Mario Strikers: Battle League is a thin package, without very much variety in terms of game modes and options. But it is a more technically complex game than many of the Mario sports titles, which may give it legs for dedicated players. Sports are all about proving your skill in head-to-head match-ups, and that will have to be enough, because there isn't much else to it.

Supermassive doesn't shy away from the fact that The Quarry is essentially an interactive movie. The mechanics haven't evolved since Until Dawn was released seven years ago, and that's perfectly fine. The basic system of choice and consequence is still highly effective at building suspense and lending a massive amount of weight to each decision you make. Its characters are personable, well written, and superbly performed, ensuring that you care about what happens to them, and the story takes plenty of exciting twists and turns that make you eager to find out what's going to happen next. You may only make a contribution every few minutes, but that doesn't stop The Quarry from being a fantastic horror game and Supermassive's best venture to date.

All of which is such a shame, because there is a fun team-based sport tucked away in Roller Champions. For the first few hours, I had a great time with it--it's just that the uniformity in regards to its maps and mechanics eventually makes each match start to feel a bit samey. I can see myself picking it up every once in a while for an enjoyable bout around the rink, but there's just not enough meat to the bones of this live-service game to make it a part of my daily rotation.

The combination rhythm-based action is one that has been executed better in a handful of other games already, and Soundfall's take doesn't manage to progress beyond its initial hook in its opening hours. This exposes the uninteresting loot progression and stage variety even more, making its extended campaign feel far, far too long, even when tackled in short bursts. Soundfall's underlying concept is one that feels deserving of an adventure that capitalizes on its strengths better, but that's sadly not what's here right now.

But for series newcomers and PC-focused players, Megamix+ is an easy recommendation. There's a ton of content here, built upon a strong rhythm-game foundation that challenges you to grow your skills and aim ever higher--all while having fun watching music videos, playing dress-up, and collecting all the cool and wacky customizations for the entire cast. But most importantly, Megamix+ is the best showcase of Miku's legacy to date, showcasing the unbridled creativity and variety of the online musical and artistic subcultures she's inspired.

Sniper Elite 5 follows in its immediate predecessor's footprints with another massive open-ended sandbox for you to experiment in. There's a renewed emphasis on player agency this time around that factors into every aspect of its design, from the way each sprawling map is constructed, right down to the addition of a broad weapon customization system. Invisible barriers tend to break the immersion at times, and the AI can be overly finicky as it veers between competence and incompetence. Fairburne isn't the most graceful protagonist, either, but these shortcomings aren't damaging enough to seriously dampen the glee that comes from shooting Nazis in the face from 300 yards away. When it comes to long-range combat, Sniper Elite 5 has mastered the craft.

Apex Legends Mobile is exactly what's being advertised: This is Apex Legends, but on mobile devices. This means Respawn has made some serious concessions to its battle royale in order to make the whole thing work, especially when it comes to visuals and performance. And not all of the new additions to the formula, like Team Deathmatch, add anything compelling. But the perk system and first mobile-exclusive legend create a strong draw for Apex Legends Mobile existing alongside Apex Legends as a companion game. If you want to play Apex Legends on the go, this fulfills that need. Just don't come into it thinking this is the best way to play Respawn's battle royale game.

Swansong ultimately has little to recommend it. Its writing is stilted, its storytelling muddled, and its puzzle design is mostly unimaginative. Sadly, there isn't even any kind of worthwhile payoff if you do manage to see it through to its conclusion. I reached a point where I was thinking I'd hit the close of the second act, and then the game ended. Just like this.

Evil Dead: The Game is faithful, but sometimes to a fault. If there were more game modes or even more varied objectives in its one attractive game mode, it would feel more like a game for horror fans to play for a long time, maybe even moving competitors like Dead By Daylight or Hunt Showdown off their vaunted pedestals. As it stands at launch, however, Evil Dead only reaches beyond something pretty good when it's played with a close-knit group of Evil Dead fans. General horror or co-op enthusiasts may get some mileage out of it, but Ash and his boomstick are storming into a crowded field of competitors and can't quite overcome the horde of similar games already available.

