This remake is one for the ages, and that’s whether you remember playing Dragon Warrior 2 on a little CRT television three decades ago or whether you’ve never even touched the series in your life. And there are decades of games and history to dive into if you can’t get enough.

Echoes of Wisdom proves that even after nearly 40 years, The Legend of Zelda still has room to surprise us... Echoes of Wisdom feels like the Zelda-fronted game I’ve been waiting decades for. I only hope this isn’t her last turn as the series’ star.

Trails From Zero is an exceptional JRPG that feels like it’s cut from the same cloth as the golden era of the genre when games like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VII were released. Its deep and complex narrative has a strong sense of mystery and isn’t afraid to dive into tough topics, all of which make the setting of Crossbell feel that much more realistic. An integral part of this experience is the translation work from the fan group The Geofront, and it’s easy to see how the success story of Trails From Zero could serve as a blueprint for bringing even more forgotten JRPGs to the West.

With Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Respawn has crafted one of the most memorable Star Wars experiences of the last decade. If you’re a fan of a galaxy far, far away, you can’t miss this one.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a beautiful, mostly fun game held back by head-scratching design decisions and nagging issues that have plagued the series for over a decade now. While it's far from a bad entry, it's the latest game in the series to fall short of reaching the soaring action highs of the beloved Ezio Trilogy or the epic RPG adventure of Assassin’s Creed Origins and Odyssey.

Paranormasight is brilliant and subversive, toying with expectations and tropes across genres. The final product is entrancing — and it doesn’t loosen its death grip until the very last second.

Naturally, fans of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and classic beat ‘em ups will get the most out of Shredder’s Revenge, but that shouldn’t stop you from playing if you can’t recite the theme song from memory. Even for non-fans, you can beat the game in a single afternoon and have more fun than you will in most 50-hour open-world epics. If you’re looking for a new multiplayer game, Shredder’s Revenge is a must-play, thanks to its stellar combat and upbeat tone that makes it worth revisiting levels again and again.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is a game in an odd place. I get the reverence to the original, especially with series creator Hideo Kojima no longer involved, and the bad blood that ensued between him and Konami. I get the hesitancy to retouch a game considered as one of the greatest ever made. But then, I question what the point of remaking Snake Eater is at all, if you’re going to try and keep everything exactly the same.

Doom: The Dark Ages' brand of heart-pounding frenetic action still makes for one of the most fun shooters you can play this year, and another spellbinding step in the series that revolutionized the first-person shooter.

This all adds up to a game that feels deeply divided. Any time I was on a contract, I was captivated. The palpable tension of every dice roll left me with sweaty palms and a racing heart, wondering if this would be the job that finally got the better of me. But in slower moments, what takes up the majority of the game when you’re not on the clock, Citizen Sleeper 2 never quite clicked with me. It’s still a stunningly well written game, full of prose that took my breath away, but with a story that overall seems listless and unfocused. There are shining moments of Citizen Sleeper 2 that I’ll carry with me, but in the end it’s much like its protagonist, searching for the core of its own identity and coming up short.

Despite my frustrations with the limited ways that Octopath Traveler II improves upon the original, at its core the game still scratches an itch that no other game can satisfy. I still spent more than 50 hours in the world of Solistia, exploring every part of the map I could and seeking out new stories to immerse myself in...For those who lament the modern state of Final Fantasy, or want something that feels truly inventive in its design compared to many cookie-cutter AAA games, Octopath Traveler II is a journey well worth taking.

It’s refreshing to see how much care was put into the development and localization of Labyrinth of Galleria: The Moon Society. It’s in a niche genre, but the game has a staggering amount of content that’ll keep its players entertained for hours on end. Despite the immense potential runtime, the game's progression and overall pacing always feel just right. And between the charming art style and characters, you'll never get bored.

It’s not perfect, but it is memorable in a way that’ll have me playing its ending song on repeat for weeks. This game gave me such an adrenaline rush that I was able to pull my first all-nighter in months without an issue. If Special Agent Date’s powerup is a porno mag, this is mine.

