OpenCritic Score: 88/100. 94% of Critics Recommended It.
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Critic's Consensus: While it's beset by its sluggish opening hours, and its galactic reach occasionally exceeds its relatively humble grasp, Starfield retains and improves on Bethesda's winning formula—for better and worse.
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The Breakdown:
+ Stunning visuals and art-direction
+ Engaging, varied side-quests
+ Lovable characters
+ Fun combat
+ Highly replayable
+ Bethesda's most polished release to date
~ Can border on being a bit much
- Uninspired main quest
- Excessive amount of loading screens and fast traveling
- Takes a few hours to get into
- Fairly janky in a few areas
- Lackluster UI design for maps

Back from my hiatus!
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OpenCritic Score: 85/100. 91% of Critics Recommended It.
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Critic's Consensus: Armored Core VI powers on its long-dormant franchise refreshingly while brandishing the depth that fans have come to have a burning passion for.
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The Breakdown:
+ Movement and controls feel more snappy and intuitive than ever
+ More accessible and less intimidating than you might initially expect
+ In-depth customization brings in plenty of replayability
~ Some critics find Armored Core VI to hew too close to series tradition in some regards; level design, in particular, stands out
- Story is less exhilarating than the gameplay
- Features a handful of inconsistent difficulty spikes

OpenCritic Score: 76/100. 74% of Critics Recommended It.
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Critic's Consensus: Although the dated genre trappings of its developer may start to feel best forgotten at a certain point, Amnesia: The Bunker remains a terrifying return to form and an ambitious step forward for its respective series.
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The Breakdown:
+ Strong presentation bolstered by fantastic sound design
+ Immersive sim-like elements provide a lot of welcome agency to player interaction
+ Genuinely terrifying and tense as all hell
- Hews too closely to Frictional's established formula
- Can get repetitious

OpenCritic Score: 74/100. 64% of Critics Recommended It.
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Critic's Consensus: While an admirably accurate recreation with plenty of character, the System Shock remake is occasionally corrupted by strict adherence to its classic material.
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The Breakdown:
+ Tense and atmospheric
+ Strong visual style
+ Nice, moody soundtrack
+ More accessible than the original game
+ SHODAN is still a fantastic and unnerving villain
+ Surprisingly faithful to the original...
- ...to a fault. Objectives are obtuse to track, and the labyrinthine stages only compound this
- AI isn't always the smartest, and not because they've had their ethical constraints removed

OpenCritic Score: 40/100. 4% of Critics Recommended It.
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Critic's Consensus: To all but the most devout of fans, Gollum unintentionally mirrors its protagonist's rugged sensibilities in the worst ways possible.
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The Breakdown:
+ A unique take on an established character
- Visually unappealing
- Poor controls
- Shoddy Level design
- Terrible stealth sections
- Laughably unfinished

OpenCritic Score: 96/100. 97% of Critics Recommended It.
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Critic's Consensus: Bolstered by the creativity offered by its new tools, Tears of the Kingdom shreds its already masterful predecessor.
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The Breakdown:
+ More of the same, for what that's worth
+ Brilliantly designed puzzles with a multitude of creative solutions
+ Features a liberating sense of creativity throughout
+ Technically impressive
- Some will find "more of the same" to be a detriment (if you weren't a fan of the weapon degradation system from the original, for example, that hasn't changed here).

OpenCritic Score: 59/100. 14% of Critics Recommended It.

Critic's Consensus: Far from cutting edge, Redfall bleeds short of its developer's talent and passion—but can be enjoyed with friends.

The Breakdown:
+ Co-Op is okay. It's not great, but hey, it does the job
+ The lore and setting are interesting in chunks
+ There are hints of Arkane's past work in Redfall...
- ...But it's easy to overlook because they decided to make this a looter shooter for some reason
- The Open World of Redfall is big, empty, and bereft of life
- Technically poor
- Presentation and storytelling leave a lot to be desired

OpenCritic Score: 74/100. 56% of Critics Recommended It.

Critic's Consensus: When there's no more room in development hell, the dead sometimes walk the earth in enjoyably old-fashioned ways.

The Breakdown:
+ Procedural gore system adds enjoyable novelty
+ Visually stunning
+ Entertainingly low-stakes
~ Humor can wear thin for some
- Combat can feel dated and gets repetitive quick
- Finicky gunplay
- Generic story

OpenCritic Score: 92/100. 98% of Critics Recommended It.

Critic's Consensus: Faithfully updating its source material for a new generation while keeping the spirit of the original in-tact, Resident Evil 4 is one of the best remakes to date.

