Apart from Rush mode, welcome but largely incremental improvements play it a bit too safe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This Zelda-led adventure is far more than some second-tier spinoff. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A wonderfully relaxing building sim with slim content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Keep your friends close, and your enemies exiled. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This fantastic factory building co-op adventure is so much more than satisfactory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This charming Zelda-inspired adventure really jumps off the page. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A smart adaptation that's missing some bristles from the end of its broom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A crossover into relevance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A beast for the senses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A fantastically inventive platformer packed full of PlayStation memories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It may not break the mold, but this beautiful sequel's brutal combat just feels great.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This amusing sandbox game has a lot of heart, but is every bit as shallow and short-lived as its goofy premise seems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With nearly 20 years between mainline games, this long-awaited RPG doesn’t disappoint. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Red dead rebellion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have some patience and this punk comic book caper will win you over with its weirdos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A great action game with fantastic combat, exciting bosses, and a few too many bugs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Magical charm and inventive skills more than make up for a lack of challenge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This campy sequel delivers its largest, silliest adventure yet, with all the usual jank. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A good way to revisit challenging moments from a selection of classic NES games. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A disappointing sequel that frustrates far more than it delights. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A charming nautical adventure that refines the original’s clever turn-based combat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dynamic on-field action and stellar graphics make for some impressive football, but much of what's off the field feels unfinished. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A compelling cyberpunk noir with investigations that hold your hand a little too much. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Great new features like creating your own team deliver a more compelling management sim. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Simple but solid crafting meets some of the best, and weirdest, creature designs of the year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Watching Netflix’s awkward adaptation of the hit card game feels like coughing up a hairball. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Great gunplay can’t fully redeem this generic, free-to-play grindfest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Power to the peaceful. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Style and substance combine in HoYoverse’s urban gacha brawler. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

AiAi, captain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An exciting new arc in the long-running series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fresh new look, same old spirit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A standout puzzler with an enticing story, clever riddles, and a perfectly eerie vibe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A horror game with fantastic art and writing but a frustrating on-rails structure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Destiny 2’s finale delivers on much of what this series has promised for a decade. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Flashy combat and enticing exploration carry the weight of a lackluster story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A deep platform fighter with tedious progression systems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

24/7. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This hilarious asymmetrical horror game is tons of fun, but can wear thin pretty quick. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This Disney-infused cozy life sim is still awesome in 2024, and still has plenty more room to grow. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A creative take on superhero-flavored tactics with powerful team-up moves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Good fundamentals with conflicting ideas that hold them back. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Watching Senua emerge from a shipwreck onto the shoreline bruised, bloodied, and struggling to breathe immediately drags us back into the depths of desperation and despair of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II’s psychosis-affected lead from the outset. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A beautiful, multi-layered puzzle box that’s an utter delight to slowly crack open. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A fun little romp for anyone looking for a relaxed adventure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A challenging ARPG that has been nicely polished up during its dark slumber in Early Access. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Vastly inferior. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A deep sea dive into endless, frustrating monotony. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Net positive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tanks for the memories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This soulslike throws out dark themes and gratuitous violence in favor of talking cartoon crabs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A fellow chucker, eh? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The handmade tale. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Broken Roads has ideas that could have made it an RPG to rival Disco Elysium, instead it runs out of steam almost immediately. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Numb her some, with a bullet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A laid-back game that doesn’t ask you to do too much, simply grow strange plants and decompress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A darker take on a fantasy gacha RPG with a detailed world but sluggish progression. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This incredibly unique mix of FPS, RTS, and tower defense ideas is absurdly complicated but a whole lot of fun. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dark Ages. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Driller instinct. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are times when Open Roads hits alarmingly close to home. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dull, toothless, and a big step in the wrong direction for South Park games. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sword-fighting days Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A simple, cheery romp with a variety of gameplay styles and a fantastic theater-inspired setting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Not every choice is a home run, but it has enough hits for another all-star appearance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Estate of emergency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A whole new world... that is not technically new. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A smart ghost hunting RPG in the shadow of a falling empire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Red Hot Poker. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This modernized run-and-gun met my 2D shooting expectations, but rarely exceeded them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maybe the real Unicorn Overlord was the friends we made along the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Soupy valleys, quite realistic, expedition-focused. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New matches and features keep this workhorse at the top of the card. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Miles to go before I sleep. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dark days if you wanted a good Terminator RTS. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A fresh take on an ARPG with tons of customization. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A world worth fighting for. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A singular survival game steeped in an unnerving world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This seafaring RPG has a great foundation, despite feeling like a live-service first draft. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Looks like these bugs and robots could use some freedom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Worthy of the name. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ape escape room. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A memorable story offset by wonky combat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Nintendo remake that’s light on challenge but heavy on charm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Identity Crisis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A succinct story and a fantastic battle system help this RPG stand out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Persona shines brightest in its darkest hour. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hawaiian punch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A challenging stealth tactics game that pays homage to the TV series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fist Meets Face. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

