Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 lands somewhere between remake and reimagining. It doesn’t land either perfectly, but it's still a ton of fun. There’s a lot to see and do, but I’ll always come back to just skating around, pulling off tricks just for the fun of it.

Lies of P: Overture is a fantastic, albeit slightly short, addition to the already incredible Lies of P base game. Clocking in somewhere between six to eight hours, Overture is an incredibly well-made expansion which does an impressive job of fleshing out the lore of Krat while providing impressive new set pieces to explore, weapons to master, Legion Arms to forge, and challenging bosses to defeat.

Bravely Default Flying Fairy is a great game, and while this HD Remaster cleans things up a bit its efforts often feel lacking. It looks better in some ways, but the same in others and plays better in some ways but worse in others. If you enjoy experimenting with character builds, it’s a great time, but it’s still going to take some grinding to get there. If you can persist through the grind, you’ll find the same diamond in the rough that the game was on the 3DS.

It’s so hard to score Palia when I look at my playtime of 75 hours and think of all the amazing things this game has to offer, from its in-depth characters, activities to indulge in, and endless possibilities in decoration. However, all of this is sprinkled with bugs, a ridiculously broken climbing mechanic and the fact that it seems far from being finished. It’s definitely come a long way since its launch in 2023, but we still seem to be so far away from its full potential.

Rematch is a great arcade sports title that’s sure to win over both hardcore and casual fans. With tight controls and excellent customization options, the title’s fun and easy to pick up. While the soundtrack feels lacking and matchmaking can occasionally balloon, you’d be hard-pressed to find anything like this rooted in traditional soccer. If you dig arcade soccer and are tired of gasoline fumes, you’ll have a great time with Rematch.

Rosewater is a marvelous surprise in the middle of the first half of 2025 games. With a captivating story and charming characters, traversing the wild west is a delight. It’s not as challenging as some other point and click games, but what Grundislav has built is a great example of what this genre can offer to reach a greater audience. Lasso this one up ASAP.

When the story gets going, it’s a lot of fun. There are twists and turns, epic fights with sick attacks, and genuinely interesting characters. I’d argue this is one of the series' best entries but it’s not as perfect as I remember, even with that decent dub. If you want to get into Yakuza, this is a good way to start but if you’ve been to the 1980s Kamurocho before, maybe keep to memes.

Mario Kart World has a lot of big ideas, but its execution on them can feel shaky. It has a massive, interconnected open world, but there’s not much to do in it and you barely spend any time on the carefully crafted racetracks. It bumps each race up to 24 participants, but can feel so chaotic as to be unparsable at times. The driving in and of itself is great, it’s just everything that surrounds it can feel half baked.

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour has some good minigames and technical demonstrations, but it feels like Nintendo is patting themselves on the back far too much. The technology here is impressive and I loved learning about it, and it could serve to teach people not plugged into gaming or tech what all these things do, but the game runs out of steam too quickly and becomes a paid advertisement.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is one of those rare moments where a game takes itself seriously as a work of art. It’s beautiful, touching, joyful, and tragic all at once. While you’ll be spending most of its runtime just driving trucks around instead of contending with the terrain, it’s still incredibly fun to play and witness its very human story unfold.

MindsEye is as beautiful as it is broken, vacillating between promise and problematic. With design choices rooted in the distant past and an infestation of bugs, it’s held back by an unforced error – releasing far too early.

Monster Energy Supercross 25 is a fun racing simulator that is a fine entry point for new players. The tracks are gorgeous, the sound is fantastic, and improving in this game feels so good.

Gex Trilogy is a must-play for longtime fans of the series, and a brilliant introduction for newcomers, being a perfect way to definitely experience everything Gex has to offer. The three games in this collection are strikingly varied, frenetically engaging and are oozing with personality. Games from decades past they may well be, but Limited Run Games have done a spectacular job of balancing the preservation of their original essence with the addition of modern gameplay features.

After a slow start, TRON: Catalyst fires on all cylinders in the second half of its narrative, with a great original story backed by a spectacular time loop take on the metroidvania genre. While the quest objectives and combat can become wearisome, riding around on a Light Cycle is still as cool as it’s always looked, and the alluring neon of the grid is captivating. Albeit with caveats, Catalyst is worth chippin’ into.

Remedy games are about the experience, and the team nailed that with FBC: Firebreak. While I wouldn’t say it’s in the upper echelon of their titles, Firebreak succeeds in being an entertaining cooperative adventure into the depths of the Oldest House. It’s fresh in a way only Remedy can make; a worthwhile experiment. Thanks to them, I’ll never look at sticky notes the same again.

