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.