The Talos Principle 2 turns puzzle solving into a sacred act with its super-sized suite of intellectual challenges.

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

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.

Each of the top contenders in the battle royale genre offers something different, but there’s a reason Apex Legends has exploded in popularity so quickly. It’s the most accessible and straight-up enjoyable game that uses the formula.

God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla isn't just a fun free DLC; it's a fitting epilogue to the entire God of War series.

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.

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.

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

Hitman 3 is a great swan song to a fun trilogy of games, held up by its intricate locations and humorous gameplay. Hopefully future updates bring some important additions that extend its replay value and turn it into the ultimate stealth game it is within spitting distance of being.

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.

Dead Cells is frenetism in its purest form, and one of the few games in the genre that can grant a sense of progression and skill in the first few minutes, without demanding a grind from the player or a slow-paced levelling system. It takes you in with a powerful soundtrack and a gorgeous visual style, but it’s the combat and how quick and responsive the controls are that make it stand out from the rest.

After years of waiting, it pains me to say Final Fantasy VII Remake fails to truly impress. The classic storyline — or at least what’s on offer here — benefits greatly from generous and stellar voice acting, but how you extract the tale of a generation is nothing short of a slog. Running up and down corridors and staircases for dozens of hours is a drag, and while the combat system can, at times, offer up brawls that put MMO raids to shame, mountains of fluff and a combat system that can’t settle on a single style make this one feel like a slight step back from the already problematic Final Fantasy XV. There’s very little freedom of movement here. Just a linear campaign with not much else to offer.

Monster Train 2 is the latter, a slightly more polished version of the original with more content for fans to plow through. It trades memorability for momentary captivation, and it’s an understandable tradeoff. Just like with the first game, though, the memories of my hours mowing down Titans are already melting away. [Impressions]

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

Though faithful fans might be put off by a more laid-back sequel that’s over-eager to hold players’ hands, Pikmin 4 is a purposeful reconstruction of Nintendo’s most niche series. A stressful comedy of errors becomes a digestible puzzle-strategy hybrid that gives players valuable organization strategies that are just as useful in real life as they are on their Nintendo Switch adventure.

Final Fantasy XVI delivers on the “action” side of its action-RPG formula. A fierce and fast-paced combat system makes for the series’ most exciting stab at real-time swordplay yet, while its blockbuster Eikon fights rank among some of gaming’s most awe-inspiring battles. But there’s a general flatness surrounding those exhilarating highs, as shallow RPG hooks and dated design leave a promising evolution for the series stuck in the past.

Gran Turismo 7 is a comprehensive racing simulator with features that will please series fans, those looking to learn about cars, and people who just want to race casually. While this simulator is more focused on making the player feel elegant rather than exhilarated, it sticks to its vision and highlights the power of the PS5.

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.

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

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

Whether a fan of Spider-Man himself, the open-world genre, or action games in general, Marvel’s Spider-Man is an excellent example of each.

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.

Empathetic storytelling and mind-bending level design make Psychonauts 2 a worthy follow-up to one of gaming's great cult classics.

Wolfenstein II a fun, challenging, lushly produced, narrative first-person shooter that any fan of the genre would be remiss to skip.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty wants you to feel like a pawn being led around by a carrot on a stick -- one we know V will never reach since the story takes place before the end of the game proper. That conceit would normally diffuse any tension or stakes, but in this case, it adds to the DLC's thematic power. Your promised liberation is but a phantom. The reason you play along all the same is because the characters, world, and stakes all feel real.

Neva may not be the most complex 2D platformer, but it still might make you cry.

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.

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