I did enjoy it, to some extent – it’s still a game where you get to spell out words, which isn’t something I’ll ever get bored of doing. But there are much better examples of roguelike deckbuilder word games that do something new and interesting and unique, and I’d much rather play those games than this one.

The visuals are still lagging well behind how they look on other systems. It still runs surprising well, without any crazy load times or crashes. Home Run Derbies still feel like the pitcher is actively trying to strike you out. The ball still feels a little deader here. All of which means that you still don’t need to pick up MLB The Show 26 if you have any other recent editions.

Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club is relaxed and undemanding, kind of what you’d think cozy games would be like if the term hadn’t come to be used for a genre that’s aggressively twee and “quirky.” If you have kids and want to steer them in this direction, you could definitely do a lot worse.

Like every year, it delivers a very solid on-field experience, with plenty of options for how deep you want to get into managing a team. But I don’t think I’ve ever played a version of MLB The Show that felt this generic, and it’s clearly, undeniably time for someone to start thinking about making the overall package more compelling.

Months after MindsEye’s first came out, it’s hard not to think that it was the victim of a pile-on that was only partially justified by the hubris that surrounded its release. If you can find it on sale for a deep discount and don’t mind playing a generic action game, you may find it perfectly acceptable.

The combat will feel familiar to anyone who’s ever played any of those games, but that’s kind of a selling point for me: it’s nice to go back to a pre-Soulslike world, where you don’t need to figure out parrying or timing, and you can just run roughshod through enemies. Does that make Blood of Mehran a good game? Again, definitely not. And you need to have a fondness for a very specific era of PS3 gaming to fully enjoy it. But I’ve definitely played significantly worse games than this – and considering Blood of Mehran’s reputation, that’s better than I was expecting going in.

Poppy Playtime Chapter 5 is just fine, but “just fine” is only going to continue to carry this series for so long. Some substantial changes need to be made in the development of Chapter 6 if Mob Entertainment wants to have any hope of propelling Poppy Playtime into the future.

As someone who misses the old Sony and the way they’d try weird things (and not just go for big and cinematic with every one of their games), it feels weird to criticize them for a game where they try something different. But the problem is that God of War: Sons of Sparta isn’t particularly fun. It’s a perfectly adequate metroidvania at a time when there are plenty of very good metroidvanias that are more worth your time, so unless you desperately want a Kratos: The Very Early Years game you can safely skip this one.

A studio like Piranha Bytes lasted decades despite churning out awful games, simply because there was something endearing about a bad game making an effort to be good. Anyone who misses that studio can take solace in the fact that Of Ash and Steel is continuing its legacy. But if you do, just be mindful that it is, at heart, a bad game.

Ultimately, though, Rainbow Gate succeeds or fails on its moment to moment play, and that’s where it lands as a unique entry in the genre. If you’re looking for a stable, smooth running PC mascot horror game with a strong opening and a handful of enjoyable puzzles and chases, Rainbow Gate is worth a look at the right price. Just know it doesn’t evolve much past its first impression. This is a good placeholder until Poppy Playtime: Chapter 5.

All-in-all, I don’t think Code Vein II is bad. It’s mostly an improvement over some of the stiffness and art direction of the first game, bringing new features, weapons, and jails for players to build their characters around. The music is still great, albeit more orchestral than the grunge of the first game’s collaboration with VAMPS. The biggest problem that this franchise (is it a franchise yet?) struggles with seems to be chasing the Souls-Ring feel but not nailing it as much as I’d have hoped for the second entry. If you liked the first game, you’ll absolutely enjoy Code Vein II, but costing $70 in a market with other similar titles is a tough ask for people looking to get into Code Vein. Code Vein II isn’t a bad game, it’s rather far from it, but it falls short where it needs to really hit hard.

I guess the question is, does Painkiller have any merits? It kind of does: again, if you don’t mind repetition and just want to shoot demons, it gives you every opportunity to do that, and you’ll get some big honking guns in the process. But if you want anything deeper or more substantial, you’re not going to find it here.

