Despite these issues, the power of Afterlove EP‘s story manages to shine through. It is an incredibly touching slice-of-life story that explores the forms and layers of grief with the variety and depth perfect for a video game.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles 2, despite not being perfect, offers an excellent narrative and gameplay experience. It features several story and gameplay elements that Demon Slayer fans will especially appreciate.

While its narrative is far from perfect in terms of engagement, Where Winds Meet is an impressive and ambitious game that, for the most part, succeeds in fulfilling its promises.

It is hard to translate just how satisfying it feels to tear through a horde of heathens in Darktide as its thunderous soundtrack plays to words. The best way to do so seems to be simply saying that it is spot-on enough to surely please any fan of Warhammer or horde shooters. Darktide is a Primarch amongst Warhammer games, and it serves the corpse emperor admirably.

With a focus on style over substance and a lack of any real friction in gameplay, Princess Peach: Showtime! is not going to provide a deeply engrossing experience. However, fans of the character and people looking for a relaxing jaunt into the dramatic arts will find plenty to enjoy.

Romeo is a Dead Man's gameplay style, soundtrack, visual aesthetic, and peculiar characters and elements make it one of the most interesting games from the developers to date.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure is a journey I'm thrilled I got to go on... Great characters, a wonderfully crafted world, and a twisting narrative all help elevate the game over what holds it back.

For a collection, Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection is one heck of a deal. Ten games, each being 10+ hours long, in one package?! That can’t be beaten. Plus, from a preservation perspective, this collection is great at making old GBA classics and one of my favorite series from Capcom, playable on modern consoles.

Dosa Divas is so full of heart and charm that you can’t help but have a massive smile on your face the entire time.

Lysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior encourages players to best themselves through each rewind of time which is challenging, rewarding, and fast fun.

APICO is a tightly constructed and well-presented simulator about a topic loads of people are curious about but few people dive into. It’s a good way to quietly spend some time thinking about the majesty of these little animals while having a complicated enough gameplay loop to keep you invested for hours upon hours.

Potion Permit is a hard game to pin down. It manages to give a refreshing take on the genre, but some of the mundane tasks often felt like bashing my head into a wall over and over again. Potion Permit feels like a nice cup of hot chocolate on an unseasonably warm day. Sure, it tastes good and the thought of it is great, but in practice maybe some things need improvement for it to truly be great.

Overall, Cities Skylines 2 is a worthy successor to the long-standing original city builder.

Children of Silentown sinks you into a world that is eerily beautiful. It holds you, not knowing what the night brings or what lurks in the forest – and that’s a good thing.

Creatures of Ava, even with lots of rough edges, deliver an impactful message. How can we help those who we don’t understand? If you’re looking for a game with a new take on the conservation topic, there is no better game to represent it than Creatures of Ava.

Sonic Colors: Ultimate may not be truly ultimate, but it’s a well worthwhile return to an oft-missed game.

The Stone of Madness delivers a puzzling experience that forces players to be creative and quick. Its gameplay elements largely succeed at providing a unique challenge, while its world and characters are easily forgotten.

One Piece Odyssey is the best video game story set in the One Piece universe to date. A delightful story and beautiful worlds more than make up for some more frustrating and outdated JRPG staples. Non-fans of the franchise might have a harder time getting into the already-established world, but it’s a hurdle that can absolutely be cleared. Whether players are newcomers or lifelong fans, One Piece Odyssey is a grand adventure absolutely worth going on.

Much of what is present in Changing Tides is plainly fantastic, but it is a shame that the game goes on for too long until it itself runs out of fuel and sputters across the finish line.

Wrath of the Druids is an excellent DLC. It does everything right in setting the new locale apart from its neighbor to the east while delivering a strong new plot and set of characters. Not every new mechanic feels fully realized, but for what they do offer, I enjoyed them and particularly enjoyed the way they played into the greater mythos and context of the game as a whole. If the remainder of Assassin’s Creed Valhall‘s major DLC—and future Assassin’s Creed stories, for that matter—follow suit, I’ll be very glad for it.

Call of Duty: Vanguard brings a surprisingly engaging campaign and some amazing graphics. While some character flashbacks are better than others, and the length is a bit disappointing, the campaign is nevertheless a fun jot through the theatres of WWII.

