Lorelei and the Lasers Eyes delivers challenging puzzles alongside a mystifying narrative. It successfully trains your brain to overanalyze, experiment, and ask questions. All hallmarks of an excellent puzzle game. I was frustrated by some technical design decisions that slowed the pace and led to unintentional errors, but still had a thoroughly good time working my way through this otherworldly puzzle box.

It shows how Nintendo can put its experience, even with some dips in quality, to use making a standout game. With the addition of new visual capabilities, stellar track design, and a continued slow march toward modern online functionality, this is the best the series has been since the GameCube era. If Mario Kart 8 is showing its age, it’s a spry octogenarian if I ever saw one.

Nintendo is known for being conservative and protective of its properties, and it's taking an uncharacteristic risk by giving players this much control over its most iconic character. We're already seeing creativity flourish. I can only imagine what will happen when we're all Mario's caretakers.

Despite some annoying technical issues, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is an absolute feast of an RPG. It’s cliche to say, but it genuinely feels like there is something to discover at every corner. There’s a variety of ways to build your character and party, and the Pawn system feels like it should be the standard for similar games moving forward. Capcom has once again shown a deep understanding of why its games resonate so well with people, and Dragon’s Dogma 2 is one we’ll be talking about for years to come.

As I closed in on the final endings for Nier: Automata, I found myself looking back on my time with it and wondering how I'd encapsulate all that into a review. Like its predecessor, this is something that must be experienced to be properly understood. At the time, I was sure I could see where it was going, and that fact left me wondering if this entry lacked that extra something that made the first Nier so memorable. As I worked my way through the final dungeon, Automata had something to prove in my mind. Would it simply stay the course, or would it save something special for the end? If you know Yoko Taro's work, you've probably guessed the answer to that question. Never before have the very credits held such sway over my opinion of a game. I leave Nier: Automata behind, not just pleased with it, but enraptured by it. Hopefully you will too.

Genre fans and devotees of the first game should put Ori and the Will of the Wisps on their must-play lists. It looks like a million bucks in motion (when the performance holds together) and the narrative is sure to please franchise followers.

Much like Assassin's Creed 2 took the unpolished ideas of the original AC, Black Flag builds upon the flawed AC3 experience. Ubisoft's latest adventure takes the best ideas of last year's game, refines them, and adds surprising new experiences in the form of underwater missions and a genuinely fun modern-day narrative.

Monster Hunter Wilds moves the franchise forward from previous games, yet it tends to step into some of the same traps that both World and Rise did. Those issues, however, are dwarfed by an addictive gameplay loop that will keep players engaged for hundreds of hours. When you factor in the game-changing Seikret, and the ease of which players can launch into hunts, Monster Hunter Wilds is a must-play for series fans.

Whether you've had adventures with Ratchet & Clank in the past or not, Rift Apart is not a game to be missed. It's one of the best games you can get for your PS5 and one of the best games of 2021 so far, period.

If you loved the first Rogue Legacy, then Rogue Legacy 2 is very likely to capture your heart as well. If you’re jumping into this series for the first time at Rogue Legacy 2, you’re in for one of the most fleshed out, fun, and varied rogue-lite action-platformers that the genre has to offer.

In many ways, XCOM 2 is more of what we already enjoyed in the recent reboot, with a few considerable improvements. The new units liven up the experience and add much more variety, while the procedurally generated maps help to customize every player’s experience into a one of a kind novelty. If you’re a newcomer to the resistance or an old veteran, XCOM 2 is a smartly designed action-strategy game with a staggering amount of content and replayability.

All early indications are Dishonored 2 holds up to the high bar of its predecessor, and while it offers a bit more replayability with Emily and Corvo and some new game mechanics, it isn't as much of an advancement as it is a return to a formula that continues to work incredibly well for the series.

Those who are looking for one of the year's first true single-player challenges should look no further than Celeste. The team at Matt Makes Games has crafted a tough, yet not entirely unfair platformer, one wrapped in a touching narrative with some memorable characters.

Horizon Forbidden West is absurdly good in so many ways that it borders on must-play for open world aficionados.

Fire Emblem Fates exemplifies the best way to approach a sequel. It maintains and iterates on Awakening's best qualities, while also introducing new systems that have a profound impact alongside a richer and more poignant story. It's more than just a worthwhile successor to a recent hit. Taken as a whole, it's the best Fire Emblem to date.

All told, it's an impressive accomplishment, and a great start for the series on the Nintendo 3DS. I have no idea what the future holds, but for another few years at least, the beat will go right on for what may be the most important series on any Nintendo platform.

