Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is an ambitious game that brings all nine numbered Star Wars movies together for the first time. Filled with story and side missions, large open hubs, minigames, and literally hundreds of characters to unlock, Skywalker Saga hits nearly every beat while maintaining the brick-smashing, object-building, puzzle-solving action the Lego games are known for. Filled with irreverent humor and little Easter eggs around every corner, this game is the perfect way to revisit everyone’s favorite sci-fi family saga.

Whether new to the franchise or a long-time fan, there’s something for everyone in Fire Emblem Fates’ three games. Unfortunately, when you find what you’re looking for in one, you might be disappointed when it’s then not present in the other titles.

A frantic side-scrolling shooter reminiscent of classics like Metal Slug that may become tiresome in long intervals, but is more than enjoyable in short bursts.

Bandai Namco promised that “now is the time for change,” and Tales of Arise legitimately feels like a game that’s trying to bring change to Japanese RPGs. It’s strong characters, epic story, engrossing battle system, and lush visuals are only marred by a disappointing final act, and those areas of the game where the team refused to let go of outdated ideas and conventions. If the Tales team can find it in themselves to push things just a little further, then this might truly be the spark that sets off a revolution in a genre that’s needed a regime change for so long now.

Nioh 2 takes the ideas of its predecessor and greatly expands on them, bringing a greater sense of depth to everything from gameplay, to stage design, to your ability to have a main character customized to your particular play style (and visual preferences). Admittedly, some of the simpler elegance of the original Nioh has been lost in the progress, but the result is still a game that’ll terrorize and thrill those looking for a real challenge.

Some minor sound issues notwithstanding, this is yet another great batch of pinball tables that make you feel like you’re standing in a bar—or, in this case, Chalmun’s Cantina—playing the real thing.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury is the Wii U port that Switch owners have been waiting for. Besides the inclusion of online multiplayer, 3D World is the same good game that players already experienced on the Wii U, and fans of the series who missed it the first time around will enjoy its hybridization of 2D and 3D Mario gameplay. But the highlight of the package is Bowser’s Fury, a scaled-down but surprisingly robust mini 3D Mario game that actually takes some chances.

Though a few flaws do mar the overall experience, Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds is an extremely enjoyable mix of retro beat-em-up design and modern fighting-game-inspired combat depth that offers far more satisfaction than its $10 price tag might initially suggest.

Back 4 Blood certainly improves upon the gameplay formula of Turtle Rock’s earlier Left 4 Dead, with a deeper feature set that allows for greater strategy and customization while fending off Hordes of the undead. But the world of the game and its characters lack the charm of its spiritual forebear, and a few curious design choices keep it just shy of greatness.

With a cosmic blend of minimalistic space strategy and humorous, frenzied, in-person action, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is a neon-pop space shooter not to be missed.

Summary: The definitive edition of Pokémon Sun and Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon encapsulate the elements of what made the first set of games great—and also carry forward some of the games’ flaws. Players may be retreading the same island paths as before, but a new selection of Pokémon, shiny new tokens to hunt, additional mini-games, and a brand new story add fun surprises for fans of the originals to find.

Gotham City Impostors looks and feels great and adds just enough personality to differentiate it from the crowd of similar online multiplayer games.

NCAA Football 13 is definitely better than its predecessor, but amidst the upgrades, unfortunate legacy issues and inexcusable bugs prevent this college-pigskin sim from an undisputed championship.

Nintendo’s newest cast of characters leaves their mark on the third-person shooter genre in Splatoon, one of the freshest and most exciting competitive multiplayer experiences so far this year. It’s just a shame that we’ll need to wait a few more months for some of the game’s basic functions to be fully implemented.

The definitive edition of Pokémon Sun and Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon encapsulate the elements of what made the first set of games great—and also carry forward some of the games’ flaws. Players may be retreading the same island paths as before, but a new selection of Pokémon, shiny new tokens to hunt, additional mini-games, and a brand new story add fun surprises for fans of the originals to find.

Another solid Pokémon spin-off, but die-hard fans will quickly miss much of the gameplay from the main series.

A retro platformer that sets itself apart with the protagonist’s transformation from a single pixel into 8- and 16-bit incarnations. Tic Toc Games’ impressive pedigree at WayForward is on full display in Adventures of Pip—one of the only problems is that it’s not quite as feature-rich as you’d like.

Stray does a great job at letting you act like a cat, turning a wide range of true-to-life feline behaviors into clever gameplay mechanics. But it’s much less successful at making you truly feel like a cat, as the game’s more conventional approach to its gameplay and story routinely shatters your immersion in odd ways. If you can suspend your disbelief and look past the missed opportunity of a more cohesive experience, however, there’s a lot to like in its moody cyberpunk world and varied challenges.

Taking the playstyle from Civilization V and launching it into space, Civilization: Beyond Earth introduces a number of interesting concepts into the series’ tried-and-true strategy formula. While the gameplay remains addictive, the learning curve here is steep, with lots of small details that demand your attention. What you make of it depends on your patience and ability to adapt to the cruelties of space.

Ghost of Tsushima falls short of the kind of gameplay we expect from developer Sucker Punch at this point, but then exceeds all other expectations in its storytelling and world building. Protagonist Jin Sakai and the rest of the cast are all fantastic characters, and the tale they tell is one worth experiencing—even in those moments where the gameplay may falter.

It's clear the team at Tiburon took a hard look at ways to bring the franchise back to its former glory. Some annoying bugs persist here and there, but overall, Madden NFL 13 stands as one of my favorite football experiences of this generation.

Death Mark may seem at first like a shallow horror take on the Japanese visual novel/adventure genre, but the deeper you dig into its tale of wayward spirits and cursed bystanders, the more its brutality is mixed with beauty. While it could have done more with the ideas it builds upon, it still results in an unexpectedly captivating experience that stands out from the crowd.

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.

The alchemy-infused RPG known as Atelier Ayesha is much like its titular character: unpolished and at times awkward, yet also unquestionably charming and endearing.

Thanks to a script that shifts gears too often and too rapidly, Beyond: Two Souls never really hits its narrative stride, but David Cage’s latest effort is still worth a look if you’re a fan of his singular approach to interactive storytelling.

A few curious design choices and a lack of enjoyable single-player content hold World Tour back, but the golf basics are as solid as they’ve ever been, and the online multiplayer does wonders to help breathe new life into the series.

The concept might seem a bit gimmicky at first glance, but Baller Beats is a well made, respectable peripheral-driven rhythm game in the tradition of Dance Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero. Some technical limitations keep the game from outright greatness, but there's a lot of fun-and real world benefits-to be had here.

Mario Kart 8 looks spectacular, sounds impressive, and delivers solid racing action worthy of the series. But it’s also that rare Nintendo game that manages to be less than the sum of its impressive parts thanks to some ill-advised design choices, half-baked ideas, and gimped Battle Mode.