This is exactly the kind of adorable, sweet natured, and engrossing experience Pokémon should always strive for. It’s completely revitalized the series’ waning magic and I’m unbelievably happy it exists.

More than even the remakes, Resident Evil 9 celebrates the series’ legacy in its full breadth, and does so exquisitely.

Crisol: Theater of Idols excels as a lower budget horror with high ambitions. It's got its foibles and I can nitpick all day, but so much style and effort has been poured into it that I just have to come away impressed. Fantastic visual and audio direction does a lot of the heavy lifting, taking this from a solid little homage to something more special. Creepy, intriguing, and with enough mechanical gimmickry to feel more different than it actually is, I’m certainly very glad I played it...Also, it’s stunningly cheap to buy for what it is. These days, that’s one of the most remarkable things anything can be.

Octopath Traveler 0 is, in my opinion as a series fan, the best installment so far. With its gripping plot points, astounding villains, and a litany of gameplay improvements, I’ve been hooked on this game to a major degree. While the town building could have been better, it’s far from bad and just adds to a game that’d be stellar without it. An excellent RPG, through and through.

When it comes down what truly matters, I can be a dingus mushroom and wear an eggshell for a hat. That alone makes Kirby Air Riders one of the best spin-off games a platformer’s ever had.

The Painkiller of 2025 is not the purist’s Painkiller. It’s nonetheless a great time and it absolutely relishes in exactly the kind of straight shooting chaos I’d want from such a game. Weapons are so pleasingly tumescent that I’ve consistently had fun in the face of flaws and irritating dialogue. I only hope 3D Realms can populate Purgatory with a few more hooks, because I don’t want to see what’s currently there fizzle out too quickly.

Combining a block breaker with a survive ‘em up is brilliant, the pinball city building is a giggle, and the inventiveness that runs throughout the entire production is utterly brilliant...It’s a whole load of balls and I love it.

I love Ghost of Yōtei. I adore the classic mold of Atsu’s revenge tale - it’s the kind of story for which “formulaic” is more compliment than criticism. I appreciate how rich a toybox has been provided in its combat. I give it immense credit for the transformative way it uses passive enhancements to so strongly influence a player’s active playstyle...It’s a beautiful production full of mechanically enriching treats that can make a player feel like the sports car of assassins. Seriously, when is Sucker Punch going to make a John Wick game? All told, I’d say this is some of the sleekest, tastiest action I’ve seen from the big budget space in a long, long time.

Hades II isn’t Hades, and it’s the only thing keeping Hades II from being as remarkable as Hades. While it can’t surprise players in quite the same way, this game’s bottle contains so much duplicated lightning that only a player with unrealistic expectations could be disappointed. It’s an engrossing audiovisual treat that’s structured beautifully and boasts gameplay I struggle to keep away from...In all honesty, I wasn’t sure if Supergiant could make a sequel that did such an impressive game as Hades justice. I had doubts that any developer could match such an insurmountable creation. Hades II isn’t more than a match, but it's absolutely worthy of standing alongside it.

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is a great little game. As well as availing itself of as many genre features as it could carry, it’s quite possibly the smoothest kart racer I’ve played and certainly one of the nicest to handle. With a cute set of gimmicks and solid customization options, its biggest problem is lacking enough modes and maps to quite cover a significant unlock grind.

Dying Light: The Beast benefits from a more focused approach than the series usually has. Its obligatory suite of repetitive jobs still wears thin during extended play, but overall I enjoyed this one more than the prior outings. It’s a leaner game with a better story and some nice touches. Some of the series’ long running flaws still need ironing out, and without them we could have a legitimately great game. On a personal note, it’s really nice to see this series improve as it has over time. Despite being a vocal critic of its shortcomings, I want to love Dying Light, and if this represents where future games are going, I may just get what I’m hoping for.

Cronos: The New Dawn is far and away the best work Bloober Team’s put out and a splendid survival horror game in its own right. What starts as a post-pandemic Dead Space cover version becomes its own brand of scary that conditions paranoia into its players with undeniable expertise. There's a great script to go with the A-grade psychological puppeteering, and the whole package deserves to be seen as a genre classic...I am truly impressed.