He’s got a gun! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2D Metroidvania is a perfect fit for the return of Prince of Persia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A one-shot horror game that's silly, schlocky, and sometimes genuinely unsettling Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A gory, gorgeous, bloody good Metroidvania. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fun for a few rounds, but currently light on content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An ultra crunchy, 130-hour space epic with excellent writing and combat, but also a lot of bugs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A fresh take on team-based PVP shooters with awesome environmental destruction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prime your paint rollers – this renovation sim sequel is a worthy upgrade. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This open-world action RPG sets a new gold standard for VR – and competes with the best anywhere. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A fun foundation waiting to be built upon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A day late and more than a few dollars short. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A zippy, delightful 3D platformer that brings Sonic back to the (3D) basics.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A head-popping good time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Combining Zombies with DMZ creates intense moments, as long as you're willing to grind. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A quick, casual city builder above, a dungeon-building miner below. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A faithful remake that shakes off a lot of dust. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mind over matter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Buildin' Joy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Silly yet sincere, Thirsty Suitors pushes you to contemplate your own relationships. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey now, you’re an All-Star. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While the story has some great ideas, this game adaptation is too desolate to expand on it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Creative multiplayer modes make up for minigames that quickly become repetitive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fully operational and ready to serve. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rated ‘M’ for More Violence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The write stuff. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cool runnings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A boring, buggy, totally unambitious game Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An ode to joy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for the Venom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An enjoyable Sonic game, if not exactly a Super one. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More like Lords of the Risen, amirite? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Caught behind. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It might be worth investigating why some of these choices were made. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A strong return to stealth and sand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bigger than its predecessor in every way, even though not much else has changed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A cozy game that puts you to work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Karate chops. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mortal Blows Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Punch fuzzy, get dizzy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just crew it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One to dismember. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An honest-to-goodness superb soulslike, and that’s no lie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The old adage “a tale of two halves” really encapsulates the NBA 2K24 experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A great chrono-tribute RPG. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Strap yourselves in. This is gonna be a bumpy ride. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This sequel is a superb puzzle platformer that sticks close to the series’ playbook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feed the fire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Out of contention. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Finger guns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This orthodox Metroidvania has style, creepy bosses, and a gloriously gross return to Cvstodia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plastic Mario. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s a hidden gem buried in this open world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A less asymmetrical take on the asymmetrical horror genre offers a few entertaining, technically challenged hours of fun. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When cary met silly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Frontier's management sim not only avoids the sophomore slump, it fights for the podium. 

Minnie happy returns.

A roguelike beat-em-up with a short wingspan.

It's got that Jurassic spark.

Where Remnant: From The Ashes was a strong first draft, this revolutionary sequel is a sterling looter-shooter soulslike manifesto.

So fresh and so green, green.

Trick topography.   ;    

This bland, frustrating, and buggy fantasy adventure would have been a bad four-hour game. At 40 hours, it’s hard to bear.    

A flexible, challenging, approachable throwback turn-based tactics game in which the only thing that feels truly dated is the humor.

Party pooper.

This ride needs maintenance.  

A paper champion.

This aquatic adventure RPG is wholesome, wonderfully complex, and delightfully hard to put down.  

Outstanding story, characters, and worldbuilding earn the right to depart from what fans expect from Final Fantasy.  

A tense survival horror RTS with a few too many technical bugs.

Brake lively.  

