It is so easy to want to fall in love with Kamikaze Empire. It has some truly interesting ideas, such as dying being an optimal strategy, and intriguing challenges that change how one interacts with stages. However, the base gameplay is repetitive and lacks refinement. To make matters worse, the visuals are uninspired and the audio is dull. This makes it difficult for anyone but hardcore gamers to progress past the halfway point of the brief story mode. Unless craving a punishing challenge, it’s best to look elsewhere.

Despite its appealing premise and relaxing facade, Outbound struggles to justify the time (and price) it demands. The slow pacing, repetitive resource gathering, lifeless world design, and lack of meaningful progression drain the experience of excitement as well as comfort. The campervan customisation and eco-friendly concept attached show promise, yet the gameplay loop quickly turns into a mind-numbing chore rather than a therapeutic past time.

The nicest thing that can be said about Mixtape is that it has imaginative visuals and that the animation quality is pretty good. Adventure game fans won't find much intrigue or excitement because the experience is suffocatingly automated, and all the set-pieces offer no challenge. The biggest sin Mixtape commits is that it's ultimately insufferably boring and pretentious.

Sayonara Wild Hearts is a beautiful-looking and sonically dazzling work of art, yes...but like most arty games, it lacks a compelling hook. The very bare mechanics can be generously called "gameplay", in that there is moving a character on a screen and pressing button prompts, but there's no substance at all. Doing a perfect run and not making mistakes for a flawless music video should be a reward. It shouldn't have been given away to just anyone. Overcoming a "broken heart" is not easy in real life, and that should have been reflected in the gameplay.

While an interesting concept, Magin: The Rat Project Stories just falls short in every department after the beginning. The writing is so filled with profanities that it comes off as immature rather than adult. What is worse, though, is that the card-based combat system becomes repetitive because the game punishes the player for experimenting. Great concept on paper, but poorly executed.

Oh, joy. Legacy of Kain: Ascendance is the miraculous return no one asked for, adding a heroine nobody wanted, and turning a beloved, dark saga into an uninspired, rough-around-the-edges side-scrolling platformer that few if any will enjoy. As for the story and writing, if past titles were Shakespearean poetry in video game form, this resembles a confused school play project. Vae victis? More like vae playeris - woe to the player forced to endure this mess.

While Khaos Reigns extends the experience of the enjoyable Mortal Kombat 1, the story expansion itself is nothing to write home about. The six new fighters are the meat of the experience, with some fun returning characters from past games and three well-realised guest characters, some of which have shaken up the meta in a positive way. Regardless, this bundle is difficult to recommend as a package, so fans who are only interested in a select few Kombat Pack 2 fighters would be better off purchasing them individually.

It is easy to see what Fortuna Magus was aiming to do. It tried to be a short and sweet JRPG, something that is always appreciated, since the biggest flaw in the genre is that games sometimes feel padded. However, it maintains the same ratio between padding and the actual story as in longer games in the genre. Worst of all, it does not give important plot points and characterisation the space they need. Combined with a poorly implemented currency that makes characters way more powerful than they should be, it removes the spotlight from the wonderful combat system. Fortuna Magus is sadly a hard pass, except for those who feel the need to play any retro JRPGs on the market. Although there are many great ones published by Kemco alone, one should never have to dive this deep into the barrel for something new to play.

“A cold-case detective thriller without genuine detecting” sounds more like a strange joke than proper description for this game. Combine that alongside poor storytelling and shoddy presentation, and it’s sad to say John Morley’s final case ends with a pitiful whimper rather than a bang.

If you can get over the fact that Video Hustler isn’t a traditional pool game, there is brief appeal to its unique score-based stylings. Unfortunately, the wonky control method and air hockey-like physics make it difficult to play for even short sessions.

Attempting to channel that special The Goonies magic, indie metroidvania The Good Old Days borrows its premise and aesthetics (kind of) but stumbles in execution. The muddy level design, punishing backtracking and the especially poor controls are hard to stomach, and despite being made with multiple runs in mind, this ultimately isn’t fun or worth finishing even once.

Let it Die: Inferno is a gorgeous and highly stylised game that can’t stop tripping over itself. Combat is frustrating and unfair instead of challenging, exploration and item collection are made negligible by timers and resets, and certain characters and music are weakened by AI “enhancements” that don’t enhance the game in any way. Inferno itself is solid, and there aren’t many bugs or glitches, but the game on offer is one that is trying to appeal to a niche of players who certainly can find a lot of fun in its gameplay loop, but working through the design flaws and constant resets will prove as much of a challenge as the combat and exploration of a soulslike are meant to be.

Log Away aims for calm cabin-building bliss and reaches it…only to lose it minutes later. While its cosy vibes have some charm, with no pressure to do anything besides crafting the tiny retreat of your dreams, the experience is dragged down by poor optimisation, a lack of settings, and shallow, highly limited building options. With nothing to do after quick completion and no world to explore, relaxation soon turns into boredom.

Detective Dotson would be a neat pixel-art screensaver that depicts the vibrantly coloured, densely populated world that is India. As an actual interactive experience? It’s a boring fetch quest and mini-game heavy kind of mess hiding behind a pretty face.

