Remaking an older series that never got much limelight is always a good thing, and Another Code: Recollection has gone above and beyond updating its look and feel for the modern day. The problem is that those updates have removed everything that made the original games unique, and have re-invented the story in a way that is not to its benefit. It might still be a nice time if you're in the mood for something simple and slow-paced, but it's certainly no replacement for the originals.

Ammunition-fueled ATV trips, Mech piloting sequences and taking down squid-operated choppers levels of insane action can’t save Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem. No matter how varied the environments or silky smooth the gunplay and weapons may be this time around, it’s clear the franchise is in need of more of a shakeup. Blowing through waves and waves of extraterrestrial threats doesn’t take long to blur together and once more feels like going through the motions. It’s frustrating too; creating a game with the help of loyal fan modders is arguably as true as the franchise can get. Still, it struggles to impress. Maybe it’s high time the Serious Sam series take notes from its most recent setting: traipsing away on ice for a little while.

Nightdive’s System Shock remake is a strange game, and whether it will appeal to you may largely depend on your nostalgia for the era of gaming from which it came. This remake still shows its age, despite the considerable and impressive paint job, lighting, and updated controls. If you don’t mind the sometimes murderous level of difficulty, tons of backtracking, and minimal handholding, System Shock may be a compelling piece of gaming history that is worth checking out.

The Chant storms out of the gates with a kooky but intriguing concept of cosmic-horror, but simply isn’t able to live up to its own ambitions. It has some good ideas if you look hard enough, but the clunky combat, milquetoast puzzle solving and forgettable story firmly plant this one in the category of B-Grade horror, which, to be fair, is definitely the vibe the developers seem to have gone for. Even with a few good foundational ideas with the use of prisms and a couple of cool boss fights helping The Chant slightly redeem itself, the biggest misfire is that it’s just not that scary, and without that, this cosmic-horror is just a cosmic-snooze.

RPGolf Legends leans too much into its influences to be really entertaining in itself. As a fan of Sports RPGs, RPGolf Legends demonstrates there is some wiggle room to experiment with the formula. I’d be doing a disservice to not congratulate the developers on the boss fights that succeed at demonstrating how RPG mechanics and golf mechanics can integrate well to make some unique and special gameplay moments. However, it must be said that outside of those boss fights, the game is largely satisfactory, but not exciting. It’s not the worst game I have played in recent memory, and it’s not a bad game to kill time on. Yet, for the ambition on display, I find it hard to get particularly enthusiastic about RPGolf Legends.

Cat Café Manager entices you in with hopes of cute kitties and a bustling management sim but sorely underachieves. There are a lot of awesome and inventive ideas, however the execution leaves a lot to be desired. I found myself enjoying the game with its chilled vibes and laid-back style, but also felt frustrated at all the missed potential. Whilst the representation of diverse characters gives the game several bonus points, unfortunately there are a lot of features missing to help make Cat Café Manager a timeless simulator classic.

Super Meat Boy 3D isn’t the grandiose translation to 3D as fans were perhaps hoping for. Though there’s competent enough level design and plenty to see and do with its many challenges and unlockable characters, it quickly goes back into old habits, be it with its immature and dated humour or its penchant for the 2D. Featuring generic Unreal Engine 5 3D work and level design that doesn’t quite prop itself up on its own, Super Meat Boy 3D is challenging and quite ugly to look at, but not in the ways I’m sure the developer intended. Not the worst platformer ever made, you could do much worse with Super Meat Boy 3D, but you could also do much better.

I wish I enjoyed Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire more than I do. There is plenty to love, such as its charming visuals, fun narrative and worldbuilding. However, it’s simply hard to look past the clunky gameplay, from the incredibly slow and repetitive animations to the clunky menu navigation, and that’s not even mentioning the bugs. Hopefully, the worst of them will be patched out, but at least at launch, Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire is a turbulent experience, and worth recommending only for those willing to brave the game’s flaws.

Fashion Dreamer is a game that tries to do too much at once and fails to focus on making the game satisfying in the first place. With all the different forms of currency, different ways to get free clothes, gacha games and bingo games, it is completely unfocused and doesn’t put enough effort into the important stuff: the fashion and a tangible sense of growth as you become more and more popular. There are plenty of older and much better fashion games out there, so Fashion Dreamer really shouldn’t be at the top of your list.

Firmament is an immersive experience that facilitates a beautiful, albeit lonely world to explore. This is brought down by lacklustre storytelling and bland narration. With little to show outside of admittedly great audio and sound design, Firmament fails to hold its own amongst great puzzle games. The beautifully quiet and immersive atmosphere of a world abandoned will keep players immersed, unsettled and intrigued. Unfortunately, its tedious gameplay and puzzle-solving present a tired and uninspired experience that will have you looking towards Cyan World’s more notable titles.

Despite what is clearly an earnest effort, Lost Soul Aside fails to do justice to whatever director Yang Bing’s vision was. It never stops feeling hamstrung by its lofty aspirations, but is derivative in its execution and doesn’t do any one thing particularly well. If you’re the type of player who can forgive an average experience in return for genuinely great combat, then it might still be worth your while to grab it on sale.

