The tabletop element of Hand of Fate 2 is a blast. The variety in the objectives forces you to build new decks and develop new strategies on how to tackle each new challenge. Some of the challenges are designed so cleverly that you’ll have to discard some previous knowledge of how you thought the game worked in order to solve them. Not only this, but the way you unlock the cards are fair and addictive, adding hours of replay value as you try to acquire all of the gold tokens. But the quality of the overall experience is held back by the repetitive combat.

SUPERHOT is a game with an amazing gameplay mechanic (time), that is also bolstered by an unusual but interesting plot and equally curious art style. Unfortunately, hit detection issues compounded with SUPERHOT’s short-lived Story mode meant that once I’d given the additional modes a try, I was quite happy to put SUPERHOT down and move on.

In an age where it’s become all too common for live service games to release as incomplete products that require a few months’ worth of patches to become the game we were “promised,” The Division 2 is a revitalizing breath of fresh air.

Last year, I said that Madden NFL 17 was refined, yet was lacking something. Something that could shake the series up. Well, this year they took a gamble with Longshot and it paid off.

Madden NFL 17 is all about not fixing what isn’t broken. Unlike last year, not a whole lot is radically different for better or for worse. If there was something that bothered you about Madden in your last go around, you might find that those problems still exist. With each passing year though, Madden continues (albeit slowly) to be more authentic and immersive.

F1 2016 is the game that fans have been waiting for. Its Career Mode gives fans a reason to invest time into the game for quite a while, and also gives players a taste of the goings-on when you’re off the track. Despite visual shortcomings in its surroundings, and mechancis that yield few rewards, F1 2016 has put many of the wrongs from the past, right. If you’ve been waiting for an in-depth F1 experience, now would be a good time to jump in.

The changes both big and small have radically improved the game.

In many ways the first Yooka-Laylee felt like the developers were trying to make up for lost time and bring audiences the Banjo Three-ie everyone wanted. With this follow-up, you get a distinct sense that the game has been allowed to breathe and find its own identity, and it’s an overwhelmingly positive thing.

At its base level, SteamWorld Heist II is a supremely polished title. However, while the game's narrative hums along like a well-oiled machine in the first half, screws begin to come loose as the narrative expands exponentially in front of the player. While the core of the title is a shoo-in recommendation for any fan of the genre, the collapsing narrative structure in its second half is a genuine shame.

N++ gives fans more of what they want in a more refined, deeper, and prettier package.

Borderlands 3 is the ultimate example of playing it safe and giving their core fans exactly what they want to see.

While it may not be for everyone, I encourage those who are frustrated to mess with things first before giving up on it entirely, as it’s an excellent example of a game you should give time to gestate.

F1 23 is a case of evolution rather than revolution. It improves many aspects of its predecessor, most notably the feel of controller play and car physics that represent real-life Formula One as well as any game has. There’s still areas to improve, but only the most finicky F1 fan won’t be impressed by the exceptionally immersive racing experience Codemasters have created.

While The Ringed City may not be perfect, it still serves as a fantastic send off to one of the most engaging series in modern gaming. Even with some lackluster environments and sections that feel artificially difficult for the sake of it, this second expansion reminded me of why I fell in love with this series. From the fantastic bosses to the powerful weapons and visually stunning levels this is an experience that was clearly crafted for the fans. If this is the last time we ever ignite the bonfires and charge into battle against a terrifying demon then it’s one that will be remembered. Even if it didn’t tie up every loose thread, The Ringed City stands as a great epilogue to an even greater series. Praise the Sun!

Don’t be turned away by its linearity, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is one of the best visual novels you’ll play.

It might not quite have the substance and complexity in design to elevate the experience to genre-leading heights, but there's so little to fault and so much to love about it that I'm certain, cat lover or not, it shouldn't be missed. Stray is a superb achievement for a debut project from a studio in BlueTwelve that I cannot wait to see more from.

Before I knew it, my initial skepticism and complaints had begun to evaporate. Even as a silent protagonist, John manages to exude so much personality from his non-committal shrugs and sighs, and he and Sam play off each other so well it’s hard not to feel endeared to them. Everything about Eastward just feels immediately magical and nostalgic, and while my gripes with the combat and stretched out dungeon designs never really went away entirely, Sam’s journey is still one I’m glad I went on in the end.

Road to Gehenna serves as a fantastic addition to an already-great game.

You can keep your Elden Rings and Horizon Forbidden Wests; I’ll be on my cult farm raising crops and occasionally sacrificing my followers for the rest of the year, as Cult of the Lamb is an easy front runner for Game of the Year.

There’s no denying that Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy are at the top of the list of Nintendo’s most outstanding games, and the 3D All-Stars collection serves as a retrospective and reminder of Mario’s growth over the course of 11 years.

Galak-Z took the simple, addictive gameplay of an arcade space shooter and built something wonderful out of it. A simple game to get into with an underlying complexity that never gets in the way of the fun of the game. Galak-Z is a must play for absolutely everyone.

Clone Drone in the Danger Zone is an absolute blast and its active community and development team add to this. The simplicity of its gameplay makes it very easy to jump into, and my nine-year-old son sat down and played for several hours — he even asked to help me with this review, calling the title “one of his favorite games.” While that’s just the opinion of one young gamer, it speaks volumes about the good, classic fun that’s easily worth the $14.99 price on Steam.

The freedom to plan and execute a variety of insane kill fantasies makes for missions that are fun and original even after multiple playthroughs. Hitman 2 is a wonderfully designed, enjoyable, and rewarding stealth sandbox that’ll only continue to develop.

There's little else that can be said about A Plague Tale: Requiem other than it's everything fans could have hoped for. Though it may take a bit to find its footing narratively, the game is a phenomenal improvement over the first entry in the series while also being a fantastic experience in its own right.

Death Stranding isn’t a masterpiece; it doesn’t have the nuance or depth for that kind of lofty praise, but it does straddle the line between being just a video game and a tool that pulls people together. Death Stranding revels in the mundane and the simple joy of taking a hike while delivering packages from one place to another. It also has something to say about human nature and the resilience of our species, and while the message itself gets muddied in all the other overwrought filler that bogs down the game, it feels earnest, heartfelt, and genuine.

Whether you just plan on stopping by for the story and messing around with friends locally every once in a while, or plan on going hardcore into online play, you’ll have plenty to do, and you’ll have plenty of fun doing it until whenever the next Mortal Kombat game comes out some time in the next generation.

The Reignited Trilogy only helps cement the fact that the three original Spyro games are some of the best platformer/collectathons ever made.

If Remedy just let Control get a little bit weirder, and fully leaned into its Metroidvania inspired gameplay, it could have been something really special. Sadly that never happens, but in spite of itself Control still winds up being an enjoyable unique feeling action game that isn't like anything else on the market right now, and won't take up a ton of your time.