While I do believe that there is an intriguing plot underneath it all, The Casting Of Frank Stone is in a weird position for me to recommend. Are you a fan of Dead by Daylight? Then I think you're gonna enjoy this Supermassive-flavored spin on the world of DBD. But for those who lean more as fans of narrative-horror experiences, there may be less here luring you beyond the fog.

While a gorgeous remake with great quality of life features, Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed still suffers by being itself. Outside of the aesthetic and choices, Epic Mickey was a fairly rote platformer with uninteresting challenges and objectives. Rebrushed adds a wonderful new coat of paint, but it’s still the same game at its core.

Ara: History Untold tweaks the Civilization formula, but doesn’t change it all that much. While it’s a well polished experience, I’m not sure it does enough to push the genre forward, settling instead to do what it does well. That said, good strategy games can be hard to find, and Ara is a good one in a crowded field.

Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics is what every retro game collection should strive to be. It presents the games within as close to their original forms as possible, while still offering players a wealth of options to customize their experience.

Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is a great time exploring, mining, drinking, singing, and more with friends on multiplayer than is steady with crossplay while also providing a solo mode for those wanting to handle things on their own and explore the mysteries of the Mines of Moria on their terms. With moments from John Rhys-Davies as Gimli, to lore drops in-game from characters such as Gandalf; Return to Moria will be a game any Lord of the Rings fan should have a fun time putting hours into.

Reynatis is close to a master at one trade, with its unique and refreshing combat system. But there’s too many other pieces that drag the overall presentation down, especially with its outdated graphics, poor Switch performance, awkward camera angles, and high price tag. However, even through all its minor to glaring flaws, and believe me there are many, it's an adventure I find myself looking fondly back on the things it does well.

Reynatis is close to a master at one trade, with its unique and refreshing combat system. But there’s too many other pieces that drag the overall presentation down, especially with its outdated graphics, poor Switch performance, awkward camera angles, and high price tag. However, even through all its minor to glaring flaws, and believe me there are many, it's an adventure I find myself looking fondly back on the things it does well.

Heading Out effectively combines the narrative and racing genres, then mixes in rouge-like elements to create something utterly unique. This is a game that thrives on the little details it provides the players, giving them just enough breadcrumbs to make connections on their own to concoct their own theories.

I wasn’t expecting much going into this port, but was pleasantly surprised with it. On PS5 at least, the loading screens aren’t unbearable, it looks and runs great, and while annoying. the compressed audio isn’t the worst thing in the world. If you’re looking to play this on an actual PS4 or PS4 Pro, however, steer clear as it is significantly more compromised with lengthy load times and an inability to reach the 60 fps target.

Funko Fusion feels like it actively goes out of its way to ensure you don’t have fun. Despite Funko choosing a few fun properties and characters to translate to a video game, a plethora of bugs, clunky gameplay, and frustrating moments continuously hamper your ability to ever enjoy the moment. I believe there may be a good game hidden deep within Funko Fusion, but it is buried under so many issues that I doubt many players will have the patience to find it. The lack of co-op upon launch is truly baffling, as that may have been the one thing to save this experience. At minimum, I'd wait until co-op is released and a few updates have been made before checking Funko Fusion out.

The Plucky Squire is an adorable adventure for everyone to enjoy. It has some issues, like glitches and a less than stellar story, but plucky really is the right word to describe the game. It's technically ambitious and impressively varied, making it easy to forgive its shortcomings.

Dead Rising’s Deluxe Remaster makes changes big and small to an all-time classic. Some changes work, some don’t, and ultimately none of them feel essential. Dead Rising remains a great game with or without this particular reconditioning. This Deluxe Remaster works best as an interesting thought experiment: what if Dead Rising released in 2024? It would be shinier, have autosaves, and noticeably fear its potential audience.

When Artificial Intelligence goes rogue, hacking is just what the doctor ordered. Evotinction is a mixed bag of stealth, action, and technology that sometimes struggles to stand on it's own circuit. However, the game is pretty solid with a good story at its foundation.

While trying to pay tribute to classic platformers, Akimbot fell short when it came to making its own identity. The main characters weren’t that interesting and the story was predictable, but it did have a couple of strengths. The look of the world and a great soundtrack makes this game an admirable effort, even if it wasn’t successful.

