WWE 2K22 is a fantastic game and one of the better offerings in the 2K era of the long-running franchise. The core gameplay isn’t quite as solid as it was in 2K19, but that’s something that can be improved upon later in some ways with things like a patch at least being able to do things like address locking in carry holds. The planned post-launch content map showcases a lot of legendary characters throughout WWE history and the launch DLC with the multi-era Undertaker and NWO content is excellent and makes recreating some of WCW’s most memorable feuds a breeze.

Like the original, GRID Legends aims to not only offer many kinds of racing, but do them at a fairly high level. That is a lofty goal, but one that is largely achieved albeit with a few odd sacrifices. The exciting on-track action is undercut by only the story mode having a bumping soundtrack, and that’s just a bizarre move that I don’t recall saying in a modern-day racer. Franchise fatigue is a real thing and the GRID reboot was hurt by being a series of races with no framework, while everything in GRID Legends has a sense of purpose to it that helps keep a “one more race” mentality throughout each play session. It’s an outstanding racing game and one that fans of the genre should pick up.

As a whole, Horizon Forbidden West tops the original game even if it doesn’t reinvent the wheel in quite the same way. Much like how The Last of Us 2 had a lot to live up to and struggled to do so, but was a superior game technically, the same holds true here. The gameplay here is more exciting as is the moment-to-moment storytelling. The pacing is faster and with that comes a bit less time for the story to breathe at points. However, it’s still a great story overall and one that keeps the player engaged from start to finish. Forbidden West is a fantastic looking, sounding and playing experience that benefits from the addition of motion controls in way that few AAA-level games have showcased before. If you enjoyed the original game, be sure to pick up the sequel – although newcomers can enjoy the action just as much, as the story can be easy to get lost in without knowing the cast and the world.

Dark Souls fans rejoice! Elden Ring is exactly the game you have been hoping it would be, I think, and it is created in grand style. I feel pretty frustrated that the keyboard controls are either so broken or so poorly laid out that I just couldn’t figure them out, and I spent a lot of time trying to (and where some things lie in the menu system are crazy counterintuitive), and I installed it on two different machines to see if it was a hardware problem (note: didn’t help). Elden Ring actually made me want to go back and play Skyrim again, because it always seemed to me that GUI was very well laid out and just made sense. But for you gamepad guys, sharpen up your sword and get in there. You have blood to spill (a lot of which may be your own).

Overall, Gran Turismo 7 is the greatest entry in the series to date and the perfect gateway game for those who are lapsed fans of the series. It takes everything the series has done right while cutting back greatly on things that have bogged it down over the years and outside of the lootboxes, feels like about as perfect an entry in the series as one could imagine. The completely restructured career mode makes for a far more fun and engaging experience and the menu overhaul makes everything so much easier to do. It looks great, plays near-perfectly, and is the exact kind of game I always wanted from the series. Simply put, Gran Turismo 7 is a must-buy for racing fans.

For now, though, I’d give Dying Light 2 a strong recommendation. You do need to put up with its first rough couple of hours before it really comes together, and it’s got some sore spots here and there, but it’s a solid, well-designed, surprisingly optimistic zombie game. I’ve enjoyed my time with it so far.

So Age of Empires IV is well put together and polished to high hell. I wish that something new had been done to bring the RTS genre that has been sitting more or less idle for a decade or so into the modern era, but you can’t have everything, and I suspect that more stuff like a map editor will be added in the future. Beyond that, with the recently released AOE2 Definitive Edition, that title, now 22 years old and $30 cheaper, already comes with a map editor that AOE4 lacks, and roughly a trillion player-made maps, and is probably the better bargain for your gaming dollar, especially if somehow you never got around to playing it previously.

Forza Horizon 5 takes an already-amazing series and makes it better with a grander scale, but also an increase in quality. Even in its earliest days, it’s clear that the game will have a longer shelf life than prior entries thanks to the revamping of user-generated content adding more kinds of gameplay to the mix. Having things like obstacle courses thrown in helps evoke a bit of Project Gotham Racing, while the increase in NPCs and overall world-building makes for a better overall experience. Forza Horizon 5 is a more back-to-basics game in the sense that it puts the player on an ascendable ladder and doesn’t feel aimless like the prior two games – which in hindsight, were a bit unwieldy with regards to giving the player a set path to actually enjoy its many offerings. Forza Horizon 5 is the best entry in the series yet and should only get better as time goes on and more content is added.

Overall, Riders Republic is a fantastic game and the most addictive extreme sports game on the market outside of maybe the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2 remake. The variety of sports enables the experience to remain fresh, while those wanting a greater challenge can enjoy more events faster by stepping their game up and going for a more all-encompassing experience with more tricks and tougher difficulty. Cross-generation buyers will be in for a far better experience on the PS5 thanks to the SSD speeding things up and making for a much smoother experience, but the PS4 version is impressive given the tech. If it wasn’t for the SSD’s speed, the feeling of both versions’ races would be quite similar and you can’t go wrong with any version.