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is a very well put together game. Slick presentation, watertight controls, and clever level design combine in a wonderful return for Joe Musashi. It might not be enough of a challenge for some, and it has some issues with upping its ante, but overall? Quality stuff.

Metal Gear Solid Delta might be the least necessary remake ever produced, but it might be my favorite remake for exactly that reason. It’s just Snake Eater with modern graphics and controls, and that’s actually more than I’ve come to expect from the industry these days. By being such a faithful reissue, Delta has secured its place as the definitive way I play MGS3 - I can’t say that about any of the more imaginative remakes we’ve seen in recent years.

It doesn’t quite have the variety and spark of Mario Odyssey, though it does offer a lot of the same rewarding collectathon structure. Unlike most of the ground beneath DK’s feet, it’s really solid stuff.

Ultimate Edition works as a solid showcase of the Switch 2’s capabilities, at least between the occasional crash. It generally runs great, and playing such a massive production in handheld mode is a hell of a novelty. You can use the Joy-cons to activate commands via gestures, though as usual with such things, gyro’s best used for a little refinement while aiming...Whether on the Switch 2 or not, Cyberpunk 2077 is a fantastic RPG, especially after years of bodywork, and it has some of the best storytelling you’ll get out of the “AAA” space. I’ve played it so intently that I don’t even cringe when I hear cyberslang like “choom” and “preem” anymore...Can’t think of a more nova endorsement than that, ya gonk!

Elden Ring Nightreign is worth taking out for a few runs, but the incentives to keep on running aren't quite there yet. The prospect of ending another forty minute expedition empty handed after an anticlimactic wipeout isn't quite coaxing enough.

What a lovely game it is. Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny has its faults, but it aged really well and it’s been a blast replaying a PS2 title I truly loved back in the day. A welcome throwback to a time where publishers would put out some genuine curios, ones that stayed with me for life.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the epitome of an instant classic. Its premise alone had something special to it, but no elevator pitch could have prepared me for how the thing blossoms and blossoms and blossoms. Exciting battles and beautiful writing unfold in a world that looks and sounds sublime, all of it pulled off with unbelievable style. I’m in genuine awe of the accomplishment.

It’s a delightful adventure, dripping in imagination. It’s a saturated mess, prone to tedium. It has a knack for redefining itself in truly engrossing ways. It has a mean spirit that facilitates truly vulgar environmental design. Its world is breathtaking and vast. Its world is hateful and myopic. It sounds incredible. It sounds unbearable. It’s intensely absorbing. It’s offputtingly self-indulgent.

As much as the games industry doesn’t want to acknowledge it, the existence of those alternative routes is an inevitable consideration, and that’s especially true for Suikoden.

Centum is a gripping point-and-click trip, drawing players in with disturbing imagery and a disquieting atmosphere before laying on a terrific critique of generative AI - as well as the kind of people who want to exploit it. Striking a nice balance between enigma and clarity, it presents a world you can’t fully trust contrasted against sincere messaging. It’s so much more than freaky rat men drooling everywhere. It’s evocative and heartfelt, and has freaky rat men drooling everywhere! An algorithm couldn’t pull it off half as well.

A great game that would have been almost perfect if Capcom had gouged out the first thirty hours and put a plug in the pernicious verbal diarrhoea of a quest board masquerading as an NPC.

Mouthwashing is a psychological horror game that, without a doubt, earns the “psychological” part of its designation. Within a futuristic setting is a contemporary story containing multiple themes of ghastly relatability. I cannot think of another game that upset me to this degree. It spoke so intimately to my personal trauma that playing it felt awful - and I mean that as a compliment, I truly do...It hurts. And it’s beautiful.

