Homeworld 3’s campaign is a majestic space odyssey showcasing some of the innovative spirit of its predecessors and its presentation is stunning. Though its co-op elements are founded on a good idea, the War Games mode feels like it cuts away some of the best aspects of the game in the rush to be a portion-sized multiplayer experience for the modern age. It’s an enjoyable space RTS before being a strong Homeworld title.

Sand Land definitely isn’t essential, but if you have an interest in vehicle combat or a classic story written by one of manga’s greats, it’s worth playing. If you see Sand Land at a reasonable price, you’re going to have a good time.

It’s exactly what it says on the tin, a top-down Zelda-inspired twin stick shooter, and it’s polished to a mirror finish. It’s hard to imagine any game that could do this concept better.

King Arthur: Legion IX is a solid RPG with crunchy and satisfying turn-based combat that takes place in a setting you won’t soon forget – a bit janky and rough around the edges, but good fun.

Total War: Warhammer 3 – Thrones of Decay is Creative Assembly’s most thematic, detailed, and passion-filled expansion yet, using years’ worth of knowhow to bring some of the coolest Warhammer characters from the page onto the screen in a faithful and fun way. Best of all, the ability to purchase each faction separately means that players will get exactly what they want without having to pay for something they don’t feel as passionate about. Thrones of Decay is exactly what Total War: Warhammer 3 needed – it makes you excited to be a fan again.

Though not content-complete, Manor Lords feels like an incredibly fresh take on city-building, borrowing mechanics from other genres and fusing them authentically with history to create something unique and special. Its mechanical foundations could not be more solid, so all this game needs to fully unlock its immense potential is more time and meat on its bones...We aren’t scoring Early Access reviews, so all I’ll say is that I highly recommend this game even ahead of its full launch, if the developer’s vision speaks as much to you as it does to me. [Early Access Review - "Recommended"]

I often found myself lost for hours in the world of Stellar Blade, but I was also pining for what the game could’ve been. The world-building is excellent, but the dialogue is not up to the same standard, and the story’s illusion of choice funnels you down the same path. There is a lot of promise here, but it fails to convert that into excellence.

Despite those minor gripes, Nexus 5X is a fantastic turn-based strategy game to play on a game night: It’s easy to get into, has strategic depth, and an important social element that will make you hate your friends – at least for the duration of the game.

Tales of Kenzera: Zau breaks a lot of conventions of the metroidvania genre, focusing more on story than exploration and outfitting you with most of your abilities from the get-go. It’s a short experience that tries, both subtly and more obtusely, to weave a tale of loss, grief, and acceptance. In both regards, the result is a resounding success, with only a few small nitpicks to be found throughout. In a crowded metroidvania landscape, Tales of Kenzera: Zau stands out as one of the best in recent years.

TopSpin 2K25 deserved a few more refinements, be it on the technical side of things or in the roster. But it has a solid gameplay foundation, and it can be exciting both on and off the court. While hamstrung by a couple of minor shortcomings, there’s more than enough here to give us hope for the future of the TopSpin franchise.

As a fan of Suikoden, I couldn’t be much happier with how this turned out. I’ve been waiting for something like Suikoden to come along again since childhood, but I never dreamed I’d have to wait for the original creator to come back to see it happen. I just wish Yoshitaka Murayama were here to read the praise he deserves for carving out such a unique, inimitable identity in the genre.

The Rising Tide is considerably more content-packed than the initial Echoes of the Fallen DLC, but it doesn’t change 16’s fate. If you want more of Clive Rosfield’s adventures to defy the gods, then The Rising Tide is for you, but if you only have a passing curiosity, then you probably won’t regret skipping over Leviathan in Final Fantasy 16.

It was one of the best games of 2023, and the new update has made it even better. It’s a game that everyone needs to play for themselves as each journey is unique, even though you will likely want to dive in for another unique journey straight afterwards.

Stacklands is an excellent little survival card game that’s quite unlike anything else on the market. It’s cute, deeply addictive, and has the potential to take away hours of your life, although its implementation on Switch leaves a lot of room for improvement. Still, if I can spend 40 hours stacking chickens on top of each other to make eggs, then it can’t really be that bad, can it?

