Jupiter's Forge expands on Offworld Trading Company, taking you to Jupiter's moon, Io. With this new area comes two new factions, a range of new buildings and a whole new way in how to manage resources. Io is a dry planet, there is no water to pump and the game will challenge you in a way that makes it feel fresh.

Not even attempting to hide the massive influence Bloodborne has had on it, Lies of P is a solid imitation of the game developed by FromSoftware. While it lacks the same combat and world design finesse of its illustrious inspiration, the action role-playing game by NEOWIZ is among the most accomplished soulslike game released this year, thanks to its dark retelling of the story of Pinocchio, combat and character customization tweaks and great enemy design.

OlliOlli World has a chill vibe that allows players to enjoy performing skating tricks, whether to clear platforming challenges or just to challenge themselves to the highest score. The game offers little else besides cosmetic rewards, but it more than makes up for it with its replayability and addictive nature. It's the perfect game for those who want to play a game with the same level of depth as the Tony Hawk or Skate franchises.

While The Last Campfire might not be bristling with new ideas for the genre, it packs more or less every kind of puzzle you could expect and embellishes the package with immerse charm and creative ingenuity.

As long as you don’t take the “Serious racing on Switch!” pitch too seriously, you’ll have a lot of fun with Gear.Club Unlimited. This is an engaging, retro arcade racer with a rewarding structure that puts bigger-name games to shame. I’ve reviewed most of this season’s major racers, including Gran Turismo Sport and Need for Speed Payback, and I can honestly say Gear.Club Unlimited was the most entertaining of the bunch. Gear up for a good time, Switch owners.

Warhammer 40K: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters successfully separates itself from most other tactics games on the market while also capturing the gritty spirit of Games Workshop’s universe. Daemonhunters’ punishing difficulty spikes may turn some away, but hardcore strategy fans looking for an uncompromising challenge will likely embrace the chaos.

Trials of Fire is an amazing blend of RPG, turn-based, and roguelike mechanics that manages to be both deep and accessible at the same time. With a great storybook presentation, tons of different options to customize the experience, and the multitude of builds made possible by the great deck-building system, even those with a passing interest in roguelike and role-playing games will find plenty to like in the game.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel takes the best of the Trails in the Sky games and enhances it to new heights. While the school setting isn't particularly innovative, all surrounding mechanics have been masterfully implemented, resulting in a game that's incredibly engaging despite the slow pace and a few other minor issues. Additional, the wealth of PC exclusive features make the game one of the best consoles to PC port ever released.

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga sets its sights sky-high and largely does justice to that galaxy far, far away. Its truncated treatment of the movies occasionally disappoints, but charming, content-packed sandbox stages mostly make up for any story mission shortcomings. This blocky take on George Lucas’ family drama is worth enjoying with yours.

Dead or Alive 6 has a great fighting system and a bunch of small extras that enhance the experience. Is it better than Dead or Alive 5? That's harder to determine. As it stands this is an awesome fighting game, but the character roster feels a bit light and the story is predictably rubbish. At least the games I played in the Online Ranked mode were incredibly solid, which is sure to please fighting game fans.

Guilty Gear is a hardcore fighter, both to its benefit and its detriment. On the one hand, fighting game players will adore Guilty Gear for its fast paced gameplay, beautiful art style and deep tools for learning advanced techniques, but for anyone not either immersed in fighting games or the Guilty Gear series it’s a tough, if not impossible sell. A wonderful game, but not one likely to earn any new fans.

With witty writing, colorful presentation and smooth and varied gameplay, A Hat in Time is one of the best platform games released in recent years. While the game wears its influences right in the open, it's never bound to them, offering features that do manage to make it stand out from the best classic games. Yooka-Laylee was meant to bring a new golden era for the genre, far from the spotlight for too long, but it's a small spacefaring kid and her trusty hats that may finally be able to do so.

The Banner Saga 3 wraps up its six-years-in-the-making epic in poignant, gripping style. The game’s tactical battles still have some issues, but their rough edges have been sanded down to the point they no longer detract from the game’s stellar writing. The Banner Saga 3 deserves to be held high as a prime example of both video game storytelling and a crowdfunded project done right.

With its Three Kingdoms setting, fast-paced combat centered on the Deflection mechanics, improved level design, and renewed focus on action gameplay mechanics, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is another solid action role-playing game by Team NINJA that all fans of the genre will enjoy. While the complex RPG mechanics and loot system of the Nioh games have been toned down for a much more accessible experience for newcomers, they also make the game easier than most of the studio's previous games, something that will undoubtedly disappoint those looking for a real challenge on their first playthrough.

Pace yourself in the Blackout Club and it can be a fantastic game for a long time. From its various enemies and threats to its sinister suburban setting, the game feels great to play with friends, just as long as you don't spend too much time with it at once.

