Like a Dragon: Ishin's timeless story and accessibility options make up for some of its outdated gameplay.

MechWarrior 5: Clans delivers 100 tons of BattleMech joy with outstanding missions and superb storytelling.

“Endearing” is the best way to describe Tiny Tina's Wonderlands. It constantly laughs at itself and wants you to smile and laugh along with it, and most of the time, I did. Borderlands fans and tabletop game enthusiasts in particular will find a lot to love here. Even if you’re not a longtime fan, there really is something for everyone to enjoy in Tina’s latest adventure.

Detroit: Become Human pushes ‘Heavy Rain’ and ‘Beyond: Two Souls’ designer David Cage's vision of games as playable movies further than it has ever gone. The results are mixed, but it’s an undeniable accomplishment as an adventure game.

A Way Out is a better idea than it is a game. There’s something to its cinematic presentation, its parallel stories, and its bespoke cooperative gameplay. It just never comes together as the unique, exciting game it’s clearly striving to be. The plot simply isn’t that strong, the dialogue is never very compelling, and the characters don’t develop beyond their broadly drawn archetypes. Without those things, A Way Out never lives up to its potential.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity sets the bar for both Nintendo spinoffs with A+ storytelling that enhances Breath of the Wild’s world and deceptively varied, character-driven combat. It’s still a Dynasty Warriors game at heart, for better or worse, but the game makes that feel like less of a backhanded caveat and more of a fresh start for a polarizing genre.

Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is another narrative hit for Night School, delivering a slow-burn story that expertly weaves together supernatural horror with an introspective story of self-discovery. The sequel does find itself struggling with its own identity crisis though, as tedious interactivity leaves me wondering if the studio’s heart is more in movies or TV than video games.

Another Crab's Treasure utilizes its charming setting and assist mode options to become one of the most approachable Soulslikes ever.

WWE 2K22 is a robust wrestling simulator that gets the series back on track after its nearly career-ending 2020 installment. It’s filled with modes, impressive combat tweaks, and a truly phenomenal creative suite that turn it into a hoss of a game. There’s still work to do if 2K Sports wants to fully rehabilitate the series. Multi-man matches need a rework, its more promising modes need to be expanded, and there’s still plenty of gunk to clean up. But if this is how much an annualized series can turn itself around by taking one year off, then every franchise like it should consider an offseason.

El Paso, Elsewhere is an intense, personal indie shooter that you'll want to see through to the end.

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader delivers a dream CRPG for Warhammer fans if you can get past its bugs.

Fortnite: Battle Royale is a fast-paced arcade alternative to PUBG, but it fails in the tension department. Its good fun when you play like you don’t only have one life, but that in and of itself makes it feel like an oddity that hasn’t quite found its identity yet.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion looks like a modern game, but its aged PSP gameplay doesn't match the HD overhaul.

Pascal's Wager doesn't quite match the impressive standards of its inspiration, but Dark Souls fans should check it out.

Skylanders: Trap Team seems intent on forcing players to open their wallets if they want the full experience of what the game has to offer.

NBA 2K20 takes a step forward with its story, but is hindered by its uninspired gameplay.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden delivers both slick action and tough moral choices.

Cat Quest 3 is a light but charming pirate adventure that'll make you feel like a kid again.

Everybody's Golf is limited in scope, but makes up for it with pure charm.

Built as a way to capitalize on the success of 2022’s Elden Ring without committing to a full sequel, Nightreign puts a clever co-op spin on the open-world game by turning it into a roguelike. It’s a smart remix that gets more use out of existing assets while inventing a replayable multiplayer game with unexpected strategic depth despite its RPG hooks being much more streamlined than a standard Soulslike. Fully finding that hook takes a lot of effort, but it pays off for those patient enough to push through its most obvious flaws.

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble is the robust revival this classic series deserved.

Need for Speed Unbound is not trying to be an ultrarealistic simulator or even a super comprehensive open-world online racing game experience. It wants to be a stylish, tough, and rewarding ode to street racing culture. While it’s not the best in its genre due to some weak writing and eventual repetition, Need for Speed Unbound is a surprisingly entertaining racer in a year that hasn’t seen much racing game excitement since Gran Turismo 7.

At first, Assassin’s Creed Mirage seems like it’s going through all of the proper classical motions of an old-school Assassin’s Creed, but it lacks the passion and innovation necessary to make it a truly memorable installment. While Ubisoft’s ability to create historical locations in immaculate detail is still unmatched, the bland story and missions demonstrate that Assassin’s Creed still needs to make a true leap of faith.

Technically, No Man’s Sky delivers the idea Hello Games promised — a massive sci-fi playground for you to explore. However, once you’ve spent some time poking around, it’s hard not to notice that the playground feels fairly empty, even two years later and after massive content additions.

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

Brothership’s problems will look familiar to anyone who found themselves disappointed by games like Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam or Paper Mario: Sticker Star. Nintendo has seemingly convinced itself that every Mario RPG needs to have bespoke gimmicks. It’s not enough to give players a well-written story and iterate on a solid combat foundation; there always has to be a twist, or two, or three. Those layers drag Brothership down the longer the adventure goes on, making even its intriguing climax feel exhausting by the end.

Synapse is a flashy PlayStation VR2 exclusive roguelite that gets too repetitive for its own good.

Promise Mascot Agency is a positively zany yakuza adventure that's an unpredictable delight.