Nominally a shooter, System Shock is more about exploring the labyrinth that is the TriOptimum corporation's Citadel space station than any combat that takes place within it. Your Hacker and their military-grade neural implant are responsible for the significantly degraded situation here, having disabled the AI SHODAN's ethical limitations.

Like a low-budget, fan-made sequel to a classic movie, Greyhill Incident eagerly incorporates all the worst parts of the genuine article, neglects all of the best parts, and has nothing original to say of its own.

Fire in the hole.

Knockout.

A masterful ARPG that’s diabolically hard to put down.

Precious Little Fun  

To boldly go where Telltale has gone before.  

Shifting bricks. 

Highway to hell.

A pleasing plentiful puzzler. 

A remarkable sequel that somehow raises the bar even higher into the clouds.  

A stellar adventure.

Cyberpunk 1982.  

A dizzyingly customizable 4X fantasy.          

A high-stakes game about US history.

Fangs, but no fangs.

Phantasmic Mr. Fox.  

A lost soul.  

A Force to be reckoned with.  

The Lovecraft Boat

This hilarious gore-fest is a competent zombie-slaying adventure, but all the creativity has oozed out.   ;    

Saving the Overworld, one block at a time.

Looking for Lovecraft.

A monetized nightmare that feels less like Doom and more like Candy Crush Saga with Hell Priests.  

Cool ship classes and action-packed combat keep up the pace in this space jockey's looter-shooter.    

Crime dross.  

A promising roguelike that's grounded by obtuse systems, frustrating loot, and lots of bugs.

Kiss the dirt.

A great step forward for the series, thanks in large part to the brilliant new Negro Leagues mode.

This one's popular for a reason.

Viva Las Plagas.

The work-rate champion.

A shining blueprint of how to do a crossover right.

Promises to keep.

A parry party.

The same amazing simulation-focused racer elevated by VR in unexpected ways.

Up close and personal.

A sloppy, muddy, buggy rehash of a better game.

A better copy.

Tanks for nothing.

Safe travels.

Building adds a very fun twist to familiar a co-op monster hunting formula.

Shoot, slash, and pass

Asymmetrical forest warfare.

Deeper than it looks.

Stylish-action that marches to the beat of its own drum.

Spread your wings and fly.

This barebones platformer manages to be supremely boring despite its SpongeBob-infused charm.

Revival horror.

A brilliantly designed racing game.

Some things are better left unsaid.

Fellowship of the Rings.

A seaworthy adventure.

An ever-evolving strategy game with wide appeal. Plus, dragons.

Branching out.

More of the same, unless you like your VR games to run well.

Party like it's 2004.

With deep combat and a great city like this, kicking Yakuza teeth out will never get old.

Car toons.

Ticking Time Loops and Loot

A deck-building marvel.

Bad moon uprising.

The school of hard crashes.

A ridiculous sequel that’s bigger, sillier, and packed with more low-stakes fun.

Scarebnb.

Illuminated.

Need a game to play while listening to podcasts? This is it.

Suspiciously good.

A pale shadow.

God Týr

Medieval thrones and a vast crusade.

A remarkable, if a bit janky, nation-builder with ocean-deep political and economic systems that suck you in and don't let go.

Bustin’ makes me feel…okay, I guess.

The Multiverse of Radness.

New tales, same charm, new problems.

A safe but exciting sequel with an impressively alarming amount of rats.

A competent RPG in a world full of video game references.

A relentlessly unsettling delve into Hell with dreadful combat.

A minifig on a big adventure

A fall from grace for the revival of an old favorite JRPG series.

Ooze on Second

Small but Mighty

Close but no cigar.

Obsidian’s backyard survival game has sprouted into something truly special.

To the front!

A rogue delight.

A competent action game with a bland setting and tedious level design.

You’ll still see and hear plenty of evils, don’t worry.

No Man's Land.

Sins of the past.

An incredibly strong start to a bewitching, Disney-infused life sim.

Secret of the Ooze.

A decent soulslike with a unique setting that does little else to distinguish itself from the pack.

Oobs, I did it again.

Click of approval.

We all go a little Maddington.

Skate or die.

Supernatural space communism.

Satisfying combat in an otherwise forgettable adventure.

A battle royal rumble.

A standout visual novel wrapped around one of the worst tactics systems ever.

