There’s still a lot to love about Consume Me, up to a point. Its funny, poignant story feels as original as it does relatable, supported by its wonderfully playful art. As an example of how mechanics can evoke emotions and draw players deeper into a story, it’s nearly unrivaled. But the fact that failure is never really an option is at odds with the story it’s trying to tell, and ultimately, the abrupt conclusion to that story undercuts the very points it tries to make. Consume Me is utterly original and in many ways feels like a genuine step forward for personal narratives in games, but while it is worth experiencing on those grounds, it sputters out just shy of being something incredible.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is a game in an odd place. I get the reverence to the original, especially with series creator Hideo Kojima no longer involved, and the bad blood that ensued between him and Konami. I get the hesitancy to retouch a game considered as one of the greatest ever made. But then, I question what the point of remaking Snake Eater is at all, if you’re going to try and keep everything exactly the same.

Drag x Drive feels like its developers managed to create a fun and innovative basketball experience using the Switch 2’s coolest new feature, then stopped short of finishing the game. It can be a blast, but the lack of even the most basic single-player modes is sorely felt.

More than anything, Nightreign feels like a sandbox for FromSoftware to try something new, implement ideas, and see how they land. In the grand scheme of things, it makes me far more interested to see what the studio can cook up with the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive The Duskbloods, which is also multiplayer-focused. In that regard, Nightreign feels more like a stepping-stone for the studio, and as long as you go in with tempered expectations, there’s still a healthy dose of fun to be had.

South of Midnight’s endless imagination and slick presentation make for a perfect weekend playthrough for Game Pass subscribers. But it doesn’t quite have the chops to make it the fun single-player action game that I had hoped for.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a beautiful, mostly fun game held back by head-scratching design decisions and nagging issues that have plagued the series for over a decade now. While it's far from a bad entry, it's the latest game in the series to fall short of reaching the soaring action highs of the beloved Ezio Trilogy or the epic RPG adventure of Assassin’s Creed Origins and Odyssey.

Aside from its fresh coat of paint, Suikoden I and II remain largely the same as they first appeared, even in spots where a modern update is sorely needed. The two classics feel stuck in limbo; not quite the games you might remember from childhood, but not transformed into something more befitting the current day, either. I have no doubt that Suikoden I & II HD Remaster will rekindle a love of the series in plenty of players, but it mostly convinces me that remasters are a pale replacement for either remaking games entirely, or preserving and playing games in their original state, where their flaws and outmoded prejudices can at least be written off as the product of another age.

Even some of Eternal Strands’ visible limitations are charming, like its decision to use 2D animation for some cutscenes and to play out conversations using static character portraits instead of animating everyone. Details like that show Yellow Brick Games smartly working within its budget, which blockbuster studios could learn from. I can’t really call Eternal Strands a good game, but it’s still one I’m fond of. In a world of games playing it too safe with franchise tie-ins and cookie-cutter gameplay, seeing a game that’s actually too ambitious for its own good is a welcome change of pace.

This all adds up to a game that feels deeply divided. Any time I was on a contract, I was captivated. The palpable tension of every dice roll left me with sweaty palms and a racing heart, wondering if this would be the job that finally got the better of me. But in slower moments, what takes up the majority of the game when you’re not on the clock, Citizen Sleeper 2 never quite clicked with me. It’s still a stunningly well written game, full of prose that took my breath away, but with a story that overall seems listless and unfocused. There are shining moments of Citizen Sleeper 2 that I’ll carry with me, but in the end it’s much like its protagonist, searching for the core of its own identity and coming up short.

There’s a wonderful game tucked away underneath S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 impenetrable surface. When riding high on the ability to go 15 minutes without dying and surviving back-to-back enemy encounters, it works as developer GSC Game World likely intended. At a time when gamers are more willing than ever to play games that challenge them to be more deliberate about their actions, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 will undoubtedly find its audience for years to come as its predecessor did. For fans of the source material — there’s an added layer of artful frustration that mirrors the nihilistic world set forth by the authors...With the inevitable mod scene, expansions, and patches that come along will only improve the solid foundation here. But as it stands now, the vanilla version of the game is more frustrating than it should be, oftentimes not by design, but by the lack of polish that pervades its world.

