After 26 years, Fatal Fury is finally back—and City of the Wolves hits! It makes a bold return with deep story content, solid offline/online modes, and ambitious mechanics. While I'm not a fan of how SNK implemented the Smart Style control scheme, and the online experience has some issues, this is undoubtedly SNK’s strongest modern fighter yet!

The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is an excellent strategy RPG that follows the same aesthetics and themes of the Danganronpa series while being an entirely different game and IP. The game offers a straightforward combat system that's easy to pick up and play while offering some challenging battles. In addition, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy brings an intriguing and eccentric cast of characters with a compelling narrative and shock value at some points of the story.

Tetris: The Grand Master 4 -Absolute Eye- is a great way to play Tetris. It helped me rediscover a love for Tetris I once had and for the first time I'm trying different control schemes and modes. Sadly the game is still in a buggy state and needs some work. The dev team is listening and communicating with the player, and I do have faith these issues will get fixed even if it might take a while. Even after all that I can still recommend it and this will be the version I continue to play.

Dead Take is a unique glimpse into the indie horror genre through the lens of an actor desperate to stay relevant in the ever-changing landscape of the film industry. Its use of atmosphere and film craft drives home a narrative that is both captivating and compelling. However, the combination of poorly lit environments and heavy shadows can make certain puzzles feel cheap, and the lack of clear direction may be too much for some players to overcome.

Super Mario Party Jamboree: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV combines one of the best Mario Party games ever with a mediocre collection of updates that feel like gimmicks for the most part. The puzzling decision to split updates across the Switch and Switch 2 content only adds to the overall feeling that this is a channel I can't recommend tuning into unless you're the biggest of Mario Party fans.

Static Dread: The Lighthouse might wear its influences on its sleeve, but it delivers a unique horror experience that is worth checking out if you like ethical dilemmas and Cthulhu mythology. This very well may be the next hit indie horror game.

Hello Kitty Island Adventure is charming for both fans of the characters and newcomers alike. While a mobile-style system and frustrating narrative progression roadblocks exist, these are mostly eased by the story itself and the plethora of content that can keep kids and adults entertained alike.

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.

Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 is a good game that covers recent arcs of the Demon Slayer anime with action-packed elements that CyberConnect2 is known for. Although the combat is repetitive, there's a lot of replay value thanks to the included story modes and Training Paths mode. The Hinokami Chronicles 2 isn't a departure from anything CyberConnect2 has developed in the anime gaming space, but the game's beautiful visuals and great voice acting should keep a lot of fans happy.

Time Flies is a short, whimsical monochrome adventure toward death. Like life itself, it’s what you do with the time you’re given that defines you. This fleeting, fly-sized exploration of mortality is not for everyone, but it's likely to at least charm and bring a few laughs to players.

Once you get past the bug regarding saving your photos, Lushfoil Photography Sim can be a wonderful time. Exploring the locations and looking for the objective photospots was the best part I had. I feel that I have a new appreciation for photography overall, and I’m already starting to notice things in environments I might not have previously. So, you can throw on some music and start looking for your next photo shoot. After all, you may decide that the only way to express yourself is with a camera.

It is seriously incredible to see what Playground Games put together in Forza Horizon 5, all in one package. I could not imagine a stronger series debut for any game on a platform, as you can easily spend hundreds of hours in this game without getting bored for even a second. While Forza Horizon 5 doesn’t necessarily innovate much from its predecessors, it is absolutely a must-own title on PlayStation 5. It may be the best racing game available on the platform.

While the game isn't perfect, it settles into the themes of consequences and emotion that surpass both Life is Strange and Bloom.

I’m hoping that Bandai Namco and Tamsoft continue to update Bleach Rebirth of Souls and make the online modes more engaging. I’m also curious to see the four DLC characters from Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War bring to the table as well, but I’m not counting on any new TYBW-related story content coming to this game. If anything, a sequel with this content and more improvements could be the right move.

The Horror at Highrook is a look at eldritch horror through the lens of a TTRPG. While the game can have a lot of text, the management style of gameplay sets it apart from other horror titles and will ensure you lose hours of time before it's done.

South of Midnight is a fantastic representation of the deep south and its folklore. It has great visuals, engaging characters, a charming story, and music that will leave your jaw on the floor. While there are certainly flaws with the repetition of the combat, the frustrating platforming, and the lack of development of certain characters, these issues pale in the face of just how well Compulsion Games managed to execute this great work of art.

With many new additions and full voice-over, this is the best version of Noctuary. If you're into something of a unique genre-mix with fast fights and visual novel storytelling, this might be for you.

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound offers some of the best 2D combat and movement I've ever experienced in an action platformer. Almost every level is designed to maximize your abilities in combat and platforming, and test your reflexes in all the best ways. There are maybe a few too many auto-scroll levels for my liking, and I wish the bosses were a little more varied, but those are minor problems in an overall fantastic package. Ninja Gaiden is back.

Elden Ring Nightreign is a game that understands its own identity and hones in on that. The returning bosses are a treat for older FromSoft players, and the new mechanics are fun yet challenging to wrap your head around. With future content planned, I see myself returning to Nightreign with each new boss drop for years to come.

Assassin's Creed Shadows is a small, yet flawed, step in the right direction for the series. While the story, characters, visuals, music, and main gameplay mechanics shine, the lack of development for the protagonists, the boring side quests, the continued emphasis on combat instead of stealth, and the frustrating action RPG mechanics severely hinder the experience. Unfortunately, it's not the evolution of the series that many fans were hoping for, and it pales in comparison to other games that have handled its formula far better.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a graphically beautiful game, but despite its glowing reputation, it does little to innovate within the RPG genre. The lack of navigation tools makes exploring its world incredibly frustrating, and the story only starts to get interesting near the very end.

Cash Cleaner Simulator is an attempt at the simulator genre that revolves around money and packing it. However, there is so much in this genre that it's hard to stick out, and Cash Cleaner doesn't do anything different to stick out in an already dominated landscape.

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.

The Midnight Walk is an astounding achievement of artistic vision that triumphantly tells both a heart-warming and terrifying story of perseverance and finding light in the darkest of times. It is an impressive labor of love that hopefully will find the audience it deserves and be at the top of game of the year lists come Winter.

Capcom Fighting Collection 2 is a fantastic revival of classic fighting games with modern training tools and online features, but it falls just short of perfection due to the controversial CvS2 EO ranked standard and lack of cross-play.

Ao Oni The Horror of Blueberry Onsen is a horror game I have trouble recommending. While I have nostalgia for it I don't know if someone without a connection to the series will get much out of it. It's very short and has frustrating monster spawn rates. But even after all that I still had fun thanks to some clever puzzles and even played it more than once thanks to the new leaderboard. My issues with the original are still here but strangely endearing. Worth a play for fans of the series but your mileage may vary.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate is a fantastic entry in the broader Ninja Turtles universe. The story, despite its simplicity, does a great job of paying tribute to the history of the franchise. Plus the gameplay is extremely fun and filled with great opportunities for experimentation. While the glitches, forgettable soundtrack, small cast of playable characters, and lack of any unique qualities that separate it from other entries in the genre, it's still a great game if you're a fan of the iconic heroes in a half-shell.

Throes of the Watchmaker looks to improve on the issues that some had with Sea of Stars, but fails to move the needle one way or the other. Those who enjoyed their time with the base game will probably have a great time with this free DLC, while those who didn't gel with the original release won't find much to win them over.