While its structural, environmental, and contextual inconsistencies hold Desperados 3 back, its ability to facilitate clever and crafty strategies in its best moments kept me coming back for more.
Despite an inconsistent RPG mode, Granblue Fantasy: Versus contains well-balanced and rewarding gameplay for fans, experienced players, and newcomers alike.
Freedom Planet 2 feels like the first game with a bigger budget, expanding on many of the key mechanics it employs from its Sonic roots while crafting a unique identity with its complex levels and refreshingly unique enemy and boss design.
MLB The Show 24 doesn't fix what isn't broken with its gameplay, and it complements its consistently stellar on-field gameplay with new content meant to honor baseball's history and the people that make the game what it is today.
EA Sports PGA Tour gives you likely everything you could want in a golf game, including many of the most important courses and a few of the best players, and while it's not revolutionary or groundbreaking as modern golf games go, its gameplay is satisfying and fun enough to take you onto golf's biggest stages in the right way.
MLB The Show 23 is a continuation of one of the best sports game franchises on the market, and the inclusion of the Negro Leagues Storylines mode makes it an even better way to experience the game and learn about its history even further.
Monster Hunter Rise knows exactly why its formula works and emphasizes it to a more accessible and rewarding degree.
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands doesn't stray too far from the Borderlands series, but it doesn't need to when the consistently funny characters and familiar yet satisfying gameplay are this enjoyable from front to back.
Destiny 2: The Witch Queen is yet another reason Bungie’s epic living world has this type of staying power, and new and existing players alike have every reason to jump in here.
The King of Fighters XV is a huge upgrade over its predecessor in its visuals and presentation, and its minor tweaks to gameplay make an already stellar franchise even better.
There’s an immediate familiarity for House of Ashes in the Dark Pictures catalog, but this entry is as thematically complex and consequently engaging as any game in the series so far.
Back 4 Blood wastes no time trying to divert your attention from its obvious influences, but it doesn’t need to when it nearly lives up to the expectations its spiritual predecessors set so high.
Diablo 2: Resurrected is a faithful, meticulous remaster that shows just how well the original has aged.
While not a monumental upgrade over past installments, WRC 10 makes some welcome changes to the formula that continue to make it a must-play for fans of the sport.
Outriders actively props up its own strengths and encourages you to employ them, organically allowing you to experience its full potential and mostly outweighing a disjointed story.
While it misses the chance to transcend the sum of its parts, Maquette tells a beautifully relatable story with a gorgeous presentation, accompanied by a clever and unique size-bending puzzler.
Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends and the Secret Fairy overshadows its monotonous alchemy system with a fitting combination of charm, exploration, and a dynamic, living world.
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game made good on the promise that movie tie-in games usually failed to keep, and the Complete Edition proves that virtually the entire package is just as enjoyable over a decade later.
CrossCode creates a wonderful world for its characters to immerse themselves and for us to explore, and its gameplay allows it to also be a wonderfully complex RPG.
Despite a shallow loot system, Minecraft Dungeons crafts an enjoyable and relaxing dungeon crawling experience that offers something for both fans of the series and fans of the genre.