If you don't have a PS4 and have never played a Persona game before, you're in for a treat. If you do have one, you should just pick up Persona 5 Royal and get the best the series has to offer.

There has been a range of mixed feelings about what Blizzard has put on offer with Vessel of Hatred. Just as the story starts to ramp up, it ends quite abruptly, leaving you with the sour taste of knowing you'll need to pay another $40 next year if you want the conclusion. Some of the new features, like mercenaries, feel a tad underbaked. And the new dungeons are still littered with the same choring events from the base game, with many of the same enemies and even the same layouts in some cases. But, the 4-6 hour story has some incredible highs. The new Spiritborn class is incredibly fun to play, and the game's artwork and music direction continue to be a strong suit for Blizzard. But too much of Vessel of Hatred's base experience is undermined by the story's pacing, which runs you through its major events and new characters with a breakneck cadence. And right at the end, it sends you back to grind out more Helltides and familiar dungeons, begging the question of how much here is actually "new." For every new angle in the endgame loop, there are new bugs and balance issues that frustrate the experience. Blizzard is working fast to correct them, but it's only possible to review what's on offer today, and what's on offer today isn't very polished.

Control's story has a great premise, but its characters leave a lot to be desired.

Ghostwire: Tokyo is an atmospheric and somewhat ambitious game, with a vertical semi-open world gameplay arena dotted with ghoulish nasties and side-quests steeped in folklore, atop a supernatural thriller plot. The game's combat is sluggish initially, but it becomes increasingly satisfying as you unlock more powers. Weaving elemental magic sprinkled with some stealth elements for good measure. Sadly, everything new and fresh Ghostwire: Tokyo brings to the table is hamstrung by the game's awful performance on Xbox, which makes the game a true slog.

Sam and Max Save the World Remastered is just as chuckle friendly as it was when it originally launched. Though some of the writing feels dated, and it's not as difficult as older adventure titles or as engaging as modern ones.

World of Warcraft: Midnight is the middle act of the Worldsoul saga. Xal'atath has succeeded in her plan to subvert Azeroth's champions once again, potentially leading the planet to ruin. But hey, at least you'll have a cozy house to wait out the apocalypse in. Midnight is potentially one of the most pivotal expansions in recent WoW history, but the expansion is creaking under the weight of its sheer ambition. A variety of bugs, gameplay disruption, and polish issues hold back what is otherwise a very solid expansion.

EA Sports UFC 4 is a fun return to form for EA Sports. With a simplified approach to fighting and the inclusion of a more in-depth career mode, the UFC franchise is on the right track to building better things.

F1 23 falls short in the same areas as its predecessors have over many years. There's a great single player experience let down by a completely neglected multiplayer, which brings the games longevity into question. Those who love the F1 games regardless will find this iteration to at least be better in some ways.

Ghostrunner is a thrilling ride for most of its 8-hour runtime, thanks to its fantastic soundtrack, sci-fi visuals, and fast-paced gameplay. The game starts to stumble, however, when the platforming stops and the combat begins.

If you're looking for an Xbox Pokemon alternative with a bit more teeth, Nexomon: Extinction fits the bill.

Weird West's astounding world-building and intriguing singleplayer campaign are worth the cost of entry on their own, but the game's lackluster technical performance and polish are huge negatives that prevent it from achieving greatness.

Shadow of War's combat is every bit as satisfying as the first, with tight, vicious swordplay, an extensive amount of moves to use and fun features, like beast riding and stealth. We've seen it all before in the first game, though. Despite having fun combat, some extra RPG mechanics, and an evolved Nemesis system which includes castle siege gameplay, Shadow of War gets repetitive fairly quickly.

Antab's GRIDD: Retroenhanced is a solid rail shooter with slick retro-esque visuals and a catchy synthwave soundtrack from Dream Fiend. Rail shooters are slightly limited compared to traditional shmups and twin-stick shooters, but they certainly provide a feel all their own. GRIDD could benefit from a bit more content and polish. Still, it should easily appeal to fans of rail shooters like Starfox and Panzer Dragoon.

Ultimately, Black Myth: Wukong is a very solid action RPG, complete with thrilling cinematic boss fights, diverse, gorgeously rendered locales, a rich combat system replete with build options, and a well-told story. However, it holds itself back with bland level design and disappointing enemy variety, along with a superfluous gear system and a few noteworthy performance issues.

