Baldur's Gate 3 is a staggering CRPG with a level of player freedom that make its possibilities feel endless.

Despelote is a moving and masterfully rendered game about soccer, growing up, and so much more.

Tales of Arise is a games I would recommend for anyone looking for “the future” of the JRPG genre. This game could easily be Bandai Namco’s Final Fantasy 7. It feels tailor-made for the era and pushes the barriers for RPGs thanks to complex combat, weighty storytelling, and gorgeous visuals.

The cryptic Lorelei and the Laser Eyes may very well be the greatest puzzle game ever made.

Sucker Punch leaves nothing on the table with Ghost of Yotei. This game represents everything we were promised the PS5 could deliver and then some. Every aspect of its artistry, mechanics, and technology is used to the fullest in perfect balance. No one part of Ghost of Yotei outshines the rest, and that's because each component bleeds into the others so naturally that they cease to feel like disparate elements. Atsu's journey is one that will stick with me, but not because of the magnificent world I explored, the memorable cast of characters I grew to love, or the dramatic swordplay. Those are all different colors used to paint the complete picture that is Ghost of Yotei. All are strong on their own, but together form something much greater.

The Last of Us Part II is a gut punch in the best way...A tour de force that takes the best parts of the original and molds them into their finest forms. The story will leave you reeling, and there are several unexpected turns that will keep you invested throughout. The level of detail and quality in the world creation and story building are at the top of their class.

We dare say that Subset has outdone itself, surpassing FTL with a game that is even more focused, interesting, and repeatable.

War of the Chosen has thoroughly sunk its hooks into us, and we anticipate many late nights for months to come as we master its new challenges.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a magnificent open world game and one of the greatest games of all time. Its world offers unmatched attention to detail, the combat is excellent, and the story is among the best in a AAA game.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge isn't just a great Turtles game for nostalgic fans. It's a perfect retro-style beat 'em up that's eager to innovate.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is a must-play for both TMNT and beat-’em-up fans alike. It’s a game that takes what worked in the past, but still finds space to innovate beyond its fan service and nostalgia play. If you’ve ever felt like retro revivals can’t be much more than shallow nostalgia, Shredder’s Revenge will prove that there’s still more than enough room for an old genre to grow.

This is the sort of game that people buy a new console for. It’s just that good. Sunset Overdrive celebrates the things that set us apart as gamers, and it draws strength from those differences. It never loses sight of the fact that fun trumps all in this sort of escapist fantasy.

Dark Souls II desperately needed Ivory King's detailed frozen wasteland.

No More Heroes 3 is one of the best action games of the year and offers some well-rounded fun. The writing, gameplay, performance, music, and virtually everything else come together to deliver a must-play game for the Nintendo Switch, just as the original did back in 2007 on the Nintendo Wii. Fans of Suda51, No More Heroes, action games, and a hilariously good time need to give this one a try. If you weren’t a fan of developer Grasshopper Manufacture and Suda before, you will be after this one.

Grim Fandango is a comedy, a romance, an adventure, and sometimes a farce, but more than anything, it’s alive.

Even if it’s not quite the best possible version of itself thanks to some missing content from its past versions, Reload is the definitive way to experience Persona 3. It’s a remake that will keep fans of the original happy, while bringing series’ newcomers a smoother RPG experience built on the bones of one of the genre’s best games.

A near-perfect remake. Its wonderful redone art style suits the quirky Koholint Island. The dungeons are as clever as I remembered, and Nintendo added a bunch of additional collectibles and quality of life improvements to make exploring the world even dandier. The new Chamber Dungeons mode is bland and forgettable, but it’s totally optional and doesn’t deter from this grand old school Zelda adventure.

Even if it isn’t an overhaul of Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree is a massive achievement in both open-world and DLC design. It’s a daunting task to provide new content for one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time, especially with the expectations surrounding it. However, the over two-year wait was well worth it as there’s a staggering amount of content to play with here. Those who love Elden Ring will experience the same sense of awe and surprise that they felt on their first playthrough. The massive world, challenging bosses, and game-changing equipment make this expansion feel like an unofficial sequel.

The Last of Us Part I shows that Naughty Dog’s gritty action game is still an enduring classic that hasn’t aged a day. Though that’s largely because Sony won’t allow it to, as evidenced by a mostly superfluous remake that doesn’t meaningfully improve on the game’s perfectly modern (and much cheaper) 2014 remaster. However, the project does once again push the industry forward in an important way: by raising the bar for accessibility in gaming’s past, present, and future.

