Final Fantasy XVI is a breath of fresh air for the Final Fantasy franchise despite its first steps into its grittiest, darkest, and most mature space yet. Its combat showcases action-forward combat held together by a backbone of RPG-similar ability management. Its highs truly showcase phenomenal displays of power in many forms, while its lows effectively strike emotional chords in the hearts of players. This might not be a Final Fantasy fans expect, but boy, it’s what Final Fantasy games SHOULD be going forward. FFXVI doesn’t have a strongest asset, per se, because its entire presentation is a gripping and fun compilation of the best parts of gaming without the filler and frivolity. PS5 owners, I implore you, don’t miss out on what is currently my favorite game of the PS5 generation thus far.

Overall, Cuphead is a wonderful throwback to the days of old. Classic cartoons, old school animation, video games, and lots of jazz music. It’s a game that will make your life a living hell but in a way that’s addicting and forever challenging. Artistically, this is such a wonderful look back to older animation and design. Combat for the game is tight and fun, and while there is a little bit of confusion with aiming at times. Once you learn the nuance though it becomes second nature to you. Cuphead is a damn good time.

OlliOlli World is an absurdly intricate game. Yet it is lovingly approachable. Roll7 has been working with this series for almost a decade and their efforts have bore exceptional fruit. In the path to achieve Gnarvana, players will encounter an exuberant world populated with a wild cast of characters. The series’ move to 3D has paid off. But more importantly, the complex mechanics of its tricks and combos have been polished to a luxurious sheen, rewarding players of all skill levels and degrees of dedication. I can think of few things I would change about OlliOlli World aside from more and more levels and hundreds more cosmetic options. As it stands, though, the game is bursting at the seams with finesse, eclipsing what was already a near-perfect harmony.

Dave the Diver from Mint Rocket is something to behold. The game features exploration, collection, side quests, an RPG backbone, and a restaurant simulator, all of which are beautifully balanced and connected. This is by far one of the better games of 2023 and shouldn’t be overlooked.

EarthNight is a game that exists to be so immensely entertaining that you will look past any of its nearly insignificant issues. Strange collision detection or a bumpy level load are merely seeking complaints rather than valid problems that detract from a priceless value of fun. From the moment I got to play EarthNight all those years ago I kept my eye on it, frustrated that it was taking so long but hopeful that it meant more and more days of care were being put into it. I never expected a game this coherent, mesmerizing, and entertaining to come along. EarthNight is a serene, challenging, expertly-crafted achievement that should not be missed by any player.

Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition from developer Cardboard Computer is still a work of art after all these years. The game is thick in story, choices, and interesting characters that you never want to ignore.

The best version of Spider-Man: Miles Morales resides on the PC. With a powerful story, compelling gameplay, DualSense compatibility, and a load of customizable options to get the best visuals, you’re going to be happy that this game came to this platform. It’s an absolute gem.

Super Mario Odyssey is essential gaming. It’s a sanguine throwback, a jewel of gaming fundamentals distilled to its core, constructed with the building materials of fun and surprise. Predictability and reason have no place on this journey—but the kid in all of us will surely take the helm, a smile on his face.

Cat Quest III from developer The Gentlebros is perfection. It’s a fun and fast game that has a complicated backend to keep the gameplay interesting. Its mixture of gameplay elements, from ships to dungeons, keeps it engaging and fun throughout the entire experience.

Split Fiction is an exceptionally triumphant moment for players. Hazelight Studios has created another cooperative masterpiece but this time around, pulled out every trick in the book. Endlessly dazzling, profoundly inventive, and impossibly fun, it’s hard to imagine anyone topping this kind of synergy. But Hazelight continues to prove they can one-up themselves every time.

Overall, Sayonara Wild Hearts is a perfect experience. It may not last long, but it will certainly draw you in with its story, keep you there with its variety of gameplay, and then bring the entire experience together with its amazing visuals and music.

Braid, Anniversary Edition is an essential product for fans of Jonathan Blow’s significant indie game. More importantly, it is a crucial reference point for anyone wishing to learn more about game development. Braid, as an experience, is only enhanced due to the updated visuals, animations, and sounds. What remains is still a game that time has been kind to, one that serves as an essential point in how we consume the medium today.

