If you love sports, cars, or neither, Rocket League is your cup of tea!

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 works really quite well. Obvious graphical compromises have been made, but it runs nicely, retains the sheer volume of content, and maintains a consistent stability. While mostly a novelty for those who already played it, it's an adequate Switch version for those who haven't.

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.

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!

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.

Enjoyment can be finely sliced off of ARC Raiders like edible shreds from a doner kebab smeared in shit. That these slivers are entirely dependent on its players is hardly a triumph of the base experience, which is generally boring, flavorless, and lacking much of a point. If not for one intensely fragile hook, this is a sub-mundane peashooting box breacher that, despite a lack of originality or quality gameplay, still needed help from an algorithm.

In short, you’re getting a damn good game for your money, even if it is the official game of the official movie of the official game.

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.

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.

A good game that sadly lives in the shadow of its excellent original.

It was already a steal before the extras, but the Snapshot mode and the videos, not to mention the classy production values overall, make this a must-have for those both old and new to Rare’s extensive library. If you’ve got an Xbox One, this is a shoo-in.

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.

Gears 5 is pretty damn good, huh? A campaign that dares to revitalize the series' formula, backed up by some classic multiplayer, Horde Mode, and all that nonsense. It's real good. It's gorgeous to boot, with great lighting, meaty effects, and an icy new environment with all the snowy fun it entails. I'm tired. I was up all night playing Gears 5. So tired.

Tales from the Borderlands Episode One: Zer0 Sum is a great start to the series. It brings Borderlands to life in promising new ways, it’s genuinely funny, and it has a terrific cast.

The campaign is flimsy, and despite claims of signifying a new generation for the series, Gears of War 4 is ultimately an upholder of the status quo.

Halo 5: Guardians is okay. Its campaign is rubbish, but the multiplayer is solid thanks to the foundation it’s built upon. Warzone is a really enjoyable experience, and while combat is still mostly about tossing grenades and hitting the melee button, the whole Requisition gimmick adds some much-needed flavor to proceedings.

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.

Fundamentally, Signalis is an accomplished emulation of PSX survival horror. Its graphics are both authentic to the era and perfectly disturbing. Taking place in a fascinating world and populated by threatening creatures, it’s a game I very much wish I could enjoy more than I did. The crushing limitation on the player’s inventory coupled with a reliance on memory puzzles that represent a genuine accessibility issue put me off wanting to ever play the game again to get an ending more satisfying than the rather unfulfilling conclusion I got. That’s a real shame, because it’s still one of the best retraux survival horrors out there. It’s just not good enough for me to love it like I want to.

Darkest Dungeon is an unrelenting adventure as well as an intricately designed puzzle. Swiftly punishing foolhardy players while rewarding the ruthlessly pragmatic, it hammers home the message that risk is not always worth the reward. Knowing when to fold them is the key to triumph, even if doing so means abandoning your loyal followers and slipping further into amorality...Being a heartless scumbag isn’t particularly pleasant, but if Darkest Dungeon‘s taught me anything, it can be one hell of an amazing ride.

At its very worst, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is just as good as Human Revolution, which is really not a problem if you think Human Revolution was absolutely bloody marvelous.

There are moments that make me scratch my head, infuriate me, and even make me cringe, but when I consider the layered mass that is Xenoblade Chronicles X, all I can think of how damn arresting it is.

This is not just another horror game. It’s a science fiction story with horrific shades, a game that ponders the human condition in an industry where “the human condition” has become an awkward dead horse of a phrase. A horror game that, curiously, would have benefited from a little less horror.

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!

With three great games and additional content that some would say is even better, The BioShock Collection is worth picking up for pretty much anybody interested, be they existing fans of totally fresh to the series. Despite some annoyances, each game run.

A platform game with mild puzzles and plenty of THEEEEEMES, a fantastic art style and soundtrack are really what brings it to life.

I'm playing all the time, really...Having a lot of fun. It really is better than PUBG...It's so much more user-friendly, welcoming...It's just a better game.