Darksiders: Warmastered Edition is a facelifted update on a last-gen hack-and-slash favorite. While the updated graphics to add to the flair of the game, it's repetitive and simplistic gameplay may be a turn off for some gamers. If you enjoyed the original on Xbox 360, then this is a great game to play for nostalgia value.

As both a solid local multiplayer twin-stick shooter and a Roguelike game, NeuroVoider is a good buy at $13.99.

NBA 2K23 is a step up for the NBA 2K series as far as gameplay and in-game elements go, and the new additions to modes like MyNBA and MyTeam help the game modes feel less stale as a whole. However, the game's incredibly heavy reliance on microtransactions continues to hold back what is otherwise an incredible sports game.

While Valfaris is in many ways an excellent game, it's held back by some significant design flaws and technical problems.

Empire of the Ants is a visual masterpiece based on the 1991 sci-fi book by Bernard Werber, but its streamlined RTS gameplay may be too limited for hardcore fans of the genre. The game is approachable for newbies or those who do not want to hassle with elaborate strategic maneuvers, and it offers additional gameplay via the hub, world exploration, and a surprising amount of platforming.

A tough as nails puzzler that in some ways blows Portal out of the airlock for its brain-bending antics. Those familiar with Pneuma: Breath of Life will find The Turing Test very much in the same vein. You'll explore and you'll work out puzzles in order to progress, all with some kind of social or humanistic undertone such as the meaning of life — or whether AIs will one day overthrow humankind and we will all be fleshy meat-slaves to our new robotic overlords.

Ubisoft hasn't built a title like this before, and the inexperience clearly shows – The Division seems to be a victim of its ambitions. The good news is that now, games can be updated, and the flaws in the system aren't so thick that they're beyond repair. With proper attention, Ubisoft could easily pivot the game towards the vision it represents. We can only hope that The Division's long-term story is just beginning.

While WWE 2K26 brings one of the biggest rosters in WWE gaming history, with more being added with the Ringside Passes, quantity over quality is not always the answer. The game offers many modes, yes, but it is impossible for them not to feel half-baked and rushed. However, if you are playing for the core wrestling match types, you will have a great time thanks to the new gameplay additions and arenas like the Scrapyard Brawl.

Far Cry 6 is like Far Cry 5, 4, and 3. Despite an incredible performance from Giancarlo Esposito of Breaking Bad fame, there's very little new or fresh about this latest sandbox shooter.

The Call of Duty franchise needed a buffer between its past and its future, but Infinity Ward may have bitten off more than they could chew. Ultimately, Modern Warfare 2 has extremely promising multiplayer and co-op gameplay that feels good to play on the surface but woefully underbaked due to a lack of features and overall content in general. The campaign shines the brightest for those with a bit of nostalgia for the characters.

Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath adds a handful of popular fighters, but the story falls short in comparison to the base game.

Though there are some glaring flaws in the gameplay systems, it's still a fun title, and the enjoyable visuals and music help make it worth your time.

Overall, A Walk in the Park is a good expansion which offers more gameplay hours but that's all it does. You'll gawk at the visuals but its existence doesn't add anything extraordinary to the game unless you care deeply about the character. The audiologs are the best part by far because they give Warren a layer of complexity which was lacking in the original.

F1 Manager 23 is another great F1 experience and does so many things right, but its lack of multiplayer causes it to fall short of being one of the greats.

BattleTech's actual content is superb, but it's impossible to ignore the fact that trying to make it play well on my high-end PC was an absolute chore. If the game was more polished, I would give BattleTech a full point higher in my score. You may want to wait for some patches to come out before picking it up.

Tell Me Why respectfully deals with sensitive topics and tells a meaningful story about grief and trauma. The performance and dialogue can be janky at times, but that shouldn't deter you from this experience.

FIFA 22 adds some big improvements to the way the game functions, and better yet, makes the game feel even better as you play. Add to that some big changes to modes like Career Mode, and FIFA 22 is a huge improvement from past entries.

The narrative genre often takes a closer look at human emotions, something we don't often see in other genres. Blackwood Crossing takes a bold leap into examining emotions and family dynamics, tackling subjects such as love and grief, separation and moving on. It's a topic that lends itself well to the genre, as the minimalistic gameplay places a magnifying glass over the narrative the game competently weaves.