On the whole, I really like B4B. I’d like to see the difficulty spikes addressed and some expanded PvP choices, both of which I think can and will be pretty easily added and fixed. I’m also hoping that more people start playing it, as most of the runs I’ve joined have at least one BOT in it and is often nothing but BOTs (and when I’m playing with nothing but BOTs, why do I have to wait for online server space to play it?). The BOTs are competent shooters, and use their player advantages pretty well, but have zero ability with regards to the additional level objectives – they won’t plant explosives or carry supplies, and they tend to hang near you, which is good from a survival perspective, but doesn’t help in finding weapon and healing caches. But for a team that plays well together, and I’m hoping to get my crew to move over from L4D, it’s a fine zombie run and gun.

Overall, Sonic Colors Ultimate is a must-buy for anyone who loved the original release – or who missed it and always wanted to try it out. On the PS4 and PS5, it plays wonderfully and our time netted zero issues either visually or with crashes. Some have reported issues on the Switch version and it seems like it would be best to wait for that one to get fixed-up before buying. However, if you’re playing on PlayStation and Xbox hardware, you’re in great shape to enjoy one of Sonic’s finest adventures ever and his best 3D outing in history.

As great as Marvel’s Avengers was, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy takes the framework of combat there and fine-tunes it.

With graphical refinements that create a better-looking experience, the PS5 version of Final Fantasy VII Remake is the best way to experience the core game, while Intermission is a finely-tuned side story. Yuffie is completely unlike any other character in the main adventure, and will make for a lot of fun to use when she takes on a bigger overall role in future entries of Remake. Anyone who held off until now to get the game will be happy to see just how much more of Midgar’s world is showcased in Remake versus the original release in ’97, and those wanting a faster-paced gameplay experience will love the action-centric take on FF VII’s ATB system. It’s a must-buy for long-time fans of the series and PS4 owners of the original full-on Remake release can upgrade to the PS5 version for free, with Intermission only costing $20.

After an iffy PS4 entry, Rift Apart delivers the full-on next generation experience for series fans and newcomers alike. It’s the best showcase game the PS5 has had yet and makes the on-board SSD shine in ways that truly impress when you take a step back to soak in just what’s happening in real-time.

Look, Mass Effect Legendary Edition isn’t bad. It’s good. It’s as good as a revamping of the original series all delivered in one sleek package can be. I’m just not sure who has been asking for that.

As it stands now, Biomutant is a flawed, but super-fun game that is well-worth picking up as long as you come into it with an open-mind and are prepared for an experience that may not top the charts visually, but offers a fun blend of combat that can’t be found anywhere else.

The game’s blend of an original Metroid-style progression system with a rogue-lite and a bit of Alien thrown in with the unknown nature of the world makes Returnal a compelling experience at all times. It looks and sounds great and controls like a dream – although it would be nice if gyroscopic aiming was added in later on for a bit more intuitive control.

Whenever I decide to try and play Outriders, I enjoy it, but it is a visible crapshoot whether it’ll crash or disconnect on me before I have the chance to do anything fun. Other players have reported losing their entire inventories or having consistent fatal errors. The game flat-out doesn’t feel complete. Again, though, I have cleared the story campaign, so Outriders has a few things going for it. I’d like to see a sequel that addresses some of this, by getting rid of the always-online functionality, ditching some of the petty annoyances like how fast travel works between zones, and generally getting the game to a place where it doesn’t crash every hour or so. As it stands, it’s good, but obnoxious, and might be better after a few solid patches.

The Groundhog Day of tile-based fantasy RPGs, Loop Hero is a unique, highly addictive and well-crafted roguelike that will have you saying, “just one more loop.” If this mix of genres intrigues you, I highly recommend you check the game out.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury is one of the best values on the Switch. It goes above and beyond the usual port jobs to create a whole new experience – one that fits the platform perfectly. You can easily lose hours playing stages to completion or kick back for five minutes and play a single stage in portable mode and have a blast. This is a very versatile adventure and one that all past and present fans of Mario should pick up.

If you’re a fan of older adventure games, like Syberia or Still Life, The Medium was made almost specifically for you. If you’re an old-school survival horror fan who doesn’t think the genre’s done better than Silent Hill 2 in 20 years, The Medium is very much in your wheelhouse. If you’re not in either of those categories, I’m not sure if you’d get past the first 20 minutes. For me, it’s a 90%, because I’ll be thinking about this one for a while, but I can’t give it more than an extremely qualified recommendation.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game – Complete Edition is a must-buy for any fans of beat ‘em ups who missed it the first time around. With the game hitting all consoles and PC via the Epic Games Store, it is now going to be archived for a much longer period of time and its reach won’t be as limited as it was before. The gameplay is satisfying and it remains one of the best brawlers ever – with a top-tier combo system and soundtrack that is as fun to listen to now as it was a decade ago. The included DLC from the original game’s release adds extra value as well, and gives the game an even longer shelf life.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla has new stuff, at least to me, but keep in mind that I missed Origins and Odyssey and a slew of other titles. Still, it’s another AC game, at the core a lot like other AC games. If you’ve played the other 22 titles, and somehow (I can’t imagine how) want more, have at it. If, like me, you’ve missed more titles than you thought humanly possible, it’s not a bad place to jump back in. I’ve been enjoying myself. What more could you want out of a game?

