Telltale wraps up season one of ‘The Wolf Among Us’ and the story of Fabletown and its denizens in spectacular fashion.

Devil May Cry 5 excels at bringing back that iconic feeling the franchise is known for and does so with killer style, strategic, fast-paced combat, and a pumping soundtrack. Every cutscene feels like it belongs in a movie, and every battle feels powerful and intense as each new ability is unlocked. The only fault the game has shown me is a drop in frame rate during a few cutscenes but is definitely nothing to be worried about. Devil May Cry is back with a vengeance.

This PC release is the definitive version of Horizon Forbidden West. It looks fantastic, runs brilliantly, and tells one of the more compelling action RPG stories I’ve yet played. Aloy and friends are great characters, and the Horizon world is enticing by design. It’s not smashing through genre barriers by any means, but the systems are expertly balanced and exciting to engage with. It stands toe to toe with the best open world games of all time, and Guerrilla’s trajectory suggests their next effort will be even better.

PowerWash Simulator 2 takes everything about the previous game and simply makes it better. What was already a captivating, charming, zen-like experience has been made even better with improved graphics, larger stages, and a number of fantastic QOL improvements that the fans had hoped for. New features like the scissorlift and abseiling make for subtle yet engaging improvements to the gameplay.

A game that is rich and deep with personality and unmatched ridiculousness. Saints Row IV is exactly what I needed this summer. It takes everything that I love about sandbox style gaming and makes it better.

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart has something for almost everyone. Fast and satisfying combat and gameplay, absolutely jaw-dropping good looks, a fantastic score, and narrative design, writing, and acting that could be plugged right in as the next Pixar film. I felt some feels, grinned constantly, and yes, I’m going to go back and play it again. Right now.

I'm a deeply time-invested Souls player. To be honest, it took me a few hours to give up my Soulslike expectations, engrained muscle memory and to set aside comparisons with FromSoftware's best. When I did, Black Myth: Wukong and its design suddenly made a lot more sense. The biggest disservice to the game would be to come to Black Myth: Wukong as an Elden Ring player, for example, and be disappointed that there aren't quests, companions, a warehouse full of weapons, and the ability to explore the beautiful world…As a massively ambitious game made by a relatively small developer, Black Myth: Wukong could have gone sideways in a dozen different ways. That it didn't is a minor miracle. That the game looks incredible, offers deep and engaging combat and a unique blend of mechanics is even more impressive. Black Myth: Wukong takes a very specific approach to the action-RPG genre that might not be for every player. But judged on its own merits and self-imposed rules, it's an almost entirely successful and deeply satisfying game to master.

Civilization has always been a board game too complicated to play with cardboard and plastic pieces. Gathering Storm takes that complexity to new levels of simulation, but it is so well presented you never feel overwhelmed. I’m an easy mark for a new Civilization, but I have no fear in saying that Gathering Storm is one of the most creative and significant expansions a Civilization game has ever received.

Forza Motorsport 7 is hardly a revolutionary racing experience but it is quite easily the best racer you’ll find on the Xbox One. Microsoft’s Xbox One X poster child can proudly take comfort in knowing this is absolutely a must buy.

What I found as I journeyed cross country with Sam Porter Bridges is a game unlike anything else I’ve played. Its central mechanic is a monotonous, everyday piece of modern life, and somehow Kojima has managed to make that a very satisfying thing to do. At times that distracted me heavily from the storyline, and I think the midgame would have been more compelling if the story beats popped up more frequently. Still, the quality of the narrative is undeniable. Death Stranding is an outstanding title that ended up blowing away the expectations I wasn’t even aware of. For an auteur like Hideo Kojima, that sounds like an unequivocal success.

The score is stunning. There’s a beautiful use of theme, drawing familiar phrases in at just the right moment, and let’s not even get started on BB’s Theme. It’s brilliant. Similarly, the moments where the camera pans back and Low Roar plays Sam out of a stressful area take on a feeling of zen. In those moments, I felt connected to this game, and Sam’s journey. I didn’t need any of the UI or environmental sounds cues: the music just carried me to my destination. That might sound indulgent, but I don’t care. This game is a piece of art. I admire the huge risk Kojima Productions took on the project. They could easily have made an MGS clone and called it a day, but they pushed the industry in an unexpected and, to some, unwanted direction.

Visually, the most remarkable accomplishment Pillars of Eternity II pulls off is making its world feel dynamic and alive.

Mortal Kombat 11 is a culmination of so many great features from across the franchise. Offering a blockbuster narrative with seamless transitions, real character development, incredibly helpful tutorials and a varied roster to choose from.

It is deep, has plenty of replay value and a game you could easily sink 50 plus hours into.

