It's got a bit of challenge without ever feeling overwhelming, and the frequent checkpoints keep the frustration to a minimum. It's all the fun of being Batman without any of the anxiety. [2-Hour Hands-On Impressions]

Based on what I played, 007 First Light is shaping up to be a phenomenal IO Interactive game through and through. It takes everything the developer has learned from many years of creating, refining, iterating, and evolving Hitman games, and puts the pieces that make the most sense together to create a James Bond game that could end up being one of the best games of the year, and also the best James Bond game ever created. 007 First Light could be the culmination of IO Interactive's vision for modern sandbox action games, as well as a spectacular payoff for a 16-year audition to make a James Bond game. [Hands-On Impressions]

While I don't think Tides of Tomorrow rises to the same narrative highs as Road 96, its primary incentive is a great draw. It's a little weird to want to stalk other players through a digital world, watching and listening to their every move in order to better your own lot in life, but it's a compelling enough gameplay loop that I overlooked the shortcomings in the game's story and non-player characters. And even if I don't plan on playing the game again, it warms my heart to know that my digital ghost is now out there, potentially guiding other Tidewalkers that may need a little help.

It might not be a direct sequel, but decisions like this and others elsewhere address every issue I had with Returnal. Housemarque's previous game is fantastic in its own way. Yet Saros elevates the studio's roguelite formula to another level. Its structure is surprisingly malleable, combat is deeper and more rewarding, and I couldn't resist being wrapped around the finger of its mysterious and foreboding narrative. I find roguelites hit-and-miss, but it didn't take long before I was utterly infatuated with Saros. It's an incredible game that does more than just refine what worked before. Even after rolling credits, I can't wait to dive back in.

Even with everything unlocked and nothing left to work toward, Vampire Crawlers still has its teeth in me, begging me to dive back in and decimate all who stand before me. Since I haven't come close to growing tired of mowing down baddies with the wackiest decks possible, I guess I'll give it just one more run. And then maybe just one more after that.

There aren't many other games that pull off the same distinct art style as Mouse: P.I. For Hire. Cuphead is the only one that comes to mind, which makes it easy to fall for the game's presentational charms. There's rarely a frame that isn't bursting with style and creativity, and it's none too shabby as a retro-style shooter either. Mouse: P.I. might not reinvent the wheel, but its arsenal of weapons is punchy and delightfully varied, while the fluidity of movement makes for some thrilling, high-speed shootouts. In this instance, you should have no qualms about handing over money to the mouse.

This all led to a thrilling conclusion that tested my skills, stirred my heart, and left me wanting more. Pragmata offers a robust post-game with plenty to do, but I hope that's not the last I see of Hugh and Diana. This combination of sharp combat mechanics, rich strategic depth, and lovely storytelling doesn't come along often. Pragmata shouldn't be missed.

Right now, though, Pokemon Champions provides two different experiences for seasoned players and newcomers respectively--and unfortunately for newcomers, it's an uneven one that will require a lot of their own dedication and time to improve. Perhaps the barrier to entry for competitive Pokemon can never be smashed entirely, but Champions wears it down, and those willing to push through it will find one of the most thrilling competitive games on the other side.

I spent a lot of time just exploring Forza Horizon 6's world without a waypoint on the horizon or events to be distracted by, and I was surprised by how therapeutic and engaging the experience was. It goes to show just how much attention you can draw through a setting alone, letting the backdrop do most of the work when there's little more than weaving through traffic to focus on. There's going to be a lot more to the final product, with many, many more races, new car meets, and even more ways to enjoy Japanese racing culture at its best. But even with all of that stripped away, Forza Horizon 6 is delivering on its setting alone. And after waiting all this time, I'm so excited to see what other surprises it has in store. [Hands-On Impressions]

Even if we're not seeing the members of Cadence band blend their sounds together much in the story, we at least can see it happen during combat. And while that combat drags a bit in the last act of the game and messes with your mind by not matching the tempo of the quick-time inputs to the background battle music, the turn-based system that's there rewards creativity and strategic thinking. Plus, this game has awesome music and fun puzzle-filled dungeons. If you're down to immerse yourself in puns galore and tons of pop-culture references, People of Note is a delightful musical treat.

Darwin's Paradox is short but densely packed with variety. Revolving around an octopus is a stroke of brilliance on the part of developer ZDT Studio, since it gives you a wide array of traversal options and abilities that extend naturally from what any child knows about the marine animal. Those options make the whole adventure move briskly as you rotate between different types of puzzle and platforming challenges without ever lingering on one for too long. It's a strong debut for Darwin and for ZDT, and I hope we see more from both of them.

I've now sunk nearly 90 hours into Marathon, and it has quickly eclipsed many of my other go-to multiplayer games. It's currently all I'm thinking about and all I want to play. I'm excited to see how else the game will change over time, whether that's with new Shells, new contracts, new story, new modes, or new enemies. And so far, Bungie has been highly attuned to player feedback, and that has already resulted in lots of tweaks and improvements to the experience...Even those frustrating losing streaks often just have me jumping back into another match, eager to replace the gear I've lost, and most battles are fun, tense, and tactical, pushing you to play smartly and work together with your teammates. How the developers support Marathon over the long term will determine whether it can sustain interest the way other successful live-service games have, but Bungie's fundamentals are incredibly strong, and Marathon is much richer and deeper than its 20-minute matches would suggest. Tau Ceti IV calls, and there are runs to complete.