Unfollow has a clearly good core with interesting writing, but doesn’t have the spine needed to hold it together in a way that feels great. I struggle to recommend it, as the $20 price tag is a bit much for 3 hours of okay gameplay, but if it looks interesting to you, I think you should give it a shot.

Overall, I think there is fun to be had with Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, but the lack of meaningful exploration and the meandering desert stretches from one zone to the next really drag down what should have been an amazing return to form for the series. How much of this came from the prior development issues the game faced I’m not sure, but something about Prime 4 feels really disjointed and not nearly as polished as the original trilogy. I hope Nintendo does give the Prime series another chance, maybe this time without all the starts and stops that Prime 4’s development had, which will ideally give us the next-gen Metroid Prime game I was hoping this one would be.

House That Love Built also features some voice acting and attempts at animation. Both are about as good as you’d expect…which is to say, they’re not great. But that’s kind of the point of these games. They’re comfort food for a specific type of gamer, and they’re basically the same thing over and over again. Mystery Case Files: House That Love Built won’t appeal to anyone outside that niche, but for what it is, it’ll do just fine.

Personally, I can only recommend Montezuma’s Revenge – The 40th Anniversary Edition if you are familiar with the original game and already know what you are getting into or are looking for a challenge that, many people have tried and failed to beat. It’s definitely not for everyone, so if there is interest, proceed with caution.

Hitman: Absolution represents the series’ awkward, stumbling growth period. Play it you want to see where some of the ideas in the World of Assassination trilogy got their start, but don’t expect the game to reach anywhere near the same heights.

I wish I could say that everyone wins in the end when playing Jackbox Party Pack 11…but they really don’t. It’s certainly a step up from last year’s Naughty Pack, but the games on offer here are too inconsistent to be worth your while. As always, a good group of friends can always probably make anything fun, but it’ll take a lot more effort here than you’d like.

Unfortunately for Dog Witch, the gameplay does very little to differentiate itself or to set the game apart. The game claims to have 150+ items that can be mixed and matched in different ways, but all in all, it mostly feels like you’re playing the same actions over and over again. While it certainly takes a little longer to master than your average Slay the Spire clone – in part, I think, because every run feels so short – the gameplay feels a little lacking in the sort of inspiration that will keep you coming back again and again.

If nothing else, I guess, it’s quite possible that Wreckreation becomes a meme game with random explosions like that. But you’d have hoped that after ten years trying to recapture the brilliance of Burnout, Three Fields Entertainment would be further along than this. Wreckreation is better than anything they’ve done so far, true, but it’s still very far from the kind of racing game that anyone will want to play.

While I’m definitely looking forward to updates to the Switch 2 port of Reload, but it’s rather rough on the technical side right now. I would summarize it as a great game that looks great, sounds great, and plays great, but is unfortunately a victim of poor performance.

Overall, it’s safe to say that Pokémon Legends Z-A is a good game, albeit with some shortcomings. It’s fun, it’s enjoyable, and brings the return of the best battle mechanic in the series’ history. Both versions of the game (Switch 1 and Switch 2) run well on their respective platforms, with the Switch 2 getting a 60fps version of the game. Legends Z-A does also have its DLC expansion planned for release later on, bringing new story content and Mega Evolutions. It’ll also (presumably) bring in more Pokémon that aren’t already in the game, so there should be some fun surprises for all of us when we get to see the new Mega forms. Pokémon Legends Z-A marks an enjoyable breath of fresh air, but it could still do with some growth to catch up with the times.

Visually, Little Nightmares III is just fine, with the opening two levels again falling somewhat flat while the final two manage to shine just a little more brightly. Overall, this game just feels somewhat rushed, which may be due to the new development team at Supermassive taking the reins to the series. All in all, while there is something to like here, most players will ultimately be let down by a disappointingly empty sequel to a great second title.

