than Water" could easily have been folded in to the previous or upcoming episode. Hopefully Telltale was saving all the fireworks for the upcoming final chapter, as it would be a shame for A New Frontier's strong start to end with a whimper.

Prey's pacing may turn off players unwilling to let the story unfold in due time, but Arkane has crafted a special, authentic world that's worth combing over for every last detail.

What Remains of Edith Finch is a hauntingly memorable experience even though it's only a few hours long. You will have a hard time forgetting any of the Finches and what they did with their time on the now-hallowed grounds. Equal parts somber, whimsical, devastating and charming, What Remains of Edith Finch is a moving exploration of what it means to be a family, to be loved, to be missed, and how the places we call home become just as much a part of us as we are of them.

Thimbleweed Park is built on a foundation of nostalgia and reinforced with pop culture references, but it's the clever puzzles, funny characters, and stellar design that hold it all together. It reminds us what's great about classic point-and-click adventures while showing that there's still a place for the genre in modern gaming. Lucasfilm Games and its beloved IP may be lost to us, but the creative forces behind those classics still know what it takes to make a compelling, funny, clever adventure.

Yooka-Laylee is a lot of goofy fun wrapped in a light and colorful retro package, a fine return to the platformers of old.

It's easy to dismiss video games as escapism, and often they provide just enough of that to forget about the troubles and trials we all encounter in our days among the living. When a game has more to say about the world and our place in it, it can often be a frightening prospect to have to confront those topics when just trying to forget about world beyond the walls for a few hours. Telltale's The Walking Dead: A New Frontier has been much more of the former, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Sometimes you have to be hurt to know what it's like to be alive.

Atlus has spent the last decade trying to make this niche JPRG franchise more prominent in the west, and Persona 5 deserves to be the game that finally takes the series from obscure to mainstream. Not only is it true to the series’ roots as well as a great starting point for the series, it’s a fantastic game, period. A hundred hours might not even feel like enough time; my first thought upon seeing the credits roll was “Is it too soon for New Game Plus?” Persona 5 is something very special, so never fear, JRPG fans: it was worth the wait.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided was already one of our favorite games of last year, but both add-ons in Jensen's Stories have kept the game feeling fresh long after release. "A Criminal Past" was a bit more enjoyable than "System Rift" if only because "System Rift" took place in the same confines as the main campaign, and this new DLC lets us see someplace new and different we haven't been exploring for hours on end already. Whatever Square and Eidos have in store for Deus Ex in the future, "A Criminal Past" and Mankind Divided show there are plenty of ways to keep us coming back for more.

Repetition notwithstanding Ghost Recon: Wildlands is a great way to blow off some steam with a few friends for a couple of hours at a time. Co-op gameplay is some of the best I’ve ever seen and this in-game world will take weeks to explore, just don’t expect to be wowed by the mission variety during the adventure. My world wasn’t rocked, but these Wildlands offered enough fun for me to recommend it to those looking for some co-op shooter fun.

Exploration is a great deal of fun right up until the denizens of the newly discovered planets drag you into their own problems, which aren't all that impressive in the grand scheme. Nobody said being a Pathfinder would be easy, but it probably would have been a bit more tolerable if it wasn't so mired in managing tedium.

Nier: Automata's story is a rich tale, both tragic and whimsical, told expertly through the medium of video games by melding thrilling combat with a profoundly imaginative world well worth exploring. Director Yoko Taro is a madman with a box, and he's been kind enough to open that box to let us play with it.

There is almost nothing without purpose in Breath of the Wild’s world and it is easy to get lost for hours on end without ever advancing the story. Even so, it helps that the narrative holds up as well, providing another meaningful journey for the Hylian hero and heroine. Breath of the Wild is by no means perfect, but when you’ve got a game that rewards every kind of exploration with a new wrinkle, it might not have to be.