Mixing stealth, weighty gunplay, supernatural powers, and play-your-way weapons and gadgets, Deathloop is a greatest-hits amalgam of Arkane style with a splash of grindhouse grittiness and a satisfying murder puzzle narrative to put it apart from anything that has come before.

Moon Studios has a cinematic marvel on its hands, knowing exactly where to balance the light and the dark, both visually and narratively. It's a short game, coming in at about 7 hours for me, but it's worth every precious second.

Despite the occasional audio glitch or technical hiccup, The Talos Principle 2 stays faithful to the original while elegantly iterating upon all aspects of the game like a cleverly designed nesting doll. With its compelling narrative, complex characters, and perplexing puzzles, the sequel has exceeded my expectations on all fronts. This game is a testament to the art of thoughtful and immersive storytelling, with thought-provoking environmental puzzles that rival those of Portal and other icons of the genre. Navigating the philosophical labyrinth that is The Talos Principle 2 has been captivating, satisfying, and well worth the wait.

It is a treat to get to experience Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales on PC, whether it’s for the first time or a revisit. Nixxes does a superb job at making it a joy on PC, and the game’s holiday themes make it the perfect game to get you in the spirit. Not only did it renew my excitement for the future of this franchise, but for more PlayStation games to get PC ports down the road.

An expanded roster and rollback netcode for online fights are pretty much the only things Rising does differently from Versus. Sure, you’ve got Grand Bruise Legends, a cute, but short-lived battle royale that borrows from Fall Guys. There’s also a robust training mode, and it’s hard to overexaggerate just how much better online play is thanks to rollback netcode. Online matches have hardly any lag, even when I played on my Asus ROG Ally - which Rising is technically not optimized for. Battles play out much more smoothly than they did in Versus, and while that sounds like a simple idea, it’s hard to overstate how substantial the effect is for online play.

In so many ways it is a return to what makes Metroid such a fantastic series of games. The EMMI chase segments are a welcome addition and add a new twist to its classic gameplay. The boss fights are more epic than ever, and the story is such a sweet payoff for fans that have invested literal decades in the overall series’ lore. There are a number of reasons they named the first half of an entire genre of games after this franchise and so many of them are on display here.

Super Mario Maker 2 is a worthy successor to the original game. The additions of the new Super Mario 3D World style and host of new features really make this feel like a solid evolution of that creative explosion that began in 2015 on the Wii U. For many players, Super Mario Maker 2 will feel like a revolution, while veteran creators will take their knowledge into a whole new wave of level design. Nintendo has provided players with the tools to create an infinite amount of challenging, fun, and ridiculous Mario levels. Now we can all play with power. Infinite power.

Devil May Cry 5 is an excellent action game. It's an even better Devil May Cry, perhaps the best the series has seen just yet. It's aesthetically pleasing in ways I never thought possible for the series, and chock-full of love for the fans, oozing out of every pore.

Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo could easily be mistaken for an action-adventure romp for the Game Boy Advance that was somehow lost to time, and resurfaced when some collector found a prototype cart and sold it to preservationists for a historic ROM dump. It perfectly captures the vibe, design sensibilities, and even the flaws of games from that era. It has a lot of neat and creative ideas all revolving around the yoyo gimmick, and sometimes (especially in combat and some platforming) gets a little too cute for its own good. But when it’s nailing its concept it really nails it, and making your way through the adventure feels like an endearing throwback to the time of WarioWare, Zelda: The Minish Cap, and Mother 3, without being bogged down by loud, boilerplate references. Plus, the 3D handheld thing rules.

Monster Hunter Rise was beyond anything I expected. The tried and true grind of Monster Hunter's giant beast battles is alive and performing exceedingly well for the Switch’s hardware. Its formula is also thoughtfully augmented with Palamutes, Wirebugs, and Wyvern Riding, all of which I’d love to see stay in the series after this game.

It feels like Battlefield, it works like Battlefield, and it has plenty of opportunities for amazing things to happen that have only ever happened in a Battlefield game. It’s nice to see DICE returning to the roots of what makes this series so amazing, and I’m happy that, for the first time in years, a new Battlefield game doesn’t feel like it is in the middle of an identity crisis.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door might be ever so slightly dated in its first two chapters and its insistence on loading every area with too many enemies. Its bizarre cast, excellent writing, and inventive battles mean it earns its reputation as one of the best and most inventive RPGs, though, and it’s just as fresh and imaginative now as it ever was.