Death on the Nile isn’t a must-play adventure, but it’s at least generally tolerable – which is more than can be said about it as an Agatha Christie adaptation. On that front, it fails, so if that’s why you’re interested in it, prepare for disappointment. Still, if you’re fond of point-and-click mysteries, there’s probably enough here to be interesting.

As noted up top, I could see someone loving Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny if they’re a very specific kind of person – but if you’re not, there’s no real reason to seek it out.

It’s an intriguing idea for a game, but it’s not nearly deep enough to sustain itself.

Overall I enjoyed my time with Alien: Rogue Incursion – Part One: Evolved Edition. It’s not a particularly long experience, something you’d definitely be able to knock out over the course of a weekend, and offers some fun firefights and creepy locales to check out. The shift away from VR doesn’t appear to hurt the game in the least bit, and while I’d imagine it’s certainly more immersive in VR, it’s a completely passable experience without it.

It all adds up to a game that feels like it was designed for streaming, not playing yourself. And while I don’t have any strong feelings about what people want to watch, in some cases I have stronger feelings about what people play, and this is one of those cases: don’t waste your time on Bad Cheese, because there are much more interesting games out there to enjoy.

Despite subpar performance, a strange lack of identity, and the PR disaster Borderlands 4 has been garnering online, it really is a fun game with an engaging story full of fun and interesting characters. The negatives around the game really do weigh on it, of course, but when you can really sink your teeth into the meat and potatoes, Borderlands 4 is genuinely one of the most fun, if not the most fun, entry in the series so far. The guns feel amazing, the game hasn’t compromised its art style (just the world feel), the Vault Hunters feel fantastic, and the writing is great, but I’ll be damned if those issues don’t weigh down on it. It’s definitely a great game, but with everything else surrounding it, it’s a tough sell for a lot of people to be sure. If you’re just looking for a good looter shooter to play though, Borderlands 4 is a great one, assuming it runs as intended.

Overall, Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection is a fine, well put together collection that sadly features not so fantastic games. If your curious about how bad Bubsy game are, or if you like being frustrated with terrible control and gameplay, then you will find something to like, or absolutely hate here. If you are not a fan of Bubsy, then you won’t be interested in anything in this collection. I’m giving this props for being a well presented collection but the subject matter is just not very good. I mean, it’s Bubsy, thats basically all you need to know.

I don’t have a ton to say about Daemon X Machina just because it’s pretty simple in practice and our review is limited to speaking on content up to chapter 9 (about 90 minutes of gameplay). In my opinion, if you liked the first Daemon X Machina, you will like Titanic Scion. It doesn’t change enough to make it feel terribly different from that release, but does add enough to likely satisfy you if you were already a fan. If you didn’t like the first Daemon X Machina, I don’t think this changes enough to change your mind. If Titanic Scion has caught your eye and you’ve never played the series before, I would recommend starting with the first game. Not because of any story continuity reasons, but just because of the level of similarity. The first game will be a much cheaper way to learn if it can hook you.

Weirdly, it’s not hard to imagine a world where Morgan: Metal Detective didn’t devolve into an endless trip of scanning and digging – it just would’ve taken a few less random items to come across, and you would’ve had a cute, relaxing game with fun characters and pleasant visuals. As it stands, though, anyone who picks it up hoping for a cozy respite will probably come to regret it.

Tales of the Shire is nothing if not low stakes and low stress. But it also makes for an extremely dull experience if you want even the slightest bit more than that, which makes it very hard to recommend.

I was hopeful for Shadow Labyrinth when it was announced, but as I played the game a lot of that eroded over the hours and hours I spent with it. It’s not a bad game for sure, I’ve played far worse Metroidvania’s over the years, but it’s also not a great game, held back by some archaic design decisions, a mostly bland art design, and some frustrating control moments. There’s enjoyment to be had here, sure, but you really have to struggle through the low points in order to gleam out just a bit of fun from this one.

