Trails Through Daybreak II is a fantastic slice of JRPG action that sings when focusing on its combat, progression, and exploration that rewards due to the richness Calvard presents in its world-building.

Synduality: Echo of Ada had the potential to carve out its own niche by being an accessible extraction shooter available on console. It’s not completely without merit, with its snappy gunplay making for an exciting PvPvE experience and the novel Magus system initially showing a lot of promise. However, a laborious early game grind, and monetization so egregious that I don’t see anyone but the most hardcore of audiences sticking around severely sour the experience. Whether Game Studio can course correct remains to be seen, but early signs point towards yet another live service title that runs the risk of having its lifespan cut short due to excessive grind and greed.

Laika: Aged Through Blood can feel like a lot at times. There’s no one mechanic that on its own is an issue, but there’s so much to manage that this is a game with a very high learning curve. Still, this is a singular game that feels so unique that it’s hard to imagine players who it clicks for won’t fall in love with it.

The Roottrees Are Dead is a fascinating tale of a famous family with secrets in their closet. Exposing those secrets is some of the most fun I’ve had with a game in a long time, and anyone who has enjoyed similar investigative titles like Her Story, Return of the Obra Dinn, or The Case of the Golden Idol needs to look into the history of the Roottrees.

Despite my uncertainty, once I refreshed my memory of the first game, I concluded that Ender Magnolia, for any faults, is still just as good. It’s beautiful, challenging and truly expansive, featuring a huge world map to explore, as well as multiple endings. While I lament that the music wasn’t as evocative and the map was occasionally perplexing, this is still a most worthy adventure, if not one that fared better than the original.

I don’t want to leave you with the impression that Moons of Darsalon is a horrible game. It’s not, but I really wish the indie developer had put in more time streamlining the game mechanics instead of programming snarky one-liners for my crew. If you can absorb the complex controls and manage your finicky teammates, you’ll find an enjoyable puzzle-platformer here. But for those looking for a fast and smooth experience, you might want to look elsewhere.

Warhorse Studios have created a triumphant sequel that improves and expands on the classic original in every way. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a game of staggering scope, depth and complexity, allowing you to be a smooth-talking diplomat, a cunning craftsman, a sneaky cutthroat, a chivalrous knight in shining armour, or any combination of the above. Whatever aspects of gaming you enjoy, there’s something for you here, and I can confidently say that Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a medieval masterpiece.

I normally don’t play all that many puzzle platformers, so it takes something really impressive to grab my attention. Telebbit is just that sort of game. It’s creative, colorful, and challenging and offers a unique vision. It also features an utterly twisted story I won’t ruin; suffice it to say it’s unclear who the good guy truly is by the end of the game. While the platforming requires utter precision and quick reflexes, I still maintain this is a game everybody should play.

If you are someone, like me, who adored Sniper Elite 5 and are simply after more of the engrossing, visceral, and malleable stealth and sniping action provided by it, then you can’t go wrong with Sniper Elite: Resistance. It delivers a robust, ultra-replayable campaign that still has me hooked and a bevy of multiplayer modes if you want to dabble further after you’ve shattered all the skulls the campaign has to offer.

Much as I was hoping Ninja 1987 would be some glittering holiday bauble, it turned out to be a very generic platformer. While it absolutely boasted great aesthetics and seemed inspired by classic NES games, the adventure itself is short and imprecise. Still, if you’re looking for something fun and easy this holiday season, it won’t set you back very much.

While FANTASIAN Neo Dimension may not end as well as it begins, this is still an excellent RPG featuring wonderful characters, an interesting story, and perhaps my favorite battle system of any RPG I played in 2024. This is the ultimate way to play it as well, with an easier difficulty and new soundtrack options inspired by this version of the game being published by Square Enix. Fans of the genre won’t want to miss this one.

Loco Motive is a fun enough point-and-click adventure with a strong cast that gets off to a great start. As it goes on, however, it loses a lot of momentum thanks to focusing on less interesting or well-developed characters. Thankfully, it comes together in a strong conclusion that ties its various elements into a satisfying ending. Those who long for the point-and-click adventures of the early 90s will find a lot to like, even if it feels like it doesn’t fully meet its potential.

I really wanted to enjoy The Legend of Cyber Cowboy, but after spending some time with it, I just feel it’s a super generic take on amazing games like The Binding of Isaac. It failed pretty spectacularly, not only in the balance arena but in being fun or engaging. Unless you’re a truly diehard fan of the twin-stick shooter genre, you won’t find anything to enjoy here.

Effortlessly dodging mood whiplash despite the wide gap between its horrorcore and fluffy, cozy dating sim front helps set MiSide apart as a strong title in the indie horror scene.

Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana may not have been an essential re-release, but it’s nice to see a beloved game available to new fans, and it is absolutely the best version of the game available.