Altogether, Super Mario Bros. Wonder + Meetup at Bellabel Park gets my qualified recommendation. If you're primarily interested in single-player Mario platforming, and especially if you've already played through the Mario Wonder campaign, this upgrade gets you a fun but short series of creative Koopaling boss fight stages, a bunch of challenge stages, an additional power-up, and new build options thanks to the Dual Badges. Those are all nice to have, but they don't offer a lot of playtime in isolation. For those of us who have a household full of Mario fans to play with, or if you want to go online, it's a rollicking good time full of chaotic multiplayer action. This isn't quite what I expected out of a Switch 2 upgrade for Mario Wonder, but like the core game's Wonder effects, it kept finding ways to surprise me.

Nostalgia is something that's often talked about when it comes to WoW Classic, not modern WoW. Nevertheless, nostalgia was what kept coming to mind while playing Midnight. Whether it was hearing old war tales from classic Warcraft characters in the Arcantina or revisiting familiar places and faces in Eversong Woods, Midnight honors the past while not being beholden to it, making for a memorable trip down memory lane. Despite its nostalgic underpinnings, Midnight never feels stuck in the past. Just like with the 20-year-later revamp of Eversong and Silvermoon City, Blizzard isn't simply updating WoW--it's continuing to move it forward, one change at a time.

Crimson Desert is a frequently thrilling game, elevated by an open world well worth exploring and hard-hitting combat that delights with its depth and emphasis on player expression. It might not always be the most cohesive game, mixing high fantasy with steampunk and sci-fi elements, but there's nothing else quite like it, and I can't help but be impressed by how little restraint Pearl Abyss has shown in its commitment to delightful absurdity. In some respects, Crimson Desert might not be too good to be true, but it's a world worth getting lost in.

There's a lot to love about Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf. It's set in a beautiful world that's filled with gorgeous color and fantastic music, and it teases you with mysteries that you want to unravel and feel excited about for doing so. A good-but-not-great first half holds it back though, as the best platforming puzzles and story revelations are saved for the dramatic finale. If the ending of the game is any indication, we should expect another game in this series. And if the latter half of Planet of Lana II is evidence of the direction of where the gameplay of this series is going, I cannot wait to see that third game.

I’ve always thought of the Stories subseries as a commendable yet modest spinoff series, but Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is anything but modest. It takes Monster Hunter's core loop and successfully translates it into turn-based combat, evolves the monster-taming genre thanks to Habitat Restoration, and does all this while telling a thrilling story with a great presentation. Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection easily stands shoulder to shoulder with some of the best Monster Hunter games.

Regardless of which version you own, Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered is an excellent remaster of a flawed but decent game. The story is the main event, concluding the Soul Reaver saga with one of the best-written, acted, and scored games of all time. The addition of a free-flowing camera and enhanced navigation improves upon the original experience and makes it more playable for a modern audience, while the sheer amount of archival, behind-the-scenes content is a boon for fans. Some notable flaws still persist, but if you have any reverence for the original game or have recently played through Soul Reaver 1&2 for the first time, adding Defiance to the collection is a no-brainer.

There's still plenty of room for improvement going forward, with the creation suite in need of an overhaul and far too many animations that have gotten stale after years of use. However, after a lackluster WWE 2K25 and no alternatives on the horizon, WWE 2K26 is the wrestling game we need right now--one where we can trigger fireworks while we walk to the ring, dump our opponent face-first onto a pile of thumbtacks, and then set them on fire in an Inferno match. It's still not a meaningful evolution of the series, but there are enough incremental updates stacked together to make it worthwhile. It works well, has a seemingly unlimited number of gameplay options, and with the various upgrades introduced, this is the most enjoyable a WWE game has been at release in years, even if it still feels largely familiar.

Scott Pilgrim EX is Millennial comfort food. It's reminiscent of both actual classic games from the 1980s and the 2010 homage, it's bursting with small nods to our favorite games and movies and shows, and it just feels great to play. It's not especially daring, but it goes down smooth, and sometimes that's enough.

I cannot say enough good things about Esoteric Ebb, which is positively stuffed with them. Like a good mimic, it's got teeth. It is both familiar in its shape and size and astonishing in its surprising depth and riches. Do not let its appearance fool you: There is a lot more to love about this "Disco-like" than its vibrant surface and wit might initially convey.

There are things to like and even possibly love about God of War: Sons of Sparta. The combat system is smart and layered, the visual style is often beautiful, and the story eventually becomes surprisingly rich. But it's difficult to recommend, because so much of the metroidvania design--the core of the genre that Kratos has found himself in--is like that frozen wasteland: slowly plodding through, just trying to reach the next warm spot where it's fun again.

Pokemon Pokopia is a combination of the design sensibilities of Animal Crossing and Dragon Quest Builders, but by melding those two structures and fusing them with Pokemon, it compensates for each one's weaknesses. Animal Crossing is so focused on building community that there isn't much to do once you finish your daily chores, while Dragon Quest Builders relies heavily on story quests without much incentive to build up your community and socialize. Pokemon Pokopia gives you a massive amount to do and a story that propels you forward, while also letting you enjoy the simple pleasure of living among your Pokemon friends and building your perfect community. I feel like I've barely scratched the surface, and I can't wait to keep exploring. I'll get Squirtle back yet.

