Whether you liked Muv-Luv or not, if you're a fan of visual novels you owe it to yourself to experience this absolute genre-defining crown jewel of a story.

An impressive expansion that takes the best bits of Wild Hunt and adds great new ideas.

Overall, there are not many negative things I can say about Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition. This version took the foundation of an already truly excellent RPG experience and built upon it further, offering new features and quality of life improvements along the way. I poured over a hundred and twelve hours into Dragon Quest XI S, which is more than I've spent on any other RPG recently, and I never once looked back with regret as I wholeheartedly fell in love with the gameplay and story. Having only played Dragon Quest XI S, I can't say for certain if there is enough new content here to warrant an additional playthrough, but if you've yet to play Dragon Quest XI and have access to a Nintendo Switch, this version is truly the "Definitive Edition" that the title claims it is.

2023 was a year filled with hotly anticipated RPGs that largely delivered. Over the past five months alone, we’ve had The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Final Fantasy XVI, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Starfield, all of which left remarkable impressions on their respective reviewers here. It’s no surprise that any one of these hyper-expensive, lovingly crafted generational touchstones would be some RPG fan’s exact cup of tea. Phantom Liberty happens to be mine. It has the cinematic panache of FFXVI but incorporates the player more fully into its events. It has the world-building chops of Starfield but has a more kinetic and vibrant energy in its quest structure and character interactions. Most importantly, it’s a proof of concept for less-is-more AAA RPG design that I hope more developers make note of for potential standalone products.

I loved Persona 3. It delivered an experience that was both novel and familiar, and with the exception of the anime cutscenes and some of the voice acting, did so with excellent quality.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a reminder that “good enough” isn’t good enough. Takahashi and the rest of his team could have relied on doing the same thing they’ve always done. Heck, they’ve already revolutionized the genre once. Instead, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is no revolution; it results from listening to what doesn’t work, tirelessly working to do better, and knocking it out of the park. Put simply, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a masterpiece, and one of the finest games the genre has to offer.

The feeling of happening upon a village in your travels and discovering a whole questline that takes up hours of your time alongside a compelling story fraught with dicey moral dilemmas is truly unmatched, even now.

There’s not much I can critique about FFVII Rebirth. It reminded me of everything I love and appreciate about the original game while granting a new perspective. It’s a wonderful action RPG with some addicting minigames to boot. I like the slight element of choice interspersed throughout the narrative as well. I can see where some of the more original aspects of FFVII Rebirth’s story could be divisive to fans of the original, but for my part, I felt they helped set the stage for what could be a wholly new experience (a rebirth, if you will). Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a game I’m glad I played as a fan of the original and a newcomer to this remake trilogy, as it’s an excellent Final Fantasy title with its own merit. I’m now curious and eager to see how this game’s ending might change what’s coming next.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sets a new standard for the open-world Zelda formula. It’s a truly unforgettable experience that manages to encapsulate everything good about its predecessor while setting itself apart from what came before. When combined with the power of the newly released Switch 2, it truly comes into its own and exemplifies exactly why Zelda is so revered within the gaming landscape.

Immortality is an experience you deserve to have. Yes, it won’t make sense to everyone. Some will be frustrated by the lack of traditional gameplay. Others might struggle to connect to these characters. But there’s so much to the game, at first glance and deep under the surface, that you owe it to yourself to see what camp you fall in. As for me, I’m going to dive back in and try to get the clips I’m missing. I know the broad strokes of what happened over the thirty-year span the game covers, but it always feels like there’s more to find.

Three Houses should be a part of any Switch owner's library at some point. It has pretty much everything you could possibly want in a video game: good graphics, great music, an epic story and, of course, top-notch gameplay. Fire Emblem has a new, higher bar moving forward, and hopefully we'll see this effort replicated for future titles.

I'd been looking forward to Night in the Woods since its announcement and crowdfunding campaign way back in 2013, and I still ended up being surprised at just how much it affected me. It's a bittersweet tribute to slackerdom: a tale of existential crisis and failure, and the odd sense of comfort that failure may result in. Even when your world is crumbling, there's solace in family taco night or the predictable evening talk show hosts, who spout the same catchphrases night after night. We've all had our own personal nights in the woods, but in the words of Possum Springs' welcome sign, "You're not lost, you're here."