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree is absolutely worth the cost of its significantly difficult entry point. When exploring the vast reaches of the Shadow Realm, it is impossible to deny how FromSoftware managed to capitalize on Elden Ring‘s immense thrill of discovery and challenge. Shadow of the Erdtree is a full expansion of the masterful vision that represents the culmination of the developer’s work, one that raises the standard even higher, one that feels unimaginable to best. But if there’s studio that can do it, it’s the one who made Elden Ring.

God of War is still one of the most entertaining, engaging, and impactful games to come out of Santa Monica Studios. The story is meaningful and emotional, the mechanics are thoughtful and entertaining, and the presentation on the PC is simply unrivaled. This is still a treat after nearly four years.

Housemarque’s Returnal is a brutal rogue-lite that constantly keeps the fun coming through its well-thought-through item system that is exquisitely balanced and its randomized gameplay design that feels fresh after every death. Definitely a must-have game for the PlayStation 5.

Overall, Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age is a beautifully designed game from story to gameplay construction. To boot, the game is absolutely gorgeous and is fun to watch in motion. The fact that you have easily over 70+ hours of gameplay (teetering on 100) makes the longevity of the adventure more memorable. This is how you make an RPG, and I hope that the good folks at Square Enix continue to develop the series the same way.

Deathloop’s debut on the Xbox Series X is equally as good as it was on the PlayStation 5. You get the same great story and the same perfect gameplay experience. Choose one and enjoy.

Elden Ring is a masterpiece. From its expertly crafted open-world design that rewards the player for taking the chance to explore to its riveting lore, FromSoftware has delivered what can only be described as a deliberate and thoughtful experience. While some of its visual stylings are starting to show its age already, Elden Ring’s gameplay is the result of years of fine-tuning to be as rewarding as it is challenging. Many wondered if FromSoftware could put the level of detail into an open world that they have with their previous games. They’ve achieved that, and so much more.

Dead Cells, from any imaginable approach, thrives in a powerful cycle of surprise and satisfaction.

I can’t recommend this game enough. I’m a sucker for good storytelling and mystery-solving. Though a bit short, Mindcop tells a captivating story with interesting characters and unique gameplay mechanics. If you’re the type of person who likes narrative video games and detective work, you will absolutely love Mindcop and its perfectly executed cartoonish noir aesthetic.

Though not the same tectonic shift as its predecessor, God of War Ragnarök represents one of the finest pieces of interactive entertainment available. By expanding on all the ideas set forth in 2018, Ragnarök culminates in an emotional, enthralling finale for Kratos and Atreus.

The Last of Us Part 1 is the definitive version of one of our medium’s defining works. Nine years ago Naughty Dog crafted a masterpiece. Now, they have updated it for a slightly more modern sensibilities, putting Part 1 in line with The Last of Us Part 2. The wealth of accessibility options remove numerous barriers of entry for players so that an even wider audience can appreciate this story of loss and triumph. The emotional gut punches sting even harder with overhauled visuals, bringing these tragic characters closer than ever to their astounding real-life performances. The Last of Us Part 1 is the timeless game we have all loved for years, now shining in an even brighter light.

Bionic Bay from developer Psychoflow Studio is an outstanding atmospheric platformer that will keep players locked-in with its simplistic mechanics and complicated gameplay mixed within an intriguing story.

Returnal is still a perfect game in my opinion. It hits all the right notes, even when it feels impossibly difficult. The gameplay structure is complicated, precise, and entertaining. The PC upgrade makes the experience even better with superior visuals and a plethora of ways to play the game. This is a superior version of a superior title.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is a superb JRPG. Studio Zero’s debut effort maintains the velocity of Atlus’ past two decades of work. It is not a reskin of Persona nor an embellishment of established concepts. Familiar mechanical beats exist but are captured in a unique world and, better yet, an original IP which feels increasingly rare. While it may only be for a brief moment, it feels like a saving grace we are allowed to step foot in this fantasy merely to temporarily escape from a reality that often seems so bleak.

Death Stranding on the PC is the best way to play this game. It contains everything the PS4 version brought and it looks far better, as it should if your sporting a nice GPU.

Unicorn Overlord is a masterpiece of a strategy role playing game. Its presentation in giving players freedom to play as they like, go as strategically deep as they like, and the masterful onboarding of often-overly-complicated SRPG elements make it a compelling and beautiful experience. If you’re unfamiliar with SRPGs or are a longtime fan, look no further than Unicorn Overlord.

