Hitman 3 doesn’t bring any substantial changes to the tried and true mechanics of the trilogy, but instead offers the most complete, refined version of Agent 47 we’ve seen to date. Despite a lackluster story, IO Interactive has otherwise done an outstanding job over the years with this trilogy and Hitman 3 represents the culmination of all those efforts.

Airborne Kingdom is a pleasure to spend a relaxing few hours with. It has a refreshing approach to the city building genre which is genuinely unique and although it eschews conflict and drama, the survival elements, resource collection tasks and challenges of building an optimal floating city are both engaging and relaxing. Airborne Kingdom has an outstanding core premise and aesthetics but lacking some genre-standard features like a sandbox mode or customizable structures, it can offer up its pleasures and be done a little too quickly.

Olija’s atmosphere is spot on and despite its huge pixels, the game manages to channel Hugo Pratt’s fabled Corto Maltese graphic novels that take place in similar exotic corners of the world. The gameplay also works most of the time, but as is often the case with indie games, the authoritarian developer has gone overboard. The less is usually more but here, the style simply went over the substance and 12 hours of playtime more than overstays its welcome considering the game's ultimately shallow bounty.

Having played through OMORI, I’m confident say that it’s an experience I won’t forget. This is a game I wholeheartedly recommend for those that appreciate a good story. With a strong emphasis on catharsis, it has a lot up its sleeves. The cutesy and colorful presentation hides a grim reality and it hits hard. Highly recommended, OMORI is a gem of a game that definitely deserves recognition.

Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy is a great entry point for those unfamiliar with JRPGs but who would like to get acquainted with this perhaps mythical genre. At the same time, you also have to learn and put up with grinding, because now and then you will encounter bosses that are a bit too much for an under-leveled party. Thanks to the snappy combat, quick gameplay and easy traversal, you are back in the home base in no time for another go. Ryza’s bright attitude will rub on you and make it easier to go through chores and grinding of real life.

Morkredd's main mechanic succinctly reflects my own thoughts on it altogether. The glowing orb represents life: punctuating atmosphere, inspired visual design, and a motivating gimmick. But when you begin to step away, as you wander outside its glow, you encounter death: day-one DLC, technical problems, an atrocious finale, and more. These severe disparities, bright day and atramentous night, imply even genre fans will be ambivalent towards it.

There isn’t much positive to say about OverRide 2: Super Mech League. Although the game provides a diverse cast of characters, it also provides a mostly online centric experience while lacking a playerbase to make it work. The graphics look relatively nice running on the Xbox Series X, however, the gameplay is extremely clunky and unrefined, especially when it comes to the awkward trigger-centric control scheme. The campaign is relatively non-existent and mostly serves as a tutorial to teach players important game mechanics. All-in-all, OverRide 2: Super Mech League is a disappointing brawler experience.

It was a valiant effort by Dontnod, but it missed the mark. Graphically beautiful but mechanically messy, Twin Mirror is a failed attempt at a psychological thriller. The worst disappointment, however, is that the game made me want to visit Basswood, which...doesn’t exist.

Overall, I had a ton of fun with Doom Eternal, even if the story is borderline incomprehensible to seasoned Doom Slayers. I look forward to more installments in the franchise if this is the level of quality we continue to get. Those platforming sections are truly awful, though.

Taiko no Tetsujin Rhymic Adventure Pack, while not outstanding, is a solid entry to the series. Fans of the franchise will enjoy the free play mode as usual. The newcomers can go for the RPG Adventure mode if hardcore drumming to get the perfect S rank for every song is just too daunting for them.

Let's Sing 2021 works as a party game, if everyone in your party has the same music taste and likes newer pop songs or if you like to set up your friends to fail. However, the lack of diversity in the playlist and the requirement to sing songs that you don't know to play many of the modes make this a less than ideal game for people outside of its target audience. The core idea is solid, but the weakness of the note charts and short song list make this a hard sell for me. I would like to see a themed version of this game with more accessible songs, for instance, something like Let's Sing: The 80s. However, as it is, I can't recommend this game outside of a narrow audience.

Although Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light is a classic in the Fire Emblem series, it's hard to recommend for modern audiences. The bare bones of what makes Fire Emblem great is here, but it's bogged down by outdated systems and the limitations of the original Famicom system. Although I appreciate that Nintendo wanted to preserve the original experience, I feel that they should have added more quality of life improvements to the game before releasing it. This game has already been remade for the DS as Shadow Dragon. I feel like it would have been better for Nintendo to have released that in a bundle with this original port. I can really only recommend this for hardcore Fire Emblem fans and those who have a great deal of patience for classic game mechanics.

Katamari Demacy: Reroll alludes to an age of game development where larger publishers were still willing to make risky, experimental titles. It may not upend the industry, and it may be relatively short, but this a game so confident in its own style and unique mode of play that it is hard to ignore its considerable charm. It has aged well because aside from its many sequels, no one has attempted to make anything else like it. And sometimes the music swells in a way that makes you forget you are an uncaring cosmic being creating space garbage to cover for your dad getting wasted and accidentally destroying the night sky. Katamari Demacy is the type of singular strangeness that should be experienced at least once.