You might look at Oceanhorn: Chronos Dungeon and see the top-down view and pixel graphics and think that the franchise has taken a turn for the very retro, looking to the very earliest Zelda games for inspiration. And while that’s sort of correct – it’s definitely got more of a retro flavour than either of the previous Oceanhorn games – at the same time, it’s also totally wrong. Oceanhorn: Chronos Dungeon looks like any number of dungeon crawlers from decades ago – and that’s its biggest problem.

Bygone Dreams is a generic action game in desperate need of a personality, and without that, there’s not much point in getting it.

Add it all up, and you’ll be left wondering why Beyond the Ice Palace 2 exists in the first place. You’ve absolutely played plenty of games like this before, and there’s nothing this game has that you can’t find done better elsewhere.

I do think it’s worth at least downloading the game and testing it out, as I definitely have had fun with it despite its shortcomings. That said, I also don’t see myself sticking with it in its current state, but hopefully as new additions and patches roll out I’ll have reason to return to FBC: Firebreak.

It definitely shows promise, and if it were to add in more objectives for solo players or game modes for multiplayer I could see it achieving that promise. At the moment, it’s definitely not there, but it may be worth keeping an eye on the game to watch how it evolves.

It’s a gorgeous game set in a well-imagined world, and even if its gameplay isn’t as absorbing as its environments, it’s still a solid puzzle-platformer.

While I largely tend towards the latter point of view, it’s nonetheless neat to see KreatureKind attempt to try something new, even if it doesn’t succeed. Add in a very chill-sounding soundtrack and visuals that are pleasant to look at, and you can see what KreatureKind’s developers were trying to do, even if they don’t quite succeed in the end.

Elden Ring Nightreign does offer a new and interesting step in a different direction for FromSoftware and Bandai Namco, but I’m not exactly confident that this is the best choice. I think it’ll be an enjoyable title to mess about in with your friends, lending itself more to games like Risk of Rain with the roguelike/roguelite aspects, but as a FromSoftware game boasting the Elden Ring title, I think it’s missing the mark from what we expect from the studio. It’s a hard recommendation unless you can get two of your friends to jump aboard with you, so I’m stuck in a middle ground. It has merits to it, but the flaws really do put a damper on overall enjoyment. If you’re REALLY seeking more Elden Ring, you’ll find it with Nightreign, but it’s different enough that I have to give a warning to those expecting more of the same with just multiplayer as the focus.

It’s definitely an improvement over its predecessor, but some annoying design decisions mean that it’s still not as good as it could be.

I don’t know that Jaleco Sports: Bases Loaded is necessary for anyone other than video game historians and baseball diehards, but I’m still glad it exists.

The annoying thing is that Letterlike feels so close to getting it right. There’s a great idea here, and I suspect that with a bit more balancing the game will get there – but at this point, it’s not quite there yet.

There’s a little too much grinding to go through for not a lot of reward, and while some people may love the challenge, it makes for a less addictive experience.

It features a pretty sizeable map and a world that seems like it’s worth exploring, even if you’re never fully clear on what you’re looking for other than a way off the planet. I wouldn’t say it’s a must-play game, but it shows promise, and from a tiny indie studio, that’s something worthwhile.

As for the meat and potatoes of the game – that is, its combat and its traversal – there’s really not much to say about it. In those respects, INAYAH is pretty much exactly what you’d expect. You get your choice of weapon early on, and you can upgrade them throughout the game with a pretty thorough skill tree, but really, there’s nothing in INAYAH, gameplay-wise, that we haven’t seen before. Which means that we’re left to judge INAYAH on things other than its gameplay. And even if there’s some good there (specifically, the artwork), that’s balanced out by design decisions that make the game a lot more annoying than it should be.

To be fair, I didn’t hate my time with Kaya’s Prophecy. It doesn’t do anything original, but it also copies other, better games so well that it can’t help but get some reflected glow. But because it doesn’t add anything to either of those well-established formulas, I’d be hard-pressed to recommend it over its influences. Maybe check it out if you’re a fan of Slay the Spire or Stacklands, but don’t expect it to be more than the sum of its influences.

