It doesn’t really hit me for a lot of my interests, and I definitely found myself feeling a bit like “well, why fire it up again” after my play sessions, but it’s also a nice lightweight game for playing when you want some lightweight strategy fun. And it’s set during an interesting stretch of history, to boot. If that’s your cup of tea, it’s well worth it.

When your jokes consist of punching down on those with mental health challenges, you’ve run out of actual comedy. There’s a way to handle this content with tact and dignity, while still being funny, but it requires a level of self-awareness that this game is far from having. Edna & Harvey: The Breakout is a game that was stuck in the past when it was originally released, but its issues are highlighted ten-fold with its console release. Paired with the gameplay headaches and accessibility issues this just isn’t a game I can recommend playing.

It feels like a throwback to the PlayStation era in the best way, when there were always new JRPGs showing up in the hopes of getting the same sort of cult reception as Final Fantasy VII, always new titles to try out and new stories to experience, some of them winding up a bit generic but others turning into unexpected little gems along the way. Astria Ascending feels like one of those gems, except it’s a new game right now and benefits from all the hindsight that implies. If you love JRPGs, give this one a good shot. You’ll be glad you did.

Serious Sam 4 is not a bad game. I’d go so far as to say that it wasn’t trying to be anything amazing, either. Croteam just wanted to put out a game full of catharsis, and it feels reasonable to say that they succeeded in that endeavor. It doesn’t bother itself with being anything other than a bullet-spewing good time, and I’m frankly fine with that. The fans wanted more Sam-laced insanity, and they definitely got it here. While the jank is present for all to see, it’s not something that completely ruins the experience. Regardless of that, it’s a cheesy good time that’s worth at least a playthrough. In this day and age, sometimes we just need to hold down the trigger and scream at the top of our lungs. Serious Sam 4 succeeds on that front, and delivers it with a dual rocket launcher-wielding grin on its face.

Soulstice absolutely works as a love letter to action games of the bygone PlayStation 2 era. Vitally, however, it does so without losing a clear identity of its own. Its combat system is unique in the way it asks players to actively monitor mechanics while also avoiding enemy attacks and dishing out flashy combos in true character action game fashion. Its boss battles leave quite a bit to be desired, and the level design may be a bit too narrow at points, but Soulstice manages to make up for these shortcomings with an emotional story and a unique brand of observation-based gameplay that ensures its status as a confident addition to the genre.

While I did enjoy quite a lot of my time in Battlefield 2042 (especially in the new Hazard Zone mode), there are a mix of gameplay, technical, and functionality issues of varying severity that really hamper the experience. This game is somewhat recommendable to Battlefield fans and those with a general interest in military-style shooters, but there is a strong chance that the game’s current flaws are going to really limit the potential for many. Because of this, if you’re considering this game, you may want to wait for a patch or two before you deploy to the battlefield.

Tragically, I was hoping to enjoy my time with Moros Protocol more. Despite satisfyingly weighty FPS mechanics, active boss fights, and a nostalgia-tinged pixel aesthetic, the scales are tipped for the worse by a very basic roguelite progression system and the absence of capitalizing on its more interesting science fiction story beats.

If you want to play a non-serious “simulator,” go play Goat Simulator. As crazy as that game is, you can actually get some entertainment out of it, and it somehow comes closer to simulating what being a goat might be like than this game comes to actually simulating speaking.

This tale demands more detail. It requires more time spent in filling out the world and its characters. If the game had spent more time on these points, we’d be looking at one hell of a harrowing and affecting story. As it stands right now though, Milky Way Prince feels like a massively missed opportunity.

Asha in Monster World wears its retro heart on its sleeve, with the modern graphical overhaul only helping to increase its charm. For fans of classic games and platformers, it is definitely worth a shot, though you will need to be ready to overlook a few quirks.

If you can look past the occasional bug and some decidedly un-PC humor, Reprobed offers up a good time. A bit shallow, yet still somehow satisfying.

Disjunction offers a solid, fun take on the stealth action genre. While it stumbles at times with the feel of its stealth mechanics, it is still satisfying and fun to play, aside from the one time my game progress mysteriously got deleted and I had to start over (though it hasn’t happened again). If you enjoy action stealth experiences like those found in the early Metal Gear games and games like Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell (except being 2-D) and you like new retro-styled games in the modern era, chances are good you can enjoy this game, even if it doesn’t have the most realistic stealth mechanics.

The parts of the game that work are a solid start to what is supposed to be a live service game with years of free updates ahead of it. Frankly though, I’m surprised at just how many issues the game currently has. At the end of the day, I’m ultimately enjoying my time with the game, it can be a lot of fun. However, when asked to present a final score, I simply cannot ignore the many issues that are holding the game back at launch. Hopefully the developers can get things sorted out and these issues that are currently hindering the game will soon be a thing of the past.

Honestly, I feel like this one is a game that manages to make a lot of little bad decisions, but the fundamental mechanic of how it handles weaponry speaks to a basic desire to make a game all about weird guns in which you never care about any of them. They’re all just momentary blips you’ll never get to hang on to, so you don’t care about their quirks and can’t build around them at all. You always feel like you’re playing with half of your tools.

