Everspace 2 is the definition of a mixed bag — it’s great in some areas, but awful in others. For every exciting sidequest or random event, there’s a long, boring main mission to suffer through. For every thrilling combat scenario, there are dozens of loading screens that rip me out of the experience. I wish it held together a bit more consistently because Everspace 2 starts off as a promising adventure, but by the time I reached the end of Adam’s saga, seeing credits felt, ultimately, more like a burden lifted from my shoulders than the epic end to a space odyssey it could have been.

While the story is pretty obvious from the jump, I still enjoyed it and the great sense of atmosphere that abounds — I was eager to dive deeper, and the flexibility of the puzzles always made me feel clever. In that sense, Viewfinder is an experience I’d readily recommend to anyone, whether they’re a puzzle aficionado or not.

I have no idea what brought this updated version of a 14-year-old game into being, but I’m quite glad that it’s received this second chance with a new audience. By anyone’s standard, this is a superior work that belongs in every puzzle fan’s library.

Frank and Drake is an impressive feat thanks to its inventive art style alone, but the game manages to shine even more so hanks to a thoughtful story. Its approach to point-and-click based gameplay coupled with mature themes in its narrative make it a unique title worth trying out.

The Centennial Case is an engaging FMV murder mystery with a unique vibe, thrilling confrontations, and a main protagonist who I’ll treasure because of her sincerity and undying determination to find the truth. I also felt much for Eiji, whose reserved (yet goofy) presence got me to care about his aspirations. Unfortunately, the lackluster characterizations of side characters and a corrupted save file due to the game’s instability on mobile mean that I can’t wholeheartedly recommend it.

The Settlers: New Allies is the latest entry in a beloved and longstanding franchise, and carries an inherent advantage of starting with a greatly successful formula. However, there simply aren’t any exciting updates or formula explorations here. The buggy quality of the code at time of review and utterly flat narrative are salt in the wound, resulting in a game that does not boast a single positive reason to warrant a purchase.

As much as I enjoyed it in the beginning, it soon began to feel like a chore and I’m sad to say that Undead Horde 2 is one of 10tons Ltd.’s few stumbles — it’s still addictive and sports their trademarked solid controls, but it’s sorely missing the infectious charm of their previous installment.

If all of its technical issues can be fixed, Aliens: Dark Descent will prove to be something special. It treats the franchise with respect and care — and when working properly — it nails the tension the series is famous for. Unfortunately, a full, completed release simply should not have this many technical issues, nor cause so much frustration that has nothing to do with the aliens themselves.

I found DNF Duel to be enjoyable overall, but this cool, high-energy anime fighter with great characters and an appealing style is hampered by a lack of depth, low online playerbase, and the Switch’s hardware. That said, when it comes to a bit of brawling on the go, players could certainly do a lot worse than this. It’s not going to be the next big thing in fighting games, but it doesn’t have to be in order to still offer a fairly solid experience.

Overall, ProtoCorgi is a good game – it controls well and has style galore, which are both key parts of a good shoot ‘em up. Unfortunately, one level with seriously questionable design decisions keeps this from winning Best of Show.

Crash Team Rumble feels a bigger-than-average swing for the series, but one that — at this point — ultimately misses. That said, there are updates on the horizon, but I’m worried that it won’t be able to break away from more unbalanced characters and a general lack of content. Maybe Crash Team Rumble will end up like Fall Guys or Rocket League and go free-to-play at some point, but as it stands I’d have to recommend waiting for the game to bulk up a little before diving in.

Three Kingdom: The Journey has the makings of a great roguelike deckbuilder, but a number of issues like the harsh difficulty of surprise bosses and minor technical hiccups prevent it from reaching its full potential. However, despite this, the tactical and random nature of play meant that I discovered something new each time. The theme of Three Kingdom makes it stand out by forgoing fantasy tropes for a more grounded military-style affair, and there’s a good journey waiting to happen here… players just might have to power through a few issues to get to it.

It’s the best traits from those classic AKI games that remain at the core of AEW Fight Forever, though, along with some clever and sometimes whimsical additions made along the way. (The Mario Party-esque minigames are, hands down, some of the wackiest additions I’ve seen to any sports game.) Though All Elite Wrestling is still a relatively young wrestling company, it can point to Fight Forever as a great first foray into console gaming and one of the best wrestling games in years.

Ghost Trick is a game where every fantastic detail comes together to make something even greater than the sum of its parts — and those parts are plenty great on their own. This is an experience worth checking out for just about anyone, and with a modest price tag and a free demo, there’s absolutely no excuse to pass.

While I don’t think Sonic Origins Plus will convince doubters of the initial release to convert and I still have my qualms over some of the presentation choice, there’s no doubt that Sega managed to make a solid package even better.

