If you’re looking to enjoy the next Battlefield title, turn back now. With the next patch not slated to arrive for another month, and the next content update to release some time after that, it’s going to be a while before 2042 can earn the right to be called a true Battlefield game. It’s best to wait until the smoke clears and DICE fixes any major bugs (maybe even wait for it to go on discount) before spending $70 on this game.

Despite a few missteps in terms of the combat, if you’re a fan of detective games then Sherlock Holmes Chapter One is a pretty easy one to recommend. Getting to do things like interviewing witnesses or performing chemical analysis on suspicious evidence is an absolute blast. The island of Cordona is chock full of cases for you to investigate and while there are a few technical issues with the open world setting it’s easy enough to forgive when sleuthing around is this much fun.

It’s unfortunate that Koei Temco has no intention of remaking or remastering the Fatal Frame series from the beginning. This slightly upscaled and modified port from Nintendo Wii U to current gen platforms puts forth a subpar experience that doesn’t sell me on the series. It seemed to just be the most convenient installment to make available for the 20th anniversary and it shows. If you’re like me and Maiden of Black Water is your first Fatal Frame game, I recommend you keep those expectations low.

Astria Ascending will take many gamers back to the heyday of classic RPGs. This is a single-player turn-based game that is easy to grasp, with perhaps not enough challenge for veterans of the genre. But with an entertaining story, great musical score, and pleasing art style, there is plenty of enjoyment to be had for any RPG fan. Play Astria Ascending when you want to be completely absorbed into a game with no strings (or services) attached.

Neptunia X Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars will appeal to longtime fans of either series, but outside of that it’s an average action-oriented JRPG plus visual novel that anyone can easily get the hang of. There’s plenty of titillating fanservice to go around, even if Sony insists on at least some of it being censored for the Western release. It’s a safe bet if you can’t get enough of Neptunia and the rest of the Goddesses or Asuka and the other shinobi, but otherwise there are more traditional games that are probably a better use of your time.

As a complete package, from a Call of Duty developer that hasn’t yet established its own Modern Warfare or Black Ops sub-franchise, Vanguard feels like it could end up being Sledgehammer’s tentpole. Iconic characters, unique multiplayer and map design, and overall integration into the wider Call of Duty experience set the pace for not only the next year, but whatever comes next from Sledgehammer.

Tandem‘s world of shadows is an intriguing place with clever obstacles that are fair although not very challenging. Emma and Fenton make a great pair as they navigate the chiaroscuro dimensions even if you know little about either. It’s just a shame that the Tale of Shadows’ narrative is underdeveloped and even non-existent in places—so much more could have been done. Those wanting a simple puzzle platformer will enjoy their time. Those wanting a story need to look elsewhere.

Back 4 Blood is a great game when played with other people, truly evoking the spirit of Left 4 Dead for a new generation of gamers. This time there’s the incentive of a progression system to keep players coming back, although the Corruption Cards don’t always make those repeated playthroughs as unique as they should. For those wanting to play on their own, it would be best to wait until the game has been patched to include single player progress. Hopefully that shouldn’t be too much longer.

The only downside to this Roki PS5 port is that it fails to use any of the new technology available to it via the DualSense. I would have loved to hear the crunch of snow come via the controller instead of my TV, and maybe let me use the touchpad to select/drag/combine items from Tove’s backpack—things that would have enhanced the experience and made it stand out from Roki‘s other releases. That said, this is a solid puzzle game and one I highly recommend devoting an afternoon or two to.

Regardless of if this is an issue with the localization process itself or existed in the original Chinese version of the game as well, it’s undeniable that there should have been a more robust editing and quality assurance process involved in such a text-heavy game. No matter how enticing and detailed Hermitage: Strange Case Files‘ story and world-building may be, it’s pointless if players lose interest before they get to the juiciest parts.

This should have been NHL 22’s coming-out party. Everything was in place for this to be a transformative season on a fresh new platform. Unfortunately, the next-generation jump feels more like a stop-gap solution than a proper evolution. If you already have last year’s installment, I would be hard-pressed to find a legitimate reason to make the jump. Hopefully, the next outing will focus on bringing a more innovative offering to the rink, because lord knows this time around isn’t going to set the stadium on fire.

Poirot’s latest outing is a better proposition than The A.B.C. Murders a few years ago, but it’s not quite perfect. With no puzzles to solve, evidence that’s easy to locate, and mind maps where guidance is closely at hand, there’s very little challenge for adventure genre aficionados. The story is entertaining, Poirot is represented very well, and what gameplay exists has been created competently, but it sometimes feels more like a visual novel than it does a genuine adventure mystery game.

Despite some initial skepticism that they could pull it off, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is everything I want a Guardians of the Galaxy game to be. It is character-focused first and foremost, retaining the comedic heart and ’80s vibe that is core to the franchise. As a single-player game, it doesn’t get bogged down by expectations of some kind of grind or endgame. While combat can sometimes be rather chaotic and there are a few bugs, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy understands what Guardians of the Galaxy is—character, comedy, and heart.

While The Good Life has its charms, most of the gameplay just feels really sluggish. Many of the story quests will have you making your way to a point on the map to watch a cutscene, you’ll then have to make your way somewhere else to watch the next one, and so on until the quest ends. The side quests also end up feeling repetitive and while it can be pretty relaxing to go through all the quests and slowly tick them off, for many players this will get tiresome pretty quickly.