“Vampire Survivors but it’s an FPS” is a solid idea with so much potential to wind up as an ill-advised mess. Vampire Hunters does the concept justice with a thoughtfully produced game that not only serves Survive ‘em Up gameplay in a fresh format but pops a ton of clever little touches on top. Despite its name sounding like that of a videogame mockbuster, this is the kind of fresh flavor any overly saturated genre sorely needs.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle brings a level of authenticity you almost never see for videogames based on movies, even among the good ones...There are many things I can moan about, from the sometimes trivial challenge to the backtracking to the terrible UI, yet there are plenty of things I can praise in turn. The delightful impact of delivering blunt force trauma to a Nazi, the dense use of space, the sincerity of the atmosphere, and that amazing Harrison Ford impression. Sure, it’s marred by many little issues, but The Great Circle's a good bit of adventuring fun in the face of them.

Comedy games are considered notoriously difficult to pull off, but ones like this demonstrate that the challenge isn’t inherent to the medium - it really just comes down to how many people making games are actually good at comedy. Death of the Reprobate, with humor that’s sharp and dumb in equally amusing measure, is some damn good comedy - and maybe more than a little damned.

Angel at Dusk may not be up there with the most essential shooters, but its bonkers concept and sickeningly beautiful visuals help it to stand out while the aggressive combat provides plenty of fun. Well, until repetition starts to set in. An enjoyable time, especially if the average shooter isn’t enough like Videodrome for you.

Sorry We’re Closed not only pays homage to classic survival horror, it provides a truly unique love story that delves into the very nature of romance itself. For all its theming and grisly imagery, however, there’s a script with a pointed sense of humor and a cast of fun characters to match. Combat has good ideas set back by some awkward implementation, but the moments of annoyance aren’t enough to pull down the sum of all parts.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is heavy on the action, light on the bullshit, and gets progressively more enjoyable as you expand your abilities and get used to some wonky controls. Its tone, art direction, and exaggerated combat is most certainly not the Dragon Age of old, but what can I say? It’s the Dragon Age I’ve enjoyed the most, even if I can name a laundry list of things that piss me off about it....The fact you can make it very gender is a huge positive, especially since the only people claiming it’s “forced” on you are lying through their stupid teeth. It’s there to help more players feel seen, and that’s only a good thing.

Even though I famously hated Frontiers and still do, I want it to get a direct sequel because I want a version of the game I can actually love. That said, playing Sonic Generations X Shadow has me hoping Sega never forgets that kind of game either, because I’ve been reminded that when 3D Sonic platforming is good, there’s nothing quite like it.

Starship Troopers: Extermination may share similarities with Helldivers, but it absolutely does enough to distinguish itself and I think I prefer it. With 16 players and massive hordes of Arachnids, the sheer scope of chaos is both intimidating and enthralling. Building a base from scratch is straightforward and lots of fun, as is trying to keep the thing from toppling over.

All things considered? Silent Hill 2 Remake is an almost excellent game that just couldn’t help itself. It does so much to impress, but the obnoxious elements are so consistent they ensure Team Silent’s masterpiece is far from bested...I never want to see another Mannequin again in my life.

While it likely won’t be remembered to the same degree as “bigger” Zelda installments, it’ll absolutely go down as a classic to me. Echoes of Wisdom is brilliant in its creativity and versatility, one of the best in the series as far as I’m concerned...Also, Octoroks. Octoroks for days.

I’m absolutely a fan of the spin-off, with World Brothers 2 carrying on the quick, accessible, and nonsensically entertaining action of its predecessor. It’s packed full of fun toys, drowns the player in content, and you can play as a woman who thinks she’s a horse. She spawns carrots behind her when she sprints. How is that not what videogames are all about?

Halls of Torment is more than simply Vampire Survivors wearing Diablo’s clothes. It’s a clever and engrossing Survive ‘em Up that uses RPG trappings to add a ton of versatility and rewarding complexity to what would still be a fun game without it. There’s a pile of quirky character classes and a massive number of ways to build them during each run, just a big pile of content and not a shred of it feels like padding.

