Yakuza Kiwami 3 is a delight of a remake, retaining the core story that you and I love alongside a new combat system that makes battles more fluid and frenetic than ever before. Dark Ties is an excellent side story, albeit one far darker in contrast to Yakuza’s tried-and-true storytelling thematics.

DJ Hero 2 improves upon the original with new freestyling, good online gaming, fun customization and a wonderful career mode. Free Style Games has done enough quality work here to warrant a purchase and one can only hope enough people purchase it to warrant a third edition.

Although Endless Ocean: Blue World undeniably deviates from the typical definition of a “game”, that doesn’t mean that gamers cannot enjoy it. The massive assortment of collectible treasures and shockingly expansive game environments will appeal to any chronic completionist, and the storyline is actually quite captivating.

Oh honey, APICO has all the fixins of a good and relaxing farming sim, but with bees! You have an inventory system that allows you to multitask without wasting time or restricting your options. There are little-to-no penalties for playing however you want, whenever you want. The soundtrack is so soothing and laid back that you’ll put viewers and bees to sleep. And, there exists an element of surprise within the gameplay loop of beekeeping, breeding bees, and discovering bees that can keep you playing into the wee hours of the morning and can be disabled if you wish to leave less gameplay up to chance. Despite the gigantic tutorial (that could admittedly use some tightening up for new players) and the lack of deep story/community-building that you may expect from other popular farming sims, it is SO easy for one to lose track of time and relax in the bee-pun filled world of APICO. Give APICO some time — it’s an absolute hit, and I’m SO EXCITED to see it grow.

Director's Cut is the right term for this release; Fargo and the crew at InXile have combed through both the finer details and the high-level ones of Wasteland 2, fixing, tweaking, and adding to take it from great to excellent.

Maybe the final challenges will be a little sharp for those who haven’t honed their skills to the max, but Boomerang X is also set to be a speedrunner’s paradise, broken and contorted by those who will accomplish impossible feats. But for someone like me who went in blind to Boomerang X, I can’t help but be pleased at how beautiful, fun, and ridiculous this short journey was–and how easy it will be to pick it back up again when I want to fly around like a wizard ninja.

Close Quarter is a wonderful addition to the BF3 DLC family. It brings a new aspect to the BF3 model and it provides a more fast-paced, high-sensation experience. Like I said at the beginning, snipers need not apply.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, from developer MachineGames and publisher Bethesda Softworks, brings the same great story, gameplay, and adventure to the Nintendo Switch 2. It might have a slight drop in visuals, but it delivers on all other gameplay fronts.

World of Horror from developer panstasz is a wonderful 80s-inspired horror adventure game that brings a roguelite backbone, a turn-based component with a sprinkle of RPG, and plenty of horror that might make you wonder what the heck inspired the devs to create such unsettling tales. The only place the game falls short is in its overwhelming menu system, which is far simpler than it looks once you go through the tutorial.

Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story is an excellent candidate for your holiday gift list, if not a candidate for something to play this holiday season. It excels in crafting an emotional tale that hits all the right notes of childishness and the wonders of childhood while also encouraging players forward. It’s not the deepest game, but it is a masterclass in storytelling and worldbuilding. Don’t worry if you’re unfamiliar with any of Riot’s previous games – your yeti pal, Willump, will give you a gigantic hug either way.

Every pixel of Owlboy's composition imparts a soaring level of care. Its impression upon 2D platforming parallels the comfort of a handmade blanket or the pleasure of devouring made-from-scratch cookies. Owlboy's sympathetic characters and gorgeous construction devours any suspected immunities to the charms of handcrafted artistry. It's a one-off rarity that somehow escaped the assembly line.

Out of the Park Baseball 26, from developer Out of the Park Developments, is top-tier when it comes to sports simulators. Managing a baseball team and working with the organization is detailed so well on a micro level that you’ll find so many different approaches on how best to prep your MLB team. All of it is wrapped with a well-planned and implemented bit of information architecture, which makes it super simple to navigate through. In the end, this is a new bar for sports simulators.

With an innovative and engaging asynchronous and traditional multiplayer package baked into their top-notch open world framework, Criterion has created a modern standard for arcade style racers.

