Featuring gorgeous graphics, revamped controls, and a budget price, Metroid Prime Remastered gives Nintendo’s glorious FPS classic the update and new audience it deserves.

Gorgeous, highly entertaining, and a thrill to unravel, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond on Switch 2 is the best single-player shooter in years and a triumph for gaming's coolest heroine.

Capcom faithfully recreates and reimagines the legendary Resident Evil 4 by improving the graphics, tightening the gameplay, and keeping the original game's core scares and charms intact.

Street Fighter 6 represents the many lessons that Capcom learned from Street Fighter 5's rough launch. Its option-rich mechanics and community-centric features make it a fighting game that casual and hard-core players should look forward to.

Baldur's Gate 3 is an incredible RPG for PC and PS5 that's true to the Dungeons & Dragons experience as well as the sheer possibilities that tabletop games allow.

Atlus' classic Japanese role-playing game makes a surprise jump to PC, bringing with it the Carl Jung-inspired story and exciting monster-slaying action that makes it a beloved series entry. If you missed Persona 4 Golden's original PlayStation Vita release, or simply wish to revisit the game, you can now enjoy the masterpiece in its best form.

The Last of Us Part II Remastered is an excellent update of a recent classic that adds fresh features for new and returning fans.

Silent Hill f is a tremendous new entry in the horror series that blends well-known hallmarks into something engaging, challenging, and wholly original.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a masterpiece of a sequel that instantly joins the ranks of the best Zelda games of all time.

Nioh 2 is a superb sequel that builds upon its predecessor by adding massive amounts of new content, enhanced combat, and deep character customization.

Separate Ways is an action-packed send-off to the Resident Evil 4 remake and a must-play update for new and returning series fans.

Pentiment is a thrilling, Renaissance-style whodunit that forgoes conventional video game action by focusing on an engaging narrative, branching dialogue options, and character relationships.

Persona 5 Royal makes the jump to PC, and delivers the same thrilling gameplay and touching moments as its original release, but now with a new mode, fresh characters, additional music, and all previous DLC.

Resident Evil 3 is a stellar remake of a survival-horror classic that honors the past, while updating the game with contemporary graphics and controls.

If you're looking for a deep and thought-provoking gaming experience that changes your outlook on life, look elsewhere. However, if you want a fast-paced, visceral shooter full of non-stop action and outrageous violence, you can't do better than Doom Eternal. If you liked 2016's offering you will love this follow up. It's a hell of a good time.

Super Mario 3D World is an incredible and underplayed Wii U adventure that's now available on Switch. But Bowser’s Fury steals the show with its exciting and fresh take on a 3D Mario game.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps extends the impressive legacy of the original Ori game, with similarly stunning visuals, controls, and level designs.

Microsoft Flight Simulator is a one-of-a-kind experience made possible by a marriage of clever developers and cutting-edge technology. It’s a gift to the series’ dedicated fans, an appealing entry point for newcomers, and now the bar for the simulation genre.

Featuring a large cast of characters from two popular fighting game universes, the rereleased SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium delivers robust fisticuffs in an adorable package.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom gives Princess Zelda a starring role, combining new and classic elements to deliver an inventive title that's one of the most delightful in the series yet.

God of War Ragnarok builds upon everything the 2018 reboot established to deliver a greater gameplay experience that's filled with emotion and hard-hitting combat.

Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut offers a new, explorable island and several welcome PS5-exclusive enhancements. It is a worthy upgrade of an already exceptional title.

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition updates the classic trilogy to modern standards with vibrant visuals and streamlined controls. The collection provides the perfect way to experience the epic saga.

Fuser empowers players to remix old songs into brilliant new creations, making it one of the greatest and most creative music games of all time.

Metroid Dread for the Nintendo Switch is a worthy holder of the title "Metroid 5." Its sprawling world begs you to explore every inch of it, and while it keeps Samus Returns' control elements, they feel much better on the Switch. This is a proper Metroid 5, and that's more than enough to make it an Editors’ Choice pick for Switch games.

