With tons of classes to level and weapons to wield, Killing Floor 2 has some serious staying power. Tripwire has announced Xbox One X enhancements, too, which will keep the game going even longer.
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is an absolutely perfect remake of a classic game that predates many of today's gamers. Lizardcube and DotEmu not only brought The Dragon's Trap back for a new generation to appreciate, they also lavished it with utterly incredible artwork and newly performed music.
One needs a certain disposition to appreciate Dark Souls III – a willingness to face setbacks and challenges and then overcome them. Don't expect to play this just like any other action-RPG. If you're going to play this game, it must be on its own terms and as it's meant to be played. That patience will be rewarded with a masterpiece, easily one of the best action and role-playing games of the year.
Crypt of the NecroDancer is one of the best (and at times, one of the hardest) Roguelikes around.
Grab this one for its artistic beauty and a unique, captivating diving experience.
With a good variety of races, great track design, and both local and online multiplayer, this is the start of a series that deserves to continue long into the future.
Dragon's Dogma is a role-playing game that deserves to be appreciated. With so much content and depth, Dark Arisen is just as impressive as ever in the gameplay department. Few would've expected a Japanese developer like Capcom to release a "Western-style" action-RPG that could hold its own against the Elder Scrolls and Witcher series, but that's exactly what happened.
The level of choice is consistently interesting and rewarding.
NetherRealm and Warner Bros Studios have delivered a fantastic sequel with Injustice 2.
The strength of these games comes from story, characters, and direction. Here, Telltale takes a terrific set of characters and puts them through an adventure that feels perfectly in line with both the movie and comic universes.
Diablo-style games aren't all that rare, but the best ones are worth appreciating. Victor Vran is such a game. The slightly uninspiring name belies a huge action-RPG with great combat, clever platforming, and a welcome sense of humor.
Sonic Mania is still a long, wonderful return to form for the series that fans and newcomers alike should enjoy. Hopefully the upcoming Sonic Forces can maintain this level of quality, like Sonic deserves.
The Evil Within 2 is a frightening game, though perhaps not as pants-wettingly scary as the early portions of Resident Evil 7.
While it's true that a LEGO game will never surprise anybody, the individual games can still be tons of fun – especially when you like the property involved. LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 is a blast for Marvel fans, with hundreds of characters great and small, 20 huge levels with full co-op support, and a vast and beautiful open world to explore. True believers will get more than their money's worth from this one.
Whether you're interested in campaign or multiplayer, Call of Duty: WWII is the complete package and a must-play first-person shooter this holiday season.
Total War: Warhammer II is a great game for both novices and experts alike. The fantasy races provide a great diversity of units and exciting animations to keep battles lively, and the extensive tutorials and streamlined UI of this installment make it less confusing and faster to play. Multiple ways to win campaigns, cooperative and competitive multiplayer, and a big arsenal of separate quest battles all add tons of replay value as well.
This is a game of running at light speed, double-jumping like crazy, and perilously running across walls and over pits. The levels are just so vast and give you plenty to explore, and the collectables are fun to seek out as well. Throw in an intriguing story and you have one of the best indie 3D platformers in years. If you can withstand a true platforming challenge, don't let this one pass you by.
With so many twin-stick shooters on the market, they often tend to blend together. Ruiner stands at the top of the field, thanks in large part to its ultra-cool presentation.
Jackbox Party Pack 4 is a very solid collection of party games. In fact, it's probably the best entry in the series. Only one game is a real dud, with the other four games offering plenty of chances for hilarity. And Fibbage About You is a clever spin on the already great game of Fibbage.
When I spoke to the original developers at E3 a few years ago, I remarked that motion controls were the only holding Disneyland Adventures back. Now the game is back on Xbox One and Windows – and we can finally play it with a controller. With a vast virtual park to explore, loads of beloved characters, and plenty of minigames, Disneyland Adventures is one of the best Disney games out there.