Rivals is easily the most fun I have had playing Rock Band 4 in the past year. It’s breathed new life into a game that frankly had a rough first year.

There is a lot to love about Freedom Planet. From the fantastically colorful 16-bit graphics, the unique cast of characters down to the varied styles of music playing in the background, Freedom Planet offers tons of replayability. Not to mention the writers did a great job with the flow of the story and being able to effectively combine serious moments with witty and humorous situations. If you enjoy platformers, speed running or you’re a Sonic fan, definitely give this a shot as you will be more than pleasantly surprised.

Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy, is a great, even perspective changing game that showed me that games don’t need endless action to be fun.

Blackwood Crossing is a game I highly recommend experiencing. It’s a game that defies explanation but has deeply emotional implications. If you’re as fascinated as I am by the emerging trend of games that portray real feels then Blackwood Crossing is a no-brainer.

UnMetal is an incredible tribute to one of the greatest franchises in the medium. While the game pokes fun at the title and highlights flaws and silly elements, it’s clear that it is done with love and admiration for the series. Similar to how Mel Brooks lovingly rips Hitchcock apart in High Anxiety, UnEpic Fran does the same with Kojima. The varied gameplay and creative storytelling will keep you in hysterics throughout. Although some may find the retro gameplay a little grating, fans of Metal Gear and the stealth genre need to experience this side-splitting tactical espionage adventure.

Sure, there is nothing incredibly original about the game but the sheer size and magnitude of this zombie outbreak is undeniably impressive and certainly gives us a glimpse of what we can expect from these next generation consoles.

While the story itself was very interesting, I had a much better time interacting with my friends and bringing our characters to life.

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.

I’d love to say that Song of Iron was a great game made by one developer, with no qualifiers. I think where Song of Iron has some issues has less to do with it being a solo effort than perhaps the impracticality of the extreme minimalist approach as a concept, coupled with some consistent mechanical frustrations with movement and combat. Still, I love that Song of Iron is not weighted down by feature bloat. It’s a spare, beautiful-looking, engrossing iteration of a genre that always needs fresh ideas and bold, singular visions.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the weird boss rhythms, and the shopping sections fell a little flat, but this game still bursts with that timeless River City charm. If you’re on the fence, thinking this a mere gender-swap, think again! These girls have all the ferocity and heart of their elusive boyfriends. Much more so, even. Fans of brawlers and badass girls alike won’t wanna miss River City Girls.

New Super Lucky’s Tale is the best Lucky’s Tale title to date. The colorful visuals are now in 4K at 60 frames per second, something nobody can complain about. The cast of characters are complemented by impressive voice acting. While Lucky’s Tale may have originated as an Oculus Rift pack-in game, New Super Lucky’s Tale has really evolved after originally debuting on the Nintendo Switch last November. The transition from Switch to Xbox is impressive. When Yooka-Laylee released back in 2017, I expected it to reinvigorate my love for the 3D platforming genre similar to how Super Mario Odyssey did, but I had to wait until New Super Lucky’s Tale to truly feel that satisfaction.

Atlas Reactor is a game that I appreciate for its diverse cast and refreshingly short match times.

Assassin’s Creed Origins: The Hidden Ones is probably exactly like you expect – it offers more of everything you liked about the base game, but it won’t surprise you or offer anything revolutionary.

Though Samurai Warriors 4 isn’t the most polished game out there, it is a hell of a lot of fun.

Despite a slow start, when Dragon Quest Builders starts rolling it’s hard to put the game down.

Kao The Kangaroo is an excellent 3D platformer that captures the magic of the golden era. The solid mechanics and great level design make this nostalgic adventure a joy. Even though it’s not particularly difficult and sticks to conventions, it will keep you hooked from beginning to end.

In the end, Corpse Party is an enjoyable, well thought out and engaging experience. It does take on a bit of a slower pace but if you are a fan of Visual Novels, then this will be perfect for you.

If you’re looking for something fun that has great replay value and a reasonable price tag, do yourself a favor and at least download the demo for Blacksea Odyssey. All you’ve got to lose is a bit of bandwidth, and if you have fun then it’s definitely worth your time and money. Fans of other highly rated roguelikes such as Binding of Isaac or Risk of Rain should absolutely check it out.

With a brilliant blend of silky smooth yet brutal combat and some memorable stealth sequences, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor offers up some of the best open world combat we have seen in quite some time. It is not without some faults, and will frustrate many to the core, but in the end you are left with an excellent Lord of the Rings game that should please any “Mature” gamer.

MotoGP 2022 adds a couple of new features but is relatively unchanged from the previous release. Graphical differences are minor, which is fine as the base experience is solid. Milestone has taken steps to make the game more accessible without losing the aspects of it that the hard-core crowd enjoys. If there was ever a time for the uninitiated to dive in, this year’s edition is it.

While the lack of additional content for the single player portion of the game is a disappointment, all in all the Local Justice DLC is a solid buy and one that should be considered a no-brainer for anyone who heads online for some Max Payne 3 goodness.

Even though Gnosia has a simple and familiar concept, it presents a sophisticated social deduction game with an interesting narrative. With various roles and combinations of crew members, each game can trigger new events depending on what you decide to do. Although constantly playing the same guessing game can feel repetitive (as this is true for most things), there is great replayability due to the many options Gnosia provides. Mix this with a group of eclectic characters and a thought-provoking sci-fi narrative, and you’ve got yourself a great game you can play for ages.

Overall, Bravely Default 2 is a solid RPG with a unique battle system and a satisfying job system. Having allowed time to pass between the first two iterations and this one, Bravely Default 2 remains a natural extension of the older games, though improved in various aspects. Without question, Bravely Default 2's job system is the shining aspect of the game and does enough to keep my interest despite a relatively predictable story.

While the gameplay does tend to get tedious at times, the reality is that the games target audience, girls anywhere from 5-10, will definitely enjoy the game provided of course they adore those Disney Princess characters.

Though I feel Dead Space 3 may not be the strongest of all the three Dead Space games I found I still enjoyed it thoroughly and feel that it is definitely a title that should be on every action gamer’s radar.

A tightly, well-crafted game that bridges the action platformer genre with tower defense elements. In doing so, the gameplay elements were noticeably intuitive and the various mechanics all contributed to the overall polish of the game.

Whether you’re a fan of the originals, or a curious party looking to get into skateboarding games, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is a must play. All the original content, a smooth framerate, portability, loads of in-game customization, and a pinch of new content are a recipe for skateboarding success. Only a lack of create-a-skater options and lack of Spider-Man mar this fun flashback. This is what it’s like when worlds collide.

Overall, Ghost Giant is not about great gameplay – the object-manipulation tasks are standard VR fare and only really serve to move the narrative forward. But oh, the narrative. The trials and tribulations of Louis and the rest of the denizens of little Sancourt will tug at your heartstrings and leave you thinking about them long after playing. Strap on your PSVR headset and definitely check Ghost Giant out, but be prepared to stop and wipe your eyes more than once.