The Breakdown:
+ Maintains the charm and fun factor of the original while being its own thing
+ Makes enough smart changes to warrant its existence
- Not entirely consistent (For some reviewers, this meant either the latter chapters being less interesting, or boss fights lacking the same fun factor)

OpenCritic Score: 74/100. 55% of Critics Recommended It.

Critic's Consensus: Atomic Heart's ambition is overshadowed by its inconsistent execution, but those looking for visual and audio splendor will find it in abundance.

The Breakdown:
+ Stunning art direction
+ Head-banging soundtrack courtesy of Mick Gordon
+ Alternate abilities can make combat lots of fun
- Insufferable protagonist
- Dull, predictable narrative
- Open world design is too muddled to entertain

OpenCritic Score: 59/100. 19% of Critics Recommended It.

Critic's Consensus: Wanted: Dead doesn't quite embalm the pedigree it aims to mimic but has enough energetic and goofy charm to distract.

The Breakdown:
+ Occasionally funny
+ Brutal executions and gore can make for a bloody good time at the best of moments
+ Jankiness can add to the charm
- Combat is unbalanced and repetitive
- Confounding narrative
- Bad voice acting

OpenCritic Score: 90/100. 99% of Critics Recommended It.

Critic's Consensus: A charmingly old-school romp, Hi-Fi Rush's self-assured direction delivers on its premise.

The Breakdown:
+ Vibrant, eye-catching art style
+ Excellent soundtrack
+ Charming and funny
- Pacing inconsistent in the last half

OpenCritic Score: 90/100. 96% of Critics Recommended It.

Critic's Consensus: Dead Space (2023) is a passionately made and iterative remake that proves worth a fright.

The Breakdown:
+ Gorgeous while being faithful to the original's signature art style
+ Maintains the original's tension while ratcheting the stakes
+ Successfully swaps a silent protagonist for one that talks without going too overboard
+ Adds to the original's strengths and addresses its weaknesses
- Side content and backtracking are inconsistently executed
- If you weren't impressed with the original Dead Space, your opinion likely won't change

OpenCritic Score: 69/100. 28% of Critics Recommended It.

Critic's Consensus: Although many of its shortcomings were foretold, Forspoken provides plenty of fun for those in search of a magical fantasy with whimsy.

The Breakdown:
+ Magic can be fun to use
+ Enjoyably breezy traversal mechanics
- Story is dull and uninspired, as are characters
- Open world busywork gets tiresome

OpenCritic Score: 82/100. 86% of Critics Recommended It.

Critic's Consensus: While a return to form for those who preferred the strategic focus of past entries, Fire Emblem Engage's narrative takes a far greater hit than anything on the battlefield.

The Breakdown:
+ Builds on and improves the already sturdy foundation built by all of the games before it
+ Visually appealing
- Narratively dry with forgettable characters

Metacritic Score: 8/100 on PC

Critic's Consensus: While a 50-car pile-up on Route 66 is a more compelling excuse for racing, Big Rigs still manages to provide unexpected entertainment value.

The Breakdown:
+ Almost borders on so bad it's good territory
- Gives Fallout 76 and Cyberpunk 2077 at launch a run for their money in terms of being unfinished.
- "You're winner"

OpenCritic Score: 56/100. 7% of Critics Recommended It.

Critic's Consensus: Funny for the bit but severely lacking outside of it, Choo-Choo Charles is at least notable for its blunt simplicity.

The Breakdown:
+ Equal parts goofy and scary in concept
+ Well-made for something done by a single person
+ Doesn't try to do too much
- Enemy AI isn't great
- Stealth sections are pretty bad
- Novelty wears thin

OpenCritic Score: 70/100. 44% of Critics Recommended It.

Critic's Consensus: While the bare essentials of a solid foundation can be found in High on Life, your mileage will vary depending on your aversion to the excess of its creators' humor.

The Breakdown:
+ The game plays alright, at least
+ Visually appealing

+/- The characters never shut up, so you'll either find this miserable if you don't find them funny or a light-hearted and fun time if you do. This is the one thing that has made this such a divisive title.

