It's also not a bad thing that Lies of P: Overture is essentially more of the same. The base game is arguably the best souls-like to come out of a studio not named From Software since the genre took off. However, I would imagine it's less than ideal for anyone who's recently finished Lies of P for the first time. For people like me, who haven't touched it since it launched in September 2023, I was more than happy to dedicate another 15 hours to more of the same. Overture is a beginning that caps off a fantastic game.

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]

All of this left me lukewarm on To A T, and wanting to like it more than I did. It's a cute and charming visual metaphor, with some insightful and funny writing, and it's a lovely parable about the struggles of growing up and feeling different. It's a very gentle, likable story about a topic that games don't often explore. But the story doesn't have quite enough heft to last through even the relatively short playtime, and the act of playing it often feels tedious. There are individual things to like about To A T, but like its protagonist, it has some room to grow.

Elden Ring Nightreign's announcement was a genuine surprise. The details explaining the kind of game it was were even more surprising. This peculiar mix of a From Software RPG spliced with elements of roguelites and battle royales sounds like the kind of experimental concept no game studio would actually devote money to. But here's From Software, tapping into its creativity to put its own weird, bold spin on a thrilling cooperative multiplayer experience. Even if the end result were middling, this is the kind of risk worth celebrating, but doubly so now that it turned out to be such a fantastic, anomalous thing. The part of From Software's collective brain that created oddities like Metal Wolf Chaos and Otogi: Myth of Demons is still very much alive and well.

Deliver At All Costs is a solid game for an hour. But then the formulaic nature of delivering goods from point A to point B becomes tiresome. Enacting wanton destruction and experiencing the unique setup of each delivery for the first time creates brief thrills, but breaking stuff just to break it doesn't remain enjoyable for long and the meandering and unfulfilling story that connects each delivery drags the whole experience down. Parts of Deliver At All Costs work really well, but it too often ruins its own fun.

Imagine sitting on the floor in front of your TV watching the pilot episode for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the 1990s, and that's how it feels to play TMNT: Tactical Takedown. All the elements are there, you had a great time while it lasted, but you can sense it's really the rock-solid foundation for something much grander. The game itself is a great distillation of some radical concepts, but it also feels like it's straining against its own limitations. Nonetheless, this is a great start to what I can only hope becomes another way to spend time with the turtles.

All told, this is another great compendium of some of Capcom's best fighting games in their history. How many more Capcom can put together, however, remains to be seen.

With a set destination, the journey has to be the focal point of Old Skies--which is great for it, as the game is a fantastic journey. The memorable dialogue is bolstered by an incredible cast of voice actors, and the story is compelling from its shocking first hour to its timey-wimey final moments. I'm normally one to play point-and-click games in small bursts to sit with each chapter of the story, but I found myself regularly playing Old Skies in large chunks, going through multiple chapters in each sitting just to see what would happen next. And even though I didn't enjoy every step there, the overall package more than made up for it with one of my favorite stories of this year.

These misgivings aside, Revenge of the Savage Planet offers up a carefree adventure that's a rollicking good time either solo or with a friend--whether online or in split-screen. It's a more confident and varied sequel, with a shift in perspective that maximizes its slapstick comedy and platforming chops. Combat is a letdown, but everything around it is a joy, from finding creative ways to use its gadgets and solve puzzles to simply exploring every nook and cranny of its diverse and bountiful planets. Revenge of the Savage Planet may have been born from less-than-ideal circumstances, but it's evident from playing it just how much Raccoon Logic is reveling in it existing at all.

It's surprising how much Doom: The Dark Ages manages to reign in some of the changes Doom Eternal made while also taking the series in a wholly new direction that redefines its rules of engagement. The emphasis is on melee combat that harmonizes beautifully with the tried-and-tested pace of Doom's action, making each new attack parried and counter-attack landed feel as satisfying as the first. It's a finely tuned adventure that delivers the power fantasy of ripping and tearing through thousands of demons without losing an underlying complexity that makes each encounter engaging to blast through. Although it can falter at times when straying too far from the fundamentals, Doom: The Dark Ages shows that there's still so much fertile ground that this series can explore, and that sometimes smart, measured changes can take the series in surprising new directions and yield some of its finest moments.

