This port of the popular PC prison-building game has been nicely executed to deliver a deep and compelling experience on consoles. Its complex menus and mechanics present a fairly steep learning curve, even with the game's effective tutorials, but once you get over it, Prison Architect is a challenging, entertaining, and surprisingly addictive game that offers plenty of potential for long-term play.

Metro Exodus is a solid conclusion for a cult series that made its name in rough charm. The open world and stealth systems of the conclusion to the trilogy are largely missteps, but it’s when Metro Exodus returns to its horrific roots, with a bunch of caring comrades, that the game fires on all cylinders.

Life Is Strange 2's debut episode, despite its faults and its slow-moving pace, starts the series off compellingly, setting off on a road trip adventure that I'm sure will bear more hardship for the two brothers than unlikely friendships.

Like the previous legacy collections, this is a mix of some absolute masterpieces, some okay games, and some severe missteps. It's missing some features like save states or a rewind function, and a few songs from the original releases are gone completely. The new X Challenge mode also doesn't stand up to Mega Man Legacy Collection's Custom Challenge stages. Still, this a damn good collection for a series that hasn't seen a new entry in 14 years.

The Show doesn't bring a lot of really impressive upgrades to the table, but that doesn't change the fact that it's still a really good baseball sim.

While it comes in the form of a no-frills port, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate exists as the most thorough exploration of Monster Hunter to date. If you can get over its 3DS-era visuals, you're in for a seemingly endless experience you can easily devote a lifetime to—and one worth devoting a lifetime to. Whether you're new to the series, someone who started with Monster Hunter World, or just a fan of the previous 3DS games, you're bound to get addicted once MHGU gets its hooks into you. Just don't be afraid to ask for help.

Rime is a beautiful, beautiful game that manages to feel remarkably empty, even in the face of its earnest attempts. The aesthetic that breathes life into the island of Rime feels a bit too familiar, but it doesn't dampen its vast, ever-photographable horizons. Nonetheless, Rime is a light third-person adventure game with quiet puzzle solving, in a year where we haven't had much of those, which alone makes it a worthwhile respite.

Valorant leans heavily on its predecessors, but makes use of established schools of thought and the unique novelties of its Agents to create a fresh take on tactical shooters, even if its launch is a little slim. For years, there hasn't been a fight for Counter-Strike's throne; but in Valorant, Riot Games has found a valiant contender.

A thrilling murder mystery from start to finish, Danganronpa is an essential purchase for those who enjoy games as interactive stories.

By far the best and most impressive Mega Man compilation ever assembled, what Legacy Collection sacrifices in reach it more than makes up for with refinement.

Gravity Rush 2 is a real treat for the eyes, ears, and reflexes. Its cinematic looks and score are wonderful, and its storyline is enthralling and thoroughly compelling. All combine brilliantly with the addictive and entertaining mission-based action to create a terrific game that's an absolute joy to play.

NHL 19 takes some interesting risks with World of Chel while bringing badly-needed improvements to the gameplay. Its modes are customarily solid, but the faster, tighter action on the ice is what makes it possible to recommend NHL 19 to newcomers and lapsed hockey fans alike.

Pokemon Sword and Shield's single-player experience is filled with neat characters and a new region that's brimming with personality, but running around the Wild Area with other players offers a special kind of fun. Quality of life improvements to the metagame, including the ability to change your Pokemon's nature and rent teams for fights, gives you good reason to stick with the game after you're crowned the new champion of the Galar region. Despite the controversy, Sword and Shield offers a great time.

Score Rush Extended might look and sound a little generic, but it's a solid, back-to-basics shooter that truly tests your arcade skills. Its bullet hell gameplay is nicely tuned to be highly challenging and addictive, and it's just plain fun to play. If you're a fan of hardcore shooters, definitely check it out.

Need for Speed: Rivals takes some of the best features from prior franchise entries and combines them with a seamless single-multiplayer mode to create an absolutely terrific, utterly bonkers race-and-chase game that looks and sounds as good as it drives.

A genuinely disturbing and terrifying game that'll have you jumping out of your seat in fright. It's a little short at around six or so hours, but the experience Outlast delivers is well worth the price of admission.

Grim's lack of availability may have helped it achieve sainthood, so its baffling puzzles may comes as a shock to many. If you can tolerate frustration, though, Schafer's final LucasArts production provides one of the best adventure game stories ever crafted—just be sure to keep an FAQ nearby.

Madden 19 is a solid, if occasionally ragged, follow-up to last year's big transition to Frostbite. The improvements to the animation and franchise mode stand out, but Longshot: Homecoming feels like a step back from last year's ambitious introduction. The multitude of interesting but mostly subtle updates ultimately make this an entry that is primarily geared toward hardcore fans of the series.

Pokemon Let's Go is engineered to let youngsters play along with their parents, but there's a lot here for veterans to enjoy, too. It's relentlessly cute and colorful, and while the challenge level won't blister your skin, the new Coach Trainers will keep you hopping. We're still not sure about the Go-style method of catching wild Pokemon, but Pokemon Let's Go's ability to link-up to Niantic's app offers a quick and easy way to fill out your PokeDex. Game Freak is clearly getting the hang of the Switch, so bring on Gen VIII!

But when it's you and your friends, opening up each other's guts and smashing heads into paste, you'll remember why you play Nidhogg in the first place. It's the first game with a little more love, which is sometimes all a sequel needs to be.

If you crave a digestible and portable puzzle-based diversion, look no further than HAL's Box Boy. Its outright friendliness helps combat the patience-testing nature of most puzzle games, and those minutes-long levels allow players to make some degree of progress, even if they don't have much time to spare.

Vlambeer improves on one of its smaller, free releases with Luftrausers, expanding an excellent dogfighting game with a ton of customization and a great soundtrack. Short play sessions means it's the perfect game to play on the bus, between classes, or even during your boring meetings. Just don't scream out loud and pump your fist in the sky when you finally beat your high score. That's rude.

Even if you tend not to care much about Kirby games – understandably, given how toothless they can be – Triple Deluxe merits attention. Smart level design and a remarkable level of detail make this portable platformer one of Kirby's greatest adventures to date.

Infamous: Second Son is the first real reason to jump completely into the next-generation of consoles. If you wanted to show someone what next-gen can do, this is the game to show them, with great image quality and amazing lighting/particle effects on display.

Guitar Hero Live's new guitar helps bring something fresh to the genre, and offers a new challenge for both beginners and veterans alike. GH Live is fun, though a little cheesy, but it's in GHTV where the game's most interesting aspect is found. If this continues to be built out as Activision has promised, it should deliver long-term appeal - and a great way to discover new music.

The charming dungeon crawler builds itself around the chaos of dice. Choose one of six characters, each with their own unique skills and way utilize your rolls of the six-sided die. Combat is rather fun, the artwork feels like a pop-up book, and the electronic soundtrack will have you tapping your foot. Despite the characters and additional modes though, it doesn't feel like Dicey Dungeons expands upon its early hours of play enough. Still, it's an enjoyable roguelite dungeon crawler.

For Atelier veterans, Rorona Plus deftly addresses pretty much every criticism that could be levelled at the original Rorona while providing plenty of new content to enjoy. For Atelier newcomers, this is a solid, enjoyable and charming game that marks an ideal entry point into the broader series as a whole.

Tense and thrilling sums up much of my time playing The Division. From its brilliant missions through exploring its amazing environment to tackling its many side missions and encounters, working my way through this game has been a truly enjoyable experience. Sure, the action can be accused of being repetitive, but for me – a hardcore shooter fan – I couldn't get enough of it.