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.

All in all, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is an easy recommendation. For those that never got a chance to play the original game, there's no better time than the present, and the Nintendo Switch version is easily the best way to play it.

With the developers' goal of "cinematic immersion" in mind, I truly feel as though Ninja Theory has delivered on what they set out to do. While not perfect, there are two undeniable truths to Hellblade 2: you can feel the passion that the team who built the game feel toward it, and this is one of the most immersive experiences in gaming to date.

Sand Land is a gorgeous game that is far larger than you might expect, and it's ultimately worthy of a journey, but there are several factors that are holding it back from being one of the biggest anime games of all time.

Beneath the fanservice and comparisons to NieR Automata and the Bayonetta games, Stellar Blade boasts some surprisingly involved combat systems and fantastic creature designs all in a relatively compact experience.

South Park: Snow Day's biggest sin is the complete lack of what made Fractured, But Whole and Stick of Truth work so well: their humor. Gone are many of the edgy jokes that made the previous two entries stick out, instead being replaced by characters that feel neutered and lacking the punch that helped make the animated series such a hit for oh so many years. Everything feels safe and stale, meaning that Snow Day is an easy pass for those looking to re-enter the world of South Park on their consoles or computers.

It's too soon to tell if Princess Peach: Showtime! will do for the character what Luigi's Mansion did for Mario's brother, but I find myself hoping we'll see Nintendo revisit this concept in the future. Hopefully by then they'll have ditched some of the weaker transformations, and give the graphics an overhaul worthy of royalty.

Rise of the Ronin isn't necessarily an awful game, it's just one that's quite unremarkable. When this project was first unveiled back in 2022, I was ecstatic to see Team Ninja tackle the open-world genre and was curious to see how the studio would bring its own unique ideas to this format. Instead, virtually nothing that Team Ninja has done with Rise of the Ronin is enough to set itself apart from a growing deluge of games in the genre. With so many other titles to choose from in this space, there are far better options that warrant your time and attention.

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.

Despite some of the game's issues, Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a very strong addition to the Nintendo Switch library. The puzzle game has seen a lot of strong improvements over the Game Boy Advance version, both in terms of content as well as presentation. Even if some people aren't happy with paying $50 for an upscaled GBA game, the improvements and high-profile nature of this release should get a lot more players to give it a chance than might have otherwise. Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a very strong puzzle game well worth checking out for fans of the genre, as well as those that grew up with the original Donkey Kong arcade game. Just don't go in expecting a typical Mario platformer.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is not a death rattle for Rocksteady Studios. If anything, it shows the studio was able to salvage a piece of its identity in a game that is clearly at war with itself. Whether that's a result of Rocksteady having an ever-evolving vision that was misguided at some point or requests from Warner Bros to make it more commercially viable, we'll likely never know. The point is, the things that Rocksteady is known for are found here. Rocksteadystill excels at satisfying superhero combat and larger-than-life comic book stories. However, it would be a mistake for this studio to double down on these live-service elements in future games. This isn't a great game, but it's also not a terrible one. It's simply two different games of varying qualities blended together to create a violent cocktail with mixed results.

It is tough for me to imagine liking a game more this year. Infinite Wealth got me out of my seat during several momentous story moments and sucked me into its grips with all of the outstanding side content. I'm not ready to say this is the best game RGG has ever released, but it's very close. This is a master fine-tuning its craft to the point of near perfection and one of the first must-play games of 2024.

Persona 3 Reload definitely still feels dated in some areas, which isn't always expected from a modern remake. Despite this, some of these older aspects of Reload are what I came to appreciate the more that I played. Atlus isn't trying to create the best all-around modern Persona game with P3R, it's instead simply trying to create the best version of Persona 3 by combining everything from the original with some enjoyable new mechanics and aesthetic tweaks. To that end, I have a hard time believing that newcomers or veterans of Persona 3 will be anything other than delighted with Reload.

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.

Another Code: Recollection is a welcome addition to the Nintendo Switch library. The puzzles can get frustrating at times, and the gameplay won't be for everyone; I highly recommend those on the fence check out the game's free demo. Despite these flaws, the story and characters make it a worthwhile purchase for fans of the genre. It's great to see Nintendo giving such an unusual pair of games this type of treatment, rather than leaving them abandoned on their original hardware.

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.

