But Why Tho?

Gears of War: E-Day shines by showing off humanity's perseverance. Every new character stands out, never overshadowed by the legacy of Marcus or Dom. Even with the game taking place in one city over several days, the evolution of that city and its inhabitants has created fleshed-out characters that you're rooting for the success of every step of the way.

Ghost of Yotei Complete Edition is easily the definitive version of the experience. It gives fans more to do in an already fantastic experience, filling in pieces of history that are genuinely interesting to learn about.

End of Abyss tries to balance a lot, from sci-fi survival horror with souls-like metroidvania exploration. But it buckles under its own weight.

Toem 2 is another delightful photographic journey that tells us all to slow down as well as explores the power of community.

While Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave is occasionally held back by some imperfect features, its amazing combat, overall narrative depth, world-building, and visuals make it one of the best titles in the franchise.

Dragon Quest Heroes: Torneko’s Mystery Dungeon -Classic HD- feels old and gets stale quickly.

Transport Fever 3 is a massive game with plenty to offer and tons of fun, especially for genre fans. With a significantly improved UI and streamlined systems, new players can enter the franchise and veterans can focus on more important things than sifting through menus to assign a truck to a new fish cargo line. The simplicity of color coding and the use of radius circles really highlight these UI upgrades. And with so many industries and so much cargo to dive into, there is so much to do that it’s easy to lose track of time, which is exactly what a game like this should be.

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve still has some growing to do on the ground, with a story that never quite lands its biggest ideas and first-person scenes that keep you out of the cockpit longer than they should. Once you’re in the air, though, it’s the best Ace Combat has ever felt.

Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter is the payoff 1st Chapter was building toward. The dungeons and backtracking keep it just short of perfect, but the storytelling and presentation are as good as RPGs get right now.

EA Sports FC 27 rewards the people who put time into it. The defending and transfer overhauls carry the year, even where The Grounds hasn’t backed up its ambition with substance.