Fortunately for fans who’ve been waiting over a decade for it, The Veilguard mostly succeeds in both heading in a new direction and showing the climax of what’s come before, even if the growing pains of its new combat system and an uneven story keep it from being truly great.

Neva ultimately feels at odds with itself, trying to be too much at once. Its combat and platforming are competent, but not enough to carry the game on their own. Neva’s story seems to be reaching after pure emotional appeal and a more concrete tale at once, but landing awkwardly between them. While the sense of Alba and Neva’s connection is enchanting at first, the game loses focus on their relationship as it wears on. Even its stunning art — the best part of Neva by far — is stuck halfway between some of the most gorgeous depictions of nature I’ve ever seen in a game and less successful dives into surreal yet sparse environments. Maybe I’m being cold-hearted, but even its adorable wolf cub couldn’t keep me interested for long. Neva has its moments when everything briefly clicks, but in the end it takes a half-step in too many directions at once.

Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is a great idea held back by the era of games in which it was created. Younger players and fanatics of classic Disney may have a blast seeing this creative spin on the source material. But there’s little else that it does to stand out among the genre’s best.

Reynatis is obviously made by a small team with a lot of passion for the world and concept, but the game’s disparate ideas simply don’t come together into a truly cohesive package. There’s greatness hidden in Reynatis and even bits that I truly loved, like the text conversations, but it all comes with some caveats. I don’t regret the time I spent with Reynatis, and think there could be the spark of something truly interesting if it gets a sequel. But for now, it feels a bit like RPG junk food, satisfying in some ways, but leaving you wanting more.

It’s a shame nothing else in Visions lives up to its gorgeous presentation. While it’s a joy to look at, I found it dull to trudge through, with too many undercooked systems bogging down what’s otherwise extremely simplistic gameplay. Even that wouldn’t be a dealbreaker if its story and characters were good enough, but alas, no luck there either. As someone with a soft spot in my heart for Secret of Mana, I keep hoping that the series will see another truly great game again someday. Unfortunately, Visions of Mana isn’t it.

Outlaws’ exploration so often leads to wonder and joy, but it's contrasted by other elements that fall flat — rote and generic quest design, frustrating stealth, and an underbaked crime syndicate system. This is a game that wants you to constantly feel immersed and soak up every second in the Star Wars universe, but it too often breaks that immersion with its own problems. Despite those complaints, Outlaws is one of the most stunning representations of Star Wars we’ve ever seen, at least visually, and a game that I learned to love, warts and all.

The Chinese Room has crafted yet another horrific and thrilling narrative to add to its arsenal of titles that practically pioneered the genre that so many others have contributed to over the last decade. It’s a novel love letter to fantastic films that have withstood the test of time some four decades later. It offers fun, nail-biting adventures that feel true to those authoritative, genre-defining works...But regrettably, mood and atmosphere aren’t enough to elevate this rote walking sim. While it’s an easy Xbox Game Pass recommendation for those looking for some cheap thrills, Still Wakes The Deep lacks any meaningful new ideas, preventing it from standing out amongst the heavily stacked pack.

By the end of Senua’s saga, however, I was left wishing there was just a bit more meat on the bone of this gorgeous, meticulously prepared piece of mutton.

In the end, Princess Peach: Showtime! hits the mark way more often than it misses it. Despite not committing to the bit with its story, its aesthetics run wild with the theatrical premise, never failing to evoke glee. And while its shallow gameplay left me somewhat unsatisfied, the moments when it throws caution to the wind for train heists, table-flipping martial arts fights, and full-on space shooter segments are undeniably great. Princess Peach: Showtime’s simplicity and variety make it easy to recommend as a game for younger players. For everyone else, Princess Peach: Showtime! will probably leave you underwhelmed, but it’s still an enjoyable night at the theater while it lasts.

Persona 3 Reload is one of the weakest video game remakes I’ve seen in the last few years.

I highly recommend playing Go Mecha Ball — just know that it’s more limited than it might seem on the surface. I’d probably feel better about the game if it were a short, linear experience with crafted levels instead of a roguelike, and in its current form, just a few small updates to add a bit of variety would be enough to pique my interest again. Even now, I’m certain that I’ll be dusting it back off in a few months when the experience isn’t so fresh in my mind. As a way to spend a few blissfully chaotic nights, it’s hard to do better than Go Mecha Ball, even if it falls a bit short of greatness.