For almost a decade, Capcom has been refining Resident Evil, finding ways to modernize the storied franchise and to maintain what has made it so beloved. With Requiem, Capcom has dialed in Resident Evil maybe as far as it can. The result is a game that leans too hard on past successes and nostalgia, and so doesn't show its fans any new ideas. But it knows its hits backward and forward, and it plays them near-perfectly.

High On Life 2 may falter in a few key areas, and not everything connects--whether it's a drawn-out gag or a timid shotgun blast--but it stands out in a genre where the self-serious shooter is usually king, by offering an outlandish, comical, and creative alternative. The addition of a skateboard is a literal game-changer, and there's plenty of joy to be had seeing what exactly each mission entails. Its influences are overt, yet it has an identity all its own, and there are definitely worse ways to spend a weekend.

I wanted to like Crisol: Theater of Idols so badly. The atmosphere of the shooter is delightfully spooky, and the Spanish influences make for a narrative backdrop and lore that you want to sink your teeth into. But too often, Crisol is held back by its gameplay. The blood-for-bullets mechanic adds some fun strategic depth, but the overall experience is held back by repetitive enemy design and arena layouts. Better single-player first-person shooters can be found elsewhere.

Seeing Reanimal through in one sitting made me feel like I'd accompanied the siblings on their journey, holding their tiny, innocent hands as they uncovered horrors beyond comprehension. The conclusion of Reanimal leaves the door open for further explanation, so the incoming DLC for the game has me genuinely excited. Unfortunately, I am still left with a bunch of questions, and with no release date for the DLC, I'm in a state of purgatory. The imagery and implications linger in my mind much like the siblings' nightmares. While Reanimal is certainly unsettling, it's also quite beautiful. It shines a light on the importance of companionship--while you may face moments of uncertainty, and unsafety, you're not alone. And that's invaluable.

Mario's various dalliances into sports have been inconsistent, often because they feel so bare-bones and perfunctory. Mario Tennis Fever breaks this trend with a multitude of modes and a playful, flexible gimmick that makes it more wild and unpredictable while also testing your tennis skills in a new way. It's the best a Mario sports game has been in years, and hopefully charts a course going forward for the Mushroom Kingdom's other sporting events.

There's a line of dialogue I encountered a few hours into Romeo Is a Dead Man that summed up the experience for me. "Embrace the chaos, Dead Man," a character told me. "Meaning is nowhere. And there is nothing without meaning." It's a piece of doublespeak that cancels itself out, and similarly the game struggles to imbue its own chaos with anything that would give it a stronger sense of meaning, like deeper combat or an engaging story. Suda51 is an artist with a recognizable aesthetic, and his fingerprints are evident on this game too, but what's missing is a sense of a larger vision for the game. . Sometimes it's charming or funny, but these moments are fleeting, and artistic flair does not cancel out the tedium of the game's combat and exploration. . It's not a tragedy on the scale of the real Romeo and Juliet, but this is one Dead Man I'm not inclined to mourn.

After hitting the credits to both portions of the game, I felt like the Yakuza series is currently at an impasse. Unnecessary story changes, questionable and problematic casting choices, visual homogenization, and uneven content changes plague the latest remake. This means that, in the grand scheme of things, there's a noticeable fatigue in re-experiencing minigames and more shallow renditions of the activities that made the series' resurgence so captivating with Yakuza 0. Getting to the end, in a way, took me back to the beginning, remembering Kiryu's walk in the cemetery. The scene symbolizes the culmination of a specific time and place for the series--one that's currently unable to shake off its phantoms.

Mewgenics still manages to offer a captivating and fascinating experience. Whether you're trying to breed the best hybrid classes or hoping to unlock the next zone and legendary reward, or you're just humming catchy songs that are stuck on a loop in your head, this is a game that you can play nonstop for hours on end through trials and triumphs. What McMillen, Glaiel, and co. pulled off is simply paw-some. It's catnip for roguelites in all its glory, as you keep going through runs and coming back for more.

From quality-of-life enhancements like this, to excellent new additions and refinements to its core systems, Nioh 3 is absolutely superb across the board. It's an evolution of the Nioh formula where every single new idea lands. There might still be a couple of issues, but they're relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. Nioh 3 is Team Ninja at its very best, learning from its own development side quests to return with renewed vigor. The end result is the best game in the series so far, and one not to be missed.

Menace is off to more than a running start already. The turn-based tactical action is some of the best I've played lately, and I love the distinct, voiced squad leaders, as well as both the variety of missions and enemy factions. The biggest missing piece is really story and context. It's hard to get too invested in what's going on in the Wayback when I'm not even really sure why we're here yet. But for Early Access, this is a truly impressive effort, and there's plenty of fun to be had already. [Early Access Provisional Score = 80]

Dragon Quest VII: Reimagined slims down and modernizes a notoriously bloated classic RPG, though its anthology structure still feels overlong.

All of these issues hinder a game that only occasionally rises above its weaknesses. The story can be compelling when focusing on its ill-fated characters, and the combat is enjoyable in specific circumstances, particularly when experimenting with the varied tools at your disposal. But Code Vein 2's shortcomings are too frequent to look past. Combat and exploration are hampered by dull enemies and wearisome environments, while technical issues only exacerbate its flaws. The soulslike genre has evolved since the original Code Vein launched in 2019, yet the forward-thinking shift to an open world hasn't prevented its sequel from suffering the same familiar blemishes.

