Moonstone Island's world is a feast for the eyes, offering stunning pixelated visuals reminiscent of the world of Studio Ghibli. It does an amazing job fusing together Stardew Valley aspects with the likes of Pokémon and its new-age retro style compliments the game well. With the art and gameplay comes the unique and strategic deck-building battle system that is arguably the most distinguishing factor of Moonstone Island. Despite the bugs, Moonstone Island is a perfect game for those who enjoy a farm-and-fight adventure with a unique spin on combat!

Torn Away mixes beautiful hand-drawn aesthetics with the grim story of a little girl trying to survive a war and make it home. The game excels at establishing tone and getting the player to feel a sense of connection to the main character, Asya, through heartfelt character interactions and mini-games. While the brutal story beats hit hard at the beginning of the game, they lose some of their steam towards the end when you begin to expect them.

For pinball fans, this is a home run, for everyone else though, it’s a mostly-fun arcade experience even if a little short-lived. The five tables at launch are each engaging in their own ways, and provide creative uses of classic horror licenses. The flashing lights and thrilling modes however can unfortunately be dulled at times by seemingly helpless ball-outs and odd camera angles. Despite finding itself deep within a niche, there’s still fun to be had in spite of the drawbacks, whether you're a pinball enthusiast or casual arcade-goer.

Resident Evil 4 was a triumph of a remake, and it somehow one upped itself with VR. The movement is perfect, the terror is real, and it’s a fantastic new way to experience one of the best ways of the year. After eighteen years, Resident Evil 4 is the gift that keeps on giving.

Final Fantasy XVI: Echoes of the Fallen is very light on story, but provides some of the most fun combat scenarios in the game. If you enjoy the battle system, this is more of that at its heights. It’s not the most impressive or interesting DLC out there, but it’s very fun and provides a lot of spectacle.

Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is a small step forward from the original, but all those tiny tweaks make it feel that much better. Online matches feel seamless, the new and changed characters have a lot of variety, and the story is a fun if incomprehensible ride. However, it takes a bit too much of the first game out including offline unlockables or even getting kicked back to the main menu in single player if you lose your connection. Still, its strengths outweigh its weaknesses by a wide margin and is an absolute blast to play.

Endless Dungeon tries to do a lot and is largely successful. However, the mix of genres and focus on roguelite elements over tower defense falls a bit flat in the crowded roguelite space. It provides a few hours of fun, especially with a friend, but Endless it is not.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora has some excellent mechanical depth let down by repetitive missions and a very safe story. When you’re flowing through the environment taking out RDA soldiers with volleys of arrows, it feels fantastic. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t provide many opportunities to use the full breadth of its systems. Still, it’s drop dead gorgeous and very fun for what it is.

A showcase of what’s possible in VR, Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR delivers a completely unique foray into the world of Templars and Assassins, but in a first person perspective, and frankly, there’s nothing quite like it. While the Quest 3 isn’t up to the task, making for some wobbly frame rates, the game is thankfully a nausea-free experience you’ll want to experience.

A Highland Song has so much heart, it’s hard not to find something to love. I was drawn into the game due to the rhythm based traversal for running up the hills. With music from Laurence Chapman, Talisk and Fourth Moon, I found myself running up and down hills just to get the songs perfect. The story also has such a sweet progression, each hint drawing you closer and closer to the truth of it all. Plus, with how much there is to explore and the time mechanic, the replayability is insane given the cost of the game. From the art style to the music to the adventure itself, it’s easy to get lost in the Highland Song.

An absolute blast from start to finish, Arizona Sunshine 2 outdoes its predecessor in every way, and that’s high praise indeed.

A few bugs continue to hold it back, but about 50 hours of fun is yours for the asking. While it doesn’t take any risks, the Spaceport Expansion for Construction Simulator lets you build an entire space program for a small island from scratch, and that’s satisfying.

If there’s any one thing that AirportSim absolutely nails, it’s realism. Every vehicle is slightly grimy from outside storage and use, and the controls on the jetway are the exact ones you’ve walked past time and again while boarding. The rivets, bolts, and covers on the planes look realistic. Even the sorting facility for luggage looks slightly worn, with scrapes on the bumpers from previous drivers. Sure, all of your passengers are low-poly clones, and they often repeat, but I’m hoping somebody will mod that in the workshop.

Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord is a great idea. Playing as a Ghostbuster recruit in VR is exactly what you’d have hoped for when you heard of this game, from the proton pack to the Ecto-1. Until a fix is discovered for the audio, however, the ghosts will continue to inhabit the streets of San Francisco, completely unrestricted.

If you’re a fan of Dredge, then I would recommend The Pale Reach without hesitation, it’s a good piece of new content to sate your appetite until Ironhaven releases. However, keep in mind that this DLC won’t change your experience of the main game all that much if you’ve already completed it, it just gives you another chain to explore. All in all, it’s like adding another puzzle piece to a completed puzzle.

Revealing the occult mystery bound to the quaint town of Kieferberg is captivating, both in terms of an unbelievably gorgeous setting and charming gameplay. Whether you’re making ritual wine for a golden serpent or tending to the village hens, it’s an intriguingly dark story into the folly of greed that is a delicacy to the eyes and one that is equally delightful to play, even if there are some slight hiccups.

While Naruto x Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm CONNECTIONS finally adds some genuinely important features to the series, it still lacks some important features and a large portion of its other content is passable.

Super Mario RPG is a classic for a reason, and its remake stands just as tall as the original. The visuals and sound are both top notch, and while some new features make the already easy battles even easier, this is still an excellent game that will have you grinning from ear to ear the whole way through.

Party Animals presents an overall fun and chaotic experience that will have players laughing with their friends. The characters are cute, the boards are fun and the multiplayer aspect is a plus. However, since the release date, not much has been added which makes the game short-lived with content and can demotivate players to pick this title up again.

Despite its incredible art direction and pixelated visuals, The Last Faith fails to encapsulate what makes its inspirations so brilliant. The plethora of poor and frustrating game mechanics and design choices, combined with technical performance issues and lack of accessibility options, makes this one of my biggest gaming disappointments of the year.

While the UI takes a huge step backwards, new ways to play are a step forward, making Just Sing 2024 is a marked improvement over both predecessors.

With four playable factions, excellent writing, and a compelling setting, Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin delivers a solid RTS, albeit one that takes little risk. A handful of bugs and design choices may hamper the fun, but it hits stride when it lets you be powerful and unrestrained.

Tales of Arise - Beyond the Dawn might not be the most necessary followup ever made and you’ve seen this kind of story told in RPGs many times before, but it's still delightful nonetheless. Combat remains a blast, the story is thoughtful with a fantastic final boss, and the world feels like a realistic impression of what a year after global slavery would be like. Beyond the Dawn is exactly what it should be, nothing more and nothing less.

Although a lackluster campaign and reused content holds it back, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III has a few great tricks up its sleeve. The multiplayer engages in a way its predecessor missed the mark, and open-world Zombies is exactly as entertaining as it sounds. There's more to be desired as a whole, but as rushed as it was, MWIII has solid elements that can be enjoyed.

In summary, Persona 5 Tactica offers a great story with engaging factors, vibrant colors, dynamic art styles, new characters, and music. It masters a compelling story while also presenting older and nostalgic characteristics of Persona 5. With a fresh new coat of paint, Persona 5 Tactica is worth it to suit up as a Phantom Thief and liberate the worlds of the Metaverse.

Teardown has some cool tech and ideas behind it but is too structured and restrictive to give the player the freedom they crave.

Everything about Move It! feels like it should work, and when it does it’s a lot of fun. The problem is that doesn't always work. Some rotten apples in the microgame selection and the Joy-Con hardware's awkward fit with the overall concept muddy up an otherwise good time. Given the discombobulating nature of WarioWare, some muddying can be acceptable up to a point, but Move It! occasionally crosses the line from being playfully antagonistic to frustrating for the wrong reasons.

Fashion Dreamer dives into the deep end of sandbox gameplay and loses a lot of charm in the process. Having everything available from the get go is nice, but it lacks any motivation to keep playing after the first few hours. Making outfits is a ton of fun, there’s just not much to do or see outside of that.