Hellboy Web of Wyrd isn’t the worst video game adapted from comics I’ve played, but it certainly could’ve been better. Lance Reddick delivers a wonderful performance in what is one of his final roles. Similarly, the Hellboy universe is as tantalising in its grim dark fantasy as ever before. It too has some fun brawler combat with upgrades that will make or break your run. This should be a roguelike foray made in harmony with one of the punchiest and most unique adaptation spins we’ve ever seen. Instead, Web of Wyrd is never in pursuit of anything all that meaningful. Narrative threads aren’t all that engaging. The Mike Mignola art-style charm only lingers, ruined by the repetitive level design and jaunts through the same narrow hallways and combat scenarios. Never invigorating itself, Web of Wyrd is another in a long line of IPs adapted into video games that is, at most, a damn shame.

Kejora is a short and simple game with an animated art style reminiscent of Studio Ghibli films and the books I read in school to help me learn different languages. Despite its efforts and how much I thoroughly enjoyed the introductory act and the larger themes, questions, and ideas, the limitations of its clunky gameplay, declining quality of its story, frequent bugs, and an immersion-breaking lack of sound effects left me less engaged, indifferent, and bored by the end of it all.

Gungrave G.O.R.E is overall a bit of a misfire, and evidence that some franchises should stay in the early 2000s. The game is a spectacle action game that has failed to learn anything meaningful from 20 years of game design evolution, from the importance of having an interesting or charismatic lead to gameplay which gives the player options and which evolves over time. The levels show a strong disposition towards dark and grey, and the plot won’t do much to engage you either. If you’re a diehard Gungrave fan who has been longingly awaiting the franchise’s revival, there might be something for you here; for anyone else, there are far better offerings out there.

God of War: Sons of Sparta really does try to tackle a different approach to the series while also retaining the feel of God of War. There was so much potential for a new perspective on the characters and their pasts that have yet to be properly explored, which made it all the more dissatisfying when the game came to an end and fell short on all these opportunities. The focus on the primary objective really didn’t leave much room for any other characters to be expanded upon, and the gameplay and storytelling weren’t compelling enough to keep me invested all the way to the end. If you really want to know what happens for yourself, or you’re desperate for a new Metroidvania, wait for some patches to fix the bugs and give it a go. If you don’t, then you will be fine to skip this one.

Hotel Barcelona is a messy but ambitious experiment that often feels like it’s trying to do too much at once. Its style and inventive ideas, like Slasher Phantoms, branching levels and absurd characters, show flashes of brilliance, but the clunky combat and overstuffed mechanics make many runs more testing than enjoyable. In the end, it’s memorable for its imagination, but not for being a satisfying or polished experience.

Rendezvous is a beautiful-looking game let down by some unfortunate gameplay design decisions. It has a stunning visual aesthetic, blending retro pixel art with modern lighting and rendering effects to create a suitably atmospheric and moody cyberpunk vibe. However, it is held back by bland combat, cheap instant-fail stealth segments, and puzzles that vary between overly-simple and frustratingly unintuitive. While the city of Neo-Surabaya is vibrant and intriguing, the action-movie main plot doesn’t leave much space for exploration or immersion. There are some neat ideas in Rendezvous, but fans of adventure games will be left wanting.

Truth is, as a whole, Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle feels like a cheap imitation of Resident Evil’s recent output, which is really sad when you consider that its precursor managed to do its own thing, even if it had flaws of its own. The fact that the franchise managed to take both a step forward AND back at the same time is certainly confusing, and as a follow-up to a title I genuinely enjoyed for its earnestness, it’s disappointing to see a franchise full of potential squander it to become a lesser imitation of what inspired it.

WILL: Follow the Light offers a few glimmers of promise amidst its fog of missed potential, but they are too few and far between to recommend. Stiff delivery, rough writing and uneven puzzles all would have been better served by being thrown overboard so WILL could focus on its atmospheric sailing strengths. Instead, WILL is better left adrift at sea with only its lost promise to keep it company.

Visually, this is a cosmic horror fan’s fantasy. Nameless creatures and an accursed world are all procedurally generated for a unique experience in each run. The downside is the incredibly disappointing gameplay often layered with grinding, camera and control issues, underwhelming combat, terrible UI, and repetition beyond the norm for a roguelite. Accompanied with a few haunting bugs here and there, Source of Madness is merely a shadow of more enjoyable games.

Neon Blood, on its surface, is a stunning pixelated cyberpunk adventure that boasts an intriguing plot. However, players will unfortunately find that when they spend more time with the game it is riddled with clunky traversal, uninspiring combat and the lack of accessibility features. Though Neon Blood looks like it would be an exciting cyberpunk adventure, the issues make it visually gorgeous but not a super fun experience.

Lost Ruins is a retro-inspired cautionary tale. For every Metroid or Double Dragon back in the day, there were a hundred clones that just did not get it perfectly right. Even 30 years later, developers can’t always figure out the secret sauce or how to make it all work. In some ways Lost Ruins is a proper testament to the classics, they were just so much more nuanced than their visuals let on. This game has some great ideas and a concept that works on paper, and from time to time it works in the game too. But all too often it stumbles when it should have soared.

NARUTO X BORUTO Ultimate Ninja STORM CONNECTIONS is quite the disappointment. Presenting as a step back for the series in many ways, there are simply better adaptations to spend your time with. The game comes with a middling story combined with a lack of spectacle that serves as a mediocre attempt at celebrating the IP. Whilst some fun can be had with the stacked roster and it’s easy to jump into, you’ll often be reminded that there are greener pastures elsewhere.

A silky, suave graphic novel art-style and engaging Cyberpunk world can’t save Sunday Gold. With every strength on offer comes some weird design choices or bugs that will ruin your fun at every turn. This game is an experimental risk, blending both the point-and-click genre with turn-based combat, peppering in RPG progression. That mixture shows promise at the start but ultimately ends up being an average net loss. A gamble that’s not worth taking. Don’t place your bets on this one. Go all in elsewhere.

