Based on what I played, 007 First Light is shaping up to be a phenomenal IO Interactive game through and through. It takes everything the developer has learned from many years of creating, refining, iterating, and evolving Hitman games, and puts the pieces that make the most sense together to create a James Bond game that could end up being one of the best games of the year, and also the best James Bond game ever created. 007 First Light could be the culmination of IO Interactive's vision for modern sandbox action games, as well as a spectacular payoff for a 16-year audition to make a James Bond game. [Hands-On Impressions]

I spent a lot of time just exploring Forza Horizon 6's world without a waypoint on the horizon or events to be distracted by, and I was surprised by how therapeutic and engaging the experience was. It goes to show just how much attention you can draw through a setting alone, letting the backdrop do most of the work when there's little more than weaving through traffic to focus on. There's going to be a lot more to the final product, with many, many more races, new car meets, and even more ways to enjoy Japanese racing culture at its best. But even with all of that stripped away, Forza Horizon 6 is delivering on its setting alone. And after waiting all this time, I'm so excited to see what other surprises it has in store. [Hands-On Impressions]

Menace is off to more than a running start already. The turn-based tactical action is some of the best I've played lately, and I love the distinct, voiced squad leaders, as well as both the variety of missions and enemy factions. The biggest missing piece is really story and context. It's hard to get too invested in what's going on in the Wayback when I'm not even really sure why we're here yet. But for Early Access, this is a truly impressive effort, and there's plenty of fun to be had already. [Early Access Provisional Score = 80]

Minecraft is a forever-game for many people. Hypixel Studios has ambitions to get there, too, and the foundational gameplay here is solid enough--albeit partly due to the strict blueprint it followed--that success is at least possible, if not guaranteed. But Hytale will only find lasting success once it first finds its own path forward and does more than just rebuild experiences its players already had years ago. [Early Access Score = 60]

As the MK3 arcade cabinet once said, there is no knowledge that is not power. With everything Digital Eclipse packed into the collection, there's a lot of power to be had. [Review in Progress; Provisional Score = 90]

There is a nugget of a good idea here, and one that is interesting on paper. Unfortunately, Fire Emblem Shadows' most innovative ideas bump up against its mobile and free-to-play nature, resulting in a game that is both not for Fire Emblem fans and hard to recommend to anyone.

A Bomberman game without multiplayer is hardly a Bomberman game at all.

Because of its stronger starting point, Grounded 2 should wind up the bigger, better, buggier-in-a-good-way survival game. Its best new toys make survival gameplay much smoother and more enjoyable; the adolescent spirit that truly makes Grounded stand out in a sea of survival games is still on full display here, too. It will take some time for Creative mode to catch up and eventually surpass what the first game did for those who like to play this game more like an interior decorator than a hunter-gatherer. All of that means Grounded 2 is a good early-access game that improves on its previous version in some big ways, while still earning the label of being an in-progress experience. [Early Access Score = 70]

As someone who loves Lord of the Rings, life-sims, and cozy games, Tales of the Shire is heartbreakingly disappointing--so much so that I find myself genuinely wondering what went wrong. With such a strong premise, a solid team working on it, and what seemed like a concentrated effort being made to let this game fully cook before it was shipped, I’m ultimately confused by the finished product and concerned for what happened during production. Although Tales of the Shire has some charming ideas, dull gameplay, heaps of bugs, and a general sense of emptiness ultimately drag this once-promising life sim down to the pits of Moria.

Even if you manage to achieve a stable experience, MindsEye still commits the cardinal sin of being mind-numbingly boring. More than anything, it feels like a game firmly trapped in the past. It wouldn't have been good 15 years ago, either, but perhaps some of its design choices would have made more sense. As it is, issues like broken AI and uneven car physics simply exacerbate the problems with its archaic and insipid design. Impressive visuals can't compensate for a lack of substance, whether that comes from its pointless world, tedious combat, or any number of other egregious shortcomings. If you're looking for quality, cast your mind's eye elsewhere.

I am optimistic about the swings that Bungie is taking with the expansion, especially those that overhaul the core game. You're likely to find me spending too much time fiddling with weapon mods at the shooting range when The Edge of Fate launches on July 19. [8-Hour Hands-On Impressions]

As a whole, my time with InZoi was underwhelming. Though I know more items and cosmetics are headed to the game and that there's plenty of time and potential for its developers to focus more on the game's social aspects, as it stands right now gameplay isn't enjoyable and I worry that InZoi won't place as much importance on its social-simulation aspects as I'd prefer. Though I'm opting to remain hopeful, after spending a few dozen hours with InZoi--and despite my absolute delight at getting the opportunity to review a game I have been eagerly waiting to play since its announcement--I've come to the conclusion that I most likely won't pick it up again until it's spent far more time in development. [Early Access Provisional Score = 60]

The body-swapping combat, RPG-like team of possessable people, the monster-hunting semi-paranormal narrative--they're all exciting until you engage with them a little, when they reveal themselves to be shallow and underdeveloped. The actual experience of playing Slitterhead is constant repetition of systems that aren't very engaging even their first time, across levels you'll see over and over again, telling a story that never makes much sense, with characters that feel like first-draft lists of stereotypes. Slitterhead has a lot of fascinating ideas and compelling gameplay on the surface, but beneath, it's just boring and banal--a bunch of scary-looking monsters who turn out not to be very scary at all.

With more attention to balancing and better, earlier explanations of how its puzzles, boss encounters, and items behave, I could see Funko Fusion eventually being the enjoyable, adult-oriented Lego alternative it wants to be. It needs some important fixes, but they don't seem like unattainable goals in this era of living games that are constantly evolving. The eventual widespread co-op functionality should hopefully make the game better all on its own, and if more helpful visual language and tooltips arrive soon, too, the game could be redeemed. Until then, however, this is one Funko product not worth displaying on your shelf.