Cairn may have fewer mechanics than some games, but it drills down on what's there so successfully, and regularly tests the players' resolve and accomplishment of these skills, that I was often itching for the next challenge it'd send my way.

Minecraft is a forever-game for many people. Hypixel Studios has ambitions to get there, too, and the foundational gameplay here is solid enough--albeit partly due to the strict blueprint it followed--that success is at least possible, if not guaranteed. But Hytale will only find lasting success once it first finds its own path forward and does more than just rebuild experiences its players already had years ago. [Early Access Score = 60]

Big Hops is a testament to how much fun can be had with simple ideas done well. Hop has a modest suite of moves, finely tuned, that string together in ways to make movement feel free-flowing and exuberant. On top of that strong foundation, it layers on flexibility making the worlds you explore feel like playgrounds for your creative thinking and platforming finesse. Altogether, the result is a delightful platformer, and the first great game of 2026.

Bluey's Quest for the Gold Pen isn't likely to sustain an adult's interest like the hit animated show has. The movement is just a little too slow, and the puzzles are just a little too simplistic. But that's also what makes it a great introduction for younger players who need a gentle onboarding experience. And for them, they get to have that introduction wrapped in a lovely art style and funny, heartwarming story that captures the spirit of their favorite cartoon dogs.

Those with few qualms about duration will find a game made with evident love and affection for both the source material and the moment in time it was released. Its music is excellent--with perhaps the best rendition of the Terminator 2 theme to date--aiding the game's visuals in its mission to transport you back to a time when blowing into cartridges and inserting coins were the norm. Whether it's the T-1000's haunting fluidity of movement, Sarah Connor's one-armed reloading of a pump action shotgun, or the way the T-800 clambers onto the hood of a semi-truck to unload an entire magazine into its windshield, Terminator 2D: No Fate recreates the movie's most memorable moments with pitch-perfect authenticity. It's a shame it ends far too soon, but this is still the definitive Terminator 2 video game.

This is how it feels to play Octopath Traveler 0: a seemingly endless pattern of ever-deeper combat challenges and strategic wrinkles, slowly revealing themselves to you over and over through dozens of hours. I've seen credits, in a sense, but there's still so much more to do and explore. It feels like a game that could go on forever. I just might let it.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond sometimes feels like a product of its notoriously long and troubled development. At moments it serves as a time capsule for gaming trends that have come and gone over the last decade, like a sparse open world and a squad shooter with AI teammates. Those elements are decently made, but not as expertly crafted as the more traditional Metroid Prime exploration and storytelling. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is uneven and messy in some respects, but at its best it meets or exceeds the best moments the series has to offer.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion is, fittingly, a loving tribute to the superhero side-scrollers of old. Experimenting with different teams in each stage offers a good amount of replay value, even if the same stages and enemies can grow tiresome after a while. The collectibles and challenges in each stage offer some nice extra incentives, and the depth of the source material will appeal to Marvel fans, new and old. The only thing Marvel Cosmic Invasion is missing, really, is Colossus's "whoooooaaaaa" sound effect from X-Men: The Arcade Game--though I suspect players will be saying "whoa" plenty of times while playing this terrific retro romp.

More than anything, Constance is a beautiful game. Its hand-drawn art style makes for one of the prettiest games I've seen all year, and the platforming gauntlets it puts you through make those sights more rewarding. While its narrative elements fall short and a chase sequence proves more annoying than challenging, the overall experience is a rewarding platformer with entertaining boss battles. Not a bad choice if you're looking for a way to take out your frustrations on several manifestations of burnout.

Kirby Air Riders is an impressive package that makes the most of its deceivingly simple mechanics. Air Ride delivers a solid kart racing experience; Top Ride is a fun--albeit a bit straightforward--distraction; City Trial is chaotic in the best way possible; and Road Trip ties it all together with its creative encounters and satisfying progression. In the second Kirby Air Riders Direct, Masahiro Sakurai said he had no plans to continue the franchise or add any DLC. When I first heard this, I was a little disappointed, but now that I've spent countless hours exploring each mode, there's not really anything else I could want. This feels like that initial concept from 2003 taken as far as it could possibly go, and I couldn't be happier with the result.

Overall, the multiplayer package is really strong in Black Ops 7. The movement is fun and fluid, the gunplay is as satisfying as ever, and the map designs greatly improve the experience from last year. Combined with the smaller quality-of-life change and the futuristic themes, and Black Ops 7 feels like a fresh experience that avoids any dreaded fatigue...Ashes of the Damned implements some ambitious ideas for Zombies that largely succeed. The map is massive and refreshingly atmospheric, there are thrilling new enemy encounters, and the traversal elements with Ol' Tessie separate the experience from more traditional maps. Ashes of the Damned excels as a cooperative experience, while Vandorn Farm's survival map offers a fun way to have a solo or more condensed experience. Either way, Black Ops 7 provides enjoyable ways to slay the undead.

