Blazing Chrome an excellent throwback to the games of yesteryear, and a loving tribute to Contra and Metal Slug that establishes its own identity through beautiful art, fantastic design, and an excellent soundtrack.
DOOM Eternal is a worthy sequel to a storied franchise, a celebration of all things DOOM, and one of the finest single-player first-person shooters ever made. Rip and tear, Slayers.
Tony Hawk's pro Skater 1+2 is a near-perfect remake of two classic games that proves that, like Tony Hawk himself, some things only get better with age.
Halo 3: ODST is a unique take on a storied series that holds up well and 343 have done an excellent job of porting it to PC.
When you're rocking this hard, why stop?
Diablo 4 feels like a statement game from Blizzard, a “we’re back” for anyone who was concerned after Diablo 3’s rough launch and the middling reception to Diablo Immortal. It’s the sequel to Diablo 2 people have been waiting for, and it doesn’t disappoint. Diablo 4 is a game about legacies, so it’s fitting that in developing it, Blizzard has re-solidified the franchise’s — and its own.
: Final Fantasy Type-0 HD marries a strong story with compelling themes and a great cast with some excellent game systems, resulting in one of the most cohesive and best games in the series in recent memory. There's still some evidence of the game's portable origins, but Type-0 remains a strong and engaging game even with these problems. Fans of the Final Fantasy series owe it to themselves to check it out.
Transistor is a fantastic follow-up to Bastion that features incredible art design, wonderful music, deep, customizable, strong storytelling and one of the best plots in recent memory. It's a thoughtful, beautiful, and well-designed game that should be played by everyone with a passing interest in RPGs. Go buy it. Now.
Sunset Overdrive is one of the rare games that feels complete in an age where most games feel like a combination of elements from all over the place. Everything in Sunset Overdrive works, from the gameplay, to the art design, the humor, and the combat, and each feeds off the other to create a title that not only feels great, but cohesive as well. Fans of open world games that emphasize freedom of movement, customization, and style won't find much better on the current consoles.
This is one of the best Kinect games out there. If you like music, movement, Fantasia, or Disney, you owe it to yourself to give Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved a shot. It serves as a respectful ode to a great movie, and a great moment, an encore performance to one of the finest animated films of all time. Well done, Mickey.
Despite crashes and some issues with its difficulty curve, The Talos Principle 2's ability to explore both interesting puzzle design and deep philosophy simultaneously is incredibly impressive.
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster is a fantastic collection that brings together two great games, and a lot of supplementary material, to create the most complete Final Fantasy X release to date. A few bugs currently mar the PS4 version, but if you can look past them, you'll find the most beautiful and complete version of these games. If you're a fan of Final Fantasy X and X-2, and can get past the bugs, you owe it to yourself to check out this collection.
It's not Mikami's best game, but The Evil Within's excellent gameplay, incredible atmosphere, and the sheer variety of enemies and environments on display make up for occasional frustrations, a overly grimdark plot, and pointless stealth sections. It's a great game, and a return to form for Mikami. It's not Resident Evil 4, but you know what? There's nothing wrong with that.
Crimes and Punishments is a game that is otherwise fantastic in nearly every aspect it devotes its time to. It's a game that reminds us of how great Sherlock Holmes is, and why the character has endured for so long. But it's also one that reminds us why Conan Doyle wanted to abandon the character. You can't escape him. He'll always decipher the clues, always find you, always see through the most perfectly planned murder. He marches ever onward, against the flow of time, holding on steadily. He'll always be there, Watson in tow, ready to take the next case. And God help us, there's still some appeal in that.
MLB 14 The Show may not be a game changer, but it doesn't need to be. It is a great game with enough new features and ideas that it manages to stay fresh despite its problems, and fans of baseball sims will be hard-pressed to find better.
Wolfenstein: The New Order is a great shooter that balances old school design sensibilities with modern storytelling and excellent production values to produce a Nazi blastin' good time.
With an incredible amount of content, and a number of gameplay refinements, Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition is the best Dynasty Warriors games in years. It won't convince the haters, but it will have fans saying, "Among men, Lu Bu. Among Dynasty Warriors, Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition."
Strider is an excellent revival of a classic franchise that will appeal to old fans and create new ones. If you like excellent combat and the Metroidvania style of design, you should definitely check it out.
Resogun is an excellent shoot 'em up and the best launch title for the PS4. If you have the system, you need to get it.
Strike Vector is an excellent arena shooter with unique ideas and great gameplay that's held back by a lack of maps and modes, and a poor tutorial. Still, this is an excellent game and fans of arena shooters should definitely check it out.