Despite being a bit niche, for those who are fans of the series or are looking to get into the Leisure Suit Larry franchise, Wet Dreams Don’t Die serves as an ample entry point for both virgins and veterans.

Swords of Legends Online takes your standard MMO and turns it into a visually stunning journey. Though levelling is tedious and there is a steep learning curve, the endgame in SOLO is engaging, and it will remain a staple in my MMO rotation.

ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS 8 Remake: Destiny and Strategy Expansion Pack Bundle is a must play for fans of RTK, and could be a new obsession with strategy fans.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet manages to be a fun adventure in spite of numerous technical issues thanks to great open world design.

It’s one of the more addictive games I’ve touched this year. The Dragon Ball fan in me loves the fact that I can fuse Frieza with Cooler, and Arale with Android 18. The RPG fan in me loves the interesting combat and addictive nature of collecting every character and super move. If you fall into either of those categories, then I have no reservations about recommending this. It’s some of the most fun I’ve had with my 3DS this year.

A flawed but promising 2D take on the Dark Souls formula.

Town of Zoz blends engaging combat, farming/cooking elements, with an interesting story that is easy to get sucked into.

Creatures of Ava is cozy enough to be enjoyed without sacrificing style and challenge.

Battletoads, with its vibrant animations, captures the spirit of the original, but also does so by bringing in all of the lousy gameplay elements that dragged the original game down.

Empire of the Ants is visually beautiful and narratively fascinating but isn’t consistently fun to play.

Fe is an artsy and clunky platformer that feels artsy for arts sake. The story is barely there, the movement isn’t fun, and it is an all-around let down.

With non-stop action and a near limitless amount of customization. Daemon X Machina is a great mech game that now looks better than ever before.

King Arthur: Knight’s Tale is not a badly made game; it’s just boring, and that might be worse.

If you’re looking for a fun, solid-though-not-brilliant cop drama to play through that then lets you jump into multiplayer and be the cop or the robber, this is the game for you.

Minecraft Legends is a perfectly serviceable strategy title, especially for those who love the setting, but the lack of pacing and unit management like you'd find elsewhere in the genre brings it down a peg or two.

Rainbow Six Extraction is an excellent concept that will delight Rainbow Six fans that are tired of the PvP scene of Siege. The title has a select audience and may isolate newcomers to the series, but with the direct to Game Pass release it is an easy recommendation to subscribers because it works EXTREMELY well.

Dropping a cliff into a steep pillow line is an entirely different feeling to snapping off a groomed park feature, yet in Steep, it all blends into the same thing.

Payday 2: Crimewave Edition is the perfect game for current-gen owners who have always wanted to rob a bank, but never wanted to go to jail.

If not for a few clunky gameplay mechanics, Little Hope would be the perfect horror game.

If you want to be a troublemaking, superpowered criminal with little resistance, Saints Row IV: Re-Elected is unparalleled in what it gives you.

None of this stops Dead by Daylight from being enjoyable at times—or even tense—but a horror experience it is not. Nor is it particularly well fleshed out, well documented, or even well executed.

Pool Panic is an absurd puzzle game that breathes new life into the game of pool despite some control issues.

SaGa Frontier Remastered is often too obtuse for its own good, but behind it all is a unique and captivating RPG that benefits greatly from quality-of-life improvements and restored content cut from its original release.

This collection is without a doubt the best way to play any of these four games legally without spending too much money.

Rebirth of Souls is fairly standard fare for an anime game, but it will be welcome for content-starved Bleach fans.

Possessor(s) combines a compelling narrative, solid understanding of Metroid-like design and genuinely fun combat for an experience that is intensely captivating.

The definitive way to play the best entry in the Zone of the Enders franchise.

Turok 3: Shadows of Oblivion Remastered is fine enough, but lacks the updates and charm of its predecessors.

Alwa's Awakening takes its players to pretty pixelated places filled with NES challenge, but mars the whole experience with a clumsy magic system that makes the game's difficult platforming segments needlessly frustrating.

Samba De Amigo: Party Central may not a perfect experience, but it’s fun enough to be a fun addition to any Friday night get-together.

Another Lost Phone: Laura’s Story is the very essence of a visual novel. There isn’t a great deal of gameplay to be had, but the story and the way it tells it goes above and beyond to make it a worthwhile experience.

Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny is simultaneously cliche and transgressive, offering refreshing takes on genre conventions while still reliant on them. Its expanded gameplay systems can be mind-numbing to newcomers, but longtime franchise fans will find an unrivaled buffet of content to grind through.

DEATH NOTE Killer Within takes the core ideas of Among Us and adds a unique Cat & Mouse flair with some notable nods to the anime.

Doom is just as violent and mesmerizing in VR, but a number of concessions were made in this truncated version.

The Bard’s Tale IV: Barrows Deep is a great game that is in severe need of polish and bug fixes.

If you’re a fan of Story of Seasons, I think you’re definitely going to love all-of this game...get it?

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet manages to be a fun adventure in spite of numerous technical issues thanks to great open world design.

New Dawn’s post-apocalyptic landscape makes for a more focused version of the Far Cry package, which is great if you just want to kill time capturing outposts and hunting animals.

Days Gone is an above average open-world game that is brought down by a weak first act, poor shooting, and a lot of technical issues.

With this much depth in each Hitman mission I barely notice the monthly release schedule.

Strayed Lights is a solid debut title from Embers that delivers atmosphere in droves.

With a extraordinary art style, touching story and interesting gameplay loop, SAND LAND ended up really hitting home with me.

If you’re looking for a very different, very open ended, very “freeing” game about jail breaks, The Escapists will appeal to the experimenter and escape artist in you. It’s not going to hold your hand when it comes to enacting a brilliant escape from jail, but if you’re willing to watch, plan and be patient it’s a very rewarding—if demanding—game.

I Hate Running Backwards is a much needed and refreshing tribute to the classic arcade shoot ‘em up, that, in spite of a few odd difficulty spikes, is highly addictive and absolutely worth the time spent—and at times lost—to it.

Button City is an adorable, heartwarming little journey that will enamour all who play it.

It’s a good game, just not quite the masterpiece it would have felt like even a few short years ago.

Death’s End re;Quest has an interesting story to tell, but sometimes struggles with the ways it tries to tell it.

Despite a few minor complaints, at its core Aragami is a pretty decent game. It’s a bit rough around the edges, but its heart is definitely in the right place. While it will most likely please stealth fans and Tenchu fans in particular, I don’t think it completely fills the hole a decade has left.

Even though I'm not the biggest Star Trek fan, Resurgence did a great job of getting me interested in the world and lore.

Life Is Strange: Reunion does right by past, present, and future, bringing Max and Chloe back together for a worthy final mystery.

An artistic platformer of sorts that's best played in a relaxed state.

Trash Goblin has the foundation for a genuine cozy game, but implements half-hearted sim elements for an experience that never feels as satisfying as it could.

Abyssus is an excellent, fast and frenetic roguelike FPS that you can play with your friends, and a must-play for fans of the genre.

Tides of Tomorrow takes an engaging story and utilizes an unbelievably dynamic way of telling it that combines community with player choice for an experience like no other.

Stranger of Sword City is a solid dungeon Japanese role-playing game devoid of any surprises.

God Eater 3’s main draw is its flashy action, but only occasionally brings real challenge along with it.

The Ashes of Ariandel breathed new life into a game that was already strong and vital, and set the stage for the final chapter in its dark saga.

Portal Knights feels like a barebones experience. While the foundation Keen Games created is solid, there is so much more that could be expanded on and fleshed out to create an even better experience for its players. Portal Knights may not have hooked me in, but I believe that with a dedicated fan base, the game can grow into something bigger and more elaborate. In its current state, however, Portal Knights lacks depth, especially when it comes to its RPG classes and skills.

If you have a longing for another game similar to Descent and Forsaken, Sublevel Zero Redux is it.

Zombi’s unique take on survival horror isn’t enough to compensate for an otherwise bland experience.

Onimusha: Warlords is a somewhat rough but enjoyable adventure, making it worth revisiting.

Unholy Heights is so good, it’ll make you feel sympathy for the devil.

It’s been years and several sequels, but where Samurai Warriors was the perfect game for me in my early teens, Samurai Warriors 4: Empires is the perfect game for adult me.

Inching closer to demise in Sublevel is a tightening vice that’ll persist past every destroyed core and through every wormhole.

It feels dirty to say “no” to new Psychonauts, but Rhombus of Ruin is a half-baked attempt at wrapping up the first game’s cliffhanger bundled with some monotonous gameplay and too little content for the asking price.