Like the first Coffee Talk, Hibiscus & Buterfly delivers a delicious cup in the form of new stories, characters, and a lil’ shot of revised gameplay mechanics, and these elements all blend into a delicious mix that I love to cuddle up on the couch with.

Despite my issues with them, I still adore these games. The chip tactics scratch my deckbuilding itch, but it’s not so tactical that it requires mental gymnastics to succeed. The story is charming in a saturday morning cartoon sort of way, and I appreciate the ability to access these games again on a modern platform. Capcom missed a few tricks by not adding a few quality-of-life and accessibility settings to make the games less grindy, but the series still holds a special place in my heart.

All in all, I genuinely enjoyed Goodbye World’s narrative landscape. Although the metagames were a pain to get through, the poignant storytelling, charming characters and beautiful design more than made up for it. Kanii’s and Kumade’s connection was palpable, and it was a treat to spend time with them.

Despite its immediate beauty, After Us doesn’t generate the emotional response I would hope for from a title in this genre. Perhaps if it were a bit shorter and more focused, I would have been more motivated to explore and rescue every spirit. Instead, the unpolished platforming and surplus of unnecessary collectibles diluted its intensity. Though there are certainly some memorable moments here, there are simply other titles in the genre that are much more successful at doing what After Us is attempting to accomplish.

There’s basically nothing to find fault with in Dave the Diver. Did I have trouble mastering a few of the cooking minigames, and an easy mode for the rhythm games would have been appreciated – but that’s a drop in the ocean compared to what it does right. Filling out the fish index, sneaking through a secret base, gambling in a merfolk casino – everywhere I turned there was something new to try, and all of it was built with care and wit. There’s a shocking amount to do here, all of it is worth sinking time into.

System Shock is haunting and lonely, has an expertly-crafted oppressive atmosphere, intense combat, and a strong sense of immersion. Unfortunately, the obtuse nature of the campaign makes it to navigate and generally understand what to do. Returning vets may appreciate the upgrade, but I suspect that new players like myself will feel excluded and put off by the steep difficulty.

While the future of the game is anyone’s guess, at present Diablo IV is a solid, but strangely unambitious take that fails to bring much new to the table. By the end of my travels, I was more than willing to put it down and take a break — somewhere amongst all the grinding, Diablo IV had unfortunately ground me down as well.

It’s been a while since I’ve truly felt blown away by a big-budget videogame. In the third year of the current console generation, we’ve had some excellent stuff come out, but few notables that might be seen as defining titles in the medium. Final Fantasy XVI feels like that once-in-a-generation game. A dream team of designers, artists, and producers came together to forge a brave new path not only for the Final Fantasy series, but for action games in general. While debates on what makes the series special will continue, there’s no question that this one is setting a new standard for RPGs.

Despite the rough patches, Warhanmmer 40,000 Boltgun remains impressive. It’s fast, action-packed, controls well, and is (mostly) a joy to play. With just a little tweaking and a few adjustments, this could easily be one of the all-time greats.

While I’m enjoying Miasma Chronicles, I don’t think it’s one I’m going to stick with. There are too many moments where the deck feels stacked against me in combat, and there aren’t many ways to get on par with the difficulty curve, let alone get ahead of it. The developers get very close to something great here, but there’s something off in their formula and it’s just not clicking in a way that feels satisfying.

Overall, I enjoyed the concept of Osman more than the execution. There’s a decent action title here, but the steep difficulty and lack of bells and whistles make it a tough sell.

Frustration and SMB have never gone hand-in-hand before, but these issues have lessened my overall enjoyment of Super Mega Baseball 4, especially when compared to the superlative third entry in the franchise. There are a lot of high points here, but I’m hoping the team tightens things up in the next iteration.

Overall, Saga of Sins ends up being a well-themed run-and-gun platformer, and it executes well enough. The difficulty curve is pretty forgiving, and the campaign doesn’t hang around any longer than it needs to, so getting stale is never an issue. While I wanted more mechanically, the visuals and concepts alone were enough to keep me interested enough to see it through to the end, and that’s not something I can say about every game.

With its versatile upgrade system and clever boss design, Bat Boy stands out, even compared to the highest tier of NES-tribute platformers. I can’t pretend it’s perfect – a few auto-scrolling levels are cheaper than they have any right to be, and the last boss is a slog — but this is indisputably a great game whether one is a fan of its classic inspirations or not.

The cat-and-mouse dynamic between player and adversary, so familiar by the end of the campaign yet so aggressively unpredictable every time, really does possess the texture of a bad dream, or an endless cycle that the player can never wake up from. Thankfully, the narrative’s willingness to step aside is what really brings the nightmare to life. The Beast is not used as a vehicle for philosophical musings, he is not an expression of Henri’s subconscious mind or his hidden traumas. He is brutality personified, as senseless and blood-soaked as The Bunker’s setting.

