Space Adventure Cobra - The Awakening is a 2D action platformer and an adaptation of the classic series Cobra. The game excels at adapting the anime, all the cutscenes are beautiful and the music is superb too. Sadly that doesn't transfer over to the gameplay and you end up with a basic platformer. It's still an okay time, but one that made me want to check out the source material over going back to the game.

If Activision and the numerous studios working on Call of Duty wish to make a game worth buying each year, the answer is innovation. It’s time to be bold and try something new. You have a problem as an annual franchise when players are constantly asking what’s new in this year’s entry. The market is not going anywhere—that much is clear with EA propelling its Battlefield franchise to bigger heights than ever. However, if Call of Duty cannot find a pathway to be creative, I fear the franchise will only continue to stagnate, becoming only a memory of what once was.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown pays homage to the early cartoon origins of the four brothers and crafts a mediocre game around them. The fast pace of the story and lack of thematic depth are disappointing, and a few long levels can make gameplay feel tedious at times. Fans of the series will find some enjoyment inside this world, but I recommend new fans steer away from this one.

Regardless, Rushing Beat X makes up for some of its issues with old-school charm and technical gameplay. Those who are willing to look past the jank may find something to enjoy here. It’s just too bad it couldn’t have been better.

FBC: Firebreak is a game that lacks a proper identity. It’s really hard to recommend this title if you’re a fan of Remedy’s previous games or the multiplayer co-op genre, let alone if you happen to like both. This is, unfortunately, one of the rare instances where Remedy’s desire to experiment with new genres has not paid off. Maybe the game’s quality will improve as more updates are released, but as it is now, I can confidently say that this is probably my least favorite game from Remedy Entertainment.

Code Vein II is a fantastic soulslike on paper, with the strong story and gameplay being where the game shines the most. Unfortunately, the game suffers from a terrible frame rate, very little to do outside of combat, and needless padding. When it was all over I was glad to put the game away, and left to wonder what could've been.

Dreams of Another is destined to be a polarizing title, but those who gel with its bizarre storytelling and gameplay will find an experience like no other. Q-Games continues to carve its own niche in the gaming landscape, and fans of the studio's previous titles will find much to love here.

The most damning thing I can say about Sons of Sparta is that one day after rolling credits on it, I don’t feel anything. The game had made no lasting impressions on me, negative or positive. It is a complete nothingburger of a game and will sadly probably be remembered as nothing more than a small footnote in the history of the series.

Unfortunately, I have a very hard time recommending All’s Justice to anyone who is not a huge fan of My Hero Academia. The way this Story Mode is structured, you’re essentially throwing yourself into Season 7 and 8 of the anime with no context as to what came before it. It makes no sense for a newcomer to start here. For existing fans of the series, All’s Justice may be worth a pickup. There is fun to be had here, but it’s not without frustration. Many aspects of this game fall short, despite its ambitious nature. Every mode has a major drawback in one area or another, even if the experience ends up somewhat positive.

Finding Frankie has plenty of good ideas and charm, but it falls flat on execution in areas. Regardless, if you're interested in a new game to speedrun, look no further.

It has a slow start, but soon after, it picks up. The world can feel hollow and monotonous, but it can also be a delight to explore. The visual identity starts to fade away, but it’s able to give love to the game it’s based on. When the difficulty spikes, it can be annoying, but also extremely rewarding. I died a lot, I got lost a lot, I got stuck a lot, but I also couldn’t stop playing. Shadow Labyrinth may be rough around the edges, but it is also one of the most interesting Metroidvanias I have played in a while—one I know I will keep playing for quite a while.

Konami's video game adaptation of Edens Zero is a fun action RPG that follows the events of the original story. The combat is a bit slow at first, but once you unlock more moves and playable characters, the action becomes far more palatable. However, the outdated graphics and presentation may be a barrier for some fans.

While I did have fun with my time in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, I felt myself saddened by just how much it strayed from the immersive sim formula. I really hope that the upcoming DLC packs emphasize the RPG features more than the action-focused gameplay, but as of right now, I don’t really have as much of a desire to replay Bloodlines 2 as I do other entries in the genre. For better or for worse, my greatest takeaway when the credits rolled was that I wish I had played the original game instead.

Super Technos World is a collection of 12 games from the arcade and SNES era of gaming. While the actual emulation and settings of the games elevates this as a collection, the choice of games feel lacking. Along with inconsistent translations that turns this from a must-buy into a mixed bag.

