Long-time Zelda players will be smiling from ear to ear when they roll credits. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is full of wonderful surprises, engaging gameplay, and tons of stuff to do in the biggest top-down iteration of Hyrule yet.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has lived up to the high expectations created by the success of Breath of the Wild with its exquisitely intertwined gameplay systems, outstanding music, and a legendary story culminating in a magnificent denouement. It's not every day that such a special video game like this comes around. Truly the stuff of legend.

Hades 2 is everything that a gaming sequel should be, and it's one that will keep me coming back, whether it's on PC or Switch 2. (Cross-save works great, by the way.) Because even after conquering Chronos and scaling the surface, there's still so much more to do. Every time I thought I had this game or this story figured out, something else would happen that would turn everything on its head. Like the late "Rowdy" Roddy Piper used to say, when I thought I had the answers, Hades 2 changed the question. Heck, I might still discover something mind-blowing even after this review is posted. I look forward to seeing it. There's always something new to find in the House of Hades, a house that's eternal and yet never gets old.

Wanderstop is like Spiritfarer for burnout sufferers and overachievers. The central focus is meaningful and expertly executed in its own right. However, it's the attention to detail in every other area that makes Wanderstop feel special, to the point where anything, even just planting flowers, enriches everything else. Ivy Road just gets it.

Astro Bot is a charming and cheeky nod to a lot of PlayStation history and a powerful demonstration of PS5 hardware, but more than anything, it's just a ridiculously good game.

Whether you mastered gravity years ago or are venturing to Mario’s outer space for the first time, you’re in for a treat.

Skate Story is an insane love letter to the sport of skateboarding and the many cultures surrounding it. The game feels like an interactive street skating music video from the 1990s with a camera that creates epic and cinematic moments on every level, and a soundtrack from Blood Cultures that perfectly fits every moment from ambient chill spots to chaotic rhythms for boss battles. The visuals are accentuated by truly unique character models, wild art styles, a beautiful contrast of light and dark, and stunning set pieces.

Over the past five years or so, Konami has become a standard-bearer in preserving and presenting video game history. There have been bumps along the road of course, but Castlevania Dominus Collection is not just a set of ROMs grouped together that benefits from comprising all-time greats. While those games are still obviously the main attraction, the amount of effort put into making these games look and play great, then supplementing them with absurdly high quality materials (including deep cuts even a degenerate like myself was shocked to see) is revitalizing. On top of that, giving M2 the resources to bring back its own long-lost remake series in such a surprising way pushes this collection straight to the top of my must-play list not just in 2024, but in gaming as a whole.

Resident Evil Requiem is a crown jewel in Capcom’s survival horror crown. Its characters develop realistically, its rhythm between action and horror should more than satisfy fans of both styles, and its story gripped me from beginning to end. This is Resident Evil at its finest, and I can’t wait to see where Capcom takes the series next.

Whether you’re a newcomer to Tekken or an old hand, this is a ridiculously fun game to learn. You want the best the King of Iron Fists Tournament has to offer? Tekken 8 is it, and looks set to carry that torch for years to come.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a delightful surprise in what has been an amazing year for Nintendo's iconic mascot. The game offers the right amount of challenges while remaining accessible to a wide cross-section of players. It can be enjoyed as a single player and also as something to be broken out in a party atmosphere. At its core Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a fun and fantastic escape from reality that will leave players smiling for years to come.

The Internet is brimming with tons of new F-Zero fan content born out of the game's release with musicians covering and remixing sweet tunes, artists drawing their favorite characters and vehicles, and even speedrunners streaming and making videos. While the seeds of an F-Zero revival have been sowed by F-Zero 99, diehard fans know that this may just be the beginning of a new era for our beloved racing game franchise.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is, in the simplest of terms, a Persona game in a fantasy setting. While it would have been exciting to see a few more risks taken to separate itself from that beloved franchise, I can’t deny how thoroughly enjoyable this game is. Studio Zero bundles its world-class narrative and combat design to create an immersive RPG experience that I wished would never end.

