A heartwarming story, a mysterious world, and a slowly-growing bond between two unlikely companions ensure that fans of Team Ico’s past work won’t be disappointed. Clunky controls and a handful of graphical issues, however, mean that The Last Guardian may not be an enjoyable game for everyone—though, either way, Trico is adorable.

For those who enjoy a simple hack-n-slash game, Ryse: Son of Rome fits the bill. This is no deep adventure, but rather a chance to burn your aggression by chopping your way through hundreds of barbarians, slowing only to enjoy the carnage during the brutal executions. Still, the stunning visuals and compelling setting will keep some gamers engaged throughout, making Ryse a flawed-but-interesting addition to the Xbox One launch lineup.

While the new content in The Frozen Wilds is on par with the rest of Horizon Zero Dawn, it's hardly a must-play expansion. The story tells us little we didn't already know, and the new weapons and quests feel like more of the same.

Final Fantasy XV is nowhere close to the game that we should have received after 10 years of waiting—but it also isn’t anywhere close to the trainwreck that it easily could have been. While the storytelling is a mess and the game feels incomplete far too often, there’s enough to love here—from combat, to exploration, to the four Japanese pretty boys that make up your main party—to make FFXV a road trip worth going on.

Can any game live up to a decade of hype? Kingdom Hearts III tries, and its meticulously-recreated Disney worlds, jam-packed combat system, and wealth of minigames offer a ton for players to explore. However, the game’s bizarre pacing, an abundance of cutscenes, and an unrewarding story may leave players more bewildered than satisfied by the end.

ShootMania breathes new life into a crowded genre by taking things back to basics. If you’re a fan of old-style twitch shooters, this is the game for you. However, a lack of progression—bar a leaderboard—and simple map designs may lead to many being turned off in the long run. If you’re after a pure shooter, however, it doesn’t get much better than this.

The in-game currency decision was a head scratcher, as it adds an unwelcome grinding element to much of the gameplay. If you can look past that, then there’s a decent campaign and the same addictive multiplayer Bomberman is known for sitting at this launch title’s explosive core.

When it comes to the gameplay, Mortal Kombat X is a solid fighting game, but a small roster and shoddy story hold it back from being a complete experience.

Another fun twin-stick-shooter romp for Lara Croft, Temple of Osiris finds a way to go bigger and better in most regards, but four-player co-op was just too much on my TV screen—this one would’ve been better off with only two main characters instead of four.

Though at times plagued by faults that might scare away some players, Silent Hill Downpour offers an absolutely engrossing experience-one that gives longtime fans true hope for the future of the franchise.

If you’ve been longing for a driving game with more destruction than you can keep up with, Onrush delivers. There are many things unique about this new arcade racer, the top being that the term “racer” is a misnomer.

New defensive-line play and more defining accuracy with QBs highlight some of the many changes this year’s Madden brings to the table. Unfortunately, not all the other tweaks are nearly as successful.

Final Fantasy Type-0 is a welcome release in the West, as we finally get the chance to experience one of the more experimental and enjoyable additions to the Final Fantasy franchise in years. It’s just a shame that some of the game’s concepts feel outdated or underdeveloped compared to its other parts—and that Type-0’s journey from the PSP to the new systems hasn’t done its visuals or environments a lot of favors.

A Lego game with an original story featuring a who’s who of DC villains (and a few heroes for good measure), a universe of great locations, and plenty of bricky humor. A few game killing bugs do hinder the overall experience (at least on Switch), but otherwise Lego DC Super-Villains is a blast to play, either alone or with another aspiring no-goodnick.

Forza Motorsport 7 is a really great racing game—it’s just a shame that changes to the game’s currency system undermine a fair amount of what it does right. It’s made racing feel more like a grind than in years past and no amount of new tracks or cars will change that.

XCOM 2 is a generally solid experience, but it is definitely one of those titles that may not be for everyone due to its punishing game style and occasional unpredictably of success.

While it never truly feels like it reaches its full potential or the promise Undead Lab’s ideas hold for the genre, State of Decay: Year-One Survival Edition is still a fun, fascinating take on the tradition of zombie-apocalypse games that’s worth playing for hardcore fans.

Quantum Break is a intriguing science-fiction tale told across two media platforms. While the action and exploration in the video game portions shine, the live-action episodes create a disconnect that is hard to recover from.

While it isn’t without some notable and completely unnecessary problems, the Switch version of Dark Souls Remastered is still a great way to experience one of the best games ever released. The ability to play the game wherever and whenever is wonderful, and it’s nice to have this improvement on the original PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 release to contrast the more drastic overhaul the other platforms received.