Astro Bot is one of the best games I’ve played, period. A jubilant little adventure that dedicates itself fully to making an audience happy. For a neurodivergent player the visuals, sounds, and DualShock textures are indescribably satisfying. The accessible design makes it perfect for both children and adults. It’s a wonderful mascot platformer, the likes of which I’ve severely missed, and it’s the most tasteful way a game company has ever patted itself on the back...For once, the pats are well earned.

It’s the best game about a toy cat using his sentient hoverboard to dismember killer unicorns you could play this year.

Thank Goodness You're Here! rolls around in its Britishness to an almost obscene degree, but more than that it is simply… stupid. Majestically, gloriously stupid. It’s a wildly entertaining little adventure that revels in its own ludicrous indulgences. It delightedly broadcasts a sense of humor that some may find puerile and unappealing while others will find it puerile and very appealing...Thank goodness I’m in the latter camp.

Still Wakes the Deep is an impeccable horror production, a gorgeously sickening nightmare in a rarely used setting propelled by stellar acting and sublimely nasty body horror. It’s more than just “The Thing on an oil rig,” though it makes good on that elevator pitch too. It’s going to remain with me for a long time. A true genre classic.

Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 can be a mentally taxing experience by design, especially if one already has their own litany of mental health struggles. It is a necessary part of a game that explores its themes touchingly and tastefully, a beautiful and astoundingly stylish production. Like its predecessor, the presentation outstrips the gameplay, which suffers from repetition and a lack of escalation or variety. It’s a damn fine thing in totality though, one well worth digging into.

Indika is a treasure of a game, an adventure that truly defies expectations. Constantly surprising and laudably bold in its subject matter, this story of a questioning nun and the devil in her head is among the best things I’ve ever played. A little dash of jank does nothing to take away what this game is - a landmark of strange and fascinating storytelling.

If you’ve been frustrated by the state of some retro horrors, or even if you haven’t, this is a fine addition to the genre that deserves to be ranked highly among the modern examples. Aside from those bastard traps, it’s a damn good bit of body horror.

Despite the reduction of novelty as it progresses, Slayers X is nonetheless a fantastic idea executed very well. Retro indie shooters are a dime a dozen, but hardly any of them commit to the bit quite like this brilliantly stupid follow up to Hypnospace Outlaw...It’s the kind of nonsense I’m just incredibly happy to see exist in the world, and the possibilities it offers for potential future games set in this universe has me on the hook.

Stellar Blade is at war with itself in a conflict between style and substance. Sadly, style wins with merciless regularity, but there’s a strong core of genuinely good gameplay fighting through an ocean of bells and whistles.

Although far from the highest quality Soulslike, Another Crab’s Treasure is an original, intensely likable one. Its sharp script is backed up with a fun gameplay conceit, wrapped up in a package with a whole lot of character.

Rise of Ronin really likes its players, and that’s what I love most about it. While its world features a lot of busywork, it’s also a joy to explore thanks to how easy and versatile movement is. An enthralling combat system openly traces the best of Sekiro and Nioh, serving the extract in a more accessible fashion with a huge variety of ways to fight. While co-op is restrictive, it’s still really funny to go online and turn bosses into confetti, plus you can run a cat rental service...Excellent stuff.

Rebirth is totally bananas and I’ve surrendered to the ride. While its obsessive drive to always be different can prove exhausting, it so often does different with such style...My opinion doesn’t matter. For better or worse, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is going to be whatever it wants to be, and what it wants to be is anything it damn well pleases. Against all common sense, that audacity absolutely works, and I can’t wait to see how the next game gloriously screws things up.

I was pleasantly surprised, especially given the series’ ignoble history to this point, to find 2024’s Alone in the Dark is actually really enjoyable. While not the most polished or visually impressive game, it’s a charming one that goes out of its way to pay tribute to the original trilogy with its survival horror elements and shameless lore dumps. An effectively spooky presentation, violent enemies, and clever puzzles round out the package, making this the first Alone in the Dark game since the 1990s to be an Alone in the Dark game.

