A guided experience from beginning to end, Dragon Quest VII Reimagined does away with any sense of exploration and challenge by holding the player's hand whether they want the guidance or not. What could be the most beautiful rendition of the greatest entry in the Dragon Quest series is instead Reimagined to be the beginner's first JRPG.

Code Vein II is a bloody good successor to the original game. While it's not a sequel in the traditional sense, it builds upon the strengths of what Bandai Namco was trying to achieve with combat the first time around.

I have completed the main 'Master of' quests, but I have not yet reached the conclusion of the story. Based on the compelling narrative, the excellent eight-character combat overhaul, and the meaningful addition of the Masteries system, the game currently sits as my personal favorite entry in the series. The ultimate score will depend heavily on the payoff of the final narrative act and whether the combat holds up against the toughest challenges. [Review in Progress]

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond ascends to higher peaks than any previous Prime entry, delivering an impressive sense of scale, breathtaking visuals, and classic Metroid level design at its most immersive and riveting, but a few missteps, including an unengaging story and flat final act, may exclude it from best-of-series conversations. That said, those who have been waiting for this game for nearly two decades needn’t worry too much, as Metroid Prime 4 largely locks onto the core of what made this series great.

ROUTINE is an excellent puzzle-focused first-person horror game that, despite its slow pacing, is able to keep you at the edge of your seat for 10 hours straight, with a tense, rich atmosphere created by wonderful execution of its retro futuristic aesthetic and stunning soundscape that immerses you in its world and gets you listening for the sound of a pin drop to avoid getting caught. It's narrative may be unable to shine through, but at the end of the day it is altogether an interesting game, a game worth playing again, and the game that Alien: Isolation fans should play while we all wait for Alien: Isolation 2.

With its tag-team mechanics and well-designed characters, MARVEL Cosmic Invasion is a competent side-scrolling beat'em up that can offer plenty of chaotic fun, especially in multiplayer. However, some balancing issues that make the final few stages frustrating to play, especially solo, and the lack of content beyond the 4-hours long campaign limit the game's appeal to Marvel fans and beat'em up die hards looking for a few hours of simple fun.

ARC Raiders is one of the hallmarks of the extraction shooter, providing the same psychological experience that Escape From Tarkov and others have successfully integrated into the growing genre.

Kirby Air Riders serves up a varied platter of quirky modes and features, but Sakurai’s buffet may not satisfy long-term unless you’re up for chasing down every last crumb. That said, while a bit lightweight, Kirby Air Riders' unconventional and surprisingly intense approach to racing certainly sticks out, even in a year with a lot of karting competition, which may be enough to blow folks looking for something different off their feet.

Being able to play through Call of Duty: Black Ops 7's campaign in a full squad of four and then jump straight into the Endgame makes this one of the more enjoyable Call of Duty campaigns in recent years, even if the story being told fails to live up to the hype. [Campaign Review score = 84]

Where Winds Meet delivers an exceptional open-world experience, successfully blending an engaging story, meaningful activities, a solid combat system paired with competent character progression, a wealth of multiplayer options, and one of the most lively cities in the genre. Though some of its features and mechanics suffer from the constraints of the free-to-play model, the good undeniably outweighs the bad, making it a rare title that can captivate even players who typically avoid similar open-world games, easily providing hundreds of hours of content even in its launch state.

It's the kind of game, the kind of story that will always stay with me. I'll always be jealous of people who get to play it for the first time because I can never do that again. Play 1000xResist. Live for more than just being alive.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment does a lot to address the story and technical shortcomings that held back its predecessors while making some modest yet welcome tweaks to the series’ combat. Age of Imprisonment remains relatively shallow compared to core Zelda games, but that’s largely inherent to the Musou genre, and those happy to bliss out while bashing Bokoblins will find a well-told tale worth tussling with long term.

Turning the games that defined JRPG history into experiences modern players could enjoy was a daunting task, but Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake more than meets the challenge. With thoughtful gameplay and story additions that expand on the originals without losing their classic charm, a stunning HD-2D visual overhaul, and a beautifully rearranged soundtrack, these remakes stand as the definitive way to experience the beginnings of one of the most beloved JRPG series ever made.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A is the most cohesive, thoughtfully-constructed Pokémon RPG of the HD era. Some may miss the more expansive world of something like Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, but this game's top-notch new combat mechanics, solid gameplay loop, and refreshing level of polish makes it fairly easy to overlook its compact map. Pokémon Legends: Z-A feels like a great new foundation to build on and I'm excited to see how the series evolves next.

