In a lot of ways the early Game Boy Advance years were all over the place. The rules hadn’t been established yet, and the potential was higher than ever. Anime had penetrated the mainstream, Call of Duty didn’t exist and nobody really hated Sonic the Hedgehog yet. Experiments and sequel vomiting could happen at the same time, and games were still small enough to support niche audiences of all sizes. Battle Network, especially in retrospect, feels like a poster child of that time. It’s probably a little overwhelming to dive in now, and lord knows how corny the Y2K tech jargon reads, but you can’t find a better singular piece of media that sums it all up so neatly.

As a comeback, EA Sports PGA Tour performs well enough to compete with PGA 2K23 on fairly even footing. The inclusion of all four majors, the solid ball physics, the wider arsenal of shots, and the long list of official courses are impressive, though the presentation can be flat, laggy, and rough. If EA decides to turn this into an annualized sports franchise, the next installment will need to revamp the character creator and rework the user interfaces. Despite the game's flaws, though, I can still see myself casually playing it throughout the year alongside other sports games like MLB The Show 23. It’s been a while since we’ve seen two established developers battle each other within the same sport, and I’m all for it. At the very least, golf games will be made all the better from the competition.

If you’re the kind of person out there on the internet reading “Dungeon Core” fiction and cursing EA for its mismanagement of the Dungeon Keeper IP, Meet Your Maker is right up your alley. From spike traps to blocks made entirely of corrosive acid, the level of shenanigans you can put other players through is pretty high. There are kinks for the developers to figure out of course, but there’s enough raw potential here to keep even a frustrated player coming back for more. The foundation is important, and Behavior has really nailed that part. I’d love to see the big, creepy science baby like, change form or something though. Like a disgusting, Gigeresque Digimon or something.

Tron: Identity weaves an interesting detective story that expands the franchise mythos. While those invested in the lore will enjoy diving deeper into this universe, newcomers would have benefitted from a bit more exposition. Despite that, Tron: Identity’s branching story, puzzles, and visuals make it quite an enjoyable visual novel.

Everspace 2 might seem like more of the same, especially thanks to its plodding prologue, but there's more going on here than you see at first glance. There's a stronger sense of place, better story, and more interesting cast that feel like they fulfill the original game's potential. Exploration is better than ever, and while combat hasn't changed too much, the careful balancing act of managing your resources makes every encounter feel fresh and exciting.

Road 96: Mile 0 presents a predictable yet relatable tale about teens pushed to the brink under an oppressive system. The energetic soundtrack, quality voice acting, and comedic moments help balance the heavier themes and darker undertones of the story. The newly added Rides serve to amplify Mile 0’s catchy tunes while adding another means of gameplay interaction beyond dialogue choices and minigames. Despite its shortcomings, the prequel does a decent job at laying the narrative foundation for the events of Road 96 while introducing new gameplay mechanics that cater to a new audience of players.

MLB The Show 23 is another solid addition in what is the best annual sports sim franchise. San Diego Studio continues to show a deep knowledge and understanding of baseball and the culture surrounding it. The addition of The Negro Leagues is a massive improvement to the overall product, and the ability to scan your face into Road to the Show is a fun new feature as well. Outside of some minor league woes, MLB The Show is another grand slam.

The Last Worker is an underdog story that feels incredibly timely, even more so now than it did a year ago when I first played the game at PAX East. Its themes of corporate corruption and commentary on capitalism are quite sharp, and the game manages to convey all of this without coming off as overly depressing or heavy-handed. Despite some iffy movements on controller, The Last Worker is sure to be one of the year’s best narratives.

Outside of some bugs, Deceive Inc. is a multiplayer game like few others right now and it's a refreshing change of pace from the usual deathmatch shooter. It's creative, both visually and conceptually, and something worth watching, because its best days may be ahead of it.

If the idea of playing a shooter crammed on top of a modern edition of Drug Wars, full of pseudo ironic stunt casting and roguelike gimmicks sounds like a good time, boy do I have a game for you. The only game for you, really. All snark aside I don’t think I’ve ever played a game quite like Crime Boss: Rockay City. It’s a massive swing and a big miss, with enough force to crack the sound barrier while the ball stays in the catcher’s mitt. It’s neither a cynical corporate cringe like Sharknado, nor is it a low-budget dud you’d expect to see a crew of robot puppets heckle. It’s weird, loud and uncanny. Frankly I’m surprised Christopher Walken didn’t show up.

Terra Nil is not what you might expect from a typical strategy game. There are no opponents to face, no incessant clicking, and no steep learning curve. It is a game that takes the concepts found in many city-building games and turns them on their head, emphasizing sustainability and conservation rather than endless expansion or usurpation of resources. While the game's mechanics didn’t always work as expected, what few issues I encountered did little to take away from an otherwise enjoyable and meditative experience.

Ghost Signal: A Stellaris Game presents a neat take on the popular sci-fi universe that’s easy to understand and challenging throughout. It’s satisfying gameplay loop was enough to keep me moving through Sectors and upgrading the Aurora, but I’m just not sure it warrants being an exclusive VR experience.

Dredge is both relaxing and unnerving in the best ways. While the day/night cycle could be handled better, it's still an exciting seafaring voyage and one that's worth checking out.

