Everything we see in Scriptorium is made by real people, and in the non-medieval times we live in, this is a refreshing statement that makes us feel connected to a piece of human history from centuries ago.

Mina the Hollower expertly captures the classic exploration of Zelda and the challenge of Dark Souls to create a unique and cohesive experience. Mina the Hollower is a joy to play, and I can’t wait to see what Yacht Club Games comes up with next.

Wreckreation has lofty ambitions, and I’d say it achieves most of them. Driving is fast and furious, and the gameplay loop kept me hooked as I was constantly discovering some new and cool thing while tooling around in my MixWorld. Countless late nights were spent beating a tight time in a race or hunting new cars to collect. While there are more minor issues under the hood than I’d like, those who crave a decidedly old-school open-world racer should take this one for a spin.

With those few gripes out of the way, this is still an incredibly enjoyable story with a wonderfully charming cast of down-to-earth characters. Playing was like having a chat with a friend I hadn’t seen in a long time, and in the end, Coffee Talk Tokyo is a reminder that sometimes what a person needs is an open ear, compassion, and community — and it also really made me crave a cup of tea.

In the end, Fortune Seller‘s strange atmosphere kept me engrossed and organizing items was more satisfying than I would have expected. I’m still going to keep working at this shop for a while even after finishing several runs, but it’s always a challenge to avoid paying my rent in flesh to a shadowy landlord.

In fact, the whole game is good – it’s not an all-time great, but a rare, pure example of something unambitious and also essentially perfect. I’m nearing 30 happy hours spent making stained glass and, conservatively, have another 30 hours of time left here, should I choose to pursue it. Again, Glimmith is not high concept, it isn’t beating anybody over the head with its cleverness, but its calm, dependable quality flows from it like a river or a cool breeze. For those into puzzle games who somehow don’t already own it, today’s the day. Have at it.

It’s a delightful title that tells a story about what really matters about cooking — family and community building. If there’s one lesson to take from Dosa Divas, it’s that even a pile of mush can be a quality meal if it’s made with love.

The Requiem DLC brings a novel new mechanic that makes it wildly worth it. I might as well have been playing as Leon Kennedy with the amount of thematic easter eggs, and the experience felt wholly satisfying.

As a new direction for the Dark Pictures series, Directive 8020 gets the job done. It makes it clear that Supermassive Games can adapt to changing tastes and offer a streamlined, accessible version of their most famous product. It’s only a pity that the script can’t match up to the gameplay. Moment to moment, as an experience, this is some of the best work Supermassive has ever done — but pull back and look at the whole, and narrative flaws appear. Hopefully they’ll take everything they learned on this one and use it to present equally robust systems with a more coherent story next time around.

Elementallis is a gem of an indie title and a must-play for any Zelda fan — I truly appreciated its efforts in honoring the series’ legacy while also offering enough variety to avoid stepping on its toes. Elementallis made me feel like the ’90s gamer kid I am at heart, and I’m thankful I got to relive that sense of joy and wonder.

Honestly, I can only think of one criticism, and even that’s a bit of a nitpick — if the player puts time in and fails to make much progression due to a series of losses and few resources gained, I could see things becoming a bit stale. However, Titanium Court is a bonkers, surreal, thoughtful, and funny adventure from start to finish, and I had a hard time putting down. I kept coming back for more, and I can’t recommend it enough.

In the end, Pragmata is a great new IP from Capcom. It’s endearing, it offers a unique and satisfying take on third-person combat, and also boasts plenty of scope for exploration, impressive bosses, rewarding payoffs and a significant amount of built-in postgame content. What more could someone ask for?

Fatal Frame 2 Remake is creepy, haunting, and thrilling in equal measure. It’s also fiddly and frustrating at times, and requires the player to put in a ton of effort if they want to feel like they’ve gotten everything out of the story. (PROTIP: get a walkthrough.) Still, it’s a truly affecting experience, and that’s down to the developers’ brilliant use of mechanics. I’ve played literally hundreds of creepy horror titles, but I’ve almost never felt this kind of connection to the story, and that’s entirely down to the decision they made to trigger that bit of physical discomfort in the player. I can’t imagine it’s going to be an experience for everyone, but the results are inarguable – I cared about what happened to these twins, and appreciated the experience all the more because of it.

Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf successfully expands on its underrated first entry in nearly every way possible. It’s the perfect Empire Strikes Back to Planet of Lana’s New Hope: approachable, beautiful, and a great adventure worth taking.

Dread Delusion’s best content overshadows its flaws. Even with some disappointment at the lackluster outcomes to my decisions, the build up to those moments was rich, engaging, and founded in human emotion. The storytelling in Dread Delusion is top notch, and I found myself transfixed, exhausting each dialogue tree, and reading every lore-book I came across. There are moments from Dread Delusion that will haunt me for months to come, and that quality alone makes it worthwhile.