Building an entire series around a single character was a bit of a risky choice, but I’m happy to say that Ryza, as a character, held up as someone who’s worth checking back in on over and over again. In ten years will we be looking back at Ryza as an iconic-level character the way we do Sophie and Platcha? Probably not – but that’s an impossibly high bar. Ryza had an incredible adventure to go on, and now that it’s done, I’m glad we got the chance to go on it with her.

Lego 2K Drive is one of the finest arcade racers around, setting itself apart from the competition by literally building a new foundation for the genre. Like the very best LEGO sets, each of its pieces adds up to a wonderful product. Racing fans owe it to themselves to check this one out.

The lack of accessibility options with regard to control and display customization also threatens to make Star Trek: Resurgence less inclusive than its Federation values would suggest. Nevertheless, these quibbles are things that I found relatively easy to overlook, considering how well the game channels qualities of Star Trek long absent from the franchise’s adaptations. I’d choose instead to hope Dramatic Labs addresses some of these concerns through patches and updates. Those like me, who are able to put aside those complaints, will find a thrilling and refreshing dose of Trek fan service, and perhaps the beginning of a special journey, in Star Trek: Resurgence.

What I want out of a puzzler is the moment of revelation when a solution becomes clear. What the characters are getting out of their adventure here is the joy of playing music together, but the sloggy grind of actually playing Backbeat doesn’t provide the first and can’t mirror the second. Although the game makes a respectable effort to connect the resources it’s asking the player to manage to the mechanics of a successful funk session, it never finds the joy inherent to the music. This is the right game for someone, surely, but not for me.

While the roster could use some spicing up, Street Fighter 6 is a total blast overall and has captured my attention in a way that other recent fighters haven’t. It’s a fantastic game straight out the gate for both for solo and competitive players, it features excellent netcode that provides smooth cross platform online play across decent connections, and there are a bunch of exciting new gameplay tools and tweaks to get to grips with. Capcom have essentially knocked this one out of the park, and Street Fighter just feels right again.

Videogame golf is in an interesting position. After years of not seeing any new entries, users are suddenly presented with two big-budget PGA titles fighting for their time. EA Sports PGA Tour certainly delivers a thorough, authentic golf simulation, but it’s also a divisive one. On one hand, the visuals of golf have never been displayed with more realism. On the other, the unresponsive mechanics completely removed me from the experience, ultimately driving me back to the simpler, more-playable 2K PGA Tour 2K23.

As a tribute to Symphony of the Night, Elderand is fairly charming. There are some familiar callbacks to that inspiration, but it’s not as immediately accessible and balanced as that masterwork, and its attempts to add complexity amount to little more than distractions and annoyances. There’s no shame in wanting to make Symphony of the Night over and over again, but perhaps Elderand’s developers would have been well-served by embracing that formula more closely — every time it tries to go its own way, it just gets itself into trouble.

On the whole, I found Plantera 2 to be a refreshing antidote to the carefully-composed setpieces of the average triple-A experience. Instead of dutifully following orders from an off-screen mission-giver in a vast environment, the scene is given over to the randomness of a million buzzing objects, allowing the player to hunt for their own rewards at their own pace. It’s the kind of thing that’s ripe for updates and refinement — and given that they’ve already added a few more Steam achievements since I started playing, it looks like the devs agree with me!

In its current state, there’s some joy to be found in conquering a string of Flame Keeper’s levels with a perfect run, but there are just so many other, better roguelites available. Releasing an incomplete build in a market so heavily saturated with outstanding titles just isn’t a solid strategy.

Even after the last few years and the transfer to a handheld platform, it remains an excellent time, and getting hooked on it is dangerously easy.

Online, WWE 2K23 performs well, with a few exceptions. Playing simple head-to-head is fairly seamless and responsive, but multiple team matches presented a handful of collision glitches and targeting problems. I found myself kicking the air on more than one occasion, while my opponents sat untouched nearby. It wasn’t a dealbreaker by any means, but in a title so focused on recreating WWE action, this repeatedly took me out of the moment. Fortunately, I didn’t experience any issues finding matches or opponents, thanks to snappy loading times and an easy-to-navigate lobby.

It’s true that Ib lacks depth when exploring its themes and I did think that a longer campaign might afford it that opportunity. Perhaps this Switch remake will galvanize its popularity and create an opportunity for the developer to create a more expansive and ambitious iteration. However, as it stands I’d still recommend Ib to anyone interested in the concept, or to those looking for a short, but still meaningful game to decompress with.

