Venba is a heartfelt tale of an immigrant mother doing her best to raise a son in Canada while passing on her Tamil culture. It’s a story not often told, and it will stick with you long after the credits roll. Learning about this culture is a ton of fun and done through inventive puzzles having you cook traditional dishes. It’s a gorgeous, passionate game that gives you a glimpse into another culture.

Lisa: The Painful & Lisa: The Joyful are cult classics for a reason, with masterful merging of story and gameplay to create a harrowing and hilarious adventure. You’ll laugh, cry, and rage across this fascinating post-apocalypse with excellent new features and content, making it easier than ever to take in this touching tale.

Lisa: The Painful & Lisa: The Joyful are cult classics for a reason, with masterful merging of story and gameplay to create a harrowing and hilarious adventure. You’ll laugh, cry, and rage across this fascinating post-apocalypse with excellent new features and content, making it easier than ever to take in this touching tale.

With unrelenting charm, excellent writing and voice work, and an art style that is sure to put a smile on your face, Disney Illusion Island is the magical Mickey Metroidvania you didn’t know you needed.

Double Dragon Gaiden focuses on replayability to its detriment. Solid combat mechanics give way to balance considerations made to justify all of the difficulty sliders and upgrade systems. If I had to pick between a game with a lot of “replayability” versus a game I simply like to play, the latter will win out every time. Double Dragon Gaiden isn’t far off from being enjoyable on the merits of the gameplay alone, but it’s far enough to consider going back to the dojo and polishing its Sou-Setsu-Ken technique.

Exoprimal’s dreadful narrative and foundational mishaps drain the life out of the fun to be had, leading to one of Capcom’s roughest outings in recent years.

At just $14.99, Execution Force gives you fresh ways to combat the demonic Nurgle horde with snipers, psykers, poisoners, and spies at your disposal, the forces of Chaos don’t stand a chance.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie serves as the grand conclusion to the Crossbell and Cold Steel story arcs, tying up loose ends with an all-star crossover cast of characters. It does very little to catch new players up to speed with the narrative and context, and ultimately is not a good place to start for newcomers. However, Reverie features an incredibly in-depth gameplay experience to keep even the most hardcore of fans engaged for hours on end.

Gunfire Games knew exactly what they were doing when working on the sequel to their sleeper hit from 2019. Remnant 2 improves upon its predecessor in almost every way, with overhauled systems, beautiful environments, fancy weapons, new enemies, deadly bosses, more build variety, and last but not least, more cooperative action. This is a no brainer must play for anyone who enjoyed the first game or for those looking for some challenging gunplay.

Everybody 1-2-Switch! is just a very difficult game to enjoy. Most of the minigames are boring, and you have little say over how or if you can even engage with them. The game would be inoffensive if you had access to all minigames from the get go, and needing to unlock all of them individually is a baffling decision when combined with the random selection and weird preference towards UFO and Squats.

In the post-apocalyptic world of Miasma Chronicles, players embark on a gripping journey with Elvis, a young man possessing a unique glove that can control the devastating Miasma. Developed by The Bearded Ladies, known for Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden, this turn-based tactical game offers a captivating story and memorable characters, though it follows a mostly linear narrative. While the exploration aspect may feel repetitive, the game truly shines in its intense combat, featuring Elvis's glove and strategic elements inspired by games like X-COM. With customization options, evolving characters, and no need for grinding, Miasma Chronicles delivers an accessible and engaging experience for players seeking a balance of gameplay and narrative.

Slipstream Blue Hour successfully reignites the magic of retro racing, inviting players to relive the joy and excitement that defined a generation of gamers. While its gameplay may feel repetitive in the long run and may not match the advancements of modern racing games, Slipstream Blue Hour is a charming and delightful tribute to the classics. With its wealth of content, fresh twists, and captivating blue hour-themed tracks, it's the perfect excuse to embrace nostalgia and embark on a thrilling journey through Slipstream's beloved retro world. So buckle up, hit the gas, and let Slipstream Blue Hour take you on a joyful ride back in time.

Viewfinder is a beautiful and heartfelt journey that challenges the player in different ways. Perspective means everything in this game, and the challenges you face will give you a whole different view on puzzle solving games. Each puzzle is interesting and never feels repetitive or overly complicated. This game is a ton of fun, I can’t recommend it enough.

VanillaBeast: Retro Knock-Out! embraces the term parody and is full of action-packed, strategy-based combat and humorous jokes, and easter eggs. Overall, it is a fun and hilarious experience that requires attention to detailed combat in order to become victorious. I loved landing a satisfying punch to the jaws of my opponents upon getting a TKO!