Controversy aside, Fatal Fury has come back in a big way with City Of The Wolves. I can't get enough of the REV System and its tactical edge to the classic 2D fighting format, as it adds an energy to each match that other fighters don't have. The roster offers plenty of variety and experimentation, and each member of it looks incredible thanks to the comic-themed style. I just wish there were more to do with these characters that didn't feel as repetitive as Episodes Of South Town does. Luckily, a very solid online environment fixes the issue, as every match I've played so far has run without incident.

Skin Deep doesn't reimagine immersive sims, but it takes the level design principles that players have enjoyed for decades and recontextualizes them for its brightly lit, goofier-than-usual world. Sometimes, preferred routes to success can become too reliable and make very differently shaped spaceships the settings for some familiar outcomes, but much more often, it's a game of clever actions and surprising reactions. It checks all the boxes of a great immersive sim, where each level is a puzzle box and you hold any number of figurative keys to unlocking it. And, yes, you can flush the toilets.

Virtuous seem to understand that trademark Oblivion "charm" because the remaster keeps the best of the Bethesda jank intact while gently reworking some of Oblivion's more dated mechanics.

When you factor in the voice talent involved, the visual splendor on offer, and the sheer scale of the whole game, it really feels like Clair Obscur is punching above its weight, considering the comparatively small size of the team at Sandfall. This is a supremely confident game that reinterprets familiar mechanics with an imaginative eye. Its combat is a consistent delight, delivering thrills with thoughtful strategy and reactive action in equal measure, complementing a heartfelt story of shared grief and camaraderie. There are minor pitfalls in relation to its narrow exploration and some quality-of-life issues, but these missteps aren't enough to significantly detract from a game with all the makings of an RPG classic.

Sunderfolk does a great job of emulating the experience of playing a tactical-focused tabletop game with your friends, where the moments you most remember were the ones you and your fellow players made together, not the tale that the Game Master tells.

Blue Prince is one of the most memorable video game experiences I have ever had. It is at once accessible and impenetrable, frustrating and euphoric. Like each of my dozens of permutations of the Mount Holly manor house itself, it is truly one of a kind.

Wanderstop, at its core, is the type of game that I suspect a player will need to play at precisely the right time in life to truly connect with. As its story (and Alta) unraveled around me, I was reminded of my own struggles and kept thinking about how comforting it might have been back then. Regardless, I adore the fact that it exists and will surely serve that purpose for so many others. It's an audiovisual delight, its narrative and characters are memorable, and I applaud the way it tackles burnout and how self-destructive productivity can be--especially in a time when just about every other influencer is preaching hustle culture and life optimization. That said, Wanderstop is not for everyone, and its gameplay and rough edges create a formidable barrier to truly enjoying what it does well.

And that's what South of Midnight is: an unapologetic love letter to the American Deep South; specifically, the gothic vibes that permeate the mythology and superstitions of the region as well as the history and culture of the people who live there. It doesn't exactly wow with its combat and platforming, but these parts of the game are mechanically sound, and South of Midnight's memorable characters, incredible visuals, and catchy soundtrack are so strong that it doesn't really matter that the gameplay is just decent. South of Midnight is the type of story that will sit with you, and a good reminder that we need more games about the American Deep South. Compulsion Games hasn't made a direct sequel to any of its games yet, but it needs to make an exception here--I am not done with this world.

Atomfall isn't Fallout. Sometimes, that's because Fallout is understandably a much bigger, better game. But Atomfall also structures its story and world so unlike typical open-world games, Fallout or otherwise, that the distinction isn't merely meant as a slight on Rebellion's latest effort. Its fresh, mystery-laden open-world design overcomes a bundle of world-building cliches and a few gameplay hindrances to feel novel and worthwhile the entire time. Often, a new video game IP takes until its sequel to truly establish its identity. The theoretical Atomfall 2 feels like it could be a much greater game someday, so long as it's built on this game's intriguing quest framework. Here and now, Atomfall is a good game that sometimes gets in its own way, but it's the process of finding your unique path through its story that will stick with you after the dust settles.

MLB The Show 25 plays a typically excellent game of baseball. Ambush Hitting is lackluster, but tweaks to fielding make for a more well-rounded game. Meanwhile, Road to the Show finally gets the shot in the arm it's been crying out for with the inclusion of amateur games and a reworked progression system; free agency is more engaging in Franchise, and Diamond Dynasty smartly shifts away from the restrictive Sets and Seasons model while also introducing an enjoyable new single-player mode. Whether its additions are incremental or more significant, MLB The Show 25 makes enough positive changes to justify another year out on the diamond.

