Animal Crossing: New Horizons Switch 2 Edition is a game of two halves. If you’re new to the franchise, this is one of the best social simulators available and an essential purchase for fans of the genre. Packed with content, there’s absolutely loads to do. The 3.0 update is great, and when mixed with the steady stream of content and addictive gameplay loop, you’ll quickly lose hours on the faraway island. If you own the original, the update doesn’t offer much, but at the low price, it’s still probably worth the $5.

Mortal Kombat 1 refines and improves on its solid foundation to deliver a devastating tag-team blow. The Kameo system opens up new possibilities which allows you to experiment with offensive and defensive maneuvers. In terms of single-player content, the story mode kicks ass and Invasion gives you the incentive to keep playing. With its solid online net code and wonderful tutorial, Mortal Kombat 1 is a flawless victory.

Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf is a remarkable game that builds on and develops the foundations of the original. Similar to its predecessor, it tells an emotive, personal story that instantly immerses you. The scope expands as you journey farther afield. Gameplay improvements elevate the adventure, introducing greater puzzle variety and tense cinematic sequences that complement one another perfectly. Though relatively short, it’s a stunning journey that will resonate long after the credits roll.

Derivative though it most certainly is, The First Berserker: Khazan is still incredibly fun to play because combat is so satisfying. The gothic anime visuals look great, and the game manages to sneak a few new and smart mechanics into the formula. The First Berserker: Khazan may be a familiar experience, but it’s probably a must-play for fans of hardcore action games and Soulslikes.

From its art style to its streamlined mechanics, Dragon Quest VII Reimagined takes a classic and makes it feel fresh. A cast of engaging characters, sparkling voice work, and combat that can be tailor-made, Dragon Quest VII Reimagined is a substantial game that almost never wastes your time. Ardent fans of the original might be skeptical, but it’s hard to imagine fans of classic JRPGs not enjoying this thoroughly engaging journey.

KuloNiku is a lovely slice of cozy gaming. With pleasing visuals, flexible gameplay, charming characters, and solid storytelling. It’ll have you addicted and sweating over your virtual stoves for hours on end. Definitely one to pick up and add to your cozy collection.

With a perfect mix of exploration and platforming, randomly generated maps, awesome upgrades and extremely addictive gameplay, SteamWorld Dig is a fantastic game, one that I highly recommend playing.

Cairn accurately captures the thrill and intensity of scaling a mountain. Each tentative step communicates the danger of the climb, forcing you to constantly readjust and take calculated risks to succeed. Aava’s flexibility benefits the gameplay, though it can look awkward in execution. While the game’s visuals and overall design are wonderful, performance issues, such as regular framerate drops and odd bugs, occasionally hinder the experience. Even though there are a few kinks in the equipment, this is a great ascent for those seeking a truly unique adventure.

The Plucky Squire is an exceptional experience that I would recommend to most gamers. While the build-up is a bit slow and the story portions break up the gameplay a little too much, the title is still a worthwhile experience. As one might expect from a book though, the replay value feels a bit limited with this game. I don’t know that I would want to experience the early portions of the game again, but chapter selection does help to alleviate that issue. Overall, The Plucky Squire is one of the best indie titles of the year so far, and we would recommend giving it a shot.

With more characters and levels on the way, Broforce is positioned to kick ass and take no prisoners for a long time to come.

Calling Lies of P derivative is both obvious and misses the point. It’s is a love letter to FromSoftware, but one that quite often matches or even exceeds its inspiration. Lies of P doesn’t quite attain the elegance of Dark Souls, Elden Ring, or Bloodborne’s best level designs, but its art, graphics, and combat are possibly the best of any Soulslike not developed by Miyazaki and company. Lies of P is addictive, challenging, and rewarding, and a must-play for fans of action RPGs.

It’s still a good story, though, with an arc and characters that impressed 2003 Star Wars fans and RPG players hungry for more of what they loved best. Mechanically, the moment-to-moment gameplay definitely shows its age and the writing isn’t as strong or nuanced as we might remember it being. There’s a bit of consolation prize sadness around this unadorned, unimproved semi-museum piece coming to Switch, which won’t be seeing Aspyr’s remake when it’s released. Knights of the Old Republic looks and plays like the exceptionally good game it most certainly was in 2003, but it’s hard not to see, hear and feel all the ways in which games have moved on since.

