Sniper Elite 5 excels at being an entertaining experience with a high level of tactical challenge that matches the player’s engagement. It’s a game that delivers on everything it’s trying to provide and doubles down with excellent sniping mechanics, gun customization, and gorgeous environments. It can be a bit overly complicated in some areas, and the random AI glitches can hurt the immersion, but this is the best entry of the series to date, and I don’t see it slowing down any time soon.

Furi is a game that will only appeal to die-hard action veterans who love a good challenge. Yet, thanks to this limited and intentional appeal that is clearly imbued with fervor, Furi cleanly sticks the landing and delivers a sublime boss-rush adventure with remarkable combative polish. I’ve played only a select few titles that have felt as fulfilling as Furi, and I wholeheartedly believe that those willing to give this game a shot and sedate any preemptive pride they possess will feel similarly by the end.

I did find that the AI enemies seem to flop around like more of a fish than a monster, but for the most part, they provide a fresh experience. Source of Madness takes the traditional roguelite formula and adds in its own spices showing that a genre that’s been beaten to death still has some life in it.

The balance between fun interactions with the Touken Danshi combined with the easy-to-understand Musou combat all adds up to a really nice experience, if you were looking to immerse yourself into this Sengoku Period history from an interesting perspective. If you’re a Japanese history nerd who also enjoys Musou games that definitely have you think outside the box, definitely give this one a try!

Ultra Deluxe is easily going to be one of the finest gaming experiences of the year, despite its short length relative to most. This is a game that gets in, says exactly what its creators wanted to say, and then gets out…maybe. The most ridiculous elements of the original are still perfectly preserved here, and then amplified in the new content, letting the player experience exactly what they want to. I wouldn’t change a single thing about it.

OPUS: Echo of Starsong – Full Bloom Edition is the most complete and definitive way to experience this emotionally-charged sci-fi adventure. If you’re going to be picking this up on Nintendo Switch, make sure to play through the other games in order if you haven’t done so before. Collectively as a trilogy, OPUS is among the most memorable and essential experiences on the platform, and the latest shows how a humble vision can evolve into something amazing over time.

There is a promising premise presented here, but sadly, Waifu Impact fails to make an impact at all, let alone a splash. Even if the concept isn’t fully realized, there could always be hope for some notable systems. Unfortunately, this couldn’t pull off any of that, leaving me confused. Games can be cheeky but still present some value with how comically bad they are, Waifu Impact doesn’t even come close. With poor gameplay and visuals, this game is dead in the water.

Galeb, Emem, and Leysha have compelling enough stories to keep players invested despite these problems, even if it is difficult to find your next destination at times, or you find that you have built each of them in the same way. I know this game has the potential to rise above and give fans an exciting vampire narrative.

It’s honestly great to see a series that was once an expensive import hobby reach such a wide audience. Cotton Fantasy is a culmination of gameplay ideas into one generous package that is feature and content-heavy. If you’re going to buy one game from this cute-’em-up series, make it this one.

KamiYaba: Destiny on a Dicey Deadline offers cozy times with some cute characters, but it doesn’t manage to handle any unique plot point it brings up. The generic feeling and too frequent text issues are a big blunder, but players looking for just some fun with cute girls can probably overlook those issues.

The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story is a memorable, impactful, and well-written mystery adventure boasting sublime voice work and live-action talent that elevates the experience to a new level altogether. Even when accounting for the not-so-subtly implemented drab padding and potentially unwieldy controls on consoles, those faults don’t detract from the riveting storytelling any curious detective should dive into. I’m sincerely hoping this title manages to perform well despite its undoubtedly niche appeal.

Despite its flaws, Seven Pirates H is an addictive and fun adventure. Underneath the fanservice exterior is a cute RPG, just don’t go into this expecting anything challenging or remotely intellectually stimulating and you’ll find yourself having fun.

While the game may be a little slower than one may expect for the genre, Samurai Bringer is a curious feast of customizable samurai action. Players willing to give it some time and effort will be able to find a compelling reward for experimenting with its moveset combination options.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising should be played if you plan on diving into Hundred Heroes next year. Luckily, it’s a straightforward adventure through some beautiful environments and a well-crafted narrative. Furthermore, the very low price of admission for such a charming game made me enjoy it even more, given how far the developers were able to push the presentation. So, in case there was doubt, Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising definitely rose to the occasion.

Prinny Presents NIS Classics Vol. 2 features two overlooked titles from this developer’s catalog. They are insanely fun games with deep systems, whether you’re in the mood for a tactical RPG or dungeon crawler. However, they lack modern options, limiting the appeal to a new generation of gamers accustomed to a higher level of development put towards these re-releases. For better or worse, these titles are exactly how I remember, but I still had a blast replaying them.