THQ and Volition didn't just "press out" another sequel. It could have been very easy to mix in just a few new things to validate a new purchase for Saints or sandbox fans. Instead, they took the initiative, and have finally created a game that they have wanted to do since 2006 with the first one: push "open world" to the next level.

There’s little to fault here and that's because SI Games takes the iterative approach. Whilst there hasn’t been a big shift on the game's workings since tactical sliders were removed in FM 2014 each version is a step forward.

Batman: Arkham Shadow from developer Camouflaj is a superb game that honors the Arkham series name. While the world in this game is smaller and more linear than a typical Arkham adventure, the Meta Quest VR version excels in story, execution, and feel.

Fashion Police Squad (FPS) is a delightful first-person shooter that’s in on the joke of policing obnoxious neons, socks in sandals (who DOES that?!), and the faux pas of ill-fitting suits. Its DOOM-esque shooting and platforming hearkens back to a time where games were less serious, more simple, and in some ways, more fun. If you’re a fan of shooting in style, Zoolander, and DOOM, look no further than FPS on the Nintendo Switch. Overly baggy jeans be warned — Sergeant Des will slap you right into shape.

Atari 50 from developer Digital Eclipse provides a proper path down memory lane with video interviews, old commercials, and a cornucopia of information to dig into about Atari’s history, the good and the bad. The inclusion of early Atari games, arcade experiences, the Atari computing systems, Lynx, and Jaguar are just icing on a well-baked, delicious cake.

Horizon Forbidden West on the PC is another example of a game done right in its conversion from console. It brings the same great gameplay, performance, and gaming experience that was established on the PlayStation 5 two years ago.

This battle royale mixes gun play and construction that is so fun, the end does not look anywhere in sight. The exciting game is so popular and is even bringing people together. Playing with your friends is one of the most satisfying co-op experiences you will have. Fortnite: Battle Royale is a great play for anyone.

Tom Clancy’s The Division is almost everything that was advertised in 2013. While the visuals have certainly been pulled back a bit, probably because of hardware limitations, the gameplay has been delivered as promised.

For Pinball on the go, you would be hard-pressed to find a better option than Zen Studios’ Star Wars Pinball. From design to execution, Zen did an excellent job.

SIGNALIS from Humble Games is a horror fan’s dream. It’s simple and deep, contains a hefty amount of horror in its atmosphere, narrative, and design, and will keep you entertained from beginning to end.

Final Fantasy XVI from Square Enix still brings a wonderful story, well-defined characters, and a fantastic adventure on the Xbox Series X. It might not deliver the same graphical ‘wow’ that the other releases do, but it’s still a worthy game to take on for 50+ hours.

The Pathless is still a fun game after all these years. It is driven by a deep story and simple gameplay mechanics. While I would have loved to see a bit more life in the world, the gameplay is still very much engaging and endearing.

Sometimes it just takes time to get to know a game, and that’s certainly the case with Monster Hunter Tri. While it's initially overwhelming, if you can take some punishment and you don’t mind a deep game, at some point you’ll find yourself inexplicably hooked—and more than likely, it will be the online multiplayer that does the hooking.

I find this game to be very charming and relaxing to play, and that’s for several reasons. The pace, challenge, controls, general gameplay, the graphics, and the music all make for a really enjoyable game that’s hard to put down.

Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag is a damn good game that has little flaws attached to it, which is impressive for a launch title.

Nioh surprised me in several ways, all of them good. It feels like a bit of a sleeper title at launch that I think is going to catch a lot of people off guard, but if you have any interest in this niche genre or are a fan of Team Ninja’s, Nioh is definitely worth checking out.

Dead Space is a remarkable game, and surely one of the bigger surprises that will come out of 2023. EA Motive has done a great job in remaking one of the best horror games from the mid-to-late 2000s era; going as far as making certain segments feel wholly new again. As a player who never played the original, this remake feels like the definitive introduction to the franchise. I’m clamoring for more of Isaac’s story, and even perhaps beyond.

Capcom’s Monster Hunter Rise is an entertaining game. It has enough depth, action, and crafting to keep you and your team occupied for a while. It’s not perfect in some respects, but it’s good enough when you’re looking for a team-based game that is more coop than not.

