Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy might be by-the-numbers, but it's a consistently enjoyable experience with great characters and an engaging story, thanks to an excellent understanding of what makes this property tick.

There’s an immediate familiarity for House of Ashes in the Dark Pictures catalog, but this entry is as thematically complex and consequently engaging as any game in the series so far.

NHL 22 delivers some good moment-to-moment hockey along with a needed visual upgrade, but the franchise feels tired and worn out.

Even with the missing multiplayer, Crysis' sci-fi single player campaigns provide a decent experience.

Hell Let Loose does little to overcome the downsides of its realistic take on World War 2 and strategic gameplay, but manages to reap some rewards out of it as well.

Metroid Dread is a triumph.

Back 4 Blood wastes no time trying to divert your attention from its obvious influences, but it doesn’t need to when it nearly lives up to the expectations its spiritual predecessors set so high.

Far Cry 6 doesn't do a lot to shake up a tried-and-true formula, but still offers up an engaging story and plenty of enjoyable open world mayhem in the series' best setting to date.

While some annoyances stop Jett: The Far Shore from realizing its full potential, it's definitely a game that fans of experiences like Journey and Abzu might enjoy.

Alan Wake Remastered easily stands on its own among modern, similar games due to its exceptional design, tight execution, and handful of technical improvements.

Banana Mania simultaneously caters to younger players and old fans alike with a solid representation of the franchise’s most successful ideas and plenty to do.

With Xuan Yuan 7’s action, story, and various systems all clicking into place so well, Domo Studio has given the world a truly superb video game.

FIFA 22 makes some important changes on and off the pitch, and though there's still plenty of room for improvement, it's still the series' best game in recent years.

Diablo 2: Resurrected is a faithful, meticulous remaster that shows just how well the original has aged.

Take away the technical issues, and Sable is a pretty good game. It's not great, because some fundamental design issues do hold it back, but it would still be worth checking out. As it stands, however, the game is a mess technically speaking, with frame rate drops, pop ins, crashes, hard locks, and long loading times. If there is a good game in here, it's really hard to get to, and it might be best to wait till after some of the technical issues have been ironed out.

Hot Wheels Unleashed is a bit light on level and event type variety but still delivers a great racer worthy of the Hot Wheels name with plenty of speed, detailed customization, and a meaty roster of fun vehicles.

Some of Death Stranding Director's Cut's new additions are a little disappointing, but the experience's core mechanics remain intact. Though it is an inessential purchase, those who enjoyed the original game and want to dive in again will find plenty to like here.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits delivers an all around excellent experience that's consistently engaging and manages to enrapture the player, even without doing anything particularly new or innovative.

Subdivision Infinity DX may be worth a try for fans of space combat games, but stumbles out the gate with zero controller customization options and a padded out progression system.

Ultra Age bets it all on its own style of conventional combat and mostly succeeds as a result.

While it never totally fails to be an acceptable action RPG, most of Tails of Iron’s initial appeal doesn’t outlast its humdrum gameplay.

By building on the first game's strengths and taking confident steps forward in some key areas, Lost Judgment delivers an arresting and captivating experience that surpasses its predecessor in every way possible.

With improved traversal, map design, and an option for multiplayer, Aragami 2 stands tall as a stealth title that brings the genre’s strengths to the forefront.

NBA 2K22 makes some appreciated improvements to on-the-court gameplay and tries some refreshing, if not entirely successful innovations in MyCareer that make this year’s version feel like a bit more than just a roster update.

If your prefer your time-looping adventures to be more stylish and violence-oriented, then Deathloop may be for you. Even with its various issues, there is satisfaction to be had in learning each map and completing the perfect series of assassinations.

Baldo: The Guardian Owls looks great, but major issues with everything from combat to puzzles to exploration and more ensure that it's consistently a chore to play.

Life is Strange: True Color's well written cast and rich setting help make it easily one of the strongest outings this franchise has had.