Princess Maker 2 remains an incredible and addicting game, but Regeneration is a disappointing remaster, offering barely any gameplay changes and an inconsistent art style. It misses obvious quality-of-life improvements that Princess Marker 2 sorely needed, leaving us at a loss as to why they bothered to remaster the game at all. Play Princess Maker 2 as it’s a fantastic piece of gaming history, but there’s no need to pay for this particular version.

Mato Anomalies has solid RPG fundamentals that can create an enjoyable experience in the beginning. Combat is fun to engage with, the world looks interesting, and the story has an intense start. Unfortunately, the game drags itself down with a narrative that never figures out what it wants to be, throwing in multiple themes which make little sense collectively. Combat requires increasingly large amounts of time investment, which can make you sick of the grind. It’s hard to find yourself continuing to the end, and the game doesn’t make much sense even if you do finish it. If you are looking for an RPG that requires grinding and you don’t mind the repetition, you might enjoy Mato Anomalies. For those looking for a strong narrative that leaves you impressed, look elsewhere.

Destiny 2: Lightfall falls short of expectations, leaving players with unanswered questions and minimal impact on the Light and Dark saga. The introduction of Neomuna and Cloud Striders has little purpose to the overarching plot. However, the powerful Strand toolset is a delightful addition, though it raises concerns about balance with weaker elements. While quality of life improvements are positive, the removal of certain content makes the game challenging for new players. Overall, Lightfall feels rushed, as if it was a flustered effort to fill a gap before the final hurrah.

The kindest thing I can say about Shattered Space is that it’s “just more Starfield”, and if you wanted more missions and story content, then this expansion delivers. However, if you didn’t enjoy the base game very much, Shattered Space doesn’t provide much reason to return. If you wanted a colourful new planet to roam around and a couple of new scripted story missions to expand your experience with Starfield, Shattered Space certainly provides that. However, with few particularly unique missions that stand out from the main game, and an overall lack of new mechanics, interesting new narrative content, or polish, only the most diehard of Starfield fans are likely to get much out of it.

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition is an interesting package; despite doing a number of things fairly well such as gameplay tweaks and refreshed visuals it’s hard not to feel a little let down. When you consider all of the possibilities or additional improvements that could have been made, it just feels like Rockstar could have gone further and created some truly memorable remakes or high-quality remasters. All of the games here do look better and play better than the originals, which technically does make these versions the definitive ones, but it feels like a missed opportunity at the end of the day. A few patches will likely take care of some of the more obvious issues, but at this point it is hard to recommend to anyone other than the GTA faithful.

Sifu is a game that could have been something amazing, with its fascinating premise and superbly crafted and fluid combat mechanics and animations. However, the game’s frustrating need to make the gameplay ridiculously hard just left me tired and annoyed. Sloclap really needs to think about how they can make this game more accessible, possibly by including more shortcuts, an adjustable difficulty setting, or just lowering the impact of health lost from fighting your average foe. Hopefully they will bring in some patches that will address these issues, but as it stands, I’d wait before investing time in the world of Sifu.

The Companion presents a compelling premise that just manages to fall short of an engaging experience. While it showcases some beautiful artwork in its visuals and creates a magical atmosphere with its environments and sound design, the actual gameplay becomes repetitive and frustrating over time. Issues with pacing interfere with what could have been a more streamlined walking-sim experience, and arbitrary padding makes the fragmented narrative difficult to appreciate. Those looking for a compelling story might want to wait a few months for some developer updates, while folks keen to lose themselves in a gorgeous fantasy realm might still find joy in The Companion in its current state.

Buildings Have Feelings Too! is an incredibly quaint and gorgeous game that also fills you with absolute rage, which is honestly quite a feat. The confusing connection between whimsy and frustration doesn’t entirely feel like the desired intention of the creators. This game has amazing potential to be a unique and engaging building management simulator but instead falls short, burdened by its own rules and regulations that rival the dullest of body corporate committees. Go in expecting great dialogue, visuals and sound, but be aware, there is little room for management and experimentation here due to the tight constraints and restrictive solutions to the puzzles.

Blightbound is emerging from a year in Steam Early Access, but it might be doing so too early. Lingering issues with visual elements overlapping each other, uneven party balance, repetitive loot with lacklustre stats, and a bare-bones levelling design suggest that this game could do with more fundamental development work before hitting the big stage. With its creative art and engaging voice talent, there is definite potential here for a fantastic dungeon crawler, but the elements have not come together yet.

To The Rescue! delivers a meaningful message about animal welfare in a family-friendly package. An inoffensive tycoon game full of cute dogs and happy moments makes running a dog shelter a cheerful task. Yet, that task becomes painstakingly frustrating with a poor interface, micromanaging dozens of pups with a limited inventory and clumsy controls. It doesn’t help that there are many, many glitches and game-breaking bugs. Little Rock Games might be biting off more than they can chew with To The Rescue!.

Disney Illusion Island may be striving to be a flashy and exciting 2D Metroidvania experience, but its depth remains one-dimensional. It starts at a snail’s pace with its drip-feeding of basic and essential abilities and from there it never really picks up. This is unfortunately thanks to floaty platforming that will disinterest most along with the most uninspired Metroidvania-level design I’ve seen in some time. Though there are classic and picturesque Disney flourishes aplenty, it’s not enough to make the game an enjoyable experience to investigate every nook and cranny for secrets. Be warned, this is an island voyage not all that worth taking.