Ska Studios has created an ambitious sequel that takes various elements from both Monster Hunter and the Metroidvania genre and combines them into one sprawling 2D Souls-like. For the most part, this curious amalgamation succeeds, offering snappy combat, a labyrinthian world to explore, and tense boss battles against a vast array of challenging foes. Unfortunately, it also elicits plenty of moments of frustration, whether it's because the absence of a map and fast-travel system adds additional tedium to its grind, or because the combat system is overly punishing in a way that feels unfair and unbalanced. Salt and Sacrifice still offers an enjoyable distillation of familiar elements, but too many issues hold it back from achieving greatness.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising is short, clocking in at about 15 hours for 100% completion--though it probably could have cut a few hours of side-questing out and still wound up being a fine little adventure. Despite enduring a fair bit of filler, I don't regret the time I spent playing the game, and am interested to see how the characters and setting play into the bigger Eiyuden Chronicle world being created. It might be flawed, but Rising accomplishes what it sets out to do: whetting players' appetites for a grand adventure down the line.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising is short, clocking in at about 15 hours for 100% completion--though it probably could have cut a few hours of side-questing out and still wound up being a fine little adventure. Despite enduring a fair bit of filler, I don't regret the time I spent playing the game, and am interested to see how the characters and setting play into the bigger Eiyuden Chronicle world being created. It might be flawed, but Rising accomplishes what it sets out to do: whetting players' appetites for a grand adventure down the line.

RiffTrax: The Game fits well into the party game genre and is a nice follow up to What the Dub, but ultimately, half of the game (Pick A Riff) isn't worth your time. The inclusion of the RiffTrax team is exciting to those who are a fan of RiffTrax and its lineage, but if you're not familiar with them, then it's not really going to be a huge selling point. RiffTrax: The Game works very well if you completely avoid Pick A Riff and have a group of friends over--or online--and spend your evenings in the Write A Riff game. There's an endless amount of fun within group play that's simple enough to pick up and play.

The faults of its gameplay are especially disappointing given that Trek to Yomi is such a gorgeous and spellbinding game to look at. Its visuals are evocative of classic samurai cinema in a way few other games have managed, successfully capturing the look and feel of Kurosawa's masterpieces with aplomb. It's easy to recommend if you have an Xbox Game Pass subscription, if only to marvel at each meticulously constructed frame. If only the game beneath it all wasn't such an unfortunate letdown.

Even with its flaws, Gotta Protectors is fun, challenging, and unique in both single-player and online or couch-crew multiplayer. Its mix of goofy humor, old-school visuals and music, and engaging gameplay makes for a game that's difficult to put down. Even when you screw up big-time and Lola's screaming annihilates everything, you'll be eager to hop back in with what you've learned about the map and try again to get it right this time. There's nothing else out there quite like Gotta Protectors, and you'd do well to enlist in Lola's security squad.

Teardown's greatest strength then lies in its underlying premise. The ability to jump into highly reactive maps with an assortment of fun tools to tear them apart remains as entertaining now as it was when I first started playing, and the chaotic nature of its physics are a consistent source of joy. It's a pity that the campaign fails to leverage this well in its first half, exacerbated by a slow trickle of new objectives and tools to use. These help expose the smart design that Teardown has from the start, which only really becomes evident much later in its campaign. If you can get past that, or if you dive into the bursting modding scene, there's a lot of cathartic mayhem in Teardown that will likely keep you coming back for more.

All of this makes Rogue Legacy 2 difficult to put down. The "one more run" effect is in full force as you choose yet another new heir to embark on another perilous journey. The introduction of distinct classes with their own unique weapons is a masterstroke that elevates this sequel by building on what was already a fantastic premise and satisfying roguelite loop. House Rules make it more palatable for a wider audience but also give players an opportunity to tailor the challenge to their liking, even if that means increasing the difficulty. The breadth of its biomes can sometimes induce backtracking as you search for the path forward, but this is a minor blemish on what is a fantastic game. Sacrificing your family tree has never felt so good.

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe has taken me on a rollercoaster of emotions--I'll be scratching my head in confusion one moment and then staring at my TV dumbfounded, my mouth agape in incredulous bemusement the next. As far as I can tell, there's no unifying mystery to solve here; nor is there any sort of indistinguishable moral lesson that the game is asking me to uncover. What is there, however, is an attractive lure for a thought-provoking experience about video games, and how our reception of them has evolved.

The Tunnels of Terror expansion is both a decent addition in its own right and a progress report on Back 4 Blood's ongoing struggles to find proper balance and pace. Thanks to the accompanying patch, I witnessed fewer moments of frustration in the past week than I ever have before--monster spam in the inner hives notwithstanding--and that's heartening as someone who would very much like to play this game for a long time, if it can just iron out some more wrinkles. For now, it's still a bit messy, but ahead of the headlining additions of new levels, characters, and weapons, I find the most promising aspect of Tunnels of Terror is its lengthy list of patch notes.

