The game falters somewhat under the weight of its ambitious premise—the various ramifications of killing or sparing certain NPCs in each five-hour playthrough probably won’t wow you to your core—but fun combat, charming visuals, and thorough commitment to its namesake elevate Hindsight 20/20 – Wrath of the Raakshasa to a unique experience that’s absolutely worth a playthrough (or three) to see what it has to offer.

I want to emphasize that I absolutely *do* recommend this title. It has replayability and a unique enough theme that you won’t feel like you’ve played it before. If you’re a fan of the mystery genre this is one you won’t want to miss. Lastly, I want to give a quick shoutout to Lowbirth Games. They are a studio trying to bring light to issues faced by marginalized groups through their games and that’s a cause I can get behind. They did a fantastic job with This Bed We Made and you can bet on the fact that I will more than happily pick up anything else they put out.

If you’re looking for an engaging science fiction story about identity, mind, and personal values in a society that seems to value none of the above? I would recommend this one without reservation. Good work, Minds Beneath Us. You impressed me.

Temirana: The Lucky Princess and the Tragic Knights is exactly what I was looking for in terms of a modern otome game. It’s a fantasy tale that has depth, and while the love aspect can get a little lost in the political plotline, it finds its way back and gives you an overall satisfying story. The characters are great both individually and together, and there is a good mix of seriousness, comedy, and banter. It was just enjoyable to watch them all interact, making it a title I feel comfortable recommending to others. The visuals do leave a little to be desired, and the gameplay is nothing crazy, but this is a solid game for fans of the genre. You will find what you’re looking for here, I promise.

If you’re fan of snappy, unique puzzle gameplay and short time commitments, Children of the Sun is going to absolutely be your jam. By consistently introducing new gameplay twists and building on its complexity, it creates an addictive gameplay loop where each stage asks the player to do a new kind of problem-solving and utilize the tools they’ve unlocked in a different way. Your mileage may vary depending on how much you enjoy trial and error, and the game could certainly have kept the ball rolling for longer than it does, but Children of the Sun remains a highly unique experience that’s well worth your time.

Longtime fans and curious newbies will find a lot to like about this samurai epic, and maybe those newbies might branch out and see what all the fuss is about the drama in Kamurocho. I’m just hoping that there’s enough momentum in this game’s sails to carry Kenzan! to our shores, too.

Digital Eclipse once again hits the mark with Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection, and I’m happy that their porting skills remain as strong as ever. The sheer number of games included in tandem with their now trademark storytelling approach makes this an easy recommend for me. While not every game here is a winner, the documentary portion once again steals the show. I hope this isn’t the last we see of this Gold Master format, because there are plenty more of gaming’s icons that would benefit from its unique brand of storytelling. I’ll happily take more gaming history lessons from a developer that clearly cares about the story of whatever gaming giant they choose to cover next.

If you’re already a fan of the Dirt franchise, there’s little to take issue with here – jump right in. If you’re a racing fan who’s new to the series, though, I can definitely say Dirt 5 is worth a look.

Arknights: Endfield is a unique beast. It is a very fun game that I found very hard to play. I do want to reiterate that I like this game. The best part about games as a service is if what I found frustrating proves to be a sticking point for others, then those issues can and will be addressed. I also think Endfield is a game that can give you as much back as you want to put in. Engaging with ALL of its systems isn’t strictly necessary. In that sense, free-to-play is a damn steal!

News Tower is a return to form. It feels made for fans of a genre that’s become lost in the Steam Early Access muck. It also feels like a great entry point for people looking to do more than stock virtual shelves.

So Kandria is a strange game, but there’s a value in the game being confusing, and weird, and gangly, and distinct. It’s unique in a lot of ways, and that uniqueness is well worth seeing for yourself if what I’ve been saying sounds remotely interesting to you.

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.

Gods Will Fall does a lot of things right, so if you’re looking for a game that has high replayability and offers success through personal growth rather than arbitrary difficulty, then look no further. The lead developer at Clever Beans mentioned that their inspiration when creating this game was Demon’s Souls and I’d say they did an excellent job creating an indie version of their muse. It is also just a fun experience. I never felt bored while playing it, at least. In fact, despite completing this review, I am still glued to my TV trying to deal with some of those pesky gods.

The Stone of Madness isn’t perfect by any means, but its successes readily outweigh its missteps. Its emphasis on real-time stealth and simultaneous control over three distinct characters at a time work to create some very hectic gameplay situations, naturally encouraging the player to learn and improve. Infusing this rewarding gameplay with a striking art style and a tinge of dark humor makes for a unique experience worth looking into, even if the controls can be clunky and the guards can be a little too good at catching up with you when you make a mistake.

But far from being the simple note-for-note reprise of the original that it could have been, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth swings for the fences to be a big and original thing that feels like a full game even while it is, functionally, the middle. It has weaknesses like combat I'm not wholly sold on and maybe a bit too much start-and-stop through gameplay, but if you've been looking forward to the game, you will not be disappointed.