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is an all-killer, no-filler follow-up to the 2018 classic – and has managed to unseat it as the best Spider-Man game ever made. It takes all of the same core gameplay and fine-tunes it while cutting out a lot of the bloat and telling a better story to boot. It looks gorgeous on any console you play it on, but PS5 users do get a boost in graphics and the added tension on the trigger when you’re swinging helps a bit with immersion when compared to the normal DualShock 4 controller. Anyone who loved the original game will enjoy this, and you may very well come away from it digging it more than that.

Overall, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered may very well be the best Need For Speed game on modern hardware. There’s something about the more focused menu-centric system in place here that makes it more fun to go back and forth between racing and police action, and the retooled graphics and sound do a lot to help make the game more intense than ever before. If you enjoyed the game the first time around, it’s better now and feels more modern than one would expect for something that isn’t a ground-up remake. For anyone who missed it, you can now enjoy a better-looking, better-sounding, and better-playing version of one of the best racing games of the past decade.

Overall, DIRT 5 fixes everything that was iffy about the prior entry and does so in a way that breathes new life into the long-running series. DIRT 5 has smoother controls and more versatile framerate options than prior entries have had – at least on consoles – and the addition of non-position objectives helps makes races more replayable and a bit more fun since you may have to step outside of your comfort zone, or more accurately, increase your comfort zone over time, to fully embrace it. DIRT 5 clicks with the player faster than any prior entry and is an absolute must-play for anyone who has loved the series before, or who hasn’t and wants to start fresh. There’s no better rally racer on the market than DIRT 5.

Overall, Crash Bandicoot 4 is the best-playing entry in the series and a must-buy for fans – even with some cumbersome jank on its backend. It’s one of the finest platformers of the last decade and manages to seamlessly combine and transition between 2D sidescrolling and 3D platforming better than anything on the market. It plays like a dream and anyone who wanted a new Crash game in the style of the old ones will be happy, as will those hoping that core game design would be taken to the next level.

Serious Sam 4 is another iteration on a successful formula of pedal-to-the-metal first-person shooters, and at its best, it’s a pure shot of adrenaline that can remind anyone from cynics to novices why the FPS took off in the first place. It needs some more time in the oven and a few coats of paint before it’s done, though. By the time it hits consoles in 2021, SS4 ought to be well worth anyone’s time, particularly as a co-op game.

WWE 2K Battlegrounds is definitely not the perfect arcade-style WWE experience, but it’s a far better game than I expected going in with minimal bugs and issues. As a workprint for the future, it’s rock-solid and can easily lead to the Battlegrounds games being a great breather between simulation-based entries in the series going forward. Hopefully we’ll see things like customizable movesets be added into future installments – but as it stands, this is a great way to enjoy some pick up and play WWE action on any gaming platform you have.

It’s a great-looking and sounding game, but one that definitely needs some fine-tuning with the loading and quality of life issues that hamper the experience. Still, the good far outweighs the bad, and Marvel’s Avengers ends up being one of the best superhero experiences ever put in a video game.

I think for the story lore alone, I’d play Wasteland 3. Add into it some mid-level tactical combat, a wide-open character progression tree, and a pretty sick sense of humor, and I think I’ve found a winner.

Overall, Battletoads succeeds far more than I ever could have imagined going in. It’s a great time for beat ‘em up revivals with both Streets of Rage 4 and now Battletoads bringing the goods. Battletoads is packed with even more variety than the original series and features smoother action, with a couple of small caveats that hurt the gameplay slightly. Still, it’s a gorgeous-looking and sounding game with top-shelf voice work and a surprisingly successful turn to a comedy-heavy story that works far better than prior, more serious tales. The revival of the Battletoads is a huge success when it comes to offering up a high-quality experience, and it’s a fitting entry in a beloved series that winds up being one of the best brawlers ever.

EA Sports UFC 4 is EA’s strongest MMA game yet, even if it isn’t quite all it could be. The career mode is top-shelf, but it’s still a bit disappointing to not see PRIDE replicated in an EA UFC game when they had their own expy for its follow-up in DREAM in EA MMA. Still, EA Sports UFC 4 manages to deliver the best-playing MMA action in company history and maybe we’ll see some new content down the road to fill in some of the gaps in mode selection and the roster. As it stands, this is a must-play game for MMA fans and finally provides a satisfying, easy to learn submission system that makes the entirety of MMA action enjoyable for players of all skill levels.

If you don’t usually go for this kind of game, if you just can’t get enough open-world action, and/or you’re a massive mark for samurai movies, Ghost of Tsushima is a perfectly good game with an amazing presentation. Its biggest problem is that it’s Yet Another Open-World Game, and if you haven’t played all the others, this is one of the best places to start. This score is for me, as I can’t really get into Ghost due to how repetitive it feels, but newer players can safely tack on another 10 points or more.