If I was simply grading Star Wars Jedi: Survivor in a straight comparison with its predecessor, it would already be a great game. However, Respawn took a hard look at what worked and what didn’t, and they’ve polished, fixed and expanded on virtually everything. From the robust combat suite, upgraded movement system, detailed world, and exciting story that not only rivals the best Star Wars games, but the major triple-A titles out right now, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is simply one of the best videogame sequels released in recent memory.

Overall, Pinball FX has come out of the gate with a strong launch. There are dozens of great tables including all-time favorites as well as plenty of new ones, and new modes and events provide even more variety for players. However, the pricing options may frustrate players on a budget, or longtime fans who’ve already bought many of the tables in previous versions. If there were some way to honor those purchases and that player commitment, Pinball FX would go from good to great.

Deliver Us Mars demands a sequel, in the sense that it artlessly uses a couple of post-credits scenes to set one up, but there’s nothing here that left me wanting more. Its puzzles are rather dull and the most notable gameplay activity, rock-climbing, feels like it belongs in an entirely different game. I don’t care for most of the characters that survived Deliver Us Mars’ sloppy, facile plot, and its scenario is hopeless and depressing. A third installment may be inevitable, but I’m not eager for that package to arrive.

Did I enjoy my time with Saint Maker? Yes. Would I ever play it again? No, especially since there aren’t any variations in the story paths or endings that would warrant it. I could see this being a tale to experience on a dark, rainy night for avid visual novel fans, but I doubt there’s much here for anyone who isn’t already a fairly serious fan of the genre’s more straightforward offerings.

In the end, Like a Dragon: Ishin is yet another strong entry in an exceptionally strong series, finally having been translated into English and lovingly reworked for the current generation almost a decade after its initial release. The combat’s showing its age around the edges and there are other minor quibbles to be sure, but this is still a trip to the past that’s well worth taking.

Speedonauts is an entertaining romp though used-up and abandoned planets, but repetitive level design and imprecise controls quickly got me wanting to settle for any medal, just so I could move on and see what the next level had to offer — but ultimately, there wasn’t enough here to keep me in and going for gold.

Why an emphasis on replay value? Ugly, boring and stupid, NightCry isn't even entertaining on the first go. Being told that I had to repeat a major chunk of the story for the fifth time, particularly after two crashes, was where I had to draw the line. It's rare for me to review a game without finishing, but no matter what's past that damn island, I couldn't see it changing the fact that NightCry is the worst game I've played in years.

Though I’m a bit disappointed that Atlus didn’t create a truly definitive edition of Persona 3 for modern audiences, this game remains one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played. With its masterful use of storytelling and grandiose themes, the adventure fully immerses the player in both its life sim and dungeon crawling mechanics. In fact, not only did this game create the template that its successors still follow today, but it also might just be the most memorable and thought-provoking Persona overall. Despite the shortcomings of the slightly outdated portable version here, it is undoubtedly a must-play for any RPG fan who hasn’t tried it yet.

Blood Bowl 2 suffered a poor launch, but was eventually patched into something enjoyable, and the developers have already been at work on fixes for Blood Bowl 3, so I am guardedly confident that it will eventually be a good experience… but that time is not now, sadly. In its current form, Blood Bowl 3 is not worth the purchase price — yet — but I’m ready and willing to love it when it matures.

This sense of gradually increasing paranoia, along with a story that only becomes more metaphysically unhinged as it goes along, makes for a title that ultimately rewards patience and those players who are willing to slip into its atmospheric world like they would a warm, spooky bath. That said, I think many players will probably give up on Mask of the Lunar Eclipse after they’ve been asked to photograph another slow-walking ghost for the billionth time, but if they stick with it they’ll be rewarded with a survival horror experience unlike any other.

Switchback is a compelling ride – it’s spooky and adrenaline-pumping and exactly what players want out of a rail shooter… but it could have been so much more than it is. There are flashes of innovation and brilliance, but I wish some of that kind of forward-thinking design had gone into the metagame. It may have been released in 2023, but the lack of features and replayability make it seem more like an arcade machine from 1996.

The King’s Dilemma is the closest I’ve come to a regal advisor simulator, a position that has always fascinated me… although to be honest, this is one of the most underserved niche genres out there. While I appreciate that players’ lives are never at risk as they might be if they were manipulating things in the Game of Thrones world, it’s not perfect — but it is a good start. One can only hope that it leads to even greater attempts in the future.

Resident Evil 4 is a truly fantastic remake of an already-stellar title. Some of the omissions, tweaks and changes do mean that it’s a perfect complement to the original experience rather than a replacement, but this is about as fine an update to a classic as one could possibly hope for.