The Crysis Remastered Trilogy is a great blast from the past. Fans of the series will have a great time replaying these classics, or maybe introducing younger gamers to one of the late aught’s can’t-miss franchises. It’s a shame Saber Interactive didn’t have more fun with additional modern features, but this still represents great value. At a launch price of $49.99 USD for all three games, this is a no-brainer for Crysis fans, as well as gamers looking for a lot of first-person shooting action without breaking the bank.

The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes is an impressive addition to the series that not only looks stunning on next gen, but also plays out in multiple player controlled scenarios, than can vary from triumphant, to downright heart breaking. It’s a dark journey through horror and blood, with only you (and maybe a friend in co-op) to determine who makes it out the other side.

WRC 10 is a safe entry, celebrating the long, rich history of the World Rally Championship, while taking care to not break anything that was already working well. If you missed out on WRC 9, you may be content with picking that up for a bargain (assuming you have a disc-based console). If you want the latest and most up-to-date rally racing simulator, though, then WRC 10 is more than competent at providing a ton of fun for rally fans everywhere.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is a great Smash clone that painfully underutilizes its Nickelodeon license, to its own detriment. Lacking some of Nick’s biggest characters, franchises, and environments, absolutely no voice lines whatsoever, and all wrapped up in a rather unimpressive package, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is a good concept, and one of the best Smash-alikes to come along in the last 20 years. But it really needs a stronger presentation and more thorough use of its namesake license to earn a better foothold as a mainstay character brawler.

Up until that bizarre glitch, enjoying Alan Wake Remastered was like the best kind of deja vu. Muscle memory steered me toward the hidden caches, triggered reminders to backtrack just a little here and there or look around that corner for collectibles. Alan’s somewhat stiff voice, the ancient rockers, Barry—all of these things, campy as they were, welcomed me home. Those cold waters of Cauldron Lake sure are impossible to escape.

Aragami 2 had potential to be a great follow up to an indie classic released five years ago. Unfortunately it lacks any real challenge and feels bloated with repetitive mission types and locations. The game starts to overstay its welcome after a while, but there’s definitely fun to be had before reaching that stage if you can put up with the plenty of bugs that still need to be fixed.

While it may not wholly evolve the franchise in a radically new way, Far Cry 6 smooths out many of the wrinkles and growing pains previous Far Cry games have had, while building on a foundation that’s largely worked for the series since 2012’s Far Cry 3. Far Cry 6 strikes a great tonal balance, a variety of activities and exploration that never get dull, another imposing villain whose presence can be felt throughout, and a brilliant main character. Yara is a fun playground because it’s Dani’s playground, and that’s a crucial part of the equation, part of the meaningful growth the latest entry brings to the Far Cry franchise. ¡Viva la Revolución!

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is a lot of fun for fans of the BattleTech franchise. It may not be the flashiest game around, and its story can be very campy at times. But this is pretty much your best bet for playing a ‘Mech game on a PlayStation console. If you have (online) friends, co-op will likely provide some extra thrills, and the generous DLC support is great to see. It may be a bit rough around the edges, but MechWarrior 5 is more than welcome on PlayStation after all this time.

The overall story is fine but lacks that punch to push it over the top. If it were a movie it would sit comfortably with in the B movie section next to Pooka! and The Babadook—which is damn good company, if you ask me. Depending on just how long it takes you to solve the various puzzles, In Sound Mind takes an average of 12-ish hours from start to finish. Not too shabby if you are looking for a game to run over a single weekend. Could be just the thing you want this Halloween.

A Juggler’s Tale is enjoyable for what it is, but it doesn’t quite reach the particularly memorable nature of similar indie games it so obviously takes inspiration from. There’s a great introspective narrative with some brilliant themes regarding personal freedoms and cutting the strings of toxic relationships throughout, but a short runtime and occasionally obtuse puzzles and mechanics leave it feeling a bit more tangled up than it should by the end.

For as much as FIFA 22 has done right with enhancements to the the on-field product, they seem perfectly content to not offer up new ways to engage with the sport. While HyperMotion helps bridge the realism gap that’s been present for a bit, it isn’t quite substantial enough to warrant calling it game-changing. This may be a positive step in the right direction for the franchise, but it’s still quite a ways from genuinely raising the bar.

Diablo II: Resurrected is Diablo II in everything that matters. Its strict adherence to the tone, themes, and even gameplay of the original makes this an incredible time capsule, revisiting a classic restored, yet not iterated on. It’s the best of both worlds; a game that looks and plays wonderfully in 2021, but embodies the dark experience that was first brought to the world more than 20 years ago. They just don’t make games like this anymore.

Despite some balancing issues and some issues with how cars are obtained, Hot Wheels Unleashed is still a ton of fun thanks to its breakneck-speed racing, a detailed track editor that would make your inner child jealous, awesome collectible cars, and packed single-player content. Add in the nostalgia for playing with Hot Wheels cars and tracks as a kid, and you might find it to be one of 2021’s hidden gems.

Every new line of code written enhances the original experience, bringing new ways for existing players to enjoy Death Stranding again. Whether you're here for exploring the factory and playing with the new toys like I am or want to challenge friends for top spot on the racing and firing range leaderboards, odds are there is a reason for you to come back. Reworked missions will aid new players into the world more smoothly than the original release, too. I definitely felt as though the difficulty spike wasn't nearly as harsh thanks to this. Keep in mind that while the Director's Cut expands and adds delicate touches here and there, this is still a game that requires patience and time for the best results.