And that’s perhaps how best to sum up my experience with this remake of Brothers – something is off. It’s the same great game at its core, but as a remake, it doesn’t do enough to justify itself, given that its headline addition of co-op play strips away the original’s biggest selling point. Even when played solo, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d rather be playing the original with its more fitting, painterly look. Having said that, Brothers is still a fantastic experience, and if this remake shines a spotlight on it again and attracts a new generation of gamers to Naia and Naiee’s touching tale, then that can only be a good thing. The story remains as poignant now as it did in 2013, and when enjoyed solo, Brothers continues to be a delight to engage with due to its novel dual protagonist set-up. On that basis, I’m glad this exists, even if, as an overall product and an attempt to reintroduce this world, it feels a touch misguided.

Ra Ra BOOM has some weaknesses. Its story doesn’t really connect, and the melee combat lacks the sort of flow that the best games in the genre manage. Still, its twist on genres, which combines various gameplay styles into one interesting experience, is largely successful and makes it worth a look for beat ‘em up fans.

The Tribe Must Survive feels like a missed opportunity. It has a promising premise and a few interesting ideas, but its execution is marred by frustrating gameplay, artificial difficulty, a repetitive structure, and a lack of meaningful choices. If you’re a fan of unforgiving roguelikes and don’t mind repetitive gameplay, you might find something to enjoy here. But for most players, The Tribe Must Survive will likely prove to be more of an exercise in frustration than a truly satisfying survival experience.

The final echoes of the Viking horn resound with a mixture of satisfaction and a yearning for more. Land of the Vikings embarks on a voyage to encapsulate the Viking ethos within a city-building scaffold, achieving a serene yet engaging gameplay experience. However, the game’s reluctance to venture into the deeper waters of strategic complexity and narrative engagement leaves a trail of unexplored horizons. With a more polished narrative, enriched combat mechanics, and a more layered progression system, the game could transcend from being a calming voyage to an exhilarating exploration of Viking sagas entwined with the intricacies of city-building.

Goodbye Volcano High is likely to appeal to those who want an uncomplicated and down-to-earth narrative experience. There are glimpses of goodness within Goodbye Volcano High’s grounds, but the bland writing, cliched characters and needlessly protracted scenes don’t do it any favours. The rhythm action sections are swell additions that break up the long-winded cutscenes, but they too are overstuffed with timed button press prompts, as they end up feeling too hectic for their own good. Goodbye Volcano High overstays its welcome in spite of its 5-hour length, lumbering along without any significant drama until the climax approaches, so it’s questionable whether you’d stay the course or find something more dramatic to satiate your appetite for good videogame yarns. If this is indeed goodbye to Volcano High, then its demise will shed only a shrug of disappointment.

I enjoyed Bob Help Them’s wholesome nature and the action/puzzle/time management dynamic is an interesting idea. Unfortunately, the gameplay is too simplistic for its own good. Every action is performed the exact same way, and the gameplay doesn’t evolve over the course of its thirty-five levels. You’ll do the same thing in level one that you do in level thirty-five. There’s just nothing to spice up the gameplay, and the only real challenge is time management. It’s not a bad way to spend a lunch break, but it’s difficult to not want something more from it.

While I understand what Bishoujo Battle Cyber Panic! was trying to do, it ultimately fails to provide anything novel to the table and doesn’t go anywhere near being as zany as Gals Panic did. If you have a few bucks and like both Qix and anime girls with no sense of artistic consistency, then go for it. Otherwise, I’d just go play one of the original games.

UPPERS was not worth the four-year wait and lengthy localization process. As a beat-‘em-up, it lacks creativity and variety, although it may succeed somewhat as a fanservice game, even if none of the characters have any significant degree of depth. That being said, if you go in with the proper expectations, you’ll likely get some fun out of it, especially if you pick it up on sale since I think the $29.99 USD price point is a bit steep.

I have never equally loved and hated a game as much as Cyberpunk 2077. When it works, it’s definitely a fun game of sorts, but when it breaks, which it does too often in every sense of the word, it immediately saps any sort of fun from the experience. Worst of all, it wastes tens of hours of your time due to bugs and game-breaking errors. As it stands right now, I wouldn’t recommend playing it for anyone on the base PS4. I did, and I regret absolutely everything.