I genuinely hate giving an earnest indie a bad review, but The Whispering Valley just gets too much wrong. There are positive points in its lovely environments and solidly effective sound design. The game also has a great atmosphere. Unfortunately, its padding, linearity, inaccessibility, lack of a main character, and pixel-hunt gameplay result in an experience that is dull and retrograde, even by the standards of the industry’s oldest genre.

Despite Papetura‘s interesting nature, the puzzles were not entertaining and the story lacked a strong central theme or premise beyond ‘paper’. As a demonstration of the craft involved in animation, Papetura is a wonderful artifact. As a videogame, it is considerably less successful.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Theatrhythm Final Bar Line. The note charts are interesting and build on themselves as sections of a song are repeated, the track selection is immense, and as a bonus, it plays great both in docked mode or on the go, which means that it’s easy to pick up and get a couple of songs in, anywhere or anytime. Rhythm fans and Final Fantasy fans alike shouldn’t miss out on this one.

Despite strong foundational combat mechanics common to the genre, Redemption Reapers is weak in just about every other aspect. Those flaws in combination with its punishing difficulty make it hard to recommend, and I’d say that it’s likely to produce more groans than thrills for all but the most hardcore SRPG players.

With the modern ability to patch games, there’s a good chance this review might be rendered completely irrelevant within a few months — that’s one of the perils of writing something in an age where so many experiences are dramatically different months after release. My hope is that someday the Spacer’s Choice Edition will be a great version of The Outer Worlds, but that day ain’t today.

As a long time Lovecraft fan and someone who appreciates a good cosmic horror, Dredge is top class.

Marvel’s Midnight Suns has many of the elements that would make it a great special event story – it carries off its pulpy narrative pretty well despite the bland protagonist, and the combat is a competent adaptation of superhero action into a strategy format. However, the slow pacing of the narrative and battles, not to mention the wrong-headed approach to the home base and team building make Midnight Suns feel disjointed and torpid. This is one special event that won’t become a collectible.

While the story is a bore and a couple of difficulty spikes pushed my parrying skills to the max, Wo Long: Fallen Empire still manages to deliver a solid and lengthy action-adventure on par with their previous successes, but with a slightly different and more refined flavor. Tecmo-Koei is better at the soulslike genre than most, and I am a fan of what they do — I just wish the developers would have reconsidered that abysmal first boss. Being an homage to something famously hard was an incomprehensibly poor choice, and it’s a shame that the rest of the campaign will go unseen by the people who walk away in frustration.

In the end, I still enjoyed it enough to put in more than fifty hours in and still want to play more, despite all its problems. When it’s running as intended, it’s clear that this is the kind of game I’d like to see a lot more of — bloody, unpretentious, and gameplay-focused in a manner that’s eminently replayable thanks to strong core combat. That said, the good stuff in Wanted: Dead is buried under a mountain of problems — and when I say buried, I mean buried deep.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is the kind of thing I love to champion — a mid-budget licensed platformer with a few rough edges that could have easily existed in the ’00s. Sure, it’s not breaking any new ground and could use a little polish when it comes to level design and performance on the Switch, but the final product is a joyous ride from start to finish. For fans of the series like me or anyone else who can’t get enough of that yellow sponge, this undersea multiverse adventure is worth checking out.

The Forest Quartet is an experience that wears its heart on its sleeve. Pacing issues and character development aside, it was a joy to witness the unfolding of this jazz quartet’s haunting origin story, and it’s abundantly clear that The Forest Quartet was forged with love and intention. I’d happily stroll through the forest alongside Nina and listen to her crooning voice a second time if she were to request my company again.

It’s tough to say exactly who Colossal Cave is for. ‘Experienced’ fans who remember it might be overjoyed to explore its passages once again, now visualized, but the novelty will wear off once they’ve blazed through an adventure they likely know the answers to — it’s possible to speedrun the game in under an hour. Younger fans of adventure games may be curious to see a revamped version of how the genre started, but may become frustrated by the bizarre ‘logic’ behind the challenges. Ultimately, it’s a fascinating look back in time, but it doesn’t always translate to enjoyable play.

See, as suboptimal as many of Knights of Honor II’s macro design choices are, they add up to a vision of the grand strategy genre that, at the very least, provides a much different rhythm and feel from its contemporaries. Instead of the player securing their family line for future generations, or expanding an empire from the stone age to the space age, the player is given a modest patch of land and tasked with developing and defending it at all costs from inscrutable opponents that often feel like a swarm of angry wasps buzzing at the player’s stoop. Its core systems could use some elaboration, perhaps, but fans of this genre who need this particular itch scratched could do a lot worse!