Another Code: Recollection is an acceptable game in its own right, if an unexciting one for the majority of its playtime. However, it serves as an excellent case study for the video game remake phenomenon at large and the purpose it serves, reminding the industry of the importance of memory.

Ultimately, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is functionally the same game with a few new features and some developer commentary. It feels like an attempt to capitalize on the success of the HBO series and to entice a new audience to jump into Part 2 before it's adapted into Season 2. But While the developer commentary is interesting and helps demystify the kind of work that goes into these extremely expensive video games, its new roguelike mode gets old fast. The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered feels like an inevitability in terms of what the greater market demands, but that doesn’t mean it’s worth your time.

In its combat and tricky platforming sections, The Lost Crown is mostly a blast. The problem is that it’s surrounded by dull exploration, frequently underwhelming bosses, and enough small frustrations to keep it from greatness. I’m baffled at how little it dives into its unique frozen-time premise, because the moments where it does are the best parts of the game. The Lost Crown’s high points are enough to recommend it to anyone looking for a good action platformer, but if you want a game that scratches the itch for satisfying exploration, you may walk away disappointed.

I can take the journey to the lighthouse with Moira as many times as I want and, given enough time I will uncover every story within A Highland Song. But there is a cost. No magic would be left in those hills nor the memory of my first journey. There will be no more songs to hear. And that leaves me with a very empty feeling.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 doesn’t come close to the quality you’d expect from a franchise with this sort of reputation celebrating its 20th year. The campaign is too short (especially at $70), which undermines what could’ve been a great story, and lacks any standout moments or compelling reasons to revisit it. The new Zombies approach has potential but isn’t quite there yet. There’s still fun to be had, especially given how little we’ve seen elsewhere in the genre this year. A solid multiplayer foundation can’t support the weight of everything else that’s been piled on top in an attempt to legitimize what is, unfortunately, one of the worst entries we’ve seen.

Nintendo’s newly released remake is more of a 1:1 remaster than a true remake. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this new version of Super Mario RPG, but some of the game’s design flaws and problems are more apparent. While the brilliance of the original still shines through, I continuously found myself wishing more was changed and reimagined.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name goes back on much of this forward momentum and seeks to latch onto what fans loved about the previous era of the franchise. While it retains the wonderfully designed mini-games and impressively realized city streets of its fictionalized locales, the need to live in the past holds it back. Kazuma Kiryu’s presence is the most concerning, as the story fails to justify why it needs to keep bringing Kiryu out. Every time Kiryu gets out, will he get pulled back in? Maybe they’ll finally snuff him out for real in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.

In what was either a glitch or a very strange design choice, Cities: Skylines II sometimes insisted new businesses and residences were open even though construction cranes still occupied their footprints. At one point, I had an entire neighborhood of cranes supposedly occupied by productive citizens. Some combination of reloading, graphical tweaks, and waiting solved the issue, but it was a jarring oddity. So were my attempts to build farms that vanished into thin air upon being placed, forcing me to reload and try again.

Detective Pikachu Returns ends up feeling much like its predecessor, a fun story and charming world that could have benefitted from more gameplay variety. The antics of its titular character are the beating heart of the experience. And while it would have been nice to see more ambition on the gameplay front, there’s an infectious charm about Detective Pikachu Returns that’s undeniable.

The smoothed-down experience of Assassin’s Creed Mirage is not even a video game as a toy, it is a video game as a fidget spinner. A mindless activity that washes over the player. Assassin’s Creed Mirage wants to return to its roots without understanding that giving developers creative freedom to do something new is what made the franchise great in the first place. They deserve the same chance to make something new that the developers of the first game had. The only way to make the next Assassin’s Creed is to not make Assassin’s Creed at all.

If Stray Gods had been a Broadway musical, it would have been the second show I walked out of.

The first game’s most rewarding ending taught Alex that despite loss and heartache, she needed to move on. Oxenfree II: Lost Signals backpedals on this sentiment and refuses to let go of the past.

