The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is no mere Zelda game — it is a return to form for the decades-old series, showing that Nintendo still very much understands how to handle their property. Breath of the Wild may not only be the best Zelda game ever produced, but it rivals Super Mario 64 and Halo: Combat Evolved for the best launch game ever shipped with any console. With no exception, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a masterclass in game design and creativity, unprecedented from even Nintendo.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has exceeded every one of my expectations. Sandfall Interactive's debut title is one of the greatest accomplishments in gaming, delivering a well-paced, polished, and unforgettable experience. From the incredibly impactful and deeply emotional narrative to the enjoyable, challenging, and rewarding combat, Expedition 33 delivers on all fronts. I wanted an old-school RPG that sticks true to its roots while taking advantage of modern game design. I got that and so much more. Four months into the year, this is the clubhouse leader for Game of the Year, and honestly, it's not even close. Do not miss out.

Astral Chain is one of the best action games I’ve ever played and is now my favorite title from PlatinumGames because of how it manages to deliver solid action and be innovative at the same time. The investigative sections and unique relationship formed between player and Legion bring something fresh to the action genre as well. When PlatinumGames is able to branch out with interesting new ideas like with the first Bayonetta and The Wonderful 101, they usually strike gold, and Astral Chain does nothing to stop that trend. It stands as a shining spot in both Nintendo and PlatinumGames’ lineups, and is obviously one of the best and most innovative games to release in 2019.

Despite a bug that forced my first playthrough to end prematurely, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is an incredible game that will continue to linger with me as a singular and emotionally affecting experience. For its audio and visual design alone, it is stunning, but for its ability to use the video game medium to bridge our understanding of mental illness while also telling a personal and powerful story, it is a masterpiece. If you feel capable of withstanding the emotional strain it requires, a dark and fulfilling tale awaits.

Undertale never fails to surprise you and unconventional things will happen when you least expect them to.

As an experience built from the ground up for immersion and creating a fully-realized world, Half-Life: Alyx is truly a game-changer for VR.

With its Pixar-like characters and beyond stunning animation, Kena: Bridge of Spirits is as charming as it is dark with plenty of surprises that will not only keep players enthralled for hours but also captivate their hearts.

An absolutely fantastic game. It’s very polished, and comes with a compelling story, relatable characters, an absolutely fascinating setting, and top-notch gameplay. On top of that, its visuals will make you wonder if Santa secretly sneaked into your room to replace your PS4 with a gaming PC while you were asleep. It simply looks that good.

Red Dead Redemption 2 aimed high in delivering players a living, breathing world, and it has surely hit its mark as Rockstar’s deepest, most immersive experience yet.

Okami HD is a fantastic game that I cannot recommend enough; at its $19.99 price tag, that is practically giving the game away.

Call of the Elder Gods is a beautiful, haunting and sometimes funny first-person puzzle game. It has a strong focus on its world and characters, with fabulous writing and lovely voice acting. The puzzles are clever, offering a mix of subtle and more grandiose brain scramblers. If you're a fan of cosmic horror or the Lovecraft mythos, Call of the Elder Gods is going to be a game you'll want to dive into immediately. This is one of the most outstanding games of the year so far, and it's not one you're going to want to miss.

After 100 hours of gameplay and reaching Hunter Rank 110, I can confidently say that Monster Hunter Wilds is a better game than World and Rise. Largely focusing on streamlining and making the overall experience more accessible, without removing the core principles that veteran hunters have come to know and love, Monster Hunter Wilds is a game that should be experienced by everyone. While the main story isn't anything to write home about, it's still an enjoyable one and a great way to get prepared for the real game — High Rank. 2025 is packed with current and upcoming games that are already looking to be GOTY contenders, and even though most of them aren't released yet, I just feel it in my bones that Monster Hunter Wilds will be getting at least a nomination to take home the grand prize.

Yacht Club Games proves that their final Shovel Knight expansion, King of Cards, is no fool’s gold by making their best game to date.

Bionic Bay is a truly special platformer that is wildly creative and endlessly smart. Each new section of gameplay is a mini-puzzle that utilizes the game's movement and powers extraordinarily intuitively, leading to continuous rewarding solutions that encourage players to think outside the box and bend the world's mechanics to their will. It's a challenging side-scroller that will result in many do-overs, but checkpointing is perfectly placed to make each new attempt exciting and instantaneous instead of frustrating. Playing Bionic Bay is full of constant "Aha!" moments to the extent I haven't experienced since my first time playing Portal in 2007. The pixel art is breathtaking, and the world is full of ominous sci-fi mystery. Any fan of platformers that craves a game to push them to their limits will have plenty to love with Bionic Bay, and then can test their skills with a fun online component as well. It's a must-play that left me wanting more, and is deserving of a spot on the list of best modern platformers.