Dotemu, Guard Crush, and Supamonks have knocked it out of the park with Absolum. Its combat is satisfyingly stylish, encapsulating traditional side-scrolling beat ‘em up combat with the variability of endlessly fun roguelike gameplay. Punishing difficulty aside, it’s worth taking the time to explore the depths of its world and creatively defeat enemies in more ways than one. Absolum pushes the envelope of beat ‘em up game design to new heights, worthy of your consideration as we enter this holiday season.

Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver have finally been given the remake they deserve.

Death’s Door‘s brisk and satisfying story pace allows players to soak up the adventure with efficiency and delight, never dragging on because of complicated puzzles and strenuous combat. Ultimately, though, I never wanted Death’s Door to end because this is an immensely satisfying, lovingly constructed world Acid Nerve has made. Both a fairy tale and an epic journey, it’s packed with wonder and whimsy. Anyone who has a love for gaming will recognize something they adore in Death’s Door. This universe is too good to resist and it is my sincere hope that this first taste won’t be the last.

Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon is a completely different type of game from the first, and it’s better in every single way. It’s tougher, lengthier, more creative, more varied, and just plain more fun.

Dreamscaper is an exceptionally heartfelt, engaging roguelike. By offering up a gameplay loop that hopes to fuel a deeper narrative, players may find that the game is one of the rare instances of synergy in the genre. Using a smart upgrade system to fuel its weighty, acrobatic combat, Dreamscaper so frequently punches above its weight. For those who get lost in ever-engaging loops, this one is for you.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint is an exciting game. It knows what it wants to do. It wants to give players options, it wants them to feel unshackled by design decisions that offer to gently nudge them in a direction or possibility. It wants to give a platform to four friends to cause chaos in a variety of scenarios. Breakpoint is a freeing game and it has its flaws. But, above anything, it is fun.

Harmony: The Fall of Reverie from DON’T NOD plays like a proper branching narrative visual novel should play. The acting, writing, and general presentation are the icing on the cake to make this type of gameplay work very well. While it won’t be for everyone, it certainly is top tier for those who are looking for a good branching narrative journey.

NHL 12 is further proof that, for as complete as NHL 11 was considered, there seems to always be new, significant, quality additions that can be made from one year to the next.

As roguelikes go, Galak-Z's tireless air of optimism makes a case for its own dimension.

Elden Ring Nightreign is a thrilling rush. FromSoftware has taken their masterclass gameplay and constructed an entirely new and exhilarating loop. Despite forgoing familiar elements that made Elden Ring truly special, Nightreign maintains the essence of its wonder, empowering players by fulfilling their dream of an onslaught of challenging, brilliant boss fights, only prohibited by your own skill, ambition, and deadly efficiency.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 features some of the strongest launch content a Call of Duty game has had in years. The best part? It can all be played with friends and everything you do counts towards overall progression. But more importantly, the stellar maps and addictive Endgame provide ample ways to play Call of Duty how you want to. Incorporating best-in-class shooting to all these modes means that each pillar of Black Ops 7 is satisfying, exciting, and challenging. This may be the hardest Call of Duty to put down yet.

Wild Bastards’ bite-sized first-person shooter showdowns were a treat, especially when I was able to put together pairs of characters who complemented each other and made for something more than a simple shootout. A traditional shooter it is not, but its original gameplay loop and striking visuals make it a helluva good time.

Coming into DMC5 as a fan of the series, I had high hopes for DMC5. I’m happy to say those hopes were met and even Exceeded in some respects. While there is room to improve in some critical areas, primarily in level design, DMC5 kicks ass, in Style.

Sensibilities both modern and retro pepper the fabric of Olija. Players may walk away from the game feeling confused, satisfied, or yearning for more. While I lean towards satisfied with my time, I could not help but immediately begin another playthrough, hoping that more would be illuminated the second time around. Much about Olija is familiar and a game with less self awareness would have drawn out its ideas, pushing players with more aggressive enemies or platforming bordering on tedious. But that’s not what we got. Instead, Olija is a balanced work that speaks volumes despite its quiet nature, breathtaking in both its journey and execution.