For game preservation reasons, it’s important that Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is available to play on current-gen hardware. However, this remake does little to address the original title’s core gameplay issues, which have only grown more egregious with time. Its janky controls, lackluster visual updates, and frustratingly repetitive busywork detract from an otherwise charming Halloween adventure. There’s a quirky, silly little game somewhere in here that has unfortunately not been given the attention it needs to be very much fun. Ever the forgotten brother, Luigi isn’t likely to win any fans with this spooky escapade.

Godstrike is, at its crunchy centre, a boss rush game built around a somewhat interesting mechanic that, no matter how flawed, certainly gets the adrenaline pumping. Each of the encounters feels well designed but immovable to the average player. There are only so many times the player can try at an encounter before they feel disheartened at the difficulty. Not feeling like one can sacrifice time for abilities is disappointing too. The game also refuses to acknowledge that not allowing the player any way to recoup lost health disadvantages players unfairly. It’s a game that means well with a new challenge for high-skilled players of twin-stick shooters, but casual players won’t need much time to realise just how tedious learning these controls can be.

Neurodeck offers up an interesting premise and beautiful visuals. Story-wise and gameplay-wise, however, the whole experience feels like an Early Access release; many areas of gameplay are repetitive, and it’s easy to encounter the same enemies multiple times in a single run. I’m convinced this could be a stunning game if given a bit more love by the developers, but it doesn’t match up to the giants currently dominating the card-game genre. If you’re looking for a deck-building challenge, it’s best to keep looking a little longer.

Monster Jam Steel Titans 2 almost gets there but it’s just not consistently fun enough to warrant ongoing play. The open worlds are large and some of them are well designed, but there just isn’t really anything to do other than drive around. The races themselves are too much of a mixed bag, mixing some exciting races with other tracks that would better suit a Rally Car rather than a Monster Truck. The arena challenges are fun for a while but they become too repetitive to keep going back to.

Despite an absolutely stunning visual design and an imaginative interpretation of Sámi culture, Skábma – Snowfall is let down by some frustrating design decisions. Its cumbersome control scheme and lack of guidance between story objectives lead to gameplay roadblocks that hurt the pacing of an otherwise compelling narrative. While it stuns with its gorgeous landscapes and presents interesting (if underutilised) ‘spirit drum’ mechanics, it’s difficult to recommend Skábma in its current state. I’m looking forward to seeing Red Stage Entertainment continue to support the title and bring out its strengths.

Stray Blade has some redeeming qualities, though these will largely be subjective. It is easy to tell that Point Blank Games set out to create a title with passion in an attempt to offer something more unique. The visuals and art design are gorgeous, the world is interesting if a bit generic, and the general gameplay loop can be addicting if you can put up with the clunky combat. Though with that said, Stray Blade does little to warrant your attention in the landscape of today’s video game offerings. If you want a souls-like RPG that you can turn on, take in the vibrant scenery, and play through whilst turning your mind off, you could do far worse. For those looking for a refined combat experience, tight controls, and rewarding gameplay, you would do best to look elsewhere.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure is a huge fumble for an otherwise fantastic series. What began with a promising opener only really leads to a great big pile of disappointment and heartbreak. It’s filled with visual and audio bugs and a mystery that turns baffling and misdirecting in abominable ways while also being downright disrespectful to its lore, canon and cast. It is a painful thing to watch my favourite franchise destroyed in front of my very own eyes. Worst of all, the game teases that follow-up ventures are only going to follow suit even more. Not even the adorable Max Caulfield and her sapphic ventures could save me from having a good time in the snowy, miserable Midwest. Like many media you can point to today; just because you can bring something back, doesn’t mean you should. Like our superpowered best friend in her endless searches across timelines, I’m left wondering where the hell it all went wrong.

As a bachelor project, [I] Doesn’t Exist certainly demonstrates the technical competency of its developers, but as a game in its own right, it doesn’t particularly offer anything unique or worthwhile. Using parser controls to tell an unconventional narrative is an interesting concept, but the actual conversations to be had are vague, unhelpful, and don’t tell a decipherable narrative. Check it out if you’re jonesing for a hit of retro parser gameplay, but there’s otherwise not much here that makes it stand out.

Knight Crawlers offers several ways to customise your rogue-lite experience. You can change your character’s outfit, decide on your combat approach, and how you approach a dungeon run. Rather than throwing large numbers of enemies at you and seeing what happens, the gameplay allows you to choose what you want to do. Unfortunately, Knight Crawlers is still held back by several issues. Melee combat isn’t effective compared to ranged combat, and the wobbly character’s movement can work against you. There are also a good number of bugs that can interfere with your experience, forcing you to restart otherwise-successful runs. The potential of Knight Crawlers is there, but some areas haven’t received the refinement that could have helped demonstrate said potential.

Painkiller is a serviceable co-op shooter that doesn’t live up to its namesake. It gets the satisfying gunplay mostly right, but the rest is unremarkable considering its short length, repetitive objectives, grindy upgrade mechanics and lack of any kind of proper engaging narrative or satisfying conclusion. While it’s hard to call Painkiller bad, I’d also struggle to recommend it to anyone aside from hardcore fans of co-op, while DOOM Eternal exists. If you want an excuse to mow through rooms of demons with two friends, then Painkiller will serve you just fine, but fans of the original will probably have more fun with any of the large array of single-player boomer shooters available on the market.