A wolf in sheep's clothing

Fun with five.

Get ready to ride hard or give up in this supernatural western tactics game.

Snipe snipe.

Hot stuff coming through.

Tag Team Turmoil

An RPG time machine gets its dues at last.

The cat's meow.

A new and satisfying Witcher spin-off with a roguelike twist.

Redline Miami.

Soft serve.

Heaven is a race for worth.

The Cherry on Top

Cool new monsters but not many new ideas.

Sonic Boom or Sonic Bust?

This endgame-focused expansion doubles down on everything from the base game – in both good ways and bad.

Terran up the place.

Cowabunga, dude!

A fun, bloody thrill ride on your first playthrough.

Let's run a farm.

This over-the-top soccer fight is well-tuned, hilarious fun, even though it does very little new.

Deep Space Nine to Five.

The Apex of Mobile FPS Games

Jumping for familiar joy.

The French Dispatch. Tristan Ogilvie

This asymmetric multiplayer game of cat and mouse is compelling and exhilarating, despite being rough around the edges.

Constantly threatening to be a competent detective RPG, Swansong ends up falling a bit short.

A deep, sometimes brutal XCOM-like that knows what makes 40K tick.

Magester Hunter

This 2D odyssey absolutely nails the samurai aesthetic in a satisfying but modest adventure.

Flick of Faith is often raucous and loud entertainment.

Perks and quirks.

Far more than a console port.

The RTS makes a glorious return to the sands of Arrakis.

Sharpen your pencils.

This raunchy shooter is cringingly juvenile and painful to play in between all the times it’s breaking.

It's Crankin' Time

Dice finds a way.

A remake that preserves the legacy of the original, but adds some new frustrations.

Pick up your Quill, reader.

The Empire strikes brick.

Dances with Werewolves.

A fierce and flashy cyberpunk beat-em-up with a gorgeous world, but also a script that's a bit rusty.

A whole new perspective on the classic Kirby formula.

Psychopath-finder.

Season of the Switch

A wolf in fox's clothing.

Slow and steady.

Bugs and PvP aside, The Witch Queen is the best version of Destiny yet.

It's a New Day, Yes It Is.

There’s real tension in waiting to see how the map will change before your turn comes round.

Striving simulator.

Connect the dots.

Twisted Sister.

Mini-campaigns and a flexible battle system give us more ways to play Total War with friends than ever.

Check your ego

To call these flimsy multiplayer modes “half-baked” would be a compliment.

Do the monster mash.

Taking tricks and making bank.

A collection you will treasure

Radlandia indeed.

Nathan Drake is back once again .

Pagan, Personified

Otherworldly enemies present an expanded threat.

This game of combat air hockey is tightly balanced, addictive, and will have you screaming at your friends.

This isn't even my final form!

Making games that appeal to both dedicated gamers and families is hard.

A co-op shooter that looks sharp but plays dull.

This thing bled acid. Who know what it's going to do when it's dead?

Something witchy this way comes.

On deaf ears.

To the moon.

Teamwork, coordination, and precision are essential in one of the most tense co-op games out there.

Sabotage on the high seas.

A fun little platforming adventure full of malicious messes to clean up.

Hail to the Chief

For Puzzlery!

A clever game of card battles.

Sharp-Dressed WHAM!

The first (and final) paid DLC for New Horizons is a must-have for base game owners.

This FPS is a painful, barely functional slog that you shouldn’t even consider playing as a joke.

Nothing to write Holmes about.

Unmoving mountains.

Reheated action.

Nintendo's second entry into its collectible modern Game & Watch line is even better than the first.

An eclectic game with lots of charm.

All skin and bones.

A fun, truly cinematic campaign that lacks variety over its brief runtime.

Enough crunchy JRPG goodness to earn its place in the pantheon despite an underwhelming story.

A moving story about moving.

This VR action game pulls out all the stops to entertain but leans too heavily on repetitive shootouts.

An overly safe but enjoyable RTS throwback.

This ain’t no High School Musical.

A board game worthy of the classic it's based on.

Pop those pills and load that shotgun.

A melee baybay.

Frostmourne hungers once again in this cooperative strategy game.

Assault and batteries.

For settlers with the most resources.

An absurd delight with some disappointing multiplayer modes.

