Demon’s Souls 2020 is a gorgeous game that holds up thanks to a lovingly recreation and some helpful quality of life improvements. Although it oftentimes feels like it’s afraid to change too much lest it incur the wrath of the original game’s cult following which makes it less impactful, this stellar remaster is still a must-play for any PS5 owner.

Immortals: Fenyx Rising is an excellent new adventure title for Ubisoft, full to bursting with genuine comedy, excellent gameplay, and devious puzzles. While there are a few technical hiccups, underutilized DualSense, and sub-30 fps Switch ports, the game is fantastic on all platforms. Come for the bizarre Greek mythology, stay for the stellar gameplay -- Immortals: Fenyx Rising is a fantastic holiday treat.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a ton of fun, but handicaps itself with the occasionally abysmal frame pacing, wonky camera, and design of later missions. Still, it’s the perfect accompaniment to Breath of the Wild and well worth your time.

Overall, there just isn’t much to say about Remothered: Broken Porcelain. Almost every aspect of the game disappoints, so you tend not to focus on any one thing while playing. The story was incredibly confusing, but everything else was pretty bad, too, so I didn’t even care. It feels incomplete and not paid attention to.

Gears Tactics is a stellar tactics game that still manages to feel like the Gears you know and love. With an okay story, addictive RPG systems, and dozens of hours of gameplay, this is a must-play for any fans of turn-based strategy games or the Gears franchise in general.

Cloudpunk started off unique and interesting; you’re new to its world and are exploring it alongside the main character, Rania. Eventually, you’ll realize it’s only a cyberpunk delivery simulator with cringey voice acting and an even worse script. By that point, the game loses any redeemable qualities and becomes a burden to play. Just like the main character, and the mechanics, the game has little to no substance to offer.

Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle is an interesting way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of everyone’s favorite yellow muncher, but the asking price and lack of content might turn off some interested fans. However, with some added updates and patches, it has the potential to be one of the more engaging battle royale titles.

Coming out of seemingly nowhere, Touhou Spell Bubble is one of the best puzzle games I’ve played all year. The mix of rhythm gameplay and a reimagining of the Bust a Move formula is wrapped up in a Touhou presentation, and it’s an addictively fun experience that diehard Touhou fans should definitely check out.

Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate is the definitive edition to own if you don’t already own the game and post-launch content. However, running off a PS5, the improved load times and graphical enhancements are amazing and necessary. It’s a highly optimized game that feels like it was made for the new generation of consoles. The ability to launch within seconds from the main menu into a match is a technical marvel of itself. It’s definitely the Mortal Kombat 11 version to purchase if you want to own all the post-launch content from the get-go.

While the story is unremarkable and the gameplay doesn't provide any innovations to the aged formula, I still very much enjoyed my time with OneeChanbara Origin as it still left me with a satisfying feeling even with the short time I spent with it.

If your connection is strong enough to reliably stream it, Stadia is a good place to play Watch Dogs: Legion. The technology focused stealth compensates for the input lag nicely, and the game looks and runs far better than my mid to low range desktop could hope to.

Save transfers make this a great version of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla to supplement the PC or console release. However, the missing accessibility options makes it difficult to recommend to everyone.

Sackboy is the perfect launch title to initiate young children into the next generation of games, as well as provide a rewarding and enjoyable experience for everyone else. Even though it launches with a hefty price tag, the amount of content this game has to offer more than covers its cost. Plus, you can either play this one with or without friends, and it will undoubtedly entertain all for hours. The mixture of fantastic level design, coupled with a great soundtrack, will reignite that lost feeling of childhood happiness.

PositronX starts off as an amazing FPS game that’s marketed as a rogue-lite, but players will quickly realize that it’s more attuned to being a roguelike. Progressing through the four levels and it’s quickly evident that a high level of artificial difficulty is added, with enemies getting more health and damage, while you’re stuck with abilities and bonuses that don’t scale accurately against the rest of the gameplay. The game ends up becoming a grindy mess with its only salvation being the music design and the occasional new weapon or ability for the player to experience.

With a practiced expertise, Frontier has translated their fantastic coaster creator to the next-gen consoles without compromising the core qualities of what makes this game great. The radial menu and optional keyboard/mouse controls delivers theme park magic unlike any other, and once again claims its crown -- the king of coasters among mere tycoons.

