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.