The Outer Worlds 2 is an improved, more refined version of The Outer Worlds and is an all-around better game than its predecessor, with a well-executed Flaw system to keep gameplay interesting, improved gunplay, stunning visuals, and excellent character writing, voice acting and animations. It's held back by a lacking plot that fizzles well before the end, progression pacing that's all over the place, and an abysmal menu system, but those elements don't make it a game you should skip, whether you were a fan of the first game or not.

Some of PlatinumGames' best character action to date is muddled with a bloated first half and an otherwise uninteresting protagonist. However, as the narrative picks up, this ninja doesn't stop until long after the credits roll.

Would I recommend giving it a go? For the art style alone, I probably would, yes. It's an absolutely gorgeous game, and there were moments that I genuinely had a smile on my face. It was a shame that there were other moments when I literally sighed and said, "I've had enough now," although this may not be the same for everybody.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is no classic, that's for sure. The game's side content is mediocre at best, and its technical optimization is among the worst seen recently. That said, the setting's atmosphere is intact, the combat is fun, and the main story is well-crafted. I recommend it to fans, but only at a lower price than the launch one.

Don’t get me wrong, despite the relatively negative tone of this review, Little Nightmares III does have its moments and can be fun with another human player. The game just doesn’t stand out in any particular way and with a relatively brief 4-hour runtime, this will likely be one of those dreams that fades from your mind not long after you wake up.

Battlefield 6 is an incredibly strong return to form for the series, with a multiplayer experience that is finely tuned with huge potential for what it could build into, destruction mechanics that bring a level of immersion back to the series that it was missing, and a more than solid visual and sound design package tying up how endlessly fun it is to play. The single-player campaign fails to impress, but the multiplayer experience more than makes up for it.

Ghost of Yōtei is a worthy sequel to the already excellent Ghost of Tsushima, building upon that game's foundation with an equally interesting (albeit quite different) plot and select improvements to combat and open world exploration. It may feel a little too familiar, not to mention similar to the previous game, but that sensation is quickly forgotten amidst all the fun you'll have in Ezo.

Hades 2 is a stunning follow-up to an already incredible game. It does everything its predecessor did right, and then expands on it in meaningful ways that add depth to the gameplay, narrative, and visual experience (which was already deep in the original Hades). It's a shining example of how a sequel can take everything right about what came before, turn it all up to 11, and even go a bit further.

Decades after its original release, FINAL FANTASY TACTICS - The Ivalice Chronicles remains the golden standard for tactical role-playing games. Refined with excellent quality-of-life improvements that enhance its already deep gameplay and superb voice acting, the War of the Lions’ story and battles have never felt more engaging. While the modest visual overhaul and missing War of the Lions content may disappoint those seeking a true definitive edition, they are minor issues in an otherwise excellent reimagining.

With a gripping and often disturbing story, a setting unlike anything seen before in the franchise, and gameplay that blends new ideas with a familiar framework, Silent Hill f shows that the series is not only back, but stronger than ever. While performance issues and a short runtime do impact the experience, they in no way diminish what is a triumphant return for one of the most important survival horror series ever.

Dying Light: The Beast's parkour mechanics and crunchy melee combat are the two load-bearing pillars that make it a game worth leaping into, with support from a beautiful world to explore (minus the infected) and a tense day and night cycle that greatly raises the stakes on its survival elements. Beyond that, the mechanical and narrative pacing, inconsistent writing and narrative tone, and world design choices that feel antithetical to the series in the first place all bring it to a fairly uninteresting experience that is only worth it for however long you want to turn your brain off and enjoy watching digital infected brains go *splat.*

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is a solid alternative to other games in the mascot-racer space, offering speedy, stripped-down action, a few clever twists, and perhaps most importantly for some folks, courses that feel more like those in Mario Kart 8 than the less universally-beloved Mario Kart World. A general lack of content and originality keeps CrossWorlds from fully breaking away from the pack, but it’s at least in striking distance of the winner’s circle.

With average quest design, a lack of polish, and a forgettable story, Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Claws of Awaji shows how the series’ quantity-over-quality approach is continuing to fail. While the Bo weapon for Naoe and the excellent Nowaki questline stand out, they’re drowned by questionable design choices that undermine the experience, making the expansion worthwhile only for the most die-hard fans.

Dead Reset is worth experiencing for its performances, its tense atmosphere built on strong lighting and sound design choices, and well-paced story that makes you want to keep finding out what will happen next, but its entertainment value wanes after you've hit the credits. It's less enticing on replays or 'resets,' and its worst attributes don't help carry the experience beyond a single play through.