Mortal Kombat 1 isn’t the clean narrative reboot that its name implies, but its rich single-player action and new tag-team aerial brawls make for the best fighting system in the history of the franchise.

The genre-defining extreme sports game ollies from the past to present, and sticks the landing.

No single release from an annualized franchise revolutionizes the gameplay experience, but Football Manager 2022 delivers visual and mechanical improvements in multiple areas, making it the best series entry yet.

Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe is a classic Kirby game, with enough content to justify picking it up even if you already own Kirby Star Allies and Kirby and the Forgotten Land. It’s just an enjoyable, simple platformer with almost two dozen abilities, an extra campaign, and a bunch of minigames. As a remastered Wii title, it doesn’t do anything new, but it stands strong against Kirby’s more recent adventures and earns our Editors' Choice award in the process.

Game Builder Garage is a tremendously powerful and accessible piece of game development software that gives you the tools and guidance to make video games with ease.

By swapping the little plumber for the big ape, Donkey Kong Bananza delivers a potent blend of action, creative level design, and environmental destruction that boldly reinvents the blockbuster Nintendo platformer formula.

Alan Wake II: Night Springs is a terrifically twisted, episodic DLC collection for one of 2023’s best video games that recalls Rod Serling's Twilight Zone.

Astro Bot breaks from its tech demo roots to become a wildly entertaining, modern 3D platformer that stands out as a top PlayStation title.

Mario Kart World is a generational leap forward for the series, elevating familiar racing shenanigans with imaginative new modes and a huge map to explore as you see fit.

Mario Tennis Fever is a must-have arcade sports game that wowed me by blending traditional techniques, power-ups, and fantastic, fighting game-like movesets.

Gorgeous next-gen visuals and fresh takes on Tetris multiplayer make Tetris Effect: Connected an even more transcendent version of the near-perfect puzzle game.

With Forza Horizon 5, the racing series makes its first stop in Mexico. It delivers breathtaking vistas, fast action, and the hook: the new EventLab mode that lets the community create cool, custom challenges.

Requiem wonderfully combines everything I love about Resident Evil's recent remakes and new installments, shining as a new, explosive entry that honors the series' 30-year history.

Horizon Forbidden West takes everything that made Horizon Zero Dawn an excellent action-adventure title, and adds more environmental variety and quest verticality to create an even better game.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth builds upon its predecessor for a brilliantly polished behemoth of an RPG that belongs in every PS5 owner's library.

At nearly 30 years old, Myst remains a remarkable experience, made all the more accessible and enthralling in this modern iteration. This is the best way to play Myst—especially in VR.

Hades II improves on nearly every aspect of its phenomenal predecessor with deeper combat and customization, a substantially larger world, and creative witchcraft abilities.

Monster Hunter Rise takes what World introduced and runs with it, delivering a game that streamlines the gameplay and beefs up your kit for maximized man-versus-monster action.

Monster Hunter Rise blends the best elements from earlier series entries, and delivers a streamlined, action-packed, monster-slaying experience.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon transforms the long-running beat'-em-up series into a Japanese role-playing game—and it's shockingly good. Though it retains some of the past games' clunky character animations, Like a Dragon's action-packed combat and engaging story make it a must-own RPG.

Halo Infinite pushes the franchise forward with a deep, open-world campaign, and includes multiplayer modes that recapture the classic games' satisfying game feel and matchmaking experience.

Featuring giant demon battles, massive destruction, and flexible combat that encourages creative fighting, the long-awaited Bayonetta 3 is the witch’s biggest action romp yet.

Unicorn Overlord is a rewarding, highly strategic RPG that highlights developer Vanillaware's gorgeous graphics style.

Disco Elysium’s dense, authored, yet player-driven storytelling uses the bones of RPG gameplay to deliver a truly modern piece of interactive political art.

Marathon is a thrilling extraction shooter with satisfying gunplay, beautiful art direction, and tough-as-nails difficulty. It's a breath of fresh air in a packed genre, and one of the best games of the year.

Marathon is a thrilling extraction shooter with satisfying gunplay, beautiful art direction, and tough-as-nails difficulty. It's a breath of fresh air in a packed genre, and one of the best games of the year.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder takes the 2D side-scroller in a fresh direction thanks to reality-bending Wonder Flowers that add fun gameplay-changing effects.