Get Even is better as an experience than as a game, but it’s an extremely evocative experience. Even still, what could have been a completely unique gaming experience is hampered by its desire to be a more action-oriented, generic thriller.

An interesting spin-off to the main Mass Effect universe, only the most hardcore of fans will look past the repetitive on-rails game play and iffy controls.

Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate is a more robust, refined version of Team Ninja’s work on Dead or Alive 5, providing a fighting-game package that’s a better starting point for players new to this iteration of the series. Current Dead or Alive 5 owners, however, will have to pony up the exact same amount of scratch to join in on the fun.

Xenoblade Chronicles X has a hard time providing a tale suitable for the massive world and complex systems that occupy it, but even the most fairweather RPG fans will need little convincing to pick up this Japanese addition to the open-world genre.

Unexpectedly, First Light’s story campaign ends up being its weakest link. Compared to the depth and replayability of the score-driven combat arenas, Fetch Walker’s origin story proves to be a bit of snoozefest, especially in the context of Second Son’s respectable storytelling and mission design.

Far Cry 5 had much to live up to coming in under the shadow of previous games in the series. While it doesn’t quite reach the same level, it stays true to enough of its series staples that fans and newcomers alike should expect a good time.

An interesting side-story twist on Deep Silver’s first-person horror franchise, Escape Dead Island takes the franchise’s mythos in some unique new directions, resulting in an entertaining adventure that can be enjoyed by both fans and newcomers alike.

Anthem is a beautiful car that is an absolute joy to drive, but so far, it only has enough gas to get you a couple miles. Also, the wheels will periodically fall off. Sold as a live-service game, fans of Anthem’s exhilarating gameplay have to hold out hope that things will improve, but there’s no denying the initial expedition was rough.

Shortcomings that haunt the entire series remain here, but more gameplay choices and a compelling narrative make Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia the strongest of the three Chronicles titles.

Graphically, the game is hit or miss, littered with glitches and inconsistent quality seen in the player models. Throw in a lack of overall improvement year over year, and we’re left with a game that is good, but definitely not at the level we’re used to.

Dragon's Dogma is a fascinating and very enjoyable new take on the fantasy genre by Capcom, one that has a lot of promise held within it-but one which also sees some of that promise squashed due to the inclusion of an unneeded and annoying gimmick.

Battleborn is like a one-man band—there’s a whole lot going on, but the final product suffers due to spread resources. While lack of maps and missions may be resolved with DLC, the launch product comes off a bit shallow.

Ratchet & Clank is a return to form for the series, but anyone looking for something more than that may be disappointed. The game tugs on many of the original’s addictive strings, but is also bogged down by a few slower, more passive segments.

Tekken 7, the latest entry in the long-running franchise, delivers what fighting genre fans love about multiplayer battles, but there isn’t enough new material to make it truly stand out from the increasingly competitive options in the fighting genre.

Even after 8 years, the Rage series is still having an identity crisis. It has all the signifiers of an open-world game, but it lacks the overall narrative that makes the world compelling, and its best bits—that is, its gunfights—take places in either small, complexly designed arenas or in hallways, like a linear shooter. The greatest irony about Rage 2 is that it might have been an even better, more interesting game if it was more like the first game with a fresh coat of (pink) paint. What it is now is just a bunch of sound and fury, which can be fun for a while, but it’s ultimately an empty experience.

Although one of the better Vita games out there, the touch screen gimmicks still get in the way sometimes of the franchise's core values.

What it lacks in length and complexity, Pinstripe makes up for in narrative. It’s a compelling story set in a beautiful world full of interesting characters, and that alone should be worth a look for most—even if there’s really not much challenge to this puzzle-adventure game.

Take a haphazard trip through the Marvel Cinematic Universe with all of your favorite Avengers—as well as a whole host of B-level Marvel characters you may or may not have ever heard of. Gameplay is fun, and individual levels all play great, but LEGO Marvel’s Avengers fails to come together in as cohesive a fashion as the material deserves.

Rhythm Thief's collection of musical minigames is one of the best in recent memory, but the game's bogged down by dull adventure segments and a broken rating system.

There’s no denying that Lords of the Fallen has taken a huge amount of inspiration from From Software’s series of Souls titles, but it does so while also growing into a game that players can enjoy on its own terms. While faults both technical and creative keep it from being as enjoyable as it could have been, this is still an adventure that may be worth taking for those who love a real sense of challenge.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 isn't quite on par with the best Final Fantasy adventures, but it's a competent, enjoyable adventure from start to finish-something the series has been lacking in recent years.