Overall, Necrobouncer is a solid roguelike to start the year off. The soundtrack is a groovy synth and dance mix, the pixel art is beautiful, and I appreciated the script’s humor. It’s also a good starting point for newcomers to the genre, as the mechanics are easy to understand and the tutorials are solid. Each run unlocks new things, so the game constantly feels fresh and inviting. There may not be much to the overall plot besides eventually finding out what happened to our bouncer the night before, but the mechanics are so smooth that I didn’t need a story to keep me coming back.

Darktide has a lot going for it — a beloved IP, crunchy gunplay, and a gorgeous presentation. Sadly, it’s not the endlessly-playable showstopper some had hoped, instead offering a repetitious gameplay cycle made more apparent by slow progression and little mission variation. It’s clear Fatshark has further plans for their latest endeavor and it may yet reach its full potential after a few patches and expansions, but for now it’s best to set expectations.

WWAD‘s unconventional approach to combat sets a high bar of entry, but fans of the setting who’ve long hoped for a spiritual successor to Colosseum: Road to Rome – the wait may finally be coming to an end.

Lil Gator Game is a short but sweet experience about the importance of holding on to childlike wonder, in addition to being a solid open-world adventure and having one of the funniest scripts around. For players looking for something that harkens back to a simpler time and delivers delight in spades, they can’t go wrong with this one.

In short, Rise is a great iteration on the classic Monster Hunter formula, making things more approachable and getting rid of some of the series’ less desirable elements. They may have made sense in the past, but the removal of much busywork is a net positive in my eyes. It’s a shame that Capcom didn’t include the massive Sunbreak expansion with this release given that it’s already out on Switch and PC, but it’s not like this package is lacking in content or value. For hunters of any experience level, Rise is a great entry in a storied series.

While not pushing the genre forward, Syberia continues to develop and expand on its established gameplay loop and continues a story that began 24 years ago. I’m sure that returning franchise fans will enjoy it, and there’s a lot to like here for those who enjoy narrative adventures and interesting puzzles — it might even motivate them to delve into the previous entries and experience the magic from the mind of creator Benoit Sokal.

It’s cliché to say “I want to love Starfighter Renegade, but…” so I won’t, but the fact is that the frustration mounted too quickly and too completely for me to remember the joys of simply flying around and splashing space-bogeys in the opening levels. Maybe those with better reflexes and more patience will get something out of it — or at the very least, get past level 14 — but the rest of us should probably avoid this one.

Overall, The Entropy Centre is a decent puzzle adventure that suffers from too much friction and an excessive runtime, and the individual issues are detrimental to the whole. A leaner package with fewer puzzles per chapter and more emphasis on the plot would have improved things – it’s a shame it’s not more compact and memorable experience.

Samurai Maiden is entertaining enough – the characters are likable, the combat is high-quality, and there’s enough to unlock to keep players coming back for ages, and all of its flaws are things that can be ignored or worked around. In the end, it’s a charmingly upbeat experience about a schoolgirl cutting up zombies with a sword, and what’s not to like about that?

Overall, Victoria 3 offers a lot of play for those interested in grand strategy, with a number of detailed and complex systems to learn over time. It’s also a solid entry point for people newer to the famously complicated genre, but experienced vets looking for engaging wars or more historically-focused titles should either keep an eye on future updates or look elsewhere.

F1 Manager 2022 is a refreshing new take on F1 games, underscoring the intense out-of-racing dimensions to the sport, and the managerial modes are expansive and engaging. Still, the premise feels undercut by an unimpressive racing simulation. Therefore, the title’s path up the grid requires improvements in its immersive qualities — as much as playing manager is about putting in work behind the scenes, nothing is more satisfying than witnessing the results of all that effort on the track.

While a lot of Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway’s best and most improved aspects may be pulled from other racers, the quality jump between this one and its predecessor cannot be overstated. Slime Speedway is a confident, enjoyable and joyful party experience. The devs have finally hit the mark, delivering a great entry into the pantheon of mid-budget licensed games. Fans who are nostalgic for old cartoons and anyone with younger kids will definitely have a great time here.

One could argue that my boredom was an intended result of Flat Eye‘s ludonarrative theming, but I just don’t buy it and that diegetic UI just wasn’t enough — I’ll be taking my business elsewhere.

All-Star Battle R is an extremely daunting affair to jump into. Yes, the developers have done a good job of offering ways to ease players into its eccentricities, but at the end of the day, it’s still a game where a fashionisto who can zip and unzip any flat surface might find themselves facing off against a woman with prehensile hair. There are fifty playable characters here, and even though I completed most of the All-Star mode and collected a huge amount of unlockable content, I’ve just dipped my toes into what the game has to offer. Whether they’re fans of the manga and anime or not, this is worth a look for any serious fighting game aficionado.

