No one asked for Gargoyles Remastered, and I can see why. While the 16-bit gothic graphics are gorgeous, the gameplay does not hold up regardless of what style you’re playing in. The combat is dull, the platforming sections are frustratingly difficult due to bad controls, the bosses are laughable, and the experience is over before you know it. Although the added modes and rewind feature are cool, I’d say this is a Remastered release for the die-hards only and not a reason to play a game that you think you missed out on.

Fia and the Wondrous Academy has a remarkable cast whom I always loved seeing interacting on screen. But almost every single facet tied to the gameplay experience provided no fulfillment, simply being an exercise in going through the motions for the sake of obligatory progress. No matter your history with the Mado Monogatari IP, this outing is not worth your time.

Considering the text and performance issues, Angel Whisper is primarily recommended for patient fans of the visual novel genre. Beyond that, it’s a title that hints at the developers’ potential but falls short of showcasing their full capabilities, as they seem more focused on surprising players with plot twists than crafting a coherent and well-structured experience.

Dead or School’s combat can be fun in (very) short bursts, but it all ultimately falls flat hard and fast. It has the pacing of a freemium mobile game that’s dragging itself thin, begging you to spend money to speed it up. Except you can’t even do that to shorten your own suffering. With a larger budget and community feedback, I’m sure this team can deliver an excellent experience, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find that here.

Samurai Maiden is an action title boasting conceptually sound ideas that grievously fall flat due to poor optimization, rigid movement, unnecessarily high enemy numbers, and artificial difficulty by extension. The replayability offered by greater difficulty modes is rendered moot. Granted, exploring the stages for collectibles and platforming can be enjoyable. The cast is pleasing to see converse and bond, too. Still, the lacking narrative and gameplay-related drawbacks significantly hamper the experience. At one point in development, there was a promising time to be had here, but it’s been mired by severe faults.

Gleamlight may have been great in concept, but it does not work in execution. There’s nothing here that players can attach themselves to as a reason to continue playing outside of some great visual and sound design. The battle system is basic, the upgrades are the bare minimum, and the level design is a copy and pasted maze. The UI-less experience has worked in other games, but it comes off as lazy game development here when the team didn’t try to provide a reasonable explanation of its systems or narrative.

The original Flashback continues to shine as one of the greatest games ever created. Its enduring brilliance serves as a reminder of what a truly exceptional gaming experience can be. As time goes on, we can only hope that Flashback 2 will fade into obscurity, allowing the legacy of its predecessor to remain undiminished.

Panorama Cotton isn’t a fun game, and what may have once been a technical showpiece for the Sega Genesis simply has no relevance today. This probably isn’t something you want to play; regardless of the cute character sprites, enjoyment takes a dive moments into the experience. You’re better off playing Space Harrier.

Black Hair Girl is Best Girl is a title that is not worth your time, even if the title fits your preference. If you want to enjoy a love story, there are plenty of other options out there in the visual novel space. The plot points are generic, and the pacing is all over the place. Further, the dialogue is bizarre and confusing. Despite having two opportunities to present a compelling story, this combination proved to be incompetent.

Those who stick out Forspoken until the end may derive enjoyment from how certain elements were tackled like I did, though, ultimately, it’s all too little too late. At the very least, exploring the open world and completing optional tasks after completing the story can be fun, albeit in brief doses, since there’s not much of interest within the environments.

Sadly, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is not the precious that we were looking for. Gollum's inner battle mechanics are fun but aren't a prominent feature in a game consumed by terrible platforming sections and dated visuals. Voice acting adds promise to the experience along with a stellar soundtrack, but there's no real reason for you to play this game unless you yearn for a retro platforming experience or simply love Gollum.

Homestead Arcana has an extremely charming visual design, but it ultimately fails as a farming sim adventure. Dungeon Crawling will consume most of your time playing, which would be okay, but even that aspect of gameplay fails to make an impact. Yuri Lowenthal’s performance as Huckleberry is brilliant, but that alone isn’t capable of weighing against the flaws that Homestead Arcana suffers from.

When playing through Affogato, your brain becomes curious as there is a strong idea and concept to behold. However, the execution of each of these elements is unexceptional and doesn’t pull off anything memorable. The inspirations behind them are clear, but they don’t mesh well together in this format. I found myself loving the aesthetic, but the beauty fades before your very eyes as you trudge through the game, diminishing the experience over time.

Redfall is an anomaly because a game with this good of a team behind can't possibly be this bad, and yet, it is. There are these drips of looter shooter, RPG, and multiplayer elements sprinkled throughout, but none of them work together, delivering a messy and almost incomprehensible experience. Still, gunplay and exploration stay consistently fun, thanks to the satisfaction of taking down enemies and the level design. That being said, the single-player campaign is dull, but the multiplayer campaign could provide bouts of fun comprised of laughing at the strange AI behavior or the fact that no one can find keys to a door.

