Baldur's Gate 3 is a beacon of all the untapped potential in the CRPG genre. While it may be a bit much for newcomers, it's a gripping experience that no one with even an inkling of interest in the genre should miss.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a worthy successor to Breath of the Wild and is easily a Game of the Year contender. Not only will you fall in love with the world of Hyrule all over again, this game feels much more like a traditional Zelda game while retaining all of the charm and beauty of Breath of the Wild.

Persona 5 Royal truly captures all the promise of the original while adding so much more to the mix, and is easily one of the most rewarding, captivating, and enjoyable gaming experiences I've had in some time. Few games have ever hooked me as much as Persona 5 Royal,

Despite having high expectations for Astro Bot, Team Asobi still found a way to surpass all of my hopes. This isn’t just one of the best games of 2024, it’s one of the best platformers that I have played in the last decade. Those who have a long attachment to PlayStation or just a simple love for games of this genre cannot let Astro Bot pass them by.

Metroid Prime Remastered is not a bold reimagining; it offers just a few slight tweaks to take advantage of the Switch hardware, and lets the game speak for itself. There's a reason Metroid Prime has been so well-regarded over the years, and the Nintendo Switch now offers the quintessential way to play it. If you're a series newcomer that started with Metroid Dread, or a longtime fan like myself, Metroid Prime Remastered is a must-own game on Nintendo Switch.

Elden Ring isn't a perfect FromSoftware game, but it's a remarkable evolution of nearly everything people loved or detested about the developer's past works. It's found what feels like an agreeable balance between accommodating newcomers and alleviating frustrations while maintaining the signature difficulty expected from the studio.

Despite having a couple of problems with God of War Ragnarok, it's hard for me to say that the game is anything less than excellent. Even with high expectations, Ragnarok ended up being a game that I thoroughly enjoyed from its bombastic opening to its character-driven conclusion. Some issues that the previous God of War entry had became more apparent to me with Ragnarok, but otherwise, this is a game that I believe fans are without a doubt going to be happy with.

Even though The Last of Us Part II relishes in making players uncomfortable and reminding them characters can lose everything at a moment’s notice, those bleak traits are part of the game’s appeal even if the charm’s a morbid one. It’s a monumental effort in storytelling and a model for tales of vengeance and repercussions pushed forward by gratifying gameplay, and while not everything you do will sit right with you, the game never leads players to believe the result would be anything different.

The end product here shows that PlayStation is becoming much more experienced with this PC porting process, which isn't just a great thing for God of War, but it bodes well for the company's future plans in this space.

Even if there's a part or two in the remake that could've been handled better, replayability is a core part of a Resident Evil game's success, and Resident Evil 4 is no exception. It should be a promising sign then that as soon as credits rolled, the next logical step was to look through the new challenges at hand and plan out the next playthrough. Costumes, new weapons, and challenges both self-imposed and presented by the game are incentives that bolster Resident Evil's arcade-y feel and give the player an excuse for another run, but even if they were absent, the Resident Evil 4 remake offers enough to justify countless runs once more.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth improves on nearly every aspect of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, pushing the PlayStation 5 to the limit and creating a jaw-dropping experience in the process. Improving on both the Remake and the original version of the game seemed like a nigh impossible task, but somehow, Square Enix was able to do just that.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is about as close to perfection as it gets for a 2D Mario game. While the New Super Mario Bros. games were fun, they never felt like they had their own distinct identity, the way we saw with classic Mario games like Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World. Super Mario Bros. Wonder is dripping with creativity and personality in every facet.

Playground Games found so many ways to make Mexico come to life, taking great advantage of the region's diversity, while also pushing the Xbox Series X hardware to its limits. If you own the console, you owe it to yourself to check out Forza Horizon 5, whether that means purchasing a copy of the game, or playing it through Xbox Game Pass. It just might be one of the best showpieces for the next-gen era thus far.

Everything feels carefully considered for those jumping into Street Fighter 6 as their first game in the series. But at the same time, there's clearly a ton to dig into for those who want to keep playing on deeper and more dedicated levels. Street Fighter 6 is just pure fun, and every punch hits hard, every kick feels great, and it's just so cool to look at. It's the most fun I've had with Street Fighter in years, and the great, hard hitting start to a powerful new era for the franchise.

There's no doubt in my mind that there's more to do still in Shadow of the Erdtree if not in this playthrough than definitely the next. If anything, all those missed connections and areas unexplored only make the prospect of returning to the Realm of Shadow on New Game+ with a bunch of new toys to play with that much more enticing.

The Demon’s Souls remake may flip perspectives on the Souls series once you’ve finished it. Instead of being a game that’s tough to go back to, its polish and refinement will make it hard to return to Lordran or Drangleic even if another game still ranks higher than Demon’s Souls. Completing the first playthrough is really just the start of Demon’s Souls, and with more replayability than ever before, it’s going to keep people dancing between the Archstones for a long time.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 wears its passion and inspiration on its sleeve and does right by it. You can tell in every inch of the game, much like last year’s Astro Bot, that the team truly cared about it and loved the games that inspired it. With phenomenal performances, great graphics, rich narrative, engaging gameplay, and beautiful soundtrack, Sandfall Interactive has solidified itself as a force to be reckoned with this year and one to definitely keep tabs on in the future. Despite some flaws, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is one of 2025’s best games and is most certainly the best RPG of the year so far.