While the strictly defined horror gameplay might not keep one hooked for hours-long sessions, The Outlast Trials’ style and atmosphere is worth several return journeys. It makes very few changes to the series’ usual stealthy scariness, yet the inclusion of three other players makes for a breezy version that’s pretty damn entertaining. Be aware that playing it alone makes everything take four times longer and isn’t particularly fun, but with even just one more player, some torture porny fun can be had...Plus penises.

Pacific Drive is one of those amazing games that I’ve fallen in love with despite it doing so much I’m inclined to loathe. It’s brilliant in its externalization of survival gameplay with a car that acts perfectly in its dual role of burden and bearer. Its humor, style, and a luxury assortment of modifier settings have kept me spellbound. I can paint my car pink. Game of the year contender.

Turnip Boy Robs a Bank is a very good thing. Adorable, silly, and quite funny indeed, this roguelite might be a big genre shift from its predecessor but it’s just as lovable. It hurries itself along a bit too much, but the fast pace of gameplay and swift progress at least ensures it never gets dull.

Karmazoo is a wonderful cooperative puzzler that encourages wordless teamwork in a way that should lead to chaos but instead results in elegant simplicity - most of the time. With its cute sense of humor and even cuter character designs, there’s a huge amount of appeal in simply unlocking and trying new characters, of which there are many. A game about being polite to strangers is as twee as it sounds, and it’s a tweeness I’m absolutely here for...Plus you can be a duck.

RoboCop: Rogue City may not boast the high production quality of a top level “AAA” videogame, but it’s more fun and shows more sincerity than most of them put together. What it lacks in polish it more than makes up for in its provision of fuss-free action with immensely satisfying weaponry alongside the occasional glimmer of witty writing. It’s nowhere near as beautifully satirical as the film from which it sprung, but it’s still made with clear love for the original, as well as a ton of sincerity...Can’t wait to see which movie this outfit gets its hands on next. Please do The Thing!

I feel compelled to say again - this has pleasantly become one of my favorite Soulslikes.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is like a rapid firework display of ideas that never stops dazzling, throwing curveball after curveball and never lingering on a single concept. There’s something to be said for gameplay that doesn’t outstay it’s welcome, but often is the case that Wonder’s twists and tricks barely make it through the threshold before they leave, never to return. I’m impressed by what Wonder does, amazed at its drug-like wackiness, and left with a longing for some of that stuff to stick around longer than it does...There are worse things to be than a great game that leaves a player yearning for more.

Spider-Man 2 continues the high level of slickly presented entertainment seen with Insomniac’s first jaunt to Manhattan. Playing as the Spider-Men is yet to be anything other than beautiful, both figuratively and literally. Great as it may be, it's held back by some dodgy writing that fumbles its payoffs and dips too often into waffle. Between those moments of deflation, however, there is a truly gorgeous and absorbing game packed with delightful action where simply moving feels good.

Sonic Superstars is the first decent mainline Sonic game since Sonic Forces (an objectively okay game as rated by civilized minds). A distilled descendent of the original lineage, Sonic Team’s rare display of restraint has resulted in a game that succeeds through the purity of its simplicity. However, the stark contrast of convoluted, tawdry boss fights offsets its positives significantly, contributing some truly offputting misery to an otherwise entertaining time...I’d love to see more of this if Sega could resist reinventing the wheel again next time.

El Paso, Elsewhere does nothing new as a videogame - the whole point of it, in fact, is to do everything old. Despite revolving around the nucleus of a Max Payne homage and flatly refusing to flesh out the mechanics of a game from 2001, El Paso manages to transcend its skeletal concept thanks to an arresting presentation and brilliant story. Incredibly written with themes that speak to me on a deeply personal level, it compensates for its weaknesses as a game by simply being a brilliant piece of media.

In case you couldn’t tell, I f.cking love this game....Baldur’s Gate 3 is truly exemplary, one of the few videogames in history that wholly deserve the universal acclaim heaped so freely upon releases above a certain marketing budget. The choices offered to the player in terms of both crafting an adventurer and influencing the story do an incredible job of translating Dungeons & Dragons to a form of interactive software that surpasses the loftiest expectation. The script is incredible, the gameplay beneath it downright luxurious. There won't be another like this in a long, long time.