I can’t get over how sweet Kabuto Park is, and it proves that simplicity can really be the best policy. However, it falters sometimes due to its small scope and simple premise. It allows for a lot of repetition in its gameplay, alleviated by a short runtime but present nonetheless. But don’t let this stop you from trying out such a relaxing and heartfelt indie title. For such a small price, why wouldn’t you at least give it a go?

Copycat is only about three hours in length and jumps between set pieces at a good pace, constantly switching up your tasks to prevent the game from becoming stale. You’ll wreak havoc in a house, roam neighborhoods and parks, sneak past guard dogs, hunt for food, fight off alley cats, and even chase animals as a panther in Dawn’s dreams, with no one set piece lingering too long. Despite its story which is purposefully uncomfortable to experience, it is an adventure well worth embarking on and will hopefully force other animal owners to take a long look at their own actions and make adjustments as necessary to ensure we provide our animals with the respect and love they deserve.

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is a good, feature-rich Metroidvania ARPG with an entertaining narrative, a big world to explore, and a variety of playable classes to try out. The story is fun, if a bit rote, but beautiful visuals and great voice acting help push it over the line. While the boss encounters can be infuriating at times and the checkpointing feels a bit unrefined, Mandragora remains an entertaining experience from tip to tail.

The WereCleaner is a short, and satisfying burst of fun with not much to nit-pick and complain about due to its conciseness. It’s simple and fun, with silly humor, addicting gameplay and a dash of challenge if you’re looking for it, and that’s all it needs to be. My only complaint is the same complaint I have with every pocket game, just give me more levels! The game is such a simple concept, I wish there were more mini challenges or anything I can get my claws on.

Labyrinth of the Demon King impresses with its crushing atmosphere and rewarding combat but falls victim to a dearth of novel ideas in its latter half.

Old Skies is an incredible adventure game story that will have you laughing, crying, and in awe - sometimes all at the same time. Its puzzles are pretty easy to solve, but the story and characters will have you glued to your seat until the final moments.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is oozing with charm and bursting with activities. While it all feels a little shallow, the constant feeling of progress is great and there’s a ton to customize. The story isn’t great, but it doesn’t need to be when there’s always something to do around the next corner.

Elden Ring Nightreign is a daring experiment that succeeds in delivering a fast-paced, replayable multiplayer experience, but only for genre veterans seeking a fresh take on the traditional FromSoftware formula.

There are a variety of weapons, abilities, items, and more at your disposal, as you would expect from a medieval dark fantasy. There are plenty of options to choose from so you can play your way, whether you want to go in stealthily or go in swinging. Playstyles can also be changed on the go, especially as you find new gear along the way. This is just a snippet of the overall picture of Tainted Grail. So far, the package we have been presented with feels familiar but also fresh and exciting, and I can’t wait to give you all a more in-depth breakdown.

Now that we have two instalments in the Duck Detective franchise, there is nothing stopping you from marathoning both and having the best ducking detective experience. This time around the setting and story caught my attention a lot more, with a great variety of characters and puzzles to solve. Don’t go in expecting a complete revision of its predecessor making the ultimate experience, it is pretty much the same game but with a new coat of paint, but for me that’s all I really needed. I’ll always come back for more with Duck Detectives shenanigans!

Overall, The Duck Detective is as lighthearted and as fun as it gets in terms of puzzle games. It’s the perfect game to unwind down to play. With such a stellar cast and sense of humor all in a cartoonish art style, it’s hard not to feel joy when playing this game. It has a bunch of little quirks that I haven’t mentioned in the review because the joy of this game is just experiencing it. The gameplay and fill in the blank sections definitely need some work and revisions in its sequel, but how can I not be happy to dive back into this little, silly loosey goosey world.

Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny is a lot of fun. The HD update looks fantastic, while the classic gameplay remains intact. There are some solid quality-of-life updates added that fans are sure to enjoy. The enemy and boss designs are great, and the ensemble cast keeps things interesting. For better or worse, the gameplay is still totally on the classic end and, while most burrs have been buffed out, a few snags may remain for newcomers. This remaster is responsible for winning me over to the Onimusha franchise, and I hope more folks feel the same.

Sea of Stars: Throes of the Watchmaker is an attempt to make the stars of the base game actual characters, and while it fails at that the effort is appreciated. Still, the game itself is a ton of fun, with great combat, gorgeous visuals, fantastic music, and fun puzzles.