Just like life, you can make all the right decisions and still end up with the worst outcome, only able to wonder how it ended in such disappointment.

Redfall isn’t the game anyone wanted it to be, and what is there is just OK. It’s a freak show, a roadside attraction, inviting you and your friends to come and gawk at one of god’s failed designs for an evening or an afternoon. The longer you stay, the less fun it gets, but curiosity and the low cost of admission (for Game Pass subscribers anyway) is likely enough to keep up a slow trickle of players.

Trinity Trigger has a passable plot, but not one that stands out among the many fantasy RPGs out there. The trope-filled story offers plenty of familiar beats, and the campaign is over before you know it. Trinity Trigger is only about 15 to 18 hours long, not an 80-plus hour journey like Xenoblade Chronicles. It’s a fun detour for anyone looking for a quick RPG to devour in a weekend, but you’ll probably want to wait for a sale.

Dead Island 2 is very much so a blast from the past. It looks pretty, but it’s a phoned-in first-person action zombie adventure with oddly unpolished combat, horrendous writing, and overly linear stages that lack depth.

It wants to deliver the chill vibes while confronting real-world social issues. There is no commitment to the latter beyond surface-level platitudes; Otherwise, it might detract from the relaxing goals of brewing drinks. It is a problem that existed in the original Coffee Talk but has only gotten worse. While there is no denying the joys of revisiting the magical residents of Seattle, Coffee Talk Episode 2 doesn’t nail the balance of bitter and sweet like a perfect cup of coffee.

Minecraft Legends looks like a role-playing game on the surface, but it’s more of a strategy game. It doesn’t fall in the same vein as lengthy RPGs, with parties of sword-wielding heroes that you bond with over emotional baggage. Instead, it commands the hero’s attention in real-time to protect villages and destroy piglin bases, something it gives players an impressive array of tools to accomplish. However, it relies on the assumption that the player will feel compelled to continue to the next piglin base or village in crisis based on the sheer enjoyment of the gameplay. While Minecraft Legends satisfies in terms of progression and exploration, the paper-thin plot and lack of incentives left me wanting more from the experience.

The most prominent emotion I felt during my playthrough was exhaustion – both physically and mentally. For a studio that has won multiple awards for its dedication to disabled players, it’s almost ironic that a key setting like customizing controls feels unfinished. Now that I finally have the game on a system I can use, it’s comical that my biggest obstacle is still the control scheme.

Rockay City has something interesting in its novel campaign structure, and its modest price tag currently discounted to $31.99 makes it an outright bargain. But there’s not enough to appreciate that warrants anybody to stick around for more than a random night with some buddies. The whole project is clearly a loving homage to the glory days of ‘90s action flicks, but the tone-deaf execution misses the mark. But how long can that hold your attention for when your multiplayer game time is far better spent elsewhere?

All things considered, Scars Above works because its pain points are, for the most part, forgivable when the runtime is this short. For me at least, the opening was thrilling enough to trigger fond memories of Mass Effect’s heyday. And the final product is admirable when you remember that this is a fledgling studio with a lot of ambition that merely fell just slightly short in a few areas.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is almost great. Its unfair difficulty is its most substantial flaw, but this is something that could be tweaked in an update. Exploring the world is an immense amount of fun, its controls and movement are fluid, and the world has a definitive sense of style. But many players won’t get to experience all that it has to offer due to its overpowered bosses, especially at the start of the game.

Although Atomic Heart is fun to play for its combat encounters, it’s packed to the brim with frustrating platforming and horrendous writing, making it tough to recommend. Ultimately, Atomic Heart feels like a Ubisoft game made by edgelords who love BioShock and Russia in equal measure. It’s a jack of all trades and master of none, which lands it somewhere near “decent.” The end result is an uneven gaming experience that has fun moments sprinkled throughout a marathon of cringe.

Despite my frustrations with the limited ways that Octopath Traveler II improves upon the original, at its core the game still scratches an itch that no other game can satisfy. I still spent more than 50 hours in the world of Solistia, exploring every part of the map I could and seeking out new stories to immerse myself in...For those who lament the modern state of Final Fantasy, or want something that feels truly inventive in its design compared to many cookie-cutter AAA games, Octopath Traveler II is a journey well worth taking.