DmC is a beautiful, bold, and supremely enjoyable videogame in its own right. It deserves to be praised...That’s what I said back then, and I’m sticking with it.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night has, amazingly, lived completely up to expectations. It's the Castlevania game we knew we needed, but Konami didn't want us to have. Koji Igarashi isn't trying to hide the fact that Bloodstained is a Castlevania game in all but name, and he doesn't have to. It's a heartfelt, authentic, beautiful MetroidVania game and I am so very happy with it.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night has, amazingly, lived completely up to expectations. It's the Castlevania game we knew we needed, but Konami didn't want us to have. Koji Igarashi isn't trying to hide the fact that Bloodstained is a Castlevania game in all but name, and he doesn't have to. It's a heartfelt, authentic, beautiful MetroidVania game and I am so very happy with it.

Alien: Isolation may be the very best Switch port I've played in terms of accuracy and performance. It looks amazing, it runs smoothly, and in several departments it outclasses the PS4 version...On top of that, Alien: Isolation is just an amazing game that's still absolutely terrifying.

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.

Yes, it’s more total nonsense from a story perspective. As a game? Well, it’s a ton of bloody fun, because it’s a very good game.

This ReREmake preserves everything that made the original remake great, and what a world we live in where “original remake” can be a valid term. In fact, I’m going to tell you right now that this is one of the most pointless reviews in existence – everybody should know already where they stand on this one. Either you squared the money away the day this was announced, or you’ll never play it.

You’ll be dropped into a blighted world and be left to figure out your own path, making fatal mistakes and incurring tragic losses before coming to the conclusion that precious few videogames have ever had the nerve to draw… War is hell.

With the humor and silliness of Dragon Quest, a series of goals to keep players compelled, as well as the introduction of form and meaning in that everso popular survival crafting gameplay, Builders escapes being the cynical reskin it may at first glance appear to be. On the contrary, it evidences more love and care than could be expected.

It's a good game... but lacking that dazzle of the first experience.

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.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is an old game with an obscene new price tag that doesn’t offer anywhere near enough to convincingly get away with it. The original game was great, but this package is a cash grab from a company intent on selling its flagships out. It's really sad to see Kirby, my favorite Nintendo series, used to normalize this exploitative new price point.

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.

Octopath Traveler is exactly the kind of JRPG I’ve been needing. Yes please!

If you’re the kind of person who thinks videogames peaked with Fallout 3's launch version and they’ve required neither evolution nor improvement since, this game is absolutely for you. If you believe Bethesda doesn’t need to exhibit growth as an artistic outlet and hasn’t had to change a thing about the way it’s made games since 2008, I can safely say you’ll adore Starfield because it’s all that a Bethesda game has always been... and literally nothing more...Starfield is a shallow ocean, hiding its lack of creative ambition behind the physical size of a universe that’s minuscule where it counts...In short, it's everything a fan of these games could love.

Every bit was wonderful as it was the first time around. Bright, cheerful, packed with things to do, and rocking some classic brawler action, it looks as beautiful as ever and there’s no excuse not to give it a look. It’s just as fresh as it was back in the day, and a 100% discount for prior players is friggin’ perfect.

Dark Souls Remastered finally came out for Nintendo Switch, and it’s… okay. I’m not insulted by the graphics or audio because I expected worse, but they’re definitely a step back compared to other versions. Still, I got my handheld Dark Souls, even if I don’t see quite so many players to enjoy it with.

It's more Horizon Zero Dawn...No better or worse. More of the same.

ABZÛ is a lesser game than Journey, but since I consider Journey to be one of the more sublime pieces of interactive entertainment I’ve enjoyed, that’s hardly a damning indictment. While it struggles to be truly resonant, Flying Squid’s aquatic adventure is nonetheless enjoyable, alluring, and ultimately pleasant.

It's an authentic, intriguing game of detective work, and I quite like it!

Rhythm Heaven Megamix is a great jumping off point for series newcomers, collecting some fantastic games while adding a healthy portion of fresh material. Old hands will still find lots of love thanks to the remixed levels, added challenges, and scores of bonus content.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is one damn greedy game. In addition to its half dozen special editions, its Amazon Alexa tie-in, its Totino’s promotion, and its season pass, it’s filled to the brim with microtransactions. As well as all that, it’s been purposefully turned into a grindfest in order to sell XP boosters, like this is some free-to-play mobile game.

