Each character is fun to explore, the music will stay in your head long after you stop playing, and even if the game feels a bit short, there are plenty of reasons to go back. Simply put, this might just be the ultimate intersection of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fandom and beat ’em up arcade style. Not just a slice of pizza, it’s the whole dang pie.

Resident Evil Village does great as an action game with solid horror elements. The combat is visceral and vibrant, the environments are splendid and mysterious, and the story had decent enough oomph to keep me involved throughout.

There are immensely satisfying moments for those that choose to stick with this game, but those moments need to be earned. Nothing will come easy, but nothing truly worthwhile ever is.

Viewfinder’s unique gameplay mechanics encourage you to think outside the box, and the aesthetically pleasing spaces, intriguing lore, and surreal image manipulation left me wanting more. Despite its brevity, Viewfinder is a solid puzzle game that represents an elegant step forward in the puzzle genre.

All the stumbling around trades away any sense of suspense. It's hard to feel scared of monsters after you've walked circles around them several times. Not even tricks like suddenly switching off the lights saves the mood. Soma does a great job of making me feel lost and frustrated. Perhaps too good.

Perhaps it’s okay that Dragon Quest 7 is a bit of an odd duck. It’s because of that struggle that Dragon Quest found itself more in later entries, and became a series that could thrive and stand out as more than the funny, old school RPG with the goofy monsters. Perhaps this is a case of trying to cram a square peg into a round hole, making Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined feel “forced” in some ways. While it’s a gorgeous and fun adventure that feels quite good to play in a mechanical sense, it’s not one that’s leaving an impact on my soul the same way other entries have. It’s been nice to see these characters again in such a fascinating visual style, and some of the new additions are cool, but there’s a palpable Cliff Notes energy to the scenario that I can’t see resonating well with newcomers. I can’t speak for what actually happens when people play it of course, but my curiosity to see how that plays out is stronger than my actual emotional response to playing it myself.

While I can't rightly say they're everything that a die-hard Pokemon fan wants, they're very clearly games that rank among the most-polished and most-appealing titles available on the Nintendo 3DS hardware. The attention to detail is so thorough that it's easy to forget these are products designed by a team.

The combination of story, presentation, and atmosphere come together in perfect harmony to offer arguably one of the best point-and-click adventure games ever created. With that said, I was a bit disappointed to see the Grim Fandango not get the full remastered treatment I feel it should have received.

With classic games and a heartfelt documentary, Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection continues to show that there's nobody better at this type of compilation than Digital Eclipse. Whether you're an old-school fighter or want to teach your kids what MK looked like in the old days, this is the best way to do it.

At every point, Dynasty Warriors: Origins tells me how important I am, how crucial my role is, how the battles would have been lost without me. It is hollow, all of it. I am the most important man there is in a story that I cannot change because this is the way the story goes. I am a peacemaker who brings peace through slaughter. A weapon to be wielded to tame a violent nation. I am a gun. And God help me, in the moment, as I land the attack that I know may be killing the kid I made my name saving, fighting for men who go against everything I believe, it feels good. And that is Origins’ greatest failing.

While the heavy tilt towards simulation provided by Project Cars 2 is not really in my wheelhouse, I can still objectively see it for what it is, a love letter to driving that hardcore players will find irresistible.

We've seen Gris before, back when it was sold in the wrapper of Limbo, Journey, or Ori and the Blind Forest. It's the same old platformer that's being turned around yet again for a new audience with new gimmickry that, while functional, simply brings little to the table. It's easy to fall in love with, at least superficially, until you examine it even closer. It looks great, it's smooth, and you sure can jump a lot – but it's unsatisfying in so many ways that make it difficult to recommend over more competent and feature-rich games in the genre. After all, you know the old adage: beauty is only skin-deep.

I can't eloquently explain why I like it so much after spending most of my words rattling off negatives. I just like it. If you want to escape into the best Assassin’s Creed world in the series, this is the ticket.

Super Mario RPG is a beautiful reimagining of an all-time classic. For as many jumps as Mario has made in the RPG world in the decades since his Super Nintendo days, this game is proof that there's still no adventure quite like the first.

A hidden gem in this year's long list of video game releases.