Death Howl is a ferocious meditation on using difficulty as a crucible for improvement. It takes the mechanics of deck building and twists them in enough clever configurations that players will stare death in the face and relish in triumph. More so, this is a exquisite looking game drenched in mysticism that ruminates on the struggle we all face with acceptance of loss, transforming a game about cards into a truly enjoyable work.

LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes raises the bar with gameplay, presentation and fun. You will be playing this for hours after you complete the main mission. That's something you couldn't say with complete joy in your voice with previous LEGO titles. This certainly will be tough to top when the next LEGO game is released.

Genesis Noir is genre fiction that slow burns from a hard-boiled detective mystery to a cosmic exploration of potential and possibility. It showcases a form of storytelling exclusive to an interactive medium, not only immersing the player in rhapsodic visual landscapes, but expecting them to find tactile interpretations from its collection of curiosities. Genesis Noir doesn’t position chaos as a subject for control, only an objective to be experienced and appreciated.

Whether you have played the other Devil May Cry games or not, DmC is a lot of fun and well worth the investment.

A Plague Tale: Innocence transforms a hopeless period of human history into an intoxicating drama. Personified as a supernatural torrent of rats, The Black Death bookends a brother and sister's struggle to overcome the impossible, giving players a piece of entertainment that is unforgettable in its emotional resonance.

Football Manager 2020 manages to improve upon last years outing in enough areas to justify an upgrade for owners for FM 2019 or before. However, I do feel it's getting closer to the point where a marquee feature will need to be introduced or an existing one improved dramatically such as the 3D match engine.

Overall, a ticket to Plant Coaster: Console Edition is a great buy if you’re at all into theme park management. Frontier did a superb job bringing their excellent 2016 PC game to next-gen with console-friendly UI, controls, and everything you could need to get a big jump on your theme park building and management gameplay.

Ultimately, Torment: ToN offers a very compelling balance between deep gameplay, accessibility, and character-driven story. While it may seem overwhelming at first to those unfamiliar with the genre, it nurtures a sense of exploration and quest. Failure in your quests is often just as interesting as success, and that the entire adventure is closer to twenty hours than forty makes it more reasonable that you’ll finish and replay it again.

Terrible Toybox and Devolver Digital’s Return to Monkey Island hit all the right notes that proper homage to the original. It brought classic humor, a great story, and a new way to play the game to make it faster. It’s one of the brighter spots of a skimpy game release year.

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is undoubtedly a departure amid FromSoftware’s recent output. But the developer once again proves they are up for nearly any task, including reinvigorating a dormant series that was known for its challenge. The fast-paced action and depth of customization in players’ ACs allows for diverse gameplay and intense boss fights that test any type of loadout. Pushing past the initial daunting hours and numerous mechanics serve to reveal a focused, engaging game with deep combat that few studios are capable of matching.

Cookie Cutter is hyper-violent translation of old-school Metroidvanias that gracefully does not allow itself to get bogged down with convoluted modern flourishes. Exploration tools drop the player into a satisfying progression loop that doesn’t rely on random elements and combat is not overtly punishing. But it’s Cookie Cutter‘s unique visual palette and uncompromising absurdity that truly leave a bloody impression before ever allowing itself to grow stale.

Mahokenshi is a fun game. It contains a healthy amount of tabletop strategy, an addictive deck-building component, and a dash of RPG elements to keep some motivation going. Its gameplay is challenging and brutal at times but in the end, it works more than it doesn’t.

Its shameless implementation of 90s-era mechanics and design does mean that participants will need to have a love for conventional JRPGs—and perhaps a bit of patience to endure the homogeneity of the first part of the game—but beyond that, Bravely Default is a great experience.

A year or so later, Helldivers II remains an entertaining romp of online co-op fun. It flexes its muscles with wacky lines, a large number of ridiculous military objectives, and various ways to strategize and be entertained.

The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition is the quintessential The Outer Worlds experience that I’ve wanted all along for my PS5. With the immense graphical upgrades, Halcyon and the rest of the galaxy look better than ever and visually immerse players in stunning spacescapes while you attempt to navigate a universe that’s effectively ruled by corporate overlords. For new players who are also PS5 owners, the Spacer’s Choice Edition is a no-brainer given the additional QoL upgrades and the DLC packaged together. However, those who’ve faithfully done their time in supporting Obsidian and Private Division’s franchise from the get go may feel like they’ve been left in the space dust because of the lack of cross-generation save transfers.