My biggest issue with the Crysis Remaster Trilogy is that it only feels halfway remastered. Nothing was updated to modern standards except for the visuals, and that is a huge problem. Remasters like the Spyro and Tony Hawk ones work so well because the gameplay is smoothed out and plays like a modern game. Unfortunately, that oversight (or failure, if they really did try to update it from the originals) makes it impossible to recommend the beautiful-looking collection to anyone other than hardcore fans of the original games. I really wanted to enjoy these games that were so positively talked about when I was younger, but sadly they didn’t come anywhere close to living up to the hype with this remaster attempt.

Stalker 2‘s bugs and issues are numerous and severe, but it stands as a testament to how great the game buried underneath them is that it still manages to shine.

No Longer Home is an authentic and often unsettling story about the process of moving out and moving on. Of course, every player will take something different away from their experience playing, but it is an experience that I highly recommend. With beautiful designs, excellent characters, and a great soundtrack, No Longer Home is well worth picking up.

Despot’s Game: Dystopian Army Builder is a very interesting blending of genres that helps bring something new to auto battler games. However, its mixing brings far less to the rogue-lite genre, so fans of titles like Hades or Cult of the Lamb will only want to pick it up if they are big fans of auto battlers.

Overall, the Resident Evil Village’s Winters Expansion comes with more than enough to make getting it worthwhile.

NHL 26 brings new gameplay changes that bring hockey to life in a way that is better than ever. There are still some things to be ironed out, a typical issue for yearly sports releases, but there is a lot of fun to be had for hockey fans everywhere.

Weird West is like a love-hate relationship. It can be extremely frustrating one minute, and you want nothing to do with it. Then, the next minute, you want nothing more than to keep playing…However, all of it comes together to create an impressive world that WolfEye Studio should be proud of.

To a T tries hard to be like a Saturday morning cartoon. Yet just like trying to recapture that same experience nowadays, it overall feels like it's missing something. Granted, this issue may mostly apply to older players. Maybe, the ones who will find the most fun are those who play this with young kids.

The puzzles are challenging but satisfying, the spooks are wonderful, and the story draws you in from the very start—Fobia – St. Dinfna Hotel has all the right elements, just may need a couple of gameplay tweaks for the console. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for a horror game with all the puzzles you could ever need, look no further.

Disney Illusion Island is quite possibly one of the best Disney games about Mickey and Friends made to date. The world of Monoth is such a joy to explore and is made fantastically to feel like a modern Metroidvania platformer.

#BLUD is one that can’t be missed. For any cartoon fans, there’s so much to love here. The cutscenes, animations, and writing are pitch perfect and feel ripped straight from Cartoon Network. The combat is fun and constantly presents new challenges. It’s a love letter entirely devoted to the animated medium, from its design to its characters. Pair #BLUD with a Saturday morning, and you will not be disappointed.

Thrilling in all the right ways, The Lamplighters League is a love letter to the adventure genre in film. It’s a love letter to rogues and scoundrels that made those stories an essential part of our cultural history.

Directive 8020 is a love letter to the space horror that looks beyond just going bump in the night. The distrust sown across the small team, the dialogue choices, and the interactions all craft a game that feels like it belongs on the shelf alongside titles like Dead Space, Sunshine, Event Horizon, and even The Thing.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are incredibly faithful remakes of Diamond and Pearl, warts and all. There are some nice new additions that enhance the experience, and the visual style is unique and quite good-looking. It’s hard not to recommend these to any Pokémon fan or newcomer to the franchise. There might be a few negatives, but none of them take much away from the overall excellent experience.

MLB The Show 26 builds on a rock-solid foundation and improves across the board, even if there is still room for improvement.

With the environmental glitches, an odd narrative, and too much imitation of two iconic games, Atomic Heart lands in the middle for me. Not bad, not great, just fine.

Despite its issues, Freedom Wars Remastered is a bold and ambitious title that offers a compelling blend of action, strategy, and unique storytelling. Its interesting concept and intricate combat system set it apart from other games in the genre.

