A trilogy of platformers with everyone's favorite Bandicoot. It's easy to see why these games were so popular when they were first released. Colorful levels, cartoony character designs, and a simple control scheme all bolster the platforming experience.

Some levels can be rather difficult, especially when going for relics. Depth perception can also be an infrequent issue; sometimes, you think a jump is perfect only to flat-out miss the platform. In spite of these rather small grievances, the N. Sane Trilogy provides a wonderful opportunity to reexperience Crash's beginnings.

100%: The gems and relics are going to be what consume most of your time...and patience. Some medal times require you to play nearly perfect, which can prove frustrating on vehicle levels and a few select other levels, such as The Lab.

The first entry in the Darksiders series. War's game focuses more on a God of War style of combat with a few puzzles and platforming elements sprinkled in to keep things somewhat fresh. Liam O'Brien does a wonderful job voicing the stoic War.

Darksiders feels like a mash of multiple games and, thus, can struggle at times to carve out its own identity. The story and setpieces are memorable enough. Combat can feel rigid and fluid at the same time. While the game doesn't do a whole lot to make itself stand out, it is fun for what it is.

100%: Apocalyptic difficulty can be challenging and will require some practice/upgrades to beat. The most annoying achievement by far is riding Ruin (your horse) for 100 miles. There's really not enough space in the main game's map to justify this distance requirement, even with the amount of backtracking you do. Find yourself a rubber band for your controller and save your sanity.

Eldest Souls wears its influences on its sleeve. From its story, to its combat, to the general atmosphere of the world, the game is not afraid to mimic From Software's iconic series. Prepare to die again and again against larger-than-life bosses.

Combat is simple and controls are tight. The Shard and Infusion systems help to create a build that matches your playstyle. The only enemies in the game are the bosses of each location, which can make the overworld feel a bit empty. Eldest Souls is a little on the short side, but it's overall a great experience.

100%: The hardest achievements by far are completing the game deathless and beating each boss hitless. With enough practice, you can get a feel for most attack patterns. Some fights, such as Eos, are absolutely rage-inducing to try and complete without getting hit.

My guilty pleasure and personal favorite of the Final Fantasy series. Final Fantasy XIII gets a lot of complaints, many rightly so. Most gameplay before reaching Gran Pulse is walking around cramped corridors. The characters can be grating and whiny at times.

The redeeming factor amidst the plethora of complaints is the combat system. The Paradigm system is perhaps my favorite way to engage in ATB-style combat. It's tactical, quick-paced, and allows for a surprising amount of depth.

The game also looks fantastic and features amazing setpieces and locations. It might not be the Final Fantasy game for everyone, but give this game a chance and it can really shine.

100%: Some of the later Cie'th Stone missions can prove rather difficult, especially the final one. The most time-consuming achievement bar none is the Treasure Hunt achievement. Farming Adamantortoises for ingots and trapezohedrons comprised almost 50% of my completion time for this game - certainly not for the faint of heart.

A Metroidvania masterpiece. Gameplay is sharp. Controls are crisp. The world-building is wonderful. Visuals are beautiful. The soundtrack is to die for.

Hollow Knight tells a compelling story without much dialogue. The world itself invites you to explore every nook and cranny, talk to every character so that you can piece together the story of this world. I only wish I could experience this game for the first time again.

The free DLCs are nothing short of amazing and further solidify Hollow Knight as not only one of the best indie games, but of the best video games ever made. I could blather on and on about how absolutely amazing this game is, but you should honestly just play it for yourself.

100%: In true Metroidvania fashion, you'll be spending a decent amount of time retreading old ground with new abilities to get upgrades and hidden items. The speedrun achievements are fun, and certainly doable once you have a path plotted out. Beating the game in Steel Soul mode is no joke - you're gonna need to practice for this one. The Pantheons can also be maddeningly difficult, but also extremely rewarding to finally conquer.

An incredibly fun puzzle-solving experience with a friend. Easy enough to pick up and play with anyone you can think of. Puzzles are creative and clever. The world itself is colorful and vibrant.

From military squirrels to giant plants to a talking book of romance, It Takes Two is a fantastic experience with your duo partner of choice.

100%: Nothing overly challenging. Finding all the minigames can be a bit hard since some of them are hidden well.

A decently made action-adventure game. Journey to the Savage Planet is very upfront about its style of humor. If you don't enjoy immense amounts of satire or meta-humor, you'll probably be looking elsewhere.

Gameplay consists of traveling between various areas defeating enemies with all sorts of weird weapons and exploring a vivid world. Most systems in the game are on the shallower side, but if you can appreciate the game's light-hearted nature, you'll find a fairly fun experience to be had.

100%: Some Metroidvania-style achievements, such as eating every orange goo or finding all the Explorer Logs, will require some backtracking. You will need a friend to play with in order to get some achievements.

This game is a hilariously chaotic experience from start to finish. Attempting to communicate effectively with your bomb-defusing partner while having limited information proves to be amazingly fun instead of overwhelmingly frustrating.

The amount of bombs to defuse is somewhat small, but the Steam Workshop provides plenty of custom-made puzzles for you to engage with. This is my go-to co-op game whenever I'm meeting someone new.

100%: Some bombs in the Exotic section can prove rather tricky depending on how comfortable you feel with their gimmicks.

Lego Marvel Avengers is a decent entry in the Lego universe of games. The story comprises the first two Avengers movies; confusingly, the game starts with a level from Age of Ultron, then has you play through all of the first Avengers movie, then the rest of Age of Ultron.

The gameplay is about what you expect from a typical Lego game. Characters are mostly fun to use and cool to see. There were a few performance issues/bugs on the PC version, but overall the experience was mostly solid.

100%: Typical collectathon achievements will require you to get every character, minikit, and gold brick. The largest hurdle to overcome will be collecting everything in Manhattan.

Metal: Hellsinger is one hell of a rhythm shooter. The music is death-defyingly good and the weapons are a ton of fun to experiment with. The miniature challenges are also nice pace breakers, though the primary campaign isn't that long to begin with.

There are a few things holding this game back. The sigils are fun to experiment with, but ultimately don't impact gameplay that much. There were a few hiccups in terms of rhythm sync and the final boss is a sharp increase in difficulty compared to the gameplay before it. Still, Metal: Hellsinger is a great time and surely deserving of a sequel.

100%: Finishing a level without being off-beat once can be frustrating, though with some patience it is definitely doable.

The gateway to the Monster Hunter series for some, a phenomenal 5th gen outing for me. World revolutionizes the hunt, adding interactability with the environment at unprecedented levels. Add stunning graphics and an amazing soundtrack and you have an unforgettable Monster Hunter experience.

Iceborne takes the amazing base game and adds even more over-the-top spectacle and gameplay. Fatalis is one of the hardest fights in the entire series and I was genuinely elated to finally overcome the challenge. A few minor complaints, such as lackluster weapon designs and the annoying cutscene interactions with multiplayer, don't come close to detracting from this once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

100%: The crowns will, without a doubt, be the most time-consuming part of completion. You will lament seeing a silver crown for the 13th time.