Dexerto

007: First Light is everything a Bond game should be, taking inspiration from the biggest hits with sharp dialogue, inventive gadgets, classic cars, satisfying stealth, a great cast, and huge action set pieces.

Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight takes 87 years of Batman history and crams it into one plastic package. The result is a joyous love letter to the Caped Crusader that feels like every classic Batman movie rolled into one.

Horizon’s sixth entry is such a triumph on almost every conceivable level that it’s difficult to imagine how Playground will be able to refine the series’ quality further than it already has. Barring wonky building systems that, thankfully, can be completely ignored, this isn’t just the quintessential Horizon game. Playground’s newest racer sets the benchmark for fun-first racing that’s almost obsessive in how accessible it makes itself to any type of player without anything getting lost in translation. Playground has spent 16 years refining Horizon’s formula into something remarkably frictionless, and Horizon 6 feels like the first time every piece fully clicks into place. Forza Horizon 6 doesn’t just bring the series to Japan. It finally brings Horizon home after a journey that started in Colorado, and the result is one of the best racing games of all time.

Invincible VS has enough complexity in its combat to make fighting fans punch drunk, but it’s straightforward enough that newer players can feel confident. Overall, it’s a wonderfully fun fighter that oozes personality in keeping with the comics and show, offering a good entry point into tag fighters that’s equally fun for newbies and die-hards alike.

Even while sharing much of its DNA with its predecessor, there’s nothing quite like it. SAROS is a one-of-a-kind gaming experience that absolutely can’t be passed up, though it might be best waiting a few weeks for some kinks to be ironed out.

Tomodachi is back, and it’s never been better. While the character creation is so nearly perfect, Living the Dream is a welcome trip down memory lane for fans of the original. It builds upon everything that made the 3DS original so special, creating an upgraded adventure that’s filled with even more odd interactions, silly situations, and laugh-out-loud lines that will have you coming back to view this microcosm of the weird and wonderful for countless hours to come.

Pragmata is a ridiculously fun sci-fi shooter with a warm, gooey center that feels like a long-lost gem from a bygone era of action games.

Pokemon Champions has a fantastic onboarding process for players unfamiliar with the ins and outs of competitive battling, but it still feels like it needs work. It would massively benefit from smoother performance, a review of its puzzling monetization, and a toning down of its grind, which, while more straightforward than the mainline games, requires sizable time investment just to unlock everything.

Marathon is a wildy inconsistent game that reaches blood-pumping highs, in between rounds of pure frustration. There's a great shooter hiding in there, but players will jump off before they find it.

So far, it’s a good game with the potential to be great. If these bosses and puzzles were more user-friendly, allowing you to spend more time enjoying the open world, it’d be a lot better for it.