While the rest of the team doesn't get the same treatment as Invisigal, they're all enjoyable to interact with, regardless of whether you choose to make choices or not. While the lack of branches in the narrative keeps most choices from feeling substantial enough to warrant careful consideration, the arc of Invisigal's potential redemption, incredible writing, and stellar voice acting make this one of the best superhero dramas I've watched. Plus, the act of dispatching heroes and growing as a leader is a fun interlude between all the choice-making, especially when you can see your improvement reflected in Robert's growth throughout the story. I have my qualms with parts of it, but Dispatch is more than worthy of getting a second season. The writing and world-building behind its story are too good for this to be a one-and-done entry.

If you've ever enjoyed the zen-like sensation of cleaning grime from skate parks, Mars rovers, and Shrek's swamp, you'll find plenty of satisfaction aboard Ambrosia Sky's agricultural colony. There are some aspects--such as trifling progression and limited use cases--where it feels like it's just getting its feet wet, but you'll still discover that cleaning its fungus-filled hallways is a serene experience, offering fulfillment that's both familiar and unique. Marrying this with human stories that inspire hope within the somber context of death is oddly comforting. I'm eager to see where Dalia's journey takes her from here. It's already a gripping tale, possessing a warmth and relatability that will resonate with most. Hopefully, future acts can build on these solid foundations.

Regardless of the context in which I experience each stage in Lumines Arise--whether that is competing against another player on a stage they selected, or curating a playlist and taking my time with it at my own pace--revisiting them is never arduous. Sure, it's a testament to the conceit of the series and how well-designed Lumines is. But it also speaks to the main attraction, which is simply to experience--and then re-experience--each setpiece, with its visual gimmicks and stimulating sounds coming together to create a singular ambiance. It doesn't matter that the apples will always turn into peppers, or that the dancers will always be caught in the rain--Arise puts on a show with each stage, revitalizing the series by grabbing a familiar foundation and playing a dozen different concerts with it.

Life is far from perfect. Everyone would agree, yet it's in exploring that obvious fact that this team has achieved something so memorable once again. Nice Dream Games' Goodnight Universe is both mechanically simple and emotionally complex. Presented as a story about a baby, it's more accurate to say it's about the time we spend on Earth, with whom we spend it, and what we leave behind when our time is up.

Football Manager 26's overhauled UI simply feels like change for the sake of change. Its functionality is worse, several key features are missing, and bugs only exacerbate the issues. After a two-year wait, it's an unfortunate outcome, giving the impression that the delay wasn't long enough. There's definite potential here with the new tactical interface and match engine, and if you could combine these aspects with the previous UI, you'd have one of the best games in the series. Instead, the revamped UI's problems and inherent frustrations are too big to ignore. Such a vast undertaking is commendable, especially for an annual sports game, but its missteps are many and mostly lead to disappointment.

Ball x Pit shines brightest when it's letting you loose on enemies ahead of you, and giving you the tools to concoct your own brand of unstoppable chaos to fill the screen. It's easy to move from one run to the next when you're filling just a handful of minutes with thousands of enemy kills, accentuated by bright explosions and dizzying particle effectsBut your momentum can also be frequently halted by the vital town management moments in between them. Progression through Ball x Pit's campaign can feel uneven as a result, but, that's easy to overlook when the majority of the runs you embark on carry the potential to both surprise and delight in equal measure, with enough variety to keep the action in your final hours with the game as grin-inducing as your first.

Arc Raiders is an extraction shooter unlike any other, playing out like a totally unpredictable, immersive, thrilling story generator directed by the community.

A few issues hold it back, but Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment marks a high point for the spin-off series, iterating on its riotous hack-and-slash combat with depth and variety.

As the MK3 arcade cabinet once said, there is no knowledge that is not power. With everything Digital Eclipse packed into the collection, there's a lot of power to be had. [Review in Progress; Provisional Score = 90]

Ultimately, my feelings toward Dragon Quest I & II HD Remake boil down to "Would I recommend it over DQIIIHD or Dragon Quest XI? Well… no." Both of those games are far better experiences for both new and old DQ fans. That's not to say DQI&IIHD lack any value--there's good times to be had, especially with DQII. You're not forced to play either of the games before enjoying the other, so if you just want to play one, you're free to do so. But the games don't quite stack up compared to other recent Dragon Quests, even with all the new bells and whistles, and Dragon Quest I's remake in particular feels like a lot of wasted potential. But if you're looking for another source for that distinct Dragon Quest flavor of turn-based charm and whimsy, there's certainly nothing wrong with revisiting these two adventures.

Plants Vs. Zombies is a beloved classic, and Replanted shows that it's for good reason. The classic gameplay is still just as engaging, and the new modes will keep seasoned gardeners on their toes. While a few aspects of this remaster feel a little low-effort, it's just nice to have the classic game back and playable in a modern context. Now that it's easy to do, I expect I'll keep tending to my garden.

The Outer Worlds 2 feels like the series coming into its own, carried by flexible combat options and great role-playing progression. The first Outer Worlds felt like Obsidian trying to recapture the magic of Fallout's apocalyptic future in a new spacefaring context. The Outer Worlds 2 cements this setting as its own identity that can exist alongside its sci-fi contemporaries to deliver something that is familiar, but also distinctly its own.