NASCAR 25 is a much-needed shot in the arm for NASCAR video games, bringing an authentic and fun experience to a new generation. Players will learn to appreciate the skill it takes to be the best on track, and it should draw eyes to the real-life sport as well, thanks to the incredible presentation.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are incredibly faithful remakes of Diamond and Pearl, warts and all. There are some nice new additions that enhance the experience, and the visual style is unique and quite good-looking. It’s hard not to recommend these to any Pokémon fan or newcomer to the franchise. There might be a few negatives, but none of them take much away from the overall excellent experience.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 isn’t shabby, but it isn’t shining either.

Mario Strikers: Battle League may be barebones, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun. More characters, customization options, and game modes could really help improve the game, but the package delivered on release still holds incredible replay value. It’s a game worth coming back to over and over again, whether with friends or by yourself. Over-the-top action and the stylized Mario look make Mario Strikers: Battle League one of the most fun sports game experiences, I just hope more is added soon so it doesn’t get stale after a few months.

Zapling Bygone is not a memorable experience compared to some of the more well-known Metroidvania titles…However, even if it is somewhat derivative and unpolished, the story has enough charm and 16-bit art to make it a worthwhile experience.

Brain vs Brain is a very welcome return to a long-forgotten series. While it doesn’t offer anything quite so new besides new mini games and a strong multiplayer mode, it’s absolutely difficult to put down and full of challenging fun.

Evil West has a lot of things going for it—the designs are fascinating, the lore excellent, and the gameplay can be massively fun on hard. But it also has some downfalls—the levels feel just a bit too linear, and the main narrative takes a while to really jump into, and even then, it struggles with fluid cut scenes and complexity. While other games have been able to get away with a basic narrative because of their fantastic action, Evil West isn’t quite there.

The roguelike genre feels saturated with games that provide endless variety but with very little substance, and DIG – Deep in Galaxies feels like another unfortunate addition to the list. It gives a few highs, but they get lost somewhere after the fifth repetitive objective on the fifth identical-looking planet.

Minami Lane is well-crafted and full of charm. Its mechanics are all perfectly balanced, and the visual display is a total joy. While the experience may be brief, it’s well worth the trip down Minami Lane.

Goblin Stone is a delightful romp through goblin lore. By placing the power in the hands of these mighty green goblins, there has never been more of a reason to try a new turn-based RPG. Orc Chop Games has made something special here.

For better or for worse, Square Enix wanted to make sure the Legend of Mana HD remaster was as close to the original as possible. Thankfully a beautiful world and good story help make up for the lack of guidance or varied combat. It may not be the most welcoming to newcomers, but fans of the original are in for a wonderful trip down nostalgia lane.

Atomfall shines by not telling you anything initially and letting you choose who you trust and betray to get to the ending you feel best suits your survivor.

The Order of Giants had a chance to do something fun with one of the most interesting aspects of The Great Circle‘s story, but it missed the mark. The DLC was fun as an excuse to play more of MachineGames’s excellent game. But it quickly began to feel like a mish-mash of ideas that were left on the cutting room floor.

While playing Layers of Fear 2 on the go isn’t quite as scary as its console versions, it’s nevertheless creepy and thought-provoking as you explore the well-crafted scenes and lose yourself in becoming a completely different person.

Overall, Gamedec is an excellent attempt to do the impossible. Tabletop games are as popular as they are today because they can’t be replicated anywhere else, but Gamedec comes as close as possible to making it a reality. I felt like my choices truly mattered, and that’s not something that happens often in games. While some of the virtualias can feel a bit tedious, the overall narrative they serve makes the experience worth it.

The Invincible is ultimately a sub-par experience. While it delivers flashes of quality in its cast and its attention to some details, the narrative is ultimately weighed down too much.

I have no doubt that Throne and Liberty will find a niche in the MMO community that it somehow speaks to. And I’m happy for those people that they will find something to enjoy here. But for most players, I don’t think Throne and Liberty will have anything valuable.

Pacing aside, Battle Train has the opportunity to become an instant classic with its easy to learn, difficult to master gameplay. The characters, story, and the humor in general all ease the sting of defeat, but they also ensure that your victories will feel triumphant when you eventually succeed.

Salt and Sacrifice is still a very worthwhile sequel to the original. While some of the elements don’t work as well as others, the game’s combat and build variety offer players a great sandbox to play around in.

Wildgate is the kind of chaos that only comes from tight design. It’s messy in all the right ways, and if you’ve got the crew, the headset, and the time to learn its rhythm, there’s nothing quite like it.

