There's also no B-Wing, which frankly, is just unacceptable. But Squadrons does a lot of things right. And it's the closest thing we're to a new X-Wing or Tie Fighter we're going to get. Though it's a stand-alone game, it's also a fantastic complement to Battlefront 2's starfighter assault mode, giving aces new and old two very good options to choose from.

After a six-year absence, PlayStation’s knitted icon returns in stunning form in one of the year's best platformers. With an A-list cast, superb visuals, and some strong co-op gameplay, Sackboy: A Big Adventure successfully proves that Sackboy can thrive without LittleBigPlanet’s creation mechanics, all while still paying homage to his roots.

The 2020s resurgence of "boomer shooters" continues with Prodeus, one of the best examples of the subgenre, and one of the best games in it, period.

Somehow, Two Point Campus manages to find a great middle ground between easy-to-pick-up gameplay and deep management mechanics. There’s an undeniable, joyful glee spending hours meticulously placing items, seeing it turn into a massive well-oiled university. As stressful as you might think it’d be to run a school, Two Point Campus is nothing but fun.

There’s plenty of content to fight through in Darkest Dungeon 2. The team at Red Hook Studios kicked up their creativity to give us a fresh take on an already beloved game. The new mechanics make this seem like a completely new experience instead of the second title in a series. While the original was a hit, Darkest Dungeon 2 is a slam dunk of a sequel.

Overall, I found South Park: Snow Day to be an entertaining story with a fun twist on the usual D&D meets dungeon crawler experience. Not to mention, it’s a great option to play with friends. The gameplay was smooth and challenging all the way through, allowing me to change my style by trying different weapons and powers. With all its great features, it becomes instantly replayable. If you’re a South Park fan, it’s a must to try!

It's as great as most people say it is. There's not a conversation I want to skip, not a companion I want to ignore, and really not a single mission I want to decline. Mass Effect is the ultimate RPG. When so many of your actions affect the future of not just you and your friends, but potentially the entire universe, there's a great deal of responsibility on BioWare to deliver outcomes that feel worth one's time. Even acknowledging its final scene is notoriously polarizing, and you may come down harder on it than I do. Either way, the journey is well worth your time.

Guilty Gear Strive is the perfect time to get into this amazing series. It’s more accessible than ever and absolutely stunning to watch. There’s still room for improvement in terms of the single-player modes, and the whole retro online matching setup is quaint but just adds unnecessary complication to the multiplayer. Otherwise, this is a solid fighting game worth playing.

Disco Elysium’s expanded edition successfully builds upon an already excellent RPG, making it just as relevant today as it was in 2019.

Scarlet Nexus is slick, stylish, smartly executed, and just all-around cool. What I want most of all, having wrapped up Scarlet Nexus, is more.

Frostpunk 2 is a worthy successor to the original Frostpunk in every single way. It keeps the systems that made the original great while further expanding on the concept by including new governance mechanics that make the game feel fresh and new. It's a must-play for existing Frostpunk fans and a good entry point into the series for newcomers to the franchise.

Charming, comedic, and uplifting. The Plucky Squire tells a fantastic hero's journey that works as both an excellent game and a picture book.

GRIME is worth every second of your time, even with the middle section from hell. Its bosses and music alone are worth the price of admission, but you’ve got an impressively built Metroidvania with RPG and Souls-like elements here, as well. It rewards exploration and finds new ways to challenges players at every turn, and some of its unique mechanics stand shoulder to shoulder with other titans of any of its influences.

In the end, The War Within is the expansion that WoW needed. It finally feels like Blizzard is starting to listen to their players. If you used to be a player and enjoyed the first expansions, I recommend giving this latest addition a try. After years of lacklustre content, I’m overjoyed that what was once one of my favorite games has been returned to a state where playing is fun again.

Stunlock Studios has created a smash hit in V Rising. Not only is it a solid survival game, but it introduces creative mechanics to the genre that often depends on tried and true practices. The narrative is primed with areas the dev team can expand into, which I’m really looking forward to.

Phantom Liberty is Cyberpunk 2077 at its best. All in all, I was very impressed by both Phantom Liberty and the 2.0 update to Cyberpunk 2077. Do they revolutionize the game or make it the second coming of heaven we all expected back in 2020? No, not even close. Are they going to change people’s minds about the game? Absolutely not. But if you enjoyed the base game even a little bit, I can wholeheartedly recommend Phantom Liberty‘s price tag.

Despite a combat system that gets old quickly, Paper Mario: The Origami King's writing, puzzles, worldbuilding, and visuals make it the best entry in the series since The Thousand-Year Door.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes has the nostalgic feel of a '90s JRPG but revitalizes the genre with lovable characters and epic strategy sequences.

Intergrade's Episode Yuffie may be short, but it's a significant step up in Remake's storytelling and renews my faith in the remaining chapters.

Pikmin 3 Deluxe is the best the series has to offer, a showcase of creative design and smart strategy. It's one of the most enjoyable experiences on the Switch.

An enjoyable blend of story, puzzle-solving, and the ever-looming threat of spectacular, expensive failure keeps you coming back for more in Hardspace: Shipbreaker.

Chivalry 2's ability to convert chaos into exuberance gifts players with an experience that brilliantly hones in on one of the greatest aspects of gaming: fun.

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is a superb "equal" that builds on Three Houses in the best possible ways.

Super Mario RPG has officially taken Super Mario Wonder’s spot for being the most lighthearted and delightfully quirky game I’ve played this year. The lovely characters, goofy villains, and vibrant world offer so much fun to be had. It’s also frequently funny, a testament to how enjoyable and unserious the writing is. As someone playing the game for the first time, I felt nostalgic for a time when games felt as light as laughter and as warm as a good hug. Overall, it holds up today, which I think would be true even without the updated visuals, since at its core, Super Mario RPG is simply timeless.

Cozy Grove presents island life sans crass Capitalistic Raccoon Overlords, and is a lovely experience through and through. If you took Animal Crossing and just indie’d the hell out of it, you’d get Cozy Grove.

Disgaea 6 is focused more on improving what's already here, and it more than succeeds in that task. Yes, NIS will have to add some more substantial changes to the series beyond just some tweaks here and there one day. With Defiance of Destiny, I'm happy to wait a while longer for that day.

Little Kitty, Big City is a casual adventure and exploration game done right. Double Dagger’s love for its four-legged protagonist is evident throughout, blending classic platforming elements with an engrossing open world filled to the brim with colorful characters, quests to solve, and items to collect. To that end, the studio’s multi-platform project is bound to keep players charmed and entertained, if only for an afternoon gaming session.

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is an excellent spin-off that adds its own twists to what makes Borderlands great.