Two Point Hospital is just what the doctor ordered. Management sim fans will eat this up and the game’s expertly executed presentation will be able to draw in players new to the genre with its humor and charm.

After Doom Eternal proved somewhat divisive among fans, Doom: The Dark Ages should be a Doom game everyone can appreciate. It’s fast and hard hitting, featuring robust combat systems that make learning their ins and outs fun and empowering. I daresay it’s even better than Doom 2016, and is a must-play title for everyone interested in Doom, first-person shooters, and action games as a whole.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is pure fun, and I couldn't be more pleased with the experience. Diving back into creator Koji Igarashi's iconic style of gameplay has been deeply nostalgic for me; I even found myself humming old Symphony of the Night tunes after playing the new release for a few hours.

It’s wonderfully balanced and doesn’t punish you for needing to attempt something more than once. And, even with the camera working against me, I was able to become a masterful samurai. Perhaps Ghost of Tsushima isn’t a perfect cherry blossom, but it is pretty damn close as far as I’m concerned.

I’ve avoided the Call of Duty franchise for years. Long before the gameplay outgrew me, I outgrew the gameplay. I came into BO6 with low expectations but was pleasantly surprised. Despite some faults, the campaign has more good than bad. Zombies is a fun mode, even if there’s nothing there for me personally. Multiplayer, however, is where the magic happens. The fact that I’m enjoying playing against people half my age who can kill me before I can squint to see them is testament to that. Okay, so I’m clearly exaggerating, but even when I’m getting rocked, there are always tools at my disposal that ensure I’m having a blast. Grenade away!

Like Hitman GO before it, Lara Croft GO proves to be a brilliant reimagining of a classic franchise. It may not have the tense atmosphere of the newer Tomb Raider games, but that's part of the reason that GO succeeds. It successfully illustrates the versatility of the franchise as a whole, showing that it can work as a soothing puzzle game just as well as an action-packed, nerve-wracking platformer.

Look at Guacamelee 2 as gaming's equivalent of NXT Takeovers or New Japan Pro Wrestling's annual G1 Climax tournaments. They may not feel overly different from each another, but there's no questioning their high quality and they'll leave you anxiously awaiting the next main event.

It does Persona 5 Strikers a disservice to simply call it a spinoff. With the quality of story, RPG mechanics adapted to action, and extension of all of the musical and visual style we love from the original Persona 5 all present and accounted for, Strikers seem more like a Persona 5-2 than a spinoff.

LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is a great experience overall, and will likely find a passionate audience among those who love this series, but it also won’t do much to convert people who simply don’t enjoy the silly simplicity of the genre. It is both a worthy exploration of Batman and a fantastically fun LEGO title that takes full advantage of how loaded that premise has become over the years.

Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled is another exemplary update for a classic game that desperately needed refreshing after remaining somewhat dormant for several console generations.

Age of Wonders 4 might be overwhelming at first, but it's brimming with potential and gives you the tools to tell unique stories with your chosen hero. The nearly decade-long gap between releases gave Triumph the chance to polish Age of Wonders 3's weak points and come up with substantial improvements to combat and presentation. The result is one of the best grand strategy games in ages.

Blasphemous 2 is a solid sequel that improves upon its predecessor by being truer to its Metroidvania inspirations. It refines the concept of the original game by mixing classic platforming with more modern Soulslike themes. The combat and platforming aren’t ground-breaking, relying a lot on backtracking and collectibles, but the difficulty level generally strikes a fine balance between being challenging and fair. Along with a wonderful art style and spirited music, the game makes blaspheming a reason worth fighting for.

The Wolf Among Us is a winner for its pacing, its character work, its story, and the manner in which it makes the player think without being overly heavy-handed about it.

While it offers much of the Persona experience fans will enjoy, such as the deep and challenging combat system, ability to fuse Personas, and unpredictable story, there are still some things fans of the series will certainly miss. The inability to randomly explore your surroundings or to take one of your friends out for a bowl of ramen in order to improve your bond with them is one I missed greatly while playing Persona Q.

It's not just a great Kingdom Hearts game, it may very well be a game that gets revisited in December.

