Sons of Sparta feels unnecessary, a prequel few expected and one that adds little to the wider God of War saga. Still, on its own merits it’s polished and impressive, with strong mechanics, striking visuals, and standout voice work. More indulgent side story than essential chapter, but a solid one nonetheless.

If you're looking for a cheap action roguelike with outstanding build variety, look no further than SealChain: Call of Blood. While its audio is forgettable and its mob behavior can border on exasperating, when it comes to player expression, it stands comfortably above much of its competition.

Space may be the final frontier, but this game clearly needed one more trip through QA. The combat rarely clicks, and the voice acting and animation struggle to keep pace, yet the resource management is sublime and the UI design genuinely excellent. Focus on its strategic and narrative strengths, and this Trekkie adventure might still live long and prosper in memory.

Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse delivers a much more intimate mystery by focusing on personal emotional arcs and a cast of characters that feel really well-developed. The experience, though, is occasionally weighed down by a lot of expository lore dumps. Nevertheless, it is a clever mystery game that manages to stay interesting until the very end.

Cyanide Studios created a third game that makes stealth feel even more rewarding in Styx: Blades of Greed. While the nine-year wait doesn’t make it seem much bigger at a glance, the new open-world design places greater emphasis on traversal and exploration, for better or worse.

There’s some charm here in Calamity Angels: Special Delivery, and I can’t deny that I liked spending time with the cast, but its gameplay keeps getting in its own way. The game has a fun concept and a strong personality, yet the random combat and repetitive delivery loop make it harder to enjoy than it should be. It’s not terrible, but it never rises above being a mildly entertaining JRPG that feels stuck so down below its potential.

Tokyo Scramble feels like a title scrambled together just to get a release up on the Nintendo Switch 2. Despite having some good ideas here and there, it’s overall very unpolished, messy, and full of wrinkles that shouldn’t have even left the QA stage.

High on Life 2 is Squanch Games’ second chaotic ride, and it’s as wild as it is messy. Stellar voice acting and striking visuals shine, but middling gameplay and rough optimization hold it back. It’s a mixed bag of highs and lows, and if that chaos appeals to you, we won’t judge, though your guns might.

Mario Tennis Fever follows the classic Super Mario Sports formula, emphasizing simplicity and fun. While it retains the core gameplay identity, it suffers from several issues, including a lackluster Adventure Mode, hit-and-miss supplementary game modes, and a new, gimmicky mechanic in Fever. It’s a good party game, but it doesn’t have enough to make it worth the price or the time.

It’s hard not to feel conflicted about Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties, because while it plays smoother and looks cleaner, many of its story changes and cut content weaken what originally worked. The remake still has solid moments, especially with Dad Kiryu, but combat, pacing, and Dark Ties often feel shallow or stretched out. It’s not a bad time, just a messy step forward that doesn’t fully honor what makes the Yakuza series work.

While not a true successor, Mewgenics carries The Binding of Isaac’s roguelike spirit through its sharp cat-based tactics, dense content, and clear devotion to McMillen’s ideal vision. It’s pricey, brutally slow, and unapologetically harsh, but its addictive music, bizarre systems, and deep strategy make it hard to put down. Not quite purrfect, but very close.

Crisol: Theater of Idols is an ambitious game with moments of creativity and style, but its execution consistently holds it back. The story fails to engage, combat is frustrating, and the character design often breaks immersion. At the same time, it offers one of the more compelling first-person horror settings in recent years, and its environmental and thematic work are impressive. It’s a game with strong ideas that never fully coalesce into a consistently satisfying experience, making it interesting but flawed overall.

REANIMAL is a game that takes everything Tarsier perfected in Little Nightmares and sharpens it into something darker, more relentless, and emotionally punishing. It rewards patience, observation, and careful thinking, but it doesn’t coddle you—the world is cruel and the horror lingers long after each encounter. It’s a more ruthless evolution of the formula, delivering a tense, interconnected journey that stands on its own while building on Tarsier’s legacy.

Romeo is a Dead Man brings everything you expect from the Suda51 style—and I mean everything, especially when it comes to its visuals. Though it suffers from technical issues and a simple gameplay loop, the unpredictable narrative, paired with its eye-catching visuals and strong audio design, makes it a memorable experience.

