Even with its faults, Metroid Prime 4 still has a lot to like. Many of the game’s newer elements fall flat and don’t help push this series forward in the way that I’d prefer, but the most vital aspects that have allowed this franchise to become one of the most acclaimed in video game history are still very much present here in this long-awaited sequel. Metroid Prime 4 may not have warranted all of the hype and attention that has been placed on it for the better part of the past decade, but at the end of the day, it’s still good to have Samus back in another new adventure.

Octopath Traveler 0 is a fine JRPG that has a weird mix of capitalizing on the series’ strengths while also deviating from them. It finds reasons to pull you out of the narrative, even if it drops a hooking moment, and combat rarely feels challenging. But when the story and combat grip you, you become completely invested. Square Enix and DokiDoki have certainly created an expansive game, but dialing in on what made the series so beloved could have delivered the perfect conclusion to one of the best JRPG series in recent years.

Short and sweet, Marvel Cosmic Invasion is about as good as beat ’em up games get, and works best as a retro throwback and a modern inheritor to the genre. If you’re a Marvel fan, a gamer with an appreciation for retro approaches, or just someone who enjoys action games, then Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a must-play.

I had a lot of fun with Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition. This is a great Switch 2 port, and it may well be one of the best action games the console has to offer so far. The graphics are sharp for a 10-year-old game, the frame rate is solid, and the gameplay is classic Lara Croft goodness with some extra motion control bells and whistles if you want them. And for just $20, it’s hard not to say that everyone who enjoys a good action-adventure game with a side of puzzles should play this on Switch or Switch 2 ASAP.

Despite these minor drawbacks, Demeo x D&D: Battlemarked is just plain fun. It’s a solid virtual tabletop experience that streamlines the TTRPG experience while still bringing the best elements of IRL play to life. Provided the UI gets worked out and the glitches smoothed over, I could see this being my group’s go-to alternative when an in-person D&D night just isn’t an option.

Even with a ton of collectibles to unlock and challenges to take on, I can’t see myself returning to Kirby Air Riders much in the future. This is a racer that tries to buck many of the genre’s most traditional conventions, which, at the very least, makes it quite memorable. Ultimately, though, the content on hand in Air Riders wears thin in no time, which leads to it being a game that you’ll put down sooner than you might anticipate.

I hope Call of Duty 2026 is like a defibrillator and not only gives the series a second wind, but also revitalizes my love and enthusiasm for this franchise that I have been playing since I was 5 years old.

While Deadpool himself may be a bit of a mixed bag in the game (and players who dislike the character entirely should probably avoid this title), Marvel’s Deadpool VR is a very entertaining way to recreate the character for a VR audience. Not necessarily a killer app on its own, Marvel’s Deadpool VR has enough fun showcasing the action, platforming, and worldbuilding of the VR space to be well worth checking out for gamers who already have the available tech. If you like Deadpool just as much as you like hacking enemies to pieces in video games, then Marvel’s Deadpool VR is the perfect title for you. For everyone else, it’s still a pretty fun experience that can be annoying at times, but is overall a bloody good time.

Speaking of patience, the game may test players in an unintended way. Patrick and SpongeBob both have a few lines of dialogue that repeat when you do certain actions. Sometimes, the repetition of these lines can get a bit irritating, such as Patrick screaming “Underpants underpants!” every time you get a new life. There’s always the mute button if this gets on your nerves, but it is one way the game felt more targeted towards kids than adults. Turn that off, however, and you’ve got a solid SpongeBob SquarePants platformer the whole family will enjoy.

It’s ultimately a very sweet game, a short little novel of an experience that is rewarding in its execution and appealing in its presentation. Winter Burrow might not be the most challenging experience, but it’s not really supposed to be. Finding the right balance between exploration, atmosphere, and challenge, Winter Burrow is a bittersweet tale that only grows sweeter as time goes on.

Arc Raiders is the rare live-service shooter that actually feels alive, one that balances action, tension, and artistry. It’s not perfect, but it is close. The few issues I have with the game don’t detract from the overall gameplay loop, leaving an incredible experience. Embark Studios has released one of the finest shooters of this year, one that feels like it can contend for Game of the Year against stacked competition.

