The minigames get even better in Party Mode, which is essentially a Mario Party clone within WarioWare: Move It! Players appear on a game board on which they roll dice to move, stopping every so often to compete in minigames. While I knew one person attempting to wiggle their body was funny enough, seeing up to four people do the task in tandem is nothing short of laugh-out-loud hysterical. As far as party games on the Switch go, WarioWare: Move It! makes a great case for being high on that list.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Back 4 Blood has the best water-cooler moments of any game released in 2021.

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.

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.

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.

Harvestella is the perfect game to cuddle up on the couch with, preferably in handheld mode on Nintendo Switch or on Steam Deck. While it doesn’t deliver the best JRPG or farming sim, it is the only game that delivers both experiences at the same time, delivering a unique entry in a crowded genre that manages to be a breath of fresh air.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

It would be easy to let Mandragora fade into the crowd of Soulslike Metroidvanias, but it’s so much more than the sum of its parts. I’ve avoided a lot of Soulslike games over the years for what felt to me like focusing on difficulty to the exclusion of all else. But while Mandragora can be extremely punishing, it’s a reminder that difficulty can also be an expression of a game’s world, and pushing through that challenge can be far more satisfying than completing a game that doesn’t take such pleasure in pushing players to their limits. Mandragora is one of the most nerve-wracking games I’ve played in years, and I’m already eager to pick up another of its classes and wallow in its infuriating joy all over again.

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.

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.

Intuitive, responsive motion controls successfully recapture the easygoing magic of the Wii’s heyday, and will likely make Switch Sports a family game night staple and chart-topper for years to come.

A fighting game based on the comic Invincible, which gained widespread acclaim for its brutally realistic and explicit action. Compared to other titles in the genre, it is exceptionally easy to pick up and play, though that accessibility can somewhat diminish its overall depth and long-term appeal. While the narrative presentation is highly polished, the story itself feels far too short.

Self-aware humor permeates throughout Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin, and by and large, it works really, really well. Any fears I had about Stranger of Paradise were dispelled after a dozen or so hours with its phenomenal combat system, strange but genuine story, and a surprising commitment to celebrating everything Final Fantasy — all through the eyes of an angry edgelord named Jack.

Like the island it’s set on, every part of Sephonie works in concert for the good of the whole, making it one of the most profoundly moving games I’ve ever played.

Like most hero shooters, the key to Gundam Evolution’s success is going to be how well Bandai Namco supports the game, and whether post-launch content can keep up a steady cadence of adding interesting new content. Still, Gundam Evolution has gotten the most important piece of the Overwatch formula right, making each hero feel distinct and providing interesting interactions between them. What that means is that Evolution should appeal to any fans of the genre, even those without any knowledge of Gundam whatsoever.

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

Creatures of Ava is a mixed bag when it comes to mechanics, but it’s a game I couldn’t stop playing once I saw the beauty under its surface. The world of Ava is one of the most compelling environments I’ve explored in a video game in some time, and its subversion of worn-out story tropes is nothing short of brilliant. Where most games make playing the hero about laying waste to your enemies, Creatures of Ava provides a needed counterpoint by showing that you can’t always be the hero, and not every story even needs one.

Maybe I’m missing the whole point here, but I just can’t see Samba de Amigo: Party Central fitting into my Switch rotation. If I want to master a rhythm game, Theatrhythm or Taiko no Tatsujin are far more satisfying. If I want a party game, there’s already Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. If I just want to jump around while waving Joy-Cons, I’d rather pick up Ring Fit Adventure. Samba de Amigo: Party Central might suffice to keep a children’s birthday party entertained, but even then I don’t think it would be my first pick.

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

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.

After years of arena fighters and lackluster sequels, like New Gundam Breaker, Battle Alliance feels like the breath of fresh air the franchise needed in video games. It’s a love letter to one of the most prolific anime franchises out there, but even if you aren’t a Gundam fan there’s a great action RPG underneath, with a surprising amount of variety. Between its deceptively fun original story and dynamic combat, it’s absolutely a standout in the crowded market of anime games.

Sable lacks the same level of polish as Breath of the Wild or other AAA open-world titles. But as an indie game made by a small team, Sable is an unforgettable adventure that can elicit a deeply personal connection to the player.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

There’s still a layer of jankiness the series can’t escape in terms of visuals and tropey writing. But the compelling characters and gameplay mechanics overshadow the rough edges. If this is the last Star Ocean game, Tri-Ace has gone out with a bang.

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.

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.

Firmament is a magnificent achievement in visual worldbuilding that I’m still thinking about weeks later. I’m already back in the Realms, looking for Easter eggs I may have missed the first time. My desire to learn more about Firmament’s story is a testament to Cyan’s ability to make players care about fictional worlds, and its shorter runtime and smoother puzzle mechanics make it the most approachable game in the company’s history, as well as a perfect primer for the puzzle adventure genre at large. I truly hope Cyan keeps making worlds like this for decades to come.

You can't outrun the sheer horror of existence, but Jett: The Far Shore lets you try. Its heavy narrative is a perfect complement to its exhilarating gameplay.

There are some balancing issues between the classes, and going forward Capcom will need to provide more diverse content and game modes. I can understand the initial barrier of content-gating turning off a lot of people, but it’s clear that this ties directly into Capcom’s overall vision. If you can stick out those first few hours, though, you’ll find one of the most enrapturing experiences of the year.

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.

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.

What is truly surprising about Tron: Identity is that this is the game Tron fans deserve, one that has as much reverence for the source material as the fans do. Disney is a massive corporation known for theme-park entertainment – both in their actual theme parks and in their ethos of making successful properties like the MCU and Star Wars into endless content mills. It could easily have pumped money into making a heartless but generally appealing AAA Tron game where you get to fight hordes of enemies with your Identity Disc and speed around on a light cycle – Assassin’s Creed but with a Tron skin. That would have been a much worse game.

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.

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.

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.

Given the long wait and high expectations, it’s easy to be disappointed by AEW: Fight Forever. It plays like a budget version of the WWE 2K series, which already has a litany of issues. Fight Forever may be fun for maybe a couple of matches, but it’s hard to imagine spending a considerable amount of time with this game.

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.

What I appreciate the most about Cat Cafe Manager is that it lets the player go entirely at their own speed. Sure there’s an overall goal of restoring the shrine and cafe, but there’s no specific way you need to get there. You can adopt the cats you want, design your cafe however you want, and there are no “goals” to hit each day. It’s a game that simply wants you to revel in its cuteness and joy, and that’s honestly just a lovely change of pace.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is a messy and frustrating action platformer set in Middle-earth. ... Most of the gameplay involves platforming and stealth, though neither works very well. Gollum is full of technical problems that make an otherwise unpleasant experience even worse, and the game’s boring story makes it hard to recommend, even to the most hardcore Lord of the Rings fans.

Far Cry 6 does not disappoint. It didn’t just make me fall in love with it, but it made me realize what was so wrong with its predecessor.

If you have a soft spot for arcade-era classics like Guilty Gear, Marvel vs. Capcom, or Street Fighter III, then Type Lumina should definitely be on your radar. But if you plan to play online, there’s one big catch you should be aware of.

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.

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.