A beautiful edition of a now-classic game.

A post-apocalyptic picaresque as charming as it is pretty.

A physics-based fish out of water story that’s equal parts hilarious and masochistic.

Lens care.

Paint the town shred.

An excellent successor to one of gaming’s most memorable action-platformers.

Thrill o' the wisp

Boss Rushed.

This DLC explores the main character's ori-Jins.

Road worrier.

Souls franchise meets Metroidvania

This set brings Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Jekyll, and more classic characters to the fray.

A hectic Norse action RPG that's best with friends.

A casual Pokemon MOBA constrained by its commitment to simplicity.

Blade Runner meets 1984 in a tense and atmospheric murder mystery.

A clever time-traveling JRPG that’s held back by monotonous combat.

Write your legacy.

It's about tome.

A pole new world

Gotta hatch 'em all.

Frankly my dear, you should give a damn about this epic-scale action-RPG.

Throw it back.

A light-hearted, charming action game that does a lot of things fine but nothing exceptionally well.

Colorful and charming, it's a remake done right.

This deck-building roguelike is all about con jobs, but its greatness is no grift.

The Rig Nacon Pro Compact, the company’s first Xbox controller, is smaller and lighter than a Microsoft gamepad, but not as comfortable.

Communication is key, and that’s true whether you’re in a relationship or guiding someone through defusing a bomb that’s about to send the world back to the Stone Age. Operation: Tango is an asymmetrical, co-op-only spy ’em up inspired by the likes of 2015 indie puzzler Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes and all those scenes in the Mission: Impossible movies where Simon Pegg is telling Tom Cruise which direction to run in.

The first chapter's remaster removes many – but not all – of the caveats from my strong recommendation to revisit BioWare's epic sci-fi RPG from the beginning (or to play it for the first time).

A strong Irish story and a few interesting battles amid a sea of run-of-the-mill recycled quests make Wrath of the Druids worth a return trip to Assassin's Creed Valhalla.

Returnal's runs are too long for their own good, but the moment-to-moment action is phenomenal in this surprisingly lengthy and deep third-person shooter roguelike

A genuinely engrossing and increasingly combat-heavy continuation of the Ethan Winters story.

This isn't the generational leap forward we might've expected following a new console launch, but it's still the best baseball sim you can play on any platform.

A photography game with occasionally clunky progression, but which is eager to show off its delightful subjects and let them surprise you.

This remaster makes a grand old game feel less old – but it doesn't make it feel new again.

NieR Replicant is an action RPG with obvious flaws involving outdated quest design and repetitive combat, but those flaws are easily forgiven in light of its incredible characters, along with its unconventional and emotionally resonant story.

MotoGP 21 is a good year for new riders to hop on but it hasn't particularly distanced itself much from MotoGP 20.

An excellent remake with charm, challenge... and loads of bugs.

Fast and competitive gameplay keeps it fun even if we’re confined to just one maze.

Doom 3: VR Edition pales in comparison to other VR shooters, or even playing Doom 3 on a flat screen.

A fiddly world map and confusing objectives foil the plans of this stylish, gleeful villain simulator.

Can’t Drive This is an imaginative and fresh co-op experience and a genuine riot with four players, but thin on modes.

Arkham Horror: Mother's Embrace's simple combat and uninspired "detective" work won't sate your Lovecraftian hunger.

Narita Boy has the look of a stunner, but it's let down by poor exploration, one-note combat, and one particularly bad level that puts a dark cloud over what would otherwise be a ray of trichroma sunshine

For whom the Hell tolls.

Paradise Lost fails to take full advantage of its gripping premise and the haunting atmosphere of its setting.

It Takes Two is a beautiful, breakneck-paced, co-op adventure that’s bubbling over with creativity.

Stronghold Warlords has a refreshing East Asian setting and satisfying castle building, but it looks and plays like an RTS that was asleep for most of the last decade or two.

Obsidian has leaned hard into turning The Outer Worlds into a sci-fi detective game with its two DLC expansions – a direction that plays to the strengths of its characters and writing.

A cleverly stripped-down RPG concept that demands attention for as long as it takes you to work out the clear "best" way to guide each hero class.

If some of the technical issues were ironed out, this racer could have given Mario Kart serious competition.

