Rayman Mini is yet another successful foray into the mobile arena for the series, and best of all, it isn't muddled by microtransactions. It's sad this isn't the norm, right? I can't stress enough how much cleaner the whole subseries is without IAP (in-app-purchases), to the point where it feels more in line with Rayman proper.

While Deck13 still has some work to do, The Surge 2 is a massive step up from its predecessor in just about every respect.

It's a shame because sometimes, even when I'm fighting the game, I'm enjoying myself.

It may be brief, but Untitled Goose Game is worth taking a gander at. With its clever puzzle structure, charming art direction, and a soundtrack rife with Gershwin influence, it's an absolutely grand way to spend an afternoon.

This is a Shantae fan's Shantae game, and just as it gets going, it abruptly ends. (Part I review)

Slight gripes with the new engine and the old source aside, this is still Link's Awakening: one of the best Zelda games to date.

Metro Exodus: The Two Colonels is light on action and heavy on narrative, but will please dedicated Metro fans with its gripping, even unnerving, lore. While its smart story succeeds in engaging the player dramatically, the lack of extended gameplay sequences may leave some feeling like they're watching an interactive movie, rather than playing a new chapter of an action-adventure title. A short journey, yes, but still a trip worth taking.

The Coalition has achieved a lot with Gears 5. The writing and action often rivals the best moments in the series, even surpassing its predecessors at times. The overall package is the most robust Gears has ever seen. But, the big structural alteration feels like an unequivocal misstep. Gears 5 is a rousing success, but it could've done without the needless change.

The sum total of my experience with Daemon X Machina is positive. The combat is amazing, the game is bright and colorful, the framerate mostly holds up in either docked or handheld mode, and the hangar is great to tinker around in, checking out all the different configurations of my mech. That's what I'm going to remember out of all of this, which is safe for me to say because most everything else in this game is pretty forgettable.

It didn't need to reinvent the wheel either; as Gearbox pretty much had the formula figured out the second time around.

If you've been craving more of the occult in Sims 4, it's a decent way to indulge that craving given that "Vampires" is one of the only substantial offerings in that department since 2015.

It didn't need to reinvent the wheel either; as Gearbox pretty much had the formula figured out the second time around.

Flight School Studio has created an exceptional world to explore in Creature in the Well. Its prodigious art direction is enticing, wooing players into a unique puzzle game that very much feels like a history lesson on the medium itself. It combines ideas and concepts found throughout gaming into a single, dynamic experience with a memorable antagonist eerily watching your every move. I absolutely love it, but I recognize there is room for improvement. With a bit more variety in design and a fine-tuned difficulty curve, it could have been one for the ages.

You can just tell the developers had a ball working on Iceborne – it shows. And it's infectious.

River City Girls succeeds in evolving both the Kunio-kun series and the brawler genre itself, offering entertaining gameplay, brilliant visuals, an amazing soundtrack and fun combat. While brawler fatigue, minor narrative flaws and a slim package threaten the experience, great characters, reverence for the lore and addictive co-op gameplay prevail, ensuring Kyoko and Misako keep throwing fists to the very last round.

Squall and his gang are welcome in my home anytime.

Catherine: Fully Body contains many of the blemishes from the original but doubles down on the amount of puzzles, which is a net gain.

It's a good chunk of content for an absolute steal of a price. The wackiness of grabbing your friends, flinging yourself around, making faces and noises, and just causing shenanigans all around doesn't really get old. Heave Ho is a much harder sell to anyone expecting to play it solo, but it's an absolute must-have for any local multiplayer get-together with friends.

I have no idea when the next "Dark Pictures universe" entry is coming, but I'll be waiting for it.

The best thing about Classic is that it will evolve, and you can join in at any point without too much fuss.

Faith serves a few important purposes within the Life is Strange 2 story. It shores up some loose ends from the brothers' past, it proves the lengths Sean is willing to go to in order to protect Daniel, and it gives Daniel further autonomy by letting him make his own decisions. It's an exciting chapter that leaves everyone worse for the wear. That's the cadence we've come to expect from Life is Strange, though.

Minoria is an uneven game that will serve as a rainy day Metroidvania if you can't get your fill.

Gunfire Games has some really good ideas that I hope to see employed more often in the future.

Control is a weird, enigmatic, perplexing masterpiece. It's also Remedy's most well-rounded work yet. Like Jesse levitating far off the ground, Control signifies Remedy is capable of ascending to great new heights.

In the first few hours, I was all over the place when it came to an assessment, as it can take some time to really turn it up.

This isn't a bad idea, but the game doesn't do much to justify its existence.

For everyone else, especially avid followers of character-driven art forms, these are performances you can really sink your teeth into.

I'm emotionally torn on Oninaki because there's so much to like here.