While Blanc is a cute cooperative puzzle that may satisfy players for the short runtime, it does not bring anything original to the table. Despite its obvious charms, it winds up feeling rather paint-by-numbers — but every color is white.

Season is an extremely chill game about leaving home for the first time, touring the world on a bike, and recording the wonders you find along the way. Also, the world might be ending, but no one is letting that ruin their day. While it’s filled with scenes of beauty, Season’s awkward pace and muddled message leave it feeling a little undercooked.

Forspoken is vibrant, experimental, and undercooked all at once. It feels like a throwback to the Xbox 360-era of Square Enix games that were weird and experimental, like The Last Remnant and Infinite Undiscovery, only with a much bigger budget and flashier visuals. Its traversal and combat mechanics shine, but they’re trapped underneath a story and setting that feels painfully average and completely unwilling to engage with more challenging themes.

Some publications call One Piece Odyssey the best One Piece game ever made. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the best anime game ever made. That’s not saying much in a consistently underwhelming subgenre, though. The long wait to get to the meat of the story and a genuine challenge makes it difficult to recommend to others, even fans.

Fire Emblem’s tradition of focusing on character relationships hit a peak in Three Houses, and we all kind of assumed that would continue into Engage. Sadly, that’s not the case. Fire Emblem Engage scales its social interactions down to a bare minimum, leaving a cast of underdeveloped characters in its wake. At the same time, it features some of Fire Emblem’s best tactical combat, making the game feel as sharply divided as its protagonist’s over-discussed red-and-blue hair.

Midnight Suns is easy to recommend for fans of comics, strategy, and roleplaying games. While Firaxis does go overboard with the base-building and crafting side of the game, I did enjoy getting to know my heroes better. This game truly shines thanks to its unique and memorable combat system. Thanks to the mission structure and DLC on the way, it feels like a game I’ll revisit again and again.

Despite its flaws, I found myself always craving one more race; I could drive faster, customize my car better, and drift in even cooler ways than before. While not perfect, Need for Speed Unbound is the best the franchise has been and years — and hopefully a sign of even better things to come.

The Callisto Protocol succeeds as a desolate and brutal survival horror experience in its opening hours. But the second half is hindered by massive difficulty spikes and clunky melee combat.

Warzone 2.0 tries to cater to a wider audience by borrowing ideas from its competition, but it delivers a hodgepodge of ideas that seems to forget what made the original Warzone so iconic.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet take a step forward that fans have wanted to see for years — but it’s not quite far enough.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet take a step forward that fans have wanted to see for years — but it’s not quite far enough.

For all its murky mechanics and slow pace, Tactics Ogre: Reborn still blends satisfying combat with a top-tier story in a way that few games can match. If you’re a fan of the tactical RPG genre and want a serious challenge, there’s simply no reason not to play this game. But newcomers may want to start with something more approachable, or at least keep waiting for that Final Fantasy Tactics remake we’re all hoping for.

Sonic Frontiers is a fascinating game, mostly because of how little it actually feels like the rest of the series. The game’s marketing has called it an “evolution” of the Sonic formula, and that’s certainly accurate, but it’s still hampered by some growing pains. Sublime exploration and intuitive mechanics constantly clash with Sonic Frontiers’ insistence on introducing mandatory mini-games and one-off gimmicks, many of which simply aren’t engaging.

Modern Warfare 2 is one of the most baffling Call of Duty games in years. It caters to newcomers, punishes veterans, and alienates everyone with overcomplicated menus. The campaign and Ground War are worthwhile. But Modern Warfare 2 still needs a lot of work to live up to its predecessors, and may not be worth your money just yet.

So will Victoria 3 end up like Stellaris, which released to middling reviews but received years of updates that transformed it into a sublime experience? Or will it suffer the fate of Imperator: Rome, which launched in 2019 but had its support cut last year, leaving the game functional but tantalizingly unfinished? There are no shortage of directions for Victoria 3 to go in, but whether it fulfills its own economic goals remains unknown. I wasn’t always satisfied with it, but I am rooting for it.