Star Overdrive is another example of a game where a cool reveal didn’t live up to the end result. Whatever inspiration there was to be found in last year’s trailer didn’t make it to the finished product, and there’s little here to make the game worth recommending.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collections was a good attempt at preserving the past, but even with 14 games it’s filled with fluff and very little substance. If you are craving old-school Yu-Gi-Oh! and are a fan of the animated show, this collection is for you. I hope they will bring out a 2nd collection with the PlayStation family of games.

MLB The Show 25 on the Switch certainly won’t win any awards for looks, but if you’re hoping that the game gets a decent send-off on the hybrid platform – or even if you just want it to run better than last year – you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Without that sense of nostalgia, you’ll be left with a trio of games that weren’t all that good first time around, and it’s hard to imagine you’ll find them very worthwhile.

Even a forgettable version of MLB The Show still delivers a best-in-class baseball experience. It makes it hard to recommend if you picked up the last few years’ editions, but if you’ve taken a year or two off, it might be time to jump back in.

I don’t think Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a bad game, but I don’t think it’s a great one either. With patches I think it could seriously become a great game, but as it stands with what I was playing, I’m not impressed with the systems/gameplay. I really, really want to like Shadows more because of how much the total package feels, but those few issues are enough to really hamper that. If you’re someone that enjoys going everywhere to do things and unlock everything, you’ll definitely have a great time, so it’s not inherently a super negative. The combat experience is definitely a damper though. Fingers crossed Ubisoft and the team behind Shadows really polishes and shines it up!

No matter how fun the gameplay is, that doesn’t matter if the game doesn’t consistently work, and I don’t think anyone could realistically say that Rise of the Ronin works as it should on PC. Given a bit of time and patches, I could absolutely see Rise of the Ronin becoming a must-play for anyone who wants to roam around an open-world, exploring 19th-century Japan and slicing down all kinds of enemies. But as of now, you need to wait and see if the game gets there, because it certainly isn’t at the moment.

Petit Island borrows a lot of well-established ideas without doing enough to make any of them feel like its own, and as a result, you’ll come away from the game wishing you could play some of those other games instead.

The Suikoden series has its good games and bad, but Suikoden 1 and 2 are my two favorites in the series. For those looking to scratch the itch of a classic JRPG, these games will do it. I hope that other companies take notes, as they kept the core game play and didn’t make any major changes to the battle system — I’m looking at you Final Fantasy VII Remake. The Suikoden 1 and 2 HD Remaster isn’t perfect though, and Konami should have made a few more quality of life improvements, specifically to the inventory system. The story to both games is there in all of its glory, the second game’s story especially. Overall, Suikoden I&II HD Remaster Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars is a solid update to some classically good JRPGs!

I think Macross – Shooting Insight is a tough one to recommend to most people. The Macross side of it isn’t exactly compelling, the story is an excuse to toss all these characters together into one scenario, and it’s not particularly compelling or interesting, quickly becoming something you’ll skip through as you near the end. Unfortunately, the core shoot ‘em up gameplay isn’t all that great either, it’s a serviceable entry in the genre that shows some promise, but the repetitive stage design and attempts to shoe horn in multiple flavors of shmup gameplay doesn’t do Macross – Shooting Insight any favors. If you’re just dying to get your hands on anything Macross related in the West, then you might gleam some satisfaction out of this one, but I can’t see this really appealing to anyone else.

Crown Wars: The Black Prince is a competent tactical RPG that fits squarely within the confines of its chosen genre, so if you want more X-COM-likes in your life, and don’t mind feeling like you’d get the same experience playing any number of other, similar games, you could do worse than checking it out.

It doesn’t do anything remotely interesting and there are plenty of other Star Wars games from the era that are available to play, so unless you have some very specific nostalgic memories tied to Jedi Power Battles, you’re definitely better off revisiting one of those other games and leaving this one alone.

Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered is probably a must-play if you were obsessed with it 25 years ago, but probably missable if you didn’t play it the first time around. It’s got some interesting ideas and it delivers on some of them, but overall, you’ll probably need nostalgia goggles to get the most out of it.

Overall, I think Metro Awakening VR is a worthy VR experience and a good Metro game, but it is not particularly groundbreaking on either front. I am thrilled to see more mainstream AAA titles getting VR releases that are more than just tacked-on afterthoughts. The quality that Metro Awakening manages to display is more than enough to justify other developers looking into making similar games and perhaps even a low-risk way to revive some other dormant franchises in VR (Resistance, please, I’m begging you). I hope to see more of this type of VR title in the future and am happy to see the medium continue to move forward.

If you are a hardcore Attack on Titan fan and simply want to immerse yourself in a passable facsimile of the world and kill some poorly rendered Titans, this is the game for you. If you are a passionate VR player who wants to experience everything the Quest store has to offer, you are another excellent candidate for this game. Short of those two things, though, I see very little reason to invest your time or money into Attack on Titan VR: Unbreakable.

It works as it should, which is always a plus (even if it’s a little baffling at times), and I have no doubt that if you sank a half-dozen hours or so into the game back in 2002, you should find that the game is probably the same now as it was then. I think that if you don’t have that sense of nostalgia you’ll probably find the game a little lacking, but as PS2 remasters go, you could probably do a lot worse.

Fairly or unfairly, Chernobylite lives in the shadow of Metro and S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and there’s not much in this Complete Edition port that helps it get out from under the legacies of those series.

Even if the versions of Zeus, Hera, and Ares are a lot more pleasant here than they are in, say, God of War, there’s not really anything about that – or this game – that makes Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island worth recommending.

There are too many moments of frustration in Dungeons of Dreadrock 2 that prevent the game from rising to the level of its predecessor. I still look forward to playing the promised third game in the trilogy, but after this one, it’s no longer the must-play that it once was for me.

Crush House tries its hardest to make it all seem fascinating, but, ultimately, there’s just not enough here to make it so.

If Hannah looked as good in action as it did in its screenshots, it’s not hard to imagine it becoming at least a cult hit. Instead, we just have a 3D platformer that’s not as scary as it wants or needs to be, which isn’t what anyone needs.

As someone who loves Horizon: Zero Dawn and who loves LEGO games, I was really hoping that a combination of the two would be something special. Instead, we have LEGO Horizon Adventures, and for the life of me I can’t figure out why it exists.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership takes far too long to get to the point, and the journey to get there isn’t nearly as interesting as it needs to be to make it feel worthwhile. Again, there are some great ideas here, and the game looks amazing, but unless you want your hand held for dozens upon dozens of hours, you’ll probably find yourself a little let down by it all.

UNO Legacy Edition is a welcome addition to the UNO franchise. At the end of the day, you can play only against bots for so long, and if you can pull together some friends online or join a random game then there are hours of fun to be had. UNO Legacy Edition is an affordable party game for consoles and PC, and great to give as any gift.

Just Dance 2025 Edition continues to be a franchise built on fun. If you’re a lifelong fan of the series you won’t be getting very much added to your experience other than the new songs. New players will experience the lore (yes, the game’s dancing avatars have lore!) Most importantly Just Dance 2025 Edition will make you move. No matter who you are, this game has something for you, and if you can deal with the price for the full experience (Just Dance 2025 Edition, Just Dance Plus and add-ons) then you’re really in for a non-stop dance party this holiday season.

Depending on expectations, Dragon Age: The Veilguard can provide an enjoyable action RPG experience. If you’re seeking a worthy successor to Dragon Age: Origins or even Inquisition in companions or plot, it doubtless falls short, feeling more comfortably bland than outright terrible. The combat may be worth the price of admission if you’re keen on real-time action without too much thought for your companions beyond choosing which targets to detonate. Similarly, the visuals can be gorgeous, backed by incredible music, even as the facial animations, odd image quality, and voice acting can feel uneven. It’s nowhere near BioWare’s best, especially in the storytelling department, but after all its past failures and uncertainty, there are certainly far worse alternatives than “good enough.”