The Last of Us Part II takes everything that made the first game such a sea of change in the industry and amplifies it. We have seen Naughty Dog itself raise the bar and while this is easily their best PS4 game, I think the original game’s narrative ever so slightly tops the sequel even if the scope is larger with a more expansive cast. Part II plays better than the first, with more involved stealth and combat along with many quality of life improvements to make it a more enjoyable experience. In terms of all-time great games, it is right up there with the original and you can flip a coin on which is “better”. The original hooks you more right away, while the sequel is more of a slow burn that builds everything up just a bit more. The Last of Us Part II is Naughty Dog’s finest game yet.

Overall, Minecraft Dungeons is a well-meaning game that succeeds far more than it falters. The core action-based dungeon-crawling gameplay loop is far more fun than others like it and puts the emphasis on fun than grinding. There are many upsides to this, but there is a bit lost when it comes to the story – which is rather barren. However, if you want to get into dungeon-crawlers, this is a great way to go about it. It works as an action RPG, or just a core action-based game with stats to keep track of every now and then. It looks great on the Xbox One and PC, and while it falls a bit short on Switch, its smaller dungeon size is perfect for the Switch’s at-home or on-the-go nature.

Don’t get me wrong; it’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination. But given that XCOM2 is over four years old, I was expecting something more and better, and I feel like Gears: Tactics delivered neither.

Overall, while it isn’t perfect and doesn’t quite feature some of the more versatile quality of life features in the genre – Streets of Rage 4 still delivers an incredible experience. The increased focus on the narrative works surprisingly well despite the genre being known for having razor-thin plots. The combat flows smoothly. Long-time fans will love the latest entry in the series, while newcomers may want to start with an earlier entry as some of the humor and fun is tied a bit too deeply into callbacks to really work on a series newcomer. The game looks great, plays even better, and has one of the finest OSTs in the genre’s history. The 25-year wait for Streets of Rage 4 was worth it.

Overall, Final Fantasy VII Remake is a must-buy for fans of the original – but with some caveats attached. Those going into it expecting the complete FF VII experience from start to finish with a new gameplay setup and graphics will be disappointed, while those going in knowing that it is part of the overall package, just with a poor name choice, will wind up quite happy with it. Being able to go between a more classic gameplay approach or a modernized one offers up a lot of freedom to players, while the story itself remains my favorite in franchise history – and it’s now told with more depth and detail than ever before. The revamped graphics aren’t perfect – but do a better job on the whole of conveying the story, while the voice work helps it gain a new level of gravitas that wasn’t there before.

The game as a whole has a curve like an electrocardiogram: when it's good, it's really good, and when it’s bad, it’s awful.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps succeeds where the original game faltered while maintaining everything that made it work. The spirit of the first game lives on with a touching tale of life, love, and loss that just so happens to have some of the tighest combat in a side-scrolling game on the market today. It’s a more exciting game than the original and an improvement on something that was already so well-crafted is quite an accomplishment. Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a must-play game for anyone who loves side-scrolling action-platformers and sends you on an emotional journey from beginning to end.

Dreams is a must-have for anyone who has wanted to create a game but didn’t have the know-how to make all of the elements work together. Dreams does a better job of teaching you about game logic than any toolset I’ve used, and makes it fun. It’s perfect for any age range and can foster creativity in its users for years to come.

The core of what made Shenmue so special before is retained, and Yu Suzuki’s ability to keep the story flowing seamlessly for 20 years is remarkable. If you loved the first games, get this as soon as you can. If you haven’t tried the series, then the remastered version is the best way to start and then grab this when you feel ready.

I’m completely and totally immersed in this world, but at the same time kind of wondering about the “gameness” of what I’m doing, which is often less about thrilling adventure and more about Zen and the art of horseback riding, which makes it kind of a unique experience, and for me one worth having.

Need For Speed Heat is a return to form for the series and the best entry this generation. The racing action is top-shelf and the day to night shift in gameplay focus keeps things fresh.

While MediEvil has a couple of rough edges, the core game is more fun than ever before thanks to an extensive reworking of the original mechanics.

Overall, I think Trine remains a clever little side-scrolling puzzler, which, four iterations in, is a genuinely pleasant surprise for me. The puzzles remain fresh, and build kind of organically as the game progresses, so the difficulty curve is rather constant throughout. The multiplayer isn’t all that great unless you have a friend and a yen to really play it that way. I’m at about the 75% point in just four hours of play, so I think something like 5-7 hours is about what you’ll get out of it, multiplayer aside. I seem to recall in an earlier review that I said that Trine takes the side scroller about as far as it can go, and I think that remains true of Trine 4 as well.

Overall, GRID is a very good game – but one that fails to fully find its own voice. One thing that defined the series when it began was a unique team-based premise and a defined structure to its career mode. You had a sense of identity there that isn’t present now and it hurts the overall experience. Fortunately, the core racing action is still top-shelf and the nemesis system keeps you glued to the race and doing your best to either avoid contact or exploit it depending on your play style. This reboot isn’t my favorite in the franchise, but it is the best-playing on-track experience even if the rest of the game doesn’t quite match its greatness.