30XX recalls classic robot-blasting action of the Mega Man X series, but adds its own fun-filled spin on the formula via multiple play modes, custom stage creation, and randomly generated weapon drops.

Football Manager 2024's improvements make for a notably more realistic simulation with new front office options, set piece coaching, and a superior match engine.

Returnal arrives on PC two years after making a splash on PS5, packing many exclusive features that make this version the one to beat—if you've got the rig to handle it.

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is a near-perfect reintroduction to the classic Sega series, complete with an incredible art style, fast and stylish swordplay, and excellent platforming.

Stellar Blade is an excellent PlayStation 5 action game that blends tight defense and stylish combat in an impressive post-apocalyptic package.

Now in its third iteration in six years, Super Mega Baseball has miraculously maintained its freshness by adding engaging new characters, features, and customization, and not becoming a spammy annualized franchise. More importantly, Super Mega Baseball 3 deftly represents what people love about the sport, with its larger-than-life characters, exhilarating moments, and agonizing defeats. We may not have Major League Baseball this year, but the game's spirit lives on.

Beautiful art, ingenious combat, and a clever plot structure make Hades a stunning example of the often polarizing roguelite genre.

The thrilling Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown features skillfully designed mazes, dynamic combat, perfect movement, and clever temporal abilities that make for a welcome series return.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla continues the series’ recent winning streak. This stellar entry boasts an expansive world, many exciting missions, and a tight, character-driven plot that make it one of 2020's best games.

Nintendo's Pikmin 4 beautifully builds upon the franchise’s quirky strategy formula to deliver new mechanics and dense locales that make you feel even more like an interplanetary explorer.

Five years after kicking off Hitman's new era, IO Interactive closes out the World of Assassination trilogy in spectacular fashion. Hitman 3 is a massive package full of fantastic new levels and modes that's well worth the purchase for stealth-action fans.

With its martial arts attacks, weapons, and general urban chaos, Streets of Rage 4 feels like a natural extension of the series. The game may have taken a long, long time to arrive, but the developers' love for the license and genre shine through in nearly every area. Late-game difficulty spikes and limited movement options dull the experience a bit, but, overall, Streets of Rage 4 is a remarkably fun game, particularly when played with friends. Hopefully, we won't have to wait decades for a follow-up.

Gears Tactics is a very accessible, yet surprisingly rich, turn-based tactics game. It's more lenient than XCOM, but delivers enough of a challenge to keep you invested. The Gears setting and gameplay lend themselves very well to the turn-based format, and the creative implementation of series hallmarks results in interesting twists on genre standards. Publisher Xbox Game Studios, along with developers The Coalition and Splash Damage, should be commended for taking a risk with one of its most beloved brands and creating a tactics game for newcomers and strategy-gaming veterans and alike.

Final Fantasy VII Remake wonderfully reinterprets the legendary JRPG via modern-day graphics and a tighter focus on narrative and characterization. Unfortunately, it's just the first part of a massive tale.

Call of Duty: Warzone is a shockingly addictive free-to-play shooter. It is highly polished and entirely self-contained, so you don't need to purchase a mainline Call of Duty game to frag your friends in thrilling battle royale action.

If you're looking for a classic, JRPG experience, Bravely Default II is a fantastic pick up. Like the previous series entries, it brings old school role-playing into the modern era, with beautiful graphics and flexible systems.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons brings the most laid-back game series ever to the Nintendo Switch, putting you on a desert island where you can just chill out, fish, catch bugs, and decorate.

Tales of Kenzera: Zau builds upon the Metroidvania formula to deliver exciting action, emotional storytelling, and African cultural specificity.

Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp successfully resurrects Nintendo’s terrific, turn-based tactics series by offering a generous package that nearly makes up for the 15-year wait.

Psychonauts is back with a charming, challenging, thoroughly entertaining sequel that will please 3D platformer fans and especially anyone who loved the first game.

More than Marvel meets XCOM, Midnight Suns is an epic comic book adventure with dynamic and inventive strategy mechanics paired with engrossing superhero socializing.

