Nobody Saves the World is an enticing adventure through and through. The first time I stumbled upon a decaying dragon corpse or the rusted remains of a giant robot and knew I had to fight baddies inside their guts, I was sold. But DrinkBox Studios transformed the combat of a top-down adventure game into a magical experience by literally allowing the player to transform into the most typical and bizarre forms imaginable. Who knew an action game would allow players to become an egg that helplessly rolled through cat warlocks or a horse that could only attack when facing away from danger? These unique forms make for equally unique combat that merely ask the player to constantly experiment with the tools they are given. And who can say that isn’t fun? Nobody.

Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection is a must-have for anyone that has yet to play these two games or simply wants to revisit them. Oh, if you have savegames from either of these titles on your PS4, Sony provides an easy way to migrate those onto your PS5, by the way. But whether you’re revisiting these games or just playing them for the first time, you’re in for a treat. Naughty Dog have proven themselves as one of the best studios in the business, and these two games do not disappoint. Add this release to the ever-growing list of superb PlayStation-exclusive titles that you can’t miss.

Weird Beluga attempted to merge two distinct genres of game with Clid the Snail: top-down shooter and narrative. Although they succeeded on the worldbuilding and narrative front, the gunplay feels unforgiving, repetitive, and frustrating. I can’t sleight them for trying something new, as I generally enjoyed Clid’s grimy world, but I really did want more. I can’t wait to see where Weird Beluga go, as Clid is a good start for hopefully something better in the future.

Rainbow Six Extraction may appear to be a vast departure from all things Tom Clancy’s and Rainbow Six on the surface. However, it is an often thrilling, tense PvE game that implements some of the best shooting mechanics found in Siege. Rather than focusing on swarms of fast moving zombies and floods of randomized loot, Extraction keeps things simple and often muted, rewarding careful and deliberate play. It may not have deep progression and constantly evolving objectives but it does present a challenge that only Rainbow Six can bring. While Ubisoft typically supports their games for the long term, I’m curious to see if Rainbow Six Extraction will be able to shine in this increasingly busy space and prove that the risk–and lengthy delay–was mostly worth it.

At $20, Fatesworn offers a strong enough great to bland ratio for me to recommend. I thought the DLC felt a little formulaic, with a lot of boxes checked and not a lot of fresh creativity and inspiration, but, I adore Kingdoms of Amalur and was happy to dive into a new area with new content. Fatesworn will provide a solid ten hours, if not more, depending on the difficulty you’re playing on, your skill, and just how thorough you want to be. Given that you have to have completed the original (long) game to access this new content, Fatesworn is clearly for fans who enjoyed the original gameplay loop and want more of the same. If that’s you, like it was me, Fatesworn was worth the wait. Here’s hoping THQ Nordic keeps Amalur in their future plans.

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.

If you’re looking for a visual novel that delivers almost everything perfectly, then look no further than Henchman Story.

Overall, Lacuna is an interesting adaptation on the traditional point-and-click gameplay design. Though my interest in the characters and story plateaued around the halfway point of the game, they are both pretty well thought out and your mileage/interest in them may fair better than mine. At $20, it’s worth a look for fans of sci-fi noir adventure games.

Solar Ash excels when it captures that dream-like feeling of gliding across cosmic, surreal spaces. There are moments when the speed of Rei’s skates across the back of a terrifying monster will exhilarate, reminding players why they love games. But as a platformer, Solar Ash can be tedious, repetitive, and a bit clumsy. While these issues may clash with the lovingly crafted world and gravity-defying puzzles, they never truly harm what is ultimately a uniquely engaging game.

Praey for the Gods from No Matter Studios is a game with potential. It has some good survival gameplay design and is an interesting open-world adventure that encourages exploration of its desolate landscape. There’s a lot to like here, though not completely perfect in some gameplay aspects.

In sum, the surprise release of the fourth DLC is great news for anyone that enjoys this game. There is enough quality content in Eternal Embers to warrant a purchase, but it’s also clear that it’s time for Titan Quest to get a full-blown, AAA-level sequel. The bones of Titan Quest are still excellent, but they are very much showing their age in some respects. I don’t think anyone would disagree that it’s time for a proper sequel to be the next big news we hear about Titan Quest. Until then, though, it’s easy to recommend Eternal Embers to anyone that wants to take on another epic quest in the Titan Quest universe.

In sum, Skunkape has done another excellent job remastering an old point-and-click gem from the Telltale archives of years past. Though I wouldn’t put the Sam & Max episodic adventures in my all time list for the genre, they do rank highly, and are absolutely worth playing if you enjoy the genre or want to experience some zany plots and characters. We’ll look forward to the third and final remaster hopefully next year.

Thunder Tier One is a good game. It has a decent amount of customization options, features a good tactical system that will entertain those looking for a tactical fix, and doesn’t really do anything groundbreaking or genre-changing for tactical shooters. It’s simply a good game with hopes for more content in the future.