A Space for the Unbound is a brisk 15-hour story that is full of surprises and potent emotional beats. While it doesn’t offer much in the way of replayability, it’s a hugely memorable experience nonetheless.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a truly magical game that amounts to what could be the best franchise entry in decades. Even if its level themes and puzzle elements call back to concepts longtime fans will have seen before, the execution is charming and polished to an absolute shine. The oddities of Mouthful Mode alone are well worth the price of admission. If you can overlook linear levels and occasionally forced backtracking, this might be one of the best games of 2022 so far.

he Apollo Justice trilogy does a phenomenal job of updating these three games for a modern audience, and making them more seamless and enjoyable to play than ever. Missteps with Dual Destinies aside, this is an essential collection for both fans and newcomers alike.

Last Defense Academy is indulgent in every sense. It’s filled to the brim with complex characters and systems, an absurdly deep story, and wild new art styles and gameplay twists. Kodaka and Tookyo Games know the exact kind of player they designed this game for: the sickos who revel in the off-the-wall absurdity, complexity, and violence of games like Danganronpa. It doubles down on its bizarre ideas instead of making concessions to appeal to a wider audience, and it’s better off for it. You’ll need to commit to Last Defense Academy to really see it through, but if you can, you won’t regret it for a second.

For all its murky mechanics and slow pace, Tactics Ogre: Reborn still blends satisfying combat with a top-tier story in a way that few games can match. If you’re a fan of the tactical RPG genre and want a serious challenge, there’s simply no reason not to play this game. But newcomers may want to start with something more approachable, or at least keep waiting for that Final Fantasy Tactics remake we’re all hoping for.

I can’t think of a single other game that lets you manage museums, and it’s baffling it hasn’t been done before now. Two Point Museum clicks within minutes of taking control, and it only grows more captivating with time. It delicately strikes a balance between complex and approachable, and it’s genuinely hard to imagine how Two Point Studios can improve on its formula from here.

Shin Megami Tensei V does not suffer fools gladly. You will be punished brutally for attempting a battle that’s out of your league. But there’s so much to do in its expansive wasteland that working your way up to the challenge never feels like a grind.

Forza Motorsport is one of the best accessible surprises in 2023. Turn 10 Studios’ dedication to disabled players is tangible as soon as one starts the game. It’s beyond refreshing to finally have a racing title that physically disabled individuals can confidently purchase knowing they will be able to successfully complete every race. And as the industry continues to acquire new accessibility knowledge and improve upon itself, Forza Motorsport should be viewed as the beginning of a new accessibility era.

Mortal Kombat 1 is a love letter to everyone that’s grown up with the series, while still inviting newcomers to join the fight. Its a ‘best of MK’ compilation — that brings a few of the series’ missteps along for the ride. But it wouldn’t be Mortal Kombat without a bit of jank, right?

Ninja Gaiden Ragebound is one of those games you finish and it feels like it’s gone by in the blink of an eye. While there can be some frustration in difficulty spikes, by and large it feels like a perfectly-paced experience that manages to find that sweet spot: not too short, but not too long. But nearly every minute of its six-ish hours is sublime...I can see myself going back to Ragebound for years to come — popping in for a replay every now and again, because it simply feels that good to play. While Ninja Gaiden 4 is still on the way, Ragebound makes a bold statement that the series side scrolling legacy still holds plenty of promise. Ninja Gaiden is back, and hopefully it’s here to stay.

Whether this is your first step into Trails, or you’ve been with it for over a decade, Daybreak is a definitive RPG experience that can proudly stand with the best.

Nintendo’s newly released remake is more of a 1:1 remaster than a true remake. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this new version of Super Mario RPG, but some of the game’s design flaws and problems are more apparent. While the brilliance of the original still shines through, I continuously found myself wishing more was changed and reimagined.

Splatoon 3 oozes charm and style at every level, and the level of polish here makes it better than ever. If Nintendo provides good post-launch support, it’s easy to see a time in the near-future when Splatoon 3 is the single best multiplayer experience on the Switch. Considering Splatoon 2 received support for nearly two years, and Nintendo has already revealed a roadmap for Splatoon 3, it seems likely that we’ll all be covered in paint for quite a few years to come.

Battlefield 6 is a new high point for the franchise, and the beginning of an overdue journey towards making things right.

Black Ops 6 is easily the best Call of Duty campaign in years and one of the year’s best first-person shooters. It strays from what one might expect from a Call of Duty campaign (an onslaught of set pieces with a few moments of respite to break up the action) in favor of an anthology of cool and memorable ideas for levels. Its story doesn’t go anywhere Call of Duty hasn’t before, but the variety of its mission design more than make up for it.