Unless you desperately want to be able to draw a few penises and argue about stuff that’s way less sexier than it sounds, you’re better off ignoring The Jackbox Naughty Pack entirely and sticking with any of the previous ten Party Packs.

Unknown 9: Awakening feels like it wants to be greater than it is, which is a big shame given how much effort was seemingly put into it. Having an extended out-of-game universe is really neat, but I think it unintentionally hurts enjoyment of the game when you go to play it. I specifically wanted to avoid the external media of the game going in to see what it would be like, and it makes the game feel like it’s following up on something we should already have knowledge of as the player. Combined with subpar combat, glitches resulting in cutscenes being wonky, and hit-or-miss performance on PC, it definitely hurts Unknown 9. If Bandai continues to work on this franchise (can you call it that yet?) I think they can really knock it out of the park, but as a first entry it really fails to hit its mark.

Overall, the Until Dawn remake is a stunning game, however it does have its flaws which will hopefully be corrected with future updates. Gamers playing it for the first time will enjoy the storytelling and structure of the game, and those returning will appreciate many of the upgrades and added scenes. I can’t say if it was a necessary remake as the original game is only nine years old and still holds up, and at this point I recommend holding off on purchasing it until the price gets an adjustment and the current glitches are corrected.

The upside of lightUP making essentially the same game over and over again is that they generally know what they’re doing, and their games generally work as they’re supposed to. If you just want another metroidvania, you’ll find that here. But you could also find it in most of their other games, which makes it hard to see why you’d pick this one specifically.

All in all, I’d definitely recommend giving Yars Rising a go, especially if you enjoy Metroidvania style games in general. It won’t be the best one you’ve played in the genre, but it’s a good time throughout despite some annoying sequences that slow down the action. It also has a great soundtrack featuring a number of notable synthwave and game music artists like Megan McDuffee, FLOOR BABA, Chiyoko Yamasato and many more. I definitely enjoyed my time with it, and I think you will too.

I’d say G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra can be fun, provided you can get some friends together on the couch to play through the game with you. If not, as a single-player experience, there’s far better options on the market nowadays. It’s a good looking game, again I really did dig the design of these classic characters, but there’s not a lot else supporting the experience that would keep me coming back again and again.

If you want a game that evokes the spirit of Jet Set Radio but on a different method of transportation, Parcel Corps delivers that. It’s hardly a unique spin on the genre, but if all you want is arcade-y gameplay and driving around a vividly coloured environment, you’ll get that here.

At the end of the day, your mileage with Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO will vary. I found myself bored as often as I was excited and frustrated as often as I was exhilarated. For fans who simply want to relive the glory of their childhood with Budokai Tenkaichi, there might be enough here to draw them in. For folks looking for a continuation of the depth that FighterZ added or the beat-em-up fun of a Kakarot or Xenoverse style game, I do not see Sparking! ZERO scratching that itch for you.

The Land of the Magnates borrows from so many games that you can’t accuse it of being a clone of anything. On the one hand, it makes it feel like innumerable other 2.5D platformers. But on the other, it means that you can’t go the lazy route and say it’s imitating Prince of Persia. That’s hardly a ringing endorsement, but you could probably do a lot worse.

Nothing in Elsie makes it seem very original. It’s borrowing heavily from games that are decades-old without putting any real spin on any of it. If you just miss Mega Man and want a slightly more modern take on that game, you’ll get that here, but you won’t see anything new.

If you’re after a solid stealth game it delivers, provided you can live with feeling like the game could’ve been a little bit more.

It really pains me to say that Akimbot is as bad as it is. It started out with so much promise, and it drew from some of the best influences imaginable. Unfortunately, as this end result shows time and again, good influences don’t automatically lead to good outcomes, and Akimbot is pretty far from anything that could be called a good outcome.