The music is superb, the streamlined battles are appreciated, the relocalization is fantastic, and the minor gameplay improvements (included the reinsertion of the Snow Queen quest) were all for the better.

Bayonetta 2 expresses a meticulous devotion to excessive elaborateness of style and action. It's a calculated brawler that not only minds its rules with painstaking diligence, but trusts its operator with how to best interpret them. The delicate engineering of merciless destruction has long been Platinum Games' modus operandi, and Bayonetta 2 is the purest and most potent declaration of their intentions.

A straight-forward port would have gone over well enough, but NetherRealm went the extra mile and made this a standout, compelling release that I'm happy to recommend.

From the rich stories to the beautiful environments, Wrathstone is a delight through and through. Clearing the dungeons is no easy feat and will push you to the edge of your abilities.

Jusant from developer Don’t Nod is a wonderful example of balancing well-crafted gameplay mechanics to perfectly matched puzzles to use them on.

Adventure of Samsara from developer llex Games and publisher Atari is a tough Metroidvania that slowly turns into one of the most unexpected and enjoyable experiences of 2025.

Rhythm games are often evaluated on their complexity, soundtrack, and replayability. Rhythm Sprout succeeds in just about all of those categories while also capturing players’ attention with some of the funniest writing and story I’ve seen in a recent game. Despite not taking itself too seriously, Rhythm Sprout is a treat for multiple audiences, especially console players who lack a good rhythm game to get their feet wet into the best of the genre. I sincerely, dare I say desperately, hope that SURT does more with the Rhythm Sprout universe, as it’s currently one of the better (if not one of the best) rhythm titles I’ve played in recent memory.

Once Upon a Jester feels curated to be improvisational, much like the theater performances in the game. Bonte Avond obviously had a plan, they mapped out a game with art and writing and programming. But in a way, it feels almost guerilla-style. They are throwing players into their tour bus and taking us all along for the ride, performing to an eager group who just want to be a part of the fun. While short and maybe a bit silly, Once Upon a Jester succeeds because it strives to be different, personable and, ultimately, fun.

American Arcadia, from developer Out of the Blue Games S.L. and publisher Raw Fury, was a suspenseful and thrilling adventure. While the gameplay didn’t challenge the narrative for the limelight, there were still enough interactive elements to call this a solid gaming experience.

Ghost of Tsushima is a narrative-driven game that has unique combat, a plethora of exploration, and enough heart to keep gamers coming back for more even after the game is beaten. The lack of a combat camera locking system will certainly cause some frustrations, but that is small potatoes when compared to the rest of the experience. This is the game Sucker Punch said it would be, and you won’t be disappointed.

Capcom’s decision to delay Street Fighter 6 to the Nintendo Switch 2 should be celebrated, as they succeeded in packing a big punch despite the Switch 2’s small package. It runs like a dream and lacks the graphical compromises that many Switch owners may be accustomed to seeing from AAA games. If you’ve been patiently waiting for a next-gen fighting title to take on the go, Street Fighter 6 is the breakout fighting game for the Nintendo Switch 2 launch.

EA Canada hasn't created a new game with FIFA 13, rather they've improved the overall package from last year. More accurate controls, an even playing field amongst gamers, better visuals and more than a few worthwhile modes of play help to make this a solid release in the FIFA series.

Sifu gets a lot more right than not, and though I typically can’t stand to play games that force heavy-handed repetitive loops, I found myself enjoying Sifu too much to put it away for long. Playing Sifu is a cycle of emotions; it’s tough, fun, frustrating, and rewarding, not always in that order. I think Sloclap did a solid job overall and I would also point out that the game is priced very reasonably at about $50, too. If you enjoy detailed, authentic martial arts action, Sifu is not only one of the only choices out there, but it’s a great one.

Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition is yet more proof that Capcom can remaster a classic, even one as young as Devil May Cry 5. Visually it’s stunning, the mix of characters and abilities will keep gamers engaged, and that music is certainly going to let you know that you’re playing an over-the-top angsty demon hunting game.