Blackwind presents a sci-fi platforming world that is fun to smash through and fly around its desolate landscapes. However, it sticks with its formula of killing enemies and unlocking areas so tightly that it lacks spontaneity and becomes too predictable too fast. Repetitive music, awkward dialogue and unvaried landscapes all lead to a pretty lackluster experience that even the fun combat can’t fix. Blackwind needs more time taking risks and experimenting with the very versatile genres it encompasses in order for it to stand out amongst the crowded population of action games.

While The Good Life is an often frustrating and dull experience, riddled with annoying mechanics and lacking in polish, I’d struggle to say that I necessarily had a bad time overall. I found the town of Rainy Woods and its mysteries engaging enough to want to see the experience through to the end. There are so many nuggets of potential that are held back by irritating health meters and repetitive side quests. If you’re a fan of SWERY’s previous output or have a lot of patience for fetch quests, there is reason enough to check out The Good Life, but it is a hard sell for pretty much anyone else.

Even though Button City is the feel-good game I absolutely needed right now, it’s not at the level of polish it should be. I love the atmosphere and the magic captured in the game’s writing and setting, but performance issues and weak minigames hold the title back. Despite some cute and cozy moments experienced in saving a closing arcade, a lot more refining is needed to make this wholesome adventure all the more worth it.

MX vs ATV Legends has a legacy behind it, but it doesn’t bring anything to the table to bring new concepts to the genre. While it’s fun enough to ride around on bikes and have the driver ragdoll their way down the hill, there are some persistent issues like vehicle performance and video quality. Subtitles are cut off mid-sentence so reading it is awkward, and there is a real lack of accessibility options for those who need it. Music choices are rad, as there’s some more modern-ish music in it, mixed with some older ones. Overall, MX vs ATV Legends is a fun racer to goof off with your friends, but nothing to seriously sink your teeth into.

Winter Burrow is positively blanketed in charm and whimsy, but looking below the surface reveals survival gameplay at its most basic. Interesting characters and the aesthetic appeal can’t fully compensate for the repetitive gameplay and oddly lacking mechanics. Dressing up mice in little outfits is fun, but ultimately can’t save a game so torn between two core concepts.

The versatility of wall-running and jumping with the agility of Spider-Man with machine guns is undeniably entertaining. Traversing the excellent dark and brutal world with these abilities makes it all that much more fun. However, it’s clear there are polish and refinements required if this bounty hunter wants to make bank. Necromunda: Hired Gun is messy and not the game Warhammer 40,000 fans or FPS lovers will be speaking about in years to come.

Lost Epic is not a bad game necessarily, but it struggles to stand out compared to similar 2D action titles. The application of Soulslike elements only serve to slow the experience down with dull backtracking and grinding for experience and upgrade materials. Although its combat can frequently be very satisfying and a treat to behold, the sheer amount you’re forced to go through combined with limited enemy variety ensures that repetition sets in quite quickly. If you enjoyed Salt and Sanctuary, but wish its visuals were run through an elaborate anime filter, perhaps Lost Epic is for you. Otherwise, maybe wait for a sale.

Jurassic World Evolution 2, for all the negative things I’ve had to say about it, is not in itself that bad of a game. It IS however, a mediocre Jurassic Park game, one that has passable mechanics that gel with the franchise about as well as a raptor gels with Samuel L. Jackson. Ultimately, you can’t really look past such an enormous missing of the point and it does besmirch the experience. For diehard Jurassic Park fans like me, the Jurassic World Evolution formula is a hard sell, though park management enthusiasts may get a kick out of this still.

Survive the Fall is a microcosm of the post-apocalypse genre in its most consistent form. All manner of wild and disparate societal annihilations lead invariably to the same familiar people and places. Where the genre offers the potential for the truly unique, absurd and unusual, Survive the Fall is predictable in its competent mechanics and portrayal, but fails to present itself as a stand-out in any field. It is what it is, and that is exactly fine.

Sonic Colours Ultimate serves as a sad reminder that even the 3D Sonic games that are ‘one of the good ones’ don’t hold up very well. The updated visuals, soundtrack, and gameplay tweaks at least make it a better experience than the original, and some quality of life upgrades make the worst parts marginally less painful. Sonic fans nostalgic for this game will likely still value having this remaster in their collection, but the new customisable options and Rival Rush Mode are simply not enough to make up for what Sonic Colours lacks. It’s hardly what we were hoping to get from Sonic’s 30th anniversary.

Top Racer Collection does what it says on the box, it contains the three SNES games from the series, pretty much unchanged. The collection provides the bare-bones quality-of-life options that are usually expected including changing screen size and playing with filters. Some new gameplay options such as online play are present as well. Unfortunately, given the number of better alternatives in this genre, both past and modern, this collection is a bit of a hard sell. However, I acknowledge that the series does have a huge following in some parts of the world, and for those that simply want to play Top Racer again, in their original form and on modern consoles, then this collection will sort them out.

For me, Monster Crown is a competent-yet-stale entry in the monster-collecting genre that fails to impress on any meaningful level. While the opening hour showed some promise, the game falls into tired tropes that have become standard for the genre, and even with the whopping Kickstarter cash, fails to innovate or build upon what came before. I was hopeful going in and relieved going out, and am holding out genuine hope that Studio Aurum continues to work on the game until it is a polished, well-realised example of the vision the team had when starting this game. A dull comparison to the legendary monster-catching games of yore that we know and love, Monster Crown fails to catch ’em all.

