Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos has a lot of obstacles in its way from becoming a solid gem worth your time. The first few hours are a bit of a drag to get through since the majority of this time you’ll spend either hating the dialogue or hating the difficulty from the (more predetermined than random) RNG that this game employs. Trudge through this and you’ll find that the learning curve gets easier, the writing simmers down a bit, but the difficulty still remains the same.

Banners of Ruin does a lot of things right, but its combat quickly grows stale as you progress further into the game. Enemies become tanks capable of dealing massive damage and the game’s difficulty becomes largely artificial, no longer rewarding strategic moves as you become overwhelmed by the enemies’ numbers, stats and passives. The game is really fun in the first few hours, but once you have learned the ins and outs, you realize it has already played its hand.

We’ve waited far too long for an Aliens game this good, but it’s finally here. With an exciting campaign, five exciting classes, a dazzling array of weapons, and a staggering array of monsters to use them on, Aliens: Fireteam Elite is a perfect organism.

Psychonauts 2 is the perfect sequel. It builds on everything the original game was while adding its own unique spin on gameplay and story. The overworld is a joy to explore and the levels are more stylish and dazzling than ever before with fantastic controls. It’s a fantastic experience that will stick with you, and has a ton to see and do.

Tormented Souls feels like a labor of love, paying homage to its predecessors and delivering a survival horror experience akin to the games of the genre’s glory days in the PlayStation 2 era of gaming. This game will not pull in newcomers to the genre, but lovers of survival horror will enjoy this game for its puzzles, tension, and environmental design, even if the game is lacking in some major areas.

Necrobarista is still a great story, but has a lot of issues a rerelease should have fixed by now. Everything from typos to not paying workers, this isn’t the ideal version of the game by any means when you add the terrible performance on top. It’s nice to cozy up with this game in bed with headphones, but it may still be better to wait for the PC update if you have a beefy desktop.

Hades is a fantastic game and is really worth all the acclaim and praise its received thus far. The game's amazing ability to both engage and challenge you is worthy of applaud and the now that the game is available on all platforms many more players will be able to enjoy this spectacular title.

Madden 22 is a step in the right direction for the franchise. It gives everyone something to get excited about. However, they are a tad far away from being considered back to the heights of Madden in the late 00’s early 10’s. With time, Madden 22 could be considered the best in the past six years, but in its current state it can’t be considered much better than 21. Promises only go so far, it’s time to get on the field and execute the playbook.

Ghost of Tsushima Tales of Iki delivers an absolute masterpiece to Sony’s PlayStation 5, alongside a remarkable expansion to an already phenomenal game. Some new mechanics keep things fresh, as does another excellent story from Sucker Punch. While there are a few hiccups to contend with, this is easily a must-have title for the year.

Mr. X Nightmare is a quality addition to an already quality game. You can feel the care taken to bring in the new characters without wrecking the balance of the game, the fantastic soundtrack, and a great new mode that’s positively addicting and well-made.

Twelve Minutes is an immaculate construction of narrative that manages to take an extremely compact apartment space and spin an incredibly substantial story in it. Every thread seems to lead to two more, and each one feels satisfying to complete as you head towards the final loop. The voice talents are on point, the gameplay fits remarkably well, and every loop is a new adventure. I implore you to take the time to check this one out, as Twelve Minutes is worth every minute you’ll spend with it.

A deeply personal two-hour meditation on saying goodbye that invites you to channel your lived experiences and walk alongside its characters. It’s a little sparse on the details, but No Longer Home still gives players plenty to chew on.

Trigger Witch is a surprisingly cute yet bloody homage to retro RPGS while also being an incredibly competent twin stick shooter. You can tackle the campaign solo or alongside a friend, adding much needed replayability. Despite the short length, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Evertonia. The characters, dialogue, backstory, and challenge left me satisfied and looking forward to a sequel.