The game is undeniably gorgeous and clever, and easy to drop in and out of. The stories and characters are fun to experiment with as well, and Storyteller ultimately does a great job at establishing itself as something wholly unique within the puzzle game space. It’s worth experiencing for the chance to get to see everything that could ever happen in a story — from what goes right, to what goes terribly, terribly wrong.

It’s a decent enough arcade shooter, and if you look at it that way, the length and mood of the game make sense. However, it doesn’t make as much sense as a game with the Dark Pictures moniker. As widely varied as the quality of those games have been, they take the time to tell a story. Switchback doesn’t. It focuses on the gunplay, action, and thrills. While it does a decent enough job of that, the performance issues bring even that end down a bit. If you’re a fan of Supermassive’s brand of horror, it would be hard for me to recommend this over their other games. If you want to play something more like a modern light gun horror that makes decent use of the PS VR2’s technology, then you could do worse than Switchback, but you could also do better.

Tchia is a beautiful piece of art that is equal parts enriching and enjoyable. The heartfelt story is reinforced by a lovely tribute to the unique culture of New Caledonia. Outside of some standard open-world woes, Tchia is an endlessly charming game with an endearing protagonist at its heart.

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.

Have a Nice Death has enough of a fun gameplay loop and feels rewarding enough that I enjoyed returning for repeat runs.

Overall, I highly recommend Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon, so long as you approach it as it is. Not a mainline Bayonetta game, but as a largely optional (yet still incredibly delightful) spin-off, standalone title.

WWE 2K23 is like watching a follow-up to a spectacular match between two wrestlers the week before — it crackles with the same energy, but you’ve seen this fight before. Fortunately, the game stands as a solid sequel that offers an intriguing 2K Showcase retrospective on John Cena, an intuitive timed kick-out mechanic, and two separate stories in MyRISE. While it still struggles with several flaws carried over from past games in the series, the game has plenty of ways to send you hurling toward one of its numerous modes and then holding your attention there for days on end. WWE 2K23 doesn’t risk going for a high-flying splash from the top rope, but it still packs a mighty haymaker.

Mato Anomalies was a kind of game that pushed me away and pulled me in frequently. I found Doe’s investigative side to be boring outside of good story bits and the Mind-Hack card battle segments. Meanwhile, between the Gear system and skill cooldown system, exploring the Rifts and fighting the Bane Tide would be really fun, if not for the lack of enemy variety and non-stop one-liners. The story was good enough to help me look past some of the issues, but ultimately Mato Anomalies has a lot of repetitive annoyances that keep it from being better than many of the RPGs it borrows from.

In Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, Team Ninja flexes its twenty years of experience designing action RPGs. Combat is beautifully layered, and it feels satisfying to pull off difficult maneuvers and topple overpowered foes.

Horizon Call of the Mountain has value in the sheer fact that it puts you behind the eyes of a character in the Horizon universe that’s not Aloy. Taking in the beauty around me at all times was a treat in this game and I liked the interactivity Guerrilla and Firesprite implemented in this experience. I liked bonking drums and throwing pottery around as much as I liked assembling fire arrows and shooting them into a machine’s opticals. I wish the game didn’t rely so much on climbing, but even in that, it provides a pretty intense and immersive experience. The game isn’t without hiccups, and it won’t give you the same vast freedom the mainline games do, but Horizon Call of the Mountain is still a breathtaking VR adventure, a fun side chapter in Horizon lore, and a great kickoff to the PS VR2’s original lineup of games.

There’s tons of bonus activities to help keep you busy both in terms of subgames in Merry Magoland subgames and the new story content via the Magalor Epilogue. If you’re looking for a game for your kids to play, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe is without a doubt one of the best offerings in 2023 with approachability found in every aspect from gameplay, to its whimsical core themes, to the fact that co-op multiplayer is offered pretty much throughout.

Company of Heroes 3 is a splendid and rewarding RTS game. Tense battles, brilliant map design, and streamlined unit management make it easily one of the best in the genre, with the Italian campaign acting as an exciting blueprint for the series’ future. If Relic wants to use Company of Heroes to tell serious and significant stories, though, the team needs to commit to actually doing that beyond just giving them a surface treatment.

Atomic Heart is undoubtedly one of the best first-person shooter campaigns I’ve played in years. In addition to rock-solid gameplay, the game offers an intriguing mystery and a robust upgrade system. It’s even more impressive when you remember that this is the first game from Developer Mundfish. Outside of controversial themes and a lack of enemy variety, it’s hard to point out any glaring issues with Atomic Heart.

Though Like a Dragon Ishin! is rough around the corners, its complex story and rich world with an abundance of side adventures are well worth the cost of admission. The game’s reinterpretation of Japan’s Bakumatsu period is a transporting experience that explores a moment in history that is not often available to Western audiences. Ishin has some trouble upgrading the combat system and camera controls to today’s standards, and it’s not a graphical powerhouse despite some visual upgrades. But anyone who is a fan of the Yakuza Kiwami series will likely forgive these faults to a degree. Like a Dragon Ishin! may be just a remake of a spin-off, but its blades are sharp enough to ignite your inner samurai.

I give Square Enix and ACQUIRE Corp props for ambition, but there's still a ways to go before the Octopath Traveler lives up to its potential and reaches its final form.