It tells a surprisingly deep and emotional story featuring a relatable main character and it all blends uniquely together to make one of the finest gaming experience of the year. Celeste might not look it but, just like the mountain Madeline is so determined to conquer, it towers above the rest quite easily.

Persona 5 is an incredible gaming experience. With so much to do, so many elements all perfectly balanced and perfected, it’s a showcase of great game design. After 10 years, the wait has been well worth it, and Persona 5 has somehow exceeded our expectations and shown us once again why this is the best JRPG series of all time.

Like Sekiro and Team NINJA's Nioh games, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty demands a lot from the player, specifically persistence, creativity and let's be honest, decent timing and reflexes. In lots of key areas it's a pretty traditional Soulslike, with all the challenges and rewards that come with the genre. Wo Long's particular brilliance lies in its new mechanics and the way they flow in and out of every encounter. While some moments and fights can seem like insurmountable, immovable walls, getting around, through, or over them is never boring. Wo Long both honors the genre and pushes it forward in an exciting way.

The narrative that is put forth is simply amazing as it provides a new beginning with the Reclaimer Saga and the addition of the new Spartan Ops mode is simply brilliant as it adds even more story to an already great tale. Sure, some may complain the familiarity of the gameplay is a bad thing, but in the end, even though you do get a recognizable feeling when playing, the overall experience that Halo 4 provides is very enjoyable and one that you should not miss.

Tekken 8’s focus on aggressive gameplay helps to make this the best entry in the franchise. The Heat System is fantastic and gives new options of attack for every fighter on the diverse roster. While the larger cinematic story is an improvement on its predecessor, it could still fail to capture the attention of newcomers due to it being a continuation of a 30-year-long tale. However, with a ton of content, a stable online component and interesting new characters, Tekken 8 is an essential game for fans of the genre.

Stellar Blade stands out as one of the best action-adventure games of its generation. Its combat system is both deep and multilayered, ensuring that every encounter is an exhilarating experience. Offering a range of options, players can tackle enemies in several ways, be it through offensive maneuvers or defensive strategies. Whether opting to dodge, parry, or create distance, the choices are intuitively designed. Coupled with its captivating narrative and cinematic presentation, Stellar Blade is an essential exclusive.

Alas, Astro’s Playroom is only a few astonishing, magical hours long. There are lots of collectibles to go after and a leaderboard driven speedrun mode, but when I finished, I was still hungry for more. And that’s kind of the only criticism I can levy against it. The way it leverages PlayStation’s history, I can’t wait to see what irresistible creation Team ASOBI comes up with next. In the here and now, Astro Bot has earned a place in my heart among the very best of PlayStation’s franchises. ‎

In addition to its excellent platforming, puzzles, and action, Psychonauts 2 impresses the most because it treats human frailty and failure with warmth, compassion, and humor that is never cruel or demeaning. Inside our heads, we’re all just bundles of doubt, random connections, ill-considered motivations, and weird memories mixed with kindness, aspiration, and delight. I’m grateful to Psychonauts 2 for the reminder.

A great table because you don't have to know anything about the original game to understand the pinball table and the challenges it provided. There is no deep complex story line just some good old pea flinging action.

These are early days for the PC release and hopefully, the technical issues are addressed in the coming days. As things stand now, unless you have a top-notch PC, chances are you’re running a rig like mine and will have to make graphical compromises that leave you experiencing the game in a presentation fairly similar to that on the consoles. Regardless, this is unquestionably a brilliant experience. Everything about this version is bigger and better than the console version providing you have the rig to run it on.

An improvement in nearly every way to the original. It is a fun, highly addictive, and immersive experience that will grip you with its unique design, tight gameplay, high replay value, and compelling cast of characters.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach landed on a lot of “Best of” lists in 2025 for good reason. With jaw-dropping visuals and mechanics improved over the first game, it’s almost certainly Kojima’s best work to date. Nixxes PC port is a masterpiece of technical wizardry and makes Death Stranding 2: On the Beach worth replaying or experiencing for the first time.

While FIFA 10 and FIFA 13 made huge leaps forward on the gameplay front, FIFA 17 brings it all together. From the world-class presentation to the familiar mechanics, FIFA 17 delivers the most holistic football experience ever.

MK 11 is a deserving cross-gen title with a fitting upgrade on Xbox Series X and PS5 made for people like me who may have snoozed on the initial release. Or even people who were there on day one but didn’t check out any of the DLC. While I’m eagerly anticipating the next installment in the Mortal Kombat franchise and Injustice sequel, MK 11 Ultimate Edition is a great void filler to close out this generation of consoles that will be playable whenever I upgrade to the Xbox Series X.