Even with persistent record scratches, Lumines Arise remains a beautiful album. Stages, while lacking a greater purpose, have more detailed and impressive effects and are often set to fitting tracks that cover a whole variety of genres from hip hop to house. Everything coalesces around its signature block-matching gameplay that’s infinitely replayable like the greats it was inspired by. Arise is a familiar beat in many respects, but one that has retained its hypnotic rhythm and hasn’t lost an ounce of its soul.

Anno 117: Pax Romana feels like an attempt by Ubisoft to find a happy medium, with a streamlined approach to the game that tells a compelling story and opens up the gameplay for more casual players. It’s overall a compelling move, helping keep the game pace strong while delivering on a polished and compelling game world. It’s easy to get lost in the story and worldbuilding, expanding into Celtic lands and debating the right balanced approach to assimilation and growth. While hardcore strategy games might balk at some of the simplification, it all makes Anno 117: Pax Romana a more entertaining title than many others in the genre.

If you like fast-paced, hack-and-slash combat, you’re going to have fun with this game. There’s a nice sense of progression as you unlock new characters and power up their moves and weapons. But a few missions have some unique map mechanics, and I couldn’t help but wish the game leaned more into that. Capturing base after base gets repetitive, whereas those rare times you do something different felt fresh and exciting. Adding a few more unique maps and mission goals would have gone a long way to make the overall gameplay loop feel more satisfying.

This approach pays off in terms of fitting the narrative and atmosphere, but it does eventually become a bit dry. Gamers looking for fright-a-minute gameplay or hectic scares might be disappointed, but they’ll likely still be taken in by Joni Evers’ exploration of the past. A solid mystery that plays out better as a living novel than a full-blown horror game, The Haunting of Joni Evers is a solid narrative game that translates its slow-burn narrative to the gameplay, for better and for worse.

While it may feel a little limited for gamers who are more used to a plethora of options, fighting game players who are looking to test their skills and improve their abilities against a host of play styles will find plenty to love with this one. Tight without ever feeling slight, Virtua Fighter 5: R.E.V.O. World Stage is a great choice for players who loved the Virtua Fighter series or who want to improve their fighting game mechanics.

Even with hobbled online offerings, Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is a lovingly constructed tribute to one of the medium’s most important franchises. Digital Eclipse’s signature timeline menu and array of well-produced (if sometimes overly safe) documentary clips lay out the necessary context that walks players through Mortal Kombat’s importance, culminating in a newly streamlined game that acts as a playable museum exhibit. Cheap, quarter-munching AI means not many of these titles have aged well, but an extraordinary amount of tweaks and options ensure these renditions are presented in the best possible light and offer some protection against the sands of time. Soft-pedaling the series’ weaker moments is disappointing, but this thorough collection is, for the most part, the historical deep dive Mortal Kombat has deserved and opens the door for another chapter that thoughtfully explores its divisive 3D era.

The Dragon Quest I + II HD Remake is a remarkable effort to revitalize classic RPGs for modern audiences. Dragon Quest I remains a charming, approachable experience that is improved but still basic, making me wish it received new content. Dragon Quest II, however, stands out with meaningful new content, expanded maps, and strategic gameplay enhancements that make it worth the price of admission on its own. Despite some small shortcomings, these remakes show how classic RPGs can be updated without losing their essence. For longtime fans, this is a trip down memory lane with a modern polish, and for newcomers, it’s an accessible and engaging entry into the early Dragon Quest universe, especially ahead of Dragon Quest VII Reimagined.

I’d just finished building the Triceratops pen perfectly, and now I’m terrified that it’s going to all fall apart and terrify the poor babies. It’s a level of immersion I never really experienced in park sims, but Jurassic World Evolution 3 achieved it. Even if you’re not a park sims gamer, this one is good enough that it’s worth giving a try — and if you are already a fan of this genre, get ready for a new favorite.

