Farewell North is a grounded, slice-of-life game given some fantastical elements through Ches' unique perspective. As it reaches its emotional climax, it becomes a stirring meditation on the role pets play in their humans' lives as comfort and support, and likewise, the role that humans play in the lives of their pets as providers and protectors. While its waypointing can be occasionally frustrating, it's a sweet, emotionally resonant experience that will stick with you, and maybe prompt a little extra cuddle time with your own pets.

What's most impressive about all of these disparate systems is how well they synergize with each other, and how they remain easily understandable and not overwhelming. Like a well-crafted Steambot, each part and gear of SteamWorld Heist 2 attaches just-so to another, with every piece of the device contributing and feeding into the function of two or three other parts. The result is a game that plays with clockwork precision from start to finish.

Thanks to its blend of platforming, puzzles, and "combat," all set in a colorful world, Creatures of Ava reminds me of a kind of action-adventure game that is seldom made anymore. It's both nostalgic for yesteryear while also creatively reinventing traditional elements of the genre. It routinely defies tropes in every corner of its world, yet still feels like the sort of game that is approachable, familiar, and easy to love. With a story that goes harder than one might expect and gameplay that routinely throws new tools and challenges in front of you, Creatures of Ava is surely one of the year's coolest surprises.

It might be on the short side at around two hours in length, but Thank Goodness You're Here! barely wastes a single second of its absurd adventure. Not only is it consistently funny, but it also made me feel incredibly warm and nostalgic for the era of cartoons and comics I grew up with, even if it feels quite singular in its approach to both surreal and intimately familiar humor. It's not a game everyone will vibe with--such is the divisiveness of comedy in particular. But those who click with it are unlikely to find another game this year anywhere near as joyous.

The third Sylvio game is a worthy successor to the two supremely haunting games that came before it. Though it reverts to featuring some of the first game's lesser parts, it also carries over and improves on the best aspects of both its predecessors. Sylvio: Black Waters reaffirms what was already obvious to me: Stroboskop's audio design is on a level few other horror games can compete with, and with some future honing in on and improving the mechanics surrounding that centerpiece, the series still has room to grow. Even in this state, however, Sylvio: Black Waters will stick with you longer after the static dissipates.

Just picture getting sacked by LSU and then bringing up an underdog school like Kennesaw State to the college playoffs and beating your old school to win the national title. It's this kind of vicarious scenario in EA Sports College Football 25 that can make a lot of the other frustrating aspects worth it. Hopefully, EA can continue to build upon this solid foundation while also fleshing out the aspects of the series to help separate it further from Madden and create a unique experience.

However, the vast majority of my time was not spent wading through inscrutable dialogue. It was spent exploring a diverse steampunk world, mastering the surprisingly rich combat, and filling out the smartly-designed skill tree. Gestalt: Steam and Cinder is a joyful journey into nostalgic metroidvania action, and a great start for a potential franchise.

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.

Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is a gorgeous game, featuring an incredible art style and sound design that strengthen an already colorful world that I want to explore. But getting around in the game is regularly a chore, and Bō's floaty, dance-like movements too often lead to frustrating deaths during platforming gauntlets. The game at least shines through its combat, and the story is exciting once it does actually get going--but there's just too much in the way to fully enjoy what the game does well.

Capcom has been firing on all cylinders lately in regards to its tenured franchises, and now that success has manifested in an interesting new IP. Kunitsu-Gami begins on strong footing, and we may be witnessing the next great Capcom franchise carving a path right in front of our eyes.

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.

Nintendo World Championship: NES Edition feels more like a platform than a game in itself. It's a set of tools to gently introduce players to speedrunning, and to encourage some light competitive hooks. Even the "NES Edition" part of the name suggests this is envisioned as an ongoing project with room for further exploration in the future. I hope it does, because this could serve as a great introduction to invite newcomers into the speedrunning community.

