NCAA Football 10 is a great football game that offers a new level of accessibility for newcomers, but keeps the core mechanics that veterans love.

Even if it's a little rough around the edges, Sakuna is a genuine gem. Its rewarding and engaging sim gameplay, exciting freeform combat, and just the way it feels like a warm and comforting experience while you play it are what makes it one of the best life-sim style games to release in quite some time. Whether you're big into action, simulation, or both, Sakuna's journey of redemption is one well worth taking.

This is one of the most original platformers to come down the road in a while and is one that just might be good enough and addictive enough to spawn a new franchise.

I won't spoil any of the other monsters you'll come across, but there's seemingly no end to the cavalcade of creative monster designs coming out of Capcom. This has always been Monster Hunter's greatest strength. Whether you're alone or playing with others, Capcom understands the value of throwing you into one climactic battle after another in what would be a set-piece boss fight in almost any other game. Monster Hunter Wilds suffers from some performance issues, the environments are often bland, and the story feels superfluous, but when you're face-to-face with a fearsome monster, few situations are quite as riveting. Monster Hunter Wilds may only make iterative improvements to further refine the formula, but that's all it really needed to do.

Sunderfolk does a great job of emulating the experience of playing a tactical-focused tabletop game with your friends, where the moments you most remember were the ones you and your fellow players made together, not the tale that the Game Master tells.

Returning home to Baldur’s Gate makes Siege of Dragonspear one of the most enjoyable RPGs that I have played in a long time, both for the nostalgia factor of revisiting an all-time favorite and for the impressively designed and involving narrative that captures nearly everything that fans love about traditional D&D. Even though the engine creaks in spots, the overall experience is everything that a hardcore D&D fan could ask for, and a superb expansion of one of the most legendary franchises in all of roleplaying game history.

PC players finally have access to a proper port of the game. It may be showing its age, but Resident Evil 4 HD stands as the best version available. There is about 30 hours of content in this edition, which runs for a reasonable $20.

I don’t care much about Invisible Inc.'s throwaway story and its last-minute grasps at meaningful themes, or about my agents’ personal backgrounds. Like the game, my efforts are focused on getting the job done, emotionally disengaged but intellectually centered. I bask in the stylish cutscenes and the sharp voiceover, but my attachment is not to the agency or its people but to the sheer pleasure of a successful heist.

A really funny game that puts an innovative twist on the side-scrolling shooter.

NBA 2K is a peculiar game to critique for this perennial reason; like a social media label for a messy relationship, it's complicated. Suffice it to say the thoughts I've expressed in that companion piece weigh on my conclusion here, and you should consider this a two-part review, in a sense. 2K25's greatest flaw is obvious: Its economic designs make the game worse, and it's impossible for anyone without a Randian "greed is good" worldview to justify it...At the same time, everything else it does is so impressive, both as a basketball sim and when stacked next to any other sports game, that it's a delicate balance to find with words. It does so much so well, and much of it is done uniquely. But its refusal to decouple its marquee features from its virtual currency keeps this championship contender from reaching its full potential.

Shadow Tactics' basic ideas are masterfully executed, making it one of the best stealth games in recent memory.

The thrill of learning in Loop Hero is the driving force of its procedural gameplay, with each small discovery and minute change in approach producing outcomes you might not have imagined. Its opening hours are a punishing hurdle to overcome, but once you've found the rhythm of Loop Hero, you won't want to break from its beat.

These issues aside, Two Point Campus is a marked improvement on Two Point Hospital. The college setting makes for a more personable and heartfelt game, where partying, romance, and forming friendships is just as important as attending classes and studying. A plethora of interlocking systems brings it all together and digs deep into the management side of the equation without ever feeling overwhelming. The gradual stream of new concepts makes starting up at a new school exciting, and additional building tools mean there's more customization at your fingertips than ever before. It maintains the series' charm and wit, too, with some biting satire to boot, and ensures that Two Point Campus graduates with flying colors.

This zombie-themed add-on for Red Dead Redemption is the excuse you've been waiting for to don John Marston's boots again.

The strategic large-scale tank battles pair with a deep progression system to give everything a greater purpose and deliver a real winning combo.

Outrun 2006 Coast 2 Coast offers a fun, accessible experience to racing fans who just want to jam on the accelerator and go.

This multiplayer-only slice of the Battlefield series packs plenty of thrills into a downloadable package.

Clubhouse Games serves up 42 different parlor games that practically anyone can pick up and play--and most of them support local and online multiplayer modes.

It also features some subtle but important improvements to the original gameplay that make Ghost Recon a more polished and enjoyable game as a whole.

Amnesia: Rebirth feels like the culmination of Frictional Games horror titles up to this point. It refines the ideas and mechanics that have been central to the developer's games since Penumbra: Overture in 2007, it hones in on effective scares while avoiding the frustrations of failure, and it tightens the focus on character-driven storytelling. Rebirth is an unsettling, strange, tragic story that deepens the Amnesia mythos in a lot of cool ways, while managing to be just as creepy and frightening as its beloved predecessor.

This year's entry is incredible in so many ways, from graphics, to soundtrack, to the different modes and ways to play hoops. It becomes clear early on that the fastest and easiest way to progress is by spending real money, slightly marring an otherwise tremendous experience.

Darksiders II merges action, exploration, and loot-driven progression into an excellent and sizable adventure.

When Just Cause 3 is consistent, however, it's a stunning display of cause and effect, as watchtowers topple into fuel tanks, which blow up nearby helicopters, which sail into oncoming vehicles. I often spent hours setting up outlandish chain reactions, or trying new gear mods, knowing full well I wasn't making any progress in the traditional sense. I was content to just sit back and marvel as it all happened.

While undercooked presentation and visual issues hold the games back, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are still the best mainline Pokemon games in years. They build off Pokemon Legends: Arceus's open-ended design in some thoughtful and surprising ways, and retain that same level of depth that the mainline series is known for.

This year's entry is incredible in so many ways, from graphics, to soundtrack, to the different modes and ways to play hoops. It becomes clear early on that the fastest and easiest way to progress is by spending real money, slightly marring an otherwise tremendous experience.

Goofing around and pursuing high marks on these leaderboards is fun, but it's the atmospheric city and the varied story missions that make Sleeping Dogs an alluring adventure.

Odyssey makes great strides in its massive and dynamic world, and it's a joy to venture out and leave your mark on its ever-changing setting.

Race the Sun is an elegant endeavor, pairing slick action and stiff challenge with systems that make you want to come back day after day.