The pressure is back on with GW2: EoD and it feels good. The main quest line and combat are engaging thanks to new elite specializations, unique characters, and interesting fight designs. Despite some lackluster parts of the main adventure, there is still a drive to keep going. If you love focused stories in MMORPG’s, End of Dragons is an expansion that not only adds to, but builds on, a well established world. With all the other content EoD adds, there is so much to do. Yet the story is the highlight, ushering you forth as the hero you want your character to be, if you’re brave enough to face the End of Dragons.

Zombie Rollerz: Pinball Heroes is a stress-free experience with enough challenge to give you an adrenaline rush. It is super easy to shoot pinballs, target meteors, and throw axes at zombies. You can choose to scrape by and advance to the next battle, but it is a delightful feeling when you receive a good ranking. Most people are familiar with pinball, so understanding how the flippers work almost comes naturally. Zombie Rollerz doesn’t require brain power to enjoy and some of the choices you make will lead to random outcomes anyway. It isn’t as easy as it looks, but it doesn’t take long to get into the rhythm of things and send zombies flying.

Total War: Warhammer 3 is the perfect culmination to a trilogy of generally excellent games. The third installment has both a must-play prologue and story campaign that is fast-paced and takes the gameplay in new directions. Long after the campaign is over, quality of life improvements and the new setting guarantee a long life for single-player skirmishes and multiplayer games. Total War: Warhammer 3 is a winner for both casual and hardcore Warhammer fans or any real-time strategy player looking for a game with depth.

Babylon’s Fall falters with its implementation of a live-service model. While it contains a compelling, multi-faceted combat system, its brilliance is lost in a crowd of unnecessary features. The art direction, although interesting, doesn’t capture the notion of an oil painting. Instead, it looks bland and at times, downright ugly. Unfortunately, it seems that a troubled development period has marred the game, resulting in a directionless, cluttered and convoluted adventure.

For the first time in sim racing history, a console version can share the starting grid spot with its PC brother.

Every aspect of this game is steeped in strategy. The choice system, the combat, and the core narrative all reinforce this idea. Especially the story, which maintains a desperate intensity throughout. Your every move is carefully considered, and each response carries serious weight. Between this intensity and the measured pace, my focus occasionally suffered. My tendency to level grind also backfired on me, adding extra strain to the runtime. On the other hand, the battles were all addictive and compelling. So much so that you resent the other sections a little. While the pressures of running a High House may seem oppressive, don’t despair! Each struggle comes with its own rich rewards. If you’ve got the patience for it, Triangle Strategy will get its hooks deep in your brain.

Chocobo GP is a solid kart racer that deserves your attention. Fun and frantic, the game is accessible but contains enough of a challenge for veterans. Although there is a notable absence of a battle mode, there is still plenty of content for on and offline play. Clearly leaning into its influences with the mechanics and aesthetics, the game doesn’t push the boundaries but is successful in its goal of being a charming and joyous racer.

Gran Turismo 7 is the best driving game I’ve ever played. Period. It’s not a hardcore simulation of the likes of Assetto Corsa Competizione or iRacing, but for my money, I now prefer Gran Turismo. It’s the ultimate celebration of something that’s part of Kazunori Yamauchi’s very being and an incredible effort to bring his love for automobiles to the world. See you on the starting line.

A Musical Story seamlessly combines genres to create an unforgettable experience. Its rhythm segments are a refreshing take on conventions, helping it gain its own identity. In addition, the narrative is expertly delivered and takes advantage of its unique art style. Highlighted through its powerful imagery and stellar soundtrack, this sensitive coming of age story is a sumptuous and sentimental observation of a bygone era.

Conan Chop Chop is a combination of challenging combat and rogue-lite mechanics that reward repeated runs and never leave you feeling defeated, even when you die. This is a game with much more depth than its colorful and cartoony style suggests. It’s also much more fun with others. Played solo or with a group, though, Conan Chop Chop’s gameplay loop and enjoyable combat are addictive and compel you to try just one run, over and over again.

A tip of the hat to Codemasters for trying something new with the Story Mode. While it doesn’t enhance the game in the way intended, it does make for a useful tour of the game’s offerings. Grid Legends is a lot of fun and that’s what really matters at the finish line.

When Elex came out in 2017, it filled a niche despite its many issues. Elex 2 is bigger and its world is more dense, but Piranha Bytes hasn't really fixed much of what was wrong about the first game. Janky movement and weak combat top the list. Annoying mechanics and glacial progression are right up there, too. Elex 2 has ambition, I'll give it that. If it pared that ambition with polish, a more coherent narrative and better pacing, Elex 2 might be a more viable alternative to those other RPGs that are getting so much deserved attention.

Shadow Warrior 3 is a real study in contrasts. There are times when its environments and cutscenes are triple-A game adjacent. Its combat is fast, furious, and fun. On the other hand, there’s not much story to tell, and that engaging combat gets frustrating and numbingly repetitive. Shadow Warrior 3 embraces much of what we remember about early shooters, with a lot more visual panache and polish. By the end, though, we’re desperate for the kind of variety and sophistication that later shooters brought to the genre.