B.ARK is a fun and incredibly chaotic shooter, one best played with friends. The levels move quickly and throw a variety of enemies and bosses at you, despite some of the bosses feeling a bit repetitive. Still, the lovable cast of characters, the quirky concept, the ability to rescue your teammates, and the push for players to be competitive all fuse together to create a fun, if short-lived experience that I found well worth tackling over a night with friends.

Fracked hits the slopes hard, slowing down at times to a frustrating degree, but doing so much right you keep on going. The gunplay is a lot of fun, the immersion is enjoyable, and the freedom of movement is surprisingly good, but I do wish the enemies spawned a bit slower and there was a bit more in terms of guidance. If you're looking to shoot up some grunts in a Borderlandsy setting while skiing, I can't recommend this one more.

While it’s a bit too short to realize its full potential, Boyfriend Dungeon is still a well written and fun visual novel/dungeon crawler. The characters are lovely, and combat is simple but functional. It’s certainly worth playing, but could use more content.

CrossCode: A New Home wraps up the story nicely while setting up for a possible sequel. The new content is largely fun, but a few massive difficulty spikes sour the experience. Still, it’s well worth the time if you enjoyed the game’s charming cast of characters.

While the overall world-building and customization options leave a lot to be desired, Eldest Souls is still a worthy game for Souls' fanatics despite its blatant flaws.

Last Stop was unlike any narrative driven game I’ve played. The stories were all unique, with fully fleshed out characters, great dialogue and voice acting, and a highly entertaining, if ultimately a bit of a letdown, story that finds satisfying ways to intertwine all three characters. Fans of Telltale’s game series will find a lot to love in this mature narrative centering on life, love, loss, betrayal, and redemption.

Chernobylite’s trifecta of gun combat, survival, and base management serves the game’s unique narrative system. With more features comes more shortcomings, but nothing drastic enough to take away from an otherwise compelling experience.

The Siege of Paris is a very enjoyable step up from Wrath of the Druids and leaves you wanting more, in a good way. If this is indeed the final big expansion for Valhalla, it’s a high note to end on. While I’m not a fan of the infinite content machines the developers seem intent on shoving into every game, the story content is excellent, Paris and the surrounding countryside are gorgeous, and the new gameplay additions mix things up enough to feel worthy of a paid DLC.

Delivering on the potential of the original launch, the Fire & Darkness expansion for Godfall finally gives us the absolutely gorgeous game we hoped it could be. With a fresh storyline to chew, a new realm to explore, and a massive expansion to the endgame content, Godfall: Fire & Darkness is a must-have.

Song of Farca is a great adventure game with some neat, cyberpunk twists. Each case will leave you wondering if you made the right choices until the credits roll. Before you meet the game’s well written cast of characters though, check if the game breaking glitches have been fixed.

NEO: The World Ends With You captures everything that made the original special and surpasses it in every way. With a great story and incredibly addicting combat, players joining the Reaper’s Game will be hooked from start to finish and beyond.

Solasta: Crown of the Magister may become one of my favorite CRPGs ever, though it isn’t there yet. Its adaptation of D&D 5th edition is as impressive as it is incomplete. Its campaign is as mechanically creative as it is narratively uninspired. I had a great time playing through this game, and I look forward to doing so again with a new party composition, but it’s unmistakable that this game is not finished cooking yet.

Some good warhammer 40k vibes can be found here but there’s just a bit too much going on in Necromunda: Hired Gun. The fast-paced FPS gameplay needs refining and is constantly slowed down by the RPG elements which in turn are not allowed to shine through the FPS aspect. I actually think this setting would lend itself more to a Skyrim style RPG more so than a first person shooter but this is what we got and I am actually a bit gutted that I can’t like it more than I do.

Unbound: Worlds Apart is a pretty standard puzzle platformer with its difficulty firmly planted in repeated trial and error. Despite gorgeous visuals, there’s not much interesting to see here.

Capturing the cyberpunk aesthetic perfectly, The Ascent is a fantastic example of twinstick shooters with a few tricks of its own. There are a few rough edges, especially with online multiplayer, but the RPG elements and gorgeous graphics and voice work more than keep you locked into this neon soaked universe.