I think Skygard Arena is fun, and you might too. At the absolute minimum, it may well cultivate an interest in the Tactics RPG genre for you, and explore a world of gaming I’ve fondly enjoyed for a long time.

Don’t let its somewhat drab exterior fool you, Rolling Gunner is worth a look for genre professionals and up-and-comers alike. Its the kind of game that, despite only being six stages long, I can see myself returning to for a long time coming.

If you were hoping for a really deep and engaging horror ride, you will be somewhat disappointed, but if you want a solid roguelike with a horror flavor, I think The Spirit Lift is a charming opportunity. And so by giving the game a chance, I went from “cordial dislike” to “actually quite fond of this one.” That’s why you take chances sometimes, and I’m glad I took one here.

I loved the original. I love this remake. And if you’ve never played the original or you did, you owe it to yourself to give this one a check. It’s a game that was always good made that much better, and it’s going to stick with you a long time after the credits roll on the final ending.

Ultimately, what I keep thinking of is Katamari Re-Roll, which was similarly a very fun game because it was an unambitious remake of an already very fun game. If you already have the original, it’s a harder sell, because the remake doesn’t change all that much from the original… but it’s also an improvement and a chance for those who missed out on the original (or the DLC) to try the whole package, with the promise of more still to come. There are, in other words, some reasons that not everyone will be delighted by Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning. But even if there’s not much new to it… well, there’s also nothing wrong with it at all, and the original was great.

Persona 3 Reload remains one of the best JRPGs out there, and what I encountered here does little to deter me from that sentiment. Switch 2 owners might not be getting the best version performance-wise, but they’re still getting a version that’s worthy enough to play on the go. Those who care about smooth framerates will be better served playing it on more powerful platforms. But if you’re looking for a solid enough port on Nintendo’s shiny new Switch, you can certainly do a lot worse than this.

The biggest mark against Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is that this is a game which requires you to love it in its entirety. You cannot play this game solely as a farming simulator or solely as a platforming action game; you have to be willing to fumble through the rice farming as you do the platforming you’re much better at. Or maybe fumble through platforming to get back to that hardcore rice farming sim you wanted, to be fair. I don’t know your life. But the whole thing is presented with such care, patient attention to detail, and downright love that it’s impossible not to enjoy the heck out of this game. It’s the sort of game that I highly recommend to people who may naturally only be inclined to one side or the other of this particular melange, because you might find yourself enjoying it more than you expected. Sit back, relax, and let the game soak over you. Take a breath. Plant the rice. Watch the water. Don’t ruin it.

While the main levels of the game are not the most exciting, with gameplay that is often just good but not great, the boss battles are tons of fun, and the entire game just oozes style and substance. I had enough fun with those, and also just rocking out to the wonderful music, that I can mostly overlook the game’s minor gameplay stumbles. No Straight Roads is an excellent experience that I encourage any lover of both music and gaming to have a look at. It’s not flawless, but it’s a darned good time.

Taking into account the long tail of support for the original, the promise of more characters, and the surfeit of extra modes, this is almost a definite buy for fighting game fans, especially if you are a longtime fan of the original game. But it’s also a good buy if you’ve always loved fighting games but dislike threadbare stories or struggle with the controls. And with the sheer breadth of extra modes available, odds are good you’ll find stuff to love in here.

Fans of exploration and shooters are strongly encouraged to try out The Knight Witch, because it’s a little indie title that’s going to charm you with both its story and its gameplay. What do you know? Mashing concepts together worked out pretty well here after all.

Cult of the Lamb is the most hard-to-put-down game I’ve played all year. It’s so easy to get that “Ok just one more” itch of wanting to head out and get the last few materials you need for that new facility, or deciding you’ll just do a little bit of redecorating and next thing you know the sun is rising. That’s not to say it’s completely perfect. There is a little bit of that indie game jank, it’s not terribly long, and there are a few bugs here and there ranging from minor graphical ones to more major ones that halted my progress temporarily. Thankfully the devs are already hard at work on a patch, and while the main story may be short, I’ve managed to sink 20 hours in so far and I’m nowhere close to stopping.

TimeMelters is a very intriguing game, one which takes an unusual gameplay self-cooperation mechanic (which I have actually seen before) and takes it in a totally new direction. It has been a lot of fun to play, and while there was some frustration, it was mostly the good kind that makes you determined to succeed. There is a good amount of game here too, between the solo campaign and the extra modes available, which could keep you busy for many hours. While the visuals are somewhat lacking and a few quality-of-life improvements might be needed, overall I had a lot of fun, and I highly recommend TimeMelters to anyone who loves having their brain melted by action-oriented puzzles.

And that's really the ultimate takeaway. It has a load of really fun parts, a fun gameplay loop, an engaging story, and an earnest effort to split the difference between the various elements of the franchise history. It's a good game! Take these reservations not as a subversion of that fact, but for what they are: Acknowledgement of its limitations.