Despite a few downsides, I thoroughly enjoyed my time playing Another Crab's Treasure. The game's humor was a standout feature that had me laughing out loud on several occasions. As a fan of soulslike experiences, I can confidently say that it's one of the few AA games that's truly worth playing through. What's more, it's incredibly accessible to play, making it a great entry point for newcomers to the genre.

WWE 2K22 adds some big improvements to core functions like gameplay and combat, while also introducing new modes like MyGM that make the game feel much fresher. Add to that a big graphical overhaul, and WWE 2K22 is a major step forward for this franchise.

Immortal Redneck does a great job of blending dungeon crawling with a first-person shooter, but the game's lack of enemy variation and presentation issues make enjoying it difficult after awhile.

Trials of Mana gives modern features to a lesser-known classic. Combat tends to be overly simple, and the story is really basic, but it's still a fun, colorful adventure for JRPG fans to experience.

While it may not be incredibly in-depth, PGA Tour 2K21 is a great first attempt for 2K as they get into the golf game, and the future looks incredibly bright.

Though it often showcases excellent characters that go through well-written development, The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series Collection is held back by some narrative flaws and dull quick-time events. The world is filled with secrets to find and places to explore, and the presentation of it through art, music and great cinematography is a positive. Despite this, the issues with the story and gameplay prevent it from truly achieving its maximum potential.

A good game which should appeal to newcomers more than seasoned veterans of the genre.

Bridge Constructor Portal will not blow you away, but it's a fun puzzle title that makes good use of portals and puts a new twist on a classic formula. For Portal fans, it's an excellent opportunity to revisit the classic world of Portal with a slightly different approach.

Livelock succeeds as a story-based co-op shooter. It just needs some tweaks and a little more content to sit with the best in the genre.

Aven Colony is a capable sci-fi city-builder with great visuals and satisfying gameplay systems. The different alien landscapes do provide some welcome variety, but you'll exhaust Aven Colony's gameplay mechanics fairly quickly, but considering the game costs only $30, I think it's a fair price for the overall package.

Party Animals' adorable, floppy characters and variety of maps should make for an easy win. However, awkward mechanics and sluggish controls can make the game very frustrating to play.

The gameplay is so good, with intuitive controls that never get in the way. The fanciful courses are a joy to experience, and there's an endless supply of them to boot. Despite the room for improvement, the core game is good enough to make this an easy recommendation for fans of arcade-style golf.

The amount of single-player content feels light too, compared against the robust packages offered by Injustice 2 and Mortal Kombat X. Perhaps we'll get a new mode as DLC eventually, as Marvel vs. Capcom 3 once did. Still, multiplayer is the final destination for most fighting games, and Infinite doesn't disappoint on that front. Good online options and genuinely fun gameplay mean that series fans will have plenty of incentive to keep fighting each other in the months to come.

Scarlet Nexus looks and performs really well, especially on next-gen hardware, but its gameplay is noticeably last gen. While it doesn't do anything new, it also doesn't screw up the basics either and should please Xbox fans looking for an anime fix.

Zau's journey with grief is compounded by his desire to be a valued member of his society, and to fill the empty footsteps left behind by his father's death. Surgent Studio's efforts to twist the heartbreaking experience of a son mourning his father with metroidvania style gameplay gives homage to how one person's time with grief is not always linear. Just as grief presents new challenges, we learn new tools to cope with the obstacles. It is an excellent juxtaposition that is marred with some frustrating technical issues and the need for just a bit more polish.

The campaign brings enjoyable new mechanics to the formula but multiplayer and Zombies both fall short of expectations and needed performance, with weaker gunplay and an unstable framerate respectively.

Combat and platforming controls remain unchanged, which benefits Soul Reaver 1 but hinders Soul Reaver 2 and its clunky movement tweaks. Both games flaunt lavish character upgrades and stunning re-renders of the original's cutscenes. Still, environment texture upscales are often unnoticeable, and the lack of video options is a sore point, especially as the all-new map screen misbehaves on 16:10 screens at launch.

Wizard with a Gun from Devolver Digital and Galvanic Games successfully builds an enthralling apocalyptic world with unique time and magic-based mechanics to power its addictive, roguelite gameplay loop. Some rough performance and visual edges detract from the magic, though.

Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville offers fleeting enjoyment, but the foundation that it's built on is solid and can be improved with the proper support.

