Lego Horizon Adventures isn't a perfect fit, but Sony's charmer snaps together where it counts.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn doesn't quite do enough to make it stand out in a crowded genre.

Scorn is in conversation with H. R. Giger’s art, but it’s playing a game of telephone. Despite nailing the aesthetic it's going for with excellent sound design and striking visuals, it struggles to deliver the same intimacy that makes Giger’s work so unsettling. Even when it does, Scorn’s artistic ambitions and its video game obligations are often at odds with one another. Ebb Software makes bold design decisions here to achieve the perfect atmosphere, but those decisions make for a frustrating shooter and first-person puzzle game that never quite feels fully formed.

Pokémon Unite can be a lot of fun, but it’s not a must-play multiplayer experience. Pokémon and MOBA fans alike are likely to miss some of the depth of their respective titles, while the game’s supremely confusing menu system, pay-to-win microtransactions, and strange design omissions make it more difficult to recommend. There’s a good game deep in there, but it’s covered in layers of unnecessary material and bloat.

Digimon Survive is a game that isn’t just for Digimon fans. It has a great story and hints of brilliance in the gameplay, but each person’s mileage may vary with this one. It may be best to wait for a price drop before picking up Digimon Survive if you’re on the fence.

On paper, Mario Golf: Super Rush should be a hole-in-one. The core golf experience has never been better and multiplayer modes like Speed Golf offer a clever twist on the formula for casual players. There’s just not much to do outside of its short, disappointing adventure mode. Free DLC should help pad it out in the long run, but an overall lack of content leaves the package in the semi-rough for now.

Despite some cumbersome combat systems and performance issues, The Callisto Protocol successfully builds on Dead Space's legacy.

Players who aren’t willing to relax a bit and let Fe take some control of their experience might have trouble, but most everyone else will find an affecting, unique romp through the woods backed by touching moments and some of the most inventive design to come from a major publisher in ages.

Assassin’s Creed Unity may be an incredible piece of architecture, but that’s sadly all it is.

Madden NFL 23 is an improved game when compared to Madden NFL 22, but that isn't enough to make it good.

Immortals of Aveum is a colorful magic FPS that's sometimes too snarky for its own good.

When all is said and done, and Nazi Germany’s ego has been bruised by a couple of rad teenage girls, one fact remains — Wolfenstein: Youngblood is fun as hell. The goofy Blazkowicz sisters make it compelling enough to endure its sometimes annoying quirks. Bring a partner for best results. The game shines when you’re playing co-op alongside a friend.

The Isle of Armor improves on Pokémon Sword and Shield's open world experiments with a light expansion.

Doom VFR has some of the most satisfying and gratuitous action you can get in VR.

Harold Halibut makes some key compromises to make its eye-popping claymation art style work.

Knack 2 silences naysayers with innovative puzzle-platforming, even if its combat can’t keep up.

High on Life takes the right design cues from Metroid Prime, though uneven comedy makes for a hit-and-miss adventure.

It’s particularly frustrating to see Last Round struggle in terms of raw performance when it has no problem marketing its DLC.

I’ve played a decent number of RPG expansions in my time, and a majority of them have built on what makes the base game good. Whether it was The Witcher 3‘s Blood and Wine or New Vegas‘ Old World Blues, a good DLC takes the best aspects of the base game and raises them up while including a unique, new spin. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla‘s Siege of Paris is antithetical to that. The game’s best parts — its world and characters — are left in the muck, while a boring gameplay loop and heavy-handed story take center stage. Of course, some players will enjoy having more of the same to explore, but considering how long it takes to even finish Valhalla, I couldn’t imagine coming back for seconds. When I first arrived in the game’s version of Paris, I saw an exhausted, burnt-out land. When I left it, I could certainly sympathize.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is a monotonous chore that spoils its charming premise with weak roguelike design and repetitive combat. The colorful, new visuals and endearing story give the remake a welcome dose of character, but the added features overly simplify the adventure. It might be enough to keep the franchise’s youngest fans occupied for a few hours, but there are plenty of other Pokémon games on Switch that deliver a more satisfying experience for all ages.

New Tales from the Borderlands risked ruining this series by focusing on a completely different set of characters and not really following up its predecessor at all. Thankfully, Gearbox Montreal proved that the Borderlands universe is still full of unique and interesting stories to tell, whether it does so in a first-person shooter or narrative adventure game format.

Kao the Kangaroo might not be the most innovative, difficult, or narratively satisfying platformer out there, but this game still nails the basics. As such, any fan of modern 3D platformers will find a lot to enjoy with this reboot of Kao the Kangaroo and maybe even be inspired to check out the forgotten classics Kao starred in.

Rune Factory 5 should satisfy fans and cozy game enthusiasts, but its not quite as friendly for newcomers.

There’s something special about the Battlefront games, and how they capture the excitement of the beloved films. Star Wars: Battlefront II excels on that front, like its predecessor did, and does it in a smarter, more interesting way. It also offers much more of that experience, with a single-player campaign and plenty of multiplayer modes rounding what feels like a fairly complete package...Still, Battlefront II is much less of a sequel than the Battlefront done correctly. It feels the same, and carries all the same problems, as its predecessor. With a fun but ultimately unremarkable single-player story, returning to Battlefront probably won’t blow many fans’ minds.

Brothership’s problems will look familiar to anyone who found themselves disappointed by games like Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam or Paper Mario: Sticker Star. Nintendo has seemingly convinced itself that every Mario RPG needs to have bespoke gimmicks. It’s not enough to give players a well-written story and iterate on a solid combat foundation; there always has to be a twist, or two, or three. Those layers drag Brothership down the longer the adventure goes on, making even its intriguing climax feel exhausting by the end.

Pixel Ripped 1978 brings Atari nostalgia to VR in a charming adventure that feels a little too removed from reality at times.

Costume Quest 2 is a classic JRPG, stripped of all the tedious baggage and wrapped in Double Fine’s impeccable writing and sense of whimsy.

The Casting of Frank Stone is more invested in Dead by Daylight than itself at times.