Caves of Qud can be a frustrating and downright hostile experience at times. It’s clearly built for those who have a fondness for older PC-style RPGs and those who enjoy diving deep into several different systems running at once, and for me the overwhelming nature of things adds to the charm. Caves of Qud is one of the most unique adventures currently out there — it’s just not one that will resonate with anyone looking for something laid back or relaxing.

Marathon is an excellent experience, and a great shooter made by a great developer. Taking all the lessons they’ve learned from decades of FPS design, Marathon succeeds with gameplay and gunplay that’s leagues better than anything else on the market. I’ve lost more sleep in the last few weeks than I have playing any other game recently, and while the online crowd may be a bit too hostile at times, those willing to engage with its dynamic loop will be rewarded with one of the finest first-person shooters this generation.

For those willing to overlook the lackluster narrative, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflections is an amazing adventure. The visuals, monsters, and companions made the world feel incredibly alive. The battle system is dramatically improved over its predecessors, and is leaps and bounds better than its initial outing on the Nintendo 3DS. I’m hoping Capcom stays the course with a future Monster Hunter Stories 4, as they are absolutely on the right track with this franchise.

Nobody comes to platformers for the story, they come to them for joy of play – and Demon Tides is nearly pure mechanical joy. It’s a geyser of creativity and passion that ennobles the genre. There are flaws, but they’re very hard to see from the heights this game reaches the vast majority of the time. Anybody with any interest in jumping and/or collecting should leap, not walk, to the digital storefront.

With four classes with distinct powers to upgrade and over a dozen weapons, each with a bevy of unlockable attachments, players will have no trouble finding a build that appeals to them, so long as they’re passionately invested in mass-murdering zombies and the various mutant gunk creatures that come along for the ride. With a fast pace, extreme replayability and irreverent tone, Toxic Commando is a blast from beginning to end — I just don’t understand why it’s not called Toxic Commandos — because, again, there are four of them.

It took me a dozen hours to beat Resident Evil Requiem the first time, and I don’t think more than twenty minutes ever passed without absolutely flooring me with some new surprise, reveal, or thrilling setpiece. It’s violent, scary, and funny, and everything good about the series all rolled up into one. We’re 30 years into the Resident Evil franchise, and not only is it not getting long in the tooth, the developers are doing their best work yet. It’s a masterpiece from beginning to end, and an absolute must-play.

The workaday plot aside, the fact that my main complaints about Relooted boil down to wanting more of it says something about its quality. The heists are satisfying, the escapes are exciting, and the characters that get a chance to shine are charismatic. Relooted has the bones of an all-timer, but it falls short of building the perfect reliquary to keep them in.

Mewgenics is sure to be a hit with Binding of Isaac fans, roguelite fans, and tactics RPG fans. It has McMillen’s signature ugly-cute Newgrounds flash art, a toe-tapping soundtrack, and an unfathomable number of ways for players to approach its chaotic, layered grid combat — just be prepared to see many, many, many cats expire as nine lives are not included.

Its recipe is a simple one — take rock-solid FPS and survival fundamentals, and flesh them with high-level, imaginatively distinct, and powerful horror. It’s not a subtle experience, but met on its own terms, warts, Wranglers and all, it hits like a sledgehammer in the best possible way. Brace yourself.

REANIMAL is a nightmare that won’t end. After beating the campaign I immediately started it up again, hoping that by finding all of the secrets I’d get some answers to the questions the ending raised. Sadly, it wasn’t to be, and I found myself with too many loose ends while also being unable to get the haunting aesthetic out of my head. This is a grim, nasty experience from the masters of the genre. It’s a singularly nasty journey, and while I can’t recommend it to everyone, anyone looking to take a trip through the dark side won’t find one much better.

Looking back on my first impressions of the game and comparing them with my experiences playing over the course of the last two months, it seems to me that the Definitive Edition update marks a victory lap for the game. Even after two years away, coming back and playing Northgard still feels as fresh and exciting as the continent was to Rig and his band of Viking settlers when they first embarked on their quest, and it’s all ripe for the taking.

The Spirit Lift won’t be a game for everyone, but there’s joy to be found for players who might like a smaller bite.

If I were to look at any single aspect in isolation, Shape of Dreams isn’t the best roguelite I played in 2025, but it shines by delivering an enjoyable experience with plentiful meta progression that encourages diverse builds and character mastery. These qualitites keep me coming back to grind for more unlocks and the options and modifiers give ample choice to tailor the experience to my taste. For players who are interested in trying this style of combat, or for those who just want to just hop in for a chaotic dungeon run with friends, I fully recommend Shape of Dreams.