Another Code: Recollection may seem a bit quaint compared to some of the visual novels and narrative adventures that have come along since Cing’s games helped reinvigorate those genres, but there’s an undeniable easygoing charm to these stories, characters, and world. This collection also completely revamps the original games’ puzzles, usually for the better, meaning even Cing veterans are in for a fresh experience. Another Code: Recollection may not break much new ground, but it satisfyingly evokes memories of a simpler time.

Oxenfree 2 feels like it relies on its dialogue system a bit too much as its more exciting elements take a backseat. While the dialogue is still incredible, the appearance of these more unique sequences left me often asking where I would be able to find more of the unique time-altering puzzles and surreal visuals that also made it stand out over other games. The character writing is still as good as the first game, but it feels like more could have been done to make it stand above the first game.

With a new engaging story nicely integrated with the main campaign, excellent writing, and new combat mechanics, Wasteland 3: The Battle of Steeltown is a more than worthy purchase for all those who have loved the game. The new campaign's high challenge level and relatively short length of the main quest may put some off, but, everything considered, The Battle of Steeltown is the perfect continuation of an already excellent experience.

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is a faithful adaptation of the tabletop RPG, featuring an engaging story, well-written characters, and extremely deep gameplay mechanics. Although Owlcat Games' did their best to make the game feel welcoming to newcomers with plenty of in-game resources, tutorials, and difficulty customization options, the depth of the experience can be intimidating. Those who brave through the initial confusion, however, will find one of the best computer RPGs released in recent times.

Dawn of War 3 may not be revolutionary, but it's certainly an improvement on the previous iteration. Bringing in the best of Dawn of War 2 to the RTS elements of the first, the game is only let down by a rather boring campaign that acts more as a tutorial for the excellent multiplayer.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet largely deliver the open-world RPG experience fans barely dared dream of for decades, with a huge, lively map and a surprisingly-engaging trio of stories nicely complementing the franchise’s rock-solid core mechanics. Yes, the game has more than its share of technical issues, but its shortcomings are largely cosmetic and the folks most excited to play probably aren’t going to be that bothered about its pixel count or performance. This Pokémon may be humble-looking, but it brings the fight where it counts.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet largely deliver the open-world RPG experience fans barely dared dream of for decades, with a huge, lively map and a surprisingly-engaging trio of stories nicely complementing the franchise’s rock-solid core mechanics. Yes, the game has more than its share of technical issues, but its shortcomings are largely cosmetic and the folks most excited to play probably aren’t going to be that bothered about its pixel count or performance. This Pokémon may be humble-looking, but it brings the fight where it counts.

Black Desert Online is the most refreshingly unique MMO around. Introducing many new game mechanics and ways to play in a world that's so exquisitely designed, with characters, building, monsters and even the weather all working together to make the best looking MMO to have ever been released, BDO is only really let down by the game's unwillingness and/or inability to properly explain its mechanics.

Ys Seven is the first entry in the long-running series to feature a variety of features and mechanics that have become a staple of the series, such as a bigger focus on the story and the party mechanic. While the renewed focus on story slows down the pace a bit, especially with its slow first few hours, the game's fast-paced combat system, engaging dungeon exploration, and fun boss battles make Ys Seven one of the best action role-playing games released in years. With some technical enhancements and a 60 FPS frame rate, the PC version is the definitive edition of Falcom's excellent RPG.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is a conservative update to one of Link’s less-heralded adventures that’s unlikely to change many minds one way or the other. The padding, control limitations, and other issues fans have long bemoaned are still in full effect. That said, there’s really no such thing as a bad Zelda game, and this one still shines at times thanks to a strong story, excellent dungeons, and some intense boss battles. If you’re impatient for Breath of the Wild 2 and have never played Skyward Sword, by all means, give the game a shot, just keep your expectations slightly grounded.

Dying Light 2 Stay Human is another exhilarating parkour and zombie-pummeling playground from Techland, although at times, the seams holding it all together are a bit obvious. Given the game’s glitches, minor gameplay annoyances, and crudely bisected story and world, reports of behind-the-scenes issues feel all-too-plausible. That said, the foundation here is rock solid, and Techland has proven they’re capable long-term builders, so I’m confident Dying Light 2’s embers can be stoked to a full flame in time.

Ghostrunner is a very well-crafted first-person action game featuring a lightning-fast pace, a very smooth parkour system, and tight platforming in addition to weighty, satisfying combat. The high challenge level and the one-hit-kill system, however, can lead to some serious frustration, as it requires a level of effort that not all players may be willing to put in the game. As such, Ghostrunner is a game that only the most hardcore of action games players will fully appreciate.

With the release of WWE 2K24 this series no longer feels like a carny outcast amongst the other big sports franchises. While the game’s core action could stand to be even further refined, fun new mechanics, match types, and a fully-developed suite of modes, including significantly improved Showcase and MyGM offerings, are worth cheering for. While maybe not quite the total package just yet, WWE 2K24 feels like it’s ready for the bright lights.