Punishing Gray Raven joins the pantheon of high-quality gacha greats where only so few reside. Following a rocky launch, this game offers intense action gameplay, deep customization, great characters, and highly detailed designs wrapped in a decent free-to-play model. Even though the game doesn’t break ground in the genre, every feature creates a great mobile experience. I feel communication on future events is key to the survival of this western version, but everything I’ve played so far has me hooked.

Foreclosed excels in world-building and presentation. The graphics and stylistic choices of a comic book frame the narrative and its structure. Though the brightness of the neon lights are strewn throughout the city, this dystopian world is rather dark. It’s a shame the game is only a few hours long, making it more of a cinematic experience. Despite its shortcomings with control and narrative, I still had a lot of fun trying to get Evan’s life back from the authority above.

Last Stop serves up a strong narrative, mixing existentialism with the lives of ordinary people, but it forgets to be a game at some points. The interaction and story bits keep you invested at the cost of choices and navigation segments that do nothing for the adventure. At its best, Last Stop should be enjoyed as a casual narrative-focused experience, but asking anything more of it may have you exiting before the end of the line.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: The Siege of Paris is an awesome expansion featuring gorgeous environments to explore and dozens of ways to progress through the campaign. There’s around 15 hours of content to dive into, packed with choice-driven events and distracting treasures. The added infiltration missions make the expansion feel like a true Assassin’s Creed title, but that also includes the limited enemy AI and random glitches fans of the series are used to by now.

Shadowverse: Champion’s Battle is an addicting deck-building card game on its own, but this game delivers an added campaign that makes it an adventure. Exploring the city, completing sidequests, and battling for deck codes and supremacy make each moment of playing fun. If you’re a fan of card games in general and want to try your hand at a new one, it’s a fantastic experience that’ll keep you coming back for more.

Star Hunter DX is a charming and dazzling tribute to the classics of the genre. The 2-D art style is reminiscent of the old arcades paired with a nostalgic 16-bit soundtrack. Controls are responsive with a nice variety of abilities and difficulty modes to play through the campaign. However, the lack of extra modes was disappointing and weighed on the replayability. Still, if you’re looking for a colorful shmup to test your skills, look no further.

There is prospective success in this game as an evolving creation of its writer. Taro has never handled a story that continued beyond launch day, and what little plot is in Re[in]carnation so far is basic but has plenty of room to grow and expand into a weird yet wonderful experience. Still, it’s going to need to evolve past the extremely standard auto-battler it currently exists as. Admittedly, it’s just difficult to admit that a game I still kind of like at the end of the day might have been better as a “walking simulator.”

Doomsday Vault isn’t going to overwhelm you with narrative or challenging puzzles. Instead, you’re in for a casual adventure of collecting seeds and customizing a suit. Those who enjoy the gameplay elements can spend time in the additional one-off stages for a spot on the leader board. Unfortunately, though, that ends up being the entirety of the experience. It’s cute and works as a Switch game, but don’t expect to leave with any knowledge outside of properly navigating an isometric experience.

While D4DJ Groovy Mix is a pretty standard rhythm game, it’s a solid one. There are many catchy songs to tap along to through a responsive display but be warned that the emphasis is on electric music. However, there’s a satisfying gameloop that does require a premium investment unless you absolutely want to.

Jupiter Hell doesn’t need the word Doom in the title to make an impact, but it’s commendable how well it presents DRL through modern design. At its heart, it’s a turn-based dungeon-crawler RPG, but that doesn’t calm my nerves when I’m blasting through a hallway of enemies from around the corner with more approaching from behind. This game’s launch version is serviceable, but the lack of enemy variety will leave your first hours of gameplay feeling repetitive in some areas. Still, it’s clear that there’s more on the way for this standout roguelike experience, and I’m all here for it.

Dodgeball Academia is releasing on many platforms, but personally, I would heavily recommend playing this game on the Switch. Thanks to a fixed camera angle, the controls are simple enough to grasp efficiently, and I suspect they will suit the portable factor rather nicely. I could absolutely see this becoming a new favorite party game.

Dreamscaper is a delightful and deep game, mixing elements of realistic character development with fluid combat in a dreamlike world. However, this does come with moments of tedium and monotony, making it best to experience through shorter play sessions. There’s a good balance of subtlety between the character writing and atmosphere with combat’s fast pace and tension. Dreamscaper makes a name for itself in the ever-expansive world of roguelite titles with great detail and nuance.

Grime is a Souls-like experience that’ll cleanse your pallet between the more significant releases of the genre. It mainly acts as filler, but it also keeps your reactions to tense action gameplay in top shape for whatever you’ll play next. The atmosphere really sells the dreary adventure with the help of an excellent artistic design, a stellar soundtrack, and engaging combative mechanics. Still, there’s a noticeable lack of boss spectacle and challenge required to at least cause a few fist clenches.

