If you only snag one copy of this game this year, the PSP version is definitely more than worth your money.

NHL 21 feels like an incremental step up from last year’s game. What I enjoyed is that even with my limited knowledge of the sport I could hop in and have a great time. I really will come back once the NHL 94 mode drops into the game. Those classic games were great even if I had no clue what icing was. For those looking to upgrade it might not be revolutionary, but this year’s game sure is a lot of fun once you get past its shortcomings.

Despite the dumb downed Alchemy and some technical issues, Atelier Yumia marks a great first step towards a new future for this long running series with its fun and rewarding exploration and enjoyable fast paced combat.

While the name may be confusing, this could easily be a blueprint for the successor to Ghosts ‘n Goblins, which is what it seems they set out to do, and they nailed it. If you are like me and grew up pulling your hair out at these punishing side-scrollers, this game is an easy purchase. It captures the magic, while bringing enough of its own charm to make it feel fresh. Plenty try to capture that magic, but few achieve what the team at Abylight Studios has managed to create here.

Even if you have played through them already, the enhanced visuals and nostalgia are reason enough to take the journey back through these classic platformers.

Age of Empires 4 is the perfect mix of old and new and I really think the legions of fans who’ve been waiting ever so patiently for 16 years for a new entry in this storied franchise will find much to love here.

Still, at the end of the day, Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair is one of the most fun and exciting visual novel games on the market. While the PlayStation platform may never get their hands on the Ace Attorney series, I believe Danganronpa has reached a similar level of prestige and quality.

If you are someone who enjoys their racing games with more structure, something like Gran Turismo or Burnout Paradise, then you may find that Trackmania2 will leave you cold. However, if you are fan of the first game, or fancy flexing your design muscles, then there is a lot of fun to be found here. Just make sure you know what sort of game you are getting yourself into.

Despite some issues that makes it feel like a step below Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, Luminous Avenger iX is still a worthy inclusion in the Gunvolt Chronicles universe.

For the 4 to 6 hours the game lasts, it’s definitely a memorable experience.

Thankfully the multi-player really saves the day and makes this game a must own title for all 360 owners. If you are buying it for a single-player experience you may want to look elsewhere.

Fans of shooters and challenging games will have a lot of fun here. Sure, the boss fights can get a bit annoying with the minions, the randomly generated areas can get repetitive, and the co-op, while it works well, isn’t perfect, but the world, the action, and the feel of Remnant is really what makes it a great playing game and one I think everyone should give a shot, especially at the price point it is at.

Even on the highest difficulty, matches are often too easy to win, as the AI doesn’t even take advantage of the limb damage system and pulls off whatever random attacks it can at the time.

Cities Skyline is a welcome addition to the Xbox One, and consoles in general. It’s a competently made city building game, one that hasn’t been dumbed down for those that prefer a console to PC. It may take a while for the game to open up and kick into gear, but when it does, there is no limit to what you can build.

While it was nice to dig back in for a while, I have moved on to other titles now, so anyone looking for a double dip will likely not get as much mileage out of this version. For the few that have yet to play it though, you are in for a treat. The PC version is by far the best looking iteration of the game, and the amount of content packed in here will keep players occupied for months. That is of course if the online manages to get a foothold.

Ninja Gaiden II is the type of game that will mollify its fanbase and not much else. There is nothing here to lure in new fans to the series, but what is here is exactly what you would expect from a sequel to the original game.

There are enough improvements to keep returning players intrigued for months, and newcomers will really have a blast with the Dynamic Skill and tutorial options.

Despite feeling that this was a bit of a missed opportunity, the Phoenix Wright Trilogy on the Switch has now become my recommended way to experience this classic story thanks to its various quality of life updates and solid price point.

Immortals Fenyx Rising is by far one of the best surprises of 2020. It shot directly up to the top of my best games of the year.

Banishers: Ghost of Eden is a unique title that just stumbles along the way. It has some severe pacing issues and clunky combat that really drag down the overall experience. I wanted to love it a lot more than I did. It feels like Dontnod’s usual unique take on a genre that feels just a bit undercooked. Still once it drops in price and perhaps receives a few updates, I think this could easily graduate to the status of hidden gem. There are a lot of cool concepts here that I really enjoyed. I just wish I didn’t have to wait so long to get to them.

NBA Live 10 is a fantastic upgrade to the series as it focused more on what was wrong with previous versions instead of trying to substitute them with more features.

Why complain if “more of the same” is serving up consistent goodness?

As a first-time console and genre effort from a developer best known for making the self-proclaimed, “one handed shooting game”, Stellar Blade is an extraordinary effort that impressed from beginning to end with an expert mix of story, combat, and exploration.

Regardless of the mistakes in the translation, Steins;Gate 0 is a worthy follow up to one of my favorite stories in all of fiction, and enhances the original by further expanding its narrative scope and filling in the gaps that were left open-ended. Those who have played Steins;Gate or watched the anime should already know well enough to pick up zero, so I’ll take this opportunity to firmly recommend the original again and again and again and again and again.

While still not driving it out of the park like they did with Wild West Rampage and Venom, Ant-Man is a solid table that I suggest pinball fans pick up. It has some unique things going for it, and stands out more than the last Marvel table, Age of Ultron.

There isn’t a whole lot original about Oceanhorn 2, it very proudly wears its inspiration to the The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker; not on its sleeve but its cosplaying as Link. This isn’t a bad thing at all, as I said above there aren’t very many of these games on Xbox (which is really sad btw). More than that because it doesn’t have a rage inducing difficulty it makes Oceanhorn 2 a great game for families to play together which is something that can’t be said for a lot of adventure games lately. Some of my fondest memories is playing games with my mom watching (she isn’t a gamer) and finding a game like that now as a father is rare. So, in this sea of utterly fantastic games in the year of our Lord 2023, don’t sleep on Oceanhorn 2 – Knights of the Lost Realm.

Punch-Out!! with a fantasy spin, Rage of the Gladiator packs an admirable punch into its 40MB package. Bright colors and diverse tactics keep each fight exciting and challenging.

It doesn’t really add much new to the genre but it checks all the boxes that rogue-lites require and there is nothing wrong with that.