In Other Waters is a great little adventure. While part of the appeal lies with its design, its presentation — its imagining that possible disconnect an AI controller may have in both seeing and not seeing the world around them — it’s the sneaking-in of unease at such large, open bodies of water, where both visuals and tone strike an impressive middle-ground. Some may want to denote this as sluggish, as intentionally slow for some artistic pay-off. But there’s a wonderful amount of emotion to be felt here. Even if it’s merely through some readjusting one’s perception on navigating an alien world — a realization that things aren’t as hostile or as tense as you’d usually expect. Through that clever mix of minimalist color, shape and the vast negative space all around, In Other Waters conjures one of the year’s most surprising and serene recommendations for screen and portable console alike.

Even though Shadow Warrior has minor technical imperfections and runs about two hours too long, it’s nothing short of a blast.

Even in its most tepid of opportune changes, WRC 10 still finds ways to vex and test in ways that are both punishing but enjoyable to see through. Perhaps the biggest complaint you can utter about this year’s release is its surprising lack of indulging in the time periods it’s aiming to evoke, through its call-backs and roster inclusions alike.

Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher is a pleasant surprise that was extremely unexpected. From the recent revival of the Monster Rancher titles to Ultraman finally making an impact overseas, it’s a delight. It’s worth noting that this title is aiming to appeal to fans of the Ultraman franchise first and foremost, but there’s tons for those who have never experienced it before to love. Even the ugliest or creepiest kaiju can become endearing and lovable after spending time training them long and hard to be their absolute best. It’s a title that’s easy to get into and doesn’t require a ton of trial and error to figure everything out. Fans of giant monsters will want to consider picking up Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher, especially if it’s always been their dream to raise them and fight against other massive and iconic kaiju.

With some tuning of the initial time mechanic and a rework of the characters, Atelier Firis could have been the best the series has seen. Still, it can boast the best world the franchise has offered to explore, and that is saying something.

No element of Harvestella’s gameplay is exceptional, but somehow all this imperfect and mismatched elements come together to in a way where the overall package ends up being greater than the sum of its parts. The farming system is simplistic and the combat is mediocre, but in spite of itself it’s easy to get caught up in the lives of the villagers and fall into the trap of wanting to play for just “one more day” which turns into half a season.

Fire Emblem Warriors pays tribute to the most recent 3DS titles that helped the series take off in recent years. While it would have been more varied if they had included more than just a handful of characters from older entries, it still creates an enjoyable action packed spin-off for new and old Fire Emblem fans alike. Fire Emblem Warriors is an easy title to pick up and play at any time, regardless if just doing one mission or sitting down to grind for a full session. Whether a fan of the series or just looking for another title to play with friends, Fire Emblem Warriors makes for a great time with plenty of content to keep players coming back for more of its perfectly-captured action.

Whether you play with the keyboard/mouse setup or use a 360 pad, you’ll get solid controls. It’s a challenging, but rewarding game and its surreal audio/visual combination will be stuck in your head for quite some time.

It’s fun to look at and more fun to play — especially with gyro controls. If you’ve been seeking a new FPS adventure on Switch, give Hypercharge Unboxed a shot.

Though there may be better and more narratively-intriguing entries out there already, for genre enthusiasts focused squarely on the puzzles themselves, Relicta‘s subtle self-awareness in its own pitch — as much the assortment of challenges on display — are enough to help it win out in the end.

Where is my Heart? is an enjoyable puzzle platformer romp.

John Wick Hex is a worthwhile playthrough for those with a fondness for turn-based strategy games or a desire for a challenge, but remains tough to recommend to those who only want another opportunity to spend time in the established world of John Wick.

Darius Cozmic Collection does offer a lot of enjoyment for fans of shmups, regardless of which version is played. It can be criticized for being a cash grab attempt for splitting the arcade and console titles into two separate collections when combining them into one would still be comparable to many other retro collections. But those complaints aside, each collection does a good job at preserving an authentic classic Darius experience as there is something inherently fun about teaming up with a buddy to blast some robot fish. The Darius games aren’t readily available on too many other formats so it’s nice to finally be able to enjoy them on modern consoles. During the review process both collections were enjoyable, but if you were to only get one, the recommendation would go to the Arcade version unless you have specific nostalgic feelings for a console title like Darius Twin.

Sonic Colors’ vibrant colors, inventive level design and fast gameplay made it a hit back in 2010. Sonic Colors: Ultimate recaptures the magic, making refinements and upgrades to the gameplay and visuals to bring them more in line with today’s standards.