Overall, I left my time with the Fighting Force Collection wondering why this series, out of all the other games still trapped on older consoles, was brought back. I’m not upset that it was. Game preservation is one of the most important movements in our industry currently. I just think there are other, much better games worthy of being ported onto modern consoles than Fighting Force. Regardless, there is a very niche subset of the gaming community that will be thrilled to hear that these games now exist on whatever platform they prefer to play on, and they have been preserved, warts and all, just as they were when they first came out. I’m just not one of them.

Shuffle Tactics fails its art style and interesting game mechanics with an unpolished UI and a multitude of bugs. There is an interesting game to be found here, but asking players to trudge through the horrible camera, visual and mechanical bugs, and poor UI decisions to get to it is inexcusable. Hopefully, after a few patches and a camera overhaul, Shuffle Tactics will be worth the time and effort, but as it stands now, there are too many other strong roguelike/deckbuilders on the market that your time would be better spent playing.

Creature Keeper is a promising attempt and the monster collecting genre. Unfortunately, combat and rather shallow collection mechanics keep this game from reaching the true potential promised by the premise.

For me, there was little here to keep my attention, and holding onto the life-sim genre felt more like an excuse only to have a few ways to interact with the world. Maybe this is a game that can be redeemed through updates, as Bywater itself is enjoyable to explore. However, I feel that so much of this experience needs retooling that one or two updates won’t fix what’s broken here. If you are a fan of life-sims, you likely already have your favorites picked out, and, unfortunately, I feel Tales of the Shire does very little to justify pulling even the biggest fans of LOTR away, let alone newcomers to the series.

I’m not sure if this will be the final nail in the coffin for the Double Dragon series, but I see no clear path forward for this franchise unless it drastically shakes things up in future titles. If it doesn’t, it is in danger of being completely left behind and forgotten like so many other games of its ilk.

I feel very similar about this release as I did with Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour—and that is not in a good way. With so many incredible games releasing on Switch 2 over the next few months, I think almost all players are better off saving the $20 to put toward another release. Maybe there is something to be said for those planning to squad up with three friends, but solo players can find better experiences out there. Not every game needs to have dozens of modes and content offerings, but Nintendo—of all developers—can do better than this.

I’m not ready to write off SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada yet. The developers want to continue working on this game, and there’s already been emergency maintenance with updates from the producers in response to the players. Post-raid payouts have already been adjusted at the time of writing this, and I expect many more updates to come. I will continue to check in on the game during its first season to see what other changes are made. Although it is repetitive, the untapped potential of SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada makes me come back for more.

Even with most of these issues, I still had fun with the game. It’s charming and super addicting to just start a new run the second you fail. Without a doubt, a highlight of 2025 that I will continue to enjoy for quite a while.

Painkiller reimagines the cult classic as a three-player co-op raid shooter, blending its breakneck gunplay with modern progression and a fresh take on heaven and hell’s eternal war. It doesn’t quite reach its full potential due to a short length, awkward mechanics, and limited content, but when the action hits, the promise of a great game is here.

Perhaps if you like games that combine platforming with a retro run-and-gun loop, you may enjoy it. Unfortunately, all of Snow Bros. 2 Special‘s negative attributes, combined with the fact that it is only three hours long at a price of $30, make it an experience that I cannot recommend.

Bubble Bobble Sugar Dungeons carries the tried-and-true Bubble Bobble gameplay that fans are familiar with, but the lackluster dungeons and repetitive nature of the game will certainly turn players off. The game lacks a compelling hook with its progression system, and by the time you get to the post-game, you'll likely be exhausted. At the very least, the pack-in Bubble Symphony game is nostalgic and offers a fun arcade experience that lessens the blow of the brutally repetitive main game.

Game of Thrones: Kingsroad is a promising free-to-play open-world action RPG that still needs more work before its potential is fully realized. The game has a fun and satisfying combat system and an interesting story, but Game of Thrones: Kingsroad's monetization practices and progression-slowing Momentum walls hold back what could be one of 2025's hidden gems.

Lost Soul Aside is an action-adventure RPG that had a troubled development. That becomes obvious when you start playing. It's an upoptimized mess, with a story that actively annoyed me, and gameplay that got boring and repetitive. The game just takes from others in the genre that inspire it, with no idea how to make it work. The end result is a disappointing game I can't recommend to even the most curious of players.

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is packed with practically everything you would ever need to know about the ins and outs of the Nintendo Switch 2. The tech demos are a fun novelty, but they don’t go beyond that — a novelty. The minigames aren’t great, and the quizzes get old quickly, leading to a repetitive experience that is hard to recommend to anyone outside of die-hard Nintendo fans or tech enthusiasts.