Despite a few little snags with the UI and load times, however, Two Point Museum feels utterly at home on the Switch 2. It’s the kind of game you just want to play for hours on end, and it certainly delivers enough content to ensure you can do so. If you like a management sim and own a Switch 2, this is definitely a game you’ll want to add to your library.

Dispatch‘s first two episodes have set the bar incredibly high for the rest of the season. With a snappy script, killer jokes, superb pacing, shockingly well-realized dispatch mechanics, and wonderfully eloquent animation, this superhero-filled narrative adventure is already shaping up to be one of the genre’s finest. It’s unclear how the next few batches of episodes will shape up or how well subjects hinted at here will be followed up on, but that doesn’t change how these introductory episodes hit harder than a punch from Phenomaman.

With gorgeous graphics, solid visual aesthetics, and a script that fits the tone, The Outer Worlds 2 is a very solid addition to the sci-fi landscape. While it may not be perfect, it’s a very impressive showcase from Obsidian highlights how the developer continues to improve on the sandbox approach they’ve been refining for years. Fans of the first game, the Fallout series, and good comedy writing will find plenty to love about this adventure.

When Ninja Gaiden 4 is at its best, the graphics paint a vivid portait of a bloodsoaked ninja moving through enemies like a ghost while cutting them to pieces with brutal efficiency. In these moments, everything falls away and players are left with a rich experience of unstoppable power. More often than not, however, players may be more frustrated by needing to cut down the same looking soldier for the 50th time in a level just so they can turn in a side-mission to unlock another air combo. A solid entry point for the series and an enjoyable enough experience for gamers who love a good action title, long-time fans might find themselves disappointed in the lack of variety in Ninja Gaiden 4 — but if you’re looking for an excuse to cut up ninjas in gruesome high-definition video, this is the game for you.

Xbox users looking for a mile-a-minute gameplay will likely be bored by Keeper‘s ambiguous storytelling and lofty worldbuilding. They should still give it a chance, though. There’s a level of artistry infused in every drop of Keeper that makes it impossible to turn away from. While it may not be the game that players revisit the most this year, it may prove to be one of the most memorable entries to the Xbox library in years. A strong argument that gaming can be just as artistically minded as any film, song, or artwork, Keeper is something special in a medium that’s always in need of more inventive approaches.

For all the old school mechanics and minor gripes, I ultimately really enjoyed playing Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2. Once I got the hang of gliding across rooftops, scurrying up fire escapes, and kicking some vampire butt, Bloodlines 2 gave me that immersive vampire roleplay feeling that led me to pick up the Vampire: The Masquerade TTRPG in the first place. It may not quite live up to what I wanted it to be, but it still feels like a vampire game worth playing if you’ve been craving a spooky, blood-soaked RPG this October.

Even with an uneven grind that loses purpose in the home stretch, Ball x Pit is still a mesmerizing mix of the brick breaker genre and auto-scrolling shooters. It doesn’t solely lean on one pillar, though, and greatly benefits from this hybrid approach. Stacking a screen-filling amount of upgrades and witnessing their destructive capabilities is empowering and being able to bounce balls with precision means it’s more than dopamine slop to passively consume. Ball x Pit certainly traffics in that space but does so intelligently and without feeling like a guilty pleasure. It’s just a pleasure, full stop.

Playing Pokemon Legends: Z-A just felt good. I enjoyed exploring the city, collecting side missions, and gathering clothes to craft my ideal outfit. Not every mechanic is a win, and some of the platforming elements of exploring the city felt a bit clunky, but it’s a game that had me wanting to come back for more. I appreciated having a bit more of a straightforward story than in games like Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, while still having plenty of side content to immerse myself in. The main story is a good length, and with all those side missions and hidden areas to explore, I can easily see myself sinking many more hours into Legends: Z-A even after the credits roll.

Battlefield 6 delivers a cinematic action experience worthy of an IMAX screen. It's big, it's loud, but Battlefield Studios has carefully molded that into something beautiful and bold. The scope and scale of this game are absolutely tremendous, immersing you into an epic and chaotic war zone every single match with the signature all-out warfare feeling that Battlefield does so well.