Lovecraft’s Untold Stories was a low-key delight. Yes, the gameplay was sometimes stiff, but the sheer depth and the developers’ obvious passion for strange fiction showed through, creating a memorable experience. LUS2 has none of its predecessor’s style. With its lack of compelling narrative and overcomplicated crafting system, Lovecraft’s Untold Stories 2 is as unfortunate a sequel as I’ve seen, dropping almost everything that worked about the original and expanding on what didn’t. It’s a disappointment, and I can only hope that if this franchise continues, the developers manage to rediscover what made the first one special.

This is the first installment of F1 since the reboot of the real-life competition, but it is also the first installment I’ve played that does not feel like a worthwhile reboot in the slightest.

I enjoy classic run-and-gun games, even with their old-school difficulty. Unfortunately, the lack of quality-of-life features, imprecise controls and poor color choices mean this one is currently a difficult one to recommend.

Despite the issues I had, I would recommend This Way Madness Lies to those who enjoy turn-based RPGs, or those who (like me) were intrigued by the sheer ridiculous nature of magical drama girls fighting nightmare creatures to save Shakespeare’s works. In addition, I appreciated how Zeboyd altered the standard turn-based style of combat and how the characters interacted with each other to create an enjoyable fling.

Those who had a PS3 during the lean years remember it fondly, and the team at Pikpok have done a fantastic job updating it to modern hardware. It’s still very much Shatter, but that’s hardly a bad thing, and anyone interested in a lively reinterpretation of this timeless gameplay will do well to check it out.

In the end, PGA Tour 2K23 is far from perfect, but also much closer than anyone could have expected. With EA Sports re-entering the video golf scene next year, I have high hopes that fresh competition and a little fine-tuning will encourage 2K to deliver a resurgence of excitement to golf game enthusiasts in the years to come.

Simple yet enjoyable, Trifox is a bit like a throwback in the best ways, yet manages to find its own lane. The gameplay is creative and the aesthetics are nice, and despite not being a straightforward “platformer,” I was pleasantly surprised by this one.

If this game was actually published back in 1984, it would be well-known to all today — it feels like it came straight out of a creepypasta and could easily be a widespread urban legend. Needless to say, Not a Sailor Studios has to be congratulated. BS1984 gathers various concepts and game designs in one place, almost like a history lesson in the progression of videogames, and I found it to be incredibly well-thought-out. Add in a little darkness, and the mix is even better. For players wanting a little nostalgic companionship with a few curveballs thrown in, Buddy Simulator 1984 is one to play.

Despite its shortcomings, I ended up liking Lost Eidolons. It’s an indie title that aspires to be a big budget epic, whose worst qualities are more than compensated for by a strong story and inventive — sometimes brilliant — gameplay mechanics. As the old saying goes: don’t judge a game by its characters’ lifeless, blank stares.

The combat’s solid aside from certain encounters where the lack of defensive tools causes frustration. The variety in boss battles and unique encounters runs the gamut between being thoroughly inspired and soul crushingly insipid, and even the overworld where odd jobs happen is cute in a retro way… while ultimately feeling more pointless and lifeless than it did in the original. In short, No More Heroes 3 often falls short of its true potential, but that’s not to say that it never shines.

Football is the world’s most popular game across borders, cultures, politics, and creeds because it offers fans the same exhilaration throughout the world. FIFA 23, when stripped of bland stories, greedy microtransactions, and mind-numbing team management, is a pure, exciting videogame. It’s the excess that ultimately mires it down.

The Devil In Me is a brutal, harrowing experience. The killer is monstrous, the choices to be made are nail-biters, and the story, when finally revealed, offers all the satisfaction of a opened puzzle box. The new gameplay mechanics fit seamlessly into the experience, and the additional player agency encourages investment in the story, rather than distracting from it. While nothing in the plot reaches the audacious heights of House of Ashes‘ finale and technical issues prevent co-op here from being the series’ best to date, it’s still a great experience, and the developers can be satisfied that they’ve ended the first phase of this series on extremely solid footing.

While not perfect in all areas, the craft on display in Metal: Hellsinger is a testament to the beauty and precision that a focused project with a great vision can yield.

Kukoos: Lost Pets is a decent option for a parent introducing their child to the world of gaming in a low-stakes, cartoonish environment but it doesn’t offer much else besides the lamentable loading times. It’s cute, but there are other games that fill a similar introductory role much better than this one.

