While it’s a pleasure to sit on the sofa and meander through one’s epic theme park creation on the big screen, enjoying the sights and sounds of the rides, the crowds, the vendors and the scenery, actually building that park is still easier and vastly more efficient up close and personal on the PC with a mouse and keyboard. Frontier did a great job of bringing Planet Coaster to consoles and is easy to recommend. Just be prepared for a learning curve and a bit of frustration as you get the hang of building your dream park with the controller.

Against all odds (read: some big-name racing games that eventually turned out disappointing), Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered is the racing game to get this holiday season. It’s pure video gaming at its best with no extra thrills or frills other than serious pedal to the metal racing. It wisely focuses on what it does best and therefore drives to the finish line as a winner. The remaster doesn’t change the successful formula, only polishes it to meet the modern standards.

Overall, Cake Bash is a fun, simple game that the whole family will enjoy. The graphics are bright and colorful, and as someone who has a major sweet tooth this game made it really difficult to avoid raiding the cabinets for second dessert. If you’re hungry, don’t play this game; the detail in the frosting and cakes aren’t conducive to diet plans.

Sony Interactive Entertainment and Sumo Digital’s Sackboy: A Big Adventure on the Playstation 5 is a charming, vibrant, graphically astounding platformer that serves as a great entry into the genre for newcomers. However, more seasoned veterans of the platforming genre, who were just given the marvel that is Astro’s Playroom, might feel that the narrative and mechanics are quite simple and annoyingly familiar due to Sackboy: A Big Adventure clearly borrowing mechanics and level progression from iconic genre mainstays such as The Super Mario Brothers franchise.

Gears Tactics is certainly not without its issues, most notably in its mission structure, but nonetheless Splash Damage has created a very solid strategy game that offers a lengthy campaign, beautiful visuals, and fun gameplay mechanics that manage to stay true to the Gears of War franchise.

Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition is more Devil May Cry 5, one of the most gratifying, fun, and deep action games ever created. Now there’s just a few more toys to tinker with, and they’re more readily accessible than ever.

The world of Immortals: Fenyx Rising features plenty of things to keep you occupied as you rescue the gods and goddess of Mount Olympus. It’s not an especially deep game and after the first hour, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what to expect from the rest of the adventure. Breath of the Wild was fascinating because it left the player to figure things out on their own through experimentation. Immortals, on the other hand, can’t wait to show you everything it has to offer and will take the time to do so. And just when I started to feel weary and slipping into disinterest, I’d stumble onto a really fun Vault of Tartaros that served as a reminder that it’s the game’s inventive puzzles—not the boss fights, the witty commentary between Zeus and Prometheus, or the moving confessions of the gods—that make Immortals: Fenyx Rising a surprisingly delightful epic.

Despite the addition of the new skill trees, Borderlands 3 Season 2 pass is off to a very rocky start. Arms Race is feels like it needs much more time to evolve into something more substantial, and despite the skill trees being welcomed, I would rather see a brand new character being added for the price Gearbox asks for.. As a free update the Designer’s Cut would have been a nice addition to the game, but at the full price of $14.99 for the Designer’s Cut and $29.99 for the season 2 pass, I can’t currently recommend either to anyone besides hardcore Borderlands loyalist.

Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War offers a familiar package: a too-short campaign developed by a reputable studio and multiplayer that provides lots of activities to score points, earn weapon unlocks, and shoot other players. Despite the length, the campaign is a fun departure from the Tom Clancy-esque tone of mainline games. It leans heavily into the aesthetic of the 1980s, from fashion to real-world advertisements. Yeah, it’s kind of gross that Doritos earned prominent placement but at least Raven had the foresight to include vintage brand designs.

The combat feels great and this sort of game can be a real treat with friends. That’s a place where the game’s completely uninteresting story doesn’t really matter and where the repetition becomes more expected. Even then though, the game’s mission structure remains incredibly basic and the style while not completely unappealing certainly isn’t interesting. Fighting your way through these levels feels really good, but that can only sustain a game for so long, especially with this many issues. A certain type of player who really enjoys a good loot game and doesn’t care a bit about repetition will love Godfall but for everyone else, there are much better ways to break in your new video game system.

XIII Remake completely disgraces the original game by converting it into fodder for Internet memes. It’s better left to the digital wasteland of unfortunate titles that should have never existed. If you really want to play XIII as it was intended, dust off your old PlayStation 2 (or GameCube or Xbox) and scavenge garage sales for a copy of the game.

It’s a fun stealth-action open-world hacking game, but it’s one that falls under its own weight in many ways. With the technical problems of the Xbox One version smoothed out and enhancements to the visuals and performance across the board, I can much more easily recommend the Xbox Series X version but that doesn’t fix the core design problems. Watch Dogs: Legion is incredibly impressive, but only insomuch as it is flawed. Thankfully, there is still a competent third-person open-world game at its core.

Valhalla is equipped with a number of gameplay systems that clearly echo the last two games and while positive tweaks and light refinements have been made, the overall experience feels overly familiar by now. What Valhalla lacks in originality, however, the visceral and fun combat makes up the deficit and that speaks volumes to me as a longtime fan. Packed with enough content on the disc and planned future DLC, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is another hefty and captivating entry in Ubisoft’s long running historical franchise.

