If you are someone that enjoys single-player content in fighting games, then Invincible VS won't hold your attention for more than a few hours. However, for those who are ready to go online, then you are going to have a lot of fun with this, especially if you are a fan of the source material. Fans of Invincible are going to go crazy over this game and they did a perfect job adapting to the IP to a new medium. It's a very good 3v3 fighting game but the full package does feel a little barebones.

As an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink sandbox, Crimson Desert is endlessly compelling, and frankly, irresistible. As a single-player RPG trying to tell a story, it falls flat on its face. Amazingly, it features one of the best and most immersive open worlds since Red Dead Redemption 2, but tries to give it purpose with a narrative that will have you scratching your head, or worse yet, scrolling on your phone.

Legacy of Kain: Ascendance isn’t that bad of a game. But it’s also likely not what fans were waiting for. Having three characters to play through twelve levels sounds good. But all three play similarly and they aren’t evenly featured—with Kain only playable once or twice. Legacy of Kain: Ascendace is okay. But longtime fans will be left still waiting for the next big game in the series.

Pragmata was well worth the wait. It's an incredibly fun sci-fi adventure with amazing combat, lots of areas to explore, and two of the best protagonists I've seen in games in a while with Hugh and Diana. The story unfortunately may be run of the mill and predictable, but I still enjoyed the experience. Certain moments of the story hit hard like they should.

Life is Strange: Reunion is not only a major step up from Double Exposure, it's one of the best games in the series. Almost every criticism from the previous game was rectified in Reunion and gave Max and Chloe the closure that they deserved. Great writing, great characters and a pretty intense mystery to solve, this game could have gone off the rails at so many points. But Deck Nine managed to pull off a miracle here by delivering a fantastic game.

Resident Evil Requiem is one of the best, if not the best, Resident Evil games I’ve ever played. And I mean ever. The controls, the level(s) of difficulty, the characters, and the story are all immersive. The only thing I wanted to put down are those zombies. Capcom has done it again.

Marathon is a challenging, gorgeous, addictive, and deceptively deep extraction shooter. Bungie has created a gorgeous world with a captivating sci-fi story lurking beneath the surface, and thrown in their signature gunplay to create one of the year's best games. It is for a very niche audience. But for those willing to accept its extreme highs and lows, there is something quite compelling about its gameplay loop.

Esoteric Ebb is a gorgeously illustrated, dialogue-drunk RPG that marries Disco Elysium’s inner-monologues with D&D's gameplay bones. Its bureaucratic labyrinths, strange citizens, and bickering ability scores keep every conversation swaying between revelation and the ridiculous. Solid writing and solid technical performance make the whole investigation run smoothly. It’s a game for anyone willing to take the bad rolls with the good—and enjoy the story that spills out when the dice decide you’re not the hero today.

Dated mission structure and zombie design hold back Toxic Commando to an extent, but Saber Interactive still executed on a couple of fresh ideas. The Swarm Engine’s impressive zombie hordes, satisfying gunplay, and MudRunner-style vehicle physics that shouldn’t work but do are reason enough to grab a few friends and start blasting the undead.

WWE 2K26 is a great move forward for the series and the developers have laid down a lot of exciting groundwork that can be expanded upon in future games. The grind is still as bad as ever, though, and the Ringside Pass needs to be changed so the DLC wrestlers can be earned much earlier than they are now. Those issues aside this is a WWE game that I will absolutely be playing through most of this year.

The Prisoning: Fletcher's Quest is exactly as it presents itself. It wants to be more, but I wish it didn't think it had to be. It's regular retro platforming, with a good map, checkpoints, forgettable characters, and cool bosses. It's something to do. You'll probably play it twice, but that's twice the something to do.

The Switch ports of The Disney Afternoon Collection play just as well as the original release. However, the exclusivity of Goof Troop and Bonkers to these ports along with hardly any extras for both (including no Boss Rush or Time Attack modes) may divide some people. If you never picked up the original Disney Afternoon Collection, this is the definitive version. However, you might have to ask yourself if Goof Troop and Bonkers are worth currently being Switch exclusives.

