Play it for the aesthetics, the story, or to experience a world without Live Service Games.

Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake is a pleasantly anxiety-inducing game that combines the creepy thrills of the horror genre with the sharp satisfaction of taking a good photo. Though there are a couple of bumps in the road when it comes to how smoothly the game plays, the atmosphere and vibes are unparalleled and, when combined with the creative photography-based gameplay, create a remake that is absolutely worth experiencing – so long as you have a bit of extra patience.

Scott Pilgrim EX is a strong follow-up to the nearly 16-year-old original beat-em-up that builds on most of its ideas. Though the format is a bit less enjoyable than a more straightforward game in this genre would be, the amount of passion for the source material and the satisfying feel of combat should be more than enough to make this a worthwhile buy for fans of Scott Pilgrim, beat-em-ups, or an especially solid purchase for fans of both.

Crabmeat offers a part thriller, part fishing sim experience that explores fishing, or more specifically crabbing in a more in depth way than many games do with the obligatory fishing mini-game. Whether you’d like to find out more about the hostile crabs, the Feudostate, or just want to spend some time crabbing, this game could fulfill any of those options.

John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando feels like a shallow attempt at making a Left 4 Dead-like game. A lot of it feels like style over substance, with poor writing, an empty world, and an underdeveloped story. Even though fighting off hordes of zombies can be fun, it quickly becomes dull when it’s one of the only good things you have going for yourself.

Directive 8020 explores enthralling themes and serves up some aesthetically pleasing scares, but its overreliance on bland stealth sections and janky pacing hold the game back. I’m certainly interested in seeing more of the story routes thanks to the cohesive and quick rewind mechanic, but I think I’ll wait a bit before diving back into all those stealth sections.

Invincible VS is quite similar to the series’ protagonist, Invincible. He’s often conflicted, and as an alien, human, and superhero, he has much to live up to. In Invincible VS’ case, I’m not sure that it does live up to expectations. Quarter Up’s first effort should be applauded for developing a fighting game that could be a hit with both casuals and high-level players, but it could just as easily not find an audience with its conflicting decisions. Competition is tough in fighting games, and that remains true for…Invincible VS.

Romeo Is A Dead Man is a frustrating experience. I wanted to meet it on its own terms and let the insanity and sci-fi camp wash over me. But too much time spent in boring and tedious gameplay loops, coupled with weak character relationships, left me without anything of substance to hold onto.

My Hero Academia: All’s Justice features fun gameplay and some nifty side modes, but the unbalanced battles in the Team Missions and story mode make for a bit of an uneven experience. The playable roster and additional narrative content are great, so fans of My Hero Academia may find it worth checking out for those features alone.

Town of Zoz’s combat feels a bit jumbled, but the presentation, general gameplay, and music are excellent and make for a pretty unique title. If you don’t see potentially bumpy combat as a dealbreaker, I think there’s a lot to really dig about this game, as it juggles a number of concepts in a distinct and mostly enjoyable way.

Super Meat Boy 3D may lose a bit of its distinct look in the move to 3D, but the many tense and thrilling levels and the breadth of well-designed content make it a mostly worthy trip into the third dimension. I hope Meat Boy keeps getting weird and distinct new games going forward, as the little skinned fellow seems to have a lot of life left in him.

Damon and Baby has some solid qualities, such as its core gameplay and narrative/setting, but its repetitiveness and confusing map design hold it back from reaching its full potential. I think a couple of additional mechanics and a couple of gameplay tweaks would go a long way for this one, as what’s there is decent, but could be better.

High On Life 2 is an absolute blast, and I dare you to find a funnier game to play this year.

Life is Strange: Reunion is another misstep in how Max’s story is handled. While better than the last entry, this is simply not the send-off for Chloe and Max that I had hoped for. Between the lack of downtime, Max having virtually no consequences for her actions, and Chloe’s unimpressive return, I was fairly disappointed. I think Max & Chloe deserve better.

