Diablo III: Reaper of Souls - Ultimate Evil Edition isn't going to redefine your Diablo experience. It's bigger, shinier and has some nice new content, but in the end, it's the same game.

Despite some lackluster story elements, technical issues, and a ho-hum multiplayer mode, the excellent world design, weapons, and gun battles are enough to draw you in and keep your interest throughout the campaign. The co-op mode is an added bonus, well worth playing through with friends, and a great alternative to the lackluster versus side of the multiplayer.

What "next-gen" ought to be. It embodies gameplay, graphics, multiplayer and style that we were expecting to see from the Xbox 360. Simply put, GRAW rounds out the total package.

FIFA Soccer 12 is rich with fathoms of deep features, and the well-designed improvements to both presentation and gameplay make it a worthy upgrade for owners of last year's edition.

Shovel Knight is a modern classic that takes the 2-D platforming genre and modernizes it.

Very solid and drastically improved over its predecessors. Even though the improvements are very slight, the game is extremely enjoyable.

The bottom line on Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story is that it's one of those games that every DS owner should buy, period. Regardless of your feelings about RPGs, the title is just so entertaining and well-executed that you're nearly guaranteed to love it.

Much like a "new and improved" cereal at your grocer, Trials Evolution successfully makes small improvements to its predecessor to cater to its fans. In that area, RedLynx has succeeded. Anyone who enjoyed Trials HD will no doubt love Trials Evolution. Unfortunately, those looking for something more than "more of the same" aren't going to find it here. As the name implies, this is just an evolution of what came before; it's not a revolution.

The new characters, weapons and other goodies — like new songs and commentary on the radio, new TV shows and even a brand-new stand-up comedy gig — all make the title well worth the $20 price tag for fans.

FIFA Soccer 12 is rich with fathoms of deep features, and the well-designed improvements to both presentation and gameplay make it a worthy upgrade for owners of last year's edition.

FIFA 2010 has outdone its predecessor and taken up the mantle of the greatest soccer game ever made.

In the end, Fallout 3 feels like a Fallout game, and that is absolutely the highest compliment. Despite the changes, much of the charm and fun of the franchise remains intact, and despite the similarities to "Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion", I never felt that I was playing anything but a Fallout game.

Split Fiction is fantastic. The story and characters are great thanks to the nuance sprinkled throughout to give everything and everyone some unexpected depth. The constant switching of various genres keeps the game fresh, since none of the tales linger for too long, and the same can be said for the various gameplay additions in conjunction with the solid platforming. Combined with the cross-platform play and accessibility features to ensure that everyone can get through the title, the only reason to not pick up Split Fiction is if you despise co-op play. For everyone else, grab this early contender for "Best Of" lists for 2025.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a great sequel to a great game. It's bigger and more focused, and it captures everything that made the first game work. From start to finish, it is as fun to play as its predecessor, and if it has one "flaw," it is that you're getting exactly what you'd expect. I can't get enough of the game, so when I completed it, I instantly set out to finish all of the challenges. Kudos to the development team.

In the end, the biggest problem with The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD is that it feels like a relatively poor value compared to other HD collections.

The end result is a game that is phenomenal in its presentation and very decent in gameplay. Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition doesn't necessarily set a new standard or innovate within the Metroidvania genre, but it does create an experience that is elevated by its otherwise stellar production values. Ultimately, it's up to personal preference, but you should give the game a chance; you'd likely regret it otherwise.

It's not just the best DS game I've ever played, but it's also one of the best games I've ever played, period.

No other baseball game so far as been able to fully capture the feel of pitching, fielding and batting like MVP has. The pitching and fielding interfaces are unmatched and are down right groundbreaking, yet extremely simple to pick up on and use.

Dual Strike presents a slick invitation to turn-based neophytes without making the party boring for experienced strategists.

It's amazing that after making what is essentially the same game for a half-decade, the crew at Sony Santa Monica still manages to craft such a great experience every time there's a new edition of The Show. Each year's game feels substantially improved over the last, and this time around is no different.

The sense of speed is upped a couple notches, the tracks are much more interesting, with alternate routes and lots of ramps, Crashbreaker races are immensely fun, traffic checking adds more wreckage and destruction (which is a good thing), the huge, multi-tiered crash stages are a big step up, and once again, even more speed.

Combining the best elements of arcade-style gaming, Velocity 2X feels like a game with the soul of the '90s and the tech of the current generation. As the saying goes, Velocity 2X is easy to learn and difficult to master.

The Xbox Series X version of Microsoft Flight Simulator works best if you look at it as the closest approximation that anyone could get to a sophisticated flight simulator without a beefy PC. The cracks start to show when you check the ground for details, and the frame rate could be better, but it remains a stunning game that showcases the system's power. The controls remain technical enough to scare away the easily intimidated, but the number of tutorials and assists ensure that you can get into the air with ease — even if getting back on the ground can be a challenge. It does well in its promise to let players see the world from above, and if you have the patience to deal with a byzantine menu system and don't want to fire off any missiles, you'll enjoy the countless hours you can spend with Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Tents and Trees is a solid nonograms game that does a good job of handling the twists it has for the player. The board limitations make for some very interesting puzzles, while the casual nature of the game and generous hint system don't scare away those who aren't already well versed in this type of game. With a near-limitless supply of puzzles at hand, Tents and Trees is a great recommendation for anyone who is a big fan of the genre.

Overall, Castlevania Dominus Collection is a fantastic collection of Castlevania games. The three DS titles alone are some of the best Metroidvania action to ever exist, and having them all in one convenient package is worth it. Some minor complaints aside, they are perfectly good ports of all three games. The arcade titles are less of a draw but a nice bonus. If you're a fan of Metroidvania titles, Castlevania, or blowing up vampires with cool powers, Castlevania Dominus Collection is one of the best purchases you can make.

It's a beautiful thing, Butcher Bay, done with style that you don't often see, particularly in a movie license.

Everything — from the story to the combat system to the dungeon crawling and Social Links — has been improved. Considering that Persona 3 was already an excellent game, Persona 4 is a true standout.

While Sony has achieved its goal of making the most realistic baseball game to date, they seem to have done so at the expense of one very important thing: fun.