Gears of War Ultimate Edition is a blast to play, even if you’re like me and only really intend to get into the story campaign. The multiplayer is still damn robust, beautifully put together, and will be a thrill ride for those who love the Gnasher, but I can’t say I haven’t greatly enjoyed my time with the overall package, because the thing I most cared about has been remastered very well indeed.

Helldivers 2 struggles to appeal after stripping out so much of what made its prequel memorable, and if that’s all that was wrong with it I’d be sadly grateful. Miserably, it’s such a wreck of a product that it spends significant amounts of time in a near-unplayable state while the rest of the time is typified by frequent crashes and other technical difficulties. You're supposed to expect a certain level of quality in a Sony-published game, and Helldivers 2 is a reminder that such expectations are naive as all f.ck.

Most importantly, Watch Dogs 2 offers a sense of humor running through it that the series badly needed. You don’t need miserable family death stories in a ludicrous game about “smart cities” and cartoony hackers. You need writing that leans into the silliness, that has a laugh at its own expense, which is exactly what this game gets.

Hand of Fate 2. It’s basically as good as Hand of Fate. The new twists are good, the old problems are a shame.

Quite frankly, I think Superhot is absolutely bloody fantastic, and one of the best examples of how a single idea can be iterated upon to create dozens of clever scenarios.

The Division 2 is one of those unique games that I keep playing, and even enjoying, despite being very bored by it. It's compelling in its tedium...Deeply flayed, and suffering under the weight of its own "live service" requirements, The Division 2 can be quite fun, but the loot fatigue sets in quick.

It saddens me to say that I had no fun whatsoever playing Metro Exodus, and as a Metro fan who was seriously looking forward to this, it breaks my heart...I've not had a single moment of fun here.

A fantastic start to what I hope will be an amazing series. Though it’s not the King’s Quest fans will remember, it’s an enthusiastic and striking fresh take that’s both witty and exciting.

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.

It's wonderful that Hideo Kojima gets to do whatever he wants to do. It's equally wonderful that I can do whatever I want to do, and what I did was stop playing his game...Death Stranding is a hassle. A slow, monotonous, fiddly, irritating hassle. It's pure indulgence, every whimsical fancy that crossed the studio's minds has been tossed in without regard for the player's time or the gameplay experience.

A rarity, in that it’s an Activision release without a nasty predatory catch, Spyro is a ton of fun and it’s held up incredibly well.

Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening is a terrific game that has aged astonishingly well, a fact that becomes clear within moments of playing it today. A good excuse to play it today is Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition, which recently came to Switch. It's the same excellent game with the addition of a weapon/style switching mechanic, practically the one thing it needed to stand next to its modern sequels. The Special Edition is the best version of an already great game. Can't say fairer than that.

Yeah, it's pretty good with a number of caveats. Terrific combat and a ground bed of fun ideas, marred by some poor writing and level design. Still, you get to throw a LOT of stuff around.

Enter the Gungeon is a fast paced dungeon shooter that punishes and rewards in equal measure. Easy to get into, and tough as nails when it wants to be, Dodge Roll’s energetic and hilarious loot ’em up is sometimes frustrating, but more often a joy to experience.

I wish I could say I love the game, that its plagued by only minor setbacks, but I cannot honestly do that. I can’t look back at how much time was spent not enjoying myself, at how much time was spent actively wrestling with the game to wring anything worthwhile from it, and say I played the masterpiece many are going to say it is. Maybe, a long time ago, that’s something I’d have been able to say. Not today though. Not today.

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.

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.

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.

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.

My Friendly Neighborhood offers a unique execution of a conceit that’s otherwise become trite among horror games. Taking the “spooky kiddy thing” idea and pulling it onto a framework built from equal parts BioShock and Resident Evil smartly separates it from the ocean of similar concepts in the genre, even if none of its individual components are particularly original. It’s sadly let down from a lack of variety and consequently runs too long, unable to stay fresh or surprising enough to sustain its runtime. However, it’s a fun ride while it lasts, and it’s story is charming enough to be worth seeing through to the end.

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.

Honestly, Tekken 7 is a content predictable fighting game surviving off the back of it’s relatively unchanged combat system.

Wandersong is a lovely little game about singing and saving the world. Bright, colorful, and utterly cute, I’m personally enjoying the heck out of it.