Death Stranding reinvents how video game design can work. It takes you through an experience you didn’t expect, doesn’t hold back with its design intentions and execution, and takes the gamer through a journey like no other. This is a masterpiece that only Kojima could pull off.

I’m going to assume that most Tekken fans are no longer on the fence after seeing the overwhelmingly positive coverage of Tekken 8 over the last few weeks. Truth be told – Tekken 8 has earned that praise and more. Its immersive combat is fluid, cinematic, yet visceral. It sticks to its serious yet goofy roots through utilizing imaginative character archetypes and flat-out silly character customization. Its Special Style dramatically simplifies Tekken 8’s combat for new players to get them up to speed against series veterans like me. If you’re new to the series, Tekken 8 is the fighting game you should play this year. If you’re still deciding between which fighting game to play this year, Tekken 8’s combat and mechanics are the most satisfying yet. I highly recommend Tekken 8 – it’s helped 2024 start off on the right foot.

Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut on the PC is a top-tier gaming experience. It brings everything that the console has to offer and then turns the entire visual experience up to 11.

By just about every single metric for evaluating a boomer shooter, Turbo Overkill excels and delivers in spades. I had a near limitless amount of agency to play as I want and still enjoy a boomer shooter experience without frills, gimmicks, and other artificial difficulty spikes. It oozes creativity while taking players on an exhilarating ride through a cyberpunk apocalypse. It’s the perfect blend of gore, seriousness, and silliness. Turbo Overkill is a literal spectacle of unfettered, high-octane boomer shooter gameplay. Call it a symphony of destruction, mayhem, gore, and violence. Call it bloody good fun. Call it whatever you want, really, so long as fun is somewhere in that mix. The world of Turbo Overkill is one worth exploring and desecrating with Johnny Turbo’s chainsaw leg.

As a longtime Yakuza fan, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is the Goro Majima game I’ve always dreamed of and somehow more unhinged than ever before. Ryu Ga Gotoku has outdone themselves once again and I’m so excited for players to get their hands on the helm to take Yakuza’s version of a naval RPG for a spin.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach on the PC brings the same epic story, fantastic gameplay, and unrivaled visuals. It’s quite an achievement for PC gaming.

God of War: Ragnarök from Santa Monica Studio and Sony Interactive Entertainment is a beast on the PC. It brings the same big adventure while sporting some of the most gorgeous graphics the game has shown to date.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is a watershed moment for RPGs and gaming. It represents one of the closest approximations of true freedom, creativity, and player choice available, evolving concepts and mechanics that have been tinkered with for decades. Using Dungeons & Dragons as its catalyst, Larian has honored the past and forged a new future for a genre that has allowed increased agency for players to put their thoughts, feelings, hopes, and wants inside of a digital realm and live.

Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut is truly a masterpiece, much like its original release. It introduces an entirely new and separate experience with Iki while bringing and refining the beauty of the gameplay and visuals.

Naughty Dog has crafted another game bursting at the seams with passion. Coming at the close of another console cycle, the studio proves its ability to evolve and defy expectations. The Last of Us Part II is no simple sequel. It is a fully realized vision of the world players were introduced to in 2013. Evolved gameplay not only asks players to be more tactical, it taxes them emotionally. But it is also a loving send off of beloved, grounded characters. Whether grabbing a pallet in water or carrying around a ladder, subtle nods exist to the first game, showing the studio takes to criticism and can improve.

After an in-depth, critical analysis, I simply couldn't find anything wrong with Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is breathtaking, engrossing and deep. With gameplay and visual improvements, Bethesda set a new standard in The Elder Scrolls series with Skyrim, and with the action/RPG genre. This most certainly should be the game of the year.

At its core, Death Stranding: Director’s Cut is an inventory management game. The more you play, the more freedom you have to do things with that inventory. You can help others. You can hurt others. You can save citizens. You can kill them. You can grow your world. You can destroy it. Regardless of your decision, DSDC is a game unlike others in that your assumptions about core gameplay loops and storytelling are pushed aside in favor of exploring a disconnected future. For those who have yet to play DS, DSDC is clearly the iteration of DS that is worthy of your time given its iterations that are increasingly respectful of your time and patience while also giving you additional creative outlets to muck about. For those of you who were unable to get hooked into this game, then DSDC may not be the answer you seek in a cinematic experience. Give it a shot, though; I’d love to be proven wrong.