Forza Horizon 2 is bigger and faster, sure, but it’s also a masterful snapshot of the joy that fuels car culture.

Pokémon: Let’s Go is a streamlined, marvelous reimagining of Pokémon Yellow with mostly welcome improvements.

Pokémon: Let’s Go is a streamlined, marvelous reimagining of Pokémon Yellow with mostly welcome improvements.

Far Cry 6 is an outstanding game because it has a great design of mechanics and missions, its setting is authentic even with localization flaws, and the game does not drag on too long or become repetitive; on the contrary, just walking around the island and exploring the public and hidden routes is a satisfying activity.

The game never felt like a chore. Instead, I wanted to come back to it day after day, even when the workouts were making me feel the burn.

Venba delivers an elegantly nuanced story about cultural identity through sharply written dialogue and meaningful cooking interludes.

Developer Rocksteady reinvigorates its Arkham series formula with fresh gameplay features and an expansive open world in Batman: Arkham Knight.

Four years ago, Sony introduced the tagline “play has no limits” to advertise the PS5. Astro Bot is the first PlayStation exclusive since then that truly believes in that mission statement.

Donkey Kong Bananza could've easily been a reskinned Mario game with Stars replaced with bananas, but Nintendo chose the riskier path. While it has the familiar structure of past 3D platformers, everything about how I engaged with Bananza felt like a deconstruction of the genre (pun intended). While it may stick a bit too close to a familiar core structure, Bananza goes deep in exploring clever and unique ways to use its destructive systems to build a confident new platformer.

Yes, I jumped more than once when a monster pounced on me from a hidden corner, but that is more akin to surprise than true fear. Fear is what I felt in the scenes that turned the metaphorical act of Hinako sacrificing who she was to conform to others into literal acts. That's the kind of fear that sticks with me -- not any monster that can be killed, or even a curse that can be cleansed, but the unfathomable monster that is society. The monster that we are, but pretend we aren't. Even though Silent Hill f misses the mark with things like the offering system and unnecessary sanity meter, every other component eventually comes together to make something unmistakably Silent Hill.

Metroid Dread sharpens everything that makes Metroid enjoyable, while more fully realizing its horror ambitions.

This isn’t a remake that completely redefines its predecessor, unlike Final Fantasy VII and Resident Evil 4. This is much more in line with Nintendo’s recent Super Mario RPG and Mario vs. Donkey Kong remakes that refurbish and update the visuals with some small quality-of-life tweaks. Those with a working GameCube and copy of The Thousand-Year Door don’t need to worry about picking this up. Still, anyone grabbing it for the first time ever or in a while on Nintendo Switch is in store for an off-kilter and memorable experience from the moment they see that first image of a gallows in Rogueport.

Ghost of Tsushima is one of the best games I’ve played this year — it might’ve been my favorite, if not for The Last Of Us Part II. Jin Sakai’s story is violent but thoughtful, delivering an experience that feels unique on the PlayStation 4 despite the fact 2020 is the console’s last year before the PlayStation 5 makes it obsolete.

Street Fighter 6 feels like the most significant revelation for the fighting game genre since Street Fighter 2. No matter the skill level, all types of players will find something to enjoy here -- and even feel represented in some way. And for the most part, it does all of those things well while looking incredibly stylish.

Immortality is an astonishing work of interactive fiction that's every bit as unsettling and unforgettable as the films that inspired it.

Being online-only, Battlefield 2042 had to make up for its lack of any single-player content whatsoever with a variety of worthwhile online content. The game’s developers have not only succeeded in that regard, but they have gone above and beyond. All-Out Warfare is a fantastic evolution on the classic Battlefield experience, modernizing the franchise with more scale, spectacle, and ways to play than ever before. Battlefield Portal and Hazard Zone likewise shine in their own regards, with the former proving that it can serve as the base for players to create their own unique experiences within 2042. If any future Battlefield title omits these two modes, I might consider them incomplete.

Chants of Sennaar is an ingenious linguistic puzzle game that takes the right notes from genre greats like Return of the Obra Dinn.

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is one of the best games of the year, expansion or not.