Once Upon a Katamari is still a fantastic time and the new must-play title in the series. It manages to perfectly capture what has always made Katamari so charming and special--the writing, the humor, the music, the absurdity of it all--and refines it into the best way to experience the series, regardless of if it's your first time playing or if you're a long-time fan. Though it seems absurd to claim I wanted Bandai Namco to commit even more to the bit with this game, more intention and innovation is all that keeps Once Upon a Katamari from being truly great. Regardless, it's still a wonderful--and much-welcomed--return to the world of Katamari.

PowerWash Sim originally owed a lot of its success to the pandemic. It was an awesome hangout game at a time when everyone was just sort of... hanging out. PowerWash Sim 2 arrives in a different world than its predecessor, though the gameplay at the heart of the series is essentially timeless; it's a lot of fun even without a pandemic forcing us into taking fake jobs for fake money. Before the end of the game, I was looking to change careers, but there will surely be times in the future when I'm itching to get back to it, too. Maybe PowerWash Simulator 2 is best approached as a game where you're your own boss, working on your own schedule. If you can avoid burnout and work as a team with a few friends, it's a good gig.

Even after barreling through the campaign in a couple of days, I still couldn't stop myself from going back for more. Ninja Gaiden 4 is a brutal menagerie of excessive blood spray, gratifying weapons, and gloriously stylish action. It banishes the sour memories of Ninja Gaiden 3 and has me pining for more character-action games, serving as a wistful reminder that games like Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry, and Bayonetta ruled the roost before the recent proliferation of Souls-likes. Every change is meaningful, adding to the rock-solid foundations and evolving the formula to bring out the very best in its phenomenal combat. If Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound and Shinobi: Art of Vengeance weren't enough, then Ninja Gaiden 4 solidifies 2025 as the year of the ninja.

Even after barreling through the campaign in a couple of days, I still couldn't stop myself from going back for more. Ninja Gaiden 4 is a brutal menagerie of excessive blood spray, gratifying weapons, and gloriously stylish action. It banishes the sour memories of Ninja Gaiden 3 and has me pining for more character-action games, serving as a wistful reminder that games like Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry, and Bayonetta ruled the roost before the recent proliferation of Souls-likes. Every change is meaningful, adding to the rock-solid foundations and evolving the formula to bring out the very best in its phenomenal combat. If Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound and Shinobi: Art of Vengeance weren't enough, then Ninja Gaiden 4 solidifies 2025 as the year of the ninja.

Keeper is Double Fine at its most confident: a visual feast, a tone poem, an exploration of movement mechanics, a fable about the world and what we owe to it. It's recognizable as an evolution of the studio's earlier works while also feeling fresh and inventive. Double Fine games have always been dense with artistry, but it's Keeper--a game without words--that feels most like it's letting the artistry speak for itself.

This more or less reflects Bloodlines 2 as a whole: sometimes charming, other times, not so much. There is a lot here that is great; I loved the narrative, the characters, the drama, and the sheer power fantasy of it all. At the same time, it's one of the more unpolished games I've reviewed, and definitely lacks the same level of ambition, scope, choice, and general tightness of other modern RPGs. Oftentimes, I found myself thinking that Bloodlines 2 is a great game in spite of itself--which really only makes it a pretty good game, ultimately.

Battlefield 6 is a return to form, even if it doesn't reach the same highs as the series at its peak. The campaign is as lackluster as expected, and the multiplayer maps are only ever decent at best, but there's still a chaotic and super-satisfying shooter here that offers multiplayer thrills unlike any other. Even if you're not racking up kills by the dozens, you're still rewarded for contributing in other ways, and you're never too far away from being in the middle of a histrionic Battlefield moment. It might be a familiar experience, but Battlefield 6 clearly understands what makes the series so appealing.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A is a fitting end to the Switch 1-era Pokemon games. Like Legends: Arceus and Scarlet and Violet, it takes some surprising risks, but it looks rough doing so. Game Freak's decision to overhaul the battle mechanics for the first time since Pokemon's inception is admirable, and it ultimately paid off. But after five 3D Pokemon games, it's frustrating how far behind Pokemon is when it comes to its presentation. It feels like the last piece missing to really bring Pokemon into the future.

Digimon Story: Time Stranger is a strong argument that it's high time to give the digital monsters their own space in the critter-catching genre. Strong voice acting and mature themes digivolve this time-traveling tale into an emotionally-rewarding journey of grief and self-acceptance, and a vast array of branching options keeps team-building and the turn-based combat exciting. If you're still ignoring Digimon for its more mainstream pocket monster cousin, you owe it to yourself to at least try Time Stranger. You won't regret it.

It's a joy every time. I didn't want to put Absolum down, and I slightly resented when life would make me. By tapping into a primordial part of gaming history, Absolum has created something that feels revelatory. The beat-'em-up genre feels changed, now, and I don't know if there's any going back.

Little Nightmares 3 is faithful to the series under its new leading studio at Supermassive Games. The team, already a well-respected name in horror, carries Tarsier's torch well, though it sometimes feels too deferential to the past games, failing to raise the bar both in puzzle and monster design. This is a good sequel that I'm glad to have made the time for, but if there's to be another trip into this world of tiny terrors, it'll first need a refill of nightmare fuel.

There is a nugget of a good idea here, and one that is interesting on paper. Unfortunately, Fire Emblem Shadows' most innovative ideas bump up against its mobile and free-to-play nature, resulting in a game that is both not for Fire Emblem fans and hard to recommend to anyone.