Curved Space tries new things in the twin-stick genre. I appreciate the attempt, but most of those new things don’t work out. Playing it is often uncomfortable, and too many of its weapons are duds. At times the fast-paced shooting can be enjoyable, but even that is too often broken up by pacing issues. I’m all for destroying spiders, but I’d rather do so without feeling sick to my stomach.

Despite its solid upgrade system and the introduction of a few interesting ideas, like the Frost Grip and enemies that can be resurrected or supercharged by the anomaly, Daymare 1994: Sandcastle’s severe lack of polish and unbelievably frustrating combat execution hold it back from ever realizing its full potential. And, more often than not, make for a game that feels like it’s constantly working against the players’ enjoyment...With a few patches to iron out some of its more glaring kinks, Daymare 1994: Sandcastle could have been a solid survival horror title to snag at a discount. However, at least in its current state, this one’s impossible to recommend to all but the most desperate fans of the genre.

It’s hard to recommend this de-mastered port of Alan Wake on the Nintendo Switch due to how inconsistent the frame rates are and how downgraded and blurry the graphics are. Considering this title is readily available and cheaper on so many different platforms, you are far better off enjoying this classic third-person horror shooter on a PC, PlayStation, or Xbox. If the Switch is your only option or you value portability, then I guess this version is somewhat viable, but just keep your expectations in line. At least it’s not a Cloud port, right?

It can leave your heart racing, and it can leave you stunned at the scenery, and, sometimes, it’ll leave you bewildered at how brutal the game can be, but ultimately, I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a diamond in the rough here. It’s gonna feel unpolished and early-access-ish with paltry menus, no saving, and only one map and two heroes to play as. Still, there’s a lot of potential here. But until a few content issues, save system complaints, and AI fine-tuning gets addressed, I can’t quite give Until We Die too much of a recommendation unless you find it on sale.

I wish I could say I had fun with Deiland Pocket Planet or found some sort of redeeming quality outside of the aesthetics, but the truth is, I spent too much time tripping over rocks and breaking them out of frustration afterwards to really remember much else about it. I kept missing visitors, I fumbled with farming, and unlocking the fishing rod was an exercise in odd patience. There was a lot of weird friction in the UI and nothing was truly intuitive. I am still wild about the concept and found the chill vibe inviting, but diving back into the game just for a supposedly relaxing mood never had the outcome I was hoping for.

I wish I could say otherwise, but at least for me there simply wasn’t. There’s little about Zero Wing that stands out in its genre and the few things Toaplan tried to do a bit differently largely either aren’t useful or actively hinder the experience. Zero Wing is certainly playable, but there are far better options for SHMUP players to explore.

Ultimately, due to this conflicting nature, Code Vein II is never quite sure of what type of game it wants to be, and as such, I was never quite sure if I was having fun with it or not. A lifeless open world filled with mindless combat encounters feels completely detached from the Soulslike nature of its character progression and spectacular boss fights that break up the otherwise mundane nature of the experience. It’s not a complete lost cause as the narrative is worthwhile, and for genre fans, the depth of the character progression and the payoff in the boss fights does prove rewarding when you see all your tinkering coming together, but the highs aren’t enough to make Code Vein II an easy recommendation for all but the die-hards of the genre.

And, I think that word perhaps best sums up Nimbus Infinity as an overall experience. Unremarkable. There’s fun to be had for sure in the frantically paced and enemy-packed combat encounters, but when you take into consideration the fact that you never feel as though you’re piloting an almighty mech and the entirely forgettable nature of the art design and the narrative, it’s hard to make a case as to why Nimbus Infinity is worth spending time with. If you’re okay with playing through a short, breezy five-hour campaign that provides an evening’s worth of decent aerial combat, you might want to dive in, especially considering the budget price point. However, those who are seeking out a meaningful mech experience that succeeds in letting you live out one of the ultimate power fantasies may want to look elsewhere for their thrills.

With its interesting premise that blends time-looping mechanics and extensive relationship-building into Persona's familiar formula, I went into Loop8: Summer of Gods expecting a summer to remember. It's just a shame that none of these elements come together as cohesively as they could have, making for an uneven experience. With repetitive dialogue choices that feel mostly weightless, a quirky combat system, dungeon-crawling that comes across as mostly tacked-on, and a severe lack of variety, don't go canceling your summer plans for this one.