Criterion has managed to create a vibrant, beautiful, high octane Need for Speed entry that dares to breathe new life into a franchise that desperately needed it.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance's large open world is packed full of things to do in a setting many can relate to. It's by no means perfect, which is unfortunately down to the sheer scope of the project for such a small team of developers. Still, you're going to get many hours of entertainment from this game. It's available now for around $60.

Ghost Recon: Wildlands is a solid sandbox adventure for groups of up to four friends. In solo play, Ghost Recon: Wildlands loses a bit of its mojo, but the game's unprecedented scale and piles of content should prove euphoric for fans of open world games.

Resident Evil 4 is an atmospheric thriller that will recapture the hearts of old fans, but may be problematic for folks who are new to the game.

There's a lot to like in Twelve Minutes, but when you start to get into the puzzles at the core of the game, things begin to get bogged down.

Age of Wonders 4 is the first entry in the mainline series I've ever played, and I had little to no idea what to expect. Age of Wonders 4's stunning high-fantasy tapestry immediately captured my imagination, and it wasn't long before I was creating my own personal undead army and marching across the land, leaving chaos and decay in my wake. Despite the game's complexity and depth, the biggest hurdle for me was its performance on Xbox Series X. However, it's by no means unplayable, and I suspect I'll find myself playing it for many dozens more hours before I get tired. This is a stunning 4X game that Civilization fans will most likely adore.

Hunt: Showdown is a great shooter that needs stronger single-player support.

After Us features a sprawling, desolate world painstakingly crafted to show the destruction wrought by human greed, but its camera controls and level design make the platforming awkward and often frustrating.

This is by far the least optimized, most buggy entry in the series. The sheer volume of glitches, animation problems, frame rate issues, and weird hitching lag plagues the entire experience, and it's a damn shame.

Journey to the Savage Planet is full of breathtaking alien environments that you're encouraged to explore. I loved solving all of its puzzles and scanning each new flora and fauna I came across, but the shooting mechanics and world-building could use some more work.

Immortals of Aveum provides a great deal of first-person spell-slinging fun, but writing and balance issues keep this new adventure down from what it could have been.

While the game has an intriguing premise, an attractive art style, and sits at a breezy length, it doesn't do enough. It wants to fly close to the sun, but it can barely get off the ground.

Code Vein is a great game, but needs more polish.

If you're looking for something easy and simple to pick up and play with your friends, Strange Brigade is definitely worth considering...However, if you're interested in something more challenging and intense, or simply want something with better presentation, Strange Brigade isn't the title for you.

The gameplay itself is engaging and invigorating, perfectly capturing the tone of previous entries in the series. The current package is significantly lacking, but regarding gameplay, Hitman is shaping up to be one of the best games to date. Sadly numerous performance issues hinder the game's potential, but never affect gameplay in a significant way.

The Little Acre is a delightful throwback to classic adventure games. The puzzle solutions never get too tough, unlike, say, Machinarium, so players shouldn't need a guide to reach the end. Adult players will love the narrative's core mystery, while children should enjoy the antics of Lily and her friends. The whole thing is both sweet and bittersweet, which you can't say for many games nowadays.

Niggles aside, Renegade's lengthy Career Mode and local and online multiplayer support all make for a robust package. Factor in the low price of ten bucks and full Xbox Play Anywhere support, and you have a must-buy for arcade racing fans.

Endling - Extinction is Forever gives a cold hard look at what pollution and human cruelty are doing to the environment. The message is driven home as you fight tooth and claw to raise your fox cubs while navigating a dangerous world. Exploration and survival aspects make for a unique experience, but if your pups die it can be heart-wrenching.

If the idea of racing pint-sized cars around on gigantic-looking tabletop tracks sounds like a good time, you'll probably get more than your money's worth from Table Top Racing. With a launch price of $14.99, it packs plenty of bang for the buck.

Black Desert is a great MMORPG, but it needs more technical polish on Xbox One. Even on Xbox One X, it's far from perfect due to its lighting and performance problems. Unfortunately, it also lacks a lot of the content found on the PC version. Pearl Abyss has promised a series of updates which will bring over new regions and features, but it's unclear how long that will take.

A charming, alcoholic romp through Hell that suffers from technical issues.

Iron Harvest offers a strong, story-driven campaign split into three interwoven parts. However, its core RTS mechanics leave something to be desired, and some common RTS features are lacking or missing.

Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time is a hack and slash adventure with a few platforming elements. If you like taking on punishingly difficult hordes of enemies and proving your fighting prowess, you'll enjoy this game.

