We’ll happily play all season long, during which we’ll invent a thousand more reasons to love and hate it all at the same time. No matter what, though, we’d be lying if we said we weren’t a tad disappointed that this year’s version didn’t make the same jump we’d gotten accustomed to the last two years.

Though it struggles to pace itself evenly due to a short run-time, To a T is a remarkable, life-affirming wonder. Perfectly un-perfect and proud of it, this is a flag waved high for oddballs – and likely to be one of 2025's most memorable games.

An enticing (if sometimes uneven) action-adventure that will surprise you with an intriguing mystery and surprisingly deep characters.

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is an incredible revival for a venerable series. Pitch-perfect controls, fantastic encounter design, and a tough-but-fair challenge elevate this well beyond a sea of other retro action games. If there's any room for complaint, it's that I simply want more - more levels, and more reasons to come back to them.

Hollow Knight: Silksong is a near perfect followup to its justifiably revered predecessor. Unfurling from its cocoon, this Metroidvania has evolved on just about everything I loved about the original. With a gorgeous, labyrinthine world full of secrets, and twitchy acrobatic controls, Silksong can be rewarding when it's not being overly punishing. It's a bit tougher out the gate than last time around – but Silksong has been worth the wait.

Death of the Outsider uses a smaller scale to create a game that offers up its rewards quicker but without diminishing their payoff.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a gorgeously grotesque and endearingly cozy adventure that offers a gorgeous setting along with a satisfying blend of tower defense-style strategy and hack-and-slash combat.

You've never explored an open world quite like this. Sunset Overdrive's iffy gunplay and inconsistent missions are redeemed by absolutely amazing mobility and an infectious enthusiasm for mayhem.

The most accomplished wrestling game of the last decade – only held back by gnawing MyFaction concerns. A shame.

A brilliant but all too brief sample of Miles Morales' superhero life.

Ghosts is a cookie cutter game with a little touch of alien frosting on top. However, the well-designed multiplayer maps, soldier customization, and polished gameplay is more than enough to sink your teeth into.

Still madder than a box of frogs, but its magical Disney charms make it worth the long wait.

The Pathless switches effortlessly between relaxing exploration and exhilarating story moments, and it's altogether incredible.

Dragon's Crown may start slow, but opens into a truly rewarding experience with each additional hour you put in. Despite some initial barriers to entry, it's still one of Vanillaware's most accessible games, catering to the hardcore while inviting in newcomers with its familiar gameplay and beautiful art.

By going real with the songs, next-gen with the graphics and online with the gameplay, it leaves the wishlist relatively barren. At the same time, it's not delivering us much new on the gameplay front, and in fact lags a bit in terms of smart strumming mechanics.

Every individual component works so well that you might even wish the game would have focused more on a specific area or genre. This doesn’t hurt the game, but like its aerial controls, it leaves you wanting more. Still, Dragon Commander manages to combine all of its different gameplay elements and delivers one cohesive experience that's highly worth playing.

The War Within continues World of Warcraft's comeback trajectory with a war worth fighting for Horde and Alliance alike. While this expansion isn't groundbreaking, it does do a great job of setting the stage for the Worldsoul Saga.

The expansion also adds Tinkering, which allows you to make new items, and Transmuting, which allows you to add additional features to existing items.

In spite of nagging camera problems and an intimidatingly complicated battle system, Dissidia is an outstanding fighter that does a fantastic job of giving Final Fantasy fans exactly what they want.

A great departure from the core Forza Motorsport titles. If you're blindly walking into the game without knowing that it's less sim-driven and far more of a fun arcade racer with many of Forza's trademark trappings--rewinds, color-coded tracking, and customization--you're likely in for a rude awakening. It's got its bumpy patches, but if you're interested in playing a long, deep, and rewarding racer, Forza Horizon is a game worth putting in the mileage on.

Hardcore golfers will be disappointed that Tiger Woods PGA Tour isn't making revolutionary improvements, and everyone else will wonder why EA can't seem to make fields of green look prettier, but it's still the best golf game you can buy on any platform.

It was risky for the NHL 13 dev team to reach under the hood and modify the core gameplay to the degree they did. It takes time to learn, and the smarter defenders and goaltenders will make scoring extremely difficult at the start. As we've recently seen with other stalwart franchises like FIFA Soccer and Madden NFL, though, getting the fundamentals oh-so-right can make something that's already good spectacular.

With a fun battle system, great graphics and character design, no loading times, and plenty of charm and wit to boot, Brave Story is an easy recommendation for any RPG fan. This is one of the best RPGs (if not the best) for the PSP yet.

In spite of all these shortcomings, this is still Guitar Hero and the formula still works - this remains one of the best games ever for anyone who has ever thought even for one second that it would be cool to be a rock star (i.e.: everyone). Just be sure to check out the song list if you weren't around to hear this stuff the first time.

A great package overall and especially for long time MMA fans. There are some minor sticking points in the controls and some will miss their favorite UFC fighters, but if you want a fuller experience of what mixed martial arts is coupled with superior online modes, you can't do better than EA MMA.

Once you understand enemy attack patterns and the game’s slightly slower than you’d expect timing, the level of challenge decreases dramatically. This, combined with the fact that Elika literally won’t let you die, could make things feel too easy and auto-piloted for some die-hard hardcore players.

As we weaved through wave after wave of enemies, downing them wholesale, we couldn't help but wish there had been a replay feature included with the game. Still, for the raw, explosive fury of aerial battle, you can accept no substitute for Blazing Angels.

It’s our favorite baseball game of the season, even if it’s really just an action game dressed up in pinstripes.