Black Ops 4 feels like one of the strongest Call of Duty entries to come along in years. Despite not having a solo campaign or some of the past games' more bombastic mechanics, Treyarch has proved the adage that "less is more." And this game's "less" is good enough to keep me waiting around for "more."

It's pretty fantastic, thanks to the various additions to the game's multiplayer, the overhaul to the story mode structure, and the implementation of new ideas like the three-way Splatfest Turf War. While I wouldn't call Splatoon 2 old and busted by any means, there's no denying that Splatoon 3 does feel like the new hotness.

Bytten Studio puts all of its creativity on display in Cassette Beasts. Not only does its sizeable roster of Monsters include some really fun and unique designs, but the thoughtful approach to combat and clever music element really set it apart from most Pokemon-likes. Although the characters weren’t as intriguing as I’d like in an RPG, just about everything else was enough to make up for it. Cassette Beasts is sure to be one of this year’s indie darlings.

If this proves to be the final Sony-exclusive baseball simulation that we ever get, the development team deserves to be proud of what they managed to squeeze onto a 50GB Bluray disc. 8/10 banging trash cans.

Ring Fit Adventure is an excellent cross between fitness and action/adventure. Nintendo manages to create their best exercise game yet while weaving in classic adventure tropes to gamify the experience. Ring Fit Adventure is a great way to usher newcomers into gaming while helping longtime gamers stay in shape.

As somebody who wasn't into the Nier lore going into this review, I'm fully invested now. That's the magic that Nier Replicant works and, even with its faults, it's a treat for both fans and newcomers.

Only those who are really into realistic driving simulators may flock towards Project Cars, although they might get bored easily considering there really aren’t any unique game modes either. It carries a sense of realism in spades, but there isn't much under the hood.

Two Point Campus is intensely good on most fronts. The game is quite pretty, its comedy is charming, and its gameplay cycle is potently addictive. The climb from the lowest, most crummy campus up to the most noble and illustrious of college grounds is an addictive grind, and Sandbox Mode awaits those stalwart enough to overcome everything else.

Its complexity can be overwhelming, but once you hit your stride, it's entertaining all the way to the home stretch.

Bastion certainly wasn’t a fluke. Transistor cements Supergiant Games as one of the sharpest, most stylish, and unique small developers. Though some of its flourishes aren’t quite as fresh the second time around, Transistor speaks with a unique creative identity, mostly successfully refreshes solid RPG mechanics, and tells a poignant story worth experiencing.

Those moments of anguish were not massive parts of the game, although they were gnarly roadblocks. Everything else, from the vibes to the storytelling, and even the combat when it was reasonable, were compelling to the end. I’m still curious about the other endings, but the trauma from that generator setpiece has me wanting to wait for possible adjustments or new settings in the future. Horror enthusiasts, especially those who revel in the weird, who are also secret gaming gunslingers and are cool with sudden spikes in difficulty will find a lot to like here.

World of Goo 2 is exactly as it presents itself. It’s a lot more World of Goo, with more levels, gameplay mechanics, fancier visuals, and a new/continued storyline. As cute (in a sinister way) as its style looks, this is as hardcore as physics-based puzzlers can get. The game does not hold your hand, often has really tight margins of error, and only offers the bare minimum of guidance when it feels like it. That said, there’s a surprising amount of variety, and you’re allowed to skip levels without being penalized. Even if you struggle, there’s a lot of cool, smart design and an interesting world to experience. For fans of the first game, of course, World of Goo 2 is a no-brainer.

Age of Mythology Retold is fun, don’t get me wrong. The visual overhaul alone is enough to make playing this 22-year-old game easier, and the quality-of-life improvements sand down some of the older versions’ more annoying edges. However, with more substantial structural improvements in later Age of Empires games, plus with the likes of Ara: History Untold just around the corner, I’m just not sure Retold needed to exist.

This game is as unforgiving at the start as it was in 2006, but if you want a solid zombie survival experience akin to Dawn of the Dead, you can’t do much better than the mall mayhem of Willamette in Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster.

Madden NFL 17 is a quality Madden game. It does a lot of things right, and fixes most of the major shortcomings of previous editions. If you’ve lapsed in the series or just want to know if you should grab this year’s game, go forward knowing that you will get a lot of mileage from it. It’s good. At the same time, however, it is still absolutely a Madden game, and in the 12th year of EA’s exclusivity deal with the NFL it’s hard not to pine for a little competition. Sunrise, sunset.