Even with its faults, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a stunning visual achievement, much like the films on which it's inspired. Only here, a rich narrative pulls you deep into the Na'vi and explores more tangible means of fighting back against a colonial power that offers a cathartic experience... Blow up a pipeline, save an animal, and explore the vast world of Pandora. That's a heck of a way to close out a year.

If the ultimate goal of the game is to have fun by turning your brain off and brutally defeating your enemies in elegant yet deadly combinations for hours on end where the story doesn’t matter, then Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection.

Invincible VS delivers a fun, frantic, and brutal fighting game experience. While it can be unforgiving at times, it never feels like you don’t have the tools to survive the bloody battles it challenges you with.

While Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince offers a serviceable and sometimes fun narrative and gameplay, the overall experience is unfortunately bogged down by its performance issues and the lack of simple yet essential features.

LEGO 2K Drive is classic LEGO fun with hours of exploration and racing to enjoy at any age.

Hot Wheels Unleashed is a good addition to the world of racing games, with enough to make it totally unique but not too much to overcomplicate it. There are a few things I wish would make it feel more full, but for what it does deliver, it delivers it well.

If you can take the time to pace yourself and slowly enjoy everything the game has to offer from charming neighbors to home-cooked meals, then there is a whole lot to enjoy about Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life.

Twelve Minutes is a truly phenomenal experience hindered only by forgivable a few gameplay bumps and the immense patience it takes to succeed.

Wizard With A Gun balances magical gunslinging expeditions with its equally engaging crafting side. It never feels too much or too little of either…an ever-expanding adventure of discovery and mastery that players will want to embark on time and time again.

Destroy All Humans! 2 – Reprobed shows this cult classic did not age well. Beyond dialogue, updates to gameplay and graphics feel hollow when game-breaking bugs are still prevalent…That isn’t to say you won’t find fun here. But that fun may just be restricted to a 10-12 hour jaunt through memory lane.

WRATH: Aeon of Ruin welcomes new players without holding your hand all the way through.

F1 24 does not reinvent the wheel, but it does bring in some changes that keep the series feeling fresh and fun to play. The new Driver Career changes and Dynamic Handling system might not seem like massive upgrades at first, but their addition to the game makes it worth checking out.

Layers of Fear (2023) has new gameplay elements that breathe life into the older games, but the new story additions just feel tacked on.

As a whole, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is the most fun I’ve had on a Pokemon adventure in a long, long time. But this is completely in spite of itself. There are unforgivable graphical issues, and despite endless charming creatures and characters, the open world itself lacks nearly completely in personality or a sense of progression. Nonetheless, it has never felt better being a Pokemon trainer than it does in Gen IX, thanks to the smoothest mechanics yet and quality-of-life improvements.

Town of Zoz leaves a lasting impression by centering culture, community, and connection in a vibrant adventure that’s easy to get lost in.

Evil Dead: The Game is a blast. It’s fun to play, difficult in spots, and something I can see myself returning to again and again just to keep exploring and learning, as well as unlocking new things as I’m sure they’ll become available over the games’ lifespan. Plus, for Deadites out there, it’s beyond a great buy with lore plugged into just about every design choice, line of dialogue, and piece of the landscape. So pick it up and all the king baby.

Star Trek: Resurgence has an enjoyable story in a beloved universe but is bogged down by outdated mechanics and visuals in a genre that others have shown can be vastly improved.

The combat flows quickly, the story grabs you and doesn’t let go, and the social systems remain engaging and fun. While the gacha systems will be enough to turn people off, so far, I’m having a blast with Persona5: The Phantom X and will keep coming back for more.

While Forspoken: In Tanta We Trust may be too little, too late for some, it showcases the developers’ potential as they grow in skill and familiarity with the world they created.

At its heart, Minecraft Legends presents a fun, new adventure that shows how versatile the franchise can be. It can be enjoyed in a variety of modes, and as long as your friends are along for the ride, it’s hard to resist coming back for more.

At a price point of $40, Rainbow Six Extraction is definitely a game I'll be playing with my friends.

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered is a mixed bag of a remastered bundle. While it offers players new quality-of-life updates and great new features, the experience is marred by frustrating movement and an unreliable camera.

