Dragon's Crown responds to the routinely shallow beat 'em up genre by raising its ceiling so high it's hard to tell when or where it may end. The relationship between play style and potential is cyclical, ensuring any lingering curiosity over a different class or build feeds into a completely new experience. There are some more abrasive aspects that might render Dragon's Crown inaccessible, which is unfortunate, but it’s currently near the top of its genre otherwise.

Requisite complications ensue in later challenges, and the different game modes provide a range of valuable experiences, but for the most part, this is a well-balanced package whose value towers over its asking price.

Details are a golden currency in Ueda’s games, and The Last Guardian greatest puzzle is their ultimate assembly. The impact in its final act is both somber and spirited, and it’s the pinnacle of the ideas it tries to put forward. I knew where The Last Guardian was going and I still couldn’t help but respond with deluge of raw emotion.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed respects and reproduces its source material with such precision that it'll leave Sega fans desperately clinging to the foolish belief that we'll get proper Nights or Burning Rangers sequels one day. On its own merits Transformed is a competent racer with a great drift mechanic, and the dynamically shifting carts and tracks are a solid contribution to an otherwise homogenous genre.

Technobabylon is loaded with cool ideas and it's a lot of fun to play. The story, multiple playable characters, creative and interesting settings, and challenging but logical puzzles kept me entertained from start to finish.

If you’ve ever wanted to feel satisfaction from a coin pushing machine, RACCOIN: Coin Pusher Roguelike will give you the hope, joy, and endless chaos that the real thing couldn’t. It’s a Balatro-fied coin pusher roguelike that’ll keep you chasing the highs of raining coins for hours on end.

Hitman: World of Assassination Part One – VR Edition from developer Io Interactive is an impressive and immersive VR experience that raises the bar for the Hitman series. It brings good content that will put you in the shoes of Agent 47 in an entirely different way. The only hiccups are some glitches that are wandering around the game, but the core gameplay is solid.

he tale Ethan Carter ultimately aches to tell isn't as complex or natural as its influences, but it finds ample success in directing a curious story through an interactive ensemble.

Ys Origins is more than just a simple hack n’ slash action role-playing game! Solving puzzles as you climb the Demon Tower and its unique boss battles make the game a truly magical experience and a great way to jump into the Ys series. Ys Origins may suffer from information overload and feels a little outdated it is still a game that you should consider trying out, especially if you’ve ever been curious about the Ys series.

The Duelyst is a damn fun game that is deeper than it looks and quick tactical fun for those who enjoy this sort of game. Sure the main body of work is a card, tactical turn-based game that requires strategy and patience, but Counterplay Games makes it far better with additional offline options and rewards to back up the effort.

By all accounts, Thimbleweed Park on the Switch looks and plays very much like its PC counterpart that I played several months ago. Just as was the case then, this is a must-have for point and click adventure gamers who either don’t have it on PC or prefer to play on Switch.

MLB The Show 18 is another notch in the successful belt of the MLB series from San Diego Studio. It has better mechanics, more meaningful modes, a gorgeous presentation style and it just feels like what you would imagine a baseball game should feel like.

With all of that said, the game is still worth the $59.99 that you are going to pay for it. It has a load of fun sitting there that outweighs the enormous loading time. Frightfully, this game is good offline and even better online.

Delta isn't likely to change your opinion of the original game, but it lives up to its Ultimate Edition billing.

While San Diego Studio doesn’t take a huge leap with MLB The Show 23 compared to last year’s game, it’s still entertaining and the best baseball game on the planet. The addition of The Negro Leagues mode makes for a deeper and more enriching experience.

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds does what any arcade racer should and provides the player with an absurd sense of speed. Pushing players to constantly maintain ludicrious velocity on a number of exciting, smartly designed courses will fuel countless hours of competitive adrenaline-fueled play. While the lack of single-player modes and an exciting roster may deter some, tight controls and a fun world-shifting mechanic are enough to make this a heavy-hitter in the genre.

Both the Infant Update and the Growing Together expansion pack adds more life to The Sims 4 experience. You can now play with infants, watch them grow, watch your Sims have milestones, and have the Sims recognize their family as family. While I enjoyed my time with the new expansion and update, I wish more was added to the overall experience. I felt it was missing some key elements such as more interaction options between family. Now, having said that, this is still a step forward, especially if you love creating families and want infants, this is the expansion to get and play with.

Turbo Overkill is honest in its simplicity, absurdity, and authenticity. It works to interpret 30-year-old shooters for a modern audience, one who yearns for fast-paced, rewarding action in a space that so frequently asks for polish and patience. On console, it performs outstandingly, capturing the essence of the mouse and keyboard days. And if that isn’t enough to grab your attention, don’t forget: you’ve always got a chainsaw leg.

Enslaved is on my short list for game of the year. I had a great time with it and I think anyone that enjoys third person games, especially those in the vein of Uncharted, will love this one.

Turnip Boy Robs a Bank from developer Snoozy Kazoo is an action-packed game that uses a quick pace to keep the engaging gameplay moving forward, while its item and progression system encourages players to keep coming back for more.

In a certain light The Crown of the Sunken King actually does it better, employing different constraints and driving new ways to explore and appreciate Dark Souls II's finer details.

At the end of the run, very solid venture.

Zet Zillions from developer OTA IMON Studios is an addictive roguelike deckbuilder that doesn’t quite reach the likes of Balatro but certainly proves its worth in replayability and thick strategy. While it isn’t completely perfect in some elements of its design, it’s still one of the better games of this genre that I’ve played in 2024.

Loop Hero was a great surprise for me. The idea of a game just going in circles had me hesitant at first. It turned out to be a wonderful little treat. The story and art style are solid and the music is fair, but the meat really lies in the gameplay. The world-building allows you to personalize it, but also to develop your own strategy. It becomes addicting and enticing to anyone. Even someone like me who struggles with in-game strategy began to just stop, think, and develop the plan for a long game even in the first run of a loop. These mechanics are really what help bring the game to a higher level and pull it up than just a normal 16-bit Adventure/RPG game. While a simple concept on the face, Loop Hero has mountains more depth behind it.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard certainly closes a chapter for Dragon Age as a whole. But one can’t help but look more brightly at the future, one where Bioware has seemingly broke a curse it has been shackled with for years. As labyrinthine as a task it would have seemed, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a promise to fans that BioWare is one of the best storytellers in the medium, one capable of bombastic gameplay and enthralling narratives that linger for years.

Year Walk is a two-hour, seven-dollar experience that far transcends both its duration and price tag. It’s a can’t miss for anyone who appreciates dark, nightmarish, and heady storytelling with a (relatively) historically-accurate mythical slant.

Tekken 7 is institutional progress and austere form cloaked in spectacle and absent of risk. Its periphery can’t keep pace with 2017 and its core feels like it’s running the same race Tekken already won almost a decade ago. This doesn’t stop Tekken 7 from being the best 3D fighter on current platforms, but it’s easy to stand atop a podium unchallenged by legitimate competitors.

As the game progressed, I felt more and more attached to Artyom and how his journey through the Metro would finish, which is a testament to the narrative, and the world it resides in.