Gotham Knights wants you to sympathize with Red Hood, but the game doesn’t do enough to contextualize his existential crisis, and we never see him evolve. He’s just the same angry brute doing the same thing over and over again, mashing that square button like the rest of us...Terrible combat, unnecessary RPG systems, a half-baked ending, and miserable Jason Todd leave very little to enjoy in Gotham Knights. Surely this is not what Bruce Wayne wanted for Gotham.

The Borderlands series seems like it’s stuck in a rut right now. Borderlands 3 had great shooting and mechanics, but an abysmal story and dialogue. New Tales From the Borderlands suffers from those same issues, but the big problem is the focus on a lackluster narrative. For every rare good joke or exciting moment, there are hours of insufferable gags that make you cringe and wince.

Boring library trips aside, I’d rather have only vocal work during cutscenes and have to read most text than endure the neverending string of grunts and chuckles, or worse, Waltaquin’s insane cackle. If you skip through most dialogue, vaguely pay attention to the story, and focus on the intensely enjoyable combat encounters, then the game’s 25-hour runtime is well worth it. The combat itself is good enough to serve as the basis of an entire DioField franchise if Square Enix is so inclined, and it's memorable enough that I could see this game becoming a cult classic...Still, I could not shake the feeling that I’d rather be flirting my way through Fódlan than fighting on the isle of DioField any day.

Immortality is the antithesis of the belief that games are an art form, as its lofty attempts to establish prestige are built upon the language of another medium entirely (cinema). It relies on the spectacle of the project alone and not the substance, leaving an empty shell confident in but not convinced of its own self-importance.

It’s been nine years since Saints Row 4, and this new entry feels like a back-to-basics reboot. But technical issues, bugs, and many more little frustrations conspire to make this a middling experience at launch. It’s unfortunate because when Saints Row fires on all cylinders, it’s an absolute blast with some truly lofty high points.

The market for a shorter Persona experience is there; Not everyone has the time to sink so much time into a single game. Even for fans of the franchise, the idea of experiencing everything Persona offers in the span of a couple of weekends sounds like heaven in a world where an array of games demand our attention. But Soul Hackers 2’s attempt to deliver a palatable streamlined experience for anyone and everyone should have taken more time to do some soul searching.

The focus on the band at large in later chapters also takes away from the more personal stories that make We Are OFK great. As a portrait of individuals struggling to reconcile their corporate and artistic identities, We Are OFK succeeds in the strength of its writing. But as a vehicle for OFK the band, this undercooked visual novel can’t quite strike the right chord.

Digimon Survive isn’t awful, but longtime fans of the franchise will likely come away feeling a little disappointed. If the tactics gameplay was up to snuff — or eliminated entirely — the experience would’ve been better overall.

Endling: Extinction is Forever hides a monotonous experience behind a striking visual aesthetic and an empty message about the relationship between humanity and the environment. The gameplay never fully commits to building the relationship between the mother and her cubs, which leaves the whole story feeling emotionless and bare. The end result is more “call of the mild” than Call of the Wild.

As Dusk Falls isn’t quite the arty thinkpiece it aspires to be. But it’s a hell of a lot of fun nonetheless. This is a perfect Game Pass experience for a mellow weekend, and probably best enjoyed with an adult beverage in hand — and the company of your favorite like-minded sickos.

MADiSON is simultaneously one of the most tantalizing, yet enraging horror experiences I’ve ever played. The atmosphere and story are rich and engaging, and the scares are turned up to 11. But the puzzles are so baffling that it’s tough to recommend this game even to devoted horror fans. That said, I’d love to see Bloodious Games take another stab at a horror project with more streamlined gameplay.

Like every other Mario sports game, realism is thrown out the window in favor of ridiculous gameplay. The final product is mostly fun, but overcomplicated systems feel destined to frustrate casual players.

A game built on the message that your choices matter, The Quarry does very little to prove this design principle in execution. It’s a grand attempt at recapturing the magic of the developer’s cult 2015 hit Until Dawn, but rather than demonstrate growth for Supermassive, The Quarry makes it feel like the studio is trapped in the past. In this case, it’s an overemphasis on pulpy B-horror movies from the ‘80s.