A visual treat in search of better gameplay, Itorah is an action-platformer that wears a metroidvania skin. The eight or so hours needed to reach the end of this journey are boring, the main heroine feels clunky to control, and the frame rate will make you nauseous. The strongest moments here will come from admiring still frames, not playing through them.

Gee Bee's austere visuals looked cheap next to emerging colour games in 1970s arcades. With only three-to-five-minute games with no escalation or features, after a few plays, the loop becomes mind numbing. Its core is so basic that not even modern features can do much to elevate its plainness. Most people play video games to beat boredom. Gee Bee is for people who crave monotony.

Past all of the cringe dialogue and turgid gameplay, perhaps Dustborn’s biggest sin is feeling more like vacuous agitprop than an actual story. Whatever fight against fascism Pax – and by extension Red Thread Games – had in mind, it's an unintentionally hilarious one since her words feel as plastic as her bat.

Even after several updates, Star Wars: Hunters can’t capture the verve nor engagement of other Hero shooter/brawler hybrids. The end result is a surplus of characters, modes, and cosmetics that’s swamped by lacklustre design, aesthetics, and mechanics. For this sub-genre, calling it mediocre feels too generous. For a new-ish Star Wars game, it ranks among the weakest efforts since Disney took over.

Folly of the Wizards looks like a beautiful and competent roguelike at first glance. The first couple of playthroughs promise a fun title that will offer hours of entertainment and surprises to come. However, after a few hours, none of those promises feel fulfilled; rather, it gives the feeling that players have spent hours with a demo or early access for an okay roguelike instead of a full game. Bugs, poor descriptions of items, and menus that feel unfinished are all that are to be found under the pretty cover, and it feels like folly to have ever expected anything else. Even for fans of the genre, this is an easy pass.

For a publisher so eager to revitalise its long-dormant franchise, it’s impressive how Konami’s first shot winds up being a miserable own goal. Even with considering its rare positives, The Short Message’s blunt-force sermonising feels anathema to the series’ core identity. Combine this with game design vacillating between bland or annoying and all that’s left is dingy world design. As a free title, it shares an interesting heritage with P.T.; unlike its precursor’s legacy, it's destined to be forgotten once credits roll.

As a homage to a classic cult anime series, Space Adventure Cobra: The Awakening sort of works. The animation has the right feel, and fans of the show and those nostalgic about it will absolutely have a blast with that part. Unfortunately, the gameplay completely disregards that nostalgia this title relies on to appeal to its audience. It doesn't help that the level design is at times a massive disaster. While impressive, the boss fights, anime cutscenes, and campy '80s feel do not save this.

Heartworm has a strong atmosphere, greatly enhanced by an excellent use of PS1-style graphics. And that’s it. That’s the only thing good about this indie survival horror experience. A survival horror experience where the only true horror is the boredom that will have to be endured while the protagonist runs around aimlessly (without anything posing any real threat). It's all topped off with occasional not-exactly-that-deep thoughts on life and death.

The Sinking City had a great idea, but it was ultimately poorly executed. The remaster was a chance to address its main flaws: combat playability, mission structure, and level design. However, only the graphics got attention when they never needed them. The revamped visuals do admittedly look very good and make Oakmont feel more immersive, but they were a misplaced priority when everything else was unbelievably poorly tuned.

Glover was an ambitious and unique concept back in 1998. Ultimately, it's where the game should remain. It is a shame – with improved controls and tweaks to the design, it could have shown the concept in its best possible light. The badge of a "remaster" really does not qualify as the Nintendo Switch edition feels very much a cash-grab that's building on Nintendo nostalgia. Unless you've got a fondness for Glover, it's difficult to recommend diving into this Nintendo 64 gem in 2025.

It is hoped a Nintendo Switch 2 version of Pinball FX is in the works because Tomb Raider Pinball suffers from the graphical downgrade when compared to its other system counterparts. Sadly, the tables themselves are disappointing, with Adventures of Lara Croft being a hugely frustrating pinball experience that can be difficult to get to grips with. Secrets of Croft Manor fares more positively, but for such an iconic franchise, this pack should have been much more than what it is.

Like many games that are smaller budget, when a game has remotely fancy graphics, gameplay tends to almost always suffer. This is no exception, while the space survival idea is cool, from frustrations in the UI, to constantly glitches and freezes it’s hard to even see the game at its best when so many other things get in the way.

Selfloss is a game that really should have been better. It feels like Cocoon or Unravel or one of those other elevated indie titles that critics love to throw laurels at. It dares to explore complex emotional themes within a richly imagined world. Its artistic direction and narrative ambition are great, and this feels close to offering a genuinely worthwhile experience. However, it never gets there. Even with all it gets right, this is a genuine struggle to get through. It is a poorly designed, glitchy mess that is equal parts brilliant and boring. Those willing to overlook its flaws will find a journey that is memorable and emotionally resonant. Unfortunately, it is a lot more likely that journey is going to get cut short and this is the sort of experience a lot of people will quit on before the credits roll.

While The Meating clings to its NES roots, those roots ultimately feel more like dead weight than a solid foundation. It succeeds in capturing the look and feel of those classic NES titles, but at the same time it struggles to innovate or offer a compelling reason for players to invest their time. In the crowded landscape of retro-inspired indies, The Meating fails to distinguish itself. The end result is something that feels more antiquated than nostalgic, and like most meat that has been left out too long it is probably best to steer clear and look for something a bit fresher.