I wanted Desync to be good. I’m fan of games that actually test your reflexes and mettle but so much of this title just feels unfair. It controls well enough and when you’re actually able to get a combo going, it’s fun. Ultimately, those moments are too few and far between. Maybe with some improvements or toning down the difficulty and enemy speed, I’ll return to Desync. For now I’ll just to stick with games that do everything Desync tries to do with better results, like Bulletstorm or Doom.

For Honor takes a somewhat ridiculous concept, lays down a pretty great fighting foundation on top of it and loads it with plenty of reasons to keep playing. This past year, Ubisoft has shown a penchant for developing exciting multiplayer experiences. For Honor might frustrate in a few areas, but for every one thing it does wrong, it does a dozen other things right. For Honor sets a strong pace for Ubisoft, and it looks like the developer on course for another great year of multiplayer action.

Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin is an unexpectedly good thing for what is essentially a teaser for Psychonauts 2. It has some great moments and leaves some tasty bread crumbs for what to expect going into Double Fine’s much anticipated sequel, but it’s also a genuinely enjoyable offering for VR in general. The puzzles are fun, the environments are fantastic to observe and the Psychonauts cast does a great job in bringing the whole thing together with a colorful and amusing bow.

Berserk and the Band of the Hawk could have been more than a simple re-issuing of the same Warriors formula that Omega Force has perfected over the years, but instead this is merely a re-telling of the Berserk story with a lot of emphasis on the Square and Triangle buttons.

Horizon Zero Dawn is compelling from the first minutes of the game, telling an incredible story and marking it with a deep crafting system and exceptional combat. Aloy is inspiring in her lead role, with the potential to become a new leading face in gaming for a long time to come.

Though the campaign might feel a bit short to RTS die-hards, it's a strong and enjoyable effort for the console audience. The clear paths to victory make it more manageable in short bursts too. The multiplayer offerings give Halo Wars 2 plenty of replayability, but Blitz mode needs more maps soon to make more of a lasting impression.

Resident Evil 7 Biohazard is the best thing to happen to this series in more than a decade, and shows that you don't always have to follow the same drummer as everyone else to make something special.

With Yakuza 0, Sega's managed to give the long-running series a shot in the arm, re-invigorating it for longtime players, and making it accessible to anyone that was turned off by jumping in so late in the series before.

Gravity Rush 2 seems to offer mind-bending action with an unique set of powers via its heroine Kat, but the major fault of the game lies in a story that’s unclear and features outside of gravity powers that aren’t anything new or complex.

With wry humor, just the right amount of challenge, and accessibility to all comers, I Expect You to Die sets a precedent for being one of the best virtual reality experiences available for PlayStation right now. It's not always perfect, but Schell Games has done so much else right, it's easy to overlook the few flaws that persist throughout the experience.

The Last Guardian is an interesting and frustrating game that can’t decide if it wants to be modern or retro, and that constant argument brings the entire experience down a notch. While I was willing to deal with the limits of the previous era to enjoy the perks of the current one, I can understand where others might grow weary of the experience.

As a re-introduction into Telltale's Walking Dead world, A New Frontier does just about everything right. The new characters offer some much needed change in perspective, and the narrative is a tight story that lays the groundwork for an exciting and different season.

Camera issues notwithstanding, Final Fantasy XV was worth every second of that 10 year wait. The story pulled me in despite not giving me all of the backstory I craved, the four heroes were charming, witty, and fun to pal around with, the locales were gorgeous and a delight to look at, and the battle system was fast and frenetic.

Dead Rising 4 sees the franchise's original hero forced back into action in a sequel that's bigger than any entry in the series before, yet feels more empty and bereft of excitement than its predecessors.

These new games take things previously thought to be untouchable elements of the Pokemon experience and turns them on their heads, delivering a completely unique experience from its predecessors.

These new games take things previously thought to be untouchable elements of the Pokemon experience and turns them on their heads, delivering a completely unique experience from its predecessors.

Dishonored 2 doesn't veer from the path established by the first game too severely, but given how strong the world and gameplay were it doesn't really have to either. The new locales and villains make for some strong additions to the series, as do the new powers unleashed by Emily Kaldwin. Even with a passable story and ineffective acting, the foundation and gameplay are strong enough to make Dishonored 2 one of the year's best.