It's also a strong way to put the Shovel Knight saga to bed, essentially bringing everything full-circle in such a way that it encourages players to go right back to the original Shovel Knight story. King of Cards is aces, in ways I never expected it to be.

Octopath Traveler succeeds where other classically-styled RPGs fail: the presentation is spot-on, the combat is addictive, and the potential for party customization is tremendous. Small stumbles with dialog and framerate can be forgiven simply because the rest of the game is an absolute delight. This is an experience that players can easily get lost in for dozens of hours, and it's sure to be counted among the best Nintendo Switch exclusives released to date.

If nothing else, Triangle Strategy shows that Square Enix has some fire in its turn-based tactical engine. It just needs to balance its scales between exposition and gameplay a little better.

If you're a fan of the Turtles, this is the collection for you. If you're a fan of arcade brawlers, this is the collection for you. If you're simply curious about this specific time in gaming history, the Cowabunga Collection is still worth owning. It's a phenomenal piece of work and a reminder of why the Turtles remain such a relevant franchise in video games to this day.

Where Trials Rising falls off is with its presentation. While the tracks are all unique in appearance and boast expert level design, the visuals on PC felt dated. I’m not looking for realism, but I was disappointed to find low-quality textures and an overall lack of polish. Console players might not share that view, but it was noticeable in my experience.

Aside from those moments when you have to grind, Cat Quest 3 is a cute, breezy experience that shows why making more of these has been a good idea. And there are hints of plenty more to come, which is exciting considering how much playing with the setting has been established. The writing remains simple but fun and silly, and the number of secrets and side activities has grown a lot. There’s a winning formula here, and so long as the series doesn’t get too ahead of itself, there’s plenty of potential for Cat Quest 3 as a springboard to even greater adventures.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a successful pivot from traditional Yakuza mainstays. The game goes heavy on style, while still packing in enough substance to keep players satisfied. The party system and new RPG elements give players more ways to play than ever before. The turn-based combat is solid, and never feels too foreign. Longtime fans of the franchise will appreciate what Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and SEGA have to offer in Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

So while it’s rough around the edges in some ways, and a little confusing in others, the core of Popucom is a fun, creative, and thoughtful co-op challenge that combines a set of ideas you don’t see put together often. I mean, if I asked for an example of Puzzle Bobble as a shooter, I doubt I’d get many answers. Add the other gimmicks on top (I love that kitty UFO drone so much, folks), and you have a compelling set of challenges that ramps up intelligently and in ways that always feel surprising and fun to solve. I mostly just wish it was easier to pick up and play!

Fans of the original Super Mega Baseball will find lots to like about this sequel. New players can expect a solid game of baseball with enough arcade magic to appeal to almost any type of player. Baseball purists will find a good time if they enter with the proper expectations.

V Rising offers something distinct, and pretty cookie cutter at the same time. It’s a survival game, but with a novel genre blend meant to attract a different kind of audience. There’s a lot of these, but V Rising brings the action-RPG and gothic styles to the table in a way that feels unique. So that’s fun, but the survival and crafting part is about as boilerplate as it gets. Therefore, if you’re the type of person that shrivels up and shrieks at survival game systems like a vampire considering the concept of brunch, V Rising won’t change your mind. But if you can hang with the concept and also enjoy some Diablo-like combat, having those two things together in one game is pretty rad.

The game is a tight package that hits all the right notes when things are working well, though it can possibly push you into madness if you falter. 8/10 dismembered arms.

Between the extra Fatalities, dozens of Brutalities, and match modifiers locked up alongside costumes and art in the interactive Krypt, players should be prepared for a long grind before they can unlock the "entire" game.

Katana Zero is an inspired effort. Askiisoft could have easily relied on the action formula alone, called it a day, and it would have been a solid indie release. However, Katana Zero dares to go bolder, with a story that takes more than one left turn, and an innovative dialogue system that can paint both the story and the main character in a different light. No matter how you opt to play this game, Katana Zero is one of the best Hotline Miami homages I've seen yet.

