Simply makes fantastic use of the PSP technology, providing a profoundly impressive audiovisual experience and fast, frantic racing, both of which easily rank with the best the platform has to offer.

A host of significant additions make this the most exhaustive, but also the most streamlined, Football Manager to date.

An incredible hockey package that's filled with more game modes than you'll probably know what to do with. And once again they've orchestrated the best hockey gameplay you're going to find anywhere.

It's a downsized version of Rocket League that streamlines and shrinks the experience, without sacrificing its fundamental nature. It also brilliantly takes advantage of the mobile medium with super-quick games, easy-to-understand mechanics, and excellent controls. Sideswipe is a smaller, quicker, lighter-weight version of Rocket League that still captures why the original is so endearing, and it's absolutely a game you should make space for on your phone.

Stepping into Fight Night Round 4's ring is definitely recommended if you have any interest in the sport whatsoever, just be aware that not everyone you come up against will be fighting in the spirit of the Queensbury rules.

The bottom line is that if you're looking for a realistic and feature-rich baseball video game, you can't go wrong with MVP Baseball 2005.

The Witcher: Enhanced Edition is what this role-playing game should have been when it made its debut a year ago.

Like the best MMA fighters, UFC Undisputed 3 is well-rounded and impresses in a lot of different areas. It improves upon its predecessors at practically every opportunity and, for the moment, is the undisputed champion of MMA video games.

It doesn't really break any new ground, but the game nails the core aspects of first-person-shooter gameplay so well that it doesn't need to.

Where F1 2016 lacked a little on the career side, F1 2017 more than makes up for that and then some more. An improved multiplayer set up, a greater variety of race options and straight-up better cars to drive, on top of the stellar career mode and thrilling on track racing experience make F1 2017 simply the best Formula One game ever made.

On PS5 specifically, developer Toys for Bob has also added some DualSense haptics, but they don't contribute much to the experience. When playing as characters other than Crash or Coco--Tawna, Neo Cortex, and Dingodile--some moves now come with a very weak haptic response. Using Tawna's grappling hook, for example, elicits a very, very mild trigger shake. Moving from space to space on the Dimensional Map also has a little bit of trigger feedback in addition to a rumble. The haptics really don't add anything, though it isn't as if they felt missing from the original release.

The tweaks that Konami has made to the match engine have produced a more refined game, but there's not a hint of the revolution attempted by EA Sports in most annual FIFA updates. There are also only a handful of new features, chief of which are eight-player online support, an increase in the number of licensed teams, and an international challenge mode.

Despite its few shortcomings and frustrating design issues, you'll find that "Ground Control" is not only one of the best-looking games to date but also one that's suitably challenging and rewarding.

While die-hard Resident Evil fans will be turned off by the game's length, others will find it to be the survival-horror game for people who don't like survival-horror games.

It re-creates the NASCAR experience in spectacular fashion, and all of the included modes, series options, and extras provide an excellent amount of value for the cost.

Cuphead has been a longtime coming, and it's great to see that it lives up to its initial promises. It's beautiful to look at, and with a pitch-perfect soundtrack, it flawlessly captures the era its developers so clearly revere. It's also an intense action game that pulls no punches. It could benefit from a few tweaks, and two-player co-op doesn't feel like the valuable addition you might imagine, but Cuphead remains a rare, unique game that truly stands out.

Velocity 2X is interactive poetry. All of its pieces, all of its movements, all of its systems and mechanics flow seamlessly into and out of one another to create a constant tone of movement and a feeling of endless flow.

A boldly refreshing strategy RPG that is both beautiful to look at and fun to play.

For RGG Studio's first crack at an RPG, it's a damn fine result. It delivers what I love most about Yakuza and introduces new ideas that largely pay off. Ichiban isn't doing it alone, either. He has friends and mentors, ones who've helped him fight and overcome personal tragedies. It was an absolute thrill to watch him grow, and that's what's most important for a game so focused on its characters. Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a passing of the torch, and a fantastic entry in a beloved franchise that proves that it's in good hands with Kasuga Ichiban.

The Messenger takes the best parts of the action-platformers it takes influence from and reinterprets them well. With clever writing, well-designed levels, and balanced difficulty curve, the game continuously hooks you with enticing skill-based challenges and satisfying payoffs. Your character might have an immediate imperative to delivering a world-saving scroll, but the journey there definitely one to savor.

Resistance doesn't attempt anything wildly different than other first-person shooters out there, but by offering a strong selection of interesting weapons, plenty of ruthless foes to shoot them at, good level design, and an excellent presentation, it accomplishes what most such games fail to do. A fully featured multiplayer mode for up to 40 players rounds out an exciting campaign.

The rough edges mean Switch isn't the ideal platform to play Disco Elysium on, but it's still a perfectly fine choice, and the ability to play such a phenomenal game on the go is a welcome option. You still get the full Final Cut treatment here--including full voice acting, which is impressive given the game's storage requirements have been shrunk even further on Switch--and despite the shortcomings, Disco Elysium instantly joins the ranks of the best games on Switch.

With strong multiplayer, new modes, and lots of destruction, this block-bashing sequel is ready for its spotlight.

It’s all centered around whatever it is you want to accomplish that day. And that’s truly what makes Stardew Valley such a lovely experience, it encourages you to go out and be the best you can be, in whichever task that brings you the most joy. Stardew Valley motivates naturally, with blissful optimism.

Diablo IV, at this time, cannot escape comparison to the past of the franchise it belongs to, but it's thankfully a game that has been crafted with a strong awareness of what made each one either revered or reviled. It represents a measured approach to combining the many elements from previous entries that worked into a system that feels like the new standard-bearer for action role-playing. Coupled with a new benchmark for storytelling in the franchise, and a solid narrative foundation for any potential new adventures, it's easy to see Diablo IV as something I'll regularly check-in on for a long time to come.

The puzzles aren't perfect, but Clash of Heroes offers intriguing hybrid gameplay, engaging role-playing elements, and a great presentation.

It's a triumph of real-time strategy design, and the best the Total War series has ever been.

That's what makes Unpacking such a treat. I peered into the life of someone else and saw myself. It compelled me to look back on my own experiences, the good and the bad, through the simple act of unpacking the contents of their life. Unpacking may be a zen puzzle game that's just relaxing for some, but for me it was a more profound experience that I'll never forget. Sometimes we put our past into proverbial boxes; ripping off the tape and rediscovering what we hid away can be cathartic and illuminating.