Disney Magical World 2: Enchanted Edition is a magical experience for all casual Disney lovers and feels like you are on a digital Disney World vacation without paying the Disney price and fees! With so many things to do like customizing yourself, cafe, and house the amount of time you will be spending in this game is more than you think. Exploring worlds based on Lilo and Stitch, Winnie the Pooh, Aladdin, and getting to battle, fish, and collect materials kept me very busy! Although there are a couple issues with visual glitches and there aren’t too many challenges, this game is still worth playing if you’re just a Disney fan looking for an Animal Crossing and or Harvest Moon Disney type game! It’s definitely worth trying out!

While Monster Rancher 1 deserved additional graphical and audio updates, playing the remastered Monster Rancher 2 is nothing short of fun. The new music-lookup monster creation system is a much needed modernization for the series, the FF Mode is a great way to quickly grind out your monster’s stats, but I fear that multiplayer may be a letdown. I sincerely hope that these remasters pave the way for a modern Monster Rancher installment, because if these remasters are any indication, Koei Tecmo are on the right track.

Chorus is a gorgeous space flight fight simulator that harkens back to the days of Wing Commander with eventually smooth controls and intense battles. It does have some visible flaws to the narrative and some onscreen issues during battle, but for the most part, it’s darn good.

Arcadia Fallen is a wonderful game with very well-thought-through underlying messages that are wrapped up in a branching narrative. While its story-heavy personality may not fit the fancy of some folks, its intentions are good enough to entertain most.

At the end of the day, Ruined King: A League of Legends story is great RPG for two sets of fans. League players (and those from other Riot games) get the opportunity to explore worlds they may have heard about, but never visited. For those unfamiliar with League, you get the opportunity to explore a land of pirates in an accessible story-driven RPG and expose yourself to Runeterra’s universe. The story is compelling and beautifully told, and the lands of Bilgewater and Shadow Isles are full of secrets. While it’s great you need not grind, the combat system feels like it was changed for the sake of change. Airship Syndicate knocked it out of the park in most ways (be it soundtrack, world design, storytelling, and gameplay), and I’m so excited to see more!

There are a lot of things that are packed into this long game, but they are done very well and are able to work in tandem with one another smoothly. This game is truly unique and would be worthwhile to buy to experience how this sticker bomb of a game manages to keep its punk aesthetic and be a game that is difficult to describe but not hard to recommend in any capacity.

Moonlight Kids have a hit on their hands with The Wild at Heart. It brings a strong narrative, some clever puzzles, and enough of an endearing journey to make it one of the better releases this holiday season on the PlayStation.

G-Darius HD is a fun trip down memory lane and reminds us that arcade games knew how to eat up your quarters. It will certainly frustrate common gamers out there, but for nostalgia-seeking suckers like myself, it was fun frustration.

Battlefield 2042 is a good game at its core. It’s fun, frantic, and as engrossing as Battlefield has ever been. While the launch has been filled with a myriad of technical issues that I failed to mention in this review, those are sure to be ironed out over the next few months. The main issues I have with 2042 are some of its inherent design decisions. The majority of maps are too large to be impactful, the Specialist system has taken away a core aspect of what makes Battlefield work as a franchise, and the tone of the game is often at odds with itself. But through it all, I’m still enjoying my time blowing sh*t up, screaming and laughing with friends, and making more of those Battlefield memories.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Switch) is a faithful port of an already outstanding RPG. Barring small graphical artifacts, an oversized text box, and multiple loading screens, KOTOR is an easy recommendation for Switch owners that RPGs should strive to emulate: Your character’s stats matter, your character’s actions have consequences, and the worlds you visit are lively. Even more: If this port doesn’t make you excited for the upcoming KOTOR remaster, I don’t know what will. If you’re not the biggest Star Wars fan, I can assure you that you just might be after playing this game. If you’re currently a Star Wars fan and have yet to play this game…what are you doing? Drop what you’re doing and pick up KOTOR.

Riders Republic is a truly massive extreme sports game that borrows from Ubisoft's better open world pillars. A variety of events and the ability to play against massive servers in a gorgeous sandbox provide a unique thrill that few games manage.

This kind of game is a welcome change to the farming/life RPG genre. If you are a player that enjoys fishing in games, then this is the game for you because it’s all fishing, all the time. Moonglow Bay is overall a fun, relaxing game, but it struggles with controls, game-breaking bugs, and glitches that can ruin the game.

In sum, The Cult of the Holy Detonation is a nice bookend to a massive game. The extra story content is really interesting, but I am on the fence about the objective-based missions (mainly because they’re tough and I’m just not very good at this game!). This DLC further showcases inXile is in their prime when it comes to compelling, turn-based, action-and-story driven RPGs. At just $7, it’s pretty easy to recommend this content if you at all enjoyed the base game or the first DLC.

Crysis Remastered Trilogy is a must-have for any fan of the games or of the FPS genre in general. This release represents the best way to play three of the best shooters from the mid-2000s. The absence of Warhead and multiplayer is unfortunate, though. Still, for the price, the amount of quality content that you get here is well worth it.

In sum, Ghostrunner on PS5 takes what was already a pretty compelling game and spruces it up just a very little bit. This is a short, narrowly-focused game that is built for speed — to that end, it does very well, but just know that going in and don’t expect a full-blown FPS-like experience. That in mind, I think you’ll appreciate what the devs were able to accomplish here.