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.

Despite some balance issues and the one aforementioned glitch, overall, I had a blast with Kitsune Tails. Though it purportedly can take anywhere from 15 to 20 hours to beat, I’d say hardcore platformer fans can beat it in half that time. Just don’t expect it to be a simple task because some of the stages required me grinding for coins and buying the right transformations just to have a fighting chance. That said, if you enjoy retro platforming and are looking for a rainbow-colored take on the genre, you can’t go wrong here.

Neon White may not be a widely different game two years later, but it’s still fantastic. If you haven’t played it yet, this new Xbox release, which is available on Game Pass, is as good an excuse as any to do so. If you’ve somehow overlooked Neon White thus far, now is the time to change that.

It’s hard to see players who want an arcade experience enjoying the rigidity of Hot Lap Racing’srules, yet I can’t see those looking for a more sim experience enjoying its somewhat floaty controls and lack of any real depth. Throw in performance issues, and I have a hard time recommending Hot Lap Racing to anyone. It’s perfectly playable, and once you get used to it, you can find fun at times, but there are simply better options no matter which side of the sim or arcade racing game divide you prefer.

Earth Defense Force 6 continues to build on the strengths of its predecessors, offering a thrilling and chaotic experience that fans of the series have come to love. Despite being more of the same, lacking in the visual department, and being quite repetitive, EDF 6 is sure to gather players from all over the globe to gear up to defend Earth once more.

Really, with Earl vs. the Mutants, all of this really is as simple as it gets, but it benefits greatly by staying focused like this. It still reminds me heavily of the kinds of mindless fun I used to have on Newgrounds back in the early 2000s. And looking at Earl vs. the Mutants’ stripped-down designs and gameplay hammers in that same kind of vibe, for better and worse. You really cannot go into this looking for anything deeper because it really isn’t there. This is the kind of game you grab to chew through a few runs on your Steam Deck while waiting at the airport or killing time until an appointment. You tear up some mutants, maybe hit the boss if the run’s been forgiving enough, eat dirt a few times, upgrade, then rinse and repeat, all within ten minutes a pop. It’s simple, and that’s the best kind of fuel that Earl vs. the Mutants can run on, even if it’s pretty watered down.

Deliver Us The Moon makes its final console appearance on the Nintendo Switch, after being available for PC and all other consoles for the past four years. The game continues to deliver a thrilling sci-fi experience whilst picking your brain with challenging puzzles. However, the Switch’s hardware constraints mean that said experience is significantly diminished with low texture resolution, low frame rates, and long load times.

The Legend of Legacy has some visible mechanical hiccups, especially when compared to its successor, The Alliance Alive. Imperfections a bad game does not make, however. Despite its undersized dungeons and overall opaqueness regarding combat mechanic intricacies, The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered is nonetheless a compelling, enjoyable, and incredibly cozy RPG that promises to be worth the time of most who choose to invest their time playing it.

Honestly, I adored Zet Zillions. Sure, I’m a ways away from fully beating the game, but I also don’t want to stop playing. This is a wonderful rogue-like deckbuilder with zany punk style and a great example of the superb talent of OTA IMON Studio. While some might be dismayed by the overall difficulty and the fact that the game is only available on Steam, I’d say this is still a game fans of the genre absolutely need to play, and which may even convince diehards to finally give into this rogue-like obsession.

Altogether, DROS is still a fun and unique puzzle platformer, though it will often tax your brain power and occasionally make your hands sweat from demanding platforming challenges. If you can look past the occasional glitch, basic combat, and an overall lack of music, this is still a creative little adventure with a surprisingly compelling plot.

The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road didn’t attempt to do anything to “shake things up” for its 10th anniversary. But it didn’t need to—and its latest expansion is a great example of how it manages to keep things fresh while never veering too off-course from its core gameplay loop. Featuring an enticing new storyline with a brand-new Daedric Prince, the incredibly rewarding Scribing mechanic, and the entirety of the West Weald to explore, The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road is an incredibly enjoyable expansion and the perfect way for fans—be they veterans or newbies—to celebrate ESO‘s 10th anniversary in style.

Until Then does a fantastic job of capturing a culture, a place, and the way modern teenagers interact in a way so few games get right. While the personal stories of its characters are perhaps more interesting than the overarching mystery, this is a story that any fan of the genre will want to explore.

Still Wakes The Deep uses its unique setting to the absolute fullest, bringing something new to the horror genre that’s as bracingly refreshing as a breath of cool North Sea air. The gameplay is straightforward, and the playtime is short, but the atmosphere more than makes up for it. The sense of terror is as thick and impenetrable as the Scottish accents of the oil rig’s crew. If you’re looking for a brisk cinematic experience full of beautiful set pieces, brilliantly acted character work and monstrous thrills then I donnae ken how ye cae do better.

While the game’s lack of challenge and severe lack of enemy variety undoubtedly keep it from being as memorable as it could have been, Cyber Citizen Shockman Zero still manages to be a fun ride while it lasts, and even though I don’t see myself revisiting it again any time soon, I’m glad it’s no longer confined to the dustbin of gaming history. If you’re a fan of the Shockman franchise or just want to step back in time to experience a small slice of what Nintendo’s long-forgotten Satellaview service had to offer, Cyber Citizen Shockman Zero just might be worth adding to your library.

Sweetest Monster isn’t ebi-hime’s only venture into the darker side of humanity, but it’s certainly one that stands out. Despite its occasional hiccups and bizarre decisions toward the end, Sweetest Monster still manages to craft an engaging narrative that examines real-world familial woes while simultaneously crossing the line into horrific fiction.