Battlefield Hardline is a two-pronged success, with a killer cops-and-robbers story backed by a speedy take on competitive play.

Thoughtful in both its presentation and its mechanics, to simply say God of War surpasses the games that came before it would not do it justice. It takes a dormant franchise, one that’s worse for wear, and uses that baggage to create one of the most compelling experiences we’ve played in a long time.

Kingdom Hearts III plays similarly to its PS2 predecessors while bringing new elements to the gameplay that make it feel incredibly modern. Each of the seven Disney worlds bring a truly magical experience, and the combat underlines this thanks to the addition of some new, truly spectacular moves. The convoluted overarching story sometimes gets in the way of the wonder and charm, but ultimately, KH3 has enough heart to keep you coming back for more.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury is positively brimming with joy. From its bright colors to its adorable cats, it’s the perfect game to close out Mario’s big 35th-anniversary bash.

Exciting from the title screen to the closing credits, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a tremendous thrill ride. It’s the definitive final chapter for story threads we’ve been following since 2013’s game, but also leaves the door open for more adventures in the future. We’ve got our fingers crossed that this isn’t Lara’s last hurrah. It doesn’t matter where she travels. Lara is going to be involved in some precarious predicaments, and we want to be there with her.

Death’s Door is one of the best games released this year and will certainly be a game-of-the-year contender by the time 2021 wraps up.

A rewarding experience from its start, Sifu delivers challenge after challenge, all of which are too exciting to turn down.

In another brilliantly self-reflexive action RPG, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth uses gaming’s most iconic bit of dramatic irony to fuel a deeply moving tale of self-doubt and personal rediscovery. It’s a bigger, at times less focused adventure, but one that leaves the kind of life-affirming imprint bound to make it another instant classic.

Diablo II: Resurrected is a huge accomplishment for a remastered game. It preserves the original game in amber while still showing just why it was considered a legendary game in the first place. It is perfect for veterans to jump back in and play as if you have been playing it for the last 20 years. It is also still approachable to new players who can finally see what all the hype is about.

NBA2K’s latest installment proves to be an excellent basketball sim, bringing more refined, realistic gameplay, and balances to offense and defense. The MyCareer story is much improved, and the progression system feels more forgiving than previous iterations. While the rest of the package mostly mirrors what we’ve seen before, overall, these marked improvements to the series make it hard to hold it against 2K19.

If you’re a fan of intense action RPGs, there’s very little like it on the Nintendo Switch right now. It’s a must-have. Once you get to grips with the combat, squeezing in a hunt in a hurry is a rewarding experience.

It Takes Two is Hazelight and Josef Fares’ most fully realized vision of co-op gaming yet. It uses clever interactivity to highlight the importance of good communication in video games and relationships alike. With Nintendo-quality level design and a charming story to motivate its platforming action, It’s the rare multiplayer game that will strengthen friendships rather than end them.

The combat is the most fluid it’s ever been, seamlessly flowing from one move to another. The huge number of attacks and play-style options make it feel like the ideal choice for dedicated fighting game community members while the game-changing Fatal Blows help to make newcomers feel more welcome to the genre. The story mode heightens gameplay with gorgeously-shot cutscenes and the numerous modes will keep you busy for weeks after you’ve finished it. It’s safe to say that the series has long exited the shadow of competitors and that Mortal Kombat 11 stands as the pinnacle of this ascent.

Doom Eternal is a ludicrous, gory, pulse-pounding masterpiece.

Blue Prince is the kind of engrossing puzzle game that will change your brain chemistry.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War addressed nearly every flaw of the original game, and its enormous environments help to make the emergent encounters and Nemesis system even more engaging. While its story stumbles early on, the unique stories you’ll get from pressing against your nemeses will keep you coming back to the game for dozens of hours. Even after killing and enslaving countless orcs, we can’t wait to keep making those stories.

No matter what I'm doing in Borderlands 4, I'm always earning something that offers a new way to strengthen my character's identity. Guns each feel more distinct than ever, making the loot grind that much more enticing. Each fight is an opportunity to flex my personality thanks to the movement system allowing me to approach and react in dozens of ways, with bosses acting as the exclamation point to it all. But most importantly, Borderlands 4 struck the best tonal balance yet. Borderlands 4 feels like the idealized version of what this series was always striving to be.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is the finest adventure game released in years and a clear highlight of the latest console cycle. Both its exploration and combat components gradually build in complexity with tools that always have a clear purpose. That elegant mechanical design keeps the focus on the game’s impactful story, which tells an aching, but hopeful tale of environmental disaster. There are a lot of points of comparisons to be made when breaking it all down, but Kena: Bridge of Spirits blends every little influence together into its own gorgeous mix.