Editor's Note: I'm not putting this game on this list because I'm a massive fan of it (which I am). OpenCritic started polling games, I believe, around 2014. A listing for The Last of Us Remastered that has a consensus confirms this. Lone Survivor came out in 2012; somehow, it has a page on OpenCritic. While The Director's Cut came out in 2013 and received two more ports in 2014, the page does not mention that anywhere. The listing is simply under 'Lone Survivor.' Hotline Miami (released the same year as Lone Survivor) was ported to the PS4 in 2014; its presence on OpenCritic is limited to the collection that was released for the Nintendo Switch three years ago. Either someone on the OpenCritic staff is as fond of Jasper Byrne's survival horror classic as I am, or someone did an oopsie. Either way, it's a relatively minor detail that seems to only fascinate me. To celebrate, here's a consensus.
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OpenCritic Score: 82/100. 90% of Critics Recommended It.
Critic's Consensus: A delightfully creepy treat for horror fans, Lone Survivor is a surprisingly resonant and mature game held up by stellar presentation.

The Breakdown:
+ Gorgeous 2D art
+ Excellent sound design accompanies a soundtrack full of wonderful tunes
+ Solid narrative that tackles personal themes in a compelling way
+ Multiple endings provide a solid amount of replayability
- Map system can be confusing
- The one chase sequence that's in this game is one of the common reasons critics knocked their scores for this game down by a digit

Editor's note: this consensus reflects the experience as it was released. I will admit that I'm biased here, as I'm not personally a fan of this one. If my biases shine through, sorry.
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OpenCritic Score: 29/100. 6% of Critics Recommended It.

Critic's Consensus: An embarrassingly edentulous attempt at contemporary satire marred by severe technical issues, Postal 4 fails to revitalize its ancient formula with anything more than a wet fart.

The Breakdown:
+ John St. John is a fantastic voice actor, regardless of the material he's been hired to work with

- About as funny as Postal III was
- More of a chore to play than the errands you're tasked with
- A technical shit-show on all fronts

OpenCritic Score: 67/100. 42% of Critics Recommended It.

Critic's Consensus: As messy in execution as it is visceral, The Callisto Protocol never fully capitalizes on its influences.

The Breakdown:
+ Visually stunning
+ Backed by excellent sound design
+ Incredibly violent
+ Josh Duhamel and Karen Fukuhara do not disappoint

+/- You'll either find the combat to be merely okay or you'll fucking hate it with a passion. This is what's going to make or break The Callisto Protocol for you

- Not scary
- Difficulty spikes near the last half of the game can feel unfair
- Unimpressive narrative
- Performance issues abound

OpenCritic Score: 75/100. 64% of Critics Recommended It.

Critic's Consensus: Although it borders on so-bad-it's-good territory a little too often for its own good, Evil West still delivers enough of a fistful of action to deliver on its premise.

The Breakdown:
+ Punchy, enjoyable combat encounters
+ Character progression mechanics are fun
+/- You'll either find the experience to be so stupid it's enjoyable or weighed down by its paper-thin narrative.
- Can feel dated (Definition of "dated" varies between critics)

OpenCritic Score: 72/100. 59% of Critics Recommended It.

Critic's Consensus: Although its comedic appeal loses its luster through the chaos, Goat Simulator 3's anarchic focus is more tightly constructed than its predecessor.

The Breakdown:
+ Crazy in the best way possible, both in its variety of missions and customization options
+ 4 Player Co-Op is as fun as it sounds
+/- While Goat Simulator 3's scattershot humor has appeal, some may find it to wear thin over repeat play sessions
- Inconsistent technical performance across the board

Editor's Note: This entry encompasses both Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. The entry here originally specified the Double Pack, but I've since changed it to the game with the highest number of Plays to ensure this list gets a bump in visibility.
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OpenCritic Score: 76/100. 55% of Critics Recommended It.

Critic's Consensus: Pokemon Scarlet and Violet continue the modern lineage of Pokemon with little deviation—ambitious but technically underdeveloped.

The Breakdown:
+ It's still Pokemon.
+ Open World adds to the experience
- Marred by persistent technical issues, both big and small
- Visually unappealing

OpenCritic Score: 74/100. 60% of Critics Recommended It.

Critic's Consensus: Though it represents a marginal improvement over its predecessors, The Devil in Me is nonetheless held back by their same issues.

The Breakdown:
+ Occasionally startling
+ Fascinating setting and premise
+ Interesting new additions to gameplay
- Dull characters
- Inconsistent execution (For some critics, this is pacing. For others, it's a little harder to describe. I've purposefully left this vague for that reason.)

Editor's Note: these scores, and reviews, were polled from Cyberpunk 2077's release window and do not reflect the game running on its more recent patch. While an earlier version of this list used OpenCritic as a source, the disparity of review scores between platforms means I have to resort to Metacritic.
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Metacritic Score (PC): 86/100 from 92 critics.