Plenty of shooters (and plenty of games) have played with bullet time, stopping time, or some otherworldly manipulation of time, but none have married its passage to movement quite like Superhot. It not only adopts and plays with this idea; it pushes and refines it to its logical extremes by discarding anything that might get in the way.

The death of the Dreamcast. The birth of PlayStation VR. Rez's singular orbit stays outside of a mercurial industry and remains as powerful and as relevant as it was fifteen years ago. By its architecture and through its nature, there isn't a time when Rez won't be beautiful. PlayStation VR, as it happens now, is the best way to experience it in 2016.

I couldn’t help but think of how Santa Monica took the best of GoW as a franchise and melded it beautifully with the most distinguishable designs of other modern games to create something with an immensely potent synergy.

Resident Evil Requiem is a return to old-school Resident Evil structure with new-school flavor. It’s a more compact and claustrophobic experience compared to the previous title, while bringing dual stories, intense action, and horror, and a proper number of puzzles into the mix.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth codifies the long-lasting significance of JRPGs from the mid to late ’90s, an era in which developers finally had the tools to tell captivating sagas with little compromise. In 2024, Square Enix captures and recontextualizes 1997’s opus with an unyielding vision, building out its world and preserving it with a keen eye for how it fits into the modern landscape. With a cast of characters and a boundless world that has resonated with players for decades, that emotional core is not untouched, merely reborn.

Deathloop is a fascinating and brilliant game. It subverts expectations out of the gate, providing players with a deep mystery that is solved by compelling, diverse gameplay. While being similar to Arkane’s previous work, it is almost like anything else you may have played while still housing familiar, recognizable elements. A whirlwind of intrigue, action, and style crafts Deathloop into a melting pot of smart, bold choices. Thankfully, Deathloop transcends its shackles as an amalgamation of “Arkane’s Greatest Hits” by offering players a thrilling take on shooters. Combat puzzles involving webs of untruths and harrowing escapes turn Blackreef into a time loop you won’t want to break from. And a definitive candidate for one of the best shooters in years.

Blue Prince from developer Dogubomb and publisher Raw Fury is everything it is cracked up to be. It’s easy to pick up and play, thick with strategy and play-driven decisions, and simple to come back to repeatedly in the face of failure thanks to some amazing gameplay elements that were methodically built for its design.

Overall, Red Dead Redemption 2 is the perfect gaming experience, and what you were hoping for in the next iteration of the series. It has a rich story, deep gameplay, unrivaled visuals, and plenty of plains to explore.

Arc System Works’ -Guilty Gear Strive- is an excellent Switch game and definitely the best bang-for-your-buck if you haven’t yet gone down the Guilty Gear rabbit hole. It is one of the most accessible fighting games on the market, making it a satisfying pick for casual and competitive Switch owners wanting to join the fray.

Resident Evil 4 was a marvel when it was released back in 2005 and Resident Evil 4 Remake follows the same path. It’s pure perfection from beginning to end and groundbreaking with its backend improvements and details. Capcom has hit another home run with this one.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is nothing short of a gaming phenomenon, the kind of video game sensation that surfaces only once in a blue moon. The transition to the PlayStation 5 platform not only feels natural, but remarkably seamless. In their ingenuity, Larian Studios has guaranteed that you can simply pick up a controller and effortlessly traverse the vast realms of Dungeons and Dragons. Every button and option that once thrived exclusively in the realm of mouse and keyboard has been artfully translated to the controller, rendering BG3 a paragon of accessibility. Beyond the satisfaction of gameplay, the visual spectacle on display is nothing short of awe-inspiring. The user interface boasts vibrant icons that lend clarity to every on-screen element, ensuring that all options are discernible. In sum, Baldur’s Gate 3 is an absolute essential for any PlayStation 5 gamer.

Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition brings a lot of new additions to a perfect game that is still fun to play two years after its initial release. Having a fully orchestrated soundtrack, more adventures, a 2D option, and nostalgic places to explore just leaves room for one more upgrade — a PS5 update. Regardless, if you’re playing this on a PS4 or PS5, this is the best edition of the game to get and you won’t be disappointed.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is Nintendo’s Magnum Opus. It’s not only the best Zelda game ever created, it’s also one of the very best videogames in the history of the art. Games like this are so rare that it would be impossible to classify it as anything other than a masterpiece. Experience it at all costs.

Ori Mees did a superb job with Blake: The Visual Novel. The story is compelling, the choices feel real, and the consequences will have you trying the game again once it’s done.

Looking past its story (again, its story is incredible) and emotional power, there is enough additional content to warrant a full replay for existing owners. If you’re a new owner, this is no doubt the edition you should be securing to fully immerse yourself in Naughty Dog’s desolate future.

L.A. Noire is everything that people expected it to be. It has a fantastic set of stories that drive the game from beginning to end, beautifully motion captured actors and enough gameplay elements to keep the gamer deeply involved. On top of this there is a large city to explore and enjoy. Rockstar certainly brought the goods with this one.

Few games take as many risks, and even less actually emerge for the better, but Mass Effect 2 pays off in an almost effortless fashion. Not one to be missed.

BioShock Infinite is a proper interactive mystery, and it's a sight to behold and a joy to experience.

Everything is Crab: The Animal Evolution Roguelite from developer Odd Dreams Digital is a marvel to behold. It’s fun, enormous in the number of directions the player can take the gameplay, and it’s easily replayable. It’s one of my top 10 games of 2026 so far.

I cannot sing this game's praises enough. The beautiful animation, the timeless music, the attention to detail on every detail from the interface down to the load screens... I have never been more impressed with a franchised game, and this game has instantly skyrocketed to my top 5 all time favorites.

Neva is both touching meditation and thrilling adventure. Undoubtedly a work of art exemplified by the sheer artistry on display with its painterly world and brilliant use of color. While captivating and stunning purely from a visual perspective, Nomada uses elegant platforming to craft equally intriguing displays of puzzle solving and spectacle. Trapped in a picture frame, a tale of loss, growth, and rebirth such as this would be hard to parse yet remain poignant and interpretive but Neva captures this depth in stunning movement, a true masterpiece.

Preserving the importance of a personal story against the backdrop of a galactic catastrophe, Mass Effect 3 respects its foundation as much as it understands and indulges in the player's choices. And it does it better than anything else.

DICE made a perfect game with Battlefield 1. It has a competent campaign that properly does justice to The Great War and a deep, fun multiplayer experience that reminds us why Battlefield does it better than anyone on a massive scale.

Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered from developers Guerilla Games and Nixxes is a worthy update from the 2017 game. The update brings many visual enhancements, improves environments, and creates better character interactions. It brings a great game up to PlayStation 5 standards and helps bridge the gap between the original and the sequel.

Kentucky Route Zero is lost in the illusive premise of the American Dream but found in the elusive dream logic of its weird, wild, and wonderful prose. Through it all are characters who conceal pain and loss with whimsical musings of hope and escape and locations engulfed in a meditative haze where brutal reality is indistinguishable from isolated reverie. At the end lies a paradox that suggests a circuitous path was the shortest course to an inevitable destination, and the assurance that Kentucky Route Zero’s seven-year voyage knew its direction all along.

Turbo Overkill is honest in its simplicity, absurdity, and authenticity. It works to interpret 30-year-old shooters for a modern audience, one who yearns for fast-paced, rewarding action in a space that so frequently asks for polish and patience. On console, it performs outstandingly, capturing the essence of the mouse and keyboard days. And if that isn’t enough to grab your attention, don’t forget: you’ve always got a chainsaw leg.

The ultimate/definitive version of Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection now resides on the PC. If you have the hardware to run it and want to enjoy a good popcorn action adventure, then this is the game for you.

Even the harshest critics will struggle to find fault in its symphony of imagination, execution, and polish, while fans will cherish its brilliance for years to come as one of the very best games in history. Quite simply put, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the reason I still play videogames.

The best RPGs impart lasting emotions on the player over the duration of the playthrough. In between its turn-based battles, light character building, and dark symbolism, OFF imprints guilt, horror, and confusion on the player in ways few games successfully pull off. OFF is an RPG that everyone should experience blindly, especially those who appreciate a haunting journey with blips of the bizarre. This remaster is not just a should-play of 2025, but a must-play of the decade. If you want OFF’s rainbow, you must have the rain.