Cassette Beasts puts a cool spin on the proven Pokemon formula by adding strategic combat, lovely throwback visuals, and a genuine sense of adventure.

Diablo Immortal is an excellent mobile spin on Blizzard’s classic, dungeon-crawling action, but the game's grind means that you may need to stick with it for the long haul to fully appreciate the experience.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is an outstanding first-person shooter that remains a joy to play nearly a decade after its original release. This remastered version looks and plays great, but audio bugs and downgraded Classic visuals sully the experience.

Hi–Fi Rush drums new life into the action genre with fun cartoon-like visuals, excellent music, rhythm-focused gameplay twists, and addictive melee combat.

Honkai: Star Rail is a stylish and engaging turn-based RPG that marries a quirky sci-fi tale with anime-style graphics.

Super Mario RPG for Nintendo Switch is a great-looking and faithful remake that brims with the original release's charm and wonder.

Deathloop’s mind-bending time mechanic, captivating art style, open-ended gameplay, and colorful cast of characters create a captivating shooter experience that you shouldn’t miss.

Pokémon Pokopia is a cozy, creativity-encouraging sandbox filled with Nintendo's cutest mascot animals, offering endlessly fun ways to build and shape your surroundings.

With Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, you drive a physical toy kart across virtual tracks that you design around your home. It's not a full-on Mario Kart experience, but the augmented reality game offers plenty of racing thrills.

Kratos, the god slayer, gets a new look, fresh tools, and a Norse pantheon to cut down in this dramatic, exciting shake-up of the classic God of War franchise.

The Delicious Last Course closes out Cuphead in style thanks to fantastic foes to fight and welcome new mechanics to enjoy.

With a fresh focus on unique characters and multiplayer mayhem, WarioWare: Get It Together finds room for even more creativity in an already one-of-a-kind series.

Fall Guys is unique among battle royale games, with a friendly, non-violent design and addictive gameplay loop that make it feel more at home alongside Tetris 99 than PUBG. Like all battle royale games, it relies entirely on a healthy online community playing at any given time, but its early popularity is a promising sign for long-term players. This is a fun, friendly game show of a battle royale that’s safe for kids, with no violence to be found.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 builds upon the gameplay and themes of the original to create a sprawling, open-world RPG packed with thrilling combat and captivating exploration.

PlayStation's PC campaign continues with Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, an excellent port of two of the most critically lauded games from Sony's catalog.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania combines 300 stages from Super Monkey Ball, Super Monkey Ball 2, and Super Monkey Ball Deluxe into a single, massive package of entertaining and occasionally sadistic ball-rolling action.

C-Smash VRS is a game about playing squash in space, but it's also a wonderful, senses-stimulating experience that can only be truly appreciated in virtual reality.

Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town puts a contemporary spin on a charming farm-sim that sees you plant crops, raise livestock, and start a family. The controls and character models could use additional work, but this leisurely game is incredibly addicting.

Despite its long absence, the beat 'em up remains one of the most enjoyable brawlers ever released, thanks to its fast action and gorgeous sprites.

Horizon Zero Dawn's PC port lets you hunt robot animals and explore a massive post-apocalyptic world on your own computer, with consistent and reliable performance.

Lost Ark is a fantastic, free-to-play MMORPG that features exciting combat, attractive visuals, and a seemingly endless endgame.

An excellent rebound from the divisive The King of Fighters XIV, KOF XV showcases developer SNK's deep fighting game chops via a creative combat system, vibrant graphics, and many fun extras.

Crisis Core Reunion is a thoughtful, high-quality remaster of the PSP classic. The main story remains melodramatic, but the revamped battle mechanics deliver lots of baddie-bashing fun.

Sifu is a surprisingly robust and thoughtful action game that hearkens back to the quarter-munching arcade days of old, and Capcom’s cult classic, God Hand.

While its endgame suffers a few stumbles, Shadowlands prepares you to make one of the more meaningful narrative choices in a WoW expansion. Shadowlands thrives at its level cap, though, with new gameplay elements that combine to make an excellent experience.