If you’re a diehard racing game fan who prefers racing against yourself rather than others, that may put the game squarely on your radar, but if the allure of racing games is facing off against other people – be they bots or a Player Two – then this game may leave a lot to be desired.

There are good ideas, and occasionally very good execution, but on the whole none of it feels like it ever clicks into a coherent, must-play whole.

Madden 25 gameplay is very much in line with Madden 24 and is more so just a refinement than any brand new gameplay mechanics or engine implementations, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I found the gameplay smooth, seamless, and all around a good experience. Now is College Football 25 a better experience? In my opinion it is and that is coming from a diehard NFL fan who watches little to no college football. But if you want the NFL players and teams, Madden is really your only option for better or worse.

The charm of Visions of Mana manages to shine through. It’s not the most visually impressive game on any platform, but the colorful art style feels Mana appropriate, the soundtrack is solid if not quite as memorable as prior series entries, and the explorable world is larger than you’d expect, with lots of little chests and other items to find scattered about. I definitely did not hate my time with Visions of Mana, but it’s also not a game that feels like it’ll garner much mass appeal either. If you’re like me, and have fond memories of Mana games prior, then it’s worth checking out. For everyone else, there are plenty of RPG’s on the market that are more worth your time.

I’m still marking Concord fairly high, as it’s a fun shooter with solid online play that I’ve really enjoyed playing, and look forward to continuing with throughout the year. I hope that the ship can be righted so the game has a chance to really come to life, and I’d like to see what the devs have planned for future modes, characters and so on, but at the same time it’s hard to suggest anyone drop $40 on a game that feels like it may be destined for heavy discounts, or even go free-to-play, in the near future. If you’re absolutely itching for a new hero shooter to check out, I definitely think you can have some fun with Concord, but if you’re still on the fence, you might be better off waiting just a bit longer to see how or if Concord can overcome its rocky launch.

It’s every bit as shallow as the dating shows that inspired it, so if that’s the kind of game you’re after – and the continued popularity of the genre shows some people are – then this may be right up your alley.

Had it kept things simple – say, with lots of straightforward puzzles to solve with an overarching story that’s easy to follow – it probably would’ve been great. Instead we have needlessly hard puzzles accompanied by an overly complicated plot. Saying, “less is more” can come off as trite, but in this case it’s totally true.

This was my first time really sitting down and playing Aero the Acro-Bat. I never really had interest in the game when it was originally released, and after my playthrough now, I remain unimpressed. While not broken, the control is a bit too erratic, the overall gameplay can become stale and annoying and while it does throw some challenge your way from time to time, it’s a rather short game that leaves you feeling unfulfilled. Since this is a bare bones port with nothing of note added, I have a hard time recommending downloading this one. This game does has it’s fans, but it’s not going to grab too many new fans. If your curious, try it out, but don’t expect to be presented with a hidden gem from the past.

I mean, I’m sure that if you loved Star Wars: Bounty Hunter back when it first came out 20+ years ago, you’ll probably still have a soft spot for it. And it’s certainly far from a bad game – as shooters go, it’s definitely competent. But that doesn’t make it some long-lost hidden gem. It was a so-so game back then, and it’s still a so-so game today.

Obviously, the big draw in Kitsune Tails isn’t meant to be the gameplay – you don’t make the focus of your game a lesbian love triangle between two mythical creatures and a sorceress if you aren’t hoping to draw in fans who want a meaty narrative at the core of their games. But while that may be fine for a visual novel, if you’re trying to sell a 2D platformer you need good gameplay too. And even if Kitsune Tails borrows liberally from one of the best of those ever made, it doesn’t come anywhere close to living up to its inspiration.

To be sure, Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom isn’t the first game that tries so hard to be wacky, nor would I begrudge developers who want a game that’s popular among streamers. But I can’t say that the end result is all that fun – not when there are all kinds of genuinely good modern 3D platformers out there that don’t rely nearly as much on silly gimmicks.