I really enjoy the story, look, and feel of Arcadian Atlas. While its core gameplay isn’t breaking any new ground, and its UI is poorly designed, it could be a solid choice for those who are nostalgic for the 32-bit era of strategy RPGs. I quickly learned to work around most of my issues with it to the point where they were more minor annoyances than significant issues. Until its significant performance issues are ironed out though, it’s hard to recommend for even the biggest fans of the genre. The game underneath has its strengths, but it’s certainly not good enough to be worth putting up with them.

If you’re looking for a retro-style FPS that will kick you in the teeth, Writhe certainly fits the bill. It’s just unfortunate that it doesn’t offer much else apart from its considerable challenge. With only a small smattering of stages to choose from and enemy types to exterminate, it’s tough to recommend adding Writhe to your Switch library, even at its budget-friendly price.

There are times Hammerwatch II can be a lot of fun. Exploring massive dungeons and taking down hordes of enemies is usually a good time, and Hammerwatch II captures that, at least if you pick one of the right classes. I can see a group of friends with a well-balanced party having an excellent time with it, and that’s really who these games are for, first and foremost. Ultimately though, Hammerwatch II makes too many poor design choices for me to recommend it to most players. There’s a good game in here somewhere, but it’s buried under too many flaws.

Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is a throwback to a game that was a throwback when it came out, and it shows. While updated graphics put a nice coat of paint on things, and the story is far more intriguing than you’d expect from this sort of title, they don’t mask that underneath it, all the core mechanics and level design here don’t hold up. Fans of Mickey Mouse might put up with them to see one of the more interesting versions of the character in recent decades; everyone else should brush up on a better platformer.

If you really love PowerWash Simulator and need more of that to hold you over until its sequel comes out, then Spray Paint Simulator may be worth a look, especially if you can explore it on Game Pass. If you haven’t explored everything PowerWash Simulator has to offer yet, however, then Spray Paint Simulator gets a lot harder to recommend.

While there are genuine moments of excitement and mystery to be found in Alone in the Dark, they simply aren’t enough to offset the mountain of issues that plague the game, at least in its current state. With clunky and unsatisfying combat and more bugs than an Ekbom Syndrome convention, Alone in the Dark is a game that’s best left in the shadows—at least until some serious updates have been done to sort out its most glaring issues.

As a massive fan of the original game, I had high hopes for The House of the Dead Remake. Unfortunately, this one mostly misses the mark as far as updates go due to its constant performance issues and control schemes that range from merely unsatisfying to downright frustrating. While extras like the Horde mode and in-game achievements are welcome, it’s hard to imagine many players will want to trudge through the experience all over again after wrapping up the main story once or twice. If you’re dying for an arcade-style shooter to plow through with a friend, The House of the Dead Remake might keep you busy for an evening. Anyone else would be better off letting the dead rest.

Crash Drive 3 and its extremely simplistic and repetitive gameplay loops are difficult to recommend for anyone looking for a substantial arcade driving experience. If, however, you’re after a fun little time-waster that you just want to have to hand for a few moments of downtime here and there, then you may find Crash Drive 3 an adequate distraction; provided you can look past the technical issues, that is.

I really wanted to rave about how great Nadir: A Grimdark Deckbuilder was. Unfortunately, while there are some genuinely noteworthy elements in the game, such as the unique combat and striking visual style, it’s ultimately held back by some problematic issues. The game is quite unbalanced in its current state, and the developers desperately need to fix some pretty glaring glitches. Until that happens, it’s hard to fully recommend.

Perhaps I went in with too high of expectations. Or maybe I wasn’t the target audience. But between the monotonous music that I eventually muted and the gameplay loop that tires itself out long before the cake’s done cooking, I couldn’t find much to savor when it comes to Super Perils of Baking’s flavorless recipe. If you’ve played platforming mainstays such as Super Mario Bros. or Donkey Kong Country, you’ve already seen everything this game has to offer and then some. If you don’t mind that and just want some solid platforming to kill five or so hours, it’s harmless enough that I’d say go for it if it’s on sale. But otherwise, it’s reshades of the same thing, and this game doesn’t dare to tread much farther than those before it.