Once mastered, God of War’s combat is one of the most rewarding I have tried in a long time. Kratos becomes a hurricane of death and destruction, blocking, shield bashing, slicing, dicing, spinning around and throwing his axe at an enemy further away, while pummeling closer monsters with punches and kicks, and then recalling the weapon to catch two more draugr in the back, before going in for one of the several spectacular finishers. It’s fast, complex, addictive, and exhilarating, but I never once felt like I wasn’t in control.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 perfectly captures the superhero experience from start to finish without sacrificing smart, thoughtful storytelling.

Mixtape is a coming of age tale that hits all the right notes from beginning to end. While it's a short game that you might only play once, that does not take away from how special the journey is along the way. Witty, hilarious writing, incredible voice performances, gorgeous art direction, and consistently creative gameplay beats are paired with a flawless soundtrack that serves as the backbone for every single scene perfectly in a '90s period piece that knows exactly what to drive home. The result is a wholly unique gaming experience that's loaded with nostalgic charm, great humor, and many poignant moments that will make you reframe how you think about your own personal memories of youth. I cannot recommend it enough.

Topping the original Hades was a damn near impossible feat, but Supergiant Games pulled it off. While it still has some of the accessibility issues of its predecessor, Hades 2 manages to improve upon the combat, world-building, and content of the first game, making Melinoe’s journey stand out. It may not surprise or shock Hades fans with originality, but it upped the stakes in a way that makes it a must-play game.

Whether you’re just swinging around the city searching for the many landmarks and collectibles, or fighting crime by flexing Spidey’s amazing super-powers and gadgets, Marvel’s Spider-Man is a really a pleasure to play at all times. I can say with absolute confidence that this is by far the best superhero game I ever played.

I loved every moment of Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom and could easily recommend it as an entry point to the genre for newcomers as well as longtime fans of the genre. Developer Level-5 has truly outdone themselves with this one and I would just like to say to them, thank you for the adventure.

Apex Legends is a game overflowing with so many quality-of-life features and improvements that its very release has, for me, been a soft-reboot of the genre, and has established a new higher standard for future games to come. Within its genre, Apex Legends is a masterpiece and a game that other studios, and publishers, looking to cash in on the craze will look towards for years.

Sword of the Sea is everything we could have hoped for, and then some. Offering sights and sounds that most games could only dream of replicating, but with the added caveat of incredibly satisfying and slick traversal that makes moment-to-moment gameplay much more involved and fun compared to its contemporaries. It's an all-killer, no filler experience with jaw-dropping moments at every turn, and a soundtrack that is sure to win a slew of awards in the near future. My only gripe is that the story doesn't offer a grandiose message or hit as hard as I would have liked, relying more on pageantry and spectacle to get by. But, rarely does a game take me aback and thank my lucky stars that the medium of video games exists, and that's why we see this one as one of the standout performers of 2025 so far.

Super Mario Odyssey is a bold re-introduction to 3D Mario and one that is flat-out mandatory in 2017. The game is not the challenging, rigorous exercise found in the series’ past so much as a deep dive into abject fun originality. Placing creativity and wonder above all else, Super Mario Odyssey is Nintendo’s equivalent of a Pixar movie: magical, creative, and captivating, no matter what age you are.

Hades is one of the greatest roguelikes ever made. This is a must-play.

Baldur's Gate 3 is a masterfully crafted RPG that improves on every aspect of Larian's past work, and is a worthy successor to the series.

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is an unapologetically unique RPG that takes everything that was great about the original and takes it to the Nth degree. It's a cinematic, historically charged epic with a sublime open world to explore, a depth of systems to master, a wealth of meticulously designed quests to complete, and a sandbox survival format that makes simply existing in this world a satisfying and rewarding experience. Some minor issues carry over from the past campaign, and it still remains a game that will alienate more casual players. But all in all, this is a monumental RPG in terms of scope, scale, and quality. I used to long for an Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion remake. But now, I feel sated by the Bohemian masterpiece War Horse has created.

If you’re at all invested in these characters, this world, and their adventures through Midgard and beyond, God of War Ragnarok is a supremely worthy sequel.

A beautiful, touching piece of work that’s bound to stick with you long after you finish it, Blacktail is a world worth getting lost in.