It's hard to express just how much I adore Undertale without spoiling anything significant, but that's what I love about it. It tells its story in such a dynamic way, and with such a great understanding of the RPG player's mindset, that it couldn't have been told in any other way. It's a masterfully crafted experience that I won't forget any time soon.
After 20 years of slow but steady evolution, Pokemon gets a bit of a reinvention in Sun and Moon. An engrossing and rich new region makes the Alola journey — along with all the changes Sun and Moon make to the existing formula — enjoyable throughout the main adventure, and small interface and variety of upgrades along the way make a few of the things that stayed the same feel better than before.
Night in the Woods delivers an evocative take on the early-20s existential crisis with awkward humor and charming characters.
RDR 2 succeeds as both a prequel to Red Dead Redemption and a story in its own right, and though it can take some patience, your effort is well worth it.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe makes significant updates to the original that make its racing chaos the definitive version.
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus' story of resistance is made more powerful by giving you the tools in combat to overcome incredible odds.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is a game that is mechanically complex, consistently rewarding, and very hard to put down.
Death Stranding is dense, complex, and powerful, steadfast in its belief in the power of love and hope when faced with overwhelming adversity.
Pokemon Sword and Shield scale down the bloated elements of the series while improving what really matters, making for the best new generation in years.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons gives you more creative freedom and more to do on any given day while preserving what makes the series special.
Stardew Valley beautifully combines genres to create a captivating small-town life sim.
Modern Warfare Remastered brings a significant graphical upgrade to the classic shooter.
Oxenfree is elegantly simple, using branching dialogue and a little something supernatural to develop three-dimensional characters and drive the coming-of-age story. There's not much else to it in terms of gameplay, which is absolutely a good thing, but pacing issues in its story can make it feel sluggish between conversations. Mostly, though, it's like walking through a stunning painting, listening to the idle chatter and revealing talks of (sometimes unnatural-sounding) teenagers.
Happy Home Designer gets pretty much everything right when it comes to decorating, encouraging creativity, and exploring different styles. It's sometimes unsatisfying to work without a sense of progression, but taking away progression unlocks means there's no limits on the creativity you can express with Animal Crossing's huge range of options. There's no shortage of actual designing to do, and the series' charm prevents it from becoming just a series of soulless tasks. Plus, you won't have to worry about being in debt with a raccoon this time around.
Destiny 2 is very similar to the original, but a variety of tweaks and additions make it a far better experience.
Splatoon 2 is a fresh, vibrant sequel that introduces smart updates to the original's unique formula.
Zombies Chronicles takes a good combination of maps and upgrades them with great attention to detail.
Though they aren't very different from their predecessors, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon make enough changes to stand apart as the definitive version of the seventh generation games.
A strong foundation and a high-quality port make Skyrim worth revisiting on Switch.
Rise and Fall introduces smart new features to Civ VI that enhance the base game without overcomplicating it.