Flintlock is not the kind of game where you're going to see a ton of build variety. It's a stripped-back action RPG, sprinkling in a few souls-like elements to a broth whose dominant flavor is hyper-mobile combat and traversal that's never too punishing. It has its faults, from failing to expand on a setting that's only interesting on paper to featuring a prohibitive weapon upgrade system and some imprecision in its combat. It might not sit at the forefront of your mind for long after the credits have rolled, but in the moment, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is a rip-roaring good time that's likely to appeal to both newcomers and hardened Souls' fans alike. Hopefully more games take some cues from its uncommon approach.

It’s easy to reduce Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate down to just a Hades clone with a TMNT skin, as I did previously. And while that description is pretty accurate, the sentiment doesn't convey that a well-done take on a fantastic game can be a lot of fun. While the art and story don’t come near the lofty heights of Hades, it is nevertheless a blast to bash heads as one of the titular turtles, especially when you have friends fighting at your side. Technical issues aside, Splintered Fate is a fun time, and with a good variety to shake things up from run to run.

Flock's mostly simple mechanics and colorful world mean it all plays like a hug. With its low barrier of entry, people of all ages and skill levels can enjoy the game, and in two-player co-op, even enjoy it together. When things do get a bit more complex, that leads to some of the game's most rewarding moments, like discovering and naming super-elusive animals, or eventually filling out the all-important Field Guide with every critter and call seen and heard in the Uplands. Flock paints the picture of a world that welcomes you with open arms and equips you with tools to reciprocate the same admiration and respect for its dozens of interesting creatures.

Despite that gripe, Zenless Zone Zero is yet another solid entry in the HoYoverse portfolio as of Version 1.0, and it's easy to see the potential as new Agents get added alongside Story commissions. It's a shame that the bright spots are dimmed by a complete lack of meaningful challenges when it comes to nearly all commissions--for both puzzles and combat--in the early chapters of the game. But the current experience still shines thanks to how fun and vibrant the direction is in all facets of the game.

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon on 3DS was a surprising revival for an unconventional game. Now that we've had Luigi's Mansion 3, the series has come more into its own, and the second game is neither the trailblazer nor the refined third entry. That makes Luigi's Mansion 2 HD an oddball--less essential than some other Switch remakes, but an interesting middle step in the development of Luigi's puzzle series, with its own charms and place in the series history.

Though some tension is lost in the binary and sometimes simplistic encounters with the creature, its physical makeup, and behavior are the game's best aspects and rise to be deeply unsettling, if not terrifying. All of this makes Still Wakes The Deep a story that memorably tugs on your heart, starring a monster eager to tear it out.

The Final Shape often goes above and beyond those improvements and great ideas. With elements like Dual Destiny, it has raised the bar on the best that Destiny 2 can be. With Salvation's Edge and Excision, it sticks the landing on its 10-year narrative. And with additional story missions and character beats waiting after you complete the campaign, it sets up a future for Destiny 2 that seems just as engaging and fascinating as what has come before--if not more so, thanks to everything Bungie has learned throughout that journey. The future of Destiny 2 has perhaps never been less clear, but if Bungie can maintain the excellence of design and the clarity of focus of The Final Shape, that future has never, ever, been more exciting.

With all that Shadow of the Erdtree offers to accompany what exists in the Lands Between, the story of Elden Ring now feels complete and its world whole, and it's a staggering achievement. It's dark fantasy done masterfully; rich in detail and intricate in its construction; a place that feels dangerous and cruel, filled with memorable characters, fascinating rules, mind-bending concepts, and competing ideologies. It's an achievement in world-building creativity that stands head-and-shoulders above the rest, with the closest comparison I can make being the late, great Kentaro Miura's Berserk. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is From Software's victory lap, an unmissable tour de force that is every bit as brilliant as the original game.

Everything that made Shin Megami Tensei V such a memorable and engaging experience remains in Vengeance, just tweaked and massaged into an even better game. It's easier to connect to the narrative--having the other human characters in your party and engaging in small talk with them go a long way to making the events happening around them feel more impactful--and the various adjustments to navigation, combat, and demon-herding let you focus more on savoring the dark atmosphere and the strategies of battle. If you didn't enter the tunnel to the underworld the first time around, this is the perfect opportunity to do so--and if you're a veteran of the war for the throne, there's plenty here to bring you back.