Tunche combines familiar mechanics with a setting that is rarely represented in video games. This keeps the game’s visual design fresh, but the combat is more than familiar and not up to the standard set by other games in these genres. Tunche can’t scratch the side-scrolling beat-em-up action of River City Girls or the honed roguelike structure of Hades. Unfortunately, this means the game’s charming art and characters are at battle with lackluster gameplay.

What was once the pinnacle of its genre has become a bit of a joke as it releases again and again and again. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition adds very little that can’t be found in the 2016 Special Edition or is already free with Creation Club content. There is enjoyment to be had out of playing the game in the new survival mode and I still adore the base game. However, Skyrim just isn’t as strong when held up to modern standards, and it is the fault of Bethesda that this tired horse is now running a race with so many others that are leagues faster.

Tamagotchi Plaza is a flat experience in a bright, colourful package. The minigames are fun for an hour or so, but take too long to add new mechanics, leaving the gameplay repetitive and unsatisfying. It’s fun to see so many Tamagotchi characters walking around this world, but it would have been far more interesting if there was anything substantial for them to actually do.

Kao the Kangaroo is a nice 3D platformer for getting your feet wet. The gameplay from previous entries is the same and it is easy for beginners to pick up. The graphics look good and keeping it simple fits with the game’s theme. Unfortunately, the game feels too short, ending just as it picks up momentum. Collectibles feel like unnecessary game padding, the story feels like an excuse plot, and the voice acting leaves a lot to be desired. This may satisfy fans who were looking forward to Kao the Kangaroo’s return, but there isn’t much for players who were hoping for a great, modern 3D platformer.

Moviehouse – The Film Studio Tycoon is an ambitious attempt at showing the ups and downs of the film industry. You gradually work your way up the ladder and producing great movies feels good. It’s a pity the game suffers from some issues that weren’t foreseen or accounted for. The charm of creating a good movie disappears when you realise you can make more money from buying out other studios. As your studio gets bigger and you hire more people, the user interface struggles to keep track of the relevant details. It’s a fun game at the start, though the long time it takes to produce movies can wear you down. For a simulator that passes some time, this will be great, but it does need some more refining to be a good management experience.

Red Souls Games should be proud of releasing their debut title; there is no doubt about that. But as a game striving to honour the paragons of survival horror, Post Trauma significantly falls short. Its astounding art direction and captivating music create an unnervingly eerie atmosphere that will stick with you well after the game’s conclusion. But Post Trauma‘s muddled and borderline incoherent story, flat characters, frustratingly difficult puzzles, and incredibly easy gameplay, where the stakes are never felt, are a real disservice to what is a clear love letter to horror.

LONE RUIN is a game that’s simply too short for its own good. A lack of content means the experience is over long before it ever should be, and any additional difficulty modes and a survival mode don’t do enough to justify the small scope. The experience is saved somewhat by good gameplay and a great spells/upgrades system, though not enough to call this one a real must-play.

Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 is good for a short time, not a long time. What could have been a glorious game full of compelling contracts and challenging assassinations gets muddied by boring regions that are just begging to be filled with objectives to make them seem worthwhile. Instead, you’ll spend more time walking around than actually sniping the baddies. Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 feels unsure of whether it can truly be a strong sniper simulator so instead it tries to outgun other FPS and assassination games – unfortunately, despite it’s fun sniping gunplay, it misses the mark on both.

Gravity Chase is not the most ambitious or creative racing game, but it offers a competent and fast futuristic racer. With a decent variety of tracks that are all easy to unlock, three game modes to pick from, and a satisfactory roster of ships and music to race with—there’s a handful of fun in this package.

Out of Sight is a short and simple experience that captures the horror of being a child in an unfamiliar and frightening situation. While its well-crafted audio design and second-person perspective distinguish it from other games of the genre, I was never excited by its flat and predictable story, nor its highly repetitive and bland gameplay.

INSPIRE could have been great fun but it holds itself back in many ways. Despite having a nice soundtrack, beautiful environments, and a decent shooting experience, the many flaws drag the title down. It’s too easy to get lost, difficult navigation feels like a deliberate design choice, and combat ends up being frustrating. It doesn’t help that the non-existent story is confusing and is quickly thrown out the window. There’s a lot of potential INSPIRE squanders, which is a shame given the promising ideas.

The Serpent Rogue is a game that has a lot going on, which unfortunately has led to most of the game’s features feeling rushed and not fully executed. Keeping it simple would have been a good mantra for The Serpent Rogue to live by, but it instead tries to implement too many things with not enough finesse. The game certainly has interesting researching and crafting elements, with some other unique ideas too. However, it falls short with clunky mechanics and a lack of polish.

If you’re a Nintendo apologist, like so many of us are, Super Rush is a game you’ll likely pick up to add to that ever-growing catalogue even if it is a swing and a miss. Please Nintendo, let the next game be a Strikers sequel and let it be good.

Redfall is an interesting concept with some valid ideas, some cool lore, and some great moments driven by solid visual design and a knack for leaning into the supernatural. But with a vapid and dull open world, excruciating mission design, constant backtracking, and a plethora of performance issues—this release ends up sucking the life out of you one dumb glitch at a time.

It’s disappointing to come away from Mail Time feeling more frustrated than relaxed. All of the elements for an adorable, wholesome experience are there: its cast of animal characters are incredibly well-written, its art direction is delightful, and the entire premise is utterly charming. Unfortunately, a litany of glitches and janky platforming controls really disrupt its vibe. While I’m hopeful that its incredibly ambitious solo developer is able to support the game with patches down the track, it’s sadly difficult to recommend Mail Time in its current state.