Yooka-Laylee: The Impossible Lair manages to outshine the franchise’s debut effort in every major way. The game’s design remains open to an extent, but greatly focuses in on what you need to do – cutting down on a lot of busy work. The fast-paced action feels perfect and manages to out-Donkey Kong Country the Returns series as a result of nailing the pacing that made the original DKC trilogy so addicting on the SNES. The action meshes perfectly with the lush graphics and robust soundtrack to create one of the finest side-scrolling platformers on the market today. The Impossible Lair is a must-buy for any platforming fan.

The game is very polished and smooth – I hit zero bugs while playing it, and didn’t have to download a 10GB patch the day after it was released, and Gearbox should be congratulated for that if nothing else. So if what you’re looking for is more Borderlands, this would be the place to find it.

Overall, Samurai Shodown has some rough edges to it – but fewer than any entry has had in around 20 years. It’s the best-playing entry in the series since the legendary second installment, and stands out nicely even in today’s crowded field of fighters. Much like it did in the early ’90s, by being different than the pack with its feudal Japanese setting and story, it allows the core game to be different even if the framework is still a single-plane fighter. It’s a must-play for any lapsed fans of the series and will not only rekindle old memories, but forge new ones for all who play it.

Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled is just about perfect at what it’s trying to do. The redone adventure mode is a blast minus the grind required to get coins to unlock stuff, and the core gameplay has been refined. This results in the best-playing Crash racing game ever and yet another top-shelf kart racer. Right now, the genre is as big as it’s been in 20 years, with Sonic, Mario, and Crash all competing at stores and the best thing for players is that you can’t go wrong with any of them. Crash offers up a tremendous game overall and it’s definitely an experience I would put above Team Sonic Racing, but ever so slightly behind Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

I played almost all of last weekend, and just stopped playing an hour ago, and I have no specific memory of any of it. Some driving, some shooting. I can hardly recall the boss battles except the ones that stood out as awful. Come to think of it, beyond general feelings that I liked it, I have no memories of Rage 1 either. And that’s Rage 2 in a nutshell: good enough, not great, entirely forgettable.

Overall, Team Sonic Racing is hurt ever-so-slightly by not keeping the transformative aspects of the last Sonic racing game – but that is largely offset by the team-based nature of things. Unlike OnRush, the team-based side of things is pretty seamless and feels like a natural extension of the single character-centric style from before. The tracks are outstanding and feature a slew of new environments for a Sega-based racer, while the controls are great for the relative car class. The game plays like a dream, looks great, and sounds fantastic. No matter what platform you get it on, you’re in for a fun time.

Overall, I enjoyed the time I spent with A Plague Tale: Innocence. It’s unique in premise and content, it looks and sounds good, and it doesn’t overstay its welcome. I probably would have liked it even better if it had stayed more stealthy than action-oriented, but I’m not going to complain. A Plague Take definitely isn’t for kids — violence and gruesome deaths abound, and there is also some (completely unnecessary) profanity — but for everyone else, it’s a worthwhile game to check out, just perhaps at a slightly cheaper price.

It’s a must-buy for anyone who has craved a new Burnout game and physical buyers of the console version get Danger Zone 2 as a freebie – essentially bringing back Crash mode and providing more value for the money.

Trials Rising is a mixed bag of an experience that still manages to deliver a ton of thrills in spite of some flaws. The F2P mobile elements feel completely out of place, as does the awful attempt at world-building. The series CAN do plot right, as Blood Dragon showed, with over the top goofiness. This is a series of racing-related events alongside some tricks at times and the game as a whole is a physics showcase. It’s the best-playing entry in the series so far, with a lot of robust tracks, but the experience is marred. It’s a recommended purchase for veterans, but newcomers are better-served by getting one of the older and far less expensive entries to see if you like what the series has to offer.

A fantastic return to form for an underrated franchise.

Kingdom Hearts 3 ends the current era of the series wonderfully. It ties many once-confusing parts of the narrative together. The story still has a few cumbersome points, but a lot of effort has gone into making the obtuse narrative easier to follow. The end result is the finest entry in the series in many ways, with stunning graphics and whimsical sound design. Kingdom Hearts 3 takes many elements from the first game’s structure and is better for it, with a greater emphasis on the Disney side of things that has been seen in over a decade, and some nice gameplay improvements.

If you’re familiar with the original, you’ll find a peculiar blend of nostalgia and surprise here, along with a faithful update of the survival-horror mechanics that put the genre over the top; if you aren’t, this is a tense, suspenseful ride, with likeable characters and a surprisingly grounded plot. I’ve got more than a few nitpicks–Claire needs better guns–but if this turned out to be the pilot project for a new generation of survival horror, I’d be ecstatic.

Overall, Just Cause 4 is a fairly big improvement as an experience compared to the third entry. It doesn’t quite reach the heights of the second, which felt like the franchise’s peak at the time and has remained so to this day. This game lacks the thrill of “wow, the series is truly finding itself” – akin to Saints Row the Third doing that for the Saints Row games, and while it is better than the third entry, that’s a fairly low bar to fly over given how many issues plagued the console versions of the game. It performs a lot better, at the expense of the core graphics suffering a bit. The core gunplay and frantic action are better now than before though, but something still feels missing in the overall experience.