Dungeons of Hinterberg will make you think differently about how you behave on your next vacation.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a game so comprehensive and engaging that it’s difficult to see where Nintendo and Sakurai can take the series next. The sheer number of options and modes you have to choose from can keep you and your friends busy for hours or days at a time, and even those uninterested in fighting games will be impressed by the reverence and love that its developers showed to every included franchise. You can’t own a Switch without owning Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and for some, it might even be the only game you need on the system.

Despite the extreme and often cringe-worthy violence, Mortal Kombat X is quite beautiful in its own way; like visiting a museum exhibit on the human body and all the ways it can be destroyed. And like a museum, there’s plenty to see and do here, including a surprisingly intimate story, one-on-one battles, endless challenges, and a competitive, socially-connected metagame.

Lost Legacy doesn’t reinvent Uncharted’s underlying Indiana Jones-meets-Prince of Persia conceit, but it tightens up many of its elements, with better gameplay design and a story that’s clear and thoughtful. This is probably the best Uncharted yet.

Even without any changes to Franchise mode, Madden NFL 18 is the best entry in the series to date. Realistic visuals, overhauled mechanics, and Longshot mode create a more authentic NFL football experience.

The Division 2 is the best loot shooter I’ve ever played. The cover shooting mechanics are refined, enemy AI is smart and punishing, and the mission design is varied and surprising. Ubisoft has created a wondrously detailed post-apocalyptic Washington D.C. that compels you to keep scouring for loot. The story flounders, but the activities soar all the way through the lengthy story and engaging endgame. The Dark Zones don’t feel as consequential as the main map at the moment, but they still offer additional fun.

It demands a level of determination and skill that far exceeds every other Souls-like game before it, but just as Sekiro can be downright infuriating, it can be just as, if not more, satisfying. It feels like the uncompromising realization of FromSoftware’s vision, and you can’t ask for much more than that. If FromSoftware intends to make a sequel, we’ll have our controllers ready – and the backup controllers for when we break the first ones.

The artists and designers at Supergiant are so studied that they manage to ground their most interesting ideas in a shell that makes them smooth and accessible. It’s our favorite game of theirs, and that says a lot.

UFO 50 will remind you why you fell in love with video games in the first place.

Call of Duty: Warzone is the definitive battle royale experience right now.

Hi-Fi Rush cracks the rhythm-action genre wide open to deliver Tango Gameworks' most confident, stylish, and surprising project to date.

Players who aren’t willing to relax a bit and let Fe take some control of their experience might have trouble, but most everyone else will find an affecting, unique romp through the woods backed by touching moments and some of the most inventive design to come from a major publisher in ages.

Fall Guys is a family-friendly battle royale and a game of the year contender.

So long as you’re willing to meticulously survey Hyrule like an archaeologist digging for fossils, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is an engrossing sequel full of mysteries to solve and experiments to conduct. It’s a digital laboratory that I imagine will still be producing unbelievable discoveries 10 years from now.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 delivers a personal story about two busybodies struggling to find balance in their lives, while all webbed up in larger-than-life comic book arcs. That’s a perfect match for Insomniac’s winning action-adventure formula, which is improved in almost every conceivable way here. Its expansive narrative and open-world checklists may feel overwhelming at times, but that effectively drives home its ultimate point: Great power isn’t a cure for great responsibility.

Resident Evil HD not only preserves Shinji Mikami’s classic, but introduces a new control scheme that perfectly balances its delicious challenge.

I’m thankful for the cosmic coincidence that put a Dead Space and Resident Evil 4 remake just months apart from one another. Both projects show two valid, but completely different paths forward for game remakes. Dead Space just preserves the original, faithfully communicating what it was like playing it in 2008. As a counterpoint, Resident Evil 4 shows the value of careful reimagination. It isn’t just in conversation with the 2005 version, but with the two decades worth of games that sprung from it. It’s the past, present, and future of action-horror rolled up into an instant classic that stands side by side with its predecessor.