Despite a forgettable story and some constricted level design, The First Berserker: Khazan's excellent combat is more than enough to cover for these missteps. It's challenging, engaging, and consistently satisfying, complemented by a cavalcade of dynamic enemies and a versatile progression system that extends beyond the typical XP-based approach. It can feel derivative at times, yet The First Berserker's confluence of ideas and influences makes for a thrilling souls-like that stands out in what has become an increasingly crowded genre.

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]

So much of Shadows' issues come from Yasuke's inclusion. Not because he's a badly written character or because he doesn't feel like he belongs, but because much of what makes an Assassin's Creed game an Assassin's Creed is stripped away to make his samurai fantasy work. Naoe's shinobi fantasy works far better, effortlessly sliding into the gameplay loop of hunting down mysterious targets, puzzling through the best way to reach them, cutting them down, and disappearing without a trace. Naoe and Yasuke's story could have used more unity, especially in giving the duo a shared purpose to drive the plotline and their character development forward. But at the very least, Naoe's gameplay is the best that the series has felt since the transition to a more action-RPG format--Assassin's Creed Shadows is an absolute blast to play.

WWE 2K25 is an excellent game on a mechanical level, offering tremendous depth and breadth to create matches that mimic reality in exciting ways. Its bevy of game modes comprises several worthwhile timesinks and interesting new wrinkles, each of them appealing to one or more sections of wrestling fandom. Its creation suite is in a tier of its own and deserves to be the envy of everyone else bringing user-generated content into their games. Online multiplayer woes exist in both previously seen and new forms this year, but there is so much here that deserves praise. I wouldn't throw out an otherwise exciting WrestleMania over a bad match or two. Similarly, I don't feel a handful of poorly implemented PvP features leaves WWE 2K25 as anything less than the number one contender for sports game of the year.

As it stands, this is a package of two great games that is serviceable. Outside of some interface issues that are mostly artifacts of the games' age, there's nothing wrong with Suikoden I and II--in fact, they remain as excellent as ever. But it's hard to get rid of the nagging feeling that this remaster feels uneven between the weirdly contrasting visuals and the general lack of quality-of-life improvements beyond the bare minimum. Suikoden is a phenomenal series that deserves all the love it can get, and with how expensive the original titles have become, any way to let people enjoy them is welcome--but these two games really deserve to be reintroduced with the red carpet, not the tacky doormat.

Split Fiction could very well be the best cooperative game I've ever played. At the very least, I firmly believe it sets a new standard for the genre. And yet, it's more than that. Split Fiction is a love letter to creativity--to stories, games, and the people who make them. It is funny, dark, joyous, childish, tender, cheesy, thrilling, and remarkable. All this combined with gorgeous environments, fantastic gameplay, and sheer spectacle make Hazelight Studio's newest release an early contender for the best game of 2025.

Lost Records explores and depicts adolescence in a way that not only surpasses many games, but several works of media in general. It's no secret that we are inundated with "coming-of-age" stories, and as a fan of the cliche, I'd argue it's for good reason. The era between childhood and adulthood is one filled with hormones, emotions, self-discovery, lust, defiance, and experiences that ultimately shape the person you will become, shedding some semblance of your former self. Yet both the story that Lost Records explores and the one being shaped in the "current" time, in which women in their 40s come together and dispel the grating notion that women of that age are decrepit, matronly, and boring, do so in a way that feels fascinating, new, and important. As it stands now, Lost Records: Bloom and Rage is poised to be one of Don't Nod's greatest titles. Ultimately, however, much of the game's success is dependent upon the release of its second half, which is scheduled to release this April. It will take answers, action, and rewarded patience to stick the landing, but as of right now, I have faith that the team will do so.

Alien: Rogue Incursion is perhaps a decent Alien game on some VR platforms, but if you're playing it on Quest 3, that should be because it's your only option and you really want to play it for yourself, much like playing an otherwise gorgeous game on the Switch because you prefer some of its unique features over visual fidelity. Even with better visuals on other headsets, Rogue Incursion would still suffer, given its lackluster monster encounters. The VR tools at your disposal are fun, albeit not novel, but more than anything, the game is best enjoyed on the merits of its story. If you're not willing or able to mod Alien: Isolation to play it in VR, then this is the de facto best Alien VR game available, but that doesn't exactly make it a good one.