There are flaws on and off the pitch, yet this is the best the series has been for a short while. It might not walk away with a trophy this year, but it's getting closer to glory.

Ghost of Yotei builds and improves upon its predecessor with a gripping story, rewarding exploration, and fantastic combat, with each aspect emphasizing the characteristics of a new protagonist. As a sequel, familiarity is baked in, but every alteration is in service of Atsu and her profound differences, making for a game that manages to feel distinct even when what you're doing is so recognizable. The Ghost is just a mask; what matters is who's behind it.

There's so much to love about Hollow Knight: Silksong, especially if you were a fan of the first game. This sequel better focuses the narrative with guided exploration and eases the frustrations with the first game's platforming by making the protagonist far more acrobatic. In many respects, that makes it a safe sequel, as much of the game is merely a more polished, approachable, and fulfilling take on what worked well before. But that first game is one of the best metroidvania titles out there, making this sequel equally essential. Hornet's story is more than worth the wait.

Hades 2 is a game that is essential to experience, with all of its parts coalescing into a memorable adventure that you will likely lose dozens of hours to without regret.

Final Fantasy Tactics is a formative game in the tactical RPG genre, and still one of the greatest. Its unforgettable story has never been better told thanks to a retouched translation, stellar voice acting, and smart new tools to help track all of the palace intrigue. Combat remains incredibly rewarding and flexible, which is an especially impressive achievement given its smaller scale compared to many modern action RPGs. The Ivalice Chronicles lacks a few nice-to-have features, but it's easily the best way to play this all-time classic.

Blippo+ feels like an art school project that broke containment and went international. What the team has done with a seemingly shoestring budget makes for a laudable DIY effort. Calling this a game could mislead some users, given it's really more like a '90s-colored cable TV package without any on-demand features. It's interactive, yes, but only in the way one's TV was in the mid-'90s. This sort of experience is sure to be unlike anything else you've ever played--and for younger players, anything they've even experienced in the first place--though a significant number of people will surely come out of it more confused than amused. Still, if you can match Blippo's vibe, you may find yourself homesick for another world.

Perhaps this isn't surprising, considering that nearly every part of Silent Hill f is crafted with the same level of care and skill. And yet, that doesn't make anything about this game and what NeoBards has achieved any less impressive. Silent Hill f is not just a return to form, it's a remarkable evolution; it's a visual spectacle, a mastercraft in psychological horror, a work of narrative brilliance, and a new benchmark for the Silent Hill series.

Dying Light has always been a series that does a few things very well, but would get distracted trying to be a lot more at the same time. Finally, The Beast leans into Dying Light's best parts, giving you a scarier, tougher, more immersive world to explore than anything in the series before.

Altogether, Sonic Racing CrossWorlds is a solid package. The single-player modes, meta-goals like collecting gear and vehicle parts, and wealth of customization options to experiment with different play styles, make it easy to recommend for players who like their kart racing with a little more mechanical complexity. Even with slightly underwhelming online offerings, it's easy to see how Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds has plenty of road ahead of it.

If 1st Chapter is a bit lighter and less complex than its later iterations, then that is also in keeping in the spirit of the original game as the beginning of an epic saga. If you've always wanted to experience the wonder of the Trails series but didn't know where to start, then there are no excuses as this faithful remake is the definitive way to begin that long and winding trail. Hopefully, the remake of its second chapter follows up swiftly.

Claws of Awaji is a difficult recommendation, but I do recommend it. The DLC wraps up the three lingering narrative threads of the main game's story, while transforming the main gameplay loop into a more enjoyable cat-and-mouse formula where the hunter becomes the hunted. Yasuke continues to drag this experience down, and is now impacting the emotional payoff of Naoe's story, but at least Naoe's shinobi fantasy is still one of the best Assassin's Creed experiences to date.

It's a beautiful game in so many ways, but most of all that beauty shines through in the would-be simple story of two friends on an adventure together, which easily became just as special for me and my loved ones.

For what it is, MM is a solid title, but the terseness of the game and the limited graphics and sound make evident that it could have been so much more, transcending the decent game it is now to become a truly excellent one.

All in all, if uncovering loot, crafting builds, and unleashing chaotic mayhem is what you're looking for, Borderlands 4 has you covered. It's the most mechanically sound Borderlands game to date, and the various Vault Hunters each present an entertaining opportunity to tackle the game in a different way. Just maybe find a good podcast or video essay to fill the moments between the shooting and looting. The game's story and characters aren't strong enough to hold your attention on their own, and the game's combat begins to drag once you've seen all the enemy types there are to see.

What it may lack in scope, The Order of Giants makes up for with some of the best and most inventive puzzles in the game. It's disappointing that we didn't get another expansive environment to explore, but this is still an engaging mini-adventure that's rich in lore and quintessentially Indy. Those playing The Great Circle for the first time might appreciate the detour a lot more, but putting on that wide-brimmed fedora again still feels great (if only I could get John Williams' theme music out of my head).