Sega 3D Classics Collection is a hard release to judge. On one hand, it’s a mixed selection of M2’s fantastic library of classic Sega games reworked for the 3DS. On the other, it offers up stellar versions of every one of those games, which fans will especially appreciate.

Zombies Chronicles aims for the nostalgia of Zombies fans, and for the most part serves it well. Some of the changes made for the sake of evolution may have been better left undone, but the most important elements of these classic maps are still intact.

The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince continues Nippon Ichi Software’s tradition of visually compelling games that sadly feel a little lacking in the gameplay department. This adventure of a wolf in human form leading a delicate prince through a dangerous forest could have benefitted from a deep level of puzzles and polish—and yet, in the end, it may still win you over due to its style and sentiment.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection‘s multiplayer launch problems are an unfortunate blight on what would otherwise be an exciting way to experience the franchise’s evolution—online and off—in one smartly executed package.

Just Cause 3: Mech Land Assault is a fun little add-on for Avalanche Studios’ latest sandbox adventure, but considering the overall lack of content and its relatively steep price point, you might need to be really desperate to get back into Just Cause 3 if you’re using this as your excuse. Still, what is here is enjoyable, and much better balanced than what we saw in Sky Fortress, showing Avalanche Studios is at least moving in the right direction with this post-launch content—and giving me hope for the final chapter in the three-part DLC season pass.

At certain moments, Syndicate was a beautiful, engaging shooter that had me on the edge of my seat, but there were just as many phoned-in, shoot-by-numbers sequences that left me feeling that it's bound a bit too tightly by a set of conventions that lead to an unfortunately predictable experience. Starbreeze definitely knows its way around the genre, but I can't help but wish that they would've strayed a bit farther from the script with this one.

Hardline might not reinvent the wheel the series rolls on, but it certainly makes it spin a whole lot smoother. Speeded up gameplay, an opened-up single-player, and a robust suite of new multiplayer modes lends itself to the best Battlefield to date—though that’s not saying much, a decade later.

Enter the Dominatrix, as a new batch of downloadable gameplay content, is short, disjointed, and not especially challenging. As an entire experience, however, it’s an utterly fascinating look at what was left on the cutting-room floor in the making of Saints Row IV—and a must for any serious fans of the latest adventures of the 3rd Street Saints.

State of Decay 2 builds upon Undead Labs’ original cult classic about surviving a zombie apocalypse, and in many ways, it’s bigger and better than its predecessor. In other ways, however, it’s too similar to said predecessor, resulting in an experience that often feels like it could have been deeper or more ambitious.

The Show was clearly on its last legs on the PS3, and the revamped, more true-to-life ballparks infuse some much-needed atmosphere in the series’ PS4 debut. Meanwhile, Road to the Show includes several tweaks that help you create a more dominating prospect. Unfortunately, the player models don’t receive the same level of care, and the game’s online components aren’t on the level of most other sports franchises—issues that absolutely must be addressed going forward.

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite looks ugly, feels kind of cheap at times, and suffers from a disappointing initial roster—but it’s also a frenetically fun fighting game that got almost all of the things it needed to get right right. With (hopefully) a bit more polish and DLC helping to flesh out its character choices, this is set to become a worthy—if still flawed—new chapter in Capcom’s beloved fighting franchise.

Like a good roller coaster, Oxenfree starts with nervous laughter, escalating to an event that leaves the character white-knuckled and wishing they had stayed home.

Like The Chinese Room’s previous work, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture will no doubt prove an acquired taste, but the game is bolstered by strong, character-driven writing and a desire to experiment with boundaries no other developer, indie or established, is willing to engage.

The new eagle powers are far more impressive than the wolf skills from the first episode, and although the story drags early on, it picks up nicely towards the end, ramping up to a hopefully fitting—and satisfying— conclusion in the final episode.

FIFA 18 is a solid game, with everything that made FIFA 17 an instant classic, plus a deeper story mode and a few additional bells and whistles. But it’s not the huge step forward that FIFA 17 was, and it suffers from some areas lacking the polish that EA could have easily applied, considering that it did all the hard work of building a foundation for a killer soccer series last year. That said, if you’ve been waiting to get back into soccer sims, FIFA 18 is as good a place to start as any.

Much like the “Roaring Thunder” weapon, Dead Rising 4 banks on nostalgia and humor. While not much new exists in the beat ‘em up genre, this title has a lot of fun moments, delivering an enjoyable return to a zombie-infested Willamette.

Waving your arms in front of your TV like you’re conducting some kind of cosmic orchestra is a surprising amount of fun, but the lack of content leaves the experience feeling a bit bare.

Though not quite as ambitious as it could (or should) be, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations is an enjoyable and accessible fighting game-one that you don't have to be a Naruto fan in order to enjoy.