With Xenoblade Chronicles 2, every item down even the darkest corners of my inventory has a purpose. It can feel overwhelming at times and you'll surely pull your hair out trying to decide what to sell, if anything, but hardcore players will be rewarded kindly if they want to spend the time. More casual players will find some fun too, but won't be punished if they decide to obsess over every little detail.

Though Madden NFL 16 has some great ideas in the form of new modes or changes to existing systems, it feels less cohesive and finished than the franchise deserves.

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands certainly manages to capture the same feelings we’ve had since first started playing the game. The leveling experience overhaul, constant sense of progress with rewards, and new campaign stories make Shadowlands a must-have for any avid player.

Even with a subpar multiplayer experience, Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp is still a game worth experiencing. It's a triumph of tactical strategy with a vibrant coat of paint. It's a reminder of what a gem of a franchise Nintendo has been sitting on for over a decade and represents a hope that maybe there's more Advance Wars on the horizon.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a love letter to 40k fans. The minor gripes I have with PvP cross play and cutscenes pale in comparison to the overall package that’s bursting with content and hours of fun times with friends. The insane dedicated attention to detail is everywhere, even in the smallest corner of the game. Saber really took their time, cared about the IP, and it shows. I highly suggest grabbing a copy, getting your friends together and killing some Xenos scum.

In the end, it's all about bringing the fight and the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection can throw down with the best of them, making it a worthy challenger.

While Grounded may be rather tough for the lone wanderer and leave something to be desired in terms of equipment variety, it certainly doesn’t lack for thrills, co-op fun, and a wonderfully unique environment to explore.

Disc Room wants to cut you in so many ways. It wants to chew you up, dismantle you, and make you say a swear or 50 creatively woven into the same sentence. It’s bullet hell without the regular therapy of being able to return fire. But for all of those aspects, it's also horribly addicting. The ease of picking up where you left off and trying your darndest to survive just a little bit longer to unlock a room left me putting down my controller, rubbing my head, and then often picking it up to say, “this will be the time I get it. This time.” It’s not a ridiculously long or complex romp. But it also doesn’t really need to be. It knows what it wants to be. It wants to be your murderer. And the only way you’re going to thwart it is by surviving just long enough to open its next doors and beat its myriad of challenges.

The way in which you cut your own destiny within Wrath of the Righteous might be as close to the creative freedom of a proper tabletop RPG campaign as I've gotten out of a video game adaptation of one.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus is a departure from the prototypical Pokemon formula, abandoning or reinventing old features in order to offer something new and unique. While it leaves a bit to be desired from a technical standpoint, there’s just so much to enjoy. A clever overhaul to the battle system, improvements to exploration, and a story that dives deep into franchise lore makes Pokemon Legends: Arceus an experience that will appeal to longtime fans, as well as those who may have grown tired of the series’ reliance on the status quo.

This game is rough around the edges, but those edges are serrated; there’s an authorship to the chaos and slight jank that feels woven together from top to bottom. The systems, humor, structure… every aspect of this game feeds into the other for an experience that nails cohesion. Helldivers 2 plants its flag in the dirt and announces itself with a rare confidence in video games today. Now get out there and serve some piping-hot Liber-Tea, soldier.

It might not be the longest game, and the thrill of the exploration may bottleneck a bit at the end, but the changing course, different routes, and ultimate ending of Beacon Pines are still more than worth exploring for any fan of narrative adventure.

Blade Chimera is short, sweet, and simple. It’s also visually enthralling and just… really dang cool. It’s the perfect kind of game to run into in January 2025, especially after so much of my time up until now has been eaten by multiple dozen-hour RPGs. I blazed through this game in two sittings and loved every minute, cliches and all. Seeing Team Ladybug come out swinging like this for its first fully-original metroidvania is a delight, and Blade Chimera has fully cemented this team as one to look out for going forward.

When I saw that Coulombe was involved in the cult classic, Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden, I knew I was in for a ride simply by association. But I wasn’t fully prepared for the depths of creative madness I was gazing into with Look Outside. Each step was full of dread and morbid glee, as I never knew what to expect, was terrified of what could happen, but absolutely refused to miss a thing. I would’ve liked a little more balance when it came to getting mauled by random enemy encounters, and controller support was a little weird, but any frustration I felt from a momentum-halting game over melted away when the next stop on this roller coaster of suffering came into view. Frankly, I was bummed to get off when the ride was over.