The biggest sin that Giraffe and Annika suffers from is a distinct lack of focus on top of grandiose ideas that don’t quite land in the way that one would hope. It suffers from the problem of trying to do many things, but not doing any of them well enough to stand out in any meaningful way. Most everything I can say about this game can be traced back to how bland most of it is. Level design, gameplay, and some aesthetic choices are uninteresting and slow. While it does nail a few things given their goals, it ultimately stumbles the landing. That’s the most disappointing thing, because it could have been so much more.

I can’t say that what I played is a bad game, but saying that the audience for this isn’t somewhat narrow in scope would be doing it a disservice. Then again, Inhabitants just wanted to make something that’s serviceable, and I feel safe in saying that it succeeded on that front. It’s not very often you find yourself doing stealth in a 2.5D game these days, but it’s here and it’s doing its thing with reckless abandon. If you don’t mind the slow burn pace of the gameplay, you’re going to find yourself helping Abe stick it to the man to be an enjoyable experience.

Chronos: Before the Ashes is a more casual take on the Souls-like formula. It has the weighty action and focus on learning enemy patterns to punish, but at eight hours to beat it’s relatively short and is lacking depth in many of its systems. At $30 and with an easier learning curve this is a good starter for anyone who hasn’t played this style of game, but veteran players may find the experience underwhelming. That said, I still had fun, and if you’re a fan of Remnant: From the Ashes you’ll likely appreciate this look into how everything began.

Playing Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated is a fun enough time if you’re looking for a nostalgia kick with better graphics and if you’re a fan of the genre already you just might enjoy a trip to Bikini Bottom yourself.

Still Joking has quite a few positives but I would say it also has equally as many negatives. The story is unique, rich, and quite enticing. It has fun, loveable characters, a very witty MC, and a world worth immersing yourself in. The gameplay is uncomplicated and straightforward but it does force you to think and can be pretty fun to play around with. On the other hand, the visuals are choppy, the audio non-existent, and it’s riddled with spelling errors.

This is a solid game no matter what. And I’m willing to bet that if you are a fan of Fairy Tail, you’re getting rewarded with a fun and solid RPG that keeps the spirit of the original and adds on more besides.

If you’re already a fan of Supermassive Games or Dead by Daylight you’ll probably have an enjoyable enough time here. There are some exciting sequences when you’re playing The Casting of Frank Stone, but even for their positives, they never coalesce into a strong experience in the long run.

While it’s not much of a game for solo play, if you have the right kind of group who wants to play something frantic on the couch together, Fueled Up is the kind of game you can really enjoy for a good long while. It’s not perfect, but it offers all the frantic patch jobs you could ask for.

I think given its replay value and strong narrative foundation alone, this is an easy recommend from me. I just hope that Big Bad Wolf Studio eventually does go in and iron out the evident bugs in the game, both visual and otherwise. I also can’t wait for them to release more narrative games of this caliber. I genuinely think they are a breath of fresh air in an otherwise saturated market.

If you like to march through corridors, blow through your enemies, and maybe get a few one-liners in along the way? Phantom Fury is going to be a good time. It’s a legacy throwback that has done its homework, and while it didn’t delight me it also never made me want to throw the dang thing in the garbage. It’s some good lightweight fun. Let’s just hope that this time around the title avoids becoming the main character of controversy, hmm?

If Rustler suffers from anything, it’s just that it sometimes doesn’t quite know what it’s trying to be. Most of the time, it seems to be specifically trying to parody GTA, and it plays a just like the early top-down games from said series. The tone is a bit off-beat, though, with all the jokes, pop culture, and poking of fun. It might not be perfectly cohesive, but whether you’re here for the jokes or because you like games where you can be on the wrong side of the law, there is definitely something here for you. So if you aren’t easily offended by the copious amounts of cursing, blood, and violence, you should definitely give Rustler a go. Pull that guard off his horse, ride off, and don’t look back!

While not every pack is loaded with hit after hit, Naughty Pack brings enough solid content to players that some might excuse the fact that they’re leaning into reliable properties. It may not be an evolution of the concept, but it is a fun and goofy aside to the main games that will satisfy those looking for a little spice in their party game repritoire. My hope is that this will be a jumping off point for more spicy shenanigans in the future.

If you’re looking for a centralized platform to play these games, the bulk of the titles offered here are fun enough to keep you engaged for quick bouts of alien-blasting action. Would I go out and grab this at full price? No, probably not. But having two solid offerings out of three at a sale price? It’s work a look. Just don’t get your hopes up for multiplayer.

Some of the difficulty is good, and some of it is bad. If you’re into games like Dark Souls and Elden Ring, you will probably have a good time with this. But if you’re new to the “Soulslike” genre and looking for a challenge, you might want to start with one of those games first, lest you be frustrated too easily by the unfortunately fairly numerous stumbles Deathbound takes. It leans more good than bad, with a creative party system and mostly satisfying combat, but ultimately, I think only existing fans of the genre are going to last long enough to complete it.