I Am Your Beast is a silly game and it has some jank. There’s not a lot to play unless you’re the speedrunning type but what’s here is fun. The delay and patch were sorely needed and I’m glad to recommend at the very least wishlisting the game on Steam. There’s some jank, the game isn’t a looker, and it’s not very long on its own, but it’s worth checking out if you want something quick and silly. From the sick kills that start with a headshot, letting you catch a gun midair. Other times hitting a beehive or explosive barrel and taking out multiple dudes is fun too.

Gundam Breaker 4 is the video game I never knew that I needed. Building my perfect Gunpla is the most relaxing gaming experience I have had so far in 2024. If you're a fan of Gundam you have to try this game.

Antstream Arcade is a must-have subscription for the retro enthusiast. It has a great selection of games, and even if every big name isn’t there and they aren’t natively downloadable, the cloud-based service works incredibly well. Add in a fantastic challenge system and local multiplayer, and this is an easy recommendation.

Total War: Pharaoh Dynasties is a solid game with extremely well-thought-out combat mechanics. I could play this game for hours and only spend my time battling. The dynasty system is a lot of fun. Overall, this game is solid.

Nintendo and MAGES defy all expectations, delivering a grim murder mystery filled with heartbreaking characters and a tragic narrative that stands among the visual novel genre’s best. Hopeful just as much as it is haunting, Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is a monumental feat of storytelling from Nintendo’s long dormant adventure series.

Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance TD is a solid tower defense game that becomes muddy with few game systems that the game doesn’t flesh out.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown doesn’t break the mold of any other generic racing simulator, which isn’t inherently a bad thing. It definitely scratches the itch of purchasing cool cars, racing them, upgrading them, and customizing them. The backdrop of Hong Kong Island is beautiful, but the overall visual fidelity here is lackluster and disappointing, especially in 2024. The progression wipe and constant server issues along with other technical bugs are unacceptable though, so I suggest waiting for a sale or more patches to polish out the experience.

As it stands, I can’t in good faith recommend Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland. I do believe there is a good game hidden underneath the game’s incredibly rough exterior, but I believe most people are better off waiting until that good game is dug out via patches. The single player experience is admittedly better than co-op, but the plethora of bugs in the co-op mode is still unacceptable. Some people may luck out and make it through the game encountering minimal issues, but if anybody’s experience is similar to mine then they will instantly regret the money they spent purchasing this game.

While the new epilogue is certainly better balanced than the original, it still has a lot of the same pitfalls. The cutbacks break through just enough to bring the DLC experience down. Persona 3 Reload’s Episode Aigis DLC is good but not great. They say “it’s about the journey” and that certainly rings true whether you’re in 2008 or 2024.

Astro Bot captures all of the strong points of a brand new puppy. It’s cute, playful, and doggedly loyal to PlayStation’s history. While it still has room to grow into its legs and sharpen its teeth, most missteps are easily forgiven. I mean, just look at it!

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 manages to do something very few licensed IPs can – it’s not just a great Warhammer game, it’s just a great game, period. It’s easily one of the best games of 2024, and we can’t recommend it enough.

Warhammer 40000: Speed Freeks is a solid entry in the Warhammer line of video games. It’s fun, fast, and runs well on the Steam Deck. Warhammer 40000 is in early access and is a must try for fans of the Warhammer franchise. [Early Access Provisional Score = 80]

Bleak Faith: Forsaken takes place in a beautiful science fantasy world that is begging to be explored. However, the constant bugs and frame rate drops make exploring this beautiful world on the PlayStation 5 a chore. If Bleak Faith: Forsaken receives more polish it could be one hell of a souls-like.

Squirrel With A Gun has been a lot of fun. I detail the technical issues and the somewhat cheap looking visuals but the core game is solid and I think it’s worth your time. If you want a solid, small scale collectathon that will give you giggles, Squirrel With A Gun might be for you. This isn’t my game of the year, but I think it says something that this dorky concept made for a pretty fun experience. It’s not violent since there’s no blood, it’s not just that one joke, it’s trying to be a simple and fun game with some genuinely good game design choices. This was a good game with some rough edges and I think it’s worth your time. Or maybe you just read the deez nuts joke in the headline and expected that to set the tone for the review.