Tales of Graces f Remastered modernizes a beloved game while preserving the elements that make it a classic. What you’re getting is an all-in-one package that includes fantastic quality-of-life additions, additional story content, and most (sadly not all) previously released DLC content.

As a fan of Power Rangers, I especially enjoyed Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind. It’s a faithful and nostalgia-filled adventure full of colorful visual design, amazing voice acting, and challenging arcade action. While I do feel it’s not as well-tuned for single-player experiences, this is a wonderful game to play with friends. If you’re a longtime fan of the iconic characters, you’ll find something to adore in this love letter from Digital Eclipse.

At its best, when everything is working as it should, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is a significantly improved version of what was already one of my favorite experiences on the Xbox Series X. There’s so much to do here, and flying around enjoying the scenery hasn’t lost any of its appeal in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. Its technical quirks and design choices should be less of a problem over time, but I suspect some of them, like the egregiously long load times, will likely remain vulnerabilities moving forward.

While Indiana Jones and the Great Circle might not deliver the most satisfying combat experience, it more than makes up for it with its sense of adventure, storytelling, and exploration. MachineGames and Bethesda Softworks have succeeded in crafting a journey that evokes the timeless thrill of Indy’s cinematic quests, filled with puzzles, peril, and breathtaking locales. For fans of the franchise, this is the kind of adventure that makes you feel like you’re stepping into the shoes of Dr. Jones himself, solving mysteries and outrunning danger at every turn.

While its lack of optimization and frequent glitches occasionally crashed the party like an enemy hand grenade, Metal Slug Tactics‘ fast-paced, feature-rich combat and wealth of unlockable content kept me coming back for more. If you’re a fan of the franchise with a love for classic PS1 SRPGs like Vandal Hearts and Final Fantasy Tactics, then this is a fight worth enlisting in – even if it’s a patch or two away from reaching its full potential.

It might be hard to see now, but ultimately, Slay the Princess – The Pristine Cut is a love story. It’s a twisted and dark one, and it features a gory multiversal tapestry. Yet it’s also one of the best Visual Novels I’ve played all year. Your choices all have consequences, and they’re lasting and real. Combine that with stunning visual and audio design, and you have a must-play adventure that’s almost impossible to put down.

Whether the combat is a deal breaker for the average player is going to depend on how much they value everything that Toyama and his team at Bokeh Studios have got right. For this writer, the answer to that conundrum is that, on the whole, Slitterhead’s positives do outweigh its negatives. It feels like Toyama is untethered again, and while not every design choice has worked out for the best, the fact that we have the horror legend operating independently and willing to create something unlike anything else is something to be celebrated.

Despite its sweet 16-bit presentation and gruesome arcade-inspired gameplay, RetroRealms: Halloween isn’t quite the treat fans of the franchise deserve. If it featured twice the stages it offers and some more compelling enemies to eviscerate, it’d be a lot easier to recommend. Unfortunately, with its unexciting extras and a reliance on cheap gimmicks to pad out its meager hour-long running time, RetroRealms: Halloween is a fleeting experience that fails to justify the price of admission.

Returning to the series’ original star and following up on a choice that fans have spent a decade debating was always going to be a challenge. Still, by focusing on the genuine emotions such a choice would leave behind, the team at Deck Nine has created a story that hit me like a ton of bricks. This may be the best Life is Strange yet, and it sits comfortably among the best games of 2024.

At a time when quality beat-’em-ups are so abundant, it’s hard to recommend The Karate Kid: Street Rumble to anyone. Despite its gorgeous presentation, the game’s stiff and weightless combat, frustrating mechanics, and game-breaking glitches sweep the leg of this half-baked brawler. Save yourself $40, or buy a far superior beat-’em-up for half the price. Trust me; you’ll thank me later.

If you’re a horror fan who is looking for something a little more digestible after slogging through Silent Hill 2 this holiday season, or don’t have twenty hours to dedicate to being terrified, then Camp Sunshine is a bite-sized slice of horror that you should definitely consider.

I’ve ended a lot of reviews of Switch ports over the years saying some variation of this may not be the best version of the game, but it’s worth your time if the Switch is your preferred platform. That’s not the case for Yakuza Kiwami. This version simply isn’t worth playing and it doesn’t matter whether you have another way to play the game or not. It isn’t just inferior; it feels terrible to play. Hopefully, the team behind this port will keep working on improving performance because there’s still a solid title underneath this version’s issues. Still, there are too many great experiences on the platform to spend your time on a game that feels like this.

Rain Code Plus, despite dragging on a bit too long, is probably my favorite Spike Chunsoft game to date. It has stellar writing that maybe leans too hard into exposition dumps but more often comes together to create a world that is full of depth, populated with interesting characters and lore that flesh the world of Rain Code Plus out in a way that the genre rarely seems capable of. For visual novel fans who may have missed out on the initial switch release, the re-release of Rain Code Plus should not be missed.