The Artful Escape is an incredible odyssey of self discovery, and its few shortcomings don't hold it back from being an excursion patently worth making.

Tales of Arise is a well-made, consistently enjoyable JRPG, and though its storytelling tends to be inconsistent, its gorgeous world and consistently enjoyable combat are more than enough to keep you hooked until the end.

While not a monumental upgrade over past installments, WRC 10 makes some welcome changes to the formula that continue to make it a must-play for fans of the sport.

Aside from rigid combat and some visual hiccups, F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch delivers a unique world with an intriguing narrative and tight traversal.

A conservative yet meaningful evolution of the classic RPG.

Sonic Colors largely holds up well, and Ultimate is a great way to return or introduce yourself to what is arguably the best designed 3D Sonic game so far.

Tormented Souls is a little rough around the edges and hits a few noticeable bumps, but by and large, this is a solid survival horror game that fans of the genre's classics are sure to enjoy.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite could have been a much better game but its many bugs and glitches, and strange design decisions hold it back from shining.

With The Virtuous Cycle, Mortal Shell tosses its hat into the roguelite ring, and while it’s a great reason to come back for more Mortal Shell, its slow progression and lack of clear direction make it less of a fulfilling experience than the main campaign.

To be able to enjoy No More Heroes 3, then, you need to be able to not take the story seriously while still being fully invested in it and all that it has to offer, and you need to be willing to put up with the distinctly low budget jank that permeates the game without letting it get in the way of your enjoyment of all that the game does well.

An updated version for modern hardware, Quake (2021) is the definitive way to revisit an FPS classic.

Psychonauts 2 is bigger, better, and more ambitious than its predecessor in every way imaginable.

RiMS Racing makes an honorable attempt at raising the bar for customization but it comes at the cost of nearly everything else.

Axiom Verge 2 delivers a sequel that successfully diverges from the original, and the genre in general, in several ways, giving us a confident look at other directions for Metroidvania games to evolve in.

Madden 22 has begun to address some major issues, and while it hasn’t fixed or updated everything, the dynamic on-field abilities and improved game modes make the future look a little brighter for the franchise.

Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut is the best version of an excellent game, thanks not only to various technical and quality-of-life improvements, but also a meaty and brilliant new expansion that builds on the base game's biggest strengths in all the right ways.

Twelve Minutes is a thrill ride through and through, constantly presenting players with new and interesting revelations in the time looping narrative that never fails to keep one guessing. It veers away from stereotypical point-and-click adventure tropes, and challenges players to bend its densely-detailed environments to achieve their goals.

The DLC's Infiltration Missions will surely appeal to fans of classic Assassin's Creed games, but by and large, Valhalla's second DLC feels like more of the same. It's a solid expansion, but far from essential.

Pokemon Unite makes enough stumbles that it's not a total home run; however, the core concept is sound and engaging, and given proper long term support, Unite could evolve into being a fixture of the genre.

Eldest Souls unites the ideas behind the plethora of other pixel art action games with a challenging boss rush to mostly great effect.

Based on its premise, Foreclosed should be a lot more interesting, but it doesn’t have the balanced gameplay or nuanced story to even crack that conversation.

Tribes of Midgard is a great concept, but half-baked mechanics and design decisions prevent it from reaching the triumphs it could.

Fans and newcomers alike are going to be enthralled by NEO: The World Ends with You, that rare belated follow up to a beloved cult classic that manages to live up to, and even exceed, the original.

Chernobylite's divergent paths bolster its replayability but its inconsistencies in other areas drag down the experience.

Samurai Warriors 5 makes the series stand out from Koei’s other games and updates the musou formula in smart ways, but unfortunately cuts too much of what worked in the past to make it universally recommendable to hardcore fans.

The Ascent combines excellent worldbuilding, satisfying role playing, exciting combat, and stellar visuals to deliver an astounding action RPG.

