Like the base game did before it, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree raises the bar for single-player DLC expansions. It takes everything that made the base game such a landmark RPG, condenses it into a relatively compact 20-25 hour campaign, and provides fantastic new challenges for heavily invested fans to chew on.
Even in its Early Access state, Hades 2 is just about everything one could ask for in a sequel to one of the best roguelites of all time. Featuring excellent refinements to its roguelite progression, a fantastic new main character in Melinoe, and two unique sets of levels that have you fighting foes on the surface and in the underworld.
Stellar Blade is great in all of the most important ways for an action game, but dull characters, a lackluster story, and several frustrating elements of its RPG mechanics prevent it from soaring along with the best of the genre.
Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising fully realizes the potential that the vanilla game showed back in 2020. This is a feature rich and absolutely gorgeous 2D anime fighter with a deep roster of 28 fantastic characters, great netcode, and well implemented gameplay tweaks that reinvigorate the already exciting fighting system.
Ghostrunner 2 is a sequel that builds upon everything that made the first game great, leading to 10-12 hours of absolutely action packed, high speed, cyberninja excellence, along with a great, replayable, roguelike mode as well.
Mortal Kombat 1 proves to be too much for the Switch's dated hardware. The load times are egregious, there are numerous bugs plaguing both graphics and gameplay, making for a poor quality port of a great game that's all around aggravating to play.
So far, the Kameo system and smart changes to the fighting make MK1 feel fresh and exciting, the story mode is predictably great, even if Invasions seems like more of a grind than I'm willing to put myself through to unlock the best cosmetic items.
Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon’s stellar customization options feed into its excellent mecha combat, and the result is challenging combat puzzles that kept my attention all the way through its 15-hour campaign and beyond. It’s let down by a dull story, but lands direct hits where it counts.
Exoprimal's unique take on the hero shooter genre is a bold one – with its best modes and surprises hidden deep within its goofy sci-fi story – but a variety of fun exosuits, the simple appeal of tearing through thousands of dinos, and great multiplayer design make that grind an easy one to recommend sticking with.
Featuring fast, reflex driven, action heavy combat, Final Fantasy 16 is certainly a departure from what fans may expect out of a Final Fantasy game, but its excellent story, characters, and world building are right up there with the best the series has to offer, and the innovative Active Time Lore feature should set a new standard for how lengthy, story-heavy games keep players invested in its world.
Street Fighter 6 is the most feature-rich a Street Fighter has ever been at launch, but even beyond that, it's roster of 18 characters is excellent, the new mechanics revitalize the one-on-one fighting formula, and it absolutely nails all of the little things that make for a stellar fighting game.
Pizza Tower is a blisteringly fast 2D platformer with an unmistakable art style and unforgettable soundtrack that transcends its Wario Land inspirations and finds its own identity as one of the most energetic, fun, and creative 2D platformers in recent memory.
Familiar issues with storytelling and loot aside, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is another great entry in Team Ninja's growing collection of action RPGs that features some of the best combat in the soulslike genre, even though those battles start to lose their tension due to a distinct lack of enemy variety to fill out the 20+ hour runtime.
Wanted: Dead's shallow combat, dated presentation, and poorly balanced difficulty are the tip of the iceberg of issues that ultimately sinks this disappointing action game from the makers of Ninja Gaiden.
One Piece Odyssey proves that a classic turn-based RPG is a good genre fit for the world and characters of One Piece, and that makes it rewarding despite a lack of tension in its all-too-easy fights and some frustrating quest design that pads out its length.
One of the best combat systems in gaming gets even better with Bayonetta 3. It's story is a bit of a letdown and its wild action scenes take a toll on the performance in certain spots, but neither of those issues get in the way of Bayonetta 3 being a top shelf action game on the Switch.
Shovel Knight Dig is a wonderful melding of the mechanics and feel of Shovel Knight and the ever evolving roguelite genre. It stumbles a bit on its roguelite progression mechanics, and its a bit on the short side, but none of that stops Shovel Knight Dig from being a blast to play.
Rumbleverse combines all of the deep mental mind games and combat sensibilities of a fighting game with the last-person-standing objective of a battle royale to incredible effect, leading to one of the most refreshing takes on the battle royale genre in recent memory.
GigaBash succeeds as a fun arena fighter with a focus on four-player chaos, even if that fun doesn't quite translate over quite as well to the solo or online experience.
Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course is not just more Cuphead, it's more of the best type of Cuphead. The six new main bosses are all incredible from both a visual and design standpoint, making this DLC expansion nearly essential for any Cuphead fan.