Beneath all the ugly/stylish trappings, you have an open-world mystery game, where you have to search for clues, question suspects, and figure out whodunnit. In that sense, the game is fairly rewarding, and it even challenges you in a way that most other games of this ilk don’t, in that it leaves the “who” of the whodunnit up to you, and makes it clear that the decision of who to convict is in your hands. Given how frequently most mystery games only offer one path to a solution, it’s intriguing to see a game that takes such an open-ended approach. But as far as I’m concerned, it’s a great idea wrapped in a nauseating package. No judgment if Paradise Killer’s hyperstylish aesthetic appeals to you, but I’m going to have to pass on this one.

MMBN4 has slicker interfaces and improved visuals.

I can't say, in all honesty, that it's an approach that speaks to me (I like my games to be obvious and linear, darnit!), but I can say that if you're the type of person who can appreciate the journey as much as the destination in a game, then Knytt Underground should be well worth your time and money.

For the most part, though, Just Cause pulls players along with a promise of bigger and badder weaponry.

You may not be constantly smashing skulls with nunchucks and slicing through robots with katanas, but the game still doles out action in smaller chunks, move by move by move. It’s also fun to think strategically, figuring out how you can dance across the board without sustaining too much damage while also taking out key enemies along the way. Of course, I shouldn’t have expected anything less from a developer like Strange Scaffold. Whether it’s games about airports run by dogs, match-3 games based on a franchise that doesn’t exist, or a horror-infused homage to Max Payne, they know how to give their games a spark of originality. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown shows that even when they’re working with a more known quantity, they’re still adept at finding an approach that no one has ever taken before – and at making that work.

It’s fun to revisit events from the past four films, and there’s a hefty amount of comedic moments that take the edge off the more horrific and visceral moments found in the films.

I can completely understand if the weirdness (or even grossness, depending on how strongly you feel about a bunny girl looking for her master) of Rabi-Ribi turns you off the game entirely. But at the same time, there’s something to be said for not throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Like, say, Monster Monpiece before it, Rabi-Ribi may have some pretty questionable aspects, but it also has some pretty enjoyable ones, too. I leave it up to you to decide which of those things wins out.

Like all Karaoke titles, this is a must buy for anyone from the tone deaf to the singing experts.

So while Back 4 Blood isn’t quite a slam dunk when it comes to other co-op shooters on the market, it’s still a pretty fun zombie killing time that will be easy for people to pick up and play but may take some time to get acquainted with maps, objectives, and what can often feel like a steep difficulty curve. I’m sure there are multiple things that can be ironed out as the development team focuses on bugs, servers, and difficulty balancing, but out of the gate it’s a fun enough experience for sure, and worth checking out. Also worth noting that this is a Game Pass title, making it sort of a no-brainer if you’re on an Xbox platform.

Isn’t without its flaws, but there is way more good than bad, and most of the bad is hardly worth mentioning.

Deadlight looks absolutely gorgeous in motion, and I adore every bit of it that involves me ducking through open windows into abandoned motel rooms, houses, warehouses, and just seeing the absolutely wrecked world surrounding it all. It feels and looks like you'd expect a post-apocalyptic world to be, but all within a 2D space, which is unique enough to make Deadlight worth your time.

Voyage is probably the first game I’ve ever played from Ratalaika where its visuals are so good that they make the game worth playing, even if the gameplay itself isn’t that challenging or exciting. It may not mean that you need to stop what you’re doing right now to play Voyage, but it does mean that if you decide to pick this game up, you may get a lot more out of it than you could’ve possibly expected going in.

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.

To be sure, even with its bugs and glitches, there’s still a decent game to be found in The Lamplighters League. It doesn’t quite hit the highs it could, however, so if you’re enticed by the promises of XCOM-meets-Indiana Jones, be aware that performance issues mean it’ll never quite be as good as it could be.

Of course, I’m sure I’ll regret complimenting Golfinite a few months from now, when there are half a dozen different versions of the game clogging up the New Releases section. But for now, before we get the rush of “Ultra Deluxe Summertime Fun Editions” that are surely in its future, I’ll say that golf fans could do a lot worse than checking Golfinite out.

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

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.

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.

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.

Everything in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 comes back to how much you like Smash Bros., and how much you want to play a game that’s similar to it but ever-so-slightly different. If your answers to both of those questions is “a lot”, then you’re definitely going to want to check this one out.

There is a ton to do in Starfield, from building outposts, to designing your own ship, to crafting and cooking. Overall, I think Starfield is just okay, and while it does have some shiny spots, it still has a lot of rust on it too. I like the game’s story, and it grabbed my attention and held on tightly enough where I just wanted to do the main quest, as everything else was just noise to me. I was not a fan of the non-space combat but both flying, and ship-to-ship combat was quite fun. Overall Starfield just didn’t hold my interest like past Bethesda games did.

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.

Even as someone who likes cats and puzzles – in other words, the target audience – I wouldn’t say I’d recommend Quilts and Cats of Calico unless you’re already a fan of the board game. No matter how cute and cuddly it may present itself as, the reality is much more demanding.

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.

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.

Dread Delusion has a very clear idea of what kind of game it wants to be, and who it appeals to – and if you’re in that target market, then this is a must-play game 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.