Reroll presents Katamari Damacy with all of the strange power and dazed prestige it originally showcased in 2004. This no-frills reissue is adapted from its 2018 trip to the Switch, favoring preservation over amplification, but such is the curse of being born perfect. Katamari Damacy is on another modern platform and all is right with the cosmos.

Pragmata is a remarkably high bar for players who wish to bond with the characters they embody. And for a new IP, Capcom succeeds by confidently not playing it safe. Third-person perspectives have become so fundamental for narrative-based games asking players to be absorbed in their worlds, undertaking the raw emotions their characters are inflicted with. Yet rarely does a game twist the formula in such a way that feels wholly unique and capitalizes on the traits of its individual protagonists. Pragmata is able to deliver an action game with a beating heart and a warm soul because Hugh and Diana are extensions of the player, sharing in their struggles and their emotional triumphs.

Fatal Fury: City of Wolves from SNK Corporation is a long-overdue fighting experience that does its best to throw variety and meaningful content into the mix. Most of what it tries to do is on point, though the experience, especially on the campaign side of the tracks (Episodes of South Town) could have been a bit longer.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole is a spectacular experience. It is masterfully crafted with the right amount of South Park driving it. It certainly has a few minor faults here and there, but it is built to entertain and it doesn’t falter in that area. It’s a big game with a properly built turn-based personalty and it all works beautifully within its humorous South Park wrapper.

Let’s Revolution! from developers Buck and Antfood is a simple game that has a complicated underbelly of strategy and asks gamers to make sophisticated choices. While the gameplay is short in its single follow-through, its replayability shows its longevity. While not all of its elements work, especially when it comes to character choice and sometimes random enemy attacks, it’s still a fun game to come back to when you are itching for a quick gaming experience.

Pokémon Black & White are again the strongest additions to the series to date. Game Freak has succeeded once again in creating an even better Pokémon title than all previous iterations and has created another true Pokémon reboot.

Indika unquestionably defies definition. A swirl of impactful narrative and visual decisions are meant to resonate with the player longer than they linger on screen. It may be offbeat to a fault but this brief journey is uncompromising in vision.

The violent and gory world of Doom Eternal is just amazing and playing as the Slayer makes you feel powerful when faced up against terrifying Demons. Being able to play under my comfy blanket made me feel immersed in the world, something that the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions wouldn’t be able to make me feel. Usually, Nintendo Switch versions of games feel like lesser versions of games released on other consoles, but id Software did an amazing job at making Doom Eternal on the Switch feel just as good. If you’re a longtime Doom fan looking to give it a try on the Nintendo Switch I highly doubt that you’ll be disappointed and I would also highly recommend giving Doom Eternal a shot even if you’ve never played any other game in the series, because you are missing out if you haven’t.

Under the Island, from developer Slime King Games, gives a firm tip-of-the-hat with its design and execution to games like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Under the Island contains good action, sometimes difficult puzzles, and a hefty amount of exploration to keep one’s attention firmly locked into the gameplay. The difficulty of some of the puzzles might feel a bit unbalanced and heavy, in comparison to the action, but the payoff feels worth that trouble.

The Crew 2 is a beautiful follow-up to the first. It packs a lot of punch inside of it and it’s friendly to all types of gamers. The world is still big, the events are great in number, and it just feels like a fun/simple racing game that you want to play on and off for a long time.

Tempest 4000 is a defiant artifact that returns to life once a console generation. What would it be like if someone who made games for the VIC-20 in the early 80’s authored another game in 2018? How many programmers from that generation are still even in this line of work? An answer to these curiosities may seem like a precarious way to spend $30. Thankfully, as either a psychedelic wonderland or a classic arcade score chase, Tempest 4000 is full of eccentric support.

Pokémon Black & White are again the strongest additions to the series to date. Game Freak has succeeded once again in creating an even better Pokémon title than all previous iterations and has created another true Pokémon reboot.

Eventually, the subtle mechanics and stylish maneuverability of My Friend Pedro will become intrinsically linked in your brain. This game controls so well and so fluently. It even breaks up the action with small platforming puzzles. And eventually, you and your banana friend will become masters of death and frying pans.