The joy of each puzzle comes in stages. A realization of the challenge, the difficulty of grappling with it, and the gratification of solving it. Dungeons of Dreadrock so skillfully executes that gameplay loop in every one of its 100 handcrafted levels. Though the game primarily looks to a mobile audience, the clunky UI can’t get in the way of the colorful sprites and inventive puzzles Dreadrock offers, leaving a short and sweet experience I would happily come back to for 100 more floors.

There’s something to be said about not messing with something that’s working just fine. The Show 22 is a familiar product for better and for worse. The ball game is as solid as ever, but the video game entry fails to offer something truly new for PlayStation owners who bought last year’s installment, while its most noticeable change doesn’t really help matters.

Soulslikes are appealing because of the sense of accomplishment they evoke, offering tremendously difficult battles that — with practice — can be overcome. Every death feels fair, and the design philosophy is fine-tuned in such a way that feels intentional and deliberate. Salt and Sacrifice, on the other hand, achieves difficulty with clunky design, which completely misses the point of what makes a good challenge worth the time. Instead, the sacrifice of wasted time here is more than enough to make you salty.

I truly wish Rising’s gameplay systems were more engaging, as the story and characters had me genuinely engaged. There’s nothing about the game that’s particularly bad. But outside of the story, there’s nothing that’s particularly exceptional either. The flood of backtracking and busy work feels ripped right out of a classic JRPG, but not in a good way. If anything, this game makes me cautiously excited for what Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes will do.

Playing Chrono Cross was both better and worse than I expected, and I’m glad to have a better understanding of what all the fuss has been about after all these years. I wouldn’t place it in the rare tier of games I’d recommend to positively anyone, but if you’re someone with a deep affinity for this genre, it’s a risk-taking riff on a classic that’s still got surprises to spare.

Ghostwire: Tokyo’s vision of Shibuya is eccentric and captivating. Exploring every nook and cranny to learn more about the Japanese myths and legends that inspired the game makes for a compelling gameplay hook. It’s a shame that despite some interesting ideas, parts of the story campaign feel like they were left on the cutting room floor.

WWE 2K22 is 2K Sports’ first mainline WWE game since 2019. Following the abysmal reception to 2K20 that year, 2K took an extra year to make sure bugs were squashed and character models looked the part while preserving the fun factor. The team behind the latest release has addressed most of these issues this time around, and while 2K22 is significantly better than its predecessor, the bar was absurdly low. The extra year has certainly helped, but ultimately, the final product still feels undercooked.

Chocobo GP feels like a game that wants to be Mario Kart with Final Fantasy, but it simply doesn’t have the creativity or mechanical chops to back it up. There are certainly worse racers out there, but unless you’re the type of Final Fantasy fan who’s really into games like Theatrhythm or Dissidia that celebrate the franchise at the expense of quality gaming, you’re not going to get a whole lot out of Chocobo GP.

Shin Megami Tensei's influence shines through in Monark’s moody gothic atmosphere and aesthetics, but the gameplay and pacing fall short of that lofty ideal.

KOF’s resistance to any grand story arc defies the pressure being applied by its rivals. Minimal solo options and routine online duels don’t reinvent anything either. This isn’t laziness on SNK’s part, however. It feels more like a focus on maintaining the design philosophy that the player base has loved all along: potent character design, instantly identifiable team play, and off-the-wall plotlines.

Sifu’s singular focus on the perfect run leaves the essential feeling of incremental progress too far out of reach.

When the platforming actually works, Dying Light 2 is an absolute blast. Chaining together a high-flying hang glider maneuver, then grappling off the edge of a building before executing a perfectly timed series of jumps makes you feel like a superhero. It’s just too bad that more often than not, something will go wrong and you’ll fall to your death instead.

Ubisoft eventually came to the realization that it was time to get this game out the door, and the result is a jumbled pile of ideas you’ve seen before, executed in a wildly uninteresting way.

Brilliant Diamond lacks ambition and will frustrate fans of Pokémon Platinum more than it pleases. Still, an extremely faithful classic Pokémon remake might be just what we need before Game Freak wildly changes up the formula with 2022’s Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

No More Heroes 3 is a good game. But what affords the game personality is perhaps the same thing that keeps it from becoming something better than just good.

If you’re willing to overlook the bloated combat, you’ll find a lot to love in this macabre adventure about the bond between sisters.