Salt and Sacrifice is a Souls-like that would've made a killing a decade ago. Failing to learn from its contemporaries, it struggles to feel enjoyable in today's saturated market.
Ghostwire: Tokyo is, heartbreakingly, not spooky. It's also not particularly interesting, and I certainly didn't find it very fun to play. I'm sure genre-fanatics will find something to latch on to, but nothing ever quite hooked me enough to make the journey feel compelling.
Shadow Warrior 3 invokes gaming's simpler past while lampshading the fact that it borrows so much from more modern games. It sits in a no-man's-land of middling design decisions and absolutely terrible writing, even though its action and presentation sometimes shine through.
Elden Ring is a marvel with scope and diversity of mind-boggling proportions. At the risk of hyperbole, it has dethroned Bloodborne as my favorite game of all time. It's all I've been able to think about since I got my hands on it, and the only thing I want to do now is play it with the rest of you.
As with any MMO, Lost Ark is tricky to review on release. The most I can say is I enjoyed the mindless questing, beautiful locales, and great game feel. I can't speak on the endgame, but the fact that I'm excited to jump back in on launch day to do it all again with friends is a pretty good sign for now.
Rainbow Six Extraction might be one of the most trite co-op shooters of recent memory. Testament to the fact that making an enjoyable PvE shooter is a little harder than simply rehashing a seasonal event, it's hard to see where the effort went. Shallow, scant, and lacking any soul whatsoever, it's as bland as the black goo that adorns its promotional material.
Monster Hunter Rise stands toe-to-toe with World, especially on PC. Its end-game grind may not be as robust, but a serious focus on fun and community over narrative and fidelity pays off.
Solar Ash hinges itself upon two core mechanics -- and almost nothing else. Skating around and dispelling corrupted masses of black goo is fun for a while, but when you've seen a game's whole hand in the first half-hour, it's a little hard to stay on board for the remainder.
Battlefield 2042 mixes muddy combat, poor performance, and bind-boggling design choices for one of the series' most underbaked offerings yet.
At every turn, Back 4 Blood frantically alludes to its superior predecessor, digging its own grave as it crumbles under the weight of blasé characters and overly complex systems.
Death Stranding Director’s Cut is an oddly named excuse to get addicted to delivering all over again. The visuals are stunning, but the haptics and new gadgets take things to even greater heights. Its themes have never been more relevant, and its gameplay never more fun.
Deathloop, summarized, is "Arkane does Hitman." It glorifies its repetition, and never feels unrewarding, especially when taking down a player-controlled Juliana. I want to re-immerse myself in its world, pick apart its secrets, and master its systems. Not everything works seamlessly, but taken as a whole it's an immersive sim sandbox of unmatched proportions.
At times maddening, but always fascinating, Twelve Minutes is a unique vision worth experiencing. It blends disparate genres and explores a twisting narrative using a terrarium of the mundane.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a technical showcase, but it's also one of the finest 3D action platformers since Jak and Daxter. Insomniac consistently prove that the Ratchet & Clank series is a wellspring of potential, and they've delivered a complete experience that's as full of heart as it is surprises.
Nier Replicant is a chameleon -- its slow start serves as a siren song that leads to explosive emotional crescendos and satisfying narrative payoffs.
Resident Evil Village is at once terrifying, exhilarating, hilarious, and beautiful. Its crowning achievement is that it’s a horror game that’s not only perfectly paced, but it also has an explosive third act and ends on its highest note. It isn’t enough to dethrone Resident Evil 4 as an action title, but it’s a marked improvement over 7’s solid foundation.
Returnal cast a spell on me -- awing with explosive combat, immersing with haptics, and captivating with a monumental atmosphere. Not only is it an easy game of the year contender, but it might also be one of the best action rogue-lites ever made.
The Nioh Collection is an absurdly good value proposition: two fantastic titles with a staggering amount of content and a stellar battle system make these some of the best action games available.
Olija may fail to make as big of a splash as its influences, but it's a worthwhile adventure with a palpable atmosphere.
Giving the formula a polish rivaled only by Agent 47's supernaturally perfect cranium is the best way for the Hitman trilogy to go out. New additions, great levels, and engine fine-tuning make the final entry every bit as good as the rest.