There is a lot of fun to be had with Yakuza Kiwami 3. But the cracks are really starting to show with this series, and it feels stale in a lot of areas. On its own, Kiwami 3 is lot less fun than other entries in this series, despite some good new management games here. As a remake, however, it certainly isn't good enough to justify the original being delisted and for this to now be the definitive version of Yakuza 3.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. Fighting Force Collection didn't reinvent the wheel here, and I really wish it had. It's the same game. Take that for what it's worth.

A gorgeous remake of a classic JRPG that many players missed out on, this version of Dragon Quest VII swings hard towards accessibility (and might actually overshoot the mark a little bit). Visually gorgeous, with a fun episodic structure, this is a great way for fans to revisit this story or encounter it for the first time. My only caveat is a warning to be very careful with the "Quality of Life" settings, which make it entirely too easy to break the game, removing all of the challenge (and therefore all of the fun).

The depth of content and similarities to past space titles may be tempting, but even its dazzling display of stars and planets can't make up for the lack of worthwhile gameplay.

MAVRIX is an enjoyable open-world mountain biking game that leans into being more of a sim while remaining accessible. A few features don’t feel fully fleshed out, and the asking price is a little steep for what’s included, but it’s been getting periodic updates since releasing on PC.

Cairn is a mixed bag that I don't think will be for everyone. Persevering through a difficult section of the climb is extremely satisfying, but on the other hand, it can be extremely frustrating as well. I enjoyed my time on Kami, but there were times I felt beat down too, both by the mountain and its abrasive protagonist. Ultimately, it's hard to give Cairn a broad recommendation.

Mutant Football League 2 is one of the funniest video games I've ever played, with raunchy jokes that take no prisoners. But once the nostalgia of playing a violent arcade football game again fades, and you're hearing the same punchlines repeatedly, I don't know that its on-field gameplay will keep you coming back.

A lightweight but still impressive proof of concept for the inevitable day when AI-powered NPCs are the industry standard. Conversing with the bots is fun, and their personality parameters are interesting to toy around with. There isn't a ton of game here, but what is here feels like some crazy science-fiction fantasy I might have had when I was a kid. Warning: Causes fits of laughter in children.

I can't put my finger on why this game isn't perfect, but it's all the things I want in a modern beat 'em up. You can invite your friends and everyone will have a lot of fun. Play it solo only if you have to. After all, it's Mah-vel baby!

Hello Kitty Adventure Island is a sweet, fun open-world experience with quests to help move the story along. With new areas to explore and new friends to meet, this wholesome game is a great option for all cozy gamers young and old.

Some stability issues still hold Forestrike back but when it’s working, and it mostly does, it really works. The foresight mechanic is an excellent way to unlock fluid combat scenarios and it has the right amount of strategy required to be more than a mindless button masher. But you will need to find the right timing to mash the buttons so there is a level of skill required, but ample opportunity to practice your way to mastery. There is enough variety between the disciplines and the roguelike nature of earning skills and items on each run to keep things interesting long past when you get your money’s worth from a title that only comes in at 10 bucks to begin with.

Rustic Defense is a simplistic tower defense game but a very fun and very addicting one at that. The game could have used some more scenarios and different maps but it didn't take away from the fun I was having.

A great crossover between Demeo's polished and approachable gameplay mechanics, and D&D's world building, characters, and storytelling. Battlemarked is a blast in multiplayer, and doubles as an engaging single-player tactics game. It's perfectly acceptable to play Battlemarked flat, but real ones know that VR is where the magic comes alive. A few quibbles with the advancement system are not enough to rub the sheen off of this inspired iteration on Demeo's stellar core mechanics.

My 30,000-foot view of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is that it’s one of the most immersive and meticulous simulations you can play, for better or worse. But even Microsoft is not immune to some good old-fashioned simulator jank, which keeps it from totally sticking the landing.

Lumines Arise is NOT Tetris Effect Connected, and once you make that distinction, you'll enjoy this one. The effects can be overwhelming, but turn the ones that affect you off, and connect to the ones that allow you to enjoy the game. See what I did there?

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment successfully marries the button mashing combat of the Warriors formula with the visuals and sounds of Tears of the Kingdom. While the repetitive mission structure can get a little tiring (plan on taking breaks) and the game doesn't push any boundaries, the satisfying combat, impressive technical performance, and faithful recreation of Tears of the Kingdom's world make this an easy recommendation for Zelda fans that miss the sights and sounds of Hyrule.