Dynasty Warriors: Origins is a fun action game to start 2025. If you’re a fan of the previous entries in the series, this is a great pickup to continue the momentum. If you’ve never played a Dynasty Warriors game, Origins can still be fun but you may want to wait until it’s available on sale. The action will keep you hooked, but you’ll want to look away from the screen during the boring story scenes. 2025 is set to be a big year for gaming, and Dynasty Warriors: Origins is a great way to start things off.

Primal Survivors is an average title with nothing to really make it stand out or be remarkable in any way. Afil Games has been pumping out titles lately, but I'd like to see what they could do with a little more time on a single game as opposed to the mad rush of cornucopia titles.

I'm not going to be the one to tell you not to buy it, but I'm also not going to be the one to give a glowing review of a game that does leave a bit to be desired. What I will do is simply say that F1 23 is still an enjoyable enough game to justify passing up on purchasing this year's edition.

Despite its dated graphics, stand control choices and ugly character models, there's still plenty to love about the Hotel Renovator. Whether you're trying to make your lobby more presentable, finding accommodations for a survivalist that wants a sleeping bag and tent in their room or just helping your run-of-the-mill vampire find a place for the night, it's a nice surprise. So before the game's graphics have you running for the door, take a stab at this with your steely knives.

Another Code: Recollection collects the original Another Code with its sequel Another Code: R which never saw a North American release. While the original DS title was an absolute classic with clever puzzles that require unique usage of the DS's features, the simplified and dumbed-down Switch rerelease turns the puzzle game into a basic visual novel. While the first game's story is unique, the sequel is painfully slow to get through. Despite my love for the original, this is a very hard game to recommend, especially given its $60 price point.

Caves of Lore can be addicting for any adventurer looking for variety and diversity in RPG exploring. I would caution anyone looking for a straightforward saga with easily accessible quests, Caves of Lore is for stat managers and detail oriented gamers. It would seem that Caves of Lore is already picking up praise as the game has won the Gold Award from Games Without Borders and has a 96% positive rating on Steam. Mike Robins spent a lot of time and details on making sure this gem scratches that old-school itch and he nailed it.

Detective Pikachu 2 makes a lot of fun choices to make sure gamers know the story will differ from the movie. But different doesn’t equal interesting. While there are many interesting plot points, they are separated by miles of incredibly simple and boring game play that challenges players at the same level most children’s programming does, by waving the answer directly in your face. Younger gamers will get a kick out of this low stakes detective story but older gamers are in for an absolute slog.

It’s hard not to enjoy Mortal Kombat 1, but the main story is too tied into the overall gameplay, which makes the “it doesn’t make sense” execution of it too difficult to ignore. The events of the story itself indicate that none of this should not be happening. While the rest of the game goes off without a hitch, the plot holes of lore-heavy focus and deep integration of its story take away from what Mortal Kombat 1 really could be.

While WrestleQuest’s well written and heartfelt story combined with it’s fun 16-bit throwback sprites look like it’s getting ready for a Royal Rumble, the combat and the game breaking bugs get it launched out of the ring almost immediately. There’s potential here for a killer game here, but it needed to spend more time in gym before making it’s debut.

Lies of P is a fun game with solid combat mechanics and a really pleasing aesthetic. A creepy factor is aided by unique twists. But it falls short when compared to the finesse and balance of other games in this genre.

If you want a simple and clean action RPG that loves immature humor and the zombie apocalypse then you should give Eternights a try. It won’t make you delete Resident Evil, Breath of the Wild, Persona, or Darksiders, but there is enough meat on the bone to get this game on sale. Play it for the dark sci-fi story and the fun of playing anime Tinder, but also thank your lucky stars that this game is 1000% less complicated than Kingdom Hearts.

Madden 24 features some excellent on-field improvements and the gameplay is fun but the rest of the game is the same tired experience we’ve been playing for years.

Even though the game is fun in its own way, at launch there just isn’t enough about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre to make it anything but mid. Hopefully given time, it will get new content but all we can do is wait and see.

Arcadian Atlas is a serviceable return to the older Square tactics titles of years past; but, sometimes it feels as if they went too far back, missing many of the modern features that make the newer entries more exciting.

As far as games for kids go, Disney’s Illusion Island provides a quality and challenge rarely seen in modern games for younger players. But if you’re an older gamer looking to play an interesting and unique Metroidvania, you’re more than likely going to find yourself disappointed by the bland stage design and the swarms of copy and pasted enemies.

An intriguing and exciting concept that is completely removed due to its monotonous and repetitive execution. Fans of the narrative genre will appreciate the game and its new approach, but quickly realize where it falls short. As a result, we go from a revolutionary concept for the genre to an average title overall that can only be improved upon with future titles.

Behind a terrific and exciting wrestling system in AEW Fight Forever is some odd choices, unfortunate hiccups, annoying quirks, and dumb limitations. Yukes fulfilled their promise to make an arcade game that felt like No Mercy. The problem is that we should have been more careful about what we wished for because a game made in the 90s is lacking a lot of important stuff. A wrestling fan who is looking for a good AEW time is going to be serviced by this offering. Anyone who is looking for proper competition to WWE should hold out (or wait for much-needed updates). If you absolutely need to have this game be portable than you can rest knowing the Switch has your back. Everyone else should just get it on Steam.

With so many scary games to choose from in recent years, Amnesia: The Bunker wouldn’t be my first or fifth go-to for horror. Even though the game starts strong, it’ predecessors are fierce competitors in terms of mechanics and scares. Amnesia: The Bunker is a good game but not a great one.

Death or Treat has a few good qualities but is held back by a design that’s intrinsic setup is outshined by poor execution.

The lack of gear and infuriating combat mechanics leave much to be desired from what could have been a gorgeous and fun game about monster slaying.

While a really fun experience, its lacking environments and incredibly short playtime make this a hard game to recommend at full price. But it most definitely is a game worth playing on sale or if you have it already and want to check out the PS5 or Xbox Series X upgrades. The frustrating combat scenes, simple environments and plain environments make it hard for even Lo Wang to quip into greatness.

Wanted: Dead is a game made to entertain, and while it does have some inconsistencies and imperfections, it does just that.

The Cosmic Shake’s biggest advantage is unfortunately its biggest flaw as it does too much for the kind of game it is. As a result, it suffers as a slightly above average game that only kids and a few nostalgia soaked adults will enjoy.

Fire Emblem: Engage feels like a massive step backward from both Awakening and Three Houses. Losing many of the features that made modern Fire Emblem games, ironically, engaging, we’re left with a barebones game that barely feels like a Fire Emblem title. Stories are poorly written, characters are barely fleshed out anime tropes, graphics are muddled, and the series’ signature bold and clear tactical battlefields have been replaced with PS2 era maps with indistinguishable tiny 3D models on them that look near identical until the camera swoops in.

Amazing graphics and talented voice acting isn’t enough to save The Callisto Protocol from the beast that is bad game mechanics. The game is its own worst enemy.

For a game made by the same studio responsible for the previous two Bayonetta games, it’s strange how often Bayonetta 3 feels like a poorly made fan project. The story that has been built up has been thrown to the wayside to introduce a tired “multiverse” concept. All the confidence and character development has been completely scraped in favor of turning her into a loving motherly type character in constant need of saving. Wonky camera angles and visuals make it look like this game should have gone back into the over for another year. It’s playable and, at times, fun, but as part of a series, it’s quite possibly the weakest chapter.

Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed had the potential to be a rockin’ asymmetrical game with references to the movies we love. However, redundancy, cross-play issues and lack of content make it a mediocre installment.

S.W.A.N.: Chernobyl Unexplored had so much potential to be one of the creepier games to play this spooky season, but it just bites off more than it can chew and takes the player out of the environment too much, ruining the effect.