Scarlet Nexus is a must-play for any fan of Japanese action RPGs and standard JRPGs. If the story doesn’t grab your attention, the combat will. It has enough meat to its action to distract from its very minor blemishes. Its characters are a delight to interact with and seeing them grow together really had me fully invested in all of their arcs. I left the experience craving another title like it that takes its excellent action even further.

OlliOlli World delivers beautiful, fast-paced, and captivating skateboarding fun.

Super Mario Maker 2 is the best of both worlds. For creative-minded players, the level design suite is robust and includes a number of excellent new features to make an even greater variety of courses. For those who just want to play, Super Mario Maker 2 has an excellent campaign filled with 100-plus Nintendo-designed levels — not to mention the constantly growing library of user-created levels. The online multiplayer isn’t feature-rich, but it doesn’t stop Mario Maker 2 from joining the lineup of top-tier Nintendo Switch games.

For every mission of dull gunplay, though, Saints Row IV offers up something freaky in response.

NBA 2K18 makes strides in both visuals and gameplay, while introducing an endearing social experience blended within MyCareer. The two story modes don’t impress, but their surrounding parts are so strong that they become an afterthought.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a staggering sequel that'll put you in a medieval mindset.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is unlike anything else you'll play in 2024, and that's why it's one of the year's best games.

With Avowed, Obsidian Entertainment once again flaunts its writing chops with a fantasy story that is contemporary in its themes and combat that feels better than most other first-person western RPGs. Whether you've experienced a Pillars of Eternity game before or not, this is a must-play.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is the best Metroidvania since 2021's Metroid Dread. It sticks to the rewarding style of exploration that makes this genre great while ensuring that experience is as seamless as possible thanks to the innovative Memory Shards system and helpful Guided Mode option. All of that is held up by a backbone of silky smooth platforming and combat that's as easy or difficult as you want it to be.

It’s the perfect racing game for the vast majority of gamers. Even for race sim fans, it’s going to be a delightful diversion for tired people who just can’t be bothered to focus hard and be very serious.

The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is a morbidly engrossing tactics RPG that takes the right notes from Danganronpa.

Whether it bests past entries like Super Smash Bros. Melee or Brawl doesn’t matter; it’s a spectacular work unto itself.

Shin Megami Tensei 5 is yet another gem for the Nintendo Switch that every JRPG fan needs to check out.

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance makes one of the best open-world RPGs around even better.

As you delve further into Rebirth, you begin to realize that almost every facet of the game has been improved.

The Master Chief Collection is a testament to the cult of fandom that Halo-lovers established around the series. Every map from every included game and their add-on packs is available in the multiplayer mode, and each runs in its originating game’s engine.

Bayonetta 2 is a game whose gargantuan barrage of sex, violence, and surrealism sets the mind on fire in the best possible way.

Civilization: Beyond Earth takes the best that Civ V had to offer and liberates it from the baggage of history repeating.

Gears of War 4 saw The Coalition faithfully tracing from the established Gears of War formula. Gears 5, on the other hand, shows the studio is ready to draw. A more engaging and emotional campaign introduces features we hope to see in all subsequent games, and the addition of Escape gives more aggressive players more reasons to keep coming back. Though Horde mode’s different upgrades can get a little unwieldy and we could do without the microtransactions, this is the best version of Gears of War we’ve played in years.

Moss bridges the gap between traditional games and virtual reality experiences. It’s an adventure game brimming with charm, crafty puzzles, and a fully realized fairy tale world that makes you feel as if you are really there. Moss is proof that virtual reality games can redefine well-known genres.

The Disney magic shines brightly in Fantasia: Music Evolved, and Harmonix has delivered another great reason to own a Kinect.

Forsaken re-forges Destiny 2 with a dangerously addictive endgame.

Immortals Fenyx Rising merges the best and worst of Ubisoft games with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Returnal is a winning combination of big-budget production value and creative, genre-spanning gameplay that’s usually reserved for cult indie hits. It tells a haunting sci-fi story that thematically justifies its cyclical, roguelite setup. Demanding action combined with a lack of viable build options turn too many runs into frustrating nonstarters, but a compelling mystery and fast-paced action always provide a strong reason to die and try again.

Octopath Traveler 2 builds on its predecessor's strengths to create another charming retro RPG.

Nintendo Labo is an awesome new way to help kids think and play creatively.