Demon Slayer Sweep the Board! does exactly what it sets out to do by combining the excitement of a party game with the world of Demon Slayer. It’s tailor-made for the niche audience of anime enthusiasts and party game aficionados alike.

Possessor(s) is like any solid pact with a demon—a good time, but with its own drawbacks.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central is more of a small get-together than a full-on party.

Patron is an ambitious game, working hard to stand out in a genre that is saturated with countless clones of each other. The social system is intricate, although I think it still has some work to be done to make it feel as massive as Overseer Games would like it to be. Still, there is a lot to like about Patron, and it is a perfectly enjoyable city builder.

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town is a promising start of a new chapter in the long-running farm/life simulator’s history. All the pieces are in place for an unforgettable experience, with its peaceful and serene location, endlessly customizable landscape, and an unprecedented abundance of crafts and projects to pursue. While at times unwieldy, there’s something for everyone here, especially those who are interested in the organization and production management aspect of running a farm.

Shadow Warrior 3 feels like a teenager that still has a bit of maturing to do. Humor that tries to be edgy overshadows the fun gameplay, and the lack of an intriguing story does not help either. I would not necessarily say Shadow Warrior 3 is a bad game, but it was disappointing that I often felt like I was playing through a 15-year-old’s video game fantasy. Still, there are moments of fun to be had, and I hope Shadow Warriors 4, if it happens, can fix some of the writing mistakes to make the enjoyable experience of actually playing the game worth the time.

As a whole, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is the most fun I’ve had on a Pokemon adventure in a long, long time. But this is completely in spite of itself. There are unforgivable graphical issues, and despite endless charming creatures and characters, the open world itself lacks nearly completely in personality or a sense of progression. Nonetheless, it has never felt better being a Pokemon trainer than it does in Gen IX, thanks to the smoothest mechanics yet and quality-of-life improvements.

SAND LAND is a gorgeous and heartfelt game that brings together unlikely allies on an epic quest. It is fun to play, beautiful to look at, and an unforgettable journey for everyone to enjoy.

Cozy Grove succeeds on all notes, especially on the Nintendo Switch. Having put time into both the Steam and Switch versions of the game, the latter is the perfect home for this game. As cheesy as this may sound, turning on your Switch, curling up with some coffee, and getting cozy with Cozy Grove is just what you need. Whether you’re looking for a game to play in bursts or a new world to just never leave, this is a title you need to pick up.

What Lake was for me was not a peaceful, slow-paced reflection on what matters most in life. Instead, it was an anxious and difficult exercise in letting go of things that don’t bring me joy, even if they might hold other values. And it was a reflection on queer experience and the radicalness of choosing what’s genuinely best for yourself despite others’ expectations. However, while some moments of my time playing was difficult, it was because of how I saw my own ongoing experience through Merrideth’s eyes. And if a game can make me do that through expertly crafted gameplay, a perfect soundtrack, and captivating characters and relationships alone, you can certainly color me.

In the end, the main takeaway I have from playing through Circus Electrique is just how flat it all feels. Playing the game is never explicitly unpleasant but is never memorable or particularly fun, either. Instead, the game is almost liminal. So while the game is unlikely to end up on any lists for worst games of the year, I doubt that most players who try it will remember its release for very long.

Trek to Yomi raises the bar high for historical accuracy. It's clear how hard the developers worked to make this game feel like an act of love and admiration for the Edo period of Japan. However, the well-written story, great voice acting, and beautiful set pieces are held back by the combat.

That choice, to ride how you want, to shape your experience not just through specs but through connection, is the heart of Wheel World. It’s a title that take you by surprise offering more than expected through its flexibility and reverence.

While Wuthering Waves delivers some strong story moments and fun gameplay within its interesting world, it has a lot of problems.

Claws of Awaji offers a solid new location to explore, a fun new weapon for Naoe, and a good conclusion to the game’s story after having felt initially incomplete.

Welcome to ParadiZe is a nice time. It’s easy to get into a hole murdering zombies in every direction. While never too difficult by any means, there is a steady increase in the challenge as you go.

Little Nightmares 3 improves, in many ways, what makes Little Nightmares so beloved. But the game quickly feels formulaic.

Blades of Fire is a well-made package focusing more on crafting creativity than physical battles. It forces players to take a more thoughtful approach instead of prioritizing fast-paced action.