There are still a few more kinks to iron out, then, but regardless of these issues, F1 24's on-track action remains robust and engaging. The overhauled Driver Career mode is also a net positive, even if some of its ideas don't quite come off, yet an enduring sense of deja vu is present elsewhere. This makes F1 24 difficult to recommend if you've played any of the most recent games in the series. There aren't enough new ideas here, and modes like F1 World continue to disappoint by focusing on cosmetics in a game where your avatar is rarely seen. F1 24 is a terrific game in isolation, and the new Driver Career mode will be enough for some players, but it feels like another game hampered by the demands of its annual release schedule.

Killer Klowns feels like it should have a steeper hill to climb than some of its counterparts. While other asymmetrical horror games benefit from iconic killers at their centers, this cult-classic '80s movie-turned-game doesn't have the same brand recognition--did anyone think we'd get a game based on Killer Klowns before A Nightmare on Elm Street? But what it lacks in starring sadists, it makes up for with a tense but silly core of intricate maps, diverse weapons, and a more lax PvP atmosphere than the genre is known for. Issues with the metagame exist, and, like some of the team's past horror games, it's all a bit rough around the edges. But it's the game's fluorescent, squeaky heart that makes this a circus worth joining.

Based on the strength of its maps and its great shooting mechanics, XDefiant enters the free-to-play shooter space in competent shape. Some of its balancing issues will hopefully be rectified soon, but even then, overpowered snipers are a relatively minor issue compared to its clumsy mishmash of styles. The pace of the action is at odds with its class-based approach, almost completely undermining its focus on unique character abilities. Combat is enjoyable enough that it's still eminently playable, and XDefiant's foundations are ripe for improvement. Competition is stiff, though, and there are better options out there that aren't as conflicted.

RKGK / Rakugaki is a fun debut for Wabisabi Games, incorporating an incredible anime-inspired art style into an approachable 3D platformer. Same-y looking environments, disappointing boss battles, and a bland story all make it hard to connect to the narrative elements of the game, but the gameplay is sound and the level design is rewardingly challenging. Even though the story is forgettable, my desire to further master my timing and precision in my quest to get better and better completion times is, for now, continuing to bring me back.

In Harvest Hunt, the stakes are real, but the scares aren't. There is tension in the game, but it doesn't rise to the heights it wants to due to a central villain who can't pull their weight. That places a figurative ceiling over its best moments, but it does have bright spots. I appreciate its rustic, askew art style and interlocking roguelite systems, which give me an objective worth hunting down in a folk-horror world that at least looks, and in some ways, plays, the part.

The Switch version of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is the definitive way to play the best turn-based RPG starring Mario. More of an enhanced HD remaster than a full-fledged remake, The Thousand-Year Door has small yet meaningful quality-of-life features that ease some of the bloat from the original GameCube version. The catchy remixed soundtrack wonderfully complements the thoroughly entertaining and dynamic turn-based battle system. Throw in a stellar cast of characters and consistently playful writing, and The Thousand-Year Door has all the ingredients of an incredible turn-based RPG. Well, it always had them, but now they are blended a bit better.

Based on its new naming convention, the use of "saga" in Hellblade 2's title, and Microsoft's acquisition of developer Ninja Theory following the success of Senua's Sacrifice, it seems as if Hellblade is slated to be a series as well as a staple in Xbox's first-party lineup. That said, at this point, I don't exactly understand where the series is headed, if not to the box office. There are plenty of games that prove games can be art, but as some studios lean harder into proving that in one specific way that cribs from Hollywood, we're seeing some games that feel afraid of being games. With too much focus on cinematics and too little on creating an experience that is engaging, Senua's Saga fails to reach the same highs as its predecessor--even if it does look stunning whilst trying.