Frostpunk is one of the best sim games to come out in decades. If you want a more bleak and depressing twist on the age old genre of city management, this is your game.

God of War takes everything good about the franchise and elevates it. Almost every aspect is polished to a fine sheen, with a particular standout being the world itself, and the new emphasis on telling a mature and meaningful story that explores remarkably complex themes. God of War sets a new bar for storytelling and world building in games, and transforms Kratos from a one note character to a fascinating man with a story worth hearing. If you have a PS4, this is a must have title.

It’s a cute concept that will keep you enthralled for well more than 60 seconds.

Sea of Thieves has glimmers of promise and is gorgeous to look at, but single player play is virtually worthless, and the repetitive nature of the quests and empty world leave the game feeling incomplete and overpriced as of now.

If you’re a fan of the Far Cry series, Far Cry 5 is a definite must-have. The gameplay is familiar, but there are shiny new features that are a blast to play with.

A Way Out is a fun ride that shows off a great cooperative experience, an interesting story, and some of the coolest camera work to ever grace a video game.It’s an extremely smooth experience with very few rough edges. That said, it lacks some of the content we’ve come to expect from interactive stories, which makes it a fun ride, but not something that you’ll likely return to again and again.

Despite my frustrations with its shortcomings, I want to see where The Council leads me, and if it manages to deliver a narrative payoff in spite of itself.

Kirby Star Allies is an incredibly fun Kirby game that will please fans of the franchise. If only there were a little bit more of it.

Ni No Kuni II could have been genre-defining, but really, really good is just going to have to do instead. The way that the beautiful visuals meld together with Joe Hisaishi’s breathtaking score is nothing short of remarkable and it all combines together for something that feels genuinely earnest and charming. While far from perfect, Ni No Kuni II is an easy recommendation for fans of JRPGs both old and new.

Celeste is one of the most entertaining 2D platformers in recent years. It'll defeat you from time to time, but its inviting controls, level design, and presentation will keep you coming back until you persevere and overcome every challenge thrown your way.

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is an excellent evolution of the formula set out by its predecessor and offers up some of the most intense, gory, and fast-paced co-op action you can find in any genre.

The experience is heavily bogged down by a clunky overworld and purely disruptive gamification of an otherwise pleasant collection of stories.

You can squeeze a few hours of fun out of Scribblenauts Showdown, but frankly this isn’t the next-generation Scribblenauts game that fans of the original were hoping for. It has fewer puzzles, worse controls and less replay value than any other Scribblenauts title.

Unfortunately lacks the originality it so desperately needs to really stand out from the pack. Even though the art style is striking and bold, combined with an inventive cultural focus, the gameplay and overall design weigh it down to be little more than a passable action adventure title.

Dandara proves that there's still originality in a decades-old genre. It changes the way you control the player character, breaking from Metroidvania traditions, and creates new types of puzzles and methods of progression along the way.

Owlboy tells a story of failure, redemption, and heroism with an excellent art style to prop up an addictive and creative platformer that continually throws new game mechanics at you to keep things fresh. It’s hard to put down once you get started.

Whether you really wanted it this way or not, Age of Empires: Definitive Edition is about as pure of a remaster as you’re ever going to find. The visuals and sound are all upgraded for a modern era without changing the heart of the game. However, with the vastly superior Age of Empires II HD already in existence with five years of community built up around it, there is little reason to recommend this game unless you’re just dying to play extremely early era civilizations.

Secret of Mana’s remake is fun because Secret of Mana was fun. However, Square could have done a lot better, especially with a beloved classic such as this.

Sprint Vector is an immensely entertaining VR racing experience that handles movement in a very unique way. If you’re looking for a Mario Kart style VR game, you’ve found it.

If you can look past the annoying bugs and obtuse mechanics, Kingdom Come: Deliverance’s strong sense of believable, historical realism will undoubtedly cast a spell on anyone that gives the game a chance. This is a must-play for fans of lifestyle simulators and medieval RPGs.

Octogeddon doesn’t have the same charm or polish as Plants VS Zombies, but it’s a refreshing new take on the bullet hell genre. The concept is zany and feels like a thin veil laid over simplistic game mechanics in the vein of Divekick, but the excellent animated cutscenes bring coherence to it all. Ultimately, Octogeddon is a good time-waster, but not much more.

Under Night In-Birth EXE: Late{st} is a fighting game that deserves to be played but will inevitably be overshadowed by its competition. It’s a shame because its $50 price tag is worth it for the tutorial alone.

Shadow of the Colossus is a veritable masterpiece from top to bottom and will surely be remembered as one of the greatest games ever made.

Monster Hunter: World is the type of game that will take over your life. The world is massively detailed with tons of things to do and it will undoubtedly end up yielding some of the very best gaming moments of the year -- guaranteed.

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT will appeal to longtime fans of the Final Fantasy series, but anyone looking for something more will be disappointed. Its bad user interface makes its good gameplay too hard to enjoy. Though it could have been more, Dissidia Final Fantasy NT ended up being nothing more than a fan-service franchise fighter, like all the rest.

Killing Floor: Incursion is a VR game that’s so close to being good that it’s upsetting how bad it actually is. There are moments when Incursion feels like the future of VR horror, but then you drop your gun for the 10th time while slowly moonwalking backwards away from a Fleshpounder and you want to scream in frustration and panic because the whole thing just feels like it doesn’t work. If you’re a die-hard fan of the Killing Floor franchise and happen to own an Oculus Rift, Incursion might be worth picking up for a steep discount, but if you’re on the HTC Vive we highly recommend you avoid this game until Tripwire gives it some TLC.

Dragon Ball FighterZ is fun on so many levels. I had fun with it as a competitive hardcore fighting game. I had fun with it as a hopeless screaming otaku. I even had fun grinding up Zeni to unlock characters and dress my lobby avatar up. I haven’t had this much fun with a fighting game in a very long time. DBFZ is one title that casuals and pros alike won’t want to miss.

Lost Sphear is a good game, a solid RPG with an enjoyable plot, solid systems, and a great soundtrack. If you need an RPG to hold you over until 2018’s bigger AAA RPG releases, then this is your game.