B.ark shines. The traditional 2-D animation is stunning, and gameplay gives off that retro shoot ’em up feel with modern sensibilities. Some features go underutilized and crowd the screen, but that doesn’t take away how excited and diverse the gameplay is. This feels like a Saturday morning cartoon and offers multiple difficulty options and characters to approach the shmup experience no matter your skill level. B.ark happens to be as strong as its bite, and it shouldn’t be overlooked.

Unbound: Worlds Apart has the appearance of a familiar indie platformer. However, there’s an exceptionally charming and memorable narrative here that guides the adventure through its many challenging areas. As beautiful as this game is, a high amount of skill is needed to progress, so thankfully, there are enough checkpoints to push yourself until you get it right.

Darius Burst Another Chronicles EX+ is a challenging and fun shoot-em-up; a must-play, I dare say. But personally, I saw monstrous red warning signs and heard boss sirens when I saw the price tag. This stand-alone may be a must-have for collectors, but The Cozmic Revelation collection seems to be the best way to experience Darius. If the series wants to make a splash, hopefully, we get a new entry.

Compared to other eroge of the time, Do You Like Horny Bunnies? 1 and 2 don’t really stand out; they’re worth playing more out of nostalgia or historical curiosity than on their own merits. Still, the fact that the remastered versions in Do You Like Horny Bunnies? Complete Collection runs smoothly and looks great on modern systems at a budget price makes me inclined to recommend them over similar visual novels.

Eldest Souls suffers only from a limited implementation of world navigation and a not-so-standout design. Still, the combative cycle is compelling and well-implemented through its splendid boss battles, immersive mechanics, and extraordinary audio design. If you’re yearning for a title to demand precision and aggression accompanied by thought-provoking skill progression, this game is worth your time.

Blaster Master Zero 3 is the perfect way to cap off this series for long-time fans. It’s highly encouraged that you play the previous titles, given that the challenge here is significantly higher than the previous entries. This game will test your 2D action skills to the fullest with unique upgrades for both Jason and G-Sophia SV through difficult platforming sections, dungeons, and bosses. However, as a reward, you’re treated to an amazing finale of an over-the-top narrative about a man named Jason who followed a frog named Fred into a portal.

In theory, a co-op, loot-based isometric RPG like The Ascent has the potential of being a great cyberpunk-themed experience to play with a group of friends. The world-building is appealing visually and aurally, but it’s ultimately unsatisfying and often unrewarding during exploration. The lack of replayability, broken cooperative play, bugs, and unbalanced artificial enemy difficulty make it tough to appreciate its positive elements. It’s sad to say that The Ascent is another over-hyped cyberpunk game that is all fluff and no substance.

Fuga: Melodies of Steel is a brilliant RPG adventure that relies heavily on its cast. Every moment of gameplay is emotionally charged with added choices that weigh on the player’s experience and alter the conclusion. The puzzle-esque battle system is addictive but introduces repetitive scenarios and random difficulty spikes depending on your actions. However, this beautiful story deserves to be experienced by all.

Chernobylite is a unique approach to the world and aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster. The narrative is so compelling that it keeps your eyes glued to the screen, and the level of detail is absolutely mesmerizing. Though it does get bogged down with mundanity and repetition, the moments of interest outweigh the moments of boredom. If you want an immersive experience with an intricate plot, Chernobylite makes a good case for itself.

There’s an analogy to be drawn here from comments made by the in-game characters about the appeal of idols. It’s not just about becoming a fan of someone who’s already talented and successful; it’s about following an idol as she develops her career. As someone who first played Idol Manager as a finished product, I don’t have that kind of emotional investment in the development process. But as in the game, hardcore and casual fans are attracted by different things, and that’s okay.

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.

The Forgotten City brings out the adventurer in all of us and showcases just how capable mods can be. While the runtime is kept short, multiple endings increased replay value for a few more days spent in the ruins. In addition, there’s an impressive degree of detail put into these characters that only falters in some aspects of the general gameloop. Regardless, I’m looking forward to what this game encourages modders to produce in the future.

Bustafellows is a great representative of the fascinating stories visual novels can tell. The narrative features a strong lead and a cast of handsome boys with dark pasts that create this endearing tale. Still, it’s a story on society’s shortcomings, which makes it relatable in many ways as we ask ourselves what would cause us to take matters into our own hands. While some design choices seem odd in this release, this otome is an easy recommendation from me.

Samurai Warriors 5 provides a fresh start for the franchise through a focused narrative while retaining what fans love. It builds on the established formula rather than overhauling it completely created a balanced action experience. Despite issues with repetitive movesets and the limited Ultimate Skills, I had a great time returning to the battlefield that has only been better with this updated aesthetic.

NEO: The World Ends With You was worth the wait. Its brilliant narrative matches its stylish design and fast-paced battle system making it difficult to put down. The game's development is fueled by the love of the fans, and it shows during every moment of gameplay. While playing, the gap between entries disappeared, and I was transported back to this fantasy Shibuya, hanging out with friends and going on a truly memorable adventure.