Technically, BFV remains a really nicely constructed game for the most part. The weapons feel and sound great. The environments of snow and water and sand are stunning. The game is relatively bug free (other than AI shortcomings) and the servers are stable. The menu structures however are terrible, with a layout reminiscent of the windows tiles and a functionality that would best be described as counterintuitive. Sometimes I found myself just clicking on boxes almost randomly, curious where they would take me because I didn’t really know.

The Spyro Reignited Trilogy is a fantastic remake of some flawed games and with that comes a mixed bag of a recommendation. If you’re a series veteran and absolutely love collect-a-thons now as much as you did then, pick it up and you’ll have a lot of fun. If you’re new to the series and have access to the PS1 games via a PS1, PS2, or PS3 digitally, see if the formula is for you. As remakes go, this is a far more thorough one than even the Crash Bandicoot one and in that sense, it’s a better collection for PS1 classic fans – but the game themselves lack variety and feel a bit too similar to one another to recommend a full-price purchase right out of the gate.

The primary problem with 2018’s Call of Cthulhu is simply that it’s a Cthulhu game, done as straight as it possibly can be. In a game that’s mostly about its story, it’s a detriment that its story is thus extremely predictable.

Red Dead Redemption 2’s elusive, mysterious quality may be just that… it feels like every character in it has a soul. Considering the number of people across Rockstar’s entire studio roster that poured their blood, sweat and tears into this game it is no wonder that it actually feels alive.

Newcomers who have heard of that game’s legend may want to wait for a demo or a price drop – but at only $20, this is one of the rare games out there you can blind buy and get a lot of enjoyment out of without worrying about buyer’s remorse. It plays like a dream, looks good, and is a satisfying score-based game that makes you want to keep playing to do better – not force you into doing so.

Overall, WWE 2K19 is an evolutionary step forward for the series – but a big one. The return of the showcase mode offers up a lot to enjoy for fans of Daniel Bryan while the MyCareer mode brings things back that worked before – but tells a far better narrative than most. The debuting 2K Towers offer an ever-present challenge and are sure to make even seasoned players wince a time or two, and the revamped gameplay for things like striking and cage-related modes allows for more realistic matches than prior entries across the board.

Shadows: Awakening could use a longer power curve, or to dole out some more significant fights or abilities, to keep things from feeling stale. It’s the best possible version of what it is, but after a while, a lot of the shine wore off and it started feeling like a particularly violent part-time job. Still, if you’re looking for a new dungeon crawler, this is a pretty good one, and I did enjoy the first twelve hours or so.

Mega Man 11 is coming at a time of great unrest for the character and this shows that the franchise can be done quite well even with new people at the helm. It takes the best of what worked before and manages to add new things in to make it feel modern and more than just a retread of the past. It’s a great buy for anyone who has either loved Mega Man, or wanted to see what the fuss was about.

If the Horizon series is new to you, then this is a great one to start with – as it’s very user-friendly and allows you to tweak more of the world now than ever before. It has a lot of content, controls like a dream, and looks and sounds fantastic. Forza Horizon 4 has all the ingredients to deliver a fulfilling experience for quite some time.

The Kiwami reissues of the older titles are exactly what fans have wanted all of these years. The fact that we’re getting them on a fast and furious basis is testament to the fact that there was a considerable market just waiting for this to happen. Yakuza Kiwami 2 is one of the best entries yet, and let us all hope that the trend of releasing these quality remasters continues on through the ones that remain. Despite Kiryu’s swan song having been sung with Yakuza 6, I would personally look forward to a few more outings through Japan in his white Travolta-esque disco suit.

Overall, Blade Strangers is a must-buy for fighting game fans. Switch owners will love having a fighter on the go that actually works well in that format – as the controls are such that you can comfortably play them in portable mode unlike the Street Fighter games. It’s a great-looking and playing game that has enough depth for die-hard brawlers, but is also easy to learn and fun to play at all skill levels. The robust roster may not be huge in number – but there is more variety in play types here, and it’s easy to find at least a handful of characters you’ll want to play as regularly.

Marvel’s Spider-Man is the best gaming representation of the legendary comic book character to date. Insomniac nailed the smartass tone that has been his calling card better than anyone else and the core action is faster here, with a solid blend of combat and world exploration. It looks great and controls like a dream. Spider-Man has had his troubles in gaming, but Insomniac’s effort checks all the boxes for a top-shelf Spidey experience and delivers a solid storyline that brings its own unique universe to the mix to tell an all-new tale that keeps you engaged and adds some gravitas to everything you do.

The racing itself is reasonably good as are the graphics – despite them having a lot of little flaws. The sound design is solid, but the soundtrack lacks any soul and that holds true for the voice work. Still, it’s a fun time and fans of many kinds of racing will find something to enjoy.

Overall, I liked Frostpunk, but it felt like half of the campaign was missing. Just when I got to the point where I understood the rules and how to play the game, it was over. Still, Frostpunk is challenging and interesting, and it has a unique setting that brings in some new gameplay mechanics, so it’s worthwhile to try out.

Dragon’s Crown Pro remains an outstanding brawler/action RPG hybrid even five years after its initial release. It’s got satisfying gameplay, an enjoyable storyline with some twists and turns, and gorgeous graphics.