The score I’m giving this game is highly conditional, relevant as it is to a particular niche of player. Those outside the niche won’t get it, and I’m not saying that to be smug - they’re right not to get it...Just this once though, I’m happy to be wrong.

I love Lies of P until I don’t, but those less adoring moments are always followed by something that ropes me right back in. A slickly directed, beautifully presented game that takes the absurd concept of marrying Bloodborne to Pinocchio and commits so earnestly that it transcends the silly and just plain works. Difficulty spikes and dodgy pacing undermine it at key points, and some systems aren’t as useful as they should be, but none of that takes away from the high quality and the amount of imagination poured into what could’ve been just another Soulslike...Even at its most exasperating, I wouldn’t let it lie.

Clash: Artifacts of Chaos is a truly beautiful production, far more so than one boasting a cast of animalistic amalgamates and sentient polyps ought to be.

It’s Jurassic Earth Defense Overwatch War Z and it looks like it should be bad but it isn’t. I can’t be anything but impressed by that.

Final Fantasy XVI is all over the place. It’s a game of incredible highs and distasteful lows, boasting such a narrative trainwreck of disarranged ideas it’s borderline incompatible with itself. Endeavoring to tackle themes of fascism and slavery would be laudable if the result wasn’t inelegant at best and offensive at worst. The frustrating, exhausting nature of XVI’s miserable narrative is countered by notably enjoyable combat, impressive setpieces, and truly stunning boss encounters. When it’s not boring, it’s exhilarating. When it’s not exhilarating, it’s insulting. When it’s not insulting, it’s delightful...I love Final Fantasy XVI when it’s Game of Thrones with Kaiju. Every attempt to be more than that makes me like it far, far less.

Street Fighter 6 has made me the happiest I’ve been with a game in quite some time. As somebody who always wanted to play fighting games but whose neurodivergence prevented them, the new Modern controls and consistent approachability is simply joyous. Brimming with personality, immensely gratifying, and packed with a shocking amount of content, I’m still rather shocked by exactly how hooked I’ve become. It’s just a shame Capcom’s insistence on pernicious monetization lets the welcoming effort down, because besides that I have no notes. Street Fighter 6 is the fighting game I needed.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun absolutely delivers on its promise of 40K-meets-Doom. Its guns are deliciously punchy, the chainsword is a consistent thrill to wield, and everything is presented with fantastic period graphics and a suitable riff-heavy soundtrack. The game’s overzealous commitment to one single note is a sadly undermining affair, eventually transforming an exciting experience into one that runs out of content long before it runs out of levels. Nevertheless, it’s fundamentally entertaining for as long as one remains invested, and I definitely had enough of that entertainment to feel like I got what I wanted out of it...Plus, y’know, it has an entire button dedicated to yelling at vile filth and heretics. That’s easily worth the cost of entry.

Dredge reeled me in to the point I sunk hours into it, and even if my patience floundered at times, the net experience was fun to tackle. While its content isn't stuffed to the gills, it’s hard to be crabby with a gameplay loop that had me hooked, and the intriguing horror angle perched on top of a swimmingly good adventure is worth wading into. It doesn’t have to fish for compliments, but since I’m trawling for puns and you’re probably salty about it, I’ll wave goodbye and say that Dredge isn’t crappie. Sea you later!

Again though, I really must stress that this is a great game. It’s more serious, and suffers in comparison as a result, but its wealth of additional content, its few minor adjustments to an already terrific combat system, and the sheer excuse to enjoy Resident Evil 4 in another way makes this is a worthy title indeed.

Boneraiser Minions is a truly superb production, and not just because it makes a Bernard’s Watch reference. It’s a silly yet fiercely addictive survive ‘em up brimming with charismatic originality. From its premise to its unit-based spin on the genre to its multitude of unlocks and upgrades, this beautiful bit of nonsense won my heart with incredible ease. Boneraiser is the kind of game I’m excited to think about, and the constant cock talk is just a boners… sorry, a bonus. No complaints. No notes. Boneraiser Minions is simply exquisite.

