A Plague Tale: Requiem brings back everything to love about the first game and builds an even more heartrending tale of the things people will do for love.

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is excellent and joyful and has just the right amount of chaos thanks to that Rabbids touch. The dev team has put time and care into the humor as much as the gameplay and I can't name a single time I felt bored or unconnected to the material...This is the perfect gateway to the tactics genre for any age and a true testament to the originality and beauty of collaborations.

Player enjoyment from The Last Oricru relies heavily on what matters to them. If they are looking for a fun co-op romp with interesting build possibilities to toy around with, the game is likely worth picking up on sale. However, it does not have much to offer for players who care more about a difficult journey across a well-realized world with lore and secrets to piece together.

Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3 does feel so much more complete than the first two iterations of the series, but it still has a little more room to grow…Even when I was frustrated at some of those things, the tracks, karts, and characters kept me coming back for more. It’s definitely worth checking out for fans of racing games and Nickelodeon shows and characters.

Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is an excellent, fun, stressful multiplayer game. If you love online gaming, this game is worth a purchase.

Scorn is a survival horror shooter puzzle game and it uses each of those elements in its own mold.

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.

NieR: Automata The End of YoRHa Edition is an amazing port of one of the best narrative journies video games have ever produced. With only a 40-dollar price tag, it is a great opportunity to jump in on a modern classic, whether you have never played it before or simply wish to experience the journey one more time.

Life is Strange: Arcadia Bay Collection is a mediocre remaster and Switch port of two great games in the series. While the saga still holds up narratively, the gameplay experience is unfortunately greatly hindered by several issues.

Grounded provides some great survival mechanics and challenging combat in a rather novel environment with an intriguing plotline. The game can be very tough but also very rewarding. However, it can take a while to really get the game going with the analysis mechanic and the lack of explanation revolving around many other ludemes.

Wayward Strand isn’t a perfect game, but it is darn near close. It doesn’t overwhelm players or force their hand but allows plenty of freedom within the confines of the closed-in space of the airship. I will absolutely be replaying Wayward Strand several times to explore the rest of the story options, and I cannot recommend it enough.

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.

Moonscars is a deep, dark tale about what makes us human in our darkest times and how we persevere. When it works, it really works and was some of the most fun I had playing 2-D souls-like in recent memory. But it is riddled with balancing issues and loses touch on what makes Souls-likes fun in the name of difficulty.

SpiderHeck is a fun, chaotic new addition to the action indie lineup. It works as both a single-player and multiplayer experience and is certainly unlike any other games of its type in how it uses the gravity of swinging from spiderwebs and sticking to surfaces for great 360-degree action.

Thorn’s quest to save Leaf is exceptionally well-written, and the world of Dewr is one of the more enjoyable video game worlds I’ve explored in some time. Despite some minor quibbles with the combat and some of the world-building, No Place for Bravery is still an excellent game that players looking for a challenge are sure to enjoy.

Nobody Saves The World’s “Frozen Hearth” DLC ups the absurdity to a new level. It adds one of my favorite parts of a Drinkbox game—the challenge rooms—with new clever restrictions and missions. While it’s not as difficult as past challenge rooms, each one finds a way to make you think more outside the box using the zany toolbox from the base game while also throwing in some wilder tools into the mix which feel right at home with the 20+ roster of forms. Overall, “Frozen Hearth” adds an extra hour or two of fun to an already entertaining package.

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.

Kitsune Zero is hitting the market just before its sequel, Kitsune Tails. The DLC is a blatant attempt at marketing its characters prior to a larger release and mostly fails in the process. Despite the thoughtless dialogue, frustrating controls, and lack of originality, the developers have at least put consideration into their art direction.

Splatoon 3 is a well-crafted game that provides a highly enjoyable experience for both fans and newcomers to the franchise. While the campaign isn’t long at about 8-10 hours, it still sports a good amount of varied content with a multiplayer mode that’ll keep you engaged for hours on end.

If you are a fan of 2K’s work and the NBA 2K series, there are plenty of reasons to pick up NBA 2K23. The soundtrack, “Jordan Challenge” mode and new storyline all help offer a generally playable experience. However, anyone that thinks that 2K23 will offer a new or highly improved experience may need to reexamine their expectations. The bottom line is that NBA 2K23 is aimed at fans of the franchise and basketball fans alike, delivering the exact experience that most people would expect.

Negatives aside, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R is a wonderful remaster with great visuals and aesthetics, smooth gameplay, and tons of content that JoJo fans will especially appreciate. And while the game is mainly tailored toward series fans, I believe it still offers an experience most fighting game fans will enjoy as long as they don’t play online or expect any cohesive narrative or story mode based on the franchise.

Justice Sucks has some very minor faults. But, overall, it provides a lot of quirky fun and 90s humor with a unique twist. I just wish it was a longer game so I could have more time with its chaotic action.

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.

F1 Manager 2022 is an excellent look at what it takes to be a Formula 1 team principal. There is so much depth to the game, and the real-life statistics make the experience incredibly authentic. Everything about the game feels polished, from the look and feel of the cars and tracks to the in-depth look at the car data, and I can’t wait to see what new tricks the series will bring in future versions of the game.

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.

Tinykin encapsulates all that is great and not-so-great about classic platformer collecathons. It’s charming, it’s witty, and it’s full of adorable creatures. Plus, the level design is superb, with each of the 6 areas feeling unique not in just design but in storytelling and exploitability. There is a lot offered here in such a small, low-stress package.

Soul Hackers 2 takes inspiration from both the Persona and the mainline Shin Megami Tensei series while including new things into the mix to varying degrees of success. As a result, it is best to not compare it to any other title in the franchise.

While there are definitely elements of Saints Row that really annoyed me, I still generally had a good time with the game. It is great to have a game that is a complete package on launch with no microtransactions or exploitative monetization. If you consider yourself a Saints Row fan you’ll probably find plenty to enjoy in the newest entry, even if some of its elements are weaker than others.