Tweet Share Share By Brad Bortone on December 16, 2022 in Reviews Prettier, Smoother, And Frustratingly Familiar HIGH The visuals finally feel worthy of new console horsepower… LOW …until the replays are seen up close. WTF SNES hockey strategy shouldn’t work in 2022. Last year I described NHL 22 as a “mildly underwhelming next-gen experience that still holds promise for the future.” Today, after nearly a month of play, I’m describing NHL 23 as a “visually appealing current-gen experience that needs to start delivering more on its promise.” Visually, it’s clear that EA Sports took past criticism to heart. While previous editions hinted at ramped-up eye candy, NHL 23 seems to make the most of current hardware, from player faces to subtle animations. For example, when taking a faceoff, real-time reflections of the overhead scoreboard are seen on the freshly-polished ice surface. As each period progresses, visible deterioration from skaters dulls the reflection until the next one starts. Details like this don’t affect gameplay, but they do allow for a sense of immersion, even from a distant overhead camera. Likewise, player faces and reactions are far more accurate and situationally appropriate, leaving lifeless expressions on last-gen consoles. The league’s current lighting and concert-like presentations are also well-implemented into each opening segment. It’s clear that EA wants NHL to be a visually arresting series in the next few years, and this year’s edition takes a big step forward by focusing on the nuances that make live hockey such an unforgettable experience. Overall, NHL 23 is a strong visual contender in the sports game arena — at least until replays, when the camera zooms in. Once up close, users will see cracks in the graphical armor, as smooth animations seen from above are revealed to be somewhat janky and stilted. It may not affect gameplay one iota, but it seems odd to see butter-smooth movements from one angle reduced to marionette performances, just from getting a slow-motion view of the action. Thankfully, the controls and gameplay speed are more realistic than ever thanks to improved physics, and an AI that demands more user accountability. Easier difficulties will still see goalies turn to swiss cheese on virtually every breakaway, but moderate-to-hard difficulties are fair, challenging, rewarding, and accurate. Disciplined hockey strategy will always beat button mashing in PvP matchups, which should appease many critics of this series, present company included. At the same time, the often-cumbersome control scheme has been made more accessible to newcomers and old souls alike. Admittedly, I’ve often reverted to the simplified NHL ’94 controls to enjoy the game at my own casual pace. For NHL 23, I never even considered it, as for the first time, using a simplified control made it feel as if I was missing out. The streamlined advanced control scheme still takes some work to master, but once it clicks with users, I don’t foresee many gamers regressing ever again. In terms of modes, NHL 23 delivers the usual deep slate of offerings, from the microtransaction-heavy Ultimate Team to the deeper and more engaging Franchise Mode. None of it is new or revolutionary. but it’s all been fine-tuned to keep the focus on the ice, and not the grind of micromanagement. Unfortunately, there are notable flaws in some of the longstanding modes and features. First, the omnipresent Be a Pro mode continues EA’s downward trend of career mode storytelling. At no point during my avatar’s hockey journey did I ever feel engaged or connected to the narrative, nor the decisions I was making. None of it seemed to matter on the ice, anyway. Maybe a deeper dive would produce a long-term storyline reward, but I felt trapped in a week-to-week deluge of minutiae, rather than feeling the excitement of a pro hockey career. Last year, I enjoyed the online “World of Chel” offerings, praising the matchmaking and overall online gameplay balance. This year, the mode took a serious step backward. While the wide variety of arcade and simulation play options is welcome, I had significant difficulty finding a stable game, and the matchmaking usually placed me with far better players than I could ever hope to beat. Over the course of several weeks, I experienced considerably more imbalance and fickle connections than in the previous edition, and before long I disconnected permanently in favor of the same, reliable offline hockey I know and love. Sadly, I think this is the key problem with the NHL series in its current form — despite all the visual sheen, extensive modes, and unparalleled control depth, this is still, at its core, the same game we’ve been playing for decades. Online and offline, even with the engine rewarding well-executed hockey strategy, most games ultimately devolve into a redundant pattern of “check/breakaway/shoot/repeat.” Even on the most stringent difficulty levels, I rarely saw the game AI slow down and run a cohesive offensive series. Instead, it shot at will, never seeking to set up an open skater. There may only be a few realistic ways to present videogame hockey in a playable form, but once the AI chose to play “run and gun” arcade hockey, I realized I was employing the same tactics I did in my college dorm room, far too many years ago. If this series is going to truly progress and make good on the updated visual presentation, more nuanced gameplay will have to become a reality, not just a promise.

Continues aside, Mecha Ritz excels in other areas. Controls are smooth and precise. Graphics are stellar and would feel right at home on the original PlayStation. And I don’t talk about soundtracks often, but the one in Mecha Ritz is top-notch – energetic, electronic beats feel right at home in a world-ending robot clash. Hopefully I am wrong about the lack of continues scaring players away, because Mecha Ritz: Steel Rondo is a solid shmup in all other aspects. It fit right in with my small rotation of shmup games and has become a great way to relax after a stressful day of work and life commitments.