I want it to be known that I really wanted to like The Spirit of the Samurai. I am a massive fan of stop-motion animation, and any piece of media that utilises or seeks to evoke or pay homage to that style has earned my respect. That said, as well put-together as the cutscenes are, The Spirit of the Samurai is just not very fun as a game. From the clunky and unresponsive controls to the linear and murky levels filled with oddly placed traps and pitfalls, it can often feel like a slog to actually play. If you are a fan of stop-motion animation, then you may get something from the experience, but it is unlikely to be too satisfying for just about anyone else.

It feels unfair to be so punishing to a studio’s debut game. Clearly, there is some affection for the genres it is playing within here, and the hand-drawn art style is admirable and something I wish more games sought to emulate. However, the sheer lack of polish and mediocrity of Morkull Ragast’s Rage’s game systems, metafictional elements and overall presentation left me raging at the Ragast, and not in the way I suspect the developers intended.

Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance isn’t a bad game, but it does feel insubstantial at the moment. The lack of character development, plot or world-building will probably turn away hardcore D&D fans. As for the fans of multiplayer action games, while the core of the experience is fairly solid, the lack of technical polish, repetitive structure and unexciting loot system will likely not satisfy for long. Hopefully over time, patches and additional content can flesh out the experience and make it the rollicking fantasy hack and slash multiplayer funfest it has the potential to be. Just make sure you don’t forget to bring a friend or three.

Dreadway unfortunately falls to the wayside as simply ‘another friendslop game’. While it takes clear inspiration from other genre titles, it doesn’t do enough to create a unique gaming experience that will have players choosing it over other more popular titles. With a slew of bugs, a lack of unique or interesting features and a gameplay loop that gets old very quickly, Dreadway ends up feeling like a cheap knockoff that misses the point of what makes the good ‘friendslop’ titles good.

NEEDY STREAMER OVERLOAD: Typing of The Net is a typing game that actually challenges you. Whilst there is a decent game here for those who love to test their typing skills and enjoy learning internet lingo, it’s a shame the experience doesn’t last very long. However, if you plan to pursue the mini secret section, you better hope that it doesn’t screw you over during a boss fight as there still seems to be a lot of instability and glitches in this build.

Featuring a cute lizard protagonist and an imaginative archipelago of puzzles, Gecko Gods is just too rough around the edges to earn its stripes. At its best, it emulates the same wonderful feeling of free exploration you get from the Zelda series, but these moments struggle to shine through frustrating controls and low graphical fidelity.

AEW had the right idea in wanting to focus on the nostalgia of the wrestling games we played when we were kids, but at the end of the day, the seemingly low budget and lack of polish is something that should be left in the past. AEW: Fight Forever has some fine ideas and its execution of moment-to-moment gameplay and animations isn’t terrible, but matches can be won with minimal effort or drama, presentation is missing key things that make wrestling special, and the story mode is repetitive, boring and self-masturbatory. Fight forever? In this game? No, thank you.

The Lords of the Rings: Return to Moria has some very solid ideas. A game set in the Fourth Age is incredibly interesting and exciting. This is why it’s such a shame that Return to Moria is not a success. There is a lot of heart in it, sure, but the core gameplay loop just isn’t engaging enough to make the game worth buying over other survival titles, even if you are a big LOTR fan.

Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian never once feels like it was developed beyond the boardroom meeting of its conception. It fails to venture beyond the foundations that the series has set for itself or delve into the world of innovation and experimentation that the series is known for. Superfans of the series may find something to love here, but for those who don’t care to dig that deep, they will find a mish-mash of boring dungeons, a bland story, mind-numbing levels of repetition, and a plethora of design shortcomings in a setting that requires prior knowledge of the world.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a big misstep and feels like Ubisoft's biggest missed opportunity in a while. Not even the fantastical and majestic sights of Pandora and some engaging hunts can cure the buggy, unoptimised product presented to the world. Offering a dull story while it trips and stumbles on delicate themes, it too is simply a confused formula of everything you've seen before from other titles, almost all of it ill-fitting. Two adaptations under their belt and it seems Ubisoft just can't get that voyage of Pandora right.

I’m an optimistic person. I try to view games as more than the sum of their parts, flaws and all. I’m struggling to maintain that train of thought as I reflect on my time with Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion. An odd release here or there from a studio is forgivable. They can be viewed as an off-game, one where they weren’t at their best. Two uneven titles down into the mech series, and it’s clear there are problems with this series down to the core. If this is an IP that is to be continued, something fundamentally needs to change. Fans who see that diamond in the rough here deserve better.

Despite not completely lacking in fun, MADO MONOGATARI: Fia and the Wondrous Academy stops short of doing anything interesting with its academy life sim elements or its dungeon crawling. Try-hard ‘funny’ dialogue waffles for too long, academy activities is largely messing around in menus, and dungeons are one-note and house the same enemies and traps that don’t offer a true challenge. If this is your very first dungeon crawler and you’re under the age of twelve, you might find enough fun to get you to the end, but for everyone else, this one will likely lie unfinished on the shelf after the first five hours.