Far Cry 6 strikes me as the apex of the series, mechanically, structurally, and narratively. Far Cry has gone through its fair share of growing pains since Far Cry 3 became the de facto standard. Yet all roads, rocky or otherwise, have led to this point. Crazed villains, bombastic mayhem, and open freedom have been polished to their highest sheen. What’s presented is a dramatic piece of open world escapism, rife with possibility. Players can become decorated contract killers, loosing the bonds of an oppressive regime with any amount of chaotic bloodshed, engage in aimless side quests, or paint the world red with friends. The massive scope of Yara provides a playground of opportunity for engagement, transforming Far Cry 6 into the best yet, a date with destruction.

The initial adventure in Rise of the Tomb Raider is around 6-8 hours, but every minute of it is fun, especially with retooled gameplay controls and unlockables for incentive. Adding to that time frame is a large amount of worthwhile exploring and wonderful backtracking once the campaign is completed. If you’re into that, then this game is going to make you happy.

Like Guy Ritchie’s Snatch, Sunday Gold is criminally underrated for MANY reasons. Outside of its gritty and gruesome portrayals of a dystopian London, it executes a well-blended mix of RPG and point-and-click adventures. The great voice acting, sleek comic-book aesthetic, and grungy music offer players a neat and unique package that’s not only worth a try, but worth completing. I can understand that some may not be down for point-and-click gameplay, but please–give it a shot. You won’t regret it.

Ultimately, there is very little bad to say about SoT. It’s an excellent 2D action platformer with some good RPG elements, and its balanced difficulty lets genre hacks like me struggle through while more seasoned players can still expect a good, but not overly difficult challenge. To be honest, some of the early bosses proved harrowing for me, but I liked that I could try going after the different knights out of order, find checkpoints, and have a lot of opportunities to continue at those checkpoints, too. Much like the old games its inspired by, it’s a tough, but short, and arguably more memorable than many of those older games. Additionally, with New Game+ support for more nooks and crannies to explore, as well as Feats and Challenges, there’s a solid value here for $10. The only better value would be to get SoT via the Treasure Trove release instead.

Gravity Circuit contains the best parts of the SNES-era of 2D action platforming without the artificial difficulty spikes and frustrations. Its combat is fluid, easy to pick up, and exciting to master. Its pacing ramps up with the player. Its music is a nostalgia bomb of high-energy and synthetic charm. Yes, it’s a short play, but it contains enough content to satisfy most players and get them hooked into using Kai’s hookshot over, over, and over again. If this doesn’t sound like a love letter to retro platforming, I don’t know what will.

That last statement actually bears true for the whole of I Am Setsuna. Everything from the length of the game (around 25 hours), the battle system, difficult, art, music, characters — this has proven to be a treat of an experience for me and one I would happily recommend to any Switch owner.

BALL x PIT conceptually has a simple hook. And because of that, its core gameplay will inherently be repetitive at some point depending on the player. But its chunky fantasy world has personality and its soundtrack is, honestly, phenomenal. They add to the charm of a game that houses a surprising amount of depth and content for what the back of the box might allude to. Sure, it’s about ball-breaking. But to not enjoy this would be nuts.

TEW2 is a great game, tempered a bit by combat woes but nonetheless a game I gladly recommend to fans of the first or newcomers to the series (or genre, for that matter).

Strong gunplay and near-perfect control form a great shooter, but indulging in the fiction and emerging frail and traumatized provides an experience of much greater value.

I had a fun time with Hatsune Miku Project DIVA Mega Mix+ from SEGA. It was colorful, musical, and a real treat without much effort. The replayability might be an issue when you reach expert status, but the desire to achieve a better score with more accuracy, while unlocking more songs might overcome the bore that comes with less challenging difficulty. Regardless, it’s a heckuva game.

Thy Creature is a beautifully woven horror show with a balanced puzzle and bullet hell component. The addition of an unsettling narrative brings it together to make for a more robust bullet hell experience. While more hardcore fans of bullet hell games might find this an easy go around, the less seasoned gamers will get right into the game’s balanced design quickly and without much fuss.