Dragon Quest VII Reimagined reconstructs the original’s sprawling narrative with a far brisker, more accessible pace. That approach may well represent the optimal solution for guiding modern players through such an enormous adventure, yet it comes at a cost. In streamlining the experience, the game sacrifices some of the strategic depth expected of an RPG, as well as the literary weight of the original’s meditation on the limits of salvation. It is charming and eminently approachable, but the sharp edges that once lingered in the heart have been smoothed away—resulting in a remake that feels exemplary, yet somewhat too well-behaved for its own good.

With its new mechanics, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment offers more tactical and refined action than its predecessor, Age of Calamity. On the other hand, the slow pace of unlocking features and progressing through the story gives it an undeniably slow-starting feel. Because it centers on the theme of the Imprisoning War, it offers fewer elements that will excite fans of the original series, but the new episodes told through its original characters are compelling.

Mafia: The Old Country is an ambitious action-adventure game that portrays the Sicilian Mafia of the early 20th Century through a realistic lens. However, its excessive fixation on realism results in tedious gameplay and a story that lacks excitement, ultimately alienating a broader audience. As a consequence, the game will likely only resonate with a niche group of players who have a strong interest in the lives of the Mafia at that time.

Saeko is avant-garde video game literature. The moment the player learns that they were transformed to their diminutive form by the titular Saeko a few minutes into the game, her true intention becomes clear. While it is graceful that the story branches according to the player’s choices, some of its literary quality can get lost depending on the order in which you experience its multiple endings.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 mixes JRPG-like turn-based battles with real-time action. While I was hooked to this combat system, the story’s sudden plot twist felt forced. Although this was hard to ignore, it is undeniable that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an appealing game that delivers a strong message.

Slitterhead’s body-swapping system is unique, and its grotesque monster design is definitely appealing. However, it feels like the choices the team had to make with its limited development budget did not work in the game’s favor. Combat needed more polish, the characters lack emotional expression, and the first half of the story is weak. Things do get more interesting towards the end of the game, but not enough to forget about its shortcomings. While its ambitious ideas deserve praise, it's a shame that Slitterhead was not able to fulfill its potential.

The stellar visual experience of space combat is Homeworld 3’s only real strength. With a plot that’s easy to predict, limited strategies available and a cumbersome UI, Homeworld 3 is a game that we expected more from.

Black Myth: Wukong’s combat system doesn’t have anything that makes it truly unique. The variety in ways to tackle combat is often lacking, and it doesn’t feel all that good to play either. That said, the concept of creating openings for the enemy rather than exploiting them is interesting, and by rewarding players who take full advantage of the few chances the game gives you, it makes its boss encounters worthwhile despite its lacking combat system. Character customization and exploration is on the thin side too, and the story is hard to follow if you haven’t read Journey to the West. However, the impressive graphics make every moment of the game look like a painting. Experiencing this world based on classic Chinese literature through the game’s unique vision is still worth your time.

Visions of Mana succeeds as a new entry in the Mana series that feels faithful to its identity while bringing it into a modern context with beautiful visuals. Cute characters and a casual battle system make this an action RPG that is approachable for newcomers to the series as well. Small inconveniences and flawed UX design are not enough to hold the experience back, but a story that approves of self-sacrifice narrows its appeal as a whole.

This expansion successfully blends the fun of synergy through enhancements of the roguelite genre with the unique action of the Splatoon series. It does lack volume, and it doesn’t offer the player enough opportunities to show off the enhancements they made. The art and sound design are stellar as always, but its presentation falls short and the story is not much more than a sequel to the events of Splatoon 2’s Octo Expansion.

While its name might have changed, EA SPORTS FC 24 is a new entry in the long-running FIFA series through and through, and you’ll find the series' strengths and weaknesses haven’t changed one bit.

While there are obviously some differences, Lord of the Fallen is very similar to Dark Souls. Sadly though, Lords of the Fallen is nowhere near as polished or well made as one would expect from a Dark Souls game. Its implementation of two worlds layered on top of each other is more cumbersome than interesting, there is a huge lack in enemy variety, enemy positioning can be too unforgiving, and technical issues like an unstable framerate and bad camerawork can be added to the long list of its shortcomings. On top of all that, the second playthrough is way too demanding and makes the first playthrough feel distorted.

