Clive & Co’s first adventure into the world of DLC is good, and if you like the game, then you’ll almost definitely enjoy venturing into the Sagespire. There’s absolutely no denying that. But, given that it’s an extension of Final Fantasy XVI, it needs to be great—and I’m not quite sure that it reached that status. While there’s no denying that Echoes of the Fallen features a unique premise and a new stage to explore that’s every bit as challenging as it is breathtaking, you wouldn’t really be missing out on anything if you decided to skip it. Hopefully, the next piece of DLC will bring about a little bit more excitement.

Airplane Mode is the very definition of “you knew what you were getting yourself into.” It simulates a very mundane experience and captures the essence of commercial flight quite well. There might even be some benefit when applied in cognitive behavioral therapy to help people get over their fear of airplanes. As I stated before, I’m someone who loves flying because I’m allowed to unrepentantly waste time, but this isn’t going to be for everyone. I genuinely loved Airplane Mode and think it’s an art piece worth playing, and as long as you really love flying and have two to five consecutive hours to spare, it may be your complimentary cup of soda water.

As a gamer who grew up when so many movies were relegated to shlocky video game adaptations, I can confidently say TRON: Catalyst is not that. But even though this is a faithful and creative game experience, it’s also one that’s not always well balanced and feels a bit too padded out for this gamer. That said, diehard fans of TRON will probably find plenty to enjoy in this neon-hued adventure.

I have pretty mixed feelings about ROBOTICS;NOTES ELITE & DaSH DOUBLE PACK. On the one hand, the story in both is pretty fascinating and full of great characters. The artwork and music likewise are good. Yet the pacing is so poor that it brings the entire experience down, as does the lack of clarity on the control setup. When placed next to the other Spike Chunsoft published VN series I love, unfortunately, this is diminished. I truly wanted to love the DOUBLE PACK, and was honestly excited to try it. As it is, I can only recommend it to those with a ton of free time and preferably past experience with the STEINS;GATE story. For everybody else, this is a harder sell.

While its core gameplay loop is strong, Gunborg: Dark Matters doesn’t do a lot to set itself apart in a crowded field. You can definitely have fun for a few hours, but before you know it, you’ll be getting off this ship with your cargo in tow. Still, while it lasts, Gunborg provides a great looking, excellent sounding, adventure that plays pretty well to boot.

Wild Card Football is the most fun I’ve had with a football game in the last decade. That says more about the poor state of sports games than it does about the game itself, but fans of the sport will find a fun pick-up-and-play arcade experience here, which is great for casual play, even if the available modes are lacking and the wild card system isn’t as successful as I’d like. Wild Card Football won’t provide a ton of depth or reward careful planning, but if you need something fun to play with casual friends at halftime, you should absolutely give it a look.

While The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution doesn’t squash all the bugs that festered within the Meta Quest 2 release last year, it’s a significant improvement that fans of the series should check out; just don’t go in expecting a full-on sequel. With its fantastic, physics-based brawls that make excellent use of the PSVR2’s Sense controllers, sending the undead back to the grave has never felt better. If you’re a fan of the series or survival horror games (with an emphasis on survival) in general, this one’s worth adding to your PSVR2 library.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble offers a great single-player experience, and if that’s what you’re looking for, I would absolutely recommend it. However, Monkey Ball has always been at its best during multiplayer mayhem, and that side of this release, despite offering some fleeting fun, feels like a missed opportunity. It’s great to see Super Monkey Ball back with a new game, but hopefully, any future entry will fully capture what made this series so beloved in the first place.

In an industry that has shifted from being “kid-friendly” to “adult-focused,” it’s imperative to remember that some games simply won’t work for the more aged gamers (30 is aged, right?). That’s not to say The Survivalists won’t resonate with adults — if this is your cup of banana smoothie, by all means — but it seems to be trying to speak with a younger audience. If you’re lamenting that school has started and you can’t devote as many hours to Minecraft with friends as you’d like, you’re probably going to love The Survivalists.

It’s not hard to recommend TOHU — if you love busy, hand-drawn environments and puzzles that will really make you rack your brain for solutions, this is absolutely up your alley. It may have elevated my blood pressure for the few hours I spent with it, but I don’t regret the shortening of my lifespan in the slightest. If you gave this short but sweet little gem one glance and immediately thought fondly of Machinarium, I don’t have to tell you twice that TOHU was made for you. Be sure to pick it up on your puzzle platform of choice as soon as possible.

Overall, Void Gore is a fun little game you can pick up and put down whenever. It’s a solid shmup, with addictive gameplay and delightful retro-pixel graphics and music. My main complaints are that there’s not a large variety of enemies (I think I counted about five or six), though some of the bigger blob-like enemies do have different attacks. Some boss fights could help mix things up a bit, as could occasionally changing the background mid-run. At it’s current price-point, though, you get an enjoyable game you can play pick up whenever you like and not feel like you didn’t get your money’s worth.

Thymesia embodies the ever-rising popularity of the Soulslike genre incredibly well. As an indie Soulslike, it knows it can’t necessarily be as big and as bold as its source material, but it also doesn’t want to simply be written off as a sub-par copy of something that’s already been done. And the end result is something kinda-sorta in-between of those two things. I can appreciate Thymesia for what it does well—namely, its hauntingly beautiful visuals and fine-tuned combat basics—but its more creative endeavors felt more like the game trying to be different just for the sake of being different. I’m not sure that Thymesia is going to be at the forefront of its given genre, but it’s still a pestilence-ridden egg worth cracking open for those hungry for some new Soulslike action.

