This isn’t just Dark Souls with an open world tacked on. Instead, developer FromSoftware weaves its familiar formula into a massive playground so expertly that we can’t help but wonder how we ever played Dark Souls without it.

Tears of the Kingdom handily exceeds the sky-high expectations surrounding it. It’s an instant classic — and a testament to the unmatched ingenuity of Nintendo’s game design.

Immortal family drama is at the heart of Hades II, just as it was its 2020 predecessor. This time, though, the stakes are higher, the cast is larger, and the action is more demanding, mostly for the better.

More than anything, my time with Astro Bot is dominated by one word: surprise. There were moments that had my jaw on the floor, moments I cackled with glee, and even one or two where may have shed a tear. Astro Bot is everything that I love about video games — the potential they have to cause wonder and excitement, self-reflection, and, most importantly, fun.

Kratos and Atreus’s latest adventure will tick a lot of boxes for fans of the 2018 game. But some odd narrative choices hold it back from joining the immortal pantheon.

Resident Evil 4 mixes high-octane action, thrills, scares, and cinematic moments that exemplify what this series does best. If you never played the 2005 original — or any Resident Evil game at all — this is a great place to start.

I knew The Gold Saucer was going to be a big moment in Rebirth, but nothing could prepare me for the cacophonous performance that broke out when I entered the gilded theme park: dazzling holograms, gyrating bodies, and a healthy dose of Terry Crews-esque Pec Popping. It was just one of nearly a dozen moments that had my jaw on the floor.

In many ways, Wonder’s success is built upon the numerous iterations of past 2D Mario titles. The core idea of tight platforming across stages has been nailed down for so long that each new entry is able to iterate in more granular ways, even if it doesn’t innovate on a larger scale. Wonder doesn’t reinvent the wheel that is the Mario game, but it gives it a heck of a tune-up...Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a dazzling return to the 2D platformer for Nintendo’s star plumber and his band of friends. My only hope in the aftermath of Wonder is that it doesn’t take another decade to see more 2D Mario games.

It can’t match Forza Horizon 4 in terms of innovations, but Forza Horizon 5 introduces a more varied open-world structure in one of the most visually stunning experiences of this new console generation — perhaps ever.

There’s a lot of bottled magic in Blue Prince, and it reminds me of the best reasons why fantasy still captures hearts today.

Capcom’s latest takes everything you’d expect from the father of the fighting genre and turns it up to 10. There’s something for everyone here, with no fat or filler to ruin the experience. Street Fighter 6 is the best fighting game experience in a long time, and in the years to come, its impact and legacy could be every bit as massive as Street Fighter 2.

Shadow of the Erdtree feels like the moment where FromSoftware has to interrogate what it wants its games to be, and how the studio moves forward. Does the studio integrate more options for players, making the games more approachable to a wide array of players? Or do they stick to a core philosophy of being abrasive and unrelenting? More than anything, I’m interested to see how Shadow of the Erdtree lands with players, especially those who played Elden Ring as their first Souls games.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is a startling, insightful RPG that succeeds far more than it struggles. This genuinely feels like a massive step up for Atlus in terms of storytelling and writing, and the genuine way the game tackles its themes feels important.

Endwalker may not outdo the previous expansion, Shadowbringers — a high point for the entire Final Fantasy series — but it ultimately has very different aims. Even as it ends the game’s first story arc, it has me looking forward to what’s next. For all its lofty ambitions, this operatic conclusion to a decade-long story peaks when focusing on how its core characters keep each other standing, even as the world falls down around them.

Split Fiction is a generational work. It’s brimming with creativity, tells a resonant story that reflects the current state of the world, and is a sincere love letter to genre fiction that has inspired so many of us.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn’t just a great RPG, it’s a generational one — and picture proof of the power of how a team’s clear passion, when used just right, can be used to create something transcendent.

Every time I’d get to a new layer, I’d immediately ignore the story objective and spend a half dozen hours just smashing things around like a toddler in a sandbox.

The first half of Spider-Man 2’s narrative can feel a bit slow, but the superb open world and emotional second half more than make up for it. This is a compact and tight experience that feels laser-focused on delivering an experience that always feels varied and exciting. It universally succeeds in that vision and takes the crown for the best superhero game ever made.

Ultimately, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is functionally the same game with a few new features and some developer commentary. It feels like an attempt to capitalize on the success of the HBO series and to entice a new audience to jump into Part 2 before it's adapted into Season 2. But While the developer commentary is interesting and helps demystify the kind of work that goes into these extremely expensive video games, its new roguelike mode gets old fast. The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered feels like an inevitability in terms of what the greater market demands, but that doesn’t mean it’s worth your time.

I simply can’t imagine not seeing Chai and 808 again, whether it’s in another game or some kind of animated spinoff. As triple-A gaming starts to feel more homogenized each year, Hi-Fi Rush is a stark reminder of how this industry was built on taking chances and experimenting. It’s a gutsy move from a developer known for only making “spooky” games, but it’s a gamble that’s clearly paid off.

Bandai Namco has never put together such a feature-rich version of Tekken before, and even as the latest chapter of the Mishima saga comes to a close, the legacy of the signature fighting game series will be celebrated for years to come...But what Tekken 8 proves more than anything is that the infamously complex franchise is still capable of evolving. The new game makes a serious investment in making its most intimidating features accessible to a wider audience, while also offering weird detours and an ambitious story mode that reveals the limitations of the Tekken brand.

Unicorn Overlord’s story may not have thrilled me, but I still can’t recommend it highly enough to strategy fans. Every time I found myself longing for more character depth or a less predictable story, those critiques were washed away by the next hour-long battle pushing my strategic abilities to their limit. It’s hard to focus on shallow character dynamics when every brain cell is focused on developing the perfect set of tactics to pull off a clutch victory, after all. The sheer joy of leading your army to victory through nothing but clever planning is hard to overstate, and I’m convinced it will make Unicorn Overlord a new classic of the strategy genre in years to come.

When Xenoblade Chronicles 3 wasn’t bringing a smile to my face, it was breaking my heart over and over again.

Death Stranding 2: On The Beach may not be for everyone. But if it is for you, it's one of the most enjoyable games of 2025, a must-see follow-up that is more cohesive, refined, and fully developed than the first.

It’s the longest game the series has ever seen, and the most “Yakuza” Yakuza game imaginable — in the best way possible.

Unforgettable characters, sky-high stakes, nail-biting action, and impeccable pacing make The Last of Us Part I a superlative gaming experience in every possible sense.

More than anything, Wilds feels like an experience, a grand journey filled with a shockingly emotional story, bombastic hunts, and jaw-droppingly gorgeous vistas. It’s an adventure that tries, and mostly succeeds, in making sure that you’re having fun at all times.

Even if its dream is often a nightmare, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is one of the most compelling games I’ve played in years. As a puzzle game, it’s already a triumph, but the meditations on art and bold aesthetic choices elevate it to the level of a magnum opus as grand as the artwork at the heart of its story.