Obviously, PS5 and XSX versions of the game will look better but that doesn’t change the shallow gameplay. The recent Project Cars 3 was too arcadey for its own good and DiRT 5 follows on the same easygoing tracks. The game is just too meh all around. Winning races is always fun but if you don’t need to put any effort to it, it just isn’t all that rewarding or exciting. If you want your racing games easy-peasy, then go for DiRT 5 but those who crave for some real challenge are better off sticking to other, better titles.

While the few times the game seems to simply abandon you to figure out things it hasn’t explained well are still here, almost every other complaint I had with the PS4 version has been fixed. With one of the more unexpectedly interesting narratives I’ve come across in recent years and deeply inventive puzzle gameplay, there’s a lot to like here in a package that isn’t too short but also manages to not overstay its welcome. I made some great friends on Snaktooth Island and I think you will too, especially if you’re playing on the PS5.

My love for the original Demon’s Souls hasn’t changed with the introduction of the remake. Like Scholar of the First Sin, the remake stands alongside the original - both can be enjoyed in their own unique ways and do different things well. Since Bluepoint largely kept the base game intact, the changes in the remake are mainly quality of life improvements and aesthetic design differences. Most gamers will find a lot to love in the new Demon’s Souls. I'm excited that more people will get to experience this wonderful game.

Of course, every console launch has a few hits and a few misses and ports that feel like cash-grabs. If Bright Memory was a free game, it would be easier to recommend. As even a low-price game, it is hard to sell as representing the power of the new console. If anything, it might be responsible for a little buyer remorse, so my suggestion would be to skip this port and wait for Bright Memory: Infinite in 2021.

Pikmin 3 Deluxe is the best version of the best game in this series. I missed my map at times, but the new additions more than makeup for having to pull it up when needed. If you’ve already played the original version though, there probably isn’t enough here to justify purchasing the game again unless you really love playing co-op. For any gamer who missed it the first time though, Pikmin 3 Deluxe is one of the best games released in 2020.

It’s hard to say when the games overall strayed into paths so unfortunately tainted by violence and blood, but to me, The Pathless is what video games are essentially about; flights into fantastical worlds like no other media could do. It is meditative escapism at its finest. Not all games need to be motion captured tragedies or realistic violence simulations. Of course, I enjoy those games now and then, too, but to detox all their pain and suffering I need something like The Pathless.

Although I enjoyed my time with Part Time UFO, the later levels crossed the line from challenging to frustrating due to the physics and time limit in the game. It’s best enjoyed in short bursts of gameplay to minimize the frustration. That being said, if you like previous HAL games and physics-based puzzle games, I think you'll enjoy Part Time UFO. It's well-made and entertaining, just ultimately not my cup of tea.

Overall, Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures I & II Deluxe is a great time. It is also one of the few “difficult” games I have ever 100% completed (obtaining all the pointless collectibles, etc). While it is disappointing that a lot of the funny content and nods to the Nerd’s past was cut, it doesn’t overall negatively impact the game. These are still fun games, and I highly recommend them to any 2D platformer fan. Even if you have no idea who the Angry Video Game Nerd is, there is still a lot of fun to be had here based on pure gameplay alone.

Granted, when you’re as intelligent and debonnaire as Poirot, humility is beneath you. Where this adventure mystery game lacks in technique, it excels in creativity, humor, and puzzles. As a librarian who enjoys puzzles and escape rooms, Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders is an excellent nightcap to round out my day.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon is ultimately a masterclass in pacing and storytelling with an fabulously gorgeous backdrop, welcome combat shake-up, and a cast of extremely affable characters, especially the newcomer Ichiban Kasuga.

Despite its admittedly numerous faults, I found Broken Porcelain unique and strangely appealing in its own peculiar way. I also have to admire the game’s author’s sincere passion for his vision. Despite the pervasive element of horror, there is an endearing and a bit naïve spunk to the game. Make no mistake, you will fall and fumble through the game but if you endure it all just like troubled Jennifer herself, you will get a glimpse of something true and beautiful in Remothered’s warped and flawed world. This one is only for acquired tastes but its bittersweet flavor has a faint bouquet of organic blossom.

While long loading times and occasional situations where the game’s plethora of information goes as missing as Elizabert can be annoying, Bugsnax is ultimately a wonderful experience. With one of the more unexpectedly interesting narratives I’ve come across in recent years and deeply inventive puzzle gameplay, there’s a lot to like here in a package which isn’t too short but also manages to not overstay its welcome. I made some great friends on Snaktooth Island and I think you will too.

What Valhalla lacks in originality the visceral and fun combat makes up the deficit—and that speaks volumes to me given that Assassin’s Creed never quite found its footing in this area. Packed with enough content on the disc and planned future DLC, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is another hefty and captivating entry in Ubisoft’s long-running historical franchise.

Look, I’m blown away by this game. It can absolutely compete with the platforming greats, and I’m including Mario in that comment. It’s that good. It doesn’t overstay its welcome and it doesn’t overuse mechanics or reuse stages. It’s a very refined and beautiful world that I think is a tremendous introduction to the Playstation 5 and the Dual Sense controller. But even if it was neither of those things, Astro’s Playroom is a great platforming game that I’d still highly recommend.

Without repeating myself and filling up pages and pages on what this game is and how it accomplishes what it set out to do, let me wrap up by saying regardless of this being a PlayStation 5 launch title, it is a phenomenal game. I’m not all that steeped into the Spider-Man lore but when I finished this game I turned to my spouse and said, “I don’t want another Spider-Man game, I want Spider-Man 2 to be a Miles Morales adventure.” This character, this world, is what I’m here for and I hope to be swinging as Miles again soon because this first entry is something truly special.