I could not be happier with the direction Ubisoft took with Watch Dogs 2, casting off the serious tone of the first game and replacing it with bright colors, fun characters, and light humor. Combat is pretty boring, but the multiple hacking options almost making shooting obsolete in the right hands.

The Sims 4: City Living is an excellent addition to the core, and possibly the best apartment-themed expansion in series history. It’s also the best add-on The Sims 4 has produced yet. Many of its ideas are recycled from previous iterations, but what’s new takes the series forward in interesting ways.

For all it accomplishes, and with very few drawbacks, Infinite Warfare feels like a full and diverse package that does the Call of Duty name proud.

Titanfall 2 is one of the most joyful gaming experiences of the year. There are lots of games with heart and excitement, but Titanfall 2 manages to combine almost everything that was a strength for the first entry and build on it with loads more personality.

An amazing platform experience from top to bottom. From the gameplay to the art to its style of wit and storytelling, Owlboy takes notes from the long history of its genre and combines them into a stellar journey.

Of course, the concept of mods and the freedom that comes with them is a given. In a game like Skyrim however, it let us fill the empty space with our own creativity and lets us immerse ourselves however we want in an already immersive game. Turns out Skyrim is even more fun the second time around.

This map put everything I’ve learned playing Hitman to the test. That, and the surprisingly well-done cliffhanger ending, are what made this episode my favorite of the season. The level of detail and density of each map, and the continually deepening narrative, kept me coming back for each new content release, whether it was new elusive targets or new challenges.

Superhypercube is a terrific puzzle game in and of itself, let alone as a launch title for the PlayStation VR. It checks all the boxes for a rewarding and exciting VR experience, with the only real drawback being its singular mode.

Despite being themed around a holiday, Hide and Shriek is surprisingly fun and offers some amusing layers. Jump scares and shock horror aside, it’s really the runes that make this game much more fun than it first appears. They add various depths of strategy to the game to make it sort of like a weird game of Halloween cat and mouse. That said, the shrieks most definitely do their job.

This is the best Battlefield has been in a while, and Battlefield 1 has set a new bar for what we should expect from not just this series, but contemporaries as well.

World of Final Fantasy is light and fun and offers tons to do. With a fun world to explore, gorgeous aesthetics, this is a nostalgic adventure built around the history of one of video games’ most iconic franchises.

WWE 2K17 should be marking a new era for WWE video games, but unfortunately it dredges up old problems from the past just as much as it improves with new content. The massive roster, excellent control scheme save for reversals, and extensive creation suite all impressed me, but the little technical nuances just kept annoying me to no end.

When you get down to it, the game doesn’t offer any variety. All the action takes place in a single screen with a gradually increasing number of bubbles moving at gradually increasing speeds, with the only long term goals being new high scores and new swag at the item shop. You can drop some coins to challenge Hyper Mode, but that’s just a higher risk, higher reward version of the same gameplay. That core action is fun, but it won’t keep you coming back for more than a handful of hours.

Fans that haven't yet experienced the Arkham series might not get quite as much out of the story as those who've invested years into Rocksteady's version of the Bat-universe, but this is still one of the first "can't miss" titles of PlayStation's foray into virtual reality.

Mafia III as a narrative alone is a commendable effort, and is unlikely to be forgotten for that very reason. It takes a hard look at a life many of us have never led, and challenges players with an experience most could never truly know. Ultimately though, even the strongest of stories can't save Mafia III from falling prey to genre conventions, and too many at that.

Rivals gives Rock Band 4 some new life that injects the core game with modes fans have been begging for, and a new story mode that longtime fans and newcomers alike can get behind.

With the wide range of interests collected here, there's almost assuredly something for everyone, and that's one of Lego Dimensions' greatest strengths. That it's also fun to play just makes the decision to enter this world that much easier.

