That rare remastered anthology that’s worth your attention.

The resounding theme of Gears 5 seems to be marrying old with new. There’s never any mistaking it for something other than a Gears game, thanks to its polished cover-based combat mechanics, gleefully gory action, and 4K, HDR-enhanced graphics that raise the bar of what we can expect from an Xbox One game. But it’s also trying to grow the Gears experience by focusing on new characters, altering the flow of the campaign, and adding daring new multiplayer modes.

I doubt I’ll ever rank among the Vainglory hardcore, but right now I’m having a great time dipping into the arena for half an hour or so each evening.

Turn 10’s 8th kick at the Forza Motorsport can should have plenty of appeal to gearheads looking for a photorealistic, physically accurate simulation of high speed racing. And since it’s included with Xbox Game Pass, there’s no reason for subscribers not to take it for a test spin.

When it comes down to it, though, I play Gears games for their spectacular campaigns, and Gears of War 4’s single-player mode just doesn’t live up to the standard set by its predecessors. It’s too conservative to wow us the way we expect, and it lacks many of the larger-than-life personalities that made the original trilogy so fun and memorable.

Warzone is actually the first Halo multiplayer mode I can see myself jumping into with strangers more than a few weeks after the game comes out. In the past, Halo multiplayer got so competitive so quickly after launch that it simply became no fun unless you had enough friends to fill out the teams.

The franchise’s famous environment traversal mechanics — essentially parkour — are similarly streamlined yet no less satisfying, thanks largely to the undeniable compulsion the game instills in players to keep moving to see what lies beyond the next ridge or river. Exploration is a driving force.And, of course, it looks phenomenal and runs smooth as an oil slick on next-generation hardware. Players looking for a substantial game that shows off the graphical capabilities of their new systems that will keep them busy well into next year won’t be disappointed in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

Overall, Deus Ex is perhaps less ambitious in its storytelling than its hot button ads might suggest, but is still an exemplary example of open-ended problem solving gameplay.

Five years in the making, this one-man project is an ode to retro games like Metroid and Castlevania. From graphics and music to design and mechanics, it channels a late 80s gaming vibe in a way few other modern takes on classic genres do.

From its unrelentingly dark story to its challenging difficulty to its imperfect controls, in no way is The Banner Saga 2 the sort of game one sits down to play casually. It is an intense and demanding experience right from the start, and it never lets up.

Simply put, aside from Nathan’s absence and the lack of anything notably new in how we play, there’s very little to disparage here. Naughty Dog remains a master of storytelling and spectacle rivalled by few other studios. I can think of no good reason to ward Uncharted fans away from The Lost Legacy.

At this point even a game like FRU is highly unlikely to make anyone rush out and by a Kinect camera. But any existing owners still interested in the possibilities of Microsoft’s sensor bar would do very well to give this refreshingly inventive little indie a shot.

They may have to fight their way to liking the game instead of it capturing their imagination from the very start. Xenoblade Chronicles X is probably the best RPG on the system, but your mileage, much like your Skell’s, will vary.

The tweak on the formula set up by GW and SSHD may seem minor to begin with, but once the outer layers of the game are peeled away, Resogun reveals itself to have a significantly different feel than either of its predecessors.

SOMA is made so much better if the player hasn’t the slightest idea of what’s in store before booting it up.

It’s not quite the brand new Oddworld game for which devout fans have been patiently waiting for nearly a decade, but it certainly whets one’s appetite.

It’s still the only place where you’ll find cutting edge development in a sports game, and that alone is worth the price of admission.

In the end, though, Hitman‘s second episode and the limited Elusive Target mode simply confirm my original impression of the franchise’s new episodic format: It hinders rather than helps the experience.

This one definitely won’t be for all tastes, but players with a penchant for Japanese culture and a love of tactical combat are bound to find a little slice of criminal soap opera heaven in Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

It’s smaller, but it’s also undeniably bolder and more focused than any of its recent predecessors. And for a series known for its more is more philosophy, that’s no small feat.

Tsushima's geography is rivetingly beautiful, from bamboo forests and heaving mountains to picturesque waterfalls and seas of swaying pampas grass composed of thousands of gently moving blades each of which will catch the moonlight on a clear night. I could almost feel the chill of thunderstorms as they came crashing in and the heat of the sun as it rose above the horizon in a dazzling blaze of light.

It’s polished and fun – easily one of the top side-scrolling platformers yet released for Nintendo’s handheld – but there’s just not much significant new material here.

Whether this is worth $15 is really moot: if you’re a Street Fighter devotee, this is a required update, end of discussion.

Splatoon 3 feels complete. The new additions are more significant than what we had in Splatoon 2 at launch. They make it feel like a finished game.

This only lightly altered HD port won me over simply by providing the opportunity revisit a game for which I harbour wonderfully fond memories. Would that more remastered and rereleased games accomplished as much so effortlessly.

Its vision is clear, and there can be little doubt that much love and passion was poured into its crafting.

Ultimately, Dragon Quest Builders takes what makes Minecraft great, uses that template within a more traditional adventure/RPG, and does so with polish and personality. Absolutely worth playing.

There’s a very human pleasure in the mysterious. It encourages thought and excites our imaginations. But people are smart. We can tell the difference between legitimate mystery and something that is left unexplained simply for the sake of being unexplained in a vain attempt to fabricate depth and hidden meaning...The initially promising Transistor is, unfortunately, a case of the latter.