Forspoken: In Tanta We Trust is a lacking experience that doesn’t provide enough substance on a gameplay, character, or story level to justify its existence. At most, I found some enjoyment in the new combat ideas and the dialogue between Frey and Cinta, yet their executions only reach a surface level. After the credits and accompanying conclusion, which also contains blatant sequel bait that will likely never be fulfilled, I wasn’t left feeling any more invested in the land of Athia than I previously was.

Monster Harvest feels like it wants to set itself apart from its counterparts in the genre, and there is undeniable potential here. However, I felt like I was playing an early access game despite being fully released. So much of the world feels like fundamental revision and polish are missing, and I can’t see myself revisiting Planimal Point anytime soon.

Zenless Zone Zero introduces players to a post-apocalyptic world where they navigate mysterious hollows and battle various enemies. While the combat is visually impressive and the character designs are appealing, the game suffers from a lackluster narrative, repetitive missions, and a heavy reliance on gacha mechanics. Although it has potential, Zenless Zone Zero currently struggles to stand out in the crowded gacha game market.

While variety is said to be the spice of life, Compile Heart needs to learn that if they want to make genuinely engaging titles, they need to take a step back and try to make these games more fitting of modern hardware and just more fun to play instead of pumping them out at breakneck speed to appease fans’ on a surface level. Diehard and dedicated fans of the Neptunia franchise who want more of the same may derive enjoyment from this title, but otherwise, you are better off staying away.

Bright Memory shouldn’t be played; it’s just not ready. The one-person developed action is a decent concept, but it should have been released as a demo in anticipation for Bright Memory: Infinite. The Xbox Series X version adds nothing to the experience, but if you’re eager to spend an hour mindlessly shooting enemies and rolling your eyes, then, by all means, pick this up.

Machina of the Planet Tree: Unity Unions is much too ambitious for its budget. The developer had an idea for what they wanted this game to be but could not pull it off. There’s not much here outside of mindlessly going through missions with the objective being “Defeat All Enemies” for an hour until the credits roll. I can’t recommend this game; I don’t care how cute the main protagonist is!

Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos attempts to deliver a Katamari-like gameplay experience with a comedic premise, starring fan-favorite Uzume Tennouboshi. However, the game falls flat with its rushed narrative, shallow mechanics, and lack of meaningful content, making it feel more like a cash grab than a worthy entry in the Neptunia series.

While I was just a tad hopeful about Scar-Lead Salvation due to its developer changing up genres from the norm in a new IP, what's here is unacceptable. The abysmally designed choices permeating every facet of progression, from its lack of enemy variety, repetitive room structure, and meager meaning in choice, make this undoubtedly one of Compile Heart's worst games yet.

Tsugunohi is not one of the most terrifying Japanese horror games of all time as it claims to be, not even remotely close. I’m certain the honor is just as made up as the urban legends. The basic jump-scare structure is identical across the nine chapters, so once you’ve tried one you’ve basically seen it all. There’s no real meaning or substance here, and real horror is when the anticipatory fear transforms into sheer boredom.

Bacchanalia seems to be an otome game that would fit all the checkmarks of what you’d expect from the genre, and while it is available for a relatively low cost of entry, that doesn’t excuse the fact that it is severely unfinished. From its awkward, inconsistent translation to even the plot having more holes than Swiss cheese, this title clearly should’ve just gone full-on Early Access, and I hope the developers are true to their word with their promise of fixing it all in the coming months.

Yumeutsutsu Re:Masters has the makings of a fantastic visual novel, and visually it is. Still, some horrible choices in both writing and design make it an utter chore to experience.

Tokyo Scramble is an ambitious stealth adventure that introduces a handful of clever mechanics but struggles to unify them into a satisfying whole. While its dinosaur-infested setting and gadget-driven stealth show flashes of creativity, those moments are undermined by an incoherent story, repetitive encounters, and rough presentation. The result is a game that feels more exhausting than engaging, one that hints at a stronger experience it never quite becomes.

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai is not an experience I recommend to anyone. Regardless of your familiarity with the series, I can promise you that this is not worth the time. Even fans who love the source material will get nothing positive from this title, as the miserable gameplay loop and surface-level storytelling will do nothing to initiate or enhance anybody’s love for the IP. What is here is more representative of a mobile game’s structure, with a console coating that’s mostly deceitful above all else.

Blightbound is a perfect example of a game as wide as an ocean but as deep as a puddle. There’s a story, customization, and many characters, but they all take so much time to experience and have so little payoff that I can’t really recommend this game to anyone in its current state. Coming from the studio that made Awesomenauts, Blightbound feels like a step down in terms of execution and polish. It’s disappointing to see something that clearly had lofty ambitions fall so far short of what it could have been.