Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory may only be for a certain audience, but for that audience, this is as good as it gets.

More importantly, the game has also renewed my interest in the fighting genre, making me want to figure out my main so that I can compete against the top players online, and maybe... just maybe... even become good enough to compete in the Granblue Fantasy: Versus tournament at EVO 2020. Hey, dare to dream, right?

Marvel’s Midnight Suns won’t be for everyone. A 60-hour campaign that’s at least half made up of talking to Spider-Man about his feelings is going to turn off even some of the biggest Marvel (or at least MCU) fans, and the combat, despite its cinematic qualities, isn’t exactly God of War. But its limited appeal is also its greatest strength. In a sea of blockbuster open-world and third-person action games, it was a delight to play something so clearly driven by passion for these characters and this kind of gameplay.

Return to Monkey Island is everything I wanted and more. Daft humour with plenty of dad-worthy gags, puzzles to both frustrate and delight you, lovable throwbacks around every corner, and all while being effortlessly enjoyable. It feels like Monkey Island has fittingly come full circle with this title in many ways, and yet I can’t help but be selfish and want more Guybrush from Gilbert. There’s still room in the scrapbook for more adventures, and if we’re lucky, maybe we won’t have to wait 30 years for the next title.

Ultimately, Bug Academy succeeds in its physics-based gameplay and is a charming little game that is good enough to keep coming back to every now and then after the first playthrough.

Even if Ryu doesn’t quite get the attention he deserves after so long, that was nowhere near enough to stop me from falling head over heels with Ninja Gaiden 4 and jumping straight into another playthrough. Platinum clearly understands what makes the series so special and has done an incredible job building on the razor-sharp formula that we’ve all been missing for nearly a decade. It’s good to have you back, Ninja Gaiden, and I pray that this is just the start.

If the campaign will continue to be built upon with similarly intimate stories revolving around Master Chief and The Weapon then I cannot wait to see them, since the potential here for expansion is limitless. Multiplayer is spectacular, even as it struggles with teething issues associated with becoming a live-service model. At its core the punchy gunplay, reactive movement, and reliance on teamwork remains, and that’s all Halo Infinite needs to become a winner. As someone who grew up as a blubbering fangirl, it feels so good to see Master Chief deliver an adventure that is once again worthy of his iconic status.

This is so much more than a VR spin-off like so many early virtual reality games, including Rocksteady’s own Batman: Arkham VR. It deserves to sit in the canon alongside Origins, Asylum, City, and Knight.

I’m old enough to have grown up with unforgiving games, and so I can appreciate a project that goes against the grain at the risk of alienating modern audiences. Even coming in as a genre appreciator, I felt alienated by Shadow Labyrinth. It’s an example of bold game design in a market that becomes more and more risk-averse by the second, and though I hated it at times, I love what Shadow Labyrinth is, and all the respect and admiration for Namco’s video game history that went into it.

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is so damn good that I would have been sad when it ended, no matter how long that took. The Game Kitchen has done an incredible job mixing the best elements of both generations of Ninja Gaiden, while adding enough new to make it stand out as its own take on the series. It’s easily one of the best games in the series, and Ninja Gaiden 4 (as well as Shinobi: Art of Vengeance) is going to have a hell of a challenge surpassing it.

Today on PC, the campaign for Halo 3: ODST is a mere $4.99. A majority of the troopers may not be the most engaging, but the combat and music are a treat. The weapons, from the Spartan Laser to the Brute Plasma Rifle, are a blast to use. The game also brings ODST Firefight mode to The Master Chief Collection for all of your survival needs.

Death Stranding 2: On The Beach is a hard game to quantify, with Kojima Productions eager to question our expectations and hurl curveballs at every turn. At its heart, it’s an experience about delivering packages and forging connections across a post-apocalyptic world, but play it for just a few hours, and you’ll see it’s so much more than that.

It’s a must-play for fans of survival horror, whether you’re put off by the ‘90s games or itching for that old-school experience all these years later.

Annapurna Interactive has a staggering back catalogue, but 2021 has frankly not been great for the publisher. Last Stop failed to leave any kind of impact, Maquette is a game with Bryce Dallas Howard in it and not much else, and Twelve Minutes, despite being loaded with star-power, wastes its time loop mechanic in service of a ridiculous twist ending that derails the entire game. With The Artful Escape, plus Neon White, Stray, and Solar Ash to come in the near future, it feels like Annapurna is back.

I’ve been emotionally preparing myself to hang up my Arbalest and ride off into the sunset after The Final Shape. Destiny 2 is a game that means a lot to me, so much that I’m not prepared to watch it slowly turn into a shadow of what it once was. But this expansion restored my faith in Destiny and made me eager to see what the frontiers the future has in store. There’s been ups and downs over the years, but this proves the trajectory of Destiny 2 is onward and upward. It proves we can expect Bungie will learn from mistakes and that there are bigger and better things in Destiny’s future. I worried this would be the end, but now The Final Shape just feels like the end of the beginning.