Destiny 2 is the game everyone expected when the first Destiny came out. It’s huge, engulfing and rich with gameplay. It has a bit of everything for everyone and does everything right, including provide an engrossing campaign to start things off. It is certainly a contender for game of the year in my opinion and one game you don’t want to miss.

Skyward Sword is a masterpiece. It raises the bar for the legendary series and is memorable from start to finish. It's challenging, unpredictable, diverse, thrilling, and endearing. It is the Zelda game you've been waiting for.

Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance from developer Ironhide Game Studio is the best in the series. It has beautiful gameplay balance, adequate amounts of grind thanks to its challenging difficulty, and gives a bevy of reasons to replay it multiple times.

Dragon Age: Inquisition has incredibly deep and complex parts, while still maintaining the core gameplay values that Bioware knows how to do best with their third-person action titles. The game delivers everything promised, including gorgeous visuals and a strong story. Simply put, Bioware has returned the Dragon Age series to the greatness it truly deserves.

Insomniac’s Spider-Man: Remastered for the PC is the superior version of the game when compared to its previous platforms. It brings the best visuals, and the most compatibility options, allows you to play this with a DualSense and brings all the nifty content that you want to make this a long adventure. The optimization features of this game on the PC are crazy good, as well as allowing you to play the game how you want to play it. The PC elitist out there will be thrilled.

Pac-Man Championship Edition DX is about as solid and sensible an arcade revival that we've seen in the downloadable space. It's reasonably priced, intelligently balanced, and incredibly hard to put down.

You know, outside of the minor points I made earlier, God of War III just plays like a dream; a really, really awesome dream. It's hard not to be giddy about how amazing this game, this series, has been.

Excellent gunfights, strong characters and plenty of room for expansion makes Red Dead Redemption one of the best games of 2010.

MLB 11 The Show is an upgrade from last year's game, and that's saying a helluva lot considering how good last year was for a majority of baseball fans. With added/improved modes, gorgeous graphics and better controls you will get the best baseball experience from Sony's baseball franchise.

Red Dead Redemption is a game that will stand the test of time no matter what. Similar to the westerns of the past like ‘The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly’. It’s a 13-year-old game, but the charm is still there. Well-written characters, an open world full of exploration, and good gameplay are enough to hold up strong. The West will always hold a special place in my heart and life. ‘Red Dead Redemption’ will always be a masterpiece.

The visual upgrade to Grand Theft Auto V on the current generation systems would be enough to warrant a re-purchase. It’s absolutely stunning and by far one of the best looking games on current gen. The additional online content, modes, cars, people and the inclusion first-person is just icing on the cake.

Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, from developers Square Enix and HexaDrive, keeps the essence firmly intact that made the old release so good, while improving and polishing the actual gameplay through a newly built backend system that is as easy as it is efficient. Ultimately, it’s a fantastic reimagined game that is a treat to play.

This game is awesome to play and will add hours upon hours of fun for any type of player casual or hardcore.

Saros pushes the envelope on multiple fronts, changing the roguelike genre in ways that’s more player-friendly than ever while taking advantage of the PS5’s DualSense controller in novel fashions. It’s near perfect in several ways, even if its story lacks the satisfaction that its gunplay otherwise provides.

The Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Series is a near-perfect collection of the original six Final Fantasy titles, updated quite well to be played by today’s Final Fantasy fans and new players. The smoothed graphics, orchestral arrangements of the beloved original soundtracks, and litany of gameplay updates demonstrate that this is not just a simple rerelease, but a clearly thought-out collection of titles ready to be enjoyed by anyone who’s willing to take a step into classic RPGs from Square Enix. While I don’t consider this collection to be truly definitive because of a smidgen of cut bonus content, I still consider this collection worthy of any RPG fan’s time and an absolute must-buy for anyone interested in playing through the first six Final Fantasy titles for the very first time.

Overall, Destiny 2 on the PC is visually and control-wise a far superior version of the game when compared to the console version. The same content exists for both, but the visual flexibility/beauty and control comfort completely goes to the PC. If you have the means to dig into it on the PC, then you should go that route. If you don’t, the console version works just as well.