Not only does Unicorn Overlord have a deep story, but each member plays so differently that I was excited to learn just what they could do. Maybe I would have better understood all the strategy behind it if I sank an additional 60 hours into the game, but I left feeling satisfied and I’m more strategy game curious than I ever thought I would be.

Berserk Boy isn’t Mega Man Zero, but it tries its hardest to capture those vibes, and mostly pulls it off. It’s a bit repetitive, and the story isn’t really worth paying attention to, but its fast, fluid, and fun movement and combat make it worth playing for anyone who’s a fan of Sonic, Mega Man, or Azure Striker Gunvolt.

Rise of the Ronin doesn’t have the production values of something like Ghost of Tsushima, but it’s mechanically and thematically superior. If you can handle the choppy frame rate, flat visuals, and stilted performances, you’ll find an open-world game with a lot of heart, a true identity, and plenty of nuances to master.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 starts out with the same level of mystique and overwhelming scope that Elden Ring hits you with, but once you understand how this world functions, you become a master of it. It’s daunting, sure, but after you overcome that initial hurdle, it’s incredible. I adored tearing through goblins, shooting ballistae at drakes, clinging to flying dragons, and changing the very fate of the world as the Arisen. Dragon’s Dogma 2 is easily the best action RPG of 2024 so far – and is very unlikely to be dethroned – and manages to go toe-to-toe with FromSoftware’s magnum opus in terms of how impactful and absorbing exploring the world feels. This is what Dragon’s Dogma was always meant to be, and it’s a masterpiece.

Alone in the Dark’s biggest flaw is that it’s unfocused, unwilling to commit to its core premise, and unable to settle into anything that feels comfortable. When it’s in its puzzle-solving element, everything feels great, but in trying to ape other recent games in the survival horror genre, it ultimately falls apart.

Ex Astris is a very solid start for Nous Wave Studio and worth picking up for anyone willing to sink their teeth into a deep combat system on the go or wanting to experience a mobile JRPG without the gacha looming in the background.

Hi-Fi Rush runs incredibly well on PS5, with a rock-solid 60fps output, fast loading times, and a resolution target that looks close to native 4K. It looks excellent on a 4K display. The 3D audio integration is also noteworthy, although the DualSense integration leaves a little to be desired. The same is true for no cross-save support.

Goblin Stone is a wholesome version of Darkest Dungeon, ticking all the same boxes without being a blind copycat – meaningful additions like the breeding system and its narrative ensure that it’s a unique experience that can stand on its own. Though the restrictions of its budget do show here and there, it’s clearly a labor of much love and craftsmanship that will keep you entertained for many hours.

As far as wrestling games go, this series is still the best there is at capturing the spectacle of these larger-than-life personas and turning the crazy, dangerous, and sometimes downright silly action we see on TV into a playable format. It ticks all the boxes you’d want for an annual sports series and comes with those loving touches that wrestling fans will appreciate.

The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island doesn’t do anything particularly fresh or new for the series, but it looks good, plays well, and has refined the series’ signature gameplay to near perfection. It’s brutal, difficult, and likely tough to adapt to for total newcomers, but once you’ve got the hang of it, you’re hooked for good.

Penny’s Big Breakaway is the closest somebody that isn’t Nintendo has gotten to making 3D platforming feel perfect, and that’s a huge achievement in itself. It’s not perfect by any means, but it’s hard not to love something that’s made with such passion for retro 3D platforming.

The setup is frustrating and can even feel like a waste of time, but I also appreciate how it forced me to change my expectations. Pacific Drive expects you to approach it on its own terms, and if you’re willing to do that, you’re in for quite a ride.

Despite all of the playable cards being the standard 52-card pack, the extra systems surrounding it create a gameplay loop just as – if not more – complex, addictive, and downright joyous as Slay the Spire, and I don’t say that lightly.

The moral choices didn’t really stick. In Papers, Please, you are helping your family, the women being trafficked, and the citizens generally. In Corponation, you are only helping yourself. There are multiple endings, but the ending I reached had a twist that felt so obvious I didn’t realize it was meant to be a secret. There are just too many hints given throughout to make it feel clever, and like many other aspects of the game, it struggles with balance. A glimpse of a good game can be seen here, but it couldn’t quite stick the landing.