At only 1200 points you should experience the beautiful hand painted work of art that Dean Dodrill so delicately crafted. I have to say that this title is a wonderful final offering in this year's Summer of Arcade and you would be crazy to not to consider it.

There are a lot of roguelite games, crossing over with a dozen other genres. Maybe your rogue capacity is filled to the brim and spilling over. That’s kind of what I was thinking when I sat down to play Rogue Waters. But then it has enough originality to be engaging, and it’s made well enough to be fun! This isn’t the holistic pirate game of my imagination, but sometimes you don’t want to play Red Read Redemption, you want to play a fast run of something that holds your attention and hits hard. Rogue Waters will do that for you. And I hope before we get a Rockstar or Naughty Dog pirate magnum opus, we get a hundred more games with cool ideas like Rogue Waters. There’s room in the world of gaming for someone to take a wild shot, and sometimes that shot hits its target.

The ability to partner familiar Marvel superstars with a hero of your own creation is just part of Midnight Sun’s appeal. The card battle system perfectly balances easy-to-learn with tough-to-master. With a heavy emphasis on narrative and character, Marvel’s Midnight Suns is much more than an X-COM clone. The Marvel gang feels right at home in the tactical RPG genre thanks to the game’s smart mechanics. Fighting alongside iconic Marvel heroes never gets old.

Overall, OlliOlli 2 is a blast, a simplistic time waster that will have you addicted for hours trying to complete challenges (especially if you’re a completionist like me) with the kick-ass soundtrack and gorgeous art style, it really drives home the point that you don’t need to have AAA production value to make a stand-out game.

With a song list this large and almost every major Final Fantasy character there’s ever been, wrapped up in an incredibly cute art style, Curtain Call is an absolute fan server for Final Fantasy diehards.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, for better or worse, feels like a palette swap of Origins. There’s a huge new world full of historical coolness and infinite things to do, but the enhancements are few and far between. If you loved Origins and want more of that you’ll gobble Odyssey right up, but Ubisoft need to be diligent about making changes to these games if they’re going to continue pumping them out year after year.

That feeling of greatness when beating a particularly troublesome level is a reward in itself. Where Tropical Freeze seems to miss a beat or two is in its implementation of cooperative play, which personally I could do without.

[An] enormous amount of laughs.

I’m really impressed with Gunheart. It’s easy to get caught up in the importance of the cross-play aspect, but the game itself is great fun. It’s a solid shooter, which some great mechanics and customization that should keep players engaged for quite some time, at the very least long enough to get their money’s worth.

Across the board, F1 2018 is just a little bit flashier, a little bit deeper and a little bit better optimized than its 2017 sibling.

All in all, BlazBlue Entropy Effect is a fun experience with slick combat. I just wish it felt like the BlazBlue title meant something. Right now, it seems like an unrelated game got put under the BlazBlue umbrella for marketing purposes. Oh well, at least Taokaka is still fun to play.

Trombone Champ: Unflattened! captures the absurdity of the original and perfectly translates it to the virtual realm. Tooting your way through songs, whether accurately or disgracefully delivers endless laughs and a delightful sense of chaos. While the song selection is vast, there is a lack of contemporary tracks on offer. Although great in short bursts, the game can get repetitive during longer sessions. Regardless, the game shines in a communal setting, where the ridiculousness of playing (or spectating) guarantees laugh-out-loud moments. Weird, wonderful, and utterly unique, it’s a hilarious addition to any gathering.

Ever 17 – The Out of Infinity and Never 7 – The End of Infinity Double Pack should get a much better score than I’m going to give it. Unfortunately, narrative-heavy visual novels can’t afford to be unedited. I sincerely hope the developers return to these remasters and fix the translation errors. Until then, my criticisms stand.

With such a heavy focus on the atmosphere and the terror, SOMA seems to forget to include much in the way of puzzle solving for progression.

Gears fans, as well as those new to the series, will be satisfied with this “Ultimate Edition” offers, as it’s way more then just an HD remake.

Death Howl is not a comfort game. It’s a quiet descent, a journey stitched together from grief. It demands patience, attention, and a willingness to inhabit sadness without rushing to cure it. But for those who embrace its darkness, it offers one of the most hauntingly poetic experiences in modern pixel-art gaming.