Donkey Kong Bananza blends new ideas with the series’ core DNA to create something that's not only incredibly fun, but hard to put down. It’s not just a great Donkey Kong game—it’s a must-have title, and a reason all on its own to pick up a Switch 2.

If you’re hoping for something that shatters expectations or tells a deeply personal story, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers doesn’t quite soar—it just glides comfortably in familiar skies.

While Pro Skater 4’s shift away from its open-world structure may disappoint fans of the original, and the soundtrack misses some iconic tracks, there’s no denying Iron Galaxy put in the work to make both games feel cohesive. In the end, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 offers two more chances for players to relive their skating heyday while offering a new generation a piece of history through a modern lens.

Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream is a little gem of indie games. It has amazing visuals, cleverly designed levels with challenging gameplay, and the real star of the game is its main character, Hanna.

Normally, I wouldn’t expect an independent team to create one of the year’s best co-op PvE shooters. But after spending many hours with Mycopunk, I was blown away at just how much fun I was having, even solo. Between the uniquely customizable characters and weapons, the various fun missions, the variety of enemies, and how much fun the base gameplay is, it’s easy to believe how heartily I will recommend this game. [Early Access Provisional Score = 85]

My time with Everdeep Aurora is an unforgettable experience. This world is full of memorable characters and stunning set pieces. At some point, after you delved deep underground, you’ll realize you need to get back, look up at the winding, chaotic path you’ve made to get here, and discover how this game uses the player’s curiosity and exploration in such a fun way. While it’s not entirely perfect, Everdeep Aurora is a wonderful, short, cozy experience you won’t want to miss.

Sure, it gets weird—sometimes confusingly so—but Death Stranding 2 also delivers a gripping, thoughtful experience full of memorable moments, clever mechanics, and emotional highs. It's strange, beautiful, messy—and it's one of Kojima's best works yet, a truly worthy successor to the original.

As someone who is not entrenched in one of the many live-service shooter games on the market right now, FBC: Firebreak felt like the multiplayer experience built for me. It has all the weird quirkiness that Remedy has been known for, with clever character classes that synergize well and the kinds of missions you would never see anywhere else. But somehow, when I jump into the game, it doesn’t feel right. The Oldest House is swarming with enemies, but somehow still feels somewhat empty. The missions feel repetitive and even tedious at times. Hopefully, Remedy can learn from this and turn this game into something great, or use the feedback for the next attempt at multiplayer.

Wartorn is a beautiful, challenging RTS-roguelike hybrid that rewards strategy but suffers from bugs and steep difficulty. [Early Access Provisional Score = 80]

Mario Kart World launches the Switch 2 era with style and ambition. With future updates likely on the horizon, World is already a celebration of everything that makes the series great—and a promising look at where it’s headed next.

Lost in Random: The Eternal Die has a well-crafted world, clever mechanics, and satisfying action. While it has its flaws, it’s a game that’s worth your time, whether you’re a fan of the action roguelite genre or not. Between the inventory management and its fascinating exploration of how to explain a roguelite mechanic through the game world, I hope many future titles in the genre are paying attention.

The Alters delivers a gripping, existential survival experience that explores identity, regret, and self-acceptance in a way few games attempt. It's a little longer than it needs to be, but its story, systems, and emotional weight make it hard to forget.

It’s clear that The Fall of Avalon aims for Bethesda-level ambition without the resources to fully back it up. Still, beneath the rough edges lies a rich RPG experience that—when it works—keeps you engaged for hours.

Elden Ring: Nightreign offers a fast-paced gameplay and a return to the kind of raw challenge I’ve come to love in soulslikes. And that’s exactly what I wanted, the more time I spent with Nightreign, the more I found myself enjoying it.

To a T is one of the strangest, most adorable, most heartwarming games I’ve played in a long time. Through all its absurdities, it has a profound message that will stay with you long after you put the controller down. This is a short, delightful experience that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to anyone. It’s nearly impossible to play this game without smiling.

I never could have seen this coming, but it makes sense that such a talented indie studio would make an awesome Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game. Fun and challenging battles combine perfectly with a unique tabletop-like art style and an excellent soundtrack, making this game feel like a new side street off memory lane.

Blades of Fire is a pretty decent, average game. It looks good graphically and works just as well. Unfortunately, it can be irritating and even boring at times.

RoadCraft is closer to building sims than to being the successor of transporting goods through difficult terrain. Perhaps thanks to this, I really enjoyed playing.

The Precinct looks the part and briefly plays it, too. Its early hours make you feel like a genuine cop, but it quickly becomes clear that the game lacks the structure and depth to sustain its premise.

Doom: The Dark Ages is a great game, a fantastic demon slaughter festival, but not exactly the best Doom, excluding visual aspects - at least in my personal opinion. There's too much plot, dialogue, side characters, cut-scenes, too much trying to make this campaign feel like Halo and Call of Duty. On the other hand, such an approach may appeal more to people who are unfamiliar with the beginnings of the series, not emotionally attached to the franchise since the 90s. I would cut out the plot, flying on the dragon, make firearms more effective instead of using parrying, and boost the sound effects. The rest is a great mix of dark fantasy with science fiction and a piece of good, strictly single-player gameplay, just like in the good old days!

While Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree reads well on paper and boasts an intriguing premise, it stumbles in execution, delivering a game that needs more polish to truly shine as the next great Soulslike Metroidvania.

Simply put, Sandfall Interactive’s debut game is a masterclass in presentation, storytelling, and gameplay. It’s a game you need to play to experience.

Amerzone: The Explorer’s Legacy might be the strangest gaming experience I’ve had in a long time. This is a remake of a 1999 first-person point-and-click adventure, and while it vastly improved the visuals of the entire experience, the controls are still stuck in the past.

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is a very good representative of the genre, but I feel that after a maximum of a few months, I will put it aside. I want something more from a title of this caliber.

Sunderfolk is the debut game from Secret Door and Dreamhaven. It expertly facilitates a TTRPG experience for a group of four players, using phones as controllers. It perfectly balances accessibility and depth, making it easy for new players to jump in and tactical veterans to find a challenge. The few weeks I’ve had Sunderfolk for review have been some of the most fun multiplayer experiences I’ve had in years. I look forward to playing a lot more.

While Tempest Rising may not reinvent the genre, it provides a strong foundation that helps shape it for future iterations.

The Lunar: Remastered Collection is a victim of its own faithfulness. While its upgraded visuals—the retro pixel art character sprites and environments and the hand-drawn cutscenes—are stunning, they only barely distract from an otherwise outdated RPG experience. Lunar’s stories and character might have felt fresh and original in the 1990s, but today, they come across as cliché and uninspired. There is fun to be had here, but there are plenty of other great modern RPGs, too. I have a hard time imagining anyone choosing to jump into the world of Lunar today if they don’t have pre-existing nostalgia for the series.

I had quite high expectations for Commandos: Origins. I wasn't disappointed in the most important aspect - it's a good stealth game, in which quietly eliminating enemies is rewarded and even desired. However, I cannot turn a blind eye to its archaisms and poor technical aspects.