There are a few setbacks, but none of them so much as taint the fact that Horizon Chase Turbo: Deluxe Edition - a simple and fun experience either alone or with friends - is a solid choice worth considering for arcade racing enthusiasts.

Though I wanted to love the game, The Origami King’s elements are disparate overall: while the writing is superb, you’ll spend as much time solving easy puzzles and seeking out only-somewhat hidden Toads as you will engaging in memorable conversations.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time revisiting Star Wars Episode I: Racer. Despite its occasional quirks and missed opportunities, it does deliver on a consistent, mostly-bug-free performance that made me pine for both LucasArts’ heyday, and the golden age of high-speed futuristic racers, which have all but disappeared as a sub-genre.

Ghost of Tsushima offers a serviceable number of thrills through its combination of demanding sword combat and stealth murder tactics, but is undermined by its refusal to innovate on the broader trappings of open-world games.

Despite its short length, for hardcore action aficionados, I feel there’s a lot to recommend Lithium City, a title that reminded me of the simpler days, back when action titles were less about the power fantasy, and more about limiting player options and forcing them to adapt to sets of carefully-crafted challenges.

Some design choices and presentation choices in X-Morph: Defense could leave you on the fence with this one, as its charm will only kick in once you’ve experienced a few missions that leave you barely standing and wanting more.

Kentucky Route Zero sometimes feels like a choose-your-own-adventure title, except instead of choosing how the story progresses, you choose how the characters internalize the story, environment, and their interactions, which sounds restrictive in theory, but in practice makes the whole experience both fresh and infinitely more satisfying. 

The Last of Us: Part II is a game that may challenge your moral compass. I can foresee that this will be talked about by players for weeks, even months, making it a rare experience worth soldiering through.

Legends of Runeterra is a quick and satisfying online card game that has the potential to be among the best titles in its genre. Riot Games has had a good start to their new experiment, but the success of these mobile games are based on how Riot will support them with new cards and balance changes, both to keep the competitive circle in check, and to keep things fun for the community.

In the end, when the world of Remake is so painstakingly realized, the combat so immersive, the characters this fully brought to life, I found it difficult to remain steadfast in my apathy towards its source material. Even as the game reaches its heart-stopping conclusion, hinting at not just a greater villain to confront, but a saga on the verge of sweeping you away, Remake feels complete.

Nioh 2 is chock full of features that are designed to encourage you to be creative and personalize your whole gameplay experience. I guess the only hurdle for players new to the franchise is Nioh 2's very steep difficulty and learning curve. But if you can tough it out and get past that, this is a game you may even see yourself revisiting time and again.

2020’s Resident Evil 3 is an action-packed spectacle that looks and feels great, but it can’t cover up the contrived nature of the encounters with Nemesis. The absence of some of the locations and plot beats of the original only shortens a narrative that’s already criminal in its brevity.