Square Enix certainly wanted to create a defining title for the franchise, as the streamlined narrative and gameplay additions make it easy for anyone to get into. However, the price of convenience is a little too steep; cut islands, hand-holdy exploration, and a lack of challenge make this reimagining a diminished experience compared to its older versions.

It’s hard to make magic feel monotonous, but YAPYAP manages it. Despite a strong, well-executed premise, issues with map variety, economy balance, and progression hold it back from becoming the next big friendslop hit.

MY HERO ACADEMIA: All’s Justice is a solid, if flawed, celebration of everything that made the franchise a pop culture staple. It isn’t going to win over anyone who isn’t already a fan of the series, but the game leverages the hype of the Final War arc to cover up its repetitive combat and uneven story presentation. Regardless, the sheer size of the roster and the authenticity of the voice acting make it hard to totally dislike. It captures the spirit of the series well enough, even if it doesn’t quite go Plus Ultra.

ANTHEM#9 feels like a small-scale game overloaded with too many good ideas at once. It’s undeniably fun to play, and its audiovisual presentation is impressively polished—but why is there a turn timer or an oversized UI that often fills more than half the screen with text? Thankfully, though, everything else carries it to greatness.

Aces of Thunder is frustrating and forgettable. Beyond detailed aircraft and decent visuals, there’s little to hold your attention. Clunky controls, shallow campaign progression, unreliable multiplayer, and recurring technical issues make it a mediocre experience at best.

If there's a company that knows its way around action RPGs, it's Team NINJA. But with Nioh 3, it feels as if they have finally perfected their vision. This is the culmination of their endless quest to create the ultimate action RPG experience centered around a satisfying flow state, and they've achieved it in the bloodiest and most glorious way possible.

Across dozens of climbs and bivouac breaks, Cairn proves itself to be a game that fully commits to its vision. The difficulty can be punishing, and the physics can act up, but the hardship is so closely tied to Aava’s story and the game’s themes that it never feels excessive. It’s an experience that will stay with me long after my personal descent from it, and while the mountain is indifferent, the climb itself is unforgettable.

Even though an 8/10 may sound like a solid score, that's actually lower than it could have gotten if it had been polished even further. Sure, the gameplay is nice and the story's very compelling; but with the backdrop of a horribly dumb enemy AI and its terrible performance issues, Code Vein 2 on release is at its worst.

Arknights: Endfield has the makings to be one of 2026's standout titles—a decent story that has potential, multiple engaging gameplay mechanics, a vibrant world to explore, and solid audio and visual design. Aside from the gacha system that not many people may be used to, it deserves high marks everywhere else. Its future is bright, and they can only keep going up from here.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade on the Switch 2 is a strong port that knows its limits and mostly stays within them. It doesn’t reach the visual or performance highs of the PS5 version, but it also avoids the worst compromises seen on older hardware. The experience remains intact, and portability changes how easy it is to live with its flaws. Fingers crossed that FF7 Rebirth makes its way to the platform soon.

Cult of the Lamb’s latest expansion is a welcome return, adding new mechanics, biomes, and hours of play that enrich the world. The music, visuals, and added lore bring the Lamb’s ascension to a satisfying close. A slow start aside, it’s a rewarding expansion for both veterans and newcomers.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is as good as it always has been. The Switch 2 port still earns its praise, of course, but not because of any standout next-gen additions or mechanics. Returning players should expect largely the same experience as their first playthrough, while newcomers will find a charming and thoroughly enjoyable customization craze waiting for them.

2XKO is, without a doubt, the best fighting game on the market right now. Not only does it look amazing with its cel-shaded animated style, but it also has that tag-fighter satisfaction that’s been sorely missed throughout the absence of the subgenre. And the best part about it all is that the game is completely free to play and enjoy, with everything you need to learn included.

Essentially a free-to-play Animal Crossing-Palia-Infinity Nikki cross, Heartopia is a free-to-play life-simulation game that’s simple, accessible, and cozy for all. It offers casual, engaging gameplay and bright audio-visual presentation, bringing together familiar cozy game elements for a fun experience. While it does have optimization problems from being a direct mobile port that can deter from the experience, it’s still worth its content.