Sable does so much well that it’s a shame that these issues consistently distract from its stunning world. This is the sort of game that may be easy to recommend in a few months after a few patches, but I can only rate the game as it is. There’s still a lot to like here if you’re willing to put up with some frustration along the way. Just know that if you purchase it now, you’ll be dealing with a less than smooth ride.

The Pathless is still a beautiful, well-designed game on the Switch. If this is the only platform you have available to play it on, it’s still well worth your time and an easy recommendation. Players who have other options may want to consider them as performance is an occasional issue here, and the DualSense implementation on the PS5 is some of the best on the system, but I still enjoyed revisiting The Pathless.

As is, En Garde! doesn’t overstay its welcome, and its strong combat will carry players through its rather short playtime. While the rest of the game isn’t as compelling, and the characters and story, while fine, feel like a missed opportunity, I still enjoyed my time with it. A more fleshed-out sequel, however, could be something truly special.

It’s like this — Absolute Drift: Zen Edition is undeniably a good game, but I can’t say it’s for everyone. It’s a bit like baseball vs. golf — one is all about hitting that ball as hard as you can and running like the devil’s after you, whereas the other is all about keeping track of things like terrain, wind speed, and 42 different clubs while you plan your varying strategies. Sure Absolute Drift: Zen Edition is a driving game, but it’s the golf of driving games; if you’re more of a batting cages kinda player like I am, this one might be more of a swing and a miss, no matter how pretty it is (and it is pretty). However, if you’re more of a golfer, this is absolutely a hole in one — it just depends on which stick you like to use to whack a few balls, really (that’s a sentence I wrote and I’m sticking to it).

South of the Circle definitely looks and feels like it was made by a BAFTA-winning team, which means that players should know they’re walking into an artistic endeavor instead of an action-packed adventure. Sure, there’s action, and there’s adventure, but it’s more of a passive movie than an active experience. As long as you set your expectations accordingly, South of the Circle will thrill (and chill!) anyone looking for a unique setting and exciting story.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 represents Treyarch doing what Treyarch does best: crafting rock-solid multiplayer and inventive zombies experiences. Coming just one year after Black Ops 6, there were legitimate concerns about franchise fatigue, but the game manages to be both familiar and fresh enough to justify its existence.

Ultimately, Luminous Avenger iX 2 is an attractive and challenging action platformer that nevertheless fails to learn key lessons from the previous game. That said, if you’re a fan of the Gunvolt series or a platformer enthusiast, this is very much your game. If you’re not in that camp, you might wanna skip this confusing side adventure.

Dandy & Randy DX isn’t perfect, but it’s also a lot of fun for fans of retro gaming. While it doesn’t do a ton to elevate itself above the pack, there is one clever twist before the end of the game that made the entire experience that much more enjoyable. And honestly, for the price point, it’s hard to argue much with what the game accomplishes. If you have an interest in snappy, retro-inspired romps, be sure and check this one out.

Clockwork Aquario isn’t without its shortcomings, such as its occasionally uneven challenge to its blink-and-you’ll-miss-it runtime. However, it’s hard not to appreciate finally being able to experience this long-lost piece of gaming history three decades later. With its distinctive presentation and solid platforming action, the game’s a delightful throwback to a simpler time, when the arcades represented the pinnacle of what video games could be and rainbow-haired heroes and heroines dominated the landscape. If you’re looking to take a trip back to those glory days of gaming and don’t mind the issues I mentioned above, Clockwork Aquario is time well spent.

If you’re a fan of Agatha Christie, murder mysteries, point and clicks, or puzzle games and want a fun little gem that will provide a day’s worth of amusement without trespassing into darker territory, then Agatha Christie – The ABC Murders will definitely delight you. Christie’s beloved detective duo graces the Nintendo Switch on October 6, 2020, and it’s up to players like you to help them solve puzzles, interrogate suspects, and find that notorious A.B.C. murderer.

If you can look past the idea of dating a cat running for the highest political office in the USA and enjoy dad jokes, you’ll definitely want to vote for this little indie gem.

Despite not being a natural fit on console, Twelve Minutes provides a consistently engaging story that kept me tied to my controller until the very end. A strong voice cast and interesting central conceit make it worth checking out, especially if you can play it for no additional cost via Game Pass. I’m still not sure the story fully comes together, but it provided enough to think about that I know I won’t stop thinking about it anytime soon.

Despite its share of rough edges, Skate Story still won me over. It leans more on style than substance, but that style is some of the most striking I’ve seen in years, and it carries the experience far. The problem is that the game rarely finds inventive ways to use its own brilliance, leaving it feeling like a journey that peaks too early.

Compared to what people experience in today’s gaming scene, Shadow Man Remastered might not seem like much, but after spending a little bit of time with it, it’s easy to see why it was brought back and made better than ever. Despite any of its flawed “N64-ness,” Shadow Man Remastered is a legitimately fun adventure at its core, with plenty to offer to its player base. Sure, it may get a little repetitive and backtrack-y at times, but, given that the game is several decades old at this point, I’d say that it’s absolutely withstood the test of time when everything’s been said and done.

Ultimately, High on Knife‘s tale of a wayward Knifey was full of fun characterization combined with a brief but satisfying story. The new pinball-themed gun is a hit, and Knifey’s special upgrade needs to be seen and experienced for yourself. With any luck, we’ll see some more DLC down the road, and hopefully then, Harper will be left behind.

NOEL The Mortal Fate tries to do a lot all at once, and for the most part, it succeeds. It’s a seriously scintillating visual novel with interesting gameplay mechanics that really pushed the limits of what RPG Maker could do. Unfortunately, some of those gameplay mechanics handled strangely at times, but that can mostly be forgiven considering the gripping story that unfolds on-screen. If you’re a visual novel fan and want to curl up with a good story on your Switch, NOEL The Mortal Fate is a deal you don’t want to pass up.