I like the Neptunia series. It has plenty of potential, and it’s shown itself capable of creating genuinely impressive titles. That’s exactly why its recent string of spinoff mishaps has worried me so much. Still, its most recent iteration has given me some hope. Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution is far from perfect and feels years behind where it should be, but its dedication to improving various aspects of its long-standing elements, particularly its dungeons, has given me some hope. I’m not sure that I can recommend Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution to the average JRPG fan, given its questionable quality. If you’re a pre-existing Neptunia fan, however, you’ll probably dig it.

Anger Foot is the B-movie of video games: it’s loud, messy, and doesn’t pretend to be anything it’s not. It’s the kind of experience you’ll either love or hate, depending on your tolerance for toilet humor and over-the-top violence. The game’s unapologetic immaturity might be a turn-off for some, but those who embrace its chaotic energy will find a surprisingly polished and addictive power fantasy. It’s a weekend fling of a game, best enjoyed in short bursts before the charm wears off. So, if you’re in the mood for a mindless, adrenaline-fueled rampage with a healthy dose of crude humor, strap on your kicking boots and let loose.

The combat is absolutely stunning and fluid as hell, while still easing players in with a slightly fast but very well-thought-out tutorial system. Just about every character has some quirk or charm to them, and the enemies, while a bit sparse as of launch, have potential for some awesome ideas. The gacha comes with a few bonus goodies to help net some early five-stars and ease in players into the combat with plenty of tools and characters. Those new to the series should still have a fairly easy time worming their way into what’s definitely going to stand out as a culmination of everything HoYoVerse has learned over their warpath dominating the gacha gaming niche.

I was really excited about Trails Through Daybreak, and I’m not sure that I got everything out of it that I was hoping for—especially when you pile on some of NISA’s head-scratching localization choices. But it’s still a Trails game at the end of the day, and Nihon Falcom always delivers when it comes to this series. The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak may tread old ground in certain areas, but it’s ultimately an excellent JRPG experience with a phenomenal, character-driven narrative that’s absolutely worth your time.

I know that The Land Beneath Us might still be a hard sell for some people, but personally, I loved the game. It’s not only unique and challenging, but it eventually balances that difficulty with new features that open the experience up smartly. If you’re willing to put in the time, this is a rogue-like I would highly recommend.

Despite the lacking performance, it’s impossible to call Shadow of the Erdtree anything other than a masterpiece and perhaps one of the most generous slices of DLC I’ve ever encountered. In doubling down on what made the base game such a triumph and wrapping it up in an irresistible new map that begs to be explored, FromSoftware has created something truly special that ramps up the difficulty in a way that never feels unfair as a result of well thought out progression systems. Between new regions, enough new weapons to arm a small army, and an unrivaled enemy roster that trumps everything that has come before both in terms of design and difficulty, Shadow of the Erdtree is FromSoftware firing on all cylinders. We don’t know at this stage if the intent is to release any further expansions for Miyazaki’s masterpiece, but if Shadow of the Erdtree is to be it, then it’s as close to a perfect way to bow out as possible.

While #BLUD’s occasionally frustrating hit detection and repetitive late-game dungeons keep it from realizing its full potential, it’s still very much worth checking out, thanks to its entertaining writing, imaginative boss fights, and pixel-perfect presentation. If you’ve got a soft spot for the cartoons of the late 1990s or are simply looking for a fun twist on the Zelda formula to sink your teeth into, #BLUD should leave you satisfied.

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.

If Capcom’s latest Monster Hunter RPG has shown us anything, it’s that it has plenty of potential. Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is an incredibly engaging title with an addicting gameplay loop that expertly melds pre-existing Monster Hunter into a unique JRPG title that offers far more than its predecessor. The sky’s the limit for this spinoff, and I’m looking forward to seeing just how high it can fly.

If you miss games meant to be played on the go rather than simply able to be played that way, Monster Hunter Stories is worth checking out. That won’t be the case for most players on PS4, though, unless you happen to engage in regular remote play or own a PlayStation Portal. It becomes a bit harder to recommend as an option to be played at home when its simple design and lacking story struggle to stand out next to the wide variety of great RPGs on the platform. Interesting combat certainly helps, and if you’re a big fan of Monster Hunter, seeing its world in a whole new style will certainly offer some appeal, but Monster Hunter Stories will be hard to truly fall in love with unless you’re playing it the way it was designed to be played.

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance brings plenty of additions to the table, including a separate narrative, new content, several quality-of-life updates, improved technical performance, and updated gameplay systems. It is a fantastically refined JRPG that seeks to achieve and expand far more than the original release did, as well as right many of its predecessor’s wrongs. This is the game’s second chance, and it’s well deserved.

Touch Detective 3 + The Complete Case Files remains a classic series on the 3/DS now home in its remastered, complete state on the Switch. Its silly stories and charming characters provide hours of entertainment for gamers of any age but will especially delight those who remember the titles fondly on their original hardware. If you’re looking for a franchise to fall in love with but don’t want to break the bank, it’s an open and shut case — grab Touch Detective 3 + The Complete Case Files for the Switch.

There are so many different metaphors that I could use to describe El Shaddai‘s leap onto the Switch. It’s a bit of Heaven and a bit of Hell. It’s a rose with plenty of thorns. It’s a… well, you get the picture. Regardless of how many metaphors I throw out, the best way to sum this game up is to say that El Shaddai Ascension of the Metatron HD Remaster is a visual masterpiece that is, very unfortunately, bogged down by shallow combat and mediocre platforming. It’s too bad that they never made a proper sequel to this game. I’m sure that they would have perfected things eventually, given enough time. Ah, well. Maybe someday. Maybe someday…