Peak is everything I'd want from a co-op game. It promotes creative collaboration, is cheap as chips, and with the map resetting every 24 hours there's the possibility of endless fun.

This light touch remaster makes a perfect pairing with Nightdive's far-reaching System Shock 1 remake.

An engrossing survival and crafting game with flawed but engaging endgame systems.

A heart-pumping genre superlative that should not be missed despite some technical issues to sort out.

Raidou Remastered isn't the best Shin Megami Tensei game on PC, but its live-action take on a familiar turn-based combat system is as fun as it is fascinating.

Splitgate 2 is a fine F2P time-waster, but its portals don't add much to the genre and its shooting is nothing special.

Pretty much just an ebook, but its form means you can gamify your progress and listen to some bangers while you read it.

FBC: Firebreak's madcap mission conceits are delightfully silly, but balancing issues and limited replay value hinder the fun.

Exciting combat and a plethora of sexy costumes can't totally save Stellar Blade's middling story and occasionally questionable level design.

Wildly unpredictable but always enjoyable, The Alters is a masterclass in high-tension gaming.

The action would be passable if it were buoyed by a compelling story, but I ain't gripped so far. [2-Hour Impressions]

Once it finds its footing, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is an engaging romp through a charming and dynamic world.

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon puts an interesting spin on Arthurian legend and presents a competent world that plays like a love letter to the open-world first-person RPG genre.

A weird and funny story with a lot of surprises, but control and camera issues dampen the fun.

Elden Ring Nightreign is just as confusing and abrasive as FromSoftware's other games, but there's really nothing else like it.

Wonderfully authentic, but it's too familiar, cumbersome with a pad, and the career management is unusually tedious.

Bursting with ideas, enthusiasm, and a solid physics model, but JDM seems more preoccupied with throwing another idea in than polishing what’s already there.

An all-time great deckbuilder gets a sequel worth risking God’s wrath for.

Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny represents the design tenants of a bygone era, more often for worse than better.

Blades of Fire can be great fun, but it definitely overstays its welcome.

Labyrinth of the Demon King offers familiar first-person retro dungeon crawling, but distinguishes itself with its overpowering—almost unbearable—mood of dread.

Doom: The Dark Ages is indulgent and deliciously violent, but surprisingly safe.

A witty take on sci-fi and co-op that’s teeming with life and begging for you to get creative with its gadgets.

Take an indie platformer like VVVVVV or Downwell and up the ultraviolence, that's Shotgun Cop Man.

A beautiful remaster of a great game that leaves some very old, obvious issues untouched.

Skin Deep is an indulgent masterclass in immersive sim shenanigans, but lacks a standout level you'll be telling friends about for years.

A new adventure game classic, and a bit of a tear-jerker.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's gorgeously realized world is let down by its emphasis on combat, marred by a few fatal stumbles.

There's much less game in Tape 2, but a strong narrative conclusion is worth seeing. It won't take long, either.

It's so mundane that I expected Schedule 1 to get boring by the fifteenth time I'd lugged a bulk order of plastic baggies to my crappy apartment, but like my latest strand of weed called "Wedding Ass," the drug-dealing sim dominating Steam right now is undeniably habit-forming...Chalk up that success to a lot of smart design choices from developer TVGS—its constant sense of progression, clockwork open world, expressive characters, gratifying supply/demand loop, day one co-op support—but I reckon Schedule 1's secret sauce is a crafting system that doesn't suck. [Early Access Impressions]

Tempopo's rhythmic puzzling is undeniably great, but is let down by a lack of mechanical pacing and an absence of Witch Beam's coveted storytelling.

Unashamedly retro in spirit yet modern where it counts, Tempest Rising is a riveting flashback to the halcyon days of the RTS.

I love Blue Prince so much I'm going to spend the next 1,500 words or so telling you as little about it as possible. Unraveling its many mysteries and solving its multitude of puzzles—several of which I'm still working on even after finishing the game—is best done if you go in with nearly no information. Don't watch videos. Don't Google solutions. Don't even finish reading this review. Just go play it.

The least amicable city council meeting you've ever attended and probably the best game you'll play this year.

South of Midnight's action may not have the strongest hook, but its poignant tale of hope and sorrow tailored to Deep South mythos keeps its head raised high.

A rough port and bungled narrative make The Last of Us Part 2 hard to recommend, though the remaster's additions and moment-to-moment action satisfy.

Rosewater tells an engaging Western story despite a well-worn formula.

Stylish and often satisfying, but surviving Grit and Valor’s later campaigns demands persistence over clever tactics.

Despite somewhat samey missions and a flat protagonist, Khazan's combat and boss design are some of the best I've seen in a soulslike.

Atomfall can be a fun diversion, but it really needs to take a gap year so it can find itself.

