As we turn the final page of our 2024 calendars and head off into 2025, it’s time to take one last look back at the year that was and hand out some much deserved Best (and Worst) Awards!

It’s time to (finally) play as Zelda instead of typical protagonist Link! Should you wield the Tri Rod as the title heroine, create echoes, and start playing this action-adventure puzzle game today?

As a big RPG fan who appreciates and enjoys turn-based combat, Octopath Traveler 2 should be right in my wheelhouse. After playing for over 70 hours, is it a game that I’d recommend?

Star Ocean: The Second Story R might not have the most exciting name for a video game ever, but how does it hold up as a remaster of a highly-regarded classic RPG?

Pokémon Ruby is a third-generation game originally released along with Pokémon Sapphire in 2002. Part of the mainline series of games, Ruby and Sapphire introduced 135 new Pokémon! How playable is it in 2024?

 It’s that time of year again — that time for the year to be over! I can only hope that 2024 will be filled with as many great movies, TV shows, and video games as this past one was, because when it came to all three categories 2023 really delivered.

Super Mario RPG is a remake of the original Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, which was released on the SNES in 1996, and has since become a bit of a cult classic. Though I don’t personally have nostalgia for the original game, I’m a big fan of both role-playing games and Mario, so I was excited to try this updated version.

Hogwarts Legacy is an action-RPG with a supremely worthwhile main storyline, engaging side stories, and open world elements that lead to enchanting exploration at one’s own pace. It’s also the best Wizarding World property since the original books.

Chained Echoes is a solidly decent game that you should play if you’ve already played all of the better games out there.

Sea of Stars is available on a variety of platforms. Is this new JRPG worthy of your time? Is it (perhaps) the best game of 2023?

It’s extremely rare for me that I can play a game for over 120 hours and still feel like I’ve got plenty more to accomplish with it, but that’s the way I feel about The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, an all-around fantastic open-world adventure that can be enjoyed by just about anyone.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was the first game released on the Switch and is still regarded as one of the console’s top games. With its sequel coming later this year, I finally played through the now six-year-old Zelda title.

I was a huge fan of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, so I had high hopes for this next entry in the series. Unfortunately, it fell quite a bit short of my expectations in one key area.