While it's packed with old-school hack and slash action, Blackwind's lack of variety and lackluster mechanics leave a lot to be desired.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction is an enjoyable game alone or with a squad. Good tactical shooting meets satisfying progression, but the end game has limited appeal.

Headland is a functional experience, but it lacks enough clever ideas or impact to make a lasting impression.

I’ve enjoyed my time with Age of Empires 4 quite a bit, and I’d recommend it to any Age fan. But I wouldn’t do so without a few important caveats. Age of Empires 4 may finally be available after 16 years, but it hasn't arrived just yet. There are still resources to gather and troops to assemble.

Battlefield 2042 wants so many things that it succeeds at almost none of them. There's a good game buried beneath it all, but you'll wade through a lot of sludge to get there.

Overall, KOTOR on Nintendo Switch is well worth picking up. Not only is it relatively cheap at $15, it's still one of the very best RPGs you can play. And it's high on the list of the best Star Wars games available. There's a reason people want more KOTOR.

Blue Reflection: Second Light is an improvement upon the first game, following a group of schoolgirls looking for a way back home while fighting evil monsters.

Into the Pit is a retro FPS/roguelike that's far less than the sum of its parts. It's got great action, but everything that surrounds it is questionable.

Bright Memory Infinite's tight gunplay is simply spread too thin to make up for an otherwise uninspired experience.

I went into Forza Horizon 5 expecting a pretty racing game. What I got was an experience, a splendid open-world car exploration simulator with light RPG elements and a trunk full of things to do and see. While I’d like to see Playground try something new or perhaps break free from the existing formula next time, this is a clear candidate for 2021’s best game and a must-play, whether you have Game Pass or not.

The Switch has no shortage of multiplayer games, but there's a strong case that Mario Party Superstars is among the best on the platform. I've had more fun with it than I've had in a long time, even with laggy internet and the occasional spammy random. It's some of the best of Mario Party, and I only hope we see even more added to it in the coming months.

Minor graphical hiccups aside, Shin Megami Tensei V is an outstanding RPG, made all the more so by its countless improvements over its older siblings. It's tough but enthralling, and brimming with style. More importantly, perhaps, it has great ideas executed to something near perfection. It's been a long wait since Atlus first announced SMT V at the Switch reveal show, but it was absolutely worth it.

Ubisoft's second effort into mountain and extreme sports is an obvious hit. Leveraging the tech of modern platforms makes Riders Republic a fast-moving, always exciting open world, but it also makes room for those who just want to soak up the scenes of life from the mountaintop. While the audio tracks may have you reaching for the mute button, it's maybe a better experience with your own custom soundtrack free of the super-dorks roaming the cutscenes anyway. In a year where Ubisoft's sandboxes were seeming stale, Riders Republic manages to keep me chasing down every icon like I rarely do anymore.

Unpacking is something I play when other games are too stressful or busy to suit my mood. It's a concept I'd never have thought would make for such a rewarding experience, but beyond its simple premise is a story of interesting people and gameplay that inventively combines the homemaking of The Sims with the light-puzzling of a point-and-click.

Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water is a welcome return of an obscure, yet memorable PS2-era series. This revamp of the Wii U version still feels firmly rooted in the past, but it makes such superb use of atmospheric visual and audio effects that the overall experience is a unique take on horror games. It’s well worth giving this remake a second chance.

Made with clear and undivided attention toward its players who may be discovering video games for the first time ever in their young lives, My Friend Peppa is a lovely achievement in family gaming.

I really didn't expect to enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy as much as I did. The game's marketing left me incredibly lukewarm, and I wasn't sure what to expect, even after the first couple of hours with the game. What I found, however, is one of the best stories of the entire year. There's definitely a bit of tedium packed into the overall experience, but Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is an adventure well worth taking, warts and all.

Dying Light is six years old, but it hasn't lost its edge. A fantastic parkour system, extensive combat customization, and a unique take on the zombie-filled post-apocalyptic world mean Techland's horror game still holds its own after so long. Sure, the resolution could be better on Nintendo Switch, and it's still the same iffy story, but having Dying Light portable and with all the DLC more than makes up for that.

In all, House of Ashes feels marginally better than Little Hope, which I felt was certainly better than Man of Medan. That means The Dark Pictures entries are, by my measure, on an upward trajectory, and I sincerely hope Supermassive is able to make more of them. While I don't think this series has achieved its full potential yet, I think it's just one really great script away from achieving that. As a game, The Dark Pictures is in a great place now. As a script, this third entry in the series goes for The Descent and winds up only decent.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is an entertaining platform fighter. It bleeds nostalgia, has a good roster of characters, and plays uniquely enough to stand on its own for casual and competitive players alike. The online portions are great when things are working. There isn’t much to do when they aren't, beyond playing local matches and the lackluster Arcade mode. Thankfully, All-Star Brawl was made with updates in mind.

The experience of playing Hell Let Loose is largely dependent on the player. People new to the genre, especially those playing solo, may be inclined to abandon the game entirely after just a few hours, and I wouldn’t blame them. But Milsim veterans, and players who stick around long enough to learn the ropes and find a squad, will find a deep and rewarding experience in this WWI shooter.

Metroid finally returns with a new sequel, and it’s exactly what we expect from the series. It’s a fine return to form for Samus with a huge world to explore but definitely doesn’t reinvent the wheel.

Back 4 Blood comes after a decade of L4D-likes and from the studio that made the timeless original, but it fails to capture the same magic even as well as some prior imitators.

Rogue Lords needs a lot more polish before I could feel comfortable recommending it. The UI's messy, the pacing is off, and it makes itself hard to get into, with overcomplicated mechanics presented in obscure, difficult-to-interpret ways. I like its atmosphere and the glee it takes in letting you be evil, but if I wasn't reviewing it, I probably would've dropped Rogue Lords after the first hour. There's fun to be had here if you can push through it, but like a lot of Eurojank games, it doesn't feel like it's entirely finished.

Far Cry 6 sits at the dead-end of a decade of sandboxes. Existing primarily as a sprawling checklist, its story shows flashes of excellence in a barrage of bad jokes and sometimes fun but familiar tasks.

Astria Ascending wants to be so many things, and perhaps that’s part of the problem. Instead of trying to be mature or recognizable, it should focus on its unique qualities and develop them into something interesting. Whatever the case, it’s difficult to recommend Astria Ascending. There are dozens of other RPGs to give your time and money to, but if you’re curious about this one anyway, I’d strongly suggest waiting for a sale.

Alan Wake still shines in a modern landscape thanks to its unique story and intoxicating atmosphere, and the remastered visuals modernize it just in time for Remedy's inevitable sequel.

Collecting three superb Castlevania entries from the Game Boy Advance era and one more obscure SNES offering, this is a must-have for any fan of the genre that Castlevania carved out.