The campaign leans on everything that worked in the first game, all while adding new flourishes to further make the world of Gears of War more compelling. The multiplayer is as enjoyable as ever, with the new modes keeping Gears online elements fresh, and more importantly, addictive. It's undeniably good to be thumping around in COG armor again.

When you strip away the silly executions and crowded, dense maps, Hitman is still a solid stealth experience.

Rise of Iron is a strange hiccup in Bungie’s progress towards making Destiny a better overall experience. SIVA is an interesting villain that is ultimately never explained or explored. The majority of the content here is the actual Plaguelands themselves, and all there is to do is a couple of fetch-quests and patrol missions. Everything in this expansion seems to revolve around tedious grinding; grinding to finish the Iron Record book and get more rewards, grinding to get your light level up to do the raid. Whereas Taken King did so much to improve Destiny in every way, Rise of Iron feels like a big step back.

A lot should be made of ReCore's basic technical issues. Without them this game could be considered one of the sleeper hits of the year, but being constantly forced to wait for a game to load and then experiencing weird clipping issues during the game does not an enjoyable experience make.

Forza Horizon 3 has everything you could possibly want from a modern racing game, and it just happens to be in the most stunning package we've ever seen.

Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 shines in all the same ways as Pac-Man Championship Edition, just with a light that's a little duller. Levels are still fun, they're just not as fun. The action still has a funky, flow-y groove, just not as funky or flow-y.

At the end of the day just playing a few matches in season mode is a lot of fun whether you want that deep experience or just want a simple arcade-like hockey game.

A peerless addition to Blizzard's biggest beast, showing that the beast is not only still alive, but its heart is pumping more strongly than ever.

It doesn’t always keep the hits coming constantly, but Jotun is most definitely one of the more beautiful and enjoyable adventure titles we’ve played, with enough continuing challenge to ensure that impressing the gods will be no short order.

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice has some bumps along the road, but there's a twisting and thrilling story worth the occasional struggle.

The Final Station is a considerably devilish adventure. The balance between keeping everyone you can alive, keeping a train rolling, exploring and scavenging overrun outposts and surviving long enough to get back to your train keeps the situation tight at practically all times.

Attack on Titan is a great introduction for the anime franchise into the world of console gaming, and while it's not perfect, it's a game that can be enjoyed even by those who haven't watched a second of the show.

There likely will never be a perfect Madden NFL game, but this version comes very close to that ideal indeed.

In short, while the Himmapan level is nice to look at and chock full of things to do, it's held back by a lack of defining features linking it to Bangkok and lopsided mission design.

It would have been something to see all of the story ambitions come together clearly, but even without those elements striking the right balance, Mankind Divided sets a rather high bar for stealth/action-RPGs.

The universe is huge. It instills such a feeling of insignificance and it is incredibly fun to think of all the possibilities when arriving in a new place, but when it inevitably requires the patience to do the same things over and over, the wonder of exploration loses out on some important magic.

What Telltale has been able to do from strictly a narrative standpoint is up to the company's usual high standards. Enjoying those moments is an absolute challenge though, as so much of the rest of the game just doesn't work properly. Telltale has earned our trust to eventually rectify these qualms, but Batman's adventure is still off to one of the roughest starts we've seen from the developer.

Abzu is still an experience we were glad to witness, but its substance is all too minor to make it more than a fleeting encounter with awe.

Overall, Crush Your Enemies feels like something from bygone era and not in a good way. The humor feels outdated, the gameplay is like something out of a MegaTouch machine, and the pixelated graphics look like a late Super Nintendo game without the charm.

We feel the same way about Generations as we did about Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate last year: it's a fun game that requires far too much grinding. We only wish there were more new things to talk about instead of just the same old hunter's song and dance.

Its narrative and puzzles can occasionally be long-winded and a bit too time consuming, but it still stands out as one of the more gripping narrative driven games we’ve played. Just be aware: before the moment of final escape, there will be blood and tears.

In the end, all we could come up with was that Umbrella Corps was meant to reach out to everyone and ended up being something that will please no one.