Part homage, part sequel/reboot, Operation Wolf Returns: First Mission is a return to what we loved about the arcade games, but now in VR for a new layer of immersion. While it’s relatively short, it’s a lot of fun and serves perfectly to introduce new players to the medium.

Homebody is unnerving. The puzzles are difficult, and it’s extremely rewarding when you slowly chip away at them as you uncover the secrets of the house. Equally, it’s immersive — you’ll slowly morph into the player character’s shoes and feel her fear of isolation. The only trouble with Homebody is it eventually feels less and less like a horror game, as you’ll eventually realize that it’s not all that scary — and quite forgiving.

Despite being held back by neglected gameplay elements and an overeager narrative, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals still offers an enjoyable experience.

Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE manages to live up to its mystery adventure predecessor and establish a name of its own in the process. Removing the shroud of mystery around each case was intriguing, and made for some of the best twists that I couldn’t have seen coming. The wonderfully eccentric cast balances out the dark and gritty narrative in a way that manages to create a stellar adventure of investigation and seeking the truth at any cost.

Trepang Studios knew exactly what type of game they were trying to make from the start, and they more than succeeded in doing so. Despite a few technical hiccups, Trepang2 is an absolute banger from start to finish, providing exquisite gunplay and an intricate narrative. If you're looking for an adrenaline-fueled and horror-inducing shooter that keeps you on the edge of your seat, look no further because Trepang2 has got it all.

While Gylt has some tragic elements in its story, it’s even more tragic that it was tied to the sinking ship that was Google Staida. Luckily, with its re-release, adults and children alike will be able to get lost in the Lovecraftian lore, unnerving enemy design, and clean aesthetics. Overall, Gylt packs intrigue into every aspect of its gameplay and story without telling you the answers outright, leading to great moments of discovery.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is one of the best puzzle games out there, and this remaster only improves on perfection. Its sharp and witty writing is accompanied by a gripping murder mystery plot, a beautiful art style, and an ear worm soundtrack. Ghost Trick absolutely deserves more attention than it got back on the DS, and hopefully this resurrection will change its fate.

Preserving the true timeline alongside my AI companion was certainly an interesting investigation. Finding clues amongst the crowds was a simple yet entertaining gimmick, often making for enjoyable short play sessions. With a large amount of story missions alongside a decent free-play mode, there’s definitely fun to be had even if the gameplay lacks complexity.

We recognize that Synapse tried hard but may have accomplished little but style. However, we must also acknowledge that Synapse may not be a game for everyone. It is brilliantly inspired and tries to combine successful mechanics that, in theory, would have resulted in a compelling game. If you are up for a tough challenge and are into Soulslike games, Synapse may be worth playing. For an FPS player, the game should last around 12 hours, and that is 12 hours of a solid VR game; it is immersive, has interesting abilities, intriguing gameplay choices and a great atmosphere. But that is the right amount of time before everything becomes mundane and repetitive. So suppose you are like me and must spend several hours grinding, doing and seeing more of the same to go past the first few areas of Synapse. In that case, I suggest you skip it altogether and find a more approachable and less repetitive game to play.

If you like Texas Hold ‘Em Poker and stories about found family, this is the game for you. You take on the role of an investigator, working for… well, you’ll find out. Your job is to investigate if the creatures on the ship are dangerous and worth taking out. Seems weird, yeah? Well Sunshine Shuffle has plenty of heart. Each character has a back story and with a couple story twists, it’s really fun. There are some minor issues when it comes to pacing, but in general, if you like card games and cute stories, you’ll enjoy Sunshine Shuffle.

Crash Team Rumble is a pick up and play multiplayer game that is shockingly fun. It gives players freedom while encouraging teamwork, with a variety of stages and characters. It has quirks and imbalances, but you’re never too far from the next match or unlockable.

While Sonic Origins Plus’ additions feel like they should have been in the base game, Amy is a delight to play as. She’ll have you playing these four excellent games in new ways, despite some odd design decisions. Unfortunately, the selection of Game Gear games have not aged well and are marred by some terrible sound emulation.

Park Beyond is a theme park simulation game from Bandai Namco that offers players a thrilling journey of creativity, strategy, and park management. The Impossification takes your park to the next level, making this a truly Amazing and Fun theme park building experience. The game does have a few bugs to be addressed, however, there’s so much to love here for newcomers and players returning to the genre that they can be easily overlooked once you get hooked.

Pikmin 1 and 2 on Switch are the barest of bare bones ports. The clarity added by HD resolution and 16:9 support simply isn’t worth losing the improved controls of the Wii versions. In addition, these ports lose some of the original’s charm and contain strange glitches. While it’s great to have these games available on modern consoles, the Wii or GameCube releases are still the way to go if you can.