God of War has a far grander scale than either Horizon Zero Dawn or The Last of Us and tugs on different emotional heartstrings while still making you care about the cast. This is the best incarnation of Kratos yet and one of the finest experiences on the PlayStation 4.

Yakuza 6 is a strong entry in the series (although it takes a back seat to Yakuza 0), and a very fitting wrap up to Kazuma Kiryu’s storyline. All in all, this is a smaller, more refined game than we are used to with a few missing pieces (likely a result of the new game engine that is still being perfected). It manages to deliver almost as much fun and insanity as its predecessors in a smaller amount of real estate.

Far Cry 5 is a breathe of fresh air for the Far Cry franchise. Ubisoft’s open-world design continues to evolve in mostly positive ways, granting players more freedom than ever before while presenting more engrossing story and side missions with memorable NPCs to help keep the gameplay loop from getting repetitive. If you’re a fan of Far Cry or first-person shooters in general, Far Cry 5 is an easy recommendation.

Overall, Burnout Paradise Remastered is the best way to experience the game. While it does have some rough edges caused by time moving forward and work not being done to better-modernize it, the game is still a riot. It’s a must-own for anyone who likes fast racing action, and hopefully leads to more Burnout games getting re-released on modern platforms so more players can enjoy them.

Overall, Gravel is Milestone’s finest game to date. It combines a surprisingly high amount of racing types together and does an exceptional job with all of them. The handling is far better than most of their prior work, and the level of on-screen excitement is at its highest point yet as well. There are some rough edges when it comes to the overall presentation, and the FMV-laden story mode of sorts is somewhat of a groaner, but it doesn’t take away from how fun the core racing action is. It uses rumble better than most games on the market today as well – at least for Xbox One controller users, and is a solid pickup for anyone craving some off-road racing.

Is Civilization XX worth $59.99? Note that I use XX to illustrate a random Civilization series entry, and not, dear God, Civilization 20. Except for the hardcore Civ folks (and there are a lot of them), the question often seems to result in the answer, no, keep playing Civilization XX-1 and wait for the price to drop, and in this case, as a $29.99 expansion pack, I feel that Rise and Fall does too little to merit going full price. It won’t drag me away from Civ V, but for people who liked VI, Rise and Fall does succeed in prolonging the sweet middle game competition between the early it takes me 20 turns to create a settler and I own the world and just need to wait to finish conquering everything.

Fe is a well-crafted game from beginning to end. The adventure isn’t the longest in the world, but is rewarding and fun while it lasts. The platforming is mostly great, with a couple of nagging issues holding it back, while the larger-scale world-usage gives the adventure a greater sense of scope than most platformers. Its neon-soaked graphics and atmospheric soundtrack makes it a joy for both the eyes and the ears, and anyone with a thirst for a new platforming adventure should give it a shot.

I probably enjoyed Railway Empire more than I should have. I liked laying down tracks and adding switches and figuring out how to move a multitude of trains around without them causing traffic jams and blockages. But the game is a little on the casual side to suit me completely, it only includes early trains in the United States, and it has enough interface and gameplay problems right now that I’m only giving it a minor recommendation. Railway Empire is best suited to people who like trains and simulations, or who played Railroad Tycoon back in the day and have been wishing for it to make a comeback.

The definitive way to experience one of the best adventure games of the past 15 years. On the PS2, it came off like a game that was too ambitious for the hardware. The PS3 version was hamstrung by being too close to the PS2 original for authenticity, while the remake takes the core game’s concept and shows you how it can be done with modern-day hardware. The experience is incredible on both PS4 and PS4 Pro hardware and a must-buy for anyone who always wanted to play the game but didn’t have either the hardware to do it or the time to play it before.

Overall, EA Sports UFC 3 is the best entry in the franchise yet – but falls a bit short of being the best MMA game ever. The roster is lean on legends, which hurts the ability to do dream matches compared to games like UFC Undisputed 3. The career mode is a huge improvement over past games and the revamped bobbing and weaving system makes combat more enjoyable and intuitive. Anyone who has enjoyed past entries can safely pick up this incarnation and jump right in, while newcomers would be best served trying out prior versions to avoid being in over their head.

Lost Sphear is an outstanding game, taking most of what made I Am Setsuna memorable and topping it. Lost Sphear doesn’t fare quite as well when it comes to the soundtrack, but its battle system is vastly superior and one of the most enjoyable battle systems I’ve played in a JRPG in years. It keeps the turn-based system that many have used before and puts new twists on it to keep it fresh – so while the plot itself goes with a lot of tried and true turns, the battles feel much newer. It isn’t a perfect game, but does a better job of merging the genre’s past tropes with modern-day gaming conventions than Tokyo RPG Factory’s debut effort and is a must for any fan of JRPGs.

The writing is good enough, and the dialogue is acted well enough (especially by Rhianna DeVries as Chloe), that Before the Storm is a worthwhile experience. As an adult male, I’m probably about as far away from the game’s target demographic as one can get, and yet I still enjoyed it more than I didn’t. So if you were a fan of the first game and you want to learn more about its world and its characters, then you should definitely check out Before the Storm. But if you haven’t played Life is Strange yet, then I’d recommend you try that game first and then proceed from there.