Frostpunk 2 has shaped up to be a hefty sequel that built intelligently on the bones of its already excellent predecessor, capturing all the most compelling parts of the first game while exploring human nature and morality with deftness. I’ve already played it multiple times, but I expect I’ll be playing it many more in the months to come.

There’s something to be said for the importance of innovation in this medium, but you can’t overlook refinement, and Spider-Man: Miles Morales is more refined than the sugar in a New York bagel.

When I’m playing Shadow Corridor, I can’t help but get random chills while walking down every one of its dimly lit hallways. Even the open outdoor areas manage to give off unsettlingly claustrophobic vibes. I do think the game is probably best experienced on PC, but if you’re on the go or a glutton for punishment and feel like playing in the comfort and safety of your own bed, Shadow Corridor on Switch will provide you with a great survival horror experience. Just don’t blame me when you have nightmares.

There aren’t many games I’ve been bursting to play. Skywalker Saga was a rare case, but that came with an added risk - not living up to the hype. It’s the first Lego Star Wars to bundle the films together since the Complete Saga and that’s a tall order, especially since it’s now nine films. Not just three trilogies, either, but all their worlds, their cities, and their landmarks. The old games had small hubs with Dexter’s Diner and Mos Eisley’s Cantina, but Skywalker Saga goes above and beyond to bring Star Wars’ galaxy to life. It lived up to the hype and shattered my expectations. Somehow, Lego Star Wars returned, and it returned with style.

Somerville is one of the year’s biggest surprises, and I’m still shocked to see it fly under the radar. Its portrayal of an alien invasion raging across the British countryside hit close to home, while the story of a father searching for his family and being tied up in a dilemma so much bigger than he ever imagined is both nothing like I expected and everything I wanted. I can’t wait to see players far smarter than I piece its most devious puzzles together, since there are still so many questions waiting to be answered.

If you played Left 4 Dead, you’ll feel right at home. Back 4 Blood is a more mature and more bad-ass version of L4D, elevating every mechanic from the former series and making it better while adding in new features that makes playing far more rewarding.

Nioh 3 may stumble slightly with its narrative and a bit of bloating from the new open zone design, but it’s still far and away the best game in the series to date. Consistently excellent combat, well-designed bosses, and a new form that adds even more depth and value to already meticulously put-together mechanics make Nioh 3 more than a worthy challenger to Elden Ring.

With a grim mystery, vividly violent world, interesting side quests and minigames, impressively real animal characters, and multiple endings to experience, you’ll struggle to put Into the Hive down once you pick it up. The story of Into the Hive is fresh enough to stand on its own, but with endless ties back to the first game between characters and references, the experience of playing both weaves together a horrifically beautiful story of inequality, crime, and style that sticks with you long past the ending.

I was thoroughly satisfied with Hidden Through Time 2. Not only did I get to unwind and explore new environments, but I was able to create my own custom maps. There are a lot of details to fiddle with, and plenty of levels to work through. The plot for each time period is straightforward, but adds another layer of creativity and excitement to each level. If you’re looking for a game that will test your critical thinking skills and challenge you to look at the bigger picture, this is it.

If you haven’t played Kirby and the Forgotten Land before, the Nintendo Switch 2 edition is the best way to play an already excellent 3D platformer that finally gives the pink protagonist the level of respect he deserves in the genre. If you’re a returning player, there is enough fresh content here to justify the asking price and then some. I can see Nintendo making these lush revivals a common occurrence on its new platform, and after Forgotten Land, that would be no bad thing.

While Europa Universalis 5 is not without its flaws, it is also a resounding success, particularly where its cousin, the ambitious but flawed Imperator: Rome, unfortunately floundered. It takes the best ideas of its Paradoxian peers - such as dynamic populations, a far more detailed map than we’ve ever seen, complex internal factionalism - and integrates them into a stable experience that covers a fantastically rich period of history...Even with so many hours in the review build, I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface, and I have yet to see a single campaign to the end; it is a Paradox game after all. That, more than anything, is the grandest praise I can attribute to the game. It is absorbing, seemingly infinitely replayable, deeper than the Mariana Trench, and sets a new standard for what grand strategy should mean.

Even in those moments of collectible cursing, I had an absolute blast playing Psychonauts 2. It’s rare that a long-awaited sequel does most things right, but this is one of those times and I’m confident in saying that Psychonauts 2 is Double Fine’s best game to date and an early contender for game of the year. Just don’t keep us waiting a decade for the next one.

Whether you’re a big fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or just someone who appreciates incredible music and satisfying side-scrolling gameplay, Shredder’s Revenge has something for pretty much everyone. The Turtles may have taken a bit of a break from gaming, but this is one shell of a comeback.