Honestly, I would have preferred Krafton give this game even more time to cook. It almost feels like I'm playing pretend at playing pretend right now—engaging with a variety of set pieces I can do a cute peace sign in front of before moving onto the next thing. In an attempt to offer something different to The Sims, Inzoi has failed to establish any sort of identity of its own. I'm not even sure Krafton knows what direction it wants to take right now, but it needs to figure that out quickly, otherwise I fear it'll be another casualty of the genre. [Impressions]

Overboard's more complex follow-up is another great evil detective game.

Come for the neck stabs and stay for the surprisingly great combat, Assassin's Creed Shadows is a stealth action buffet with a story to forget.

Exceptional building mechanics support a game that sometimes feels like a chore.

Fragpunk's bold decision to break almost every rule in the book leads to a captivating shooter.

Another fumbled PC port blighted by poor optimisation and unpredictable performance issues.

Repo is a fantastic co-op horror game that can hold its own against big shots like Lethal Company. It's also only in early access right now, and with plans to introduce more player customisation, story elements, equipment, levels, and enemies, all I can say is that I'm really looking forward to seeing where the devs take this co-op horror game. [Early Access Impressions]

A satisfying farming and tea-shop sim inside a well-written adventure with meaningful themes.

These are decent enough remasters, but not the outstanding ones these RPGs deserved.

An incredibly inventive, rapid-fire co-op adventure that never breaks its stride, despite its dull protagonists.

It takes too long to grow beyond its predecessor, but once it does Knights in Tight Spaces is an engaging and tactical roguelike deckbuilder.

Two Point Museum is the coolest, cosiest, and most evolved iteration of the formula to date, even if its more obtuse aspects prevented me from becoming a pro curator.

Best in class monster combat makes up for a wilderness that's a touch too streamlined.

There's been better narrative games, but none so achingly familiar as Lost Record's quartet of young punks.

A welcome refresh of a hack-and-slash mainstay that mostly impresses, despite a few glaring pacing problems.

Flawed and overfamiliar, but still as joyously OTT and hilarious as ever.

Great characters, challenging resource management, and impeccable road trip vibes.

Bigger than it first appears, Avowed is an engrossing and gorgeous action-RPG set in one of the most engaging fantasy worlds going, though it lacks the complex systems of its most beloved contemporaries.

A great detective game gets a lavish remake and an improved expansion in one essential package.

Graphics from the '80s with RPG gameplay from the late '90s and writing like nothing else: Skald was 2024's biggest pleasant surprise.

Toothless writing, old-fashioned open world design, and ropey port work undermine what should be a thrilling cinematic adventure.

Still a compelling sprint through human history, Civilization 7 sheds a little too much weight to match its excellent predecessors.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a big, bold, unutterably weird thing, and it's a new RPG classic.

Citizen Sleeper 2's broader scope stretches its mechanics thin, even while its story flourishes.

While the name may be slightly misleading, Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is a fantastic way to experience one of the best action games ever made.

Eternal Strands is an unforgettable combination of intense action, inventive improvisation and an engaging story.

It's old fashioned, but I find it quite compelling that it's a game that knows exactly what it wants to be. Sniper Elite has felt like the heir apparent to the stealth genre for a while now, and Resistance further solidifies that, a generous helping of sneaky action that's only slightly less impressive because it's retreading the same path Sniper Elite 5 already took in 2022.

Orcs Must Die: Deathtrap retains the frenzied fun of its predecessors despite a mixed bag of format changes.

Synduality has some smart ideas, but the end result is a misguided, hollow franken-game.

Being so devoted to Final Fantasy 7 means that there’s a lot of love to be found in Rebirth. And as a fan of that original game, it was so easy, for a while at least, to be swept up in the dazzling sights of Gaia, in the vibrant amusement park of games and sidequests at my fingertips, to hop on this rollercoaster journey with many of my all-time favorite characters and give myself to the joy of being able to spend more time with them. But all the charm and pageantry in the world can only distract me for so long before I realize: nothing has happened this whole vacation. The ship hasn’t even left the dock.

Both blissful and demanding, Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders is one of the most beautiful skiing games on PC.

My favorite horror game of 2024, and one of the year's best narratives, period.

A masterful metroidvania that builds on Sekiro-style combat and tells a great sci-fi story too. Unmissable.

Halls of Torment's specific aesthetic couldn't be more attuned to my sensibilities as a child of the ARPGs of the late '90s and early 2000s. Give me two honking great orbs representing my health and mana and a protagonist who has no articulating joints in his legs and I'm a happy man, and HoT makes me very happy indeed with its lo-fi heroics and diffuse, stygian levels. If I could play this thing on a beige CRT while Rob Zombie screamed in my ears I wouldn't know it wasn't 1999. Actually, wait, I can do that. If anyone needs me, tell them I'm busy for the next… foreseeable future.

A gleefully anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits, TGYH is the funