If I want serious adult drama, I'll watch The Walking Dead. But for sheer, unadulterated fun, Dead Rising 3 has my thumbs, eyes, brain and heart. Or, as a zombie would call it, a well-balanced breakfast.
I've never played anything quite like Guild of Dungeoneering, and while its lo-fi look took some time to win me over, it's become my go-to game for quick, bite-sized gaming that still satisfies an overall sense of achievement. As the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog taught us, we shouldn't judge something on cuteness alone.
Still, Rocket League is one of those games that almost anyone can pick up and enjoy, yet still find themselves getting better at after dozens of hours of play. It's a throwback to the good old days of gaming, when fun mattered more than anything.
So far, Civilization: Beyond Earth is a stellar – no pun intended – new addition to the franchise, and what it lacks in the familiarity of historical cultures and settings it gains with some clever new tweaks and an even grander vision of humanity's potential. See you in a million days. Give or take.
The meal hasn't been perfect, but it's been very memorable. The waiter keeps coming by with the dessert cart, and I keep waving him away.
True, I still don't know my Hunter's name. But suddenly I'm a lot more excited about spending another year with her.
Legend has it that Shigeru Miyamoto designed his original Super Mario Bros. levels on long rolls of graph paper. The tools have certainly changed over the decades, but the magic – in the right hands, at least – remains exactly the same.
Despite its problems, The Last Guardian is an incredible piece of imaginative world-building. As a game, it mostly succeeds. As something we've been anticipating for nine years… well, that might be too tall an obstacle for even a giant flying dog to get over.
Just Cause 3 doesn't hold too many surprises, particularly if you're familiar with the previous titles in the series. But it offers an almost unlimited number of ways to create your own flavour of mayhem, and is a source of constant "did you just SEE that?" moments. If the next Michael Bay movie features a dude hanging upside from a helicopter while blowing up a bridge with a missile launcher, you'll know where it came from.
While I'm not sure any game will replace my nostalgic, rose-coloured memories of the original Deus Ex, Mankind Divided is a small but satisfying step forward for the franchise, offering tons of player freedom in a dark, dangerous and intricately detailed future.
While it's far from the typical video game adventure, That Dragon, Cancer is a reminder that games can be so much more than just wish-fulfillment power fantasies. It's an important and unforgettable experience, full of pain, love and grace.
But these are relatively small nitpicks for a game that's otherwise fun, fresh and full of flair. It's the most innovative shooter I've played in years.
For the time being, though, this is a smashing return to form for one of Nintendo's most popular franchises, endlessly energetic and electrifying. Not unlike Pikachu's farts.
Genre-defining? Not quite. Maybe that will come with Gears 5. Or Gears 6. That’s the thing about a Fenix – they always rise again.
In any other year, we’d probably be more in awe of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. But in 2016’s heavily contested battleground, its just one powerful combatant among many.
Advanced Warfare brings some new elements to the experience that make it stand out, but some of these changes only serve to remind us how rigid the Call of Duty box is, and how unwilling the franchise is to think outside it.
Good games based on J. R. R. Tolkien's works are surprisingly rare, and Shadow of Mordor is certainly a sword-thrusting lunge in the right direction. It's slick and fun, with solid production values and some new takes on what's becoming an overly familiar formula. There's just not quite enough here to make it truly preciousss.
Of course, speculation is that Disney Infinity 3.0 will come out next year and introduce Star Wars characters and worlds. In which case, all bets are off. And I'll need more room in my real-world toy box.
Despite its flaws and despite its repetitiveness, I haven't been this invested in a shooter in a long while. Whether that lasts is up to fate.
For its vibrant visual design, wonderful music and sheer whimsical weirdness, Hohokum is well worth experiencing. But at times it seems to be meandering back and forth between a video game and a piece of interactive art, unsure of which world it belongs to.