Kirby and the Forgotten Land is the biggest and most inventive entry in the long-running franchise.
Unpacking is a relaxing puzzle game that encourages you to reflect and move forward.
More than anything else, Metroid Dread feels like going back to a place of comfort after a long time away. Though the gameplay is refined and new features have been added to the mix, Dread sticks closely to the formula of its predecessors. In the end, for longtime fans like myself, that's probably for the best.
Mario Golf: Super Rush is a fast-paced spin on the relaxing sport that oozes excitement.
Madden NFL 21 has an excellent new game mode that's great for short spurts, but the series staples don't move the needle.
PGA Tour 2K21 builds off of the solid foundation of The Golf Club series, delivering a wonderful golf sim that's getting closer to the real thing.
Skelattack is a side-scrolling platformer with a lot of heart, but it ends too quickly and the obstacles it places in front of you are hampered because of it.
Kingdom Hearts 3: Re:Mind's new playable characters and post-game bosses aren't enough to save it from feeling like a tired retread of events experienced just last year.
Nothing offers the lighthearted, fun for all ages battle royale that Fortnite does.
Link's Awakening is the best top-down Zelda to date.
Blasphemous is an eery Metroidvania with gorgeous animations and combat that's just a tad too one-dimensional.
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is one of the best games of the year, expansion or not.
Astral Chain is every bit as awesome as it looks in motion, which is to say it's downright incredible.
Madden NFL 20's Ultimate Team and Franchise modes are superb, but the career mode misses the mark.
SolSeraph is an authentic ode to ActRaiser undercut by unbalanced action levels and shallow strategy gameplay.
Highly engaging whether you want to create levels or not, Super Mario Maker 2 is utterly fantastic.
Layers of Fear 2 is a stirring horror adventure with incredible writing that consistently subverts expectations.
A Plague Tale: Innocence has a great story, but the gameplay has a level of convenience that undercuts the perilous world.
Days Gone is a generic open world zombie fest riddled with tedium and performance issues.
Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition holds up as a fun loot shooter, but the improvements made in the remaster are minimal.