Sackboy: A Big Adventure isn’t at its best on PC, with consistent stuttering and not many graphical options, but it’s still a fun experience you can play with just about anyone.

It’s rare to see a sequel nail it this hard, but God of War: Ragnarök has once again raised the bar for every action adventure title. It’s the best game I’ve played in a very, very long time, and is, in a word, perfect.

There’s room for improvement, but Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II’s move into a new generation of warfare is a reminder of why Modern Warfare is the best timeline. The campaign hits hard, with some of the best performances in a Call of Duty story, the multiplayer beckons with new complexities, and a refreshed Spec Ops opens the mode up to new possibilities. A couple of misses in the UI and basic features cause some frustration, but Infinity Ward has made THEIR game, and it’s an important step into the future of Call of Duty.

The Resident Evil Village: Winters’ Expansion is a nice bundle of story and gameplay content that managed to engage and entertain me despite being a short-lived experience.

Star Ocean: The Divine Force is a bold and exciting new direction for the series with incredibly fun combat, great characters, and a gripping story. It stumbles more often than it should, but this grand return was more than worth the wait.

The Last Oricru just can’t seem to make up its mind. Strong presentation and performance are enough to get you in the door, but lack any significant development throughout the 10+ hour playtime. Sporting a weak story, insufferable protagonist, and barebones souls-like systems, The Last Oricru does not bring anything new to the genre. Also, what in the world is an Oricru?

BONELAB is an incredibly interesting piece of tech with a terrible shooter holding it back. The physics barely work, the mechanics are cumbersome, and the puzzles are unintuitive and frustrating. There are a few moments where the combat can shine, but that’s not enough to make the game worth it.

New Tales from the Borderlands is confusing, messy, and accomplishes nothing over the course of 10 hours. The game meanders from incident to incident hoping you’ll laugh at a constant barrage of bad jokes, and lacks any heart.

Asterigos: Curse of the Stars is a game composed of two different genres and not fully committing to either. Doing so makes it not reach the potential I think the game could have had by sticking to simply one. Still, with fun combat and an explorative world, it is a solid experience. One that many gamers will be satisfied with but forget after the holiday season.

Last Days of Lazarus is a fun indie (almost) horror game with a lot to puzzle over. The game is well designed, taking much inspiration from the developer’s Romanian roots. The voice acting does leave much to be desired but the gameplay and exploration were a good offset.

Gotham Knights is filled to the brim with character and nods to the Bat-Family. While the locked-in 30 FPS might be a dealbreaker for some, the flawless co-op experience Gotham Knights provides is an amazing time for those who want to fight crime with friends. A fully immersive Gotham City for you to travel in your way, either straight through the story, or complete every side mission you can; your time in Gotham is up to you.

While a bit surface level at times, the cooperative experience of busting ghosts always brought a smile to my face. Whether you’re priming the proton pack or spooking civilians, fans of Ghostbusters will find a lot to love. However, fans of existing asymmetrical experiences may struggle to look beyond the simplicity.

Ultimately Triangle Strategy gets an excellent port, albeit one with fewer frills than we’d like. Still, that’s nothing the modding community can’t fix in very short order. Performance is fantastic on PC, and equally as good on Steam Deck. While the long-winded story might need work, there’s no denying the tactical combat.

Aesthetically disgusting, Scorn touches on several deep-seated phobias all at once, ensnaring you with its alien and disgusting universe. While the worldbuilding shines, the combat can be pure frustration. Come for the visceral stomach churn, and stick around for one of the stranger stories you’ll ever see. While the combat will frustrate, the setting is worth the fight.

Being able to play one of the best games in a generation on any platform is great, but when it’s optimized to perfection it’s even better. Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection is one of those, a masterpiece that is a masterclass of a port. PC players rejoice, you’re once again getting PlayStations greatest at their absolute best.

