The whole third act will especially leave you smiling like a fool, because at its core, The Plucky Squire is good, simple fun. It presents an earnest story with enough twists, fun references, and jokes to keep you looking for more, and it inspires us all to be more than we are.

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.

Cricket Through the Ages is minimalist in its visuals and mechanics. Its bright and bold color palette reflects the lack of seriousness and highlights its zany nature.

Knockout City is, indeed, a knockout. It’s absolutely a blast, and despite some small issues, it’s an entirely creative and sharp concept and execution. I only hope the fun lasts after the initial buzz and free play period dies down.

Miitopia is a simple RPG with a few very unmodern character-creating mechanics. Whether you are charmed by Miis or not is certainly your own prerogative, but the gameplay itself is perfect for beginner RPG players with its focus on relationships between your party members. Longtime RPG players may find a good time in its relative simplicity.

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

Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land is an enthralling experience that pushes the Atelier franchise into a new era. There is so much to see and do while uncovering new mysteries that affect the world and its inhabitants on a profoundly personal level.

Young Souls is a great new entry in the beat ’em up genre that is bolstered by its RPG elements. The RPG aspects are numerous and well-designed so as to keep you constantly engaged with new things to try out or enemies to take a swing at again. The fact that the whole game can be played in classic beat ’em up co-op or solo is an added bonus.

El Paso, Elsewhere offers a remarkable fusion of narrative depth and engaging gameplay.

What really stands out in A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is how willing it is to experiment and build entire mechanics around its central conceit of managing sound.

Last Train Home does a great job of meshing a challenging strategic experience with an immersive setting and story. The difficulty curve can get overwhelming for less experienced RTS players, but the attention to detail and the wonderful character interactions make it worth taking the time to learn the ropes.

The modernization of the series has yielded amazing benefits that make it feel like the definitive Homeworld experience unless you are looking to go back and experience the whole story for yourself. It isn't easy to make a sequel worth a decades-long wait, but Blackbird Interactive has managed to pull off just that.

Tchia was a grand adventure that I couldn’t put down. Exploring these islands renewed my love of deep and well-realized open-world exploration games, all thanks to Soul-Jumping. Exploring the numerous land, sky, and sea creatures made what could be a long hike a joyous adventure.

LEGO Star Wars The Skywalker Saga is a massive achievement for a beloved anthology franchise that needed to change. There are so many new welcome additions that I hope become staples for the future. But there are just as equal parts that felt unnecessary. These 3 years since the LEGO games last release and recent revelations were hopefully taken in as a learning experience.

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.

Mail Time is a simple game with a simple reminder we often forget to hold onto when the world often can make us feel like we should run instead of walk.

Roadwarden is a fascinating take on the RPG genre that has a lot to love. Its setting is deep and well fleshed out, and the interactions players have with it are impactful and fun to navigate. The stories it tells are often somber but handled in an undeniably human and engaging way. While anyone who doesn’t like reading will want to skip it, I cannot recommend it enough to players intrigued by the possibilities of a detailed, text-based RPG.

Dandy Ace is a great first roguelike and a fun take on the genre. Its very fun combat, not too sharp too fast difficulty, quick load times, and lack of central hub or anything to drag the time between runs on makes it extremely playable and very easy to get sucked into.

When all is said and done, Nier Re[in]carnation delivers a package that revels in its tone, story, and artistic presentation, while pairing all that with relaxed, easy to grasp game play. While some of its options could be explained a little clearer, the game is simple enough that the player should be able to handle the mild challenges, even if they are not clear on every detail.

Victoria 3: Sphere of Influence is a big leap forward compared to the content packs that have been released since launch… As a player who enjoys building up the neighboring nations instead of conquering them, these new additions felt like great upgrades to the diplomatic system that keeps the game from going stale.

New Pokémon Snap is not perfect, but it is far and away the sequel to the 1999 classic we have all been waiting for. While I wish some pacing issues and nitpicks with what is no longer in the game have influenced my enjoyment, overall, I cannot wait to spend countless more hours perfecting my photography skills and engrossing myself in this absolutely stunning world.

Digimon Survive feels like it was made with every kid who wanted to be a DigiDestined. It’s a darker twist on a fan favorite story. While the story is amazing, it is brought down by okay combat. 10 percent of the gameplay weighs down the other 90 percent.

While Waiting turns the most boring parts of a person’s life into an equally reverent and irreverent look at life itself. The 100 minigames offer plenty of variety – even if some of them add to the boredom rather than disperse it – and the overarching story will tug at your heartstrings and tickle your funny bone.

Tides of Tomorrow tells an exciting story through an innovative lens. It prompts players to think beyond themselves and their own stories.

While an older entry in the genre, Nuclear Throne is still creative and fun and feels totally fresh in the sea of bullet hells. It has just enough to it to keep you going, though, by comparison to more robust roguelikes, it has the potential to dry up after a while if you’re not mastering it fast enough. Nonetheless, it’s well worth a dive into, especially with its appearance on Xbox Game Pass.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle does what this franchise has always done best. It takes the theft of a seemingly unimportant artifact and thrusts Indy into a cataclysmic mystery, ensuring that charismatic man shines. Punch Nazis, celebrate history, explore the world, and then save it. What more could you ask for?

As Dusk Falls is a memorable experience. The generation-spanning story is intriguing with its many twists and turns and too-human characters.

Pokemon Unite is a fun, streamlined entry in the MOBA genre. It has something to offer both long-time franchise fans, as well as MOBA players who may be looking for something fun and rewarding, while not demanding their all to keep up with. And since it’s free, if what you have read sounds at all enticing why not give it a try. You don’t even need the Nintendo Switch Online service to play.