Call of the Elder Gods is smart, pretty, and, on occasion, satisfying, but it is also way too talky and too structurally obvious to become an absorbing experience. There are good puzzles here, and some will absolutely enjoy picking through its clues and strange story and lore. However, it lacks the confidence, elegance, and restraint needed to feel like an essential adventure-puzzle game.

Tetris: The Grand Master 4 - Absolute Eye is a fine version of Tetris that is tailored to those who are looking for the highest possible challenge. The small tweaks are welcome for those who’ve played Tetris religiously but the game lacks modes and variation to keep coming back to. With no online multiplayer you must really enjoy score chasing in singleplayer Tetris to stay hooked. While the guides and other modes taught me some valuable skills I can hopefully deploy in other games of Tetris, TGM4 knows that it is only there to provide you with just Tetris. For that goal it is perfectly adequate and plays great. For anything else you’re probably much better off playing a different version of Tetris. There’s a plethora of options out there even if TGM4 isn’t for you.

To A T was for me nothing short of a disappointment. I was expecting a fun and colorful story from the creative mind of the creator of Katamari Damacy. And while it may be unfair to put those expectations on a game with a wildly different approach to game design, the choices made here are more of a detriment to the design. A segmented, slow and repetitive story is even more kneecapped by inconsistent performance on Nintendo Switch 2. By the end I was left disappointed because all the ingredients and potential was there. Maybe the colorful visual style and cozy, slowed-down gameplay is exactly what you may be looking for. But to me To a T is not something I care to see again.

Bluey’s Quest for the Gold Pen is an unremarkable, mindless, repetitive bore only notable for its Bluey branding. The plot, a new story by the show’s creator, is barely a premise as the characters show no growth narratively or mechanically. Very young players might be entertained but will need a parent or older sibling to read the dialogue in this entirely single-player adventure. The touch controls from the original mobile release are here and work fine, though.

Gear.Club Unlimited 3 is the kind of game I would recommend only with a big, big asterisk. If you just want a realistic looking racer, and to race around and do very little else, you will probably get some enjoyment out of it. If you want a racer that gives you a real reason to keep coming back beyond simply unlocking the next event, this will leave you wanting a lot more.

It's not uncommon for an RPG to start slow and build to a satisfying climax and conclusion, and while the plot of Starbites does improve and diverge wildly in equal measure, the putrid aesthetic and repetition make for a slog of a time most of the way through. I did find Lukida to be an endearing hero, as she shares a number of close bonds that show how she has inserted herself into the lives of those around her. That said, inexcusable crashes and softlocks plagued my time with Starbites past the first 5 hours of the game, pushing me to the limit in terms of actually wanting to roll credits. When it wasn't the bugs and performance doing it, it was the repetitive, boring dungeons that nearly had me cast aside my controller. Sadly, Starbites neither aims high enough to get anywhere near the stars, nor does it have enough firepower to even breach the atmosphere. If you do somehow feel compelled to play it, leave the Switch version buried in the desert where it belongs.

If you’re an Alien fan, I reckon there is enough here to justify the trip to Purdan. Just don’t go in expecting the nerve-shredding helplessness of Isolation. This is Alien “horror” with a pulse rifle in hand, and while that makes the big bad less terrifying, it also makes fighting back a messy kind of fun.

Cleaning Up! is a game I think that will really depend on what you want out of it. If you (like me) have already played dozens and dozens of hours of games like Powerwash Simulator, this is another game in the genre and I liked its attempts to distinguish itself with puzzles and fun costumes. But if you haven’t played games in this genre, I’d probably tell you to try something else, because the controls and bugs don’t leave a great impression.

Prism Peak is a game I liked being a part of, even when I was frustrated with its odd pacing and metaphors. It's pretty, thoughtful, and more emotionally honest than most games that wear their hearts this visibly. But it's also a game that crams too much into a single frame. Too many puzzles, too many metaphors, too many systems and ideas layered on top of a core loop that didn't need them. Trim some of the fat, and this is a standout. As it stands, though, it's a flawed gem.