Detective Pikachu Returns takes place in Ryme City, a place where Pokémon live alongside humans rather than being used for battles. This is a setting that every Pokémon fan has dreamed of at least once, and the Pokémon are all portrayed wonderfully. Pikachu can now collaborate with other Pokémon during the investigation, an element that was not present in the series’ first installment. However, as a detective adventure, Detective Pikachu Returns feels overly simple and lacks depth, both in its gameplay and story.

Sonic Superstars is a good classic 2D Sonic game that shines especially in its visuals. Stages have a wider array of gimmicks when compared to older 2D Sonic games and boss fights are much more complex. However, the game design can feel unpolished and often doesn’t do a good job in communicating with the player. While the addition of local co-op sounds great on paper, Sonic’s speedy gameplay proves to be a difficult match for it.

Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg is a compact game that allows you to enjoy the series’ unique take on the slowlife genre. That said, the ending is weak and its simplicity can feel unsatisfying at times.

While Ninja or Die’s core of high-speed jump action is well realized, its 2D rogue-lite level design has many shortcomings.

Master Detective Archives: Rain Code has pacing issues and its puzzles aren’t very satisfying. That said, the deep world building and story make up for its shortcomings.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is a Jet Set Radio clone made by fans of that title. It takes what was great from Sega’s classic, but lacks its own style. While definitely a fun game to play and the best clone of Jet Set Radio available, it fails to become anything beyond that.

Dread Templar is a fast paced FPS that seems like an exhilarating experience at first, but due to balance issues it doesn’t really feel all that good to play. The enemy’s heavy shots come at you from far away, while the player’s attacks don’t deal a lot of damage, which causes frustration. It can feel good to take down an enemy by throwing a katana sword or using a bow and arrows, but altogether this game is more exhausting than fun.

Wanted: Dead feels like it was released with only the game’s most basic concepts brought together. Its combat doesn’t evolve, enemy movement feels unnatural, camerawork is bad, the difficulty balance is a disaster, there is a lack of enemy variety and the story doesn’t make sense. The idea of combining sword fighting and third-person shooting in one combat system isn’t bad in itself. If the development team had focused on fleshing this out rather than adding unsatisfying minigames on the side, things might have been different.

With low quality puzzles and unpolished motion for certain objects, Somerville feels rough around the edges when compared with the games that made its creators so well regarded. Sudden twists in the game’s second half feel unnatural, and the multiple endings don’t feel different enough from one another. That being said, the studio’s potential can be felt throughout the game.

Dragon Quest Treasures is a new challenge for this long-running series. It is full of Dragon Quest’s unique charm and delivers a wonderful experience that lasts for many hours. However, altogether the experience feels a bit too shallow. Deeper character development and more monsters could have gone a long here. Still, as a more compact game, Dragon Quest Treasures is a great open world to casually have some fun in.

While promoted as a mix of RPG and agricultural simulator, in reality Harvestella heavily leans toward its RPG side. While the idea of resource management dependent on the passage of time feels fresh for an RPG, the game's cheap story and presentation, a combat system that doesn’t feel tactical enough and a lack of customization on the farm make Harvestella a game with room for improvement in both genres.

Moonscars lacks the depth you would want from an Metroidvania title in its exploration and character building, but manages to deliver as a hardcore Soulsborne game.

While the universe of Made in Abyss is recreated with class, as a game there is a lack of tension and balance. The game’s original story is faithful to its source material, but its twists feel so sudden that it is hard to advise newcomers to join the world of Made in Abyss through this game.

Valkyrie Elysium’s world and characters based on Norse mythology are fascinating, and its speedy combat is exhilarating. It’s too bad that the title feels like it could have used a little more polish, and the button mapping doesn’t match the game’s systems. The game lacks a bit in volume as well, and its world and characters could have been fleshed out even more.

While Asterigos has excellent graphics and music, basic elements like the combat system feel cheap, making the package as a whole feel like an unbalanced Soulsborne title.

Call of the Wild: The Angler is a fishing game that allows you to explore its wide map beyond just the fishing spots, which makes it fun to discover new fishing locations. That being said, for players not looking for exploration this can also result in a tedious experience. Also, the fishing float mechanics are terrible for a fishing game.