A Plague Tale: Requiem is one of the most emotionally satisfying games I have ever played. I was stunned by the emotionally charged, beautifully presented, and impeccably acted story which is brought to life by incredible technical feats which showcase the power of the PS5. Time and again I was surprised by the sheer bleakness that the story was brave enough to dive into and the thrill of watching hope attempt - and often fail - to overcome those seemingly insurmountable odds. Requiem is a story which both uplifts and decimates your emotions at the same time; a story told by characters that feel real and that you grow to care and root for. By the end you too will be shouting, “I am Amicia de Rune and I kneel to no one.”

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope launches with a spark of life. There are improvements and expansion of the gameplay and performance of the first game. Three new heroes to the game including an original (non-Mushroom Kingdom related) Rabbid character named Edge. There are brand new unique weapons and special abilities for each character. Oh, and Sparks galore. This game is pumped full of “new tactical possibilities” for every kind of gamer.

Persona 5 Royal makes the leap to PC with aplomb. There’s a decent suite of options including rebindable controls and resolution scaling, but it’s not quite perfect. Keyboard and mouse leave a small amount to be desired and the UI looks awful at resolutions below 1080. Still, if you’re looking to play one of the most stylish and fun JRPGs around, PC is the perfect way to experience it.

The DioField Chronicle mixes the complexity of a slow-burn political thriller with a deceptively straightforward strategy game. I was pleasantly surprised with where my investment in the world of DioField led me, but pay-off off the battle mechanics does not match the narrative destination.

The next generation edition of Biomutant may not have been necessary, but it doesn’t hurt anything either. Overall, the game is very smooth, never dropping a frame no matter how crowded it may become, and the world is as beautiful and colorful as ever. My biggest gripe with the game is pretty universally mentioned: there was a lot more going on in the game than could be given proper attention, such as the upgrade and crafting systems, but it makes up for it in my opinion with a story and a world that is fun to explore.

NieR: Automata The End of YoRHa Edition takes one of the best games ever made and turns it into a miraculous, portable experience. While 30 fps may seem like a downgrade, you won’t even feel the difference after a few minutes and the sacrifice is more than worth it. The new costumes are a great way to freshen up the game, but this version does lack some of the older cosmetics still exclusive to other versions.

Cute and fun for a period of time, Lemon Cake is a familiar comfort food. Small slices taste good, but consuming the whole cake in a few bites is just going to give your stomach the rumblies.

While my major issues with the game’s writing, tone, and design remain unchanged, the PC port of No More Heroes 3 shines without the constraints of the Switch. The open world is very unoptimized, but if you have enough hardware to throw at it performance is far more acceptable. The game works great on Steam Deck too, letting you experience the alien murder fest wherever you go in gorgeous quality.

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.

Overwatch 2 is so damn good. 5v5 has breathed life into the game, Junkerqueen, Sojourn, and Kiriko are a breath of fresh air, and the game’s new high pace suits its competitive nature perfectly. The new maps are insanely fun to play, albeit with some needing tweaking, and the new Push gamemode only enhances Overwatch 2’s core experience. The only downside comes from its cosmetic-locked, 9-week battle pass system, which will be costly to continually purchase.

Valkyrie Elysium has an incredibly fun combat system at its base along with some light platforming and RPG elements, however it doesn’t go too far beyond that. The rote story is held up by good twists and likable characters, but I can’t help but see massive potential just beyond what the game presents. Still, if you’re an action game junkie like me, this is well worth your time and more.

Tunic on PS5 is fantastic. Charming level design, creative puzzles, surprising challenges, along with a lush world to explore and decipher all merge to create one of the best adventure games in recent memory. There’s so much to uncover, including multiple endings, optional side quests, and collectible trophies, along with a New Game + mode that adds further challenges, that most players will find countless hours of entertainment.

The games contained in the Arcadia Bay Collection are still excellent, but the updates made here make these the objectively worse versions. The motion capture updates to Life is Strange look fantastic, but are hard to see through more realistic textures that look out of place compared to the water color style of the original. If you can, stick with the original games on PC, but if you’re a console player this is an acceptable way to experience these incredible stories if you can look past the issues.