Martha Is Dead offers a narrative that’s provocative, intense, dark, and emotional. And yes, it’s not for the faint of heart. It’s plenty gory. Given that it takes place during WWII the story doesn’t seem out of place either. It pulls you in right away, keeps its intensity and pace, and holds your attention until the very end. The sound and graphical design really fit with the overall vibe and atmosphere of the game. Sure, it’s not perfect, but most of the issues aren’t game breaking. Martha Is Dead is riveting and if you’re a fan of psychological thrillers you won’t want to miss it.

I don’t need much justification to revisit Final Fantasy VI. If you’re a Final Fantasy fan, this is grade A, top shelf stuff. Full of weird minigames, memorable characters, and a compelling story, VI is an excellent RPG. If you’ve never played it before, you’d be an absolute fool to pass this up. Even if you’ve bought it several times already, I still recommend the game. Square Enix has tried to make the definitive version of this game, and I’d say they more or less succeeded.

Elden Ring is an awe-inspiring achievement. Both a summary and bold step forward, it fuses FromSoftware's best and most effective ideas with an endlessly engaging open world. Its combat is the most refined of the series, challenging yet accessible to new players. Elden Ring includes an incredible amount of quality content. More importantly, it offers a captivating, polished experience fraught with danger and filled with beauty.

I can honestly say that I enjoy Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires more than Dynasty Warriors 9. You may attribute this to the sorry state of the latter when it first launched. Although, I must affirm that I am a big fan of the simulation genre and empire management. The fact that battles affect the grand campaign, and vice versa, makes all the interactions in this installment meaningful. To what extent is up to you. Sadly, apart from a decent graphical upgrade, there’s not enough here to call it a fully realized sequel. The franchise is competing against itself. Unless the updated hack-and-slash gameplay and expanded character roster are enough to tie you over, consider this empire incomplete.

Overall, it’s just hard to recall a less ambitious multiplayer shooter than CrossfireX. Its generic single player campaign fares much better than its multiplayer, which is simply lacking in everything we’ve come to expect from the genre. Smilegate’s previous shooters have obviously connected with millions in the Asian market, but it’s hard to imagine CrossfireX igniting anything near that kind of enthusiasm in the very competitive multiplayer scene.

GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon reinvents itself through the inclusion of rogue-lite elements. However, the weight of numerous collectibles, basic combat and odd design decisions mean that the game struggles to compete with contemporaries. Although there is still plenty to enjoy for fans of the original and newcomers, it fails to cut through the competition.

Death end re;Quest 2 was an excellent visual novel with an addicting RPG portion as well. While the sequel does a good job at telling a new story, there are some things newcomers might miss. At the same time, you don’t need to know what happens in the first game in order to excel. Death end re;Quest 2 is perfectly fine as a standalone game and would be even better if they explained the background more. I really liked the game and I appreciate the Nintendo Switch’s portability, but the visuals fell short of spectacular so it only just barely satisfied my RPG cravings.

All in all, this review finds Infernax to be a bloody good time. Again, though, be sure you know exactly what you’re getting into. Also, be wary of the platforming.

I cannot emphasize enough what a grand adventure Wanderer is. The game has the right mix of action and puzzle-solving to keep things from getting stale. Voice acting and the orchestral score are top-notch and bring added gravitas to the proceedings. The only niggle in the presentation comes with the actions of the NPCs. Sometimes they are oblivious to your presence and movement. This makes their obviously scripted behaviour all that more artificial.

The King of Fighters XV is the greatest release in the series rich history. With its fluid and deep combat, veterans can compete in thrilling and intense battles. However, SNK has also included numerous elements that make the game accessible to support newcomers to the franchise. Whilst there aren’t many unlockables, the game shines in the arena, making this a necessity for fans of the genre.

So while Horizon Forbidden West isn’t changing the rules of the genre, it’s an excellently crafted, entertaining, and satisfying adventure. It looks phenomenal and offers a sandbox of gameplay that remains just as unique as the original. Is it more of the same? In a way, I suppose. But I know I wouldn’t say no to more of Horizon Zero Dawn as it was 5 years ago, and Forbidden West is an improvement in nearly every way.

It looks, sounds and plays like a game that wasn’t ready to leave the drawing board, much less be released. Claustrophobia will make you feel trapped, for sure. Maybe just not the way the developer intended.

While it was a slow start I enjoyed my time in River City with Misako and Kyoko. The hand drawn art is incredible and the song list adds to the pacing and overall vibe. The move list eventually gets into enough depth to feel like a new addition to the genre. I’m eager for River City Girls 2. We’ll see how Wayforward changes up an already strong entry on the next go-round.

Rise of the Third Power is a 40 hour long, Super Nintendo throwback that shouldn’t be missed by genre fans. The only criticism I can really throw at the game is it lacks that special edge Squaresoft SNES RPGs had. Everything in Rise of the Third Power is well-done, it just doesn’t innovate. This keeps Rise of the Third Power from being an immediate classic. I loved my time with it. I actually loved it so much that I bought Stegosoft’s other JRPG, Ara Fell. While Rise of the Third Power won’t convert any non-JRPG fans, it will provide a wonderful journey to those of us already drinking that sweet JRPG Kool-Aid.

All in all, if you like atmospheric roguelikes, you’ll probably like Castle Morihisa. If you’re not that fond of the genre, this game doesn’t have much to offer you.