However, as an overall product, A Hat in Time is a must-buy for any 3D platforming fan. The pacing is superb in every stage, and there’s far more variety here than in any 3D platformer released in the past decade. The game definitely has some rough edges – but they’re a bit like eating a fine meal on a cracked plate. The overall experience is so great that you don’t remember the small nagging issues very much. The camera could definitely use some work, and the soundtrack may not be the most memorable ever – but it’s genuinely great, as is the voice work. It’s clear that this was a passion project, and it’s one of the finest crowd-funded projects ever made.

In short, The Sims 4 on consoles is designed to appeal to fans of the series that may not already have a copy on their PC or don’t have a new enough PC to run it. That leaves a limited audience for this game to those who are not hardcore enough to own it on PC, but interested enough to buy on consoles. Add in the fact that EA made very little effort toward making the execution of the game cater to the console audience (and left a considerable amount of bugs un-patched), one begins to wonder how many copies they actually plan on selling. If you can run this game on your PC, save yourself the headache and enjoy it there. If the console version is your only option and you can overlook the multitude of technical issues, the rest of the game does deliver the Sims goodness for which you laid out your precious simoleons.

Overall, Okami HD on modern hardware is the best way to play this classic title. The increase in resolution and graphical fidelity goes a long way towards ensuring that this is the definitive edition of the game for the foreseeable future. The core game is so good that even with over a decade passing since its original release, it’s still an excellent experience overall – despite a few rough edges with the presentation. Okami has never been a perfect game, and the flaws are part of its charm at times. Anyone who hasn’t had a chance to enjoy it should do so now, while veterans will definitely appreciate the visual boost here.

I can almost picture the early pitch sessions for Call of Duty: WWII in which they conceived of a game that has something for everyone. But if everyone gets something, no one gets everything. If I were in charge, I would have scrapped the no doubt very expensive but entirely lackluster single player campaign entirely and focused on the core multiplayer, making more maps and expanding on the War concept, which works quite well. The co-op works reasonably well, and pleasantly scratches that itch for people who prefer to work as a team against AI rather than people. So Call of Duty: WWII is a pleasantly rounded package which lands it solidly in the middle of the everything pack.

I’ve been lukewarm about most of Telltale’s games lately, but I really liked Guardians of the Galaxy. It handles the transition between jokes and drama well, your decisions are tougher and more meaningful than you usually see, the writing and voice acting are excellent, and the action sequences are simple and infrequent enough that they don’t derail the game. So if you haven’t played a Telltale game in a while, Guardians of the Galaxy is certainly one to check out.

Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds is an outstanding expansion that not only tells its own story, but makes the main game better and more rewarding to play as well. Lapsed fans should make sure they’re at a solid level of at least 25 or so if they want a good challenge, and going back into the world of Horizon Zero Dawn is a blast. Aloy’s new abilities greatly expand her riding skills and the new cast of characters provides another set of people for Aloy to interact with and continue a bit of her journey. It controls wonderfully, looks gorgeous and has some top-notch acting as well. At $20, it provides a hefty amount of content and never feels like a cash grab – it’s a rare piece of DLC that makes the core game better.

I’m torn between calling Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus brave or merely unexpected. The core of The New Colossus remains as good as, and largely unchanged from, the earlier game. It’s great, explosive, and violent. The other half, so to speak, the heavy emphasis on story doesn’t drive the FPS experience so much as shift your focus into directions that FPS games don’t normally go. That’s not to say that FPS games don’t tell a story or even a complex story (Bioshock told an incredibly involved story and even explored the extrapolation of a Randian economics as a political movement), but they rarely (AFAIK never) attempt to tell a story so full of sadness and self-examination. The two parts sometimes fit well, sometimes less than well, and I think individual gamers will react very differently to the result.

Need For Speed Payback isn’t perfect – but it’s a nice step up from prior entries. Outside of Rivals, the series has really struggled over the past five or so years to really find its own way. The FMV-filled reboot wasn’t the right answer, and going for an action movie-styled variant is great for an ad campaign – but doesn’t make for a great campaign itself. Fortunately, the racing action and cop chases that litter the campaign make it worth playing. It looks great in motion, even if the action doesn’t hold up very well. The cop chases are exciting and the point-to-point races bring a level of arcade-style thrill that the series definitely benefits from.

From one of the minds that brought us the Resident Evil series, The Evil Within 2 serves as a survival horror delight. It’s a jolting, excellent tale of horror and mystery with a strong story and a driving narrative, plus a multitude of side quests and sub-plots to keep even the most seasoned players engaged and thrilled. It is not a perfectly executed game by any means, but, like the original game, the flaws tend to get buried under the bloody heap of viscera and terror players will experience should they decide to pick up a copy.

Super Mario Odyssey has a few flaws, but the end result is Mario’s grandest and best 3D adventure to date. There is so much to do and enjoy that this game should give players years of fun, even if they aren’t out to complete every single quest and grab every moon.