A short but sometimes thrilling VR climbing simulator with some nicely diverse backdrops.

Maquette's recursive puzzles make for a gorgeous, mind-tickling evening well spent.

Breathedge's concept of survival crafting in space may be good, but it just isn't fun in practice.

Rainbow Studios has been responsible for some top-notch, mudslinging racers over the years, but this isn’t one of them.

Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection provides an old-school challenge but isn’t too cruel to compromise if you don’t want to spend too much time in the cemetery.

Curse of the Dead Gods is an excellent roguelite that bolsters its fantastic combat with an added level of strategy thanks to the unique curse/corruption mechanic that tempts you to make dangerous deals for powerful loot.

This spin-off sequel to Persona 5 is nearly worthy of the ‘2' missing from the end of its title.

Even in early access, Valheim is already a paragon of the survival crafting genre.

Destruction AllStars can provide fun bursts of frantic car combat action, but never adds up to much more than that.

Little Nightmares 2 delivers similar stealth and scares to the original, but leaves less of a lasting impact.

There's awesome combat and loads of replayability in this bone-afide retro rogue-lite.

Blue Fire's approach to 3D platforming makes parkour a blast both in its enticing challenge rooms and corrupted world.

Brilliantly paced and palpably tense, The Medium is a psychological horror adventure that’s all thriller and no filler.

Olija leaves a strong impression with its unique look and fantastic combat, but its over all too quick and gives little reason to return.

The Last Campfire is a beautifully told tale whose fantastic blend of smart puzzles and eye-catching art direction help it burn bright.

The switch from replayable roguelike to hand-crafted action RPG seems like a good move for this sequel.

Nuts is a relaxing puzzle adventure with an intriguing mystery inside its shell.

Rich, rewarding, and highly replayable, Hitman 3 is one of the barcoded butcher's best appearances.

It's dauntingly complex, but offers almost endlessly enjoyable depth for optimizers and survival fans if you take the time to learn its systems.

I just couldn’t help myself – I had to kick him off the roof of the skyscraper.

One of the first Internet-connected arcade machinies

Murder and deception on a whimsical cartoony spaceship is so much fun that the only real question is what took it so long to catch on?

A pretty but average-at-best VR shooter that comes with an impressive WW2 tribute in tow.

When my wife first saw me playing Monster Train she thought I’d gotten…

Apart from a few inconsistencies with the relationships between its main characters, Hivebusters does everything a great Gears game should and then some.

Please don't play Cyberpunk 2077 on a base Xbox One or PS4. It is a shockingly bad way to experience what is a fantastic RPG on better hardware.

Through engaging puzzles and a captivating story, Call of the Sea provides an excellent, poignant adventure.

With a gorgeous mythological world to fight through and explore, it's a shame Immortals' puzzles are so unremarkable.

A charming and unusual sci-fi RPG about love prevailing above all else.

Twin Mirror is a frustratingly uneven adventure that left me with surprisingly little to reflect on.

Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a charming LittleBigPlanet spin-off that trades its creation tools in for a more straightforward Mario structure.

With around six hours under my shiny new +84 Agility belt, I can…

Destiny 2 breaks new ground with Beyond Light, while other parts remain frozen in time.

The definitive version of one of the best superhero games ever made.

Dirt 5 isn't particularly deep, but it’s fast, frantic, extremely handsome, and buoyed by a superb stunt track editor.

The Pathless combines a simple but fun movement system and a world brimming with secrets to uncover.

The graphics are rough and it’s lean on content, but Monster Truck Championship's simulation-style approach works well.

The quiet part is loudest in this years covert ops-heavy Call of Duty campaign.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon takes some bold steps in a new direction for the series but neglects to completely maintain its balance.

This isn't the most exciting remaster, but Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is still one of the best modern arcade racers around.

Our review of Little Hope, the latest in Supermassive's Dark Pictures Anthology.

Doom Eternal's first story DLC, The Ancient Gods Part 1, does what Doom expansions always used to: provides more Doom, but makes it harder. And in Doom's case, that's a good kind of pain.

A solid foundation for a frantic dinosaur-hunting co-op shooter with plenty of teeth.

Love it or hate it, this definitive edition is Age of Empires 3 amplified.