Tapping your feet along to a great mix was always going to be great, but Harmonix has developed the Dropmix idea into a game that’s deeper, more engaging, and a lot of fun.

Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is exactly what it needs to be: A quality rhythm game experience that lets fans of the series look back on it fondly. Its flaws are minor, and its strengths lay the groundwork for a promising future of bigger and better spin-off titles in the genre. It’s a great first step into the genre and will keep fans of Kingdom Hearts and rhythm games alike engrossed in its different modes for hours on end.

There are so many systems in play here, but somehow they all come together to form a solid, cohesive experience that makes this game so damn hard to put down. Throw in a cast of extremely likeable characters, and set it in the rich world of Breath of the Wild, and you get one of the best musou-style games that Koei Tecmo and Omega Force have ever put out. If you just want more Breath of the Wild content, don't pass up on this one.

At no more than 90 minutes long, Five Dates isn’t the deepest love story you’ll ever see, but it has the heart, likeable characters, and great writing that make rom-coms enjoyable. It’ll put a smile on your face, and that’s all you can ask for.

Change can be scary, but Yakuza: Like a Dragon proves it’s usually for the best. Though it has a few flaws, it’s still a standout title in the series and a strong indicator that the franchise has more than a few great stories to tell. It’s an experience that shouldn’t be missed, and that fans new and old will want to check out as soon as possible.

Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is a wonderful mix of the two ideas. As a platformer, the game wouldn’t have enough driving force, and would wear out quickly. For farming, while it’s truly lovely, there’s too much downtime with not enough to do. Each of these things in a game of their own would be draining, but together it creates a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup of a game that deserves recognition and continues to feel fresh and enjoyable even after 20 hours in.

For the time being, then, Valhalla is a superb but familiar open-world experience. It’s sure to excite fans of the series with another impressively content-rich and beautiful sandbox to explore, and it might just interest newcomers and lapsed Assassin’s Creed players with the intrigue of its setting and more streamlined overall design. Ultimately, though, it falls just shy of true excellence — a high benchmark to meet, but one Assassin’s Creed should be held to after so many years of trying to get it right.

Bugsnax is an odd and wacky experience that'll be remembered as the black swan of the PS5 launch lineup, in the best way possible. It highlights PlayStation's commitment to having a diverse catalog of games at the PS5 launch, and with Bugsnax being free on PS Plus for PS5 players at launch, there's no reason not to try it if you're a subscriber.

That lack of challenge and sense of progression won’t be for everyone, and might even put off Dirt veterans, but Dirt 5’s a varied and beautiful racing game that’s a blast from event number one.

Ultimately, Watch Dogs: Legion’s main mechanic feels like an incredibly ambitious move that almost pays off for Ubisoft, but not quite. In favor of cramming as many playable NPCs into the game as possible, Legion ends up sacrificing story and character investment. Ubisoft’s vision of near-future London is a beautifully realized sandbox world that I loved spending time in, but it’s also forgettable and not one that I see myself returning to anytime soon.

Disc Room is a solid addition to the bullet hell genre. Alongside fluid gameplay mechanics, the choice to include puzzles makes the reaction-based thought process required to succeed in the game that much more chaotic and fun.

If you have some people to play The Dark Pictures: Little Hope with, it’s definitely a fun way to past the time, especially around Halloween. If you’re planning on going at it alone, though, it’s not a bad experience but you may be left feeling a bit unfulfilled.

It's a leisurely, slow-paced experience that is fantastic for just kicking back and chilling after a long hard day on the job. Of course, you can raise the difficulty if you want a challenge, but Pikmin 3 is laidback as ever, and because of the changes here, it's more streamlined and accessible for everyone.

Does The Crown Tundra completely reinvent Pokemon Sword and Shield and right everything that has dragged the series down in recent years? No, it doesn’t do that. In fact, at its core, it’s still just more of Sword and Shield. However, it does at least augment the core gameplay experience of Sword and Shield in some really interesting ways through Dynamax Adventures and with Wild Areas being packed with more things to do and see.

Just like most EA sports titles, you’ll enjoy this if you’re a hockey fan. Just don’t expect too much.

FIFA 21 is a mash up of incremental steps forward, baffling design choices, and seemingly ignored issues. It simply doesn’t do enough to make the overall experience significantly more enjoyable than it was last year.

If you have kids around the ages 10-15, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is a great Christmas gift, but only if your kids are okay with sharing or you’re willing to shell out $200 for two sets. It’s expensive, so maybe make sure they’re actually willing to build a course every time they want to play if you’re not okay with it being left around the house for long periods of time.

While it may not hold the same appeal to new players, returning fans can revisit this classic and find themselves transported to a different era. With Age of Empires IV currently deep in development, time will tell whether this venerable series can truly make the jump to the modern age.

Put aside your reservations about free-to-play mobile RPGs, gacha mechanics, and weeby storytelling: Genshin Impact is totally unique. I came in a skeptic and now find myself genuinely relishing hours more time spent chaining elemental combos, grinding for new characters, and the intrigue of its ongoing story.

It encapsulates everything that makes those epic dogfights from the movies so magical, and puts you right at the heart of it. From throwbacks to particularly iconic moments to the wailing scream of a TIE Fighter at speed, it's all here and it all looks and feels fantastic.

Hades feels like a small, but masterful step forward for the roguelite genre as a whole. Maybe there really is no escape from the Underworld, but that’s just fine by me; this is a cycle I don’t want to end.

It does right by its forebear. It’s still just as addictive as ever to journey into untold dangers over and over, and even if it may put off newcomers with its difficulty curve, it’s an experience worth having for anyone willing to rise to its challenges.

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.

Spellbreak runs well, it’s unique, and most importantly, it’s fun to play. If Proletariat Games sticks with Spellbreak and continues to improve it, it should be able to carve a long term niche in the popular battle royale genre.

The best parts of Amalur are still intact, but with the caveats of the visual bugs, outdated look, and endless sprinting, you’ll need to keep those rose-colored glasses on for the entire playthrough.

The Furious Wild provides even more reason to return to Three Kingdoms and to lose yourself once again for a score of hours engaging in some of the most rewarding gameplay modern strategy games have to offer. But maybe wait a while, until the bugs are ironed out and some of the games rougher edges are smoothed over.

If you’re looking for an Avengers campaign and nothing more, you may enjoy what Marvel’s Avengers has to offer, especially if the performance and be polished up with post-launch patches. But if you’re looking for another persistent world looter shooter, there are far, far better options out there right now. Marvel’s Avengers is only just starting its journey with plenty of content due to release in the future, but right now it’s a tough sell.

The real setbacks for me are the repetitive missions, inability to have more than one mission active at a time, confusing aspects of some missions (with not enough guidance), and a shallow storyline that could use more work. I loved the faction immersion, RPG elements, and the ability to have my own droid companion that would help my Sim during missions.