Not all remakes are successful, but Heavy Spectrum’s new take on Shadow of the Beast is a triumph across the board. It has enough nostalgic throwback to draw in fans of the original, but plenty of updates for a new audience.

Battlefield 6 expands its arsenal with two new modes that bring the heat. The REDSEC battle royale brings all-out warfare to a bigger arena wreathed in flames. It’s a vast improvement from its previous iteration, although Solo and Trio matchmaking options would be appreciated. Gauntlet is an entirely new Battlefield experience that adds some additional fire and flair to the competitive FPS genre, keeping players on their toes every round. PTFO!

Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition is the best version of the Legend of Zelda hack-and-slash experience. While it does suffer from some problems the original versions had, the plentiful amount of content mixed with entertaining gameplay and colorful cast of characters make this a legend the hero of time would love.

Destiny: Rise of Iron is an excellent addition to Bungie’s open-world shooter, but is held back by a weak story, and a leveling meta that requires a bit of grinding. Overall, Destiny looks, sounds, and feels better than it ever has, and there has been no better time to be a Destiny player.

Bossa Studios took the mayhem of the first game and enhanced it ten-fold. Surgeon Simulator 2 is a blast to play, and even better enjoyed with friends. The unique gameplay, combined with unforgettable co-op experiences and a wholly polished title, makes this game a worthwhile purchase.

One Piece Odyssey took on the tough task of being accessible to those who don’t know the source material, while also catering to the fans of the franchise. At its heart, One Piece Odyssey is a love letter to the fans, but that doesn’t stop from being a fantastic gateway into the world.

In a world filled with bricks and boundless imagination, Lego 2K Drive in Bricklandia shines as an extraordinary racing adventure. With its thrilling races, delightful characters, and captivating visuals, this game takes players on a joyous ride that is sure to put a smile on their faces. Despite its ludicrous microtransactions, the sheer fun and excitement of the kart racing experience, combined with the charming Lego aesthetic, make it a game worth playing.

Torn Away mixes beautiful hand-drawn aesthetics with the grim story of a little girl trying to survive a war and make it home. The game excels at establishing tone and getting the player to feel a sense of connection to the main character, Asya, through heartfelt character interactions and mini-games. While the brutal story beats hit hard at the beginning of the game, they lose some of their steam towards the end when you begin to expect them.

Serial Cleaners is a unique entry into the stealth genre, featuring fun gameplay mechanics, a quirky cast of characters, and increasingly complex missions. Sneaking past guards, disposing of evidence, tackling innocent bystanders, and coming up with increasingly chaotic ways of dealing with tough situations never became dull, rather I was constantly excited for what came next. While there were a few sound issues and the on-screen text can be a bit small, I still found myself greatly enjoying my time as a cleaner for a mob boss.

Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is a great time exploring, mining, drinking, singing, and more with friends on multiplayer than is steady with crossplay while also providing a solo mode for those wanting to handle things on their own and explore the mysteries of the Mines of Moria on their terms. With moments from John Rhys-Davies as Gimli, to lore drops in-game from characters such as Gandalf; Return to Moria will be a game any Lord of the Rings fan should have a fun time putting hours into.

It may be a poor teacher with text-heavy interfaces, but Monster Hunter: World is a great entry into the franchise if you haven't played anything from the series thus far. It's polished and filled with content, and you'll regret not immersing yourself in the series sooner. It provides a challenging yet enjoyable combat system that will keep you on your toes, and the variety of menacing monsters adds new challenges and keeps things from getting dull. You’ll happily trade hours of your free time for more monsters to hunt, capture, and slay.

Final Fantasy XIII-2, like its predecessor, takes bold chances that pay off in nearly every way. It is clear that the folks at SquareEnix have listened to their fans and have made a great many changes based on that feedback. While there are some aspects that could use some shoring up, Final Fantasy XIII-2 is very worthy of the mantle of this long-standing series.

CrossCode is an amazing puzzle action RPG with a touching story and a beautifully detailed world. Combat has tons of options and puzzles require a lot of critical thinking and creative solutions to solve. It draws inspiration from classic SNES RPGs and the Zelda series, but stands proudly among them as a modern classic.