I appreciate what Scathe was clearly aspiring to be, but it doesn’t reach those aspirations. Its sprawling, directionless levels were no substitute for a more tailored experience with a difficulty curve and intended order of obtaining new weapons and spells. Flooding the stages with enemies and hazards that appear out of thin air felt unfair more often than not, and the lives system and scarce health pick-ups only slowed down what is intended to be a fast-paced experience. If you enjoy DOOM and FPS’s inspired by it and want to play it co-op with your friends, there is some enjoyment to be had, but there are better-designed co-op shooters on the market that are more deserving your time.

MainFrames is a delight to look at, but less enjoyable to actually play. The charming and cute aesthetics can’t save MainFrames from its simplistic gameplay which struggles to capitalise on its strong ideas.

Aery – Dreamscape is an interesting game. But with five Aery games already out, has EpiXR Games already flown too close to the sun? Dreamscape’s storytelling is quirky, by looking into the dreams of those around us, we can understand each other more. With different levels and a unique hub world, it’s clear there’s passion. But considering that subtitles are sometimes missing, objects glitching, and markers not showing at all, maybe it’s best to give Dreamscape a miss.

Somerville relies on its fantastic animations and settings to tell a story of a father trying to reunite with his family. But without important story fundamentals such as exposition, you have no idea what is going on. Coupled with the fact that the adventure consists of simply solving puzzles while walking around, it is hard to immerse yourself in the story or even care about what will happen. Solving puzzles can also be difficult because you are expected to fumble around and discover what can be interacted with. There’s no guidance or assistance, which leads to frustration when you have no idea what to do next. There’s a good attempt at telling a story here, but it’s difficult to find yourself wanting to reach the end.

Sadly, She’s Leaving‘s trite plot, absence of compelling characters, and lacklustre gameplay elements mar it, leaving very little to actually recommend. It is a short, play-it-and-forget kind of game, so much so that by the end of my playthrough, I felt nothing towards it but the indifference of knowing I could have spent my time doing anything else. It is a completely mediocre experience, but one that Blue Hat Studio can, and should, learn from.

I wish my first experience with Gnaughty Gnomes was not an incomplete and buggy mess, and I would like to give it a try in a few months once things get better. In its current state, however, I cannot in good faith recommend getting it unless the launch patch fixes all the above problems. You might be better off playing something else cheap and fun with your friends until this game is truly ready for launch.

World’s End Club wanted to be like Danganronpa or Zero Escape, but it doesn’t measure up to either. This game has a pretty cool story sandwiched between aggressively average platforming segments that wouldn’t stand up to snuff ten years ago. It has a cool art direction and likeable characters, but the writing itself is not masterful enough to make the unconvincing plot twists work, nor to make up for the boring and repetitive gameplay.

Omi Oh My AI has admirable intentions, but none of that makes up for how unfinished it feels. The CAPTCHA gimmick wears thin quickly, and constant technical issues make it impossible to tell when the game is being clever or simply broken. While it’s easy to respect the ambition behind the project, ambition alone isn’t enough.

It must be said, I was absolutely blindsided by JETT: The Far Shore. The marketing was vague enough that I could envision this game working. The aesthetic that I found so dazzling is still there, but everything else falls by the wayside. At best, the gameplay teased me with what could have been. At its worst, it was a frustrating and laborious mess. Storywise, there were few sparks of interest to be found. Should something catch alight, it would be quickly smothered by boring office chatter. It’s the purest form of a game that presents itself as a well-designed art piece. JETT: The Far Shore is something to ogle at, to mull over, to discuss. It has no desire to lower itself to the medium of video games, and the mechanical tedium bears that out.

Even with its quirkiness and challenging katana action, Wanted: Dead is a mess. It offers an odd nostalgic charm of the incomplete and unpolished games of the mid-2000s and never takes itself too seriously. Still, without the enjoyable mini-games, imaginative slice and dice finishing moves, and “so bad it’s funny” voice acting, there’s not much more to love. This might be one of the most disappointing games of this year.

House of Tesla lets down a promising premise with boring execution. The narrative is uninteresting with low-quality execution. While puzzles fare slightly better, the most memorable moments of my time with House of Tesla will be the frustration and confusion while I wait for the hint button to give me guidance on where to go next.

Arctic Awakening’s intriguing premise is quickly buried under a slushy heap of mediocrity. Its mystery is undercut by poorly conceived writing, the character dynamics and performances leave you colder than its wintry landscapes and whatever visual beauty that can be found in its intermittent spectacle is often dashed by raw survival mechanics and sluggish pacing. In more assured hands, this could have been a familiar yet effective 4-5 hour narrative adventure, but in its current state, you’d best leave it buried in the snow.

There’s a lot of potential to Monster Harvest, but it falls short on delivering a farming sim game that comes close to rivalling others in the genre. Hopefully, with time, Monster Harvest continues to grow, but until then it feels like it’s missing what makes the hard work worthwhile. Honestly, this feels like an Early Access title that still needs more time before it’s ready for full release. It seems the phrase ‘third time’s the charm’ does not apply to game delays.

I can see LEGO Brawls’ appeal as a free-to-play mobile game, where its simple mechanics and repetitive game modes are more excusable. As a full-priced console game, standing up against feature-rich AAA titles and even free-to-play titles, LEGO Brawls just doesn’t stand out in the slightest. Although a less complex brawler aimed at a younger audience might make sense, in this case it’s TOO simplified, where every character behaves the same and the only strategy is to run at your foes and mash the attack button. Combine that with the lack of additional single-player content and glacial progression system, and it becomes difficult to recommend LEGO Brawls to anyone other than the most devoted LEGO aficionados.