The Call of the Sea is one of the better Lovecraftian games in recent memory, thanks to its art, writing, acting and subtle defiance of some well-worn mystery conventions. In general, its puzzles are accessible yet challenging and the story is well told and set in a refreshingly unfamiliar environment. Less passive than a typical walking simulator but still not an action game, The Call of the Sea should appeal to gamers that appreciate beautiful art and an engrossing mystery.

One of the biggest factors I always rate games on is whether they are fun to play. A game could be the most mechanically polished, gorgeous, epic game, but if I didn’t have much fun playing it, that would impact my score dramatically. So, while “fun” is entirely subjective, I just had absolutely no fun whatsoever with …If Found. As a side note: I completed this game is entirely under two hours. While that isn’t a problem for me personally, some gamers do make a cost benefit decision based upon length of content. So, it is something to be aware of.

Unto the End is a relatively short game that I completed in approximately six hours. Despite a few blemishes, it’s one that made me want to continually dig into, and when I finished it, I wanted more. So, I immediately played it through a second time. I don’t know if I can express how much I love having a bite-sized experience that isn’t a walking-simulator a roguelike. And I think I finally understand what fans of Soulslikes mean when they talk about rewarding those games are. Despite its minute size and minimalist appearance, Unto the End is a beautiful and substantive experience that rewards perseverance, calm nerves, and is absolutely worth your time.

Believe it or not, there is fun to be had in Cyberpunk 2077. Night City is an amazing place to explore and parts of the gameplay are kinda fun. But for all the promises and potential of a game that spent eight years in development, is this really it? The Witcher 3 managed to grow into a powerhouse of a game by the end of its lifecycle. Perhaps the same will be said about Cyberpunk 2077 in a year’s time? Maybe.

When the Past Was Around has beautiful art that I, also an illustrator, can really appreciate. However, the unfortunately jarring music and certain parts of the characterization fail to deliver the intended emotionality of the game. The story behind the sketchy, wordless narration is an important one but regrettably, the game doesn’t make it resonate in a way it matters.

While Tesla Force isn’t a showcase for the power of the new consoles, it is certainly at home on them and its bite-sized stages don’t outstay their welcome. Fans of twin stick shooters won’t be disappointed by Tesla Force either.

I want to love The Falconeer, and I do love it in a way, but I cannot recommend it. Despite the quality of its art style and the peacefulness that exudes when you fly over its endless ocean, it’s a tedious and plodding experience. Combat, which comprised the vast majority of the game’s runtime, is inaccurate and weightless, making all of your successes and failures feel arbitrary. And yet, the game makes you want to come back to it, as if by some ineffable witchcraft. I desperately wish this were a better game than it is, rather than an amazing looking game let down by its frustrating combat and boring sandbox experience.

If you've never played Dragon Quest XI, you can't go wrong picking up this enhanced version of the original game. The new content added on top of this already excellent game makes this a worthy addition to your game library. If you own the previous PS4 version, this is a great opportunity to revisit old friends and experience the game in a different way. If you're planning to play Dragon Quest XI, this is the version to buy.

In the end, Return to Shironagasu Island is a dull and disturbing visual novel for all the wrong reasons. When illustrations are nothing to shout about and the music sounds like it was recorded during playing lessons, I really can’t come up with any excuses for its existence. If I hadn’t reviewed the game, I would have stopped playing it after half an hour, but on behalf of you, dear readers, I suffered my way through it and I say, don’t you ever bother with it.

Ghostrunner is a game of exciting highs and extremely low lows. When its controls click, it offers a thrilling parkour platforming experience. But these moments aren’t worth contending with its frustrating combat and aggravating bugs. If you’re an enthusiast for first-person platformers and can overlook a glaring lack of polish, Ghostrunner may have some limited value. For all else, there are other genre titles more deserving of your time.

Overall, the game is fun and a worthy addition to the Resident Evil franchise. All it needs is a couple of tweaks and a dedicated fan base, and it could become one of the more popular Resident Evil games purely because of its endless replayability and fun factor.

There’s an expectation for next-gen remasters to be cash-grabs, but Bloober Team went beyond resolution upgrades. Observer: System Redux shares a similar release history with Blade Runner: a newer version releasing with extra content and impressive visual polishes. It doesn’t avoid all the pitfalls endemic of walking sims nor of this studio, but it deserves augmented respect like its closest inspiration eventually earned.

At its best, Spirit of the North Enhanced Edition is an atmospheric adventure set within an abandoned landscape that offers its fair share of challenges but little in the way of meaningful takeaways.

Full of bugs, glitches and a laundry list of elements that feel unfinished or outdated, it’s pretty hard to recommend Rune II: Decapitation Edition to anyone whose enjoyment depends on a quality experience. Players with a love of all things Viking and high tolerance for mediocrity might be able to find a few hours of fun in Rune II’s messy world, but most gamers would do better to spend their time and money elsewhere.

Overall, if you enjoy classic point-and-click adventure games then you just can’t go wrong here. The game even has a sequence where you are reduced to a truly classic adventure game. It can get pretty wild at times. If you’re like me and find point-and-click adventures rather frustrating, there is still a lot of enjoyment to be had. The focus on humor and some clever scenarios can really go a long way into making a genre more tolerable.