Earth Defense Force is the only series where I will cheer on a struggling framerate. Sandlot’s cult classic is all about filling the screen with giant bugs, aliens, and robots as you are tasked with blasting them to smithereens by any means necessary. You’re outnumbered from the start, with the last fragments of humanity facing impossible odds as they try to take their planet back from alien invaders. When performance slows to a crawl, you’re watching this struggle unfold in real time, and as it returns to normal, you’re turning the tide.

To my surprise, this can even happen in Earth Defense Force 6 on the PS5. 30 missions in and I find myself up against a swarming army of aggressive green ants that devour entire skyscrapers before scurrying towards me in their thousands. All I could do was spam R2 as their numbers started to dwindle, bloody corpses falling at my feet along with an arsenal of loot my ranger automatically added to his spoils. Moments like this are constant, and I’ll never tire of the relief that comes from wiping out an army of insects in mere seconds, only for another to emerge in its wake. It’s ridiculous, satisfying, and hasn’t changed a bit since the last game.