The gameplay design here has the best of everything with the minimum amount of flaws. You get a great back-end system with an easy front end that provides an entirely new view on how much fun a bow and arrow led game could be. In addition to the gameplay design details, there’s also so much to explore and so much to do with the gameplay design put together in HZD. All of it is fun, addictive and makes you wish it wouldn’t end.

Spin Rhythm XD offers a sublime VR rhythm game experience thanks to its natural-feeling controls and stellar-EDM soundtrack. It’s nothing like any rhythm game I’ve played in the past, and I’m fully on-board with Super Spin Digital’s approach to creating a rhythm game that puts the player firmly at the center of the soundstage. It’s the easiest recommendation I can make for any PSVR 2 player wanting a rhythm game that feels and sounds excellent. Now if you will excuse me, I’m off to put my PSVR 2 back on my noggin and get lost in the music.

Grand Theft Auto V is nothing short of perfection. It has a bit of everything for everyone in terms of gameplay. A good story mixed with intense action sequences and a large scope to set all of it up in. If this was going to be the last big title from Rockstar on this generation, what a helluva way to go out.

Assassin's Creed Odyssey is a celebration of the series' highlights, transforming the open world genre with its breathtaking scenery, meaningful choices, and exhausting amount of detail that rewards players every step of the way. Ubisoft Quebec's brave quest to make an RPG results in the best entry in Assassin's Creed's historic treks through time.

While Bluepoint has made a lot of improvements, the core game, the soul of it, remains unchanged, as I mentioned earlier. As Wander, you’re trying to resurrect a young girl whose body you have carried to the Shrine of Worship. The gods that be are willing to help, but you must first defeat all of the colossi (the number of which I don’t want to spoil). Few games can have such a simple premise and gameplay design, yet are flat out good enough, timeless enough, to be remastered — twice. So, whether you have played SOTC before or not, you can rest assured it’s an all-time classic, and that for the PS4, Bluepoint has done a fantastic job with this remaster.

Everything in the Greymoor chapter is wonderful through and through. The new story is engaging and dark, and the new Antiquities system gives a nice break from running around saving Tamriel. I am always amazed by the work put into each new expansion to The Elder Scrolls Online and every time it exceeds expectations. I look forward to the rest of the DLCs coming out this year as a part of the Dark Heart of Skyrim event. And, if last year is anything to go off of, I am excited to see if Eastern Skyrim will be open to explore by the end of the year. Only time will tell, and I cannot wait!

I am thrilled to see the Mega Man Battle Network series return with more content than ever, and the Collection makes an incredibly easy recommendation for something to play this Spring: If you’re looking to get your hands on a collection of classic titles remastered in all the right ways, look no further than the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection.

The game looks absolutely gorgeous on the 3DS. Maintaining 60FPS is the key to a wonderful Smash Bros. experience, and this game fits the bill.

I wish I didn’t have to review Dave the Diver because of how much I worry about letting too much of its best parts slip. It’s a fantastic title that’s worth “going in blind” simply because of how it continuously surprises players, including me. Its Switch port maintains its greatness, barring some slight visibility issues of the smaller fishies and the loading screens, so it’s hard for me to recommend the Switch version if you’re deciding on which platform to purchase Dave the Diver. However, one thing is certain: You should not miss out on Dave the Diver this holiday season. It’s a pearl in an ocean of other holiday AAA titles vying for your attention.

It's everything Diablo II was except better.

This year, ZeniMax breathed live into a new zone for The Elder Scrolls Online. Players recovered the Wrathstone tablet which was used to unleash dragons back into Tamriel. They explored Northern Elsweyr, Anequina, to bring the dragon threat to a halt. Most recently, players dealt with the repercussions of the scourge of dragons. Now, players must venture into Southern Elsweyr, Pellitine, and finish the job. A wonderful story, combined with fantastic worldbuilding and new mechanics, brings a fantastic conclusion to the year-long Season of the Dragon event.

Some thirteen years after Melee’s release, Nintendo has finally formulated an experience which compares appreciably to the masterpiece that we all love (and many of us still play). Whether for fun or for glory, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is the follow-up Smash fans have been anticipating since.

It's a fantastic game, just as everyone hoped for and expected. Must buy.