The strong core of the Assassin's Creed franchise remains mostly intact here, but the truncated story makes Aveline's character development feel rushed and the twists much more predictable here. Liberation is solid game if you're on the go a lot, but it can't hold a candle to Desmond and his ancestors.

For fans of Dishonored, Knife of Dunwall does not disappoint. And for those less infatuated than I, the Daud DLC may offer a promising look at the series’ potential. Unfortunately, Knife of Dunwall’s across-the-board improvements are incremental at best.

Killzone; Shadow Fall – Intercept mixes some new twists on the Horde idea with some great team-based gameplay, but its lack of content volume and overall options unfortunately dull some of this new mode’s shine.

GT6 feels like a rushed effort, and many problems from GT5 remain unresolved. But the classic GT base remains intact, since the actual act of simulation driving remains very tight—and it’s coupled with a tremendous amount of choice when you consider the 1,200 cars that come on the disc.

A wide-sweeping game with an ambitious story, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 offers up an intriguing world to explore. Unfortunately, confusing map markers and a padded-out combat system make actually exploring more of a chore than is necessary.

Helldivers’ metagame campaign and variety of gameplay are more than enough to keep you entertained, but only players with a tight-knit group of co-op buddies will be able to get the most from the experience.

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT finally brings Square Enix’s handheld “what if” franchise to the big screen, and the results are pretty fantastic for those who love chaotic, high-energy combat scenarios. Unfortunately, the game can be challenging to get the hang of due to a range of factors including class differences and controls, and there’s not much to do for those who prefer their gaming sessions solo. Still, for players who do click with this third Dissidia chapter, it’s a heck of an experience.

The vile, scheming, cursing Metallia might be too intense a main character for some, and the combat is more serviceable than outstanding, but Nippon Ichi fans who’ve felt a lack of innovation in some of the twisted Japanese developer’s more recent fare should find a refreshing change of pace here.

A competent and fun stealth experience brought down by some technical issues and the inexplicable lack of new game plus.

The Star Wars Battlefront name is holding strong, but if this is set to reboot the franchise, they could have packed a little more meat on its bones.

Penny-Punching Princess offers up a world where the heroine can solve (nearly) all of her problems through cold, hard cash, providing for some legitimately fun (and funny) scenarios to play out across the dungeon brawler’s various chapters. Unfortunately, a necessity for grinding and some wild spikes in difficulty cause the princess’ stockpile of coins to lose some of its shine.

Uncovering the secrets of Don’t Starve’s oppressive world is gratifying, but the basics of gameplay get too mindlessly repetitive once you’ve figured out what you’re doing.

While Magical Beat’s mix of puzzle and rhythm-gaming concepts won’t be for everyone, those who appreciate such genres will find a unique, enjoyable conglomeration of the two that feels as fresh as it does familiar.

nfinite Warfare is one step forward; two steps back for Call of Duty. The multiplayer is still fun, but suspect microtransactions have left me wary. The campaign also gets more wrong than right with shoddy storytelling overshadowing the usually tight FPS gameplay. At the very least, we got a Zombies experience comparable to what we’ve seen in the past—and Modern Warfare Remastered was a fun stroll down memory lane.

This strategy RPG is a clever way to let fans of the Sega, Capcom, and Bandai Namco library jump into their favorite worlds with ease since the events have little to no bearing in the canonical continuity. The cast is pure fun but is soon overwhelming, where normally standout characters can hardly get a word in on the already impenetrable narrative.

A horrendous learning curve, poor story flow, and shoddy controls take away from what could have been a superstar new IP for Nintendo. Instead, only the players who can look past the bugs and pacing problems will be satisfied in the end.

While it’s an unabashed Left 4 Dead clone that never extends beyond the conservative concepts and budgets that obviously constrained its development, World War Z offers up an enjoyable adventure that at times does a lot with the little it attempts. No matter whether playing the co-op campaign or competitive multiplayer, there’s enough good to the game to make the bad not feel as bad.

A story worthy of the franchise, Uncharted: Golden Abyss falls short in terms of pacing and controls, as the touchscreen gimmick takes the experience down a big notch.

A clear example of a studio going to the well with a franchise one too many times. Although highly polished and still entertaining for fans of the franchise, Ascension lacks the soul of its predecessors as it scrapes the bottom of the Greek-mythology barrel to try to deliver on a franchise that’s clearly run dry of fresh ideas.

For me, TrackMania Turbo just didn’t earn the checkered flag. If you love time-trials, however, this is the racing game you’ve been waiting for.

The content MGS: HD Collection offers is some of the finest of the last decade. But it's also frustrating that this collection could have-and should have-offered so much more.

