Shubhankar Parijat
Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest is just about as good as an SRPG can be.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is a landmark achievement for Rockstar, for open world games, and for video games as a whole.
Hollow Knight stands as a monument to game design, and quite possibly, as the greatest Metroidvania game of all time.
Resident Evil 2 is not only an accomplished remake that should serve as the blueprint for how to re-imagine beloved classics, but is an incredible game in its own right- so much so, that it might even stand as one of the very best games this venerated and decorated franchise has delivered to date.
With Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Moon Studios have realized the full potential of their debut title, and entered the upper echelons of Metroidvania history.
With The Last of Us Part 2, Naughty Dog have crafted yet another masterpiece of storytelling and game design, capturing lightning in a bottle- again.
Playground Games has been honing this open world racing formula for close to a decade at this point, making meaningful improvements with each iteration- and with Forza Horizon 5, once again, the series has touched new heights. As impossible it may seem in the moment that it will be surpassed, however, if history has taught us anything, it’s that this is a series that never stops improving.
Horizon Forbidden West is an impressive achievement in storytelling, game design, and technology, and in improving upon its predecessor in nearly every way possible, it delivers one of the finest games of its kind in recent memory.
God of War Ragnarok surpasses its predecessor in every way. From its captivating story to its thrilling combat to the endlessly explorable and wonderfully designed Nine Realms of Norse mythology, it's an unequivocal triumph from top to bottom.
Dead Space is one of the best survival horror games ever made, and one of the greatest remakes of all time. It takes a masterpiece of the genre and allows its biggest strengths to shine brighter than they ever have, while also improving upon it in meaningful ways with smart changes and additions. Motive Studio has delivered an instant classic and a true giant of the genre.
Resident Evil 4 perfectly captures the tone and strengths of the original game, while also managing to improve upon it in truly meaningful ways. In doing so, it once again becomes a standard-bearer for the survival horror genre, while also setting a new bar for Capcom as a developer, for video game remakes, and for the Resident Evil franchise as a whole.
As unfathomably vast and boundless as the subject matter it covers, Starfield raises the bar for its genre and for the medium as a whole in countless ways - much like the best of its Bethesda-developed forebears did in their time.
Baldur's Gate 3 is a landmark release in the RPG genre that has instantly cemented itself as one of the best games of its kind, and an absolute must-play for all PS5 owners.
The promise of those old, grand, globe-trotting Final Fantasy epics from the series' 16- and 32-bit heyday in AAA form has been fulfilled at last. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth finally realizes the series' central, implicit potential, looking to the past to pave the way for hopefully the start of a new golden age for the series.
Dragon's Dogma 2 is a landmark release for open world action RPGs. From its thoroughly immersive world and its stellar combat to the incredible emergent gameplay its bevy of systems enable, Capcom's long-anticipated sequel delivers spectacularly in more ways than one. By definition, it's going to turn some people off with its many eccentricities, but it's those eccentricities exactly that make it such an utterly unique and unforgettable experience.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is one of the best 2D platformers of all time and the Switch version is argubaly the best version out there.
The Banner Saga 2 improves upon the original in almost every way possible and is, as a result, one hell of an experience that shouldn't be missed.
Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright is a sensible evolution of the series and a definite must-play for fans of the long-running franchise, especially those who enjoyed Awakening.
Blood and Wine is every bit as good as you would want Geralt’s final adventure to be.
Owlboy excels in more than one area and combines all its strengths to deliver an unforgettable experience.