Pushing through some of the more devious sections, I felt a sound sense of accomplishment in rolling credits on Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege, in all its alliterative glory. In more ways than one, it's not for the faint of heart, but those seeking a retro-style challenge in 8-bit packaging will very likely enjoy the ride. While not all of its design choices land flush, the overall journey makes for a fun afternoon. A co-op mode made me wonder whom I might subject to this punishing experience, but once through was enough for me to hit my cursing quota for the year.

Sigma Star Saga DX is an interesting curio–a forgotten WayForward joint that I’m thrilled to have an opportunity to play in 2026, warts and all. I can honestly say I’ve never played anything quite like it. That said, no single aspect of the gameplay is without some measure of frustration. The overworld is interesting but the zoomed-in camera, respawning enemies, and retraversal can get old. One late-game planet in particular adds a foggy filter and a quickly-ticking timer that required several retries. I eventually grew tired of the SHMUP encounters because they’re so repetitious and while Gun Data is a cool idea, its implementation is ham-strung. All that said, I think this game has great bones and I’d love to see a sequel someday that addresses some of my issues with it.

Although it may strike a chord with those who really love its theme and aesthetic, People of Note plays it a bit more monotone than I had hoped. The few high notes aren't able to fully compensate for the safe storytelling and narrative design, and the combat waffles too much between tedious and novel. That said, I couldn't help but feel taken by the game's commitment to being a music-themed adventure; constant puns and shake-ups to the combat mechanics gave me a genuine sense of joy. There wasn't enough momentum, however, to sustain those positive vibes, and I was left wanting to just roll credits in double time rather than slowing down the beat and soaking it all in.

It is these elements that kept me from enjoying Super Meat Boy 3D as much as I’d like. Yes, it is still a fun platformer. But it is also the modern embodiment of why ‘just make it 3D’ is still as challenging today as it was back on the Nintendo 64. At times, Super Meat Boy 3D gets to do its own thing and focus on what made that original game a modern classic. Great controls with tight level design that encourage the player to replay it over and over again to get the best time and find the collectibles. Yet, too many times I felt like the meat was left cooking too long. It’s bent into very specific ways to adhere to that original game, instead of standing on its own two meaty legs.

It’s a shame that this game couldn’t be more focused on its puzzle platforming, because these half-baked distractions suck a lot of the fun out of what could’ve been something really special.

This being a Legacy Collection brings up the question of Star Force’s legacy. While not bad games, the series is more continuation than evolution of the previous series, especially in presentation, story, and age range. Star Force 3 was also the direct predecessor to the somewhat ongoing Mega Man drought. While the perfect cure for a shonen anime friendship speech craving, Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection feels a bit interchangeable with what came before.

Rubato is both a provocative game in its presentation, but also a bit too obsessed with its drawn out story and strange characters. I had a good time, but was only really able to enjoy the game in shorter bursts. If you’re a platformer veteran and looking for something that is out of your comfort zone, you really cannot go wrong with Rubato. Even though I don’t think I’ll personally revisit it any time soon.

If you're into the art style and don't mind Etrange's constant need to be the center of attention, you may find an interesting time-sink type of action-RPG. If you're more put off by the anime-style storytelling, chibi-looking characters and combat mechanics that lack real depth, I'd say skip this one, just like I ended up skipping Etrange’s musical numbers.

Monster Hunter Stories 3 tries to be an epic RPG, but it’s bogged down by so many systems and ideas that it starts to take on water as you progress deeper into it. The story wound up being a highlight, but even the streamlining of monster dens couldn’t solve the heavy-handedness of monster collection and enhancement. If you want to painstakingly tweak the dials on habitats and splice monster genes while dealing with an acquired taste of a combat system, you’ll find a better time than I did in this game. Maybe at the end of the day, the twisted reflection was a metaphor for the entire game.

PGA Tour 2K25 is a fantastic golf game, possibly the best feeling and most realistic golf game I’ve ever played. On Switch 2, it has so many compromises though and I can earnestly only recommend this game to a specific type of player: the Switch 2 gamer who doesn’t own another platform and never leaves their house. It has frustrating technical issues and is little more than a crappy demo when you’re not connected online. It’s impressive to see PGA Tour 2K25 run well on a Switch 2, but you’re better off golfing with this game on a platform it was actually designed for.

