While the lack of a story felt like a ton of missed potential, the gorgeous art and the beautifully complex but fun controls kept me enthralled. The difficulty was ridiculously high but the developers have already stated they’re working to patch that. For people looking for a beat ’em up style game, Sifu offers one of the most remarkably unique entries into that genre, especially if you want more from your beat ’em up than button mashing.

Dying Light 2 Stay Human is the sequel we hoped for and nearly everything Techland promised. There are some technical issues that can affect your quality of gameplay, but I have all the faith in Techland to iron those out, possibly even before its official release. This is going to be the game to beat this year.

The Company Man is a serviceable platformer that shows a lot of promise with innovative ideas and clever premises. But it fails to live up to expectations and feels like a missed opportunity to be something more. If you’re looking for a Mega Man clone with some solid workplace puns then this has you covered for about three hours.

I strongly recommend Monster Hunter Rise, but this isn’t World. It’s harder, less environmentally appealing, and more focused on the rivalry between the hunters and the monsters. Gaining the pieces to build that armor or make that weapon is sometimes a bit more of a grind as the RNG isn’t quite as good but the satisfaction as always is there and strong. But amazing combat and great rewards keep the fun moving, albeit very differently from its most recent predecessor.

Arcadia Fallen is a solid visual novel with branching baths based on character interactions, romance options and how you ultimately choose to educate your character. Some of the voice acting is a little rough and the art style is devoid of things we’ve come to expect from visual novels, like splash pages that actually show what your character is doing. Despite its flaws, Arcadia Fallen is a fantastic visual novel game, and a solid first step for Galdra Studios.

While your first glance at Loop Hero will revela what appears to be a barebones game, you’ll soon discover it is a very complex structure that’s simple to learn and an absolute blast to try and master. If you’re looking for a good time killer on your Switch, I can’t think of a better pick up and play than Loop Hero.

The environments are gorgeous and the game runs smoothly across all platforms, but uninspiring gameplay and a lackluster story leave much to be desired in this entirely mediocre action-adventure platformer.

Len’s Island is a good game that has a ton of great ideas working for it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t push those ideas to the limit and instead much to be desired. But it comes from a wonderful team that hopefully keeps making games. [Early Access Score = 75]

A return to classic linear FPS gameplay is lost beneath a pile of broken mechanics, terrible dialogue, repetitive villain design, and some of the most boring environments I’ve ever seen. Serious Sam 4 is a remarkably dated game that should be reserved for the most “serious” of Serious Sam fans.

If you are a fan of traversal-based games, or you just want a quick indie game to play through, I do not think you can go wrong with Solar Ash. The repetitive gameplay, poor PS5 optimization, and lack of replayability are definite downsides, but it is still a fun and intense game to play.

This is exactly what you want from a brain game and the multiplayer element adds a nice touch of excitement. However, that excitement is quickly lost once you blast through the lack of overall content in the game.

Date Night Bowling is a fun arcade-style bowling game with many silly mini-games. In that it understands the assignment and makes it really fun. The pixel art also shines in many of the scenes providing a ton of charm. But the dating part is a bit of a letdown with recycled dialogue and a lack of depth to the characters’ stories. Ultimately you have a fun, lightly dating-themed bowling game that’s good for a fun co-op experience with someone but not great for a single player actually looking for a dating sim.

Everything genuinely good about this game exists mostly because the original Diamond and Pearl games had a good story and interesting characters. This game takes all those and rehashes it only through the veil of basic 3D characters that have the mobility of Funko Pops. Boring textures and an almost purposeful lack of detail takes something that was originally served as a masterful dish and converts it into a repackaged microwaved TV dinner.

Everything genuinely good about this game exists mostly because the original Diamond and Pearl games had a good story and interesting characters. This game takes all those and rehashes it only through the veil of basic 3D characters that have the mobility of Funko Pops. Boring textures and an almost purposeful lack of detail takes something that was originally served as a masterful dish and converts it into a repackaged microwaved TV dinner.