This game's fast-paced platforming and clever level concepts elevate it past any other game in the series.

If Keiji Inafune wants Mighty No. 9 to become as beloved as his blue-and-cyan predecessor, he and his team would do well to think deeply about modern updates to his classic formula to figure out what it is that makes them work so well. As is, Mighty No. 9 is a mighty, mighty failure.

The entire package of Dangerous Golf feels unfinished. Looking past the cool concept, nothing is exciting. The slow camera, the inconsistent controls, and bland mission structure combined with the fact that the game crashed numerous times during my playtime, led to much more frustration than there was enjoyment. The first few holes may have been fun, but Dangerous Golf quickly tumbles into a downward spiral of disappointment.

Blood and Wine has been said to be the last pursuit for Geralt of Rivia for the foreseeable future according to CD Projekt Red. If that’s really true and we’re done with Witcher for a while, then Blood and Wine is most certainly the way to put this franchise to rest once and for all.

Guilty Gear Xrd is continuing to stand out as the game that deserves to bask in the spotlight. -Revelator- doesn’t reinvent the wheel the way -Sign- did, but it does add a significant amount of content and gloss to what was already awesome.

Yes, it has some padding in its optional missions, some of which just aren't very fun, but when you are free to just run with nothing else on your mind, Mirror's Edge Catalyst reminds you why you fell in love with the concept in the first game, and illuminates why so many people have revered this series for so long.

Marrakesh is the best area and mission in Hitman so far. It rewards patience and a slower pace of gameplay than any previous mission. The attention to detail and level design are a step up from Sapienza and Paris as well.

As a Turtles fans I’m mildly satisfied seeing the characters in a new light, but playing the game just doesn’t cut it for me.

If you’re looking for a fun hack n’ slash action-JRPG with a deep customizable system to tailor to your playstyle, Odin Sphere Leifthrasir is some of the most enjoyable times to be had, going far beyond the nostalgia of a simple remake.

Overwatch does the things most video games only dream of doing. This is a fresh, joyful experience offering an incredible variety of gameplay, high ease of access, and deep potential for mastery. In a genre full of dour shootymans using realistic guns to shoot at realistic people, Overwatch polishes off the grit to reveal a game that's optimistic and eager to be explored. This is a world you'll want to stay in, bring your friends to, and keep coming back to for years to come.

This new Doom is what I’ve been waiting for, a perfect mixture of old concepts and new technology brought together for the current generation. The fast-paced action of yesteryear is coupled with giant stages, customizable and shareable maps, and a robust if slightly generic multiplayer offering, the final result being a super fun way to blast through a few hours. There’s no Doom and gloom here; this new game is a hell of a good time.

The biggest draw about the remastered version of Valkyria Chronicles is the upgrade to 1080p resolution. However, it was already gorgeous on the PS3 eight years ago thanks to the watercolor-inspired artwork and storybook interface. Valkyria Chronicles Remastered looks exactly how I remember it looking, which is a testament to its impressive art design.

Severed is the kind of game that comes along once a generation, and helps define a console.

Uncharted 4 is indeed A Thief's End, the type of bookend story to which other franchises should aspire. It's an emotional ride through some pretty dangerous places, not the least of which is the mind of a man who realizes he's at a major crossroad in life. Will this be the last time we see Nathan Drake? I don't know for sure, but you know what? I sure hope it is. Godspeed Uncharted, and thanks for all the memories.

Hitman -Sapienza doesn’t live up to the free-form assassination sandbox that the previous episode set up. The frustrating lack of freedom and save issues really hurt the experience however. Despite it being a better looking and ultimately more immersive setting than any of the first three missions, Sapienza falls flat in its mission structure.

The Walking Dead: Michonne is tough game to swallow because it makes you think about all of these elements in ways you probably haven't before, but that's also what makes it so great.

It’s not a schoolbook history lesson and shouldn’t be taken as such. Rather, it is a powerful take on historical events that was inspired by personal accounts, documents, and study.