You can’t go through half a steam store page without tripping over a Metroidvania. Lots of great experiences to be had exploring wide ranging maps with hard stop gates you can only cross once you get that next special ability. The Prisoning: Fletcher’s Quest decided to step in that pond but stayed in the shallow end of map travel. There’s some comedy that oversteps the bounds of where my humor lies. Bluntly, in these spaces, a little bit of editing could go a long way. That said, when the jokes do hit, they’re really funny. When Elden Pixels tees up a gameplay surprise, it’s pure joy. When you get to that next boss, you’re going to feel good about dispatching them. The Prisoning: Fletcher’s Quest is a game whose highs are in the atmosphere, and is short enough where the flaws aren’t felt for long.

Big Hops is an extremely attractive looking game regardless of platform.

The game wants you to feel the living, breathing town, meet your neighbors, and understand the importance of this cultural moment. Otherwise, you could blink and miss what makes Despelote truly fascinating. You have to engage with the game on its terms; otherwise, you’ll miss everything the developers are trying to show you. This is Despelote’s most glaring weakness and its highest strength. It’s ability to ferry you to another place and time, if only to experience what it was like living during the Ecuadoran hype of the World Cup. To help you understand why Soccer and sports in general, really traverse cultural barriers and bring people together. United in a search for representation.

This second generation of Pokemon games on the Switch - Scarlet, Violet, and Legends: Z-A - has repeatedly gone back and forth between “we are so cooked” and “we are so back”. Pokemon Legends: Z-A has basically distilled that down to one game, because it feels like everything that annoyed me about the game was countered almost immediately by the game doing something I enjoyed or impressed me. Of the two Legends, I still prefer Arceus though, and I do hope a third Legends game is more focused on catching than combat.

Viewfinder is a fun puzzle game bogged down by its ambitions. I loved the way in which the game uses the gameplay to speak for itself. At the same time, whenever the characters started speaking I was kind of turned off by the experience. The Nintendo Switch version runs fine enough, but can have a bit of a hard time with the framerate and loading of stages. For puzzle game die-hards, especially fans of Portal, The Talos Principle and Superliminal I’d recommend Viewfinder in a heartbeat. But if you’re hoping to find something beyond that incredible viral video, I’m afraid that Viewfinder will not be able to change that perspective.

I’m happy to give any roguelike or lite a try to see if it hooks me, and after successfully completing my first run, I knew that my stomach was already full of Morsels. If you enjoy its gross, purposefully ugly style and love everything run-based, you’ll probably get a kick out of Morsels. In such an oversaturated genre, there are plenty more appetizing offers to satiate your hunger.

There are some tense and memorable character interactions, such as when you break into your therapist's room to learn more about another motel guest. When you have multiple objectives on the go, Rue Valley has a genuine sense of momentum that means almost everything you do will lead to a new insight or twist. However, the way in which your create-a-character's mental profile gates off certain interactions and dialogue trees is frustrating and made me feel often like I had just rolled a bad character; I can't see myself returning to a narrative experience like this one after seeing the story through, so I'm not sure why all the gatekeeping and roadblocks exist. If you're a sucker for Groundhog Day, time loop tales, or point-and-click mysteries, your enjoyment of Rue Valley may reach a higher peak. I was already tempted to check out of this motel before my suitcase was unpacked.

House Fighters: Total Mess is a great concept, but it just never quite executes on it as well as it should. The single player campaign is the only mode and only took me an hour or two to complete. Now and then some more interesting level design will peek through but for the most part this is a forgettable shooter wrapped in a very charming shell that ends just when it is starting to get interesting.

As an adult playing this game, I’m bewildered. It’s a game of tag for two people. I don’t think it’s that great, but it’s weirdly charming. And I can’t fully knock it too much because my kids love it. They’re both grade-schoolers and one of them was Hello Kitty for Halloween this year. Their taste might not be fully refined, but this is the type of game that is made for them more than it is for me. They enjoy playing against each other (though they don’t understand why they can’t be on the same side) and they enjoy cheering each other on in the mission mode. Hello Kitty and Friends: Freeze Tag Party succeeds at what it’s trying to do, in that it’s a vehicle for young fans to engage with Sanrio characters in a familiar game. It’s not a great adaptation of that game, but who doesn’t love running around with Tuxedosam.