Fans waited four years for NetherRealm to release a new fighting game, and all that waiting paid off. From the surprises in its new mythology, to the white-knuckled pace and creativity in its gameplay, Mortal Kombat 1 is the freshest take on the series in years.

One of the central focuses of The Plucky Squire's story is that it's a tale that inspires hope in all of the children who read it. I'm hopeful that this game will inspire any would-be developer who plays it, because it's a true expression of what's possible through gaming.

Lies of P is more than just a wooden facsimile of a soulsborne game. It gets the foundational stuff right and tweaks it just enough in combat and exploration to make things more interesting.

MIO: Memories in Orbit takes place in a fascinating world, and its story is often beautiful. If there was no combat, it would be a substantially better game. But there is, and it is not. Like all Metroidvanias, MIO: Memories in Orbit asks you to imagine the Vessel as a place that was once wondrous. But I could not imagine a world where I was happy to play in its ruins, no matter how beautiful what’s left of it was.

It's too bad that now that the company has shown how well it can work, it's taking a bow.

There are a few open-world games that sit above the rest, but Assassin’s Creed Odyssey falls just short of them. Its use of systems that appear in other open-world Ubisoft titles make this a bit like a yearly installment of a sports franchise looking to build on last year than a genre-defining experience.

While it is undoubtedly better in most respects than Donkey Kong Country Returns, that game spent its goodwill as a nostalgic throwback. Tropical Freeze is left suffering many of the same weaknesses, but without the sheen of a comeback story to set it apart.

After six years of waiting for the next iteration of Forza Motorsport, Turn 10 Studios delivers a solid offering, packed with hundreds of cars, upgrades, and tuning options, all bundled in a gorgeous presentation package.

That’s not to say Nexus 5X is bad for single players. It’s just the kind of game that gets a little tiresome if you play more than one match in a sitting. Perhaps future expansions could help fix this, but for now, Nexus 5X is definitely best played with other people.

I ended my time with Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero much the same way I started it: really excited to play more of it. I’ve already dumped a lot of time into Sparking! Zero, but there’s still a lot more to see. I have more alternate paths to complete, more costumes to unlock, plenty of other mechanics to master, more Capsules to play with, new teams to build… I could be here for a while, now that I think about it. The greatest compliment I can pay to a game is to say that I want to keep playing it after I’m done covering it. I want to keep playing Sparking! Zero. It’s been a long, long time coming, but Sparking! Zero is worth the wait. That little kid who grew up loving Dragon Ball would love that. I’m really happy for him.

Off isn’t just a classic. It’s a formative work from a time in which indie game development was taking on a new form, one that has continued to evolve and ripple and shape what the space is like today. Off is a small, strange, and gnarly RPG that may be simple in functionality, but remains special in the story it tells and how it tells it. This new release from Fangamer is a rare opportunity to not only revisit a core moment in history, but for many to experience it for the first time. I have some hang-ups about compromises that had to be made, but the methodology on display in drawing attention to and deliberately not replacing the original is a more than fair answer. If you like RPGs, you owe it to yourself to sit down with Off. The Batter needs your help. You monster.

It’s basically the kind of greatest hits-style structure you’d expect from a quirky, arcade-style franchise game over a decade removed from its last major entry (unless you’re in the Apple Arcade mines). It’s got everything you’d expect to see but more of it, lots of unlockables, music DLC, self-referential content out the wahzoo, so on and so forth. It’s a lot of fun even if Katamari’s trademark weirdness isn’t so weird anymore, and it doesn’t really seem to have ambitions to redefine anything (not that it needs to). Aside from the whole crown thing putting me off, it’s been a blast picking away at the experience piece by piece. And listening to Lonely Rolling Star in the menu. On repeat. A lot.

The game's challenge might seem extreme at first, but it never feels cheap. It forces you to think out your strategy and carefully plan each move. Invisible Inc is a sort of paradox. You have to move carefully, but you're fighting the clock at the same time. It's immense pressure that is thrilling to play out.