For what it lacks in scope, Bad North makes it up with an addictive, rewarding roguelike strategy gameplay layer.

Though Moonlighter has several problems that prevent the game from truly achieving greatness, the excellent art and music and the fun gameplay experience make it worth a try if you enjoy roguelikes and want a new title to play.

Call of Duty: Vanguard's campaign and multiplayer are serviceable enough, but nothing exceptional for the series, while Zombies is disappointingly limited in scope and ideas.

Despite my list of complaints, I've had a lot of fun with Darktide so far, and I'm looking forward to playing it for dozens (if not hundreds) of hours more as new features are added, issues are patched, and an increased player pool with the arrival of the Xbox Series X|S console versions.

While the campaign is rather short, the addictive nature of pulling off stylish moves to sever body parts keeps you coming back for more.

If you're willing to overlook some questionable design choices, there's plenty of fun to be had with Outriders. Despite its numerous flaws, Outriders manages to provide loads of incredible, over-the-top fun.

Destiny 2: Shadowkeep elevates the gameplay, but falters on a storytelling front.

Control's AWE Expansion will satisfy a lot of Alan Wake fans who have been theorizing for nearly a decade about what happened to the writer. While it does introduce some great ideas, you'll ultimately have to wait for whatever Remedy does next to get real resolution.

Though a fun concept and quite enjoyable in the opening hours, MechWarrior 5 suffers from really repetitive gameplay, sharp difficulty spikes without warning, and bad writing.

For being Valhalla's first big expansion, Wrath of the Druids plays it a little too safe but still delivers an exciting adventure in the end.

If you're able to look past the lack of a strong central story, though, you'll be left with a gorgeous game built on some excellent (albeit underutilized) narrative foundations.

Mulaka is a good game which stands out more for its setting than gameplay. Had the combat and movement been more precise, it would've been a truly exceptional title.

Team Sonic Racing offers a satisfactory experience. If you love Mario Kart 8 and want something on Xbox One, the game should satisfy you in the interim. However, you might want to wait for another, better game like Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is a good fighting game that needs more polish.

Atomic Heart nails the art design and core gameplay loops but loses focus due to its vast array of game mechanics and untailored open-world segments. Inconsistent writing quality and inaccessible game design will likely frustrate many players, but Atomic Heart can still manage to be an incredibly fun adventure.

Bloodline represents Ubisoft going back to its roots on the Watch Dogs franchise, and your mileage will vary. Either way, it doesn't feel like a Legion DLC.

Strategy and simulation games can and do work on console. Titles like Surviving Mars and Halo Wars 1 and 2 have proven that you can make separate gamepad controls without fully necessitating keyboard and mouse support. But for whatever reason, They Are Billions for Xbox simply doesn't measure up. At the very least, the game is very affordable at $25, and the core gameplay is ace, but you'll want a mouse and keyboard hooked up to your console to get the best experience.

My Time at Portia could use some polish to improve things like menus, positioning objects, and cursor positioning with a controller, but once you get used to its idiosyncrasies, it's a relaxing and rewarding experience.

Though there's fun to be had with West of Dead, cruel difficulty spikes, bugs, and unruly aiming prevent the game from achieving greatness.

Little Hope delivers solid scares and weaves a clever tale that, unfortunately, collapses in on itself.

While this remaster succeeds in bringing the positive aspects of Guerilla's gameplay to a modern-looking experience, it also brought the negative ones as well. When you factor in the unacceptable performance flaws, it's disappointing. The game is decent... but it could have been so much better.

Farming Simulator 22 manages to scratch the itch of any hardcore simulator fan looking to escape the hustle and bustle of city life for some time in an idyllic rural setting where they can raise livestock and produce. The mechanics can be a little convoluted for new players, but online multiplayer and a robust modding community can help anybody become an experienced farmhand.

Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck had a lot going for it based on its premise, but retreaded enemies and mostly underwhelming locations let down an otherwise fun expansion.

Exoprimal is a somewhat fun action shooter that can’t decide what it wants to be. What potential fun there is to be had in its awesome PvE boss fights and horde-mode missions are bogged down by tacked-on and unfun PvP-elements and locking gameplay content behind hours of story progression without informing the player beforehand. If it had launched with the PvE-only Savage Gauntlet mode and removed all PvP elements from Dino Survival, Exoprimal would’ve been a better and more focused game.