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe is a great time. The remake is faithful in the ways that count and adds enough new content to be well worth revisiting, even if that content isn’t universally brilliant. I could take or leave the theme park conceit, and I wish the Mecha ability was as good as Sand, but with an enjoyable epilogue campaign and a bunch of unlockable masks that I couldn’t stop thinking about, there’s no denying this is a remake that puts the work in to justify itself. I like it when things do that. Did I mention the game has masks? I can’t emphasize enough how important that is.

Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line is a delight, and a massive time sink that I don’t regret spending hours on. From its colorful visuals to the excellently presented music and the simple yet challenging rhythm action itself, there’s a ton to love about the latest game in a series I was already hooked on. The massive collection of characters to unlock and loot to gather enhances the game tremendously, while the rewarding multiplayer is just a lovely extra on top. If the DLC wasn’t so vast I’d have almost nothing to criticize outside of a desire for more considered accessibility settings. Even then, the base game truly does have more going for it than the majority of mainstream games charging twenty bucks more...Still distraught over the lack of "Jesters of the Moon" though.

Metroid Prime Remastered is a faithful beat-for-beat recreation of the GameCube classic with a comprehensively polished visual makeover. It remains a solid adventure shooter, even if its straightforward approach to player progress is a little unexciting these days. I’ve certainly not hated my time with it, though I do hate its refusal to properly credit the team that worked on the original...Maybe it’s the industry’s attitude toward attribution that could use a remastering.

Lil Gator Game is charm incarnate. Deftly, exceptionally charming. With its sincere, sweet little story and perfectly dorky humor, it provides a wonderfully enchanting adventure that kept me grinning and tittering all the way through. More importantly than anything else, Lil Gator Game made me happy. I’m damn happy this adorable goofiness exists, and while I’m sad I ran out of things to do, I’m delighted by everything I did.

Evil West is the kind of beautiful trash I wish we had more of. It’s a ridiculous game in service to a purpose no higher than smashing monsters to gloopy bits, and by God do I admire that. While at times combat balance is uneven, any such moment is made up for by a terrific weapon set, extravagant finishers, and an immediacy of offense that ensures the action never wavers. Refined? No. Elegant? Hardly. Fun as f.ck? F.cking yes.

God of War Ragnarök is truly excellent. Quality seeps out of the thing, with so much effort put into even its less consequential elements. Richly detailed, terrifically written, all with a massively entertaining blend of combat and puzzles. The overwhelming amount of content can most certainly grow tiring at points and there are moments of disruptive meandering. Nevertheless, for a game to offer so much and retain such a high caliber is worthy of applause.

Cultic’s shameless revelry in gore is delightful.

A Plague Tale: Requiem is definitely a game worth playing for fans of the original despite my criticisms. Overall I enjoyed my time, thanks in no small part to a vastly superior second half. I lament the loss of better directed linear stealth in favor of a messier open environments, but the core of what makes A Plague Tale great - strong characters, bleak horror, and tons of squicky rats - remains firmly in place.

Even at its grindiest, Destiny 2 remains an oddly compelling adventure...While there's still plenty of room for improvement, I've got say Bungie put its heart into this one, and it definitely shows.

I was really impressed by my time with Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. It’s a polished X-Com style game that removes some of the obtuse layers to ensure the early gameplay curve is accessible, uses humor very well, and kept me coming back for more.

Sonic Mania is a brilliantly staged celebration of the past that acts as a true sequel to the Genesis line of games.

RiME is certainly one of those games that prove how ridiculous it is to rail against linearity considering how a well paced, smartly designed corridor can be as enchanting, if not more so, than any massive open world on the market.

Injustice 2 takes a strong fighting game, delivers an incredibly rewarding and lengthy single player that feels like a priority rather than a tacked on afterthought, and considerably increases the scope of the game by adding in a vast number of well made additional characters to the mix. Sure it hits the uncanny valley a bit, and I’m not keen on the loot boxes or their DLc plans, but it’s hard to deny how much fun I had with the game at launch.