Little Nightmares III is a safe entry into the series that runs into repetition issues, alongside bugs that really hold the game back. The checkpointing system is the biggest offender here, sometimes making me lose 4 or 5 minutes.

The Winters’ Expansion for Resident Evil Village breathes new life into an already top-notch survival horror ride with a strong story DLC, but other improvements for replayability don’t exactly push the game to its full potential.

No Man’s Sky is a shallow package of undercooked ideas that will ultimately go forgotten in a year full of other, better releases.

Beat Cop is a quiet little indie game and punches way above its weight in terms of presentation, theme, and fun.

Fracked has fun shooting, climbing and skiing mechanics in VR but fails to connect these elements across a disappointingly short game hurt by PSVR exclusivity.

Expertly tuned controls mixed with exploring a thought-provoking, tear-jerking and hilarious story of family and loss make Another Fisherman's Tale a must-play title.

Pronty strives for Metroid’s depth but ends up a shallow dip in contaminated waters.

Crash Team Rumble is an easy-to-recommend multiplayer title for fans of Crash Bandicoot and platforming.

Cities VR keeps players engaged in building their own utopias with refined controls and immersion but misses an opportunity to innovate through platform-exclusive features.

Detective Pikachu is a title that fans of Pokémon shouldn’t miss out on, especially those who are fans of the anime series or those who can’t get enough of Pikachu’s rosy red electric cheeks. For those looking for a bit more substance in their Pokémon games are encouraged to check out one of the numerous RPGs based on the series available on the 3DS.

Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered is a mixed-bag experience. While I was a fan of the game when it was first released in 2011, you can really feel its age in this remaster.

This is such a different kind of game from most of the stuff we've seen lately, however, that it feels distinct.

EA Sports NHL 24 scratches the itch for a solid hockey title. There are significant improvements over last year’s title, but replayability, as always is up in the air for sports titles.

Miitopia is whimsical in its opening hours, but becomes repetitive far too quickly.

Once Human is a fantastic MMO based in an interesting post-apocalyptic landscape, but still has some growing to do to reach the peak of the genre.

Hardcore survivalists might find something enjoyable in Sheltered, but the game is too slow and far too boring to get fully invested.

Lords of the Fallen is a solid entry in the Soulslike genre, and deviates from the recipe enough to craft its own identity.

Sonic Frontiers may not be the best game released this year, but it is one of the best 3D Sonic titles released in recent memory and should not be missed by fans of the series.

Layers of Fear 2 is striking in its unsettling places, but is a looser experience than its predecessor, losing the player with busywork puzzles and winding corridors.

Crossing Souls is an excellent, albeit clunky, nostalgia trip.

Goofy in tone and regulated in design, LEGO Horizon Adventures is an unlikely and amusing inversion of a modern classic, made accessible for a new audience.

While there are some uncharacteristic interface and game play issues for Q-Games, the overall effect is another terrifically original take on a variety of genres.

While offering a decent parkour experience, the unique colossal world of MOTORSLICE is what really make it something special and worth a playthrough.

Crusin’ Blast is a new take on an old classic that doesn’t abandon its roots and will introduce itself to a new audience of young gamers, who I think will love it.

Super Meat Boy 3D has brief moments of fun, but messy controls make it feel a lot more frustrating than was initially intended.

A.I.L.A told a predictable yet relevant story, but flew a little too close to the sun by implementing too many good features versus narrowing on making a few outstanding moments.

Maneater is an enjoyable action-RPG whose best moments are overshadowed by its bog standard open-world design and lack of variety in missions and enemies.

I enjoyed playing Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash but I wouldn’t recommend it over any of the more traditional entries in the series. The game does well as a first attempt at a new genre but it takes away too much of what makes each of the characters unique in anyway aside from voiced lines. The forced grinding can also be a drag for a lot of people, especially if you’re hoping to stand a chance online. Despite this, its quick paced gameplay is fun in short bursts and if you’re familiar with the characters, Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash is essentially an excuse to literally see more of them.

In Too Deep is yet another solid addition to Telltale’s growing portfolio.

Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway is a competent kart racer that fans of the source material will surely appreciate.

Code Vein is some fun anime nonsense is a slickly designed package with some minor failings.

Bugs and hiccups aside, Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan is staggering for an inaugural effort, especially when you consider that it's the first ever game from Central Africa. It needs some polish, but the core base is there, and the team really knows how to tell a story.

An isometric shooter with a ton of style, and a lack of complexity that works in its favour.