Great use of its setting along with the usual dose of charm, humor, smart writing, and a great cast of characters help The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles deliver an incredibly strong package, one that ends up being well worth the very long wait.

Even with a few issues, Death's Door is a tightly designed, challenging game that does wonders with its classic Zelda-inspired formula.

Skyward Sword's HD remaster helps sand out some of the game's rough edges, but this is still probably the most flawed mainline Zelda game to date.

Much of F1 2021 builds on the high-class foundation from previous games that make the series one of the best racing games out there, but new additions, especially Braking Point, are both great pieces of content on their own and optimistic foundational pieces for the future.

On the whole, Bloodline is worth playing for those who are, for one reason or another, already invested in Watch Dogs- just don't expect anything spectacular.

Fans and newcomers to the series, genre, or spin-off sub-series alike will find a lot to enjoy in Monster Hunter Stories 2, which, despite a few stumbles, presents one of the stronger RPG offerings on the Switch.

A lack of content holds Mario Golf Super Rush back, but purely mechanically and in terms of design, it stands as one of Mario's best sports game outings in a very long time.

Disgaea 6 is a pretty good, if flawed, game that should hopefully be the stepping stone to better ones in the future.

Metro Exodus leverages the more powerful hardware of newer consoles to give its already-impressive visuals a notable boost.

Scarlet Nexus lives and dies by its combat, which is a good thing, because the combat is great. It's fast, frantic, consistently enjoyable, grows progressively more complex, and feels surprisingly strategic on a very fundamental level. But in most other ways, the game fails to live up to its potential, most notably in how it fails to do justice to a good setting and solid world-building with uninteresting characters, a mindless narrative, and deeply flawed storytelling.

Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance has good ideas, but poor enemy variety, samey levels, bad puzzles, a shockingly poor story, the lack of local co-op, several quality-of-life issues, and numerous bugs that affect every aspect of the game make it hard to recommend to anyone, no matter how much they like the source material.

Taken for what it is, Tokyo 2020 works well enough to carve a niche for itself as a surprisingly fun and easy to pick-up multiplayer game for families and parties.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is an excellent enhancement of a great game, thanks to its technical improvements and a solid and meaty new chunk of content with Episode INTERmission.

Despite this port missing the mark with optimization, Green Hell still stands tall among its contemporaries as one of the better recent games of its sort while also pulling off a compelling story.

Guilty Gear Strive is a beautiful, technically complex fighter that sports a great soundtrack, incredibly varied roster, fantastic teaching tools, and some of the best netcode in the genre all while making Guilty Gear more accessible without sacrificing too much of its technical depth. While its online lobbies need work, it's easily one of the best fighters on the market today. Go buy it and start rockin'.

The Ninja Gaiden Master Collection is a barebones port of two of the greatest action games ever made and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge. The fact that these are the Sigma versions, and that Team Ninja has done nothing to iron out the weaker moments of these games, drags this collection down, but it's still a good way to play Ninja Gaiden on modern hardware.

With an incredible arsenal of weapons, thrilling combat, a charming story full of loveable characters, and visuals to make your eyes pop, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart might just be the best game in the series to date.

Necromunda: Hired Gun wisely aims high but ultimately flubs the execution on too many fronts to warrant a universal recommendation, but for the most hardcore Warhammer or first-person shooter fans it may be worth a look for the amusing marriage of its ideas.

Metro Exodus: Enhanced Edition is a solid introduction to the ray-traced future of gaming, barring minor technical hiccups.

As a game, Ultimate Showdown does little to convince you to choose it over the newest Tekken, Dead or Alive, or Mortal Kombat game. But given how well its core gameplay holds up with its various enhancements, it’s certainly worth a look for fighting game fans looking for something a little different.

Knockout City brings more to the table than you might expect, but still leaves a couple of much-needed ingredients at home. As a result, its fate as a multiplayer game is unclear.