Don’t Stop, Girlypop! is a fun and fast arena movement-shooter, at its best when you are moving fast and shooting faster. The fun pink Y2K vibes add a level of charm and humor to a well-made, if a bit standard, FPS. The platforming excels at horizontal movement, but fumbles when verticality is introduced. Ultimately, it’s a great bite-sized experience and I was glad to play.

If you can ignore the shameful use of AI-tools in the game development process, Defiance Remastered might be worth it alone for the bonus materials. What we have is a well-preserved remaster of a very flawed game, just as flawed now as it was in 2003, albeit a bit more noticeable.

Kiln looks great and has a creative idea at its base, but it gets old fairly quickly and doesn’t seem, like it’ll have the longest shelf life. Making pottery is incredibly well-realized and satisfying, and the team-based matches have their moments, but the main gameplay loop gets tiresome, and the lack of stages and content beyond Quench mode makes the game feel more empty than you’d expect.

Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is an interesting take on the Cthulhu Mythos, even if its overall narrative doesn't stand out. Slow-paced, frustrating at times because its puzzles can be opaque, and very dedicated to gathering and understanding clues, it's an experience that should appeal to players who enjoy the detective-like approach of studying every clue they come across.

Dragon Quest Smash/Grow does a surprisingly solid job of combining Dragon Quest with roguelite elements in a mobile format. The story is pretty vanilla, and it’s hard to say how much the gacha system will impact the game past launch, but this is a decent enough way to take part in some charming Dragon Quest fun while on the go.

Legacy of Kain: Ascendance allows players to experience the events of previous games through a different lens in an entirely different genre than they’re accustomed to. Unfortunately, the combat is boring, and the story is winding and doesn’t pay off. As the game ends, we’re shown Raziel being thrown into the void, leading into the Soul Reaver games, left wondering why this game was even necessary.

Tokyo Scramble has some neat ideas, but the frustrating gameplay, choppy performance, and poorly-written characters hold it back from succeeding as a stealth game. I hope the more inventive aspects of the game can make a return in a more polished title down the line, as Tokyo Scramble sadly isn’t worth buying for those alone.

Dear Me, I Was tackles the challenge of telling a story without any text at all, and it does so with a fair amount of success. At the same time, however, it lacks the impact its emotional moments feel like they’re meant to have. Overall, it’s a short chronicle of a woman’s life that might make you reflect on your connections with the people around you.

Dark Auction left me asking “why” quite a bit. Why are we calling the leader of Germany during World War II “X”? Why was AI generated art used at all, especially in a part of the story that talks about the importance of art? Why isn’t this a visual novel, when the 3D exploration adds more tedium than value? Why does the ending feel like it needs a lot more context? Nevertheless, there are still a lot of good moments here, especially in the final chapters when the mystery starts to come together. It’s an interesting story with some unexpected developments, but it just feels like it could have been much more than it is.

A surprisingly engaging My First Train Simulator.

Fishbowl has a pretty solid foundation and a great art style, but unfortunately, due to its handling of the subject matter and the repetitive, tedious gameplay, it doesn’t live up to its potential. It’s a sweet game, with great art and some fun music, but Fishbowl struggled to connect with me.

While I appreciate the smaller scale of Dosa Divas, the experience feels unpolished and unrefined. The combat is shallow, even for a 12-hour experience, and the story holds too many cards for the climax, so the moments leading up to it don’t really resonate. The cooking mini-game is a highlight, and the themes about how important cooking is to both culture and community do hit, but the specific story ultimately feels flat.

inKonbini: One Store. Many Stories is a beautifully chill and heartfelt game that really teleports you to a whole different time and place. The many small stories that customers pull you into are wonderful, while the gameplay is as satisfying as it gets. Outside of some typos and grammatical issues that are spread throughout, this is easily one of my favorite games of 2026 so far.

Ultimately, I walked away even more excited than when I first sat down to play it. IO Interactive proved that they know what it takes to create a memorable Bond experience. As I’m writing this, I can’t help but wonder how the overall story will play out. That said, I’m extremely excited to see what 007 First Light has to offer upon its full release next month on May 27. [Hands-On Impressions]