If we were to just judge the Layers of Fear remake on the sound and graphical improvements alone, it would far surpass its predecessor. Unfortunately, an abrupt ending and less-than-impressive voice acting takes the player away from the immersion and makes us yearn for some of the original qualities.

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.

Diablo IV represents a significant milestone for a series that is approaching its 30th anniversary. From what I have seen so far, it successfully modernizes the franchise and brings it up to par with other ARPGs. Once again, you’ll embark on a relentless journey through dungeons, honing your skills, optimizing your damage output, and improving your survival chances.

Unfortunately, what was promised with After Us did not come to fruition due to lackluster design and aspects that worked in contrast to each other rather than cohesively. Instead, we are left with a nice looking world yet below average platformer and hope for what may have been with a worn out “humans killed the planet” trope and poor execution.

CONVERGENCE: A League of Legends Story is Double Stallion and Riot Forge flexing over having perfected the 2D side-scroller genre with this title.

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

If you liked the original Advance Wars games back on the Game Boy Advance, this is everything you wanted the re-boot to be. The battles are still deceptively clever, the strategy is still in full force, and the character designs still slap.

As far as collections go, Capcom absolutely nails it with the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection. The slight graphical upgrade is nice as well as the large collection of backgrounds you can choose from. A talking MegaMan NetNavi at the title screen is also a super nice touch.

Wonky controls, strange visual choices, and a lack of any connection to the character or the world made this entire experience one that feels like this game may be for someone, but definitely not me.

Overall, Storyteller is one of the most pleasant, fun, cute, and exciting puzzle games I’ve recently played. It’s for the whole family to enjoy and solve together – I actually had to pretend my Switch was dead so my six-year-old twins would stop taking it from me. I’m sorry, girls! I truly enjoyed Storyteller and I can’t recommend it enough.

One glitch aside, the Resident Evil 4 remake is a ten. It’s amazing and I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m not sure what’s better, Leon’s one liners or everything else about the game. It’s amazing, I will die on this hill and you need to play this.

The gameplay rewards you with lots of variety, while the graphics are still top-notch. WWE fans will feel like the wrestling lords have blessed them with tons of content. The single-player modes are easy to dominate (if you want them to be) but not all of them are worth sticking around for. The hustle and grind of Showcase mode might be a turnoff to some.

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.

Blanc is a cute and entertaining game that will test your team work and puzzle-solving abilities.

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe offers the classic 2D Kirby experience: simple platforming, plenty of secrets, and fun power ups with a variety of different moves. The inclusion of new modes and new powerups give even players who played the original on the Wii something new to discover and play with.

Beautiful art design, wonderfully remastered songs, and over 300+ timeless gems from the Final Fantasy universe, with DLC promising even more from other games like Chrono Trigger, give Square fans more than enough to love here. Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line promised a celebration of its huge library of games and 100% delivered. With new gameplay mechanics, even those who have played the previous games can find something new to enjoy.

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.

Hogwarts Legacy is the game we were promised with smooth gameplay and gorgeous graphics of a world of magic. While there are moments of choppy fighting mechanics, this game opens up the possibility of sequels and DLCs exploring more of this magical environment.

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

Metroid Prime was already a fantastic game in a fantastic series but the remaster is a complete labor of love. Cleaned up, detailed, and given a performance overhaul the game is one of those rare moments where a remaster doesn’t destroy the image of a game you have in your head via “nostalgia goggles.” It feels like a modern entry into the series that’s both welcoming for new and returning players alike.

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.

While I would have loved to see the addition of online elements that allow you to see your friends’ horses or compete against their best scores, this is still a phenomenal time killer of a game. The bizarre isekai story mixed with the adorable graphics and the occasional dark humor makes for so many elements I never thought I’d see in a solitaire or horse racing game, let alone an amalgamation of both.

Forspoken presents a genuinely human story blended well with combat and a variety of exploration options, setting it up to be PlayStation’s next big franchise.

A Space for the Unbound starts 2023 off right with one of the better narrative romps I’ve had in a long time. A slice-of-life narrative tale set in 90’s Indonesia and filled with supernatural twists finds a way to be compelling to all walks of life thanks to a well-crafted story with a lot of heart. Excellent world design and music help seal the deal. The game is moderately slowed down due to extensive foot travel and some strange point and click mechanics but the rest of the game is so interesting that you learn to roll with it.

A world filled with mystery, beauty, and adventure, Microids put plenty of love in care into the game’s themes of history. World Before beautifully combines classic storytelling with the art of world storytelling, not to mention the intertwining tales of two characters from different eras in time. It’s like a book that takes you in many unique directions within the same story and it’s good fun.

While not a remake like the appropriately named Final Fantasy VII: Remake, Crisis Core is a 100% labor of love, taking the original game and cleaning it up while only making a few changes that allow people who never had a PSP to experience this somewhat hard to access chapter of Final Fantasy’s lore. The graphics are gorgeous, the gameplay is smooth and fun, the structure of the game respects your time, and Cissnei is in it which is worth the cost of admission itself.

The story paints something that feels all too real-world with things like police corruption and right-wing smoke screening. Combined with real-world visuals of the city mixed with gorgeous graffiti-like special effects, it all mixes into a fantastic racing experience that is hard to quit. The only gripe is an incredibly slow progression system.