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.

A Plague Tale: Innocence is the best game I've played this year. Easily the best. A stealth game with puzzle elements and a hearty dose of horror, A Plague Tale may turn heads with its killer rat swarms, but the real star is the great writing and character portrayals. This is something special.

At this point, playing The Elder Scrolls V is like putting on a comfortable old pair of sweatpants. It’s not exactly stylish, it’s frayed around the edges, it’s showing its age, and there might be a few old cumstains, but it’s warm and familiar and it just feels good to have around...The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition is that same pair of sweatpants put through the laundry.

What I have experienced is at least seven hours of good, quality gameplay, that was scuffered by the worst luck imaginable and the unfortunate decision to do the whole single save file auto-save structure...Even with the game ending the way it is, I have to admit that it was a good bloody time and there are a lot more expensive games out there that offer a lot less.

Fast becoming my favorite online shooter of choice, Garden Warfare 2 is lovable, preposterous, and completely rampageous. Never thought I’d say this about an EA game, but it’s everything a modern premium experience should be.

Kirby: Planet Robobot is yet another Kirby game, which I personally consider a positive. The new abilities and mechanized gimmickry are huge fun to fiddle around with, boss encounters are beautifully delivered, and the level design is some of the series’ most accomplished.

Despite a simple idea and a handful of maps, this eccentric shooter does – as the game’s irritating in-universe TV hosts declare – “stay fresh.” It balances strategy with anarchy in a riveting way, and nails the balance between instant gratification and heartbreak as players obsessively cover their world with color and have to watch as their hard work is consistently overwritten in a way that only makes one more desperate to hit back.

As it stands, it’s a damn lovely game that nonetheless doesn’t need to be clamored for...Likable, yet not as lovable as it deserves to be...Now rest in peace, PlayStation Vita.

Moppin’s work easily deserves to stand alongside the likes of Nuclear Throne, Spelunky, and The Binding of Isaac as a tough but rewarding game where no two runs are the same and the temptation to return is overwhelming...It’s also proof positive that reviewers don’t give games low scores because they “suck at the game” – I have no shame in admitting I’m absolutely awful at the bloody thing, but I adore it nonetheless.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker isn’t going to blow minds with its humble presentation and laid back puzzling, but it’s still got plenty of imagination and some really sagacious architecture in its level structure.

With its sledgehammer humor and clever blend of stealth and action, Helldivers is a lot smarter than a passing glance might have you believe. It’s a game in which life is cheap but the deaths aren’t, where carelessness gets you turned into kibble, and sustained battle will leave you with an empty gun and a horde of pissed off monsters.

Tales From The Borderlands Episode Three is easily the best installment so far in Telltale’s trip to Pandora, and it’s cemented the entire series as my favorite Telltale production to date.

Firewatch is not what many people may have wanted, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. Fans of interactive drama will absolutely want to give this a try, as it shows how you can craft a “walking simulator” while keeping players involved and intrigued as opposed to ignored and bored.

Combining multiple genres and examining the relationship between game and audience, The Hex is a poignant, witty, cleverly written adventure spanning six protagonists and six very different – but smartly cohesive – stories.

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.

It's certainly not remarkable. It's a continuation of a formula that works really well.It's just more Borderlands with more stuff in it...Borderlands 3 is a pretty good game.

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?

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.

If anything, Dark Arisen reminds me just how much I missed my time with Dragon’s Dogma, and how I’d love to see another one in the works. Here’s hoping Gransys has more adventures for us in future!

It's a fairly good game, I'll give it that. Definitely in regards to design.

It's adorable and has quite a clever conceit.

It’s time to visit Hope County and do… pretty much the same thing you do in pretty much every “AAA” Ubisoft game.

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.

Here is more Battlefield for you. It’s Battlefield V, and it’s perfectly fine. It’s fine. It’s absolutely totally fine. If you want another Battlefield, this is another Battlefield for you.

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.

If you’d like to play a limp amalgamation of Deus Ex, Crysis, and BioShock with a multiplayer mode you’ve been able to play eight times in as many years, then Call of Duty: Black Ops III is definitely for you. For the rest of you, it’s just another condom of a game to be spunked into and thrown in the trash.