Diablo 4 is perfect for both franchise mainstays and newcomers alike. The lore of Sanctuary expands drastically while the game, story and all, is large enough to keep new players busy. The game is built to allow the developers to scale it with ease with battle passes and seasons for a new generation, but it's nowhere close to being empty.

Hazelight Studios is far and away the preeminent studio for co-op storytelling. There has never been a game like Split Fiction before and, frankly, it’s hard to think of one that could match this creative quality ever again. Split Fiction is an example of director Josef Fares’ ability to capture the child-like creativity of storytelling and continue to curate the best cooperative games to date. The scale for Split Fiction is massive and there is no shortage of dullness in this colorful display of one’s imagination gone wild. Being able to play a co-op game with someone else feels right as it provides a sense of togetherness that is rare to come across these days. Split Fiction reiterates this need to tell stories that can be experienced and enjoyed alongside others.

Donkey Kong Bananza is, without question, one of my favorite Nintendo games of the past decade. Not only does it serve as a fantastic new entry in one of Nintendo’s oldest franchises, but it’s the best reason so far to go and pick up a Switch 2. While I thought I wanted a sequel to Super Mario Odyssey for the past eight years, I’ve instead found myself far more thrilled by what Nintendo has done with Bananza.

Hornet’s tale isn’t likely to be rushed into a film or television adaptation, but it is another example of the growing quality and prevalence of real storytelling in video games. It didn’t have to be that way, either. The game has a wonderful atmosphere, enthralling gameplay, and tons of content, so the developers could’ve gotten by without adding a rich narrative to highlight it all. But they chose to anyway.

Ultimately, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 captures the essence of the character on a micro and macro level. We get big, epic set pieces infused with personal stakes, spectacular combat, the amazing web-swinging that every kid dreams of, and a story that tests Miles Morales and Peter Parker on both physical and mental levels. While it isn't without its flaws, Spider-Man 2 is a sensational follow-up to the previous games and yet another winner for PlayStation players.

Persona 4 Golden should be considered a must-play JRPG. While Persona 5 would eventually improve on the formula, Persona 4's blend of fast-paced, turn-based combat and compelling social elements gives it an appeal many other games have tried to emulate since. The new quality-of-life upgrades and options in the latest release make it easier to dive in than ever before. It's a game full of wonderful characters (and Yosuke), and it's a shame that it does not respect those characters adequately. Because of this, despite its rock-solid core gameplay and endearing overarching story, recommending Persona 4 Golden comes with an asterisk pointing to an uncomfortable warning about its dated content.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps may not feel as vital as the original did when it debuted, but fans of the genre would be foolish to overlook the sequel. Its visual style, themes, and engrossing score distinguish it from others in its space. Its fluid sense of movement and fast-paced combat make it a blast to play, with plenty of hidden challenges to uncover. Ori and the Will of the Wisps will please fans of the original and anyone looking for an engrossing adventure steeped in natural mystery and wonder.

If you still don't have your fill of The Last of Us Part II nearly four years after its arrival, this PS5 remaster is a pretty easy recommendation. No Return, in particular, gives Part II some post-game content of sorts that should keep it feeling fresh for the foreseeable future. This combined with the fact that The Last of Us Part II now looks better than ever before makes this the "definitive" version of the game and should help bridge the gap to a potential The Last of Us Part III.

It's a great option to utilize without ever feeling like a potential crutch that could keep someone from diving even deeper. That's just Tekken 8 as a whole, too. So much of it feels so welcoming that there are plenty of options for single-player battles, and if you spend enough time, it will eventually build the confidence to take it all online. But like other fighting games, it's going to be necessary to grind your skills. The strength of all of these potential options will be put to the test long after release, but as of right now, Tekken 8 is the best Tekken has ever been.

BioWare has done quite a bit here to make this beloved series more accessible than it has been in quite some time, especially when it comes to the visuals. Whether you’re looking to play through the trilogy for your tenth time or you're finally looking to give the series a shot for the first time, Mass Effect Legendary Edition is absolutely the way in which you should experience all three games moving forward.

Unfortunately for Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, the Nintendo Switch isn’t exactly hurting for Japanese role-playing games, though few can match its breadth and width. If you’ve been curious about the title and managed to miss out on both the Wii and 3DS versions, picking up the Switch one is practically a no-brainer, even if it does feel like a bit of a throwback. If you’ve played it before and loved it, maybe Future Connected is plenty enough reason to return. But if you are just generally interested in games more broadly, there are probably better uses of your time. If they had seriously reworked the combat in some way, it probably wouldn’t really be Xenoblade Chronicles any longer, but I imagine I also would have had a much better time with it.