If you pride yourself in your Gears of War multiplayer skills, Gears of War Ultimate Edition will scratch your competitive itch. Just remember this is Gears of War, so there are some things you won’t be able to do like tag a grenade on a surface to create makeshift mine or stun an opponent by jumping over an obstacle they’re hiding behind.

Freedom Finger is an enjoyable take on the classic shoot’em up thanks to its simple yet challenging gameplay. The mechanics are easy to pick up and understand, but a bit harder to master and use effectively. At times it tries to do too much, but the hyper-escalated sense of humor and self-awareness add a unique layer to gameplay. Wide Right Interactive’s Freedom Finger is a worthy installment in one of the industry’s oldest genres.

While playing, I am reminded of the feelings I got from Minecraft, Euro Truck Simulator, Portal, and SimCity 2000. Simultaneously relaxing, infuriating, perplexing, and rewarding, SnowRunner is on my shortlist for game of the year. If I could show this to my six-year-old self, he would give birth to a litter of puppies on the spot due to sheer excitement. If you need a path cleared, a load hauled, or a vehicle rescued, I am the man you call. 9/10 38-inch Super Swamper TSLs

A rare sequel where the developers took a chance instead of sticking by what was a successful formula. Although I personally wasn’t a fan of the original Watch Dogs, the game sold well and Ubisoft could have easily slapped some new paint on it and released another dreary, boring game. They didn’t though, and I hope it’s a trend other developers pick up on because Watch Dogs 2 is a superior product.

Supraland is simply one of the best sandbox games I’ve ever played. It perfectly embodies the term, letting players define their experience. The only shortcomings in this title are some generic and lackluster character and item designs, but that’s a nitpick when stacked against everything Supraland has to offer. The gameplay feels like a love letter to a laundry list of classic games, doing justice to all of them. Supraland is a must-play game for fans of the open world.

But when 50 percent of all Pokemon games are remakes and the rest feel like remakes, it just makes me wish my favorite game series would stop dwelling on the past.

Torn Banner and Tripwire Interactive have poured no shortage of love into Chivalry 2's environments, objectives, classes, and player customization. It’s that dedicated level of support that will keep me coming back to the game and crossing swords for a long time to come.

Sega is clearly capable of making a compelling mystery game that could stand in league with the work we see out of studios like Naughty Dog, but that will require a more focused, better-paced approach that Lost Judgement seems eager to avoid.

Xenonauts 2 is quite impressive in its faithfulness to the oldest form of X-Com. I appreciate how far it goes to capture those old-school vibes, and I can very easily see what Goldhawk Interactive improved upon from the first game. This is a shamelessly difficult alien invasion tactical strategy, where every success or failure rely on careful, timely decisions and a bit of luck. I wish the aircraft game was a better piece of the overall puzzle, but it’s hard to be too sore about that when I’m just outright relieved to get all of my squaddies home in one piece and ready to prep for the next contact.

For music aficionados and wannabe DJs, DropMix feels like a worthwhile investment.

I have a handful of gripes about PowerWash Simulator 2, but they hardly bring down the experience. It feels like a love letter to all of the fans and the things they’ve asked for over the years, and we end up getting a really neat collection of structures to clean up beside it. If the first PowerWash Simulator was any indicator, we can likely look forward to loads of post-launch content as well. If you’re not into these games, I doubt PowerWash Simulator 2 is going to win you over. But if you hanker for more high-PSI water cleaning, this sequel provides a fantastic set of features and improvements to make it about as enjoyable as can be.

Sam & Max Remastered is an exceptional remake of a beloved game from Telltale’s early days. Fans of the original will be really satisfied with what Skunkape Games has done here, as the visual and audio upgrades give a modern feel to the aging game. Though it’s a bit of a letdown that there’s no extra content or additions to the story, Sam & Max Save the World Remastered makes it more than worth returning to a 2000s classic.

Despite my shaky feelings on some of the core modes, College Football 26 is a marked improvement over College Football 25. I got a lot out of the smaller changes, like the new Dynamic Substitutions and supplementary Dynasty features. It’s yet to be seen if this franchise will fall into the cynical rinse and repeat pattern that Madden has been on for several years now, but for the time being, it’s more CFB goodness.