I love a great third-person actioner, and I’m hard-pressed to think of one that nails the formula as perfectly as Nioh 2 does. The systems are pleasantly crunchy and there are a ton to dig into, the moment-to-moment fights get my blood pumping, and the artwork and theming are all spot-on. Too much of a good thing is too much of a good thing, but Nioh 2 is exactly the right amount.

Griftlands’ successful experiments in branching narrative, combined with a deckbuilding system that ranks among the genre’s richest, make it one of my favorite roguelikes to date. Whether I’d recommend it on Switch, however, is another matter. Roguelikes sing on handhelds, but anyone opting to experience Griftlands on Nintendo’s hardware is setting themselves up for a massive learning curve that may turn prospective players off. One way or another, though, Griftlands is a title that deserves every roguelike fan’s attention.

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.

Several unfortunate technical issues hold[] it back. The item inventory screen is pure hell to navigate.

There are lessons to be learned in Attentat 1942. Whether on social media or on the streets, there’s something to be said for taking a stand in the world. It might be hard to see it now, but we can only hope that in fifty years we’ll we be proud that we were talking about #YesAllWomen and #BlackLivesMatter and #LoveIsLove because we changed the times… or perhaps the times will change us? Attentat 1942 is a welcome wake-up call showing that it’s impossible to look into the future, but we can recall our past, and when doing so, good people are going to wish they had something better to say for themselves than “I didn’t know what to do.”

When taken as a whole, Shiren The Wanderer: The Tower Of Fortune And The Dice Of Fate delivers a carefully crafted, carefully considered experience that captures the best of what makes a good roguelike, while also mitigating the pain points that give the genre its hardcore reputation.

Overall, it’s tough to describe Tetris Effect as anything other than what it is – a great game of Tetris with a bunch of cool modes and filtered through the same stylistic lens as Lumines and Rez. It looks awesome in VR too, though the lack of greater online functionality is unfortunate. Still, it turns out that the Effect of playing Tetris is simply having a damned good time.

Like the team’s previous work, Never Alone, Beyond Blue shares informative content via a genuine love for its topic. I can easily imagine pre-teens picking this up and wanting to be marine biologists, in the same way that I wanted to become a skateboarder, or how one might want to be a paleontologist after walking out of Jurassic Park.

While many of the game's components have become stereotypes over the years, here they are carefully constructed and fit together perfectly, creating something larger than the sum of its parts.

After initially turning me away with an unhelpful tutorial and a stiff learning curve, Battle Brothers morphed into a worthwhile and gripping tactical experience, and conquering its barren, bloody landscapes stands firmly among my proudest gaming accomplishments so far.

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.

Despite a collection of minor technical issues, Age of Wonders: Planetfall is one of the best strategy games on any platform this year, console or otherwise, and weaves a compelling tapestry of play within every layer of its design, including tactical battles that are so good, they almost seem out of place in 4X. It may not entirely escape the colonialist trappings of its genre, but it manages to sneak in a thoughtful twist or two as it indulges in a delightfully weird sci-fi reverie.

While Tri has never been my favorite Monster Hunter (Freedom Unite still holds that honor) there's no question that Monster Hunter 3: Ultimate is a huge step up from its predecessor.

In the end, Art Sqool feels more like an art project itself, rather than a full-blown game. It’s a rather short experience and it might not be for everyone, but there is genuinely nothing else like it. I may never be an artist, but for the hours that I attended Art Sqool, I truly felt like I was creating something special.

An excellent effort from Obsidian, and though The Outer Worlds doesn’t surpass its predecessors by offering a world worth visiting over and over, the adventure it presents is more than worth the time spent.

Technical issues aside, anyone craving more of the sort of stuff Telltale was serving up with Lee and Clementine would be well-advised to check into The Wolf Among Us.

Deathstate captures the wonder and horror of Lovecraft as well as a shooter possibly could, throwing aside existential dread for overwhelming strangeness. This isn’t a genre pairing that I would have anticipated, but once again Lovecraftian horror has proven that it can work anywhere, so long as it’s produced by developers who understand and care about it.

Shadow Broker is the best Mass Effect 2 DLC by an interstellar mile.

Rain World asks players to get to know its world over dozens and dozens of lives, to figure out each area one at a time, learning to time jumps and hurl spears to earn their right to survive in a ceaselessly hostile environment. It’s a gorgeous jaunt through an alien world full of horrors, like Another World crossed with the open map of a Metroidvania title. With its incredible art design, tight controls, and extremely deep set of gameplay mechanics, this is a truly special platforming experience that anyone with a high tolerance for constant failure owes it to themselves to try out.

The game is what it is, and nothing I could say in this review will effectively capture the sensation of holding the guitar controller straight up in the air and slamming through an insane series of notes on reflex, not really understanding how I did it - and not really caring.

Monster Tale introduces a deep, satisfying facet of gameplay into one of the most tried and true formulas in gaming history. There are parts where it feels like it's a slave to the ancient ways of backtracking and suspiciously-placed save points, but none of the sore spots are pronounced enough to cause any serious problems.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with The Fabulous Fear Machine. Aesthetics and charm kept me enthralled and invested, even if the mechanics didn’t put up a challenge. The game is short enough so that players don’t have to grind for hours to see everything it has to offer. It’s perfect as something that can be started and completed within a weekend, and I highly recommend the journey.

A rare case of a brilliant idea coming together brilliantly.

People who aren’t interested in classic JRPGs may not find anything here to pull them back in, but for everyone else, Dragon Quest XI is guaranteed to scratch that particular itch for quite some time. Not bad, Square Enix, not bad at all.

There’s more to praise in Dungeons of Hinterberg, like the clarity of the UI, the ease of using supporting systems, and the numerous quality-of-life measures that the team has obviously, intentionally deployed. Everything about the entire experience feels thoughtful and considered, and the devs were smart not to overreach. They’ve managed to successfully deliver on the promise of Hinterberg, capturing a holistic, singular experience that resonated with me in a way that few do. For the first title out of a brand new studio, this is incredible stuff and I can’t wait to see what they do next.

I don't know what possessed People Can Fly to saddle such an exceptional action experience with such a terrible story, but being surrounded by monstrously stupid, foul-mouthed sociopaths actively lessened the gameplay experience for me. So long as a player can tune out the plot and characters, Bulletstorm is an unmitigated action masterpiece, but damn, does the story work hard to mitigate everything good about the game.

Games can have messages, but they can also be a venue in which we act out our most twisted fantasies free of judgment and consequence.

It's no easy feat to invigorate a genre that has remained fairly set in its ways for the last few generations, let alone do it with the imagination and energy present here.