If you've never experienced God of War Ragnarok, then there's a strong chance this port will satisfy you after the extended wait. It's just a pity it's not flawless as the extra time might have you expecting. [Unscored PC Version update]

Squirrel With a Gun isn't aggressively bad, and I didn't hate my time with it. It was basically just a thing that I did for four hours. Nothing about the experience really stands out; the whole game is entirely unremarkable and won't live long in the memory. It's kind of like seeing a squirrel in real life. You go, "Oh look, a squirrel," watch the furry critter scurry up a tree, and then get on with your day. That's Squirrel With a Gun in a nutshell.

The First Descendant has moments of fun, but its action is constantly debilitated by tiresome mission design and a grind entirely informed by its venomous monetization. It's designed to frustrate and steer players toward an extensive storefront that lets you circumvent some of its monotony, only to be met with even more. There are no redeeming features to its intentionally infuriating free-to-play model; it feels like a game designed in a boardroom, where every single aspect of its design is secondary to the pursuit of making more money. It's a sad state of affairs, and I wouldn't recommend The First Descendant to anyone.

Despite being a huge fan of the series Demon Slayer: Sweep the Board offered very little to keep me entertained. A few hours in, the experience became repetitive and tedious to a degree that it’s hard to recommend to even the most ardent of manga and anime enthusiasts. You’re better off grabbing The Hinokami Chronicles, made by the same studio, if you’re into Demon Slayer, and those who prefer party games or board games already have a plethora of other options.

Endless Ocean: Luminous could have been a realistic SCUBA sim with all the treacherous hazards that real underwater divers need to consider, a relaxing chill-vibes game that's mostly about finding fish with your friends, or a story-driven game centered around discovering awesome and even extinct underwater beasts. It has pieces of all of those, but it doesn't commit to any of them. Instead, it takes the enormity and glory of earth's largest and most mysterious region and turns exploring it into a dull, repetitive chore.

Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection is ultimately just disappointing. It's unclear whether it wants to be a remaster or a collection that preserves two major games from Star Wars' history, but in both instances, it fails. This is neither an accurate representation of what Battlefront and Battlefront 2 were, nor does it make enough adjustments to bring two decades-old games into the modern era. The result is a collection that's not really fun to play, and well worth skipping.

With its reality-bending story, parade of puzzles, and unwieldy combat, Alone in the Dark is, in some ways, more faithful to some turn-of-the-century horror games than their own revitalized modern remakes. I enjoyed the game's story, setting, and abundant lore, and I felt smart when I'd overcome some of its puzzles. But others proved so obtuse as to be frustrating, and nothing about the combat even climbs to a level I'd call serviceable--it's consistently poor. This isn't Alone in the Dark's first revival attempt, and it's probably not its last, but it isn't the one that will put the series' name in the same breath as the all-time greats it originally helped inspire.

Skull and Bones has its moments, but these brief snapshots don't encompass even half of the full experience. Everything that was great about Black Flag has been ripped out to accommodate tedious live-service elements and a half-baked multiplayer that makes you feel disconnected from other players. Some of its more egregious issues will hopefully be fixed in future updates, but it would still take an entire overhaul to salvage the game's core mechanics and overreliance on banal, repetitive activities. It's disappointing that this is the outcome after an 11-year wait, but Skull and Bones is teetering on the edge of confinement in Davy Jones's Locker.

The Short Message is desperate to be understood and devoid of novelty, leaving no room for interpretation, no sense of lingering mystery, and no strong impression for anyone who may be playing a Silent Hill game for the first time. Its unintended short message ends up feeling unfortunately obvious: Do not download.

The game is brief and polished, so I think it's possible someone who loves the games You Will Die Here Tonight is affectionately cribbing could manage to enjoy this too, but probably only if they're really itching for something else to play. There's no shortage of games resurrecting this style, and many of them have been memorable. Others have been worse, but at least some have been interesting in their shortcomings. The overarching issue with You Will Die Here Tonight is that the death alluded to in its title can be attributed to boredom.

Although its narrative setup is enjoyable, Modern Warfare 3 can't get out of its own way, with nearly half of the missions being the underwhelming Open Combat style. The bumpy pacing and abrupt ending make Makarov's big return a disappointment, dragging Modern Warfare 3 down as the weakest entry of an otherwise strong reboot series. [Campaign Review Score = 50]

Nailing down my feelings on Pokemon Scarlet and Violet this past year has been difficult. In my review of the base game, I said it was one of "the best mainline Pokemon games in years," and 350 hours later, I still stand by that. Terastallization is the best battle gimmick the series has introduced to date, the open-world design fits nicely into the series' themes of exploration and discovery, and the competitive scene has been a thrill to follow and participate in. However, Scarlet and Violet's triumphant highs are still obscured by technical issues, and the same can be said for The Teal Mask. Scarlet and Violet's core issues still persist, but there's a lot to chew on here, both for hardcore competitive players and fans who want to see more of the Pokemon world. [Provisional Score = 70]

WrestleQuest has the right tools to make for a memorable wrestling RPG experience, with its quirky characters, vibrant atmosphere, and countless references. Unfortunately, though, its over-reliance on a rote combat system, poorly paced narrative, and issues under the hood make for a frustrating experience. Far from being Mr. Perfect, it is, instead, the Genesis of McGillicutty.

Much like Gollum's quest for the One Ring, my quest to complete The Lord of the Rings: Gollum was full of endless setbacks, impossible odds, and ever-increasing levels of madness. And, like Gollum, my journey was doomed from the start. So if the developers' main goal was to really put you in the shoes of such a pitiful, unloveable character faced with constant pain and suffering at every turn, they were at least successful at that.