Larian Studios has tapped into the Weave and conjured up a near-impossible miracle, bringing the creativity of Dungeons & Dragons to life in Baldur’s Gate 3. Players are given real agency to pursue the narrative in a way that suits them and to dive into combat and experiment with a dizzying number of options. Baldur’s Gate 3 is a truly phenomenal game that has managed to sweep up the imaginations and dreams of players and developers alike. Baldur’s Gate 3 may just go down as one of the greatest games of all time.

Resident Evil 4 remake improves upon a masterpiece in ways that will make it hard to go back to the original. It might very well be the most perfect horror-action game I’ve ever played.

Despite this not being the traditional type of story we associate with Kiryu, Infinite Wealth is a fitting send-off to a legend of gaming. In the words of Kiryu, “Even if I’m not as strong as I once was, I’m still me. And I’m starting to think that’s not so bad.”

I had much more fun with Last Man Sitting than I ever expected I would. Part of it comes from gameplay systems I’m familiar with. The roguelite elements, character and weapon selection, perks, and other unlockables in and out of a match make Last Man Sitting go from decent game to excellent game. When you hit that perfect assembly of weapons, perks, and upgrades that carry you to a victory, it feels excellent. This might look like a silly game about white collar workers fighting a robot uprising from the comforts of their office chairs, but once you add some fire, poison, lightning, and a large caliber rifle to the mix, Last Man Sitting blooms.

If you have any interest in America’s favorite pastime, you owe it to yourself to step up to the plate with MLB The Show 19. 9/10 gratuitous bat flips.

Sniper Elite 5 is a game that knows exactly what it is, and delivers on all fronts. The x-ray kills are as good as ever, and improvements to stealth and level design make the campaign enjoyable between the moments where you’re shooting through a guy’s eyeball. The Axis Invasion mode adds an entirely new dynamic to multiplayer, which still features the standard modes for a more traditional experience. It’s hard to imagine fans of the series not being satisfied with what’s there in Sniper Elite 5.

Dragonflight feels like one of the best things to happen for World of Warcraft in sometime. Its reworks of base systems are fun and enjoyable, but its new content really stands out as impressive. Players will find exploring on their faithful companion, whether on the ground or in the sky, is quite the fun time, and the Dragon Isles themselves are well worth the journey. It may feel like jumping in the deep end here for newbies, but top to bottom, Dragonflight still feels like a great reason to play WoW.

THPS 3 is a perfect game in my eyes, and while some design choices made in bringing THPS 4 to this combined remake package didn’t hit me in the nostalgia feelings the same way I can appreciate the overall result. Welcome back to the 9 Club, Tony!

I don’t think it’s fair to compare it to “blockbuster” releases pumped out by studios primarily interested in rushing out their next iteration year after year. Talking about Death Stranding requires a much different approach, and an understanding that many games don’t ask of their players. It feels like it’s on another level entirely, one that many developers haven’t reached or simply won’t.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Theatrhythm Final Bar Line. Right from the start, I was quickly sucked in by the game’s charming, visually delightful levels and stunning SFX, along with its clever incorporation of battle mechanics and expansive party system. The game is cleanly polished from top to bottom, and as a result, there aren’t any glaring (or subtle) issues present to detract from its many strengths.

The World of Light campaign is the absolute icing on the cake, offering up tens of hours of fun and some genuine surprises. The only thing really holding Ultimate back from perfection is its online play, both because of its connectivity hiccups and because of some odd design choices.

>OBSERVER_ is a superior, more frightening take on the experience we glimpsed from Westwood Studios’ Blade Runner adaptation back in 1997. Outstanding level design and a perfectly paced nightmare make for one of the best adventure titles I’ve ever played. You will feel a sense of cybernetic dread that has been missing since your last run in with Shodan. This is a must play for fans of the genre or anyone looking for a solid scare.

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.

Ultros is a kaleidoscope game. It takes a handful of ordinary things, shakes them up and sticks the pieces together, and then spins it all around. It's just a different version of what we've seen dozens of times before, sure. But it feels special, and it sure does look good.

Dave the Diver combines two excellent gameplay elements, but still feels like more than the sum of its parts. Deep sea diving and sushi restaurant management are equally enjoyable and complex, making for a supremely addicting gameplay loop. Not only is it the surprise hit of the summer, but it’s one we’ll be having a discussion about when it’s time to look back on 2023’s best games.