Days Gone's PC port doesn't fix the game's generic premise or writing issues, but it does offer a slew of technical improvements that takes advantage of the PC's better hardware. Pair those with a compelling world and some great gameplay and you have an adventure that's better than it's often given credit for.

Biomutant works best on paper, but it has too many derivative elements for anything alone to stand out.

Rust Console Edition generally maintains its core tenants and starts its console life on the right foot in most areas.

While it lacks online play and is missing a few major titles, Capcom Arcade Stadium's incredible emulation, wonderful UI, and plethora of accessibility and difficulty options make it an excellent way to play several of yesteryear's best games.

Nocturne's PS2 origins are obvious, but players who can get past the intense difficulty curve and barebones plot will find a great RPG that rewards mastery of its combat systems.

As a whole, this is pretty much exactly what fans have been asking for for so long- the entire Mass Effect trilogy brought together in a single package that, rather than just making the games better looking, helps their qualities stand out much more while ironing out the kinks.

Despite many nods to Hood: Outlaws and Legends’ source material, the densely-packed progression mechanics and fun gameplay are the star of the show here. It stops short of being a total showstopper, but comes far closer than you might expect.

Subnautica: Below Zero once again delivers an experience with engaging exploration set in a mysterious, beautiful, and haunting underwater world.

Resident Evil Village expertly combines tense horror, thrilling action, engaging exploration, and compelling storytelling in a single sublime experience, delivering one of the best games in the history of Capcom's beloved survival horror franchise.

Genshin Impact remains an unbelievable proposition as a free to play title, and the PS5 version of it remains the best way to check it out on consoles for now, in spite of several missed opportunities for obvious and meaningful upgrades.

Ridiculously charming and extremely relaxing, New Pokemon Snap provides the most realized and fleshed out window into the Pokemon world yet, also delivering a robust and entertaining game that makes good on the original title's potential remarkably well in the process.

While Enhanced can't hide Terminator: Resistance's budget origins, this is a solid licensed game that honors the franchise that spawned it. If you can overlook its budget-related flaws, this is a fairly enjoyable take on the Terminator license.

Returnal is an astounding game, one that easily and instantly claims the proud title of being Housemarque’s best game to date, and is an unmissable killer app very early in the PS5’s life.

MotoGP 21 continues Milestone’s slow crawl of tweaks and improvements, which will be fine for most enthusiasts, but still falls short of being universally recommendable to a broader audience.

By and large, if you already have Judgment on the PS4, its remaster is hard to recommend. There isn’t much that’s new here, after all, and spending additional money on a nearly identical experience doesn’t make much sense. That said, if you’ve never played Judgment before, this is an extremely easy recommendation. It tells an excellent story, offers a ton of varied and enjoyable content, and delivers an extremely polished take on the classic Yakuza formula.

NieR Replicant’s upgrades put it nearly on par with NieR: Automata, and while it doesn’t live up to the tight package Automata provided, it’s a great addition for anyone who missed it the first time around.

MLB The Show 21 does exactly what a sports sequel needs to do; it refines and expands on the best features of the predecessor, without taking away from what works.

Oddworld: Soulstorm is a very compelling game, which veers on the verge of being an all time classic.

Outriders actively props up its own strengths and encourages you to employ them, organically allowing you to experience its full potential and mostly outweighing a disjointed story.

Disco Elysium was already an excellent game when it first launched, and with The Final Cut, it's been made even better.

The unwavering cheerfulness that permeates every ounce of Balan Wonderworld can’t overcome the shallow gameplay and questionable design choices that come every step of the way.

Monster Hunter Rise is mechanically the best game in the series yet, delivering a superlative experience to long time fans and newcomers alike, and also quite possibly the best game to have launched on the Switch since Breath of the Wild.

You can finish Evil Inside in one sitting, in less than an hour, and that combined with the fact that none of what it does is worth a lot of praise means that spending money on the game isn't something that anyone should do.

Black Legend might not be an unmissable game, but it's still one that fans of strategy RPGs should definitely have on their radar.