Though hindered somewhat by game-design oversights and one hell of a game-breaking bug, Shadowrun Returns remains a satisfying strategy-RPG largely defined by its world and lore, but also as a platform for more and more standalone adventures.

The meager number of additions here—including the useless 3D gimmick—aren’t enough to make this worth picking up if you played Donkey Kong Country Returns the first time around on the Wii in 2010. If it’s your first time, though, and you’re still curious about checking out Donkey Kong’s latest adventure, this is a solid port.

While Fe is a pretty game with some touching encounters and spectacular views, it falls prey to its own over-complicated story and a world that, for all of its beauty, doesn’t provide much incentive to explore. Adding in a system to guide the player by the hand helps players navigate the confusing paths from zone to zone, but removes any desire to wander around or see what else the forests of Fe have to offer.

Agents of Mayhem is one of those games with so much potential that just doesn’t quite reach the heights it probably could. That being said, it’s exhilarating combat and unique character system have me looking forward to a more polished, more fully conceived sequel.

Pokkén Tournament was a brave experiment, and it succeeds in many areas. However, it fails in some others—whether from lack of depth or outright poor design—that keeps it from reaching that upper-tier of the fighting game genre’s elite entries.

Sims fans have been worried about all the cuts of longtime features in The Sims 4, and while some critical elements are indeed missing, the core addiction remains. Plus, with the addition of the online Gallery and the ability to share and download creations, it’s easier than ever to liven up your little virtual world.

It’s great to see the iconic Phoenix Wright back in action after six years, and his segments are definitely the high points in Dual Destinies. But when he’s inexplicably MIA—like during the game’s interminable second and third acts—the proceedings slow to a crawl. Still, the story, characters, and courtroom drama are strong enough to draw in newcomers and satisfy lapsed fans.

Its Beyond Good & Evil pedigree elevates it above the standard movie tie-in, but Tintin's still a bit too simplistic for hardcore adventurers.

Although the new Longshot mode shines, Madden misses the mark with a few of its gameplay additions this year—so if you don’t immediately take a liking to them and choose to ignore them, the experience will feel a lot like last year’s. Meanwhile, the additions to MUT feel unnecessary, and like a desperate attempt to get more people playing—and potentially investing in microtransactions.

There’s a legitimately interesting and enjoyable top-down shooter experience present in Sky Force Reloaded, but it’s tainted by an overall package that still has far too many connections to its free-to-play origins. Those longing for a game that’ll last for a while will find the most enjoyment here, but most others may find progression to be a total slog.

It’s sad that Fru came out so long after the Kinect was a viable gaming peripheral. Had it released closer to the Xbox One’s launch, we might’ve been able to laud it as a reason to own a Kinect. As is, it’s a solid little puzzle-platformer that might be worth a look if you haven’t packed your Kinect away—assuming you ever got one in the first place.

Sega's budget price and DLC structure make Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown an extremely attractive offer, especially if you didn't play the original. Hopefully, the netcode improves, though, as playing worldwide opponents right now is an outright chore.

This carny simulator's as simple as can be-but it's surprisingly fun and definitely helps bolster the Move's casual appeal.

Resident Evil: Chronicles HD Collection is a solid pairing considering the price tag, but with nothing new besides the HD facelift, there's little here to entice veteran players.

Madden NFL 19 is, in pretty much every way, less exciting than its predecessor, at least on a conceptual level. Last year’s game had a new engine and a completely new mode to boast. This year’s biggest selling point—Real Player Motion—definitely makes running a more viable offensive option. Otherwise, all you’re getting is part two of what’s becoming an unnecessary trend in EA’s sports-related telenovelas and a whole lot of advertising for Madden Ultimate Team.

Just Cause 4 has so many good systems in place, but it seems to have lost sight of what to do with them. While it’s a relatively decent game in its own right, it continues the series’ decline.

Blue Reflection is a game that displays a heartwarming amount of beauty and grace even in the face of some tragically ugly flaws and mistakes. On a gameplay level, it never reaches the heights it wanted (or deserved) to, but as an overall experience, it feels like something special in a way few other games do.

Some long-forgotten issues from way back in the day crop up again in this throwback action-plaformer, but even if you aren’t playing it through the nostaliga of someone who grew up with Banjo-Kazooie or other adventures like it, you’ll still find a solid game to play in Yooka-Laylee.

If Slightly Mad Studios wanted to prove they could build an engine to compete with the likes of Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport, Project CARS is a definite success, with driving that feels as realistic as anything else out there. If they wanted to compete with the polish and robustness of those bigger titles, though, they’ve come up slightly short.