Digimon Survive is a good — and surprisingly dark — visual novel, with a mediocre turn-based battle system.
TLoU Part 1 is for super fans of the series or those who missed the first two versions, especially for accessibility reasons. For everyone else, it's hard to recommend spending the 15 or so hours it takes to play through The Last of Us yet again.
The Madden NFL series has long had a solid gameplay foundation, maintained by small improvements year over year. Madden NFL 23 is the first iteration in a long time that rebuilds that foundation, and that’s where this year's greatest success lies. Some slippery collisions aside, the more physics-based action is a good change, and the control over ball placement from Skill-Based passing is a welcome addition. This comes at the cost of only minor updates to the core gameplay modes, but it was ultimately the right call to make, and Madden is a better game for it.
Loopmancer is like a great cover of a classic song, in 2D action-platformer roguelite form. It may not be very creative, but it's excellent and highly replayable nonetheless.
Combining the shooting action of Sniper Elite with the replayability of Hitman sounds like a winning idea. But is it?
MLB The Show 22 is mostly a retread of an already great game, but more bugs than usual and the not quite ready for primetime co-op mode are signs this series may be losing some velocity.
Babylon's Fall isn't a broken action RPG, but it isn't a good one, either – and it's one of the ugliest games in several console generations.
Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires is often fun, but it's no better than its predecessors - and, in some ways, it's worse.
Shadow Warrior 3 is a game that knows exactly what it is and wants to do. It's not high art, nor does it pretend to be, but it is still worth your time.
Dying Light 2 does so much so well. You never know what you are going to get when you venture out into Villedor.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction is an enjoyable game alone or with a squad. Good tactical shooting meets satisfying progression, but the end game has limited appeal.
Mario Party Superstars is a solid, if unambitious, compilation of the best the series has to offer.
Hell Let Loose can be a nightmarishly opaque experience for beginners, but behind that rough intro is a deep and well-crafted military simulation game.
Deathloop takes elements from games like Bioshock and Dishonored, combining them with a Groundhogs Day like timeloop to create the coolest, most stylish, and best game of the year.
Sniper Elite takes its first foray into virtual reality with Sniper Elite VR, but it stumbles on the most crucial steps.
Chivalry 2's ability to convert chaos into exuberance gifts players with an experience that brilliantly hones in on one of the greatest aspects of gaming: fun.
Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 delivers one of the best shooters of the year, with intense sniping, skillfully crafted progression, and engaging levels
Monster Energy Supercross 4 - The Official Videogame has a strong racing foundation but is unfriendly to newcomers and only a moderate upgrade over its predecessors.
Destruction AllStars looks great and is fun to play, but balance issues negatively affect gameplay, and overbearing microtransactions mar the experience.
Disjunction is a fun stealth action game with great art and music, but there aren't enough interesting elements to keep the gameplay from eventually growing stale.