I do still have fun in The City thanks to its ever-cycling limited-time events, casual and competitive game modes, and vibe as a landing spot for basketball fanatics to congregate and have fun together. Knowing this virtual city is also where the game's most obvious issue has become an annual pain makes my experience a bit more conflicted than it should be. Is NBA 2K26 an excellent basketball video game? Absolutely, it is. Does it suffer from a pay-to-win problem in some areas? Absolutely, it does. Thankfully, The City, MyCareer, MyNBA, and its WNBA modes combine to overcome that glaring problem and still make this a game well worth playing in a number of different ways. I liken it to my home of Portland, Oregon, home of the Trail Blazers. The cost of living is burdensome and ought to be addressed, but dammit if I'm not compelled to make it work because, despite its faults, I love it here.

There are aspects of Cronos the team would be wise to improve upon with its next horror game. Particularly, knowing when not to challenge me with combat, but instead leaving me with a guttural sense of dread, could go a long way to marking future projects from Bloober Team as being on the level of its landmark remake project. Still, that's not to say what the team has done here is less than great in its own right. Cronos: The New Dawn is Bloober Team cementing itself as not just a studio obsessed with horror--it's been that for over a decade already. This is Bloober Team becoming a trusted voice in horror.

While I was left dissatisfied by the narrative conclusion of Hell is Us, its journey to that point was pleasantly engaging. It was refreshing to not just follow a quest marker through a story, but also a relief that I was never spun around for hours on end wondering where I needed to go next. This balance is what made traversing Hadea and experiencing all the horrors it contained a rewarding one, making each new step feel earned rather than routine. It's backed up by an imperfect but engaging combat system that's only let down by some shallow enemy variety and imprecise control, but never to the point of outright frustration. If Hell is Us is developer Rogue Factor's first stab at a new type of third-person action game and although it's less revolutionary than the initial promise might suggest, it is one that still managed to stay surprising until the end.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star-Crossed World takes an already-great game and gives you more of it. The upgrade doesn't feel as essential as the Zelda Switch 2 Edition games, because those helped ambitious games run more smoothly and fully realize their original potential. But it is more substantial than either of those, by nature of adding new story content and stages to explore. Kirby and the Forgotten Land was already a platforming buffet, and this add-on is a great reason to go back for seconds.

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance has few equals when it comes to 2D combat. It's a thrilling triumph, emblazoned by a striking art style that confirms Lizardcube is at the top of its game. After a prolonged absence, this is the perfect way to reintroduce the world to Shinobi and Joe Musashi, instantly revitalizing one of Sega's earliest heroes with his best game to date. There's still a clear reverence for the past here, but Art of Vengeance also pushes the genre forward with an emphasis on deep combat that flows just as smoothly as water and has the looks to back it up. Ninjas are eating well.

The fundamental problem with Drag X Drive: It's not very fun to play, because the controls are alternatively exhausting, imprecise, or both. Even pulling off the trick shots that give the game its personality and nuance requires getting up to top speed, which means navigating finicky tiring controls and avoiding bumping into other players. This is a great game for showing off what the Switch 2 can do conceptually, but it doesn't make a good case for why you'd actually want to do it for very long.

Delta isn't the first instance of Hideo Kojima's beloved classic being updated and re-released, but it is the first complete rebuild of MGS3. It successfully modernizes visuals, tweaks game design, and updates controls so that the game sits comfortably alongside its action game contemporaries. From a content perspective, Konami has played it incredibly safe, using the same voice work and music, and leaving the story completely unaltered--effectively making Delta a one-to-one remake. But I can't fault that, especially when I found myself once again enraptured by Snake's tortuous mission to pull the world out of nuclear danger and fight for survival in a dangerous jungle. The impact of Konami's efforts was such that, for eight hours, I wasn't an adult yearning for the lost feelings that made me love Metal Gear Solid 3; I was the teenager living them for the first time again.

With some caveats, I'd recommend Discounty. The story will make you regularly feel like you're the bad guy in all this, and technically you are even if it's no fault of your own. But it's easy to ignore the riffraff and the trouble you're causing your fellow citizens in your constant pursuit of bringing a factory-level of efficiency to your growing supermarket, and driving up profits for the sole purpose of buying upgrades that will let you drive profits even further. Maybe Stardew Valley's JojaMart had the right idea after all.

It's a heartwarming joy to get to know each of the calicorns I found on my journey to the mountain, and it's because of the loving bonds I'd formed with each of them that its central gameplay mechanic works so well, both in my hands and in my heart.

Quotation forthcoming.

A Bomberman game without multiplayer is hardly a Bomberman game at all.

Madden NFL 26 takes a bigger leap forward than you may expect. On the field, Madden has rounded into shape and is now taking victory laps with its major and minor changes, like more exciting locomotion and lifelike player traits. Its presentation beats finally behave more like the NFL seen on TV every week, with intense weather and big-game showdowns in primetime demanding your attention. Franchise mode's RPG-like deep dive makes it feel like the destination mode it should be, and year-over-year, it represents the most dramatic improvement I can recall in the series' history. Superstar mode still feels like a work-in-progress, and MUT shows no signs of ditching its pay-to-win scheme, but for players like me, who are Franchise-focused and on-field-obsessive, Madden NFL 26 is the game you've been hoping for.

Mafia: The Old Country is at its best when things slow down, letting you take in all the sights and sounds of Sicily. Like previous Mafia games, it nails the look and feel of its real-world counterpart by investing heavily in the details. Unfortunately, generic gameplay and dated mission design hold Mafia: The Old Country back, making it feel like a relic of the early 2010s.