All told, Flinthook is a damn good time. It’s demanding with its difficulty but provides all of the tools necessary for success; not so cruel as to seem unfair but steadfast in its expectations of the player. The core mechanics are satisfying to use and well balanced, while offering the player ways to upset individual aspects of that balance through perks and carve out their own style.

I say this without hyperbole and not as a stealth insult to anything else – I quite genuinely believe this to be the finest addition to the Switch’s library so far. I can’t argue with how much I’ve been playing it and how much I want to keep playing it, even as I type this. It’s exactly this kind of compulsive experience the Switch needed, and if that had to be the result of a remaster, so be it...It’s a damn fine remaster of a truly magnificent game.

While it didn’t bring literal tears to my eyes, there are moments that certainly feel like a kick to the soul thanks to impeccable writing and direction.

Make no mistake – The Sexy Brutale deserves as much attention as any Horizon, Zelda, Nioh or Persona.

As someone who has spent a lot of time with the Switch recently, and who loved the hell out of the Vita during that year or two it was getting regular games released on it, I really did find myself at times wishing this game had some kind of portable version. It just felt like the social life aspects of the game might have been more at home when I experienced them on the Vita in P4G...Still, the fact that’s my biggest complaint in 120 hours of JRPG says a lot. I was damn impressed by Persona 5, and will certainly be returning to it once I’ve had a few months to decompress from this super concise playthrough. I played 120 hours in just a couple of weeks and damn it was a lot of fun.

Few games are able to showcase the power of the medium like Nier: Automata...If history forgets this game, then f.ck history.

Horizon: Zero Dawn is just brilliant. I speak as a critic who has played more "open sandbox" games than any one human should and has grown so very weary of them. I should have gotten sick of this thing in an hour, but I've been glued to it for days and days and I don't want it to end. I love existing in this world - a world of desperate survival but of growing culture and a sense of hope. A world of giant metal animals that promise some breathtaking fights.

Nioh got attention for its similarities to other titles, but it deserves to be remembered as its own special game, one that sees and raises the efforts presented by its inspirations. With fast and uncompromising combat, an engrossing economy of loot, and a mesmerizing artistic style, action-RPGs have rarely been this refined or this captivating.

In its current form, Resident Evil 7 is a damn fine game. Damn, damn fine. Although it initially looks like a desperate chase for Outlast‘s credibility, it slowly reveals itself to be more of a traditional Resident Evil adventure than one might believe, while taking successful elements from contemporary horror games and utilizing them effectively...After Resident Evil 6, this is exactly what the series needed. Both a change of pace and a return to long-neglected roots, it thrills me to say that, for the first time in a long time, Capcom is on the right track.

If Yakuza‘s always been this magnificent, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do and a lot of “friends” to chew out for not recommending it to me sooner.

Gravity Rush 2 is a bigger sequel, but not necessarily a better one. While it offers more to play with and in greater variety, the lack of improvements to core features – as well as graphics that are far from impressive – hold it back from being something truly great.

I’m glad we got two wonderful action games out of the Darksiders property, even if that’s all we ever get, and I’m really glad I played them again, because they’re not lost a step.

This is why Final Fantasy XV, despite significant and glaring problems, is still a lovely time that managed to make me like Final Fantasy again. It’s a character piece, and the characters we spend our time with are fully realized and play off each other so well. It’s a lighter journey that nonetheless knows when to get serious, spurred by a charismatic nemesis and a quartet of lovable, beautiful boys...And good God is it weird.

While there are some disappointments and archaic clunkiness, Dead Rising 4 is a great time that makes smart improvements over Dead Rising 3. The comedic beats are surprisingly well executed, especially early on in the campaign, and while the conclusion may be hugely disappointing to some, I can’t fault the series its boldness.

Despite my grumbles, I have to admit Sun and Moon gets its hooks in even if it’s tough to get into at first. Once it clicks, it can instill obsession as well as any prior game, and that’s before getting to the new minigames and features that only serve to make the adventure more rewarding.