Shantae: Risky’s Revenge: Director’s Cut could have used some help with its map system, but literally everything else is spot-on.

From the Gallows wraps up the season on a high note, with a truly customized chapter that forces players to make intense selections regarding the characters they have grown to love, hate or otherwise care about. Telltale has continued to prove that whatever faults may have arisen in the past can be easily set aside when the final consequences end up amounting to more than just life or death.

Tokyo Jungle is easily one of the best games this fall season, and is going to be cropping up in gaming conversations for years to come.

Until the bugs are ironed out, it’s just not worth the headache.

FIFA 21’s next-gen visuals speak for themselves as the player models are absolutely gorgeous. This is mainly shown off in the cutscenes, but even the visuals on the field seem cleaner and more detailed. The gameplay on VOLTA matches feel faster and you can pick up where you left on the previous generation. Otherwise, everything is a one-to-one copy and paste. To be fair, the developers didn’t name off anything more than visual upgrades, a new entrance and improved crowd chants. If you were expecting a large jump from generation to generation like you might have with Madden NFL 21, there’s even less in FIFA 21. This is still FIFA from EA, which means it’s going to look great and be fun.

The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon adds an engaging new story to The Outer Worlds. The new content, save for the new location to explore, doesn’t change up the formula too much but that’s absolutely fine. With a game like The Outer Worlds more of the same is a good thing. The new story content seamlessly weaves into the main story and feels like a natural extension of what was already there. The time to complete The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon is enough where it feels like a worthwhile extension but doesn’t overstay its welcome and is the perfect reason to get back into The Outer Worlds.

PIQ2 is themed around measuring intelligence, but all it ends up doing is testing rote memorization and dexterity. [July 2007, p.63]

At its best, there’s certainly moments of appreciation and respect for the artistic detail Narita Boy lavishes in, with its pixel art and generally-eery vision of cyberspace run amok with corrupted foes. At the very least, the game’s somewhat-warped screen display and drenching in ’80s culture tropes is anything but off-putting. The problem then lies with its simplicity of delivery and the game’s general lack of appeasing those looking for something more than surface-level attraction. A world that too often feels unnecessarily padded on a level design basis; a combat system though not terrible, feels a little too undecided on what it exactly wants to be. And beyond that, a story/narrative the game really could’ve gone without given how little relevance or even impact it holds on a player’s progression. Venturing through the Digital Kingdom does spark some moments of delight. But beyond its art-style and fond execution on aesthetic, Narita Boy‘s unenthusiastic lack of originality and care for its overarching design, winds up carving out a satisfactory yet tepid debut for Studio Koba.

Shadow Warrior has big guns, deadly blades, enemies ranging from small to enormous and enough explosions to satisfy even the most pyrotechnically enthusiastic gamer.

Summon Night 5 is an SRPG that needs to be played by anyone who likes the genre. It’s a love letter to fans of a somewhat bygone era of Japanese roleplaying games and manages to deliver on nearly all fronts, be it story, characterization, gameplay or presentation.

Culdcept Revolt tries its best to combine classic board and card games, but the execution is lacking in more complex strategies, making players feel as though they’re not building towards a strong end goal. Those interested in Culdcept Revolt will likely find the most enjoyment in competing against others online, rather than NPCs who feel as though they’re wasting the player’s time going through every motion another human player would do in full detail. With a likable cast of characters, interesting story and a wide variety of cards to create unique decks, Culdcept Revolt has a good premise that doesn’t pay off quite as well as intended.

Not the first game to focus so literally on the contrast between light and dark, Morkredd isn’t brimming with aesthetic originality, but its puzzles make up for in plentiful amount. It’s the surprisingly deceptive nature of its puzzle-solving — and the many hidden dangers its rendition of darkness brings — where Morkredd‘s best moments are to be found. Puzzles that somewhat rely on a preconceived assumption of movement so as to trip you over, yet more importantly are designed in such a way to encourage you to think carefully about your next move. Slow and steady is the general order of play here. Its world may seem too insistent on its own implied sense of shock and surprise, not least when it tries to be climactic for climactic’s sake. But despite the lack of any real meaningful exposition with its narrative or its world-building, the true revelation lies with how Morkredd makes each step forward into the dark an anxious yet entertaining one to consider.

The storytelling and level design might keep players interested enough to make it through the main story, but the lack of depth in gameplay and role-playing makes it hard to imagine anyone wanting to spend their time playing Atomfall over any other successful title in the genre.

It's an incredible shooter that feels like bullet hell with enemies replacing the bullets, but a little variation would have made it perfect. [Fall 2008, p.55]