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!

Bioware has delivered everything they have promised with Mass Effect 2, and then some.

The latest Elder Scrolls has such confidence in the allure of its open-world structure that it shirks the need to compete. And, it largely succeeds in being better than the sum of its parts.

If Breath of the Wild is one of the greatest games of all time, and Tears of the Kingdom improves on it in every way, does that also make TotK one of the greatest games of all time? That’s a question to ask in a few years when we have more perspective. But right now, I can confidently say The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will be one of the best games released in 2023, and will stay with me as one of my favorite video game experiences ever.

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.

A fun, but dated and unoriginal flight through the land of Hyrule. The main quest may be longer than most, and the sidequests may be in abundance, but that doesn't help Twilight Princess from feeling like the same thing we all played nearly ten years ago.

So does Hades II live up to the original? Absolutely. It retains much of what made the first title great while offering a different kind of gameplay. With Hades II, Supergiant Games proves that even Zeus can’t claim a monopoly on lightning striking twice.

Persona 5 Royal is possibly the best enhanced port ever made, and it helps that the original material is still as amazing as ever. This is a must play for RPG fans.

Gamers expecting a truly memorable narrative may be slightly disappointed with Mass Effect 2. The game is far too much setup and not enough payoff to be considered anything more than an opening act to the (hopefully) epic finale.

OoT provides a worthy challenge, and I can't say many games today are making players think as much as they should.

Mass Effect 2 is as engaging as it was a year ago. Despite lacking some of the content found in the 360 and PC versions thanks to the lack of the first game, the overall story of the game is left intact and gameplay is still as excellent as it ever was.

It's not a perfect game (but I've yet to see a game that is), but if this is the direction next generation RPGs are headed in, then fans of the genre should rejoice.

My experience with Persona 5 Royal on the Switch is exactly what I wanted. The game is of exceedingly high quality, and we’ve known that for years. We’ve wanted a portable version for a long time, especially considering Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden both came relatively quickly after their respective progenitors. It’s finally here though, and it’s an appealing release for both first-timers and returning players.

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.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is Atlus’s crowning achievement—a culmination of the best elements from their past titles and across the RPG genre. The Press Turn system, combined with the genius of the Archetype and synthesis facets of battle, creates a thrilling, strategic, and well-balanced battle system as you face off against one incredible boss after another. The impressive moments never stop, never cease, and the utterly magnificent plot is paced perfectly, with no dull moments. A cast of wonderfully written characters carries us through a magical, cohesive, and alluring fantasy world lifted to dizzying heights by a bombastic score and stunning visual design. Atlus has shown that fantasy is not dead.

Do yourself a favor, if you haven't gotten a hold of this and you're at all into PC RPGing, it's a necessity buy.

It’s been my sincerest pleasure experiencing FromSoftware’s latest work. Elden Ring is a landmark title that I hope shapes the future of what this industry can do; maybe we can one day point at this time in 2022 and note that this is when gaming took a giant leap. At risk of “laying it on thick” and coming off as hyperbolic, in my more than 30 years of gaming, I have almost never played a title that so neared perfection. I’ve devoted 80 blissful hours to Elden Ring, and at no point was I not enjoying myself or captivated by this world. My wish is that this team continues to receive the support it deserves and graces us with more opportunities to lose ourselves in the fantastic.

As I led off by saying, if you enjoy action RPGs and have an iOS device, you should buy Bastion. It's a little pricier than many games in the mobile market, but it is absolutely worth the money.

Environments look absolutely stellar with BioWare's new 3D engine for Knights of the Old Republic.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 was over a hundred hours of pure RPG bliss. Memorable from start to finish, I'm somehow unaware of where the time went. My Steam account could have reported half the time I actually spent, and I wouldn't have questioned it for one second. Odd how people gauge the quality of something based on length of time committed and felt. Divinity 2 won't be a title I soon forget, if ever. While I am most certainly done with the experience for now, I have no question that the community has already begun working on some fantastic mods and campaigns. I smell spiritual successors in the near future. Regardless of what the future holds, the present is good, because I've experienced Larian Studios' epic, and I'm all the better for it.

Sure, the music is infectious to the point where I'd find myself humming it days later. Yes, the dialogue is stunningly well-written. Meeting and experiencing the varied cast is a delight, since you never know what will come next. And okay, yeah, there are countless little touches and fleeting moments that would make me stop and appreciate what was happening. And that's the real secret about Undertale. There isn't one thing that makes it special, because everything makes it special. It has a heart, a soul.

Atlus has taken a four-year-old game and reinvigorated it in every conceivable area.

Persona 5 is not nearly as subversive nor as smart as it wishes it was, but it's stylish as hell and a gripping ride. Worth the wait, and worth your time.

The graphics are stylish, the sound is gorgeous, the gameplay is fun, and the story is cinematic. Some players may find the game too short or skewed easy, but those are not problems to me.

Ultimately, Bethesda triumphed over all odds with Fallout 3. Defeating hype and the need to live up to the past, the Fallout 3 team created an intensely profound world and worthy successor to the franchise.

It's easily the best game I've played in a long time and the benchmark by which future Zelda titles will be judged.

Hades is a game for almost everyone. The only people I could see not getting struck by Aphrodite are those who can’t stand procedural generation or action games at all. If you’ve got even a cursory interest in roguelikes or action RPGs, you absolutely cannot pass this game up. Its only real shortcoming is the less-than-stellar story, which is a first for Supergiant Games. Rest assured, the gameplay, characters, secrets, and customization more than make up for a lack of a gripping narrative.

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