RiffTrax is the perfect game if you ever want to sit down with a group of friends, remote or in person, to have some great fun with redubbing old movies and funny clips. The fact that only one copy of the game is required is a big plus. Not only that, but the game is available for the low price of $10, and if you already enjoyed what its predecessor What the Dub had offered, you’ll certainly find a lot of fun in here. Playing this with the staff was also very fun, as we laughed at each other’s jokes for hours.

This samurai action-adventure embraces its contextual tone with a uniquely stellar presentation, a well-paced story, compelling positional and timing-based combat, and a cinematic flair that ties everything together. In all honesty, it's impressive how this game managed to richly condense such an experience within roughly 5 hours. I do wish that some boss fights were more challenging and that Aoki was given more focus, but those points don't take away from how enjoyable, and impactful Trek to Yomi was.

At times, Loot River shines like the burning platform that you just trapped all your enemies on, but that flame gets extinguished pretty quick. Loot River‘s creative mechanic keeps it afloat, but its final presentation feels like it landed short of its full potential.

Café Stella and the Reaper’s Butterflies is great at telling a narrative about a group of friends running a café. However, its casual disregard for the actual plot is a missed opportunity. You may come for the supernatural premise, but you’ll stay for the cute girls and comedy. I think the character writing is reason enough to play through this game, especially if you’re a fan of Yuzusoft titles, but if you’re looking for a compelling story, you may want to try one of their other titles.

Kaiju Wars can be an unforgiving experience, from missions that take all of your stamina to a story requiring familiarity with the source material. However, the gameplay is deep and nuanced enough to be exciting and rewarding. I am confident that Kaiju Wars will become a cult classic amongst a niche group of fans, much like the films that inspired it.

CrimeSight is a great social deduction game, and one that has surprised me quite a bit with just how high-quality it is. The sounds, the visuals, and the game design all mesh together into a thrilling social deduction game that you can play together with a couple of friends. It offers just the right mix of advantages and disadvantages between each of the three roles: Sherlock knows nothing but can move a lot, Moriarty knows everything but can’t do a lot, and Irene…well, she’s basically the assistant for Moriarty. If you were wanting a change of pace and wanted to play this with your friends, I can certainly recommend it for a game night.

Ganryu 2: Hakuma Kojiro is a game with instant playability and one that you can easily jump right into with smooth and addictive gameplay. There’s a sense of rewarding challenge and progression to the game that’ll make you want to keep revisiting over and over. No doubt this game is old-school tough, but the journey to mastering the levels and nailing that perfect rhythm and flow is what perfectly captures the unique magic of this timeless 2D gaming genre.

When going through the motions of Lila’s Sky Ark, you can find yourself entranced by the world’s vibrancy and the alluring atmosphere. But once you’re done being mesmerized, you start to feel disenchanted by the gameplay. Nothing feels fully immersive or exceptional, but nothing also feels abysmal or detrimental. As Lila, you wade through your journey and come out the other side feeling slightly satisfied. It was an above-average ride that you may not try again, but not one you regret.

There are more intricate and enjoyable fanservice games out there, like the Neptunia and Senran Kagura franchises. Pretty Girls Rivers is occasionally enjoyable to look at and listen to, but that’s about it, and you can tell I’m just spamming filler words at this point to reach a word requirement.

If a strong narrative is required to keep you invested in a game, it’s probably not the one for you, but for those out there who love the steady feeling of progress for its own sake, it’s a lot more fun than the idle games clogging the market and trying to scratch that same itch.

UuultraC is another unique BL title from ADELTA and it’s easy to see improvements to the Kurosawa Rinko artstyle. However, the messy delivery of its plot keeps it from living up to its potential with a confusing narrative style that hinders the experience more than it does improve it. Even so, fans of the genre are likely to enjoy this wild ride and should give this experimental work a try.

The House of the Dead: Remake is a welcome return of an arcade classic on a less than an ideal platform. On paper, it would make sense for this to work on Nintendo Switch, but the gyro functionality of the Joy-Cons just doesn’t lend itself to the experience as smoothly as one would hope. Diehard fans are probably better off dusting off their Nintendo Wii, while most Switch owners will need to fiddle around with the controls before they can appreciate this classic.

Its predecessor may have been an unremarkable release 30 years ago, but Andro Dunos II manages to execute decent gameplay variety in a well-designed shmup adventure. It allows players to choose how they want to play, and with easy upgrades and clean level design, this is a nice alternative to all the bullet hell craziness out there.