It's a shame that Road 96's great character writing is stuck within such restrictive framing, even if many of its most memorable dialogue sequences only work given that the premise has allowed for this assortment of personalities to intertwine. It doesn't mean that there's no reward for seeing some of them through, but if you're hoping for an introspective look at the complexities of revolting against an oppressive regime, then Road 96 doesn't deliver on that front. It is, however, an enjoyable point-and-click adventure outside of that, with a neat procedural twist that keeps each of your escape attempts entertaining, with dialogue choices that feel purposeful and entertaining minigames to keep things varied.

Postal 4: No Regerts is devoid of humor and anything close to approaching fun or engaging mechanics. The only things it has in spades are constant technical issues that only compound the game's lengthy checklist of egregious shortcomings. Running With Scissors might consider this review a badge of honor, considering that the game being bad is seemingly part of the gag, but don't for a second think that Postal 4 even touches the realm of "So bad, it's good." There's nothing redeemable about this game. It's a genuinely awful experience that should be avoided at all costs.

Cat Cafe Manager is a perplexing game. Its design is deliberately forgiving, but in some cases to a fault. It looks and sounds joyful, but bugs related to actually building the cafe of your dreams can be frustrating. It's still a game where fans of the genre can have fun with it provided they don't mind--or especially if they prefer--something so directionless, but I find it hampers what could've been a lovely blend of cat-sitting and frappe-serving.

Norco's beautiful, evocative, and contemplative storytelling takes you on a fascinating journey that will occupy your thoughts for weeks and months after the credits roll. It earns its place alongside games like Kentucky Route Zero and Disco Elysium, effectively depicting the Southern Gothic genre with a mystifying adventure that's built on sublime writing and a poetic exploration of societal issues, environmental catastrophe, and what it means to be human. It's not always captivating from a gameplay perspective, but this is a negligible flaw in the grand scheme of things. Games like Norco don't appear very often. It's one to treasure.

MLB The Show 22 still plays a fantastic game of baseball, even if tweaks to fielding and hit variety are mere subtle improvements compared to anything more impactful. Additions to March to October and (especially) Diamond Dynasty enhance both modes, while Franchise and Road to the Show continue to stagnate by doing little else than treading water. There's still a ton of content to sink your teeth into, and MLB The Show 22 will keep you busy into the winter months, but it's difficult to ignore how conservative the series has been for the past two years. This is an excellent sports game, just as MLB The Show 21 was. The problem is that the list of reasons to upgrade is getting smaller and smaller.

Much like the way early Lego Star Wars games set a tone for where the franchise would explore next, and how it would do so, The Skywalker Saga feels like the epitome of all the lessons learnt along the way while also setting up for the future. The intimate new camera angle and expanded combat breathe life into a familiar formula, while the linear levels feature a pleasing mix of puzzles and combat that are peppered with sharp humor. It's a pity that all of this can't be leveraged well enough to inject the same excitement into the side content that makes up most of the explorable hubs, which can take the thrill out of hunting down every unlockable character. But when The Skywalker Saga finds its stride, and it often does, it can be one of the most enjoyable ways to rediscover this storied franchise once again.

Chinatown Detective Agency goes down as one of my favorite detective games ever. You may not be actually doing any detective work and solving mysteries--you're not asked to figure out what's a clue, what it means, and how it may connect to other clues. But, even so, Chinatown Detective Agency successfully emulates the deductive reasoning necessary to be an investigator by simply tasking you with figuring out how to interpret a confusing clue. A collection of bugs and superfluous systems drag down the experience a bit, but the Singaporean setting makes for a thrilling setup for some real-world sleuthing, and excellent voice acting and a compelling protagonist sell the dystopian but somewhat tragically beautiful cybernoir future.

The writing, the story, the characters, and the ways in which your actions have an effect on the world are all enthralling. I wanted answers to the mysteries presented, since the heroes and villains of these tales are captivating, and the payoffs, by and large, are worthwhile. There are a lot of excellent old-school isometric adventure games in Weird West's DNA, but not enough new-school polish for it to be something great.

As a spin-off, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands doesn't reinvent the Borderlands wheel with its shift towards fantasy that bears a chaotic-neutral alignment. Instead, it explores familiar territory that repeats the best and worst of the Borderlands formula and it doesn't venture out of its comfort zone. That makes for a game that is packed with solid first-person shooter action and a competent multiclass system for creating an interesting Fatemaker. Tiny Tina's Wonderlands retreads the same mechanical and narrative ground as Borderlands 3, ultimately creating a chapter in the franchise that's fun but forgettable.