If it sounds like I didn’t find any fault with Chicory, it’s because I didn’t. If I had to nitpick something, it would be that the gamepad controls might feel too loose for players with more artistic ambition than me. Aside from that, everything about it coalesces into a seamlessly cohesive, authentic, and truly fresh experience. It’s one of my favorite games of the decade so far and one of my favorite indie games from any decade. I can’t guarantee it will have the same impact on you that it did on me, but as a product of inspired design and storytelling it is an indisputable artistic triumph.

I came to Hermit and Pig expecting a cute, humorous take on timing-based combat, and I got that, but I also got so much more. It’s truly rare for a game to have such thematic cohesion in both storytelling and mechanics, but Hermit and Pig delivers on that promise without coming off as pretentious or preachy. Heavy Lunch has something deeply important to say about our current moment, but they say it with a smile and laugh, enough to make the herbal remedy for humanity’s worst excesses go down easy. It’s clear that the developers understand and love human beings, despite all our flaws, and believe in our potential to create a better world than the one we have now, if only we could focus less on the “I,” and more on the “We.”

Two dimensional adventuring in the land of Hyrule has truly never been better. TMC takes all of the elements that I know and love about my Zelda games, improves on and adds more to them, then moves them to a portable medium and provides a true must-buy title for the GBA.

Tactics Ogre: Reborn is hugely successful in its goals to modernise an admittedly old game.

This HD remake brings all the beauty and fun of the original to several new platforms, and while there are a few issues (such as the camera and the annoying voices), the strength of the overall package makes it easier to ignore them in favor of all the things the game does right. Whether you're a fan of the original PS2 version or someone who has never played the game before, Ōkami HD is absolutely worth adding to your library.

If you are a dungeon-crawling fan or an EO series veteran and you haven’t played Etrian Odyssey III before, you owe it to yourself to play this game. If you are new to the series or dungeon crawlers in general, then pick up the entire Origins Collection. The new lower-difficulty modes can ease you in, and the mapping gameplay can be de-emphasized through the use of auto-mapping if the cartography put you off in the past. If you’ve played EO III before, the sheer quality of the visual and audio improvements are enough to make this version worth a purchase, even with the lackluster map-making. Etrian Odyssey III HD is a beautiful version of an excellent dungeon-crawling adventure.

There are good games and great games, and then there are games that change the game entirely. Baldur’s Gate III is that rare case that charts its own route, building on the best of what came before it and breaking new ground. With how responsive the game is to the specifics of your created character, it could be explored virtually forever with endless new stuff to discover tucked into millions of little corners. The world is intricate and wonderous enough to want to live in it, and the characters are so intriguing that you cherish every conversation and want to save them all from themselves (and good luck doing that!). It’s an explosion of the imagination so powerful that it’s unthinkable that Larian was able to fit it all into one game, but they did. So, gather your party and venture forth!

With fantastic art direction, technical stability, a compelling storytelling, addictive and enjoyable gameplay – we have the recipe for success.

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux's challenging gameplay might not be for everyone, but those it does appeal to will find a well-crafted dungeon-crawling experience with a thought-provoking narrative.

Suffice it to say, Shujinkou is one of the most ambitious indie games I’ve ever played. It not only satisfies the DRPG craving, but also rivals the industry and genre giants in delivering a complete experience. Whether you’re a longtime fan of the genre or just curious to try something new, this is the one.

An extensive and well-planned expansion that makes Eorzea an ever-more compelling place to get lost in.

New Pokémon Snap is the perfect blend of nostalgic and modern, accommodating for the fact that Pokémon is so much more now than what it was over 20 years ago. Just as the series has developed a life all its own, New Pokémon Snap gives the Pokémon, region, and cast the polish they need to truly shine. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and New Pokémon Snap proves it, as it captures everything there is to love about Pokémon into one package.

Once again, would-be designers should take note of what the developers have accomplished here, especially in terms of world and map design. To sleep on Shadow of the Erdtree is akin to depriving oneself a potential Game of the Year contender. Can DLC be Game of the Year? If it has the size, quality, and feeling of independence the way this DLC does, I say “Why not?”

Sunless Skies' bleak pondering of cosmic horror and colonialism is probably one of the best game narratives of 2019, and one that deserves to be experienced.

By subtly incorporating gameplay mechanics to tell an intelligent story, Steins;Gate is a triumph of the visual novel genre.

A top-notch game bursting at the seams with Final Fantasy nostalgia.