Critic's Consensus: Cyberpunk 2077's setting and side-stories occasionally fail to hide its reach exceeding its grasp, but are enough to accommodate more forgiving players.

The Breakdown:
+ Night City is a great setting that's fun to explore and look at
+ Enjoyable, if imperfect, main quest
+ Fun characters and great side content
- Evidently unfinished; set back by major technical issues and lack of polish.
- Cyberpunk's brand of Sci-Fi storytelling won't be to everyone's taste
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Metacritic Scores (LAST-GEN): 57/100 on PlayStation 4 from 38 critics and 61/100 on Xbox One from 16 critics for a total of 118/200.

Critic's Consensus: While Cyberpunk remains a compelling experience, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions are botched jobs that only manage to scrape by on the strength of its compelling narrative and characters.

The Breakdown:
+ The base Cyberpunk 2077 experience is still in there...
- But it's buried under a myriad of technical issues that make the game practically unplayable
- While Cyberpunk 2077 was falsely marketed on all platforms leading up to its launch, CD Projekt Red's attempt to hide the poor quality of its last-gen releases is especially egregious.
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Metacritic Scores (NEXT-GEN): 75/100 on PlayStation 5 from 7 critics and 87/100 on Xbox Series X from 5 critics for a total of 160/200.

Critic's Consensus: Cyberpunk 2077's Next-Gen releases are how the game should have been released in its first state: less rough around the edges, and accessible to anyone without a gaming PC.

The Breakdown:
+ The base experience is still there, in all of its glory
+ Benefits greatly from updates that enhance the experience
+ Actually playable
- If you didn't like Cyberpunk 2077 then, you sure as hell won't be persuaded now

Metacritic's Scores: 16/100 on PC, 13/100 on PlayStation 3, and 19/100 on Xbox 360 for a total of 48/300.

Critic's Consensus: For as broken, juvenile, and unintentionally hilarious as it remains, at least Ride to Hell's title doesn't deceive you.

The Breakdown:
+ Funny... but for the wrong reasons
- A litany of persistent technical problems and gameplay woes plague the experience from start to end
- Mistakes blatant and confounding misogyny for eroticism

OpenCritic Score: 86/100. 89% of Critics Recommended It.

Critic's Consensus: Although its narrative may leave something to be desired, Bayonetta 3 manages to be a worthwhile adventure that packs an impressive amount of variety into its already off-the-walls action formula.

The Breakdown:
+ Fast-paced, engrossing action
+ Wonderfully delirious set pieces that manage to up the ante in impressive ways
+ Great voice acting
- Story is a bit on the weaker side

OpenCritic Score: 94/100. 98% of Critics Recommended It.

Critic's Consensus: A worthy sequel on all fronts, Ragnarok closes the book on the narrative threads laid bare in its predecessor in a typically ambitious and emotional fashion.

The Breakdown:
+ More ambitious scope pays off
+ Caps off God of War (2018)'s narrative satisfyingly
+ Remains a viscerally satisfying experience
+ Great character writing draws you in
- Some will find it to be a little too long in the tooth

OpenCritic Score: 73/100. 57% of Critics Recommended It.

Critic's Consensus: While its series reinventions can seem first-draft, Sonic Frontiers represents a vibrant, colorful step in the right direction for the blue blur.

The Breakdown:
+ Understands that people love to see Sonic go fast
+ Open-ended nature compliments the speed of gameplay
- Could use more technical polish
- Gameplay gets repetitive and tiresome after long sessions
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Backloggd Score: 3.8/5 from 228 users.

Community Consensus: Sonic Frontiers is a promising return to form that will satisfy long-term fans and newcomers alike while paying narrative dividends to series history.

Editor's Note: the consensus here has been modified. I misread a few of the reviews and felt the need to amend that.
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OpenCritic Score: 87/100. 90% of Critics Recommended It.

Critic's Consensus: Pentiment backs up its passionately crafted detective story with solid writing and a historical depiction of its medieval setting.

The Breakdown:
+ Eye-candy art style
+ Compellingly written
- Gameplay won't be to everyone's liking

OpenCritic Score: 69/100. 42% of Critics Recommended It.

Critic's Consensus: Scorn's divisively uncompromising blend of artistic influences and genres won't be to everyone's liking, but for those enamored with atmosphere, it delivers.

The Breakdown:

+ Artistic influences shine through
+ Excellent sound design
+ Full of intuitive and rewarding puzzles

- Disparate mixture of genres can feel messy at best, and unwieldy at worst. In particular, the action sections don't stick the landing
- Save system can lead to frustration
- Narratively vague