Octopath Traveler is an all around enjoyable, nostalgic romp with some nice modern touches. While enjoyment of the storytelling will likely vary from character to character and from player to player, this retro-modern title is filled with sidequests, great music, slightly-hidden team banter, and a gorgeous new approach to pixel art, and is a must-play for any lover of old school JRPGs.

The Long Dark is an amazing spectacle of narrative brilliance and survival. The twists and unexpected turns of the story are complemented by the survival mechanics that are challenging and thought provoking. The Survival Mode gives players a sandbox to play in, and allows them to play and survive how they see fit. With the story being released in episodic expansions, there's always a reason to come back and play.

Hot Wheels Turbocharged: Unleashed 2 leans well on tweaks and not transformations. It is a great game that has recharged its predecessor and taken it to a new level. Graphics are visually stunning and gameplay is satisfying. The pocket-sized miniature mayhem title does well to burn rubber on the tracks and race its way into one of the most fun toy-racing games in the industry.

Jurassic World Evolution strikes a chord with me, and that’s evident in the amount of time I’ve sunk into it. The presentation is gorgeous, the mechanics are engrossing, and balancing your veggiesauraces and meatysauraces has never been fun. There’s a handful of bugs to shake loose, but based on Frontier’s track record I’m fairly certain that these can be shaken out post launch.

VanillaBeast: Retro Knock-Out! embraces the term parody and is full of action-packed, strategy-based combat and humorous jokes, and easter eggs. Overall, it is a fun and hilarious experience that requires attention to detailed combat in order to become victorious. I loved landing a satisfying punch to the jaws of my opponents upon getting a TKO!

Book of Demons introduces a unique card-based skill system and a sense of humor to the stuck-in-its-ways ARPG genre. It has plenty of tricks in its dungeon to keep you on your toes, but gives you ample ways to form your own strategy. With three distinct classes and an endlessly replayable quest, you can get lost in Book of Demons’ papercut dungeon for quite a while.

Rune Factory 4 Special proves just how charming and well-written the Rune Factory games can be. The Switch remaster is just as addictive as charming as the original release was fourteen years ago, and looks even better, thanks to an HD makeover. New content and difficulty modes provide no shortage of replay value, making this a great time sink for newcomers as well as anyone itching to revisit the friendships forged in the town of Selphia.

Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate is an old school roguelike JRPG with a ton of replayability and a great visual style. With its randomized levels, densely related mechanics, and deceptively simple combat, it’s a game that still manages to be fun even twenty hours in.

The Castlevania Dominus Collection is another fantastic effort from M2, though it doesn’t quite reach their lofty standard. The games themselves are a ton of fun, looking and playing great with some amazing convenience features. However, some of these features come up a bit short, specifically controller binding and display configurations. Even so, a full reimagining of an arcade game makes up for those shortcomings for the most part.

If you're looking for the next great hack-and-slash, Torchlight is this year's finest.

Front Office Football 7 isn’t perfect, but when it succeeds it succeeds magnificently.

Summary: If you are a fan of deckbuilding card battlers, with a dash of RPG, then Gordian Quest is the best of the bunch. While there are a few tutorial elements and stability challenges to attend to, the endless replayability and randomization element makes every run unique.

The Sims Mobile is an addictive and fun game that you can play as much or as little as you want while still making money and progress. Whether I had half an hour or a couple minutes, I was always able to send my Sim to do something productive, which allowed me to make great progress throughout the day. The game runs fantastic and I have very few complaints about this great entry in The Sims franchise.

I personally enjoy the 2D Castlevania titles, so I was skeptical to play Mirror of Fate. Of course, I was also skeptical of another developer taking over one of the most beloved franchises in gaming history, and that turned out pretty great. Now we see MercurySteam taking the same approach to the franchise in the handheld space, and again with decent results.

Total War: Warhammer mixes computer and tabletop effortlessly into a fantasy bloodbath. With four diverse races, plenty of character and a promise of much to come, it’s hard to not recommend this to anyone who’s ever dreamed of playing armchair general in the High Fantasy realm.