Graphically, Godfall is an absolute triumph while also delivering fun pickup and play combat that will appeal to a more casual crowd. With up to three in multiplayer, or a very viable solo implementation, the game is a fun but repetitive romp through a faux-Arthurian world. While there are some technical hurdles to patch, there’s a lot of fun to be had here. Now let’s just hope we get to someday see the rest!

The Sims 4 Snowy Escape Expansion pack was quite enjoyable, and I am very excited to dive in with my regular Sim family to check out the Lifestyles and Sentiments between them. There is plenty to do to keep you busy with the new sports that were added, though honestly the rock climbing and hiking could have been more obvious to figure out. I am sure there are still things I have not uncovered yet in the expansion, but I look forward to exploring Mt. Komorebi further. It’s a solid expansion, and I enjoyed it much more than the previous Eco Lifestyle expac.

Black Ops has absolutely returned with a vengeance. The fast, frantic pace is still there, and the gunplay is still just as great as you remember it. While the campaign may be the weakest part of an overall phenomenal package, it’s still very satisfying and the espionage narrative packs a punch. The modes people are going to play the most, multiplayer and Zombies, are the strongest parts of Black Ops Cold War, and offer the best first person shooter gameplay in video games. PS4 and Xbox One players may be missing out on several improvements offered by the next-gen systems and PC, but it’s not enough to detract from an amazing experience. My appetite for Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is definitely growing, and like Duran Duran, “I’m hungry like the wolf”.

Just Dance 2021 is a solid entry in the franchise, though it might get stale next year if things don’t change. However, its improved performance and bombastically entertaining song list will still get you on the dance floor this time around.

While it’s very short on story, Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory is a neat celebration of the Dark Seeker Saga before moving on. With a huge selection of fantastic tunes and a fun yet simplistic control scheme, this game will keep fans busy until Kingdom Hearts IV.

Among Us is the perfect party game to play in short bursts or in a livestreaming environment. With an addictively entertaining premise, simple controls, and a brilliant execution, if you haven’t played the game yet, you need to right now.

Like previous effort ABZÛ before it, The Pathless leans heavily into the gorgeous cell-shaded world, and it does so with gameplay and story that keeps you locked and engaged for the entirety of its 10 hour story run. Comparisons to games like Shadow of the Colossus and Journey are apt, but seeing the world rush by at 4K and 60fps is a thing of beauty. Come for the frenetic gameplay, stay for the art.

Pikmin 3 Deluxe is truly the definitive version of Pikmin 3 with plenty of additions and quality-of-life changes that will make it difficult to go back to the original Wii U version. The side stories provide creative level design that was missing from the base game, all of the DLC missions are present, and the story can finally be played entirely with two players. Even if this doesn’t lead to a Pikmin 4, it would be a great high point to end the series on.

Ghostrunner is a breath of fresh air. It takes the best parts of Hotline Miami and Mirror’s Edge, sprinkles in its own style, and hands players a unique experience. Every single minute is a thrill ride that keeps the player packed full of adrenaline, and it doesn’t stop until the end of each level. It’s an immensely enjoyable and satisfying experience that will have you on the edge of your seat trying to master each segment. However, as the price point currently stands you’re getting about 5 hours of content for $30, with the only replayability coming from leaderboard rankings.

While it doesn’t flesh out its premise to its fullest potential, What Comes After is a poignant look at how one views the afterlife. With emotional dialogue and a nice narrative structure, this is worth your $4.99.

With visuals completely redesigned from the ground up, rebuilt mechanics, and even a dose of extra content, Observer System Redux delivers on the gritty retrofuturistic cyberpunk world of horror. Rebuilt stealth sections fixed the largest complaint, and the hitching in the original release is gone. The original was good, but this is great.

From a purely technical perspective, Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition is a triumph. Delivering gorgeous ray traced lighting, blistering framerates, and high resolution, coupled with speedy load times and eye-popping visuals, Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition is the best possible rendition of the game. Returning special features like Turbo mode, Legendary Dark Knight mode, and Vergil himself is sure to keep any air-juggling Devil May Cry fan happy.

Bugsnax is an odd combination of Pokémon, a Cabela’s hunting game, and Octodad. It’s got a lot going for it in the fun gameplay, as well as a wonderful island filled with incredible creatures to discover. I do think the ending doesn’t necessarily fit, and the backtracking is annoying, but it doesn’t make the game unenjoyable. If you want the weirdest game of 2020 that's unusually entertaining, then pick up Bugsnax. Now if you’ll excuse me, the Kero Kero Bonito song is stuck in my head again.