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.

Despite a few minor technical issues, OlliOlli‘s simple, focused take on skateboarding is smart enough to breathe new life into the waning genre.

Anyone hoping that Battlefield would finally get a respectable single-player campaign will be sorely disappointed, but if you’re looking for a worthy evolution of the franchise’s sweeping multiplayer battles, you’ve come to the right place.

Great level design, strong replayability, and beautiful graphics more than make up for a sometimes-disjointed plot. The New Order proudly exclaims that Wolfenstein is back, and this new entry should be played by all FPS fans.

Pit People offers a ton of game to chew on, and while it might not be the deepest tactical RPG, it manages to translate The Behemoth’s distinctive style while providing an entertaining, often engaging strategic experience. It might not reach the insane heights of BattleBlock Theater’s take on the 2D platformer, but Pit People almost does something even more impressive, by taking an often opaque genre and turning it into an enjoyable romp.

Though its visuals still betray the legacy of SNK’s rich and gorgeous 2D sprite work, The King of Fighters XIV revives the glory of the franchise where it counts most: gameplay and core mechanics. This will hopefully be the first step in a better future for the series, but even this unpolished first entry is worth the time for longtime fans and newcomers alike.

Tales of Berseria flips the traditional heroic story on its head, taking up instead with the vengeance-driven journey of daemon-eater Velvet Crowe and the unapologetically villainous crew of misfits she picks up along the way. A fun premise and some great skits make for a good story, though middle-of-the-road combat and fairly boring dungeons and fields bog the gameplay down.

While the emphasis on fast-paced replayability and a more intimate, nuanced narrative do wonders for Judgment‘s single-player campaign, the game is ultimately held back by its surprisingly meager multiplayer offering.

A bright and shiny pool game with excellent physics and deep gameplay. Single-player suffers from too difficult AI, but multiplayer succeeds on every level. A solid choice for pool fans.

Halo Wars 2 does a fantastic job building on the foundation laid out by the original game. New modes and new characters highlight what is a fun return to the Halo universe, even if the campaign is shorter than I’d prefer.

1989’s Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap could have felt way out of its league here in 2017, but the impressive job that LizardCube has done updating it for our modern era has really given it a second life. It’s a great retro-meets-future gaming experience marred occasionally by elements that just don’t work as well all these years later.

Call of Duty: WWII’s changes to the core Call of Duty experience are few but distinct. This leads to a good balance between relishing everything Call of Duty used to be and still continuing to move the series forward.

Mafia: Definitive Edition is the best of both worlds. Its updated graphics bring Lost Heaven and its inhabitants to life without burdening them with modern game design elements. While the characters themselves haven’t aged as well, Mafia: Definitive Edition, though based on a game that’s nearly 20 years old, feels more refreshing than most open-world games.

All That Remains is a fine way to kick off the second season of The Walking Dead. Telltale made some interesting design decisions putting players in the role of Clementine, and most of their choices—but not all—work out nicely.

Between gorgeous visuals, engaging combat—on Chaos mode, at least—a sizable chunk of Genroku-era Japan to soak in and wander about, and a solid length (anything between eight to 12 hours, depending on how much exploring you do), Muramasa Rebirth is well worth any Vita owner’s time.

The best and worst thing about Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is that it feels like another Borderlands game. The shooter gameplay is as tight and responsive as ever, the weapons are fun to use, and the writing is a marked improvement over Borderlands 3. The characters are once again at the center of the game’s comedy, and the performances are great (when the actors are actually committing to their roles). But, because this is more Borderlands, a lot of the same annoyances with the series persist, especially when it comes to inventory management and the sheer amount of meaningless loot. Really, Wonderlands’ worst offense is that it can’t get over the series’ legacy of looting and shooting, and misses the opportunity to take real inspiration from the tabletop worlds that it parodies.

Detroit: Become Human is a testament to how far the genre of interactive narrative storytelling has come and, at the same time, how much further it can go. While it might still suffer from some annoying QTE moments and a few narrative speedbumps, it delivers on promises that many other games in this genre make yet fail to keep, especially in how the choices you make can lead to very different experiences down the line.

A Way Out hearkens back to the days of couch co-op, placing players in the shoes of two criminals who must solve puzzles and support one another to escape. The game’s emotional drama runs alongside its silly undertone, making for a game that’s both moving and, at times, unintentionally hilarious.

Yoshi’s Woolly World brings an astounding amount of features to an aesthetically impressive title. It stands as one of the best Wii U titles this season, constantly delivering creative twists on what the platformer genre that Nintendo has been tapping for so long. It’s an absolute must buy for fans of the Yoshi series.

The bevy of unlockables, still stellar WWE Universe mode, even deeper customization features, and the nostalgia driven Attitude Era mode makes this the best wrestling game of this generation.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity ingeniously translates The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s world, style, and gameplay into the Warriors formula, and fans of both series will be extremely satisfied with how both are reimagined here. But if you were expecting a more straightforward prequel that truly mined the tragedy of the war against Calamity Ganon, instead of relying on tired tropes like time travel, you might be left a little shell-shocked.

Tell Me Why might be smaller in scope and less mechanically complex than Dontnod’s Life is Strange series, but it’s just as emotionally impactful. It’s a compelling story with relatable, complex characters, and yet another example of Dontnod’s unbeaten ability to make players feel something, anything, in a medium that’s increasingly more mind-numbing.

Transcripted's unexpected blend of shoot-em-ups and Zuma-style match three gameplay makes for one of the most refreshing and addictive experiences of the year, with the perfect mix of casual simplicity and hardcore depth.

Alien: Isolation might not deliver the scary, intimate experience players expected for its entire running time, but smart design, good pacing, and a ton of gameplay variety more than make up for the lack of chills.

Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy is a nostalgic trip back through the history of one of Japan's most beloved RPG franchises-and while that trip isn't exactly the dream vacation it could have been, it's absolutely a journey worth taking for all Final Fantasy fans.

It’s an enjoyable experience, but it also discards several tried-and-true franchise conventions—such as a traversable overworld map—in favor of a smaller, more focused adventure.

It might be tempting to write off Unravel as another indie-made platformer, but you’d be denying yourself a surprisingly deep puzzler with an unmeasurable amount of charm. There might not be much replay value, but you’ll be glad you took the time to see it to the end.

Battlefield V has the potential to be the best game in the series. It’s recaptured the magic of those Battlefield moments at almost every opportunity, and its new mechanics like squad revives and attrition put the focus back on sticking with your teammates. There are still a lot of questions it needs to answer with its Tides of War live service, and more casual players might be turned off by the challenging gunplay, but what we have now is a worthy successor to the Battlefield name.