Polygon

At its best, the game is a celebration of Marvel, putting together characters from lore deep-dives with big-screen names like Captain America and Star-Lord. At its worst, it is a vague, opaque slog through hundreds of identical enemies and bad level design. Sadly, Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 is more “stepping on lego bricks” than “excelsior.”

Star Wars fans who feel compelled to try everything in the franchise will probably have an OK time. But the lack of clear vision that Battlefront 2 shows at its debut is too much uncertainty for a AAA shooter, much less one bearing the Star Wars logo.

Need For Speed Payback doesn’t do many favors for itself. It’s a fun racing game whose flashy story would be fine if I felt like I was building a blinged-out career worthy of it. Instead, I felt driven toward pure stats upgrades, heedless of what the car was or what it looked like.

And therein lies the issue that seems to extend throughout Call of Duty: WWII and the franchise at large. There’s a distinct sense that changing the formula is just too risky for such a major property, which leaves Call of Duty in an enjoyable but unremarkable rut.

The Frozen Wilds arrives in time to petition for a spot on Game of the Year lists. The expansion accomplishes this goal with ease, rehashing what worked the first time around. Sure, The Frozen Wilds doesn’t add much new, and shares Horizon’s flaws, but the expansion operates fine when taken as simply more of a great thing.

Forces may have had a larger budget than Mania, but it feels like the poorer creation all around. Unless your dearest dream has always been to play a Sonic game as your own original fan art character, Sonic Forces doesn't have much to offer.

Steven Universe: Save the Light feels like watching an episode of the show mixed with some sweet old-school RPG nostalgia. It’s got the pure heart that makes Steven Universe so special, which makes it all the more tragic that it's just so riddled with stability issues.

B.J. is comfortable killing thousands upon thousands of his enemies if they stand between him and a bit of peace. But killing isn’t all that Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus offers. It’s the rare first-person shooter that explores the first time its hero pulled a trigger; it’s the rare first-person shooter that is comfortable connecting with the primal, untamed parts of your brain while celebrating just how fucking good it feels to lay out a Nazi.

From that perspective, it’s no surprise that Super Mario Odyssey is, yes, a great game. But more than that, it’s a fantastic, even fundamental addition to Mario’s legacy. From a plumber to a doctor to a tennis star to, uh, a Goomba, Mario has endured. No, this will not be the last Mario game, but it is almost certain to be lauded as one of his best.

In essence, Assassin’s Creed Origins is much the same game as the original Assassin’s Creed, which came out a decade ago. It’s a formula that people like to play, and it’s certainly been honed and improved over the years. Origins is, then, undoubtedly the best iteration of this formula yet. But I yearn for a fresh approach and new ideas, something that astounds the senses as much as the wondrous world this game inhabits.