The game has the potential to become even better once it's in players' hands because of the new Sandbox Mode. In pre-release form, it's a bit bare, but when players jump in and start creating their own houses, there will be all kinds of new places to fix up. The original House Flipper received a ton of DLC content over the years, but this Sandbox Mode could give players nearly limitless options of new houses to flip. That's an exciting, yet terrifying prospect, as I worry that all of my free time is about to be taken over by yet another great simulation house-flipping game from Frozen District.

Frontiers of Pandora may not blow you away with its story, but it will immerse you in its world and give you a rush of adrenaline. For those just wanting to take a trip to Pandora, this should satisfy you until Cameron releases Avatar 3 in 2025.

Super Mario RPG has aged fantastically well, with great gameplay, a terrific story, and some excellent characterization. Developer ArtePiazza has added just enough quality of life improvements to refine the experience, while still maintaining the elements that made it a classic in the first place. For those that have never played it before, Super Mario RPG is a very easy recommendation, but those that have played through it a number of times over the last 27 years might find that there isn't enough new content to rationalize the $60.

Persona 5 Tactica doesn't capture the magic of Persona 5 or even Persona 5 Strikers. It may remind fans instead of the Persona Q games, dungeon-crawler spinoffs designed for the Nintendo 3DS. Those game have their fans, as Persona 5 Tactica surely will as well. Yet, while the game has its moments, there are too many flaws to earn a full-throated recommendation. Those who live at the intersection of "Persona fan" and "tactical RPG fan" will likely find it worth at least a look and die-hard Persona 5 fans probably won't want to miss another Phantom Thieves adventure. More casual Persona enjoyers will be fine passing on this outing.

The story attempts to hit a lot of familiar beats, but instead ends up feeling like someone copied the homework of the original trilogy without showing their work. Modern Warfare 3 seems to think nostalgia will carry the load of this story and that players may project their love for the original onto this one without it doing anything to earn that. On one hand, I commend Call of Duty for taking 20 years to deliver a campaign this messy. On the other hand, I hate that it happened to a story that revolves around characters and storylines that fans like myself have so much affinity for. The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 campaign is not a celebration of 20 years of Call of Duty – it's a cry for help. [Campaign Review Score = 40]

There's just so much more attention, care, and time that seeps through the pores of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2's entire package. It's just a stark difference from where the first game began, and a tease of the kind of bright future this series is heading in. It's just a lot more fun to play than the first title, and it's only going to get better as the weeks roll on. It already feels like a complete package, and while there is still some stiffness is how it plays moment to moment, Nickelodeon fans will definitely want to seek this out for some party fun.

By all accounts, Alan Wake 2 is simply a masterpiece. This is far and away the best game that Remedy has made so far and only continues to assert that the studio is one of the top AAA developers in the world. On all fronts, Alan Wake 2 is rife with inventiveness and wit that was only matched by its ability to scare me and make me laugh in the same short span of time. Not only does this serve as a new benchmark for what Remedy is capable of in the future, but it should be a shining example to other studios around the world of what story-driven third-person games can achieve. Whether you're new to the series or have been waiting 13 years like I have, Alan Wake 2 should absolutely not be missed.

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 isn't necessarily an atrocious bundle of Metal Gear ports. The games that have been included here generally still hold up well in 2023 and have been fun to revisit. Still, it's disappointing to see that Konami has done virtually nothing to touch up these titles in the slightest of ways. As such, Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 feels like something Konami is simply releasing to make a quick buck. Rather than improving these games to ensure that the the legacy of Metal Gear is something that remains intact for newer generations of fans, this Master Collection fails to put its best foot forward given what modern hardware is now capable of. And for longtime fans like myself, there's very little reason to buy this bundle outside of the convenience of having the series on current platforms.

I'm sure some fans will enjoy moving their fleets around on the galactic map, expanding their territory, and completing the long list of tasks the game offers. For me, it feels too much like meaningless busywork without a performance to anchor it all, which explains why games like Star Trek Online and Star Trek: Resurgence -- which both put so much effort into honoring the experience of watching a Star Trek episode over recreating the political reality of the universe that those episodes transpire in -- resonate with me more strongly.

Hellboy: Web of Wyrd has spurts of fun to be found in its gameplay, which is held up by the grand visual aesthetics at the heart of it all. If the game didn't look like a living Hellboy comic it wouldn't be engaging, but that alone cannot save it from the repetitive and slow gameplay that sits at the heart of the entire thing. Luckily Hellboy: Web of Wyrd looks good and it has a story that feels authentic to its character. In the end though, it's also a very short game, and by the time you complete it all and are then allowed to do long runs with more customization options…you may have had your fill.

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.

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.