If you had high expectations for GTA: The Trilogy Definitive Edition, that’s going to be your downfall with these games. The Trilogy is just alright and the upgraded graphics don’t cancel out the missing content and the infuriating bugs. Either play the originals or wait until the remastered games are on sale.

With all of the potential of an awesome futuristic FPS game at their fingertips, DICE and EA drop the ball on Battlefield 2042 with mediocre multiplayer, server issues and no solo campaign. Great ideas and great graphics can only go so far without a great execution.

I started Unpacking mostly expecting an interesting puzzle game about item placement and ended up with a story and protagonist I cared about. The art is beautiful, the world detailed, and the ambient sound of simple things, like a refrigerator running, put you in the world. Beyond minor woes, Unpacking does everything you’d want in a puzzle game and then some.

If you have never played Dying Light, this iteration isn’t the one I would recommend for you BUT if you are already a hardcore fan, then adding this to the Switch for playing on the go is a fun challenge and I definitely recommend it.

Call of Duty: Vanguard may be the best CoD installment to date with stunning graphics that shine on the new systems and finely tuned, balanced gun play. They bring a new and fresh approach to the WWII and D-Day scenario making the solo campaign just as enjoyable as the multiplayer.

Mario Party Superstars completely rebuilds some of the Nintendo 64 era’s best Mario Party boards of varying difficulty and gives them a gorgeous modern veneer. The game plays exactly as you’d expect from a Mario Party with smooth yet simple controls. The frustrations stem. from the fact that your opponents can benefit from the same perks that just helped you take a lead, equating to more first-to-last-place moments than Mario Kart itself. A lot of the older mini-games can end in a matter of seconds so if you’re playing it mostly for the mini-games, it can be a bit of a letdown when a game ends in under five seconds.

A middling exploration game with subpar fighting mechanics, it’ll be harder to enjoy Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles if you’re not already a fan.

While a terrific game in it’s own right, Disco Elysium: The Final Cut just doesn’t cut it on Nintendo Switch. Lengthy loading times between small rooms and different floors of buildings makes the game drag enough to completely lose the narrative flow, which is a big problem considering narrative is its primary focus. If load times get fixed alongside the poor A.I. that tends to get your character lost while trying to look at something two feet in front of them, you got a great portable game. Until then, it’s all some what of a bummer.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is a fun-filled cosmic adventure. No aggressive microtransactions, no tacked on multiplayer, just a good ol’ fashioned single-player adventure with MCU-worthy blockbuster sequences and heartfelt story moments. The combat offers just enough variance and depth to remain entertaining throughout your playthrough but the magic truly resides within the colorful cast of characters.

While not perfect, Supermassive Games hears players and House of Ashes is the best release in the Dark Pictures Anthology to date. The improved game mechanics, environment and story make it a creepy experience that is perfect for Halloween.

Far Cry 6 isn’t perfect but the anger toward the FC formula or the size of the game seems unnecessary. It’s fun, it’s beautiful and it’s finished without any massive bugs or glitches. So, grab your favorite amigo and your killer backpack and let’s start a revolution, baby!

Back 4 Blood is a fun spiritual successor to the Left 4 Dead franchise. It’s entertaining, graphically well-done and offers a lot of customization for all kinds of players. While the game will get old for some, others will find ours of entertainment cleaning things up with their friends.

Metroid Dread is an amazing return for Samus with fantastic controls, excellent sound design and a wonderful overall aesthetic. Even as someone who’s not normally fond of Metroidvania-style games, the intensity of Metroid Dread held my attention to the point where I felt heartbroken the first time my Switch let me know the batteries were about to die.

In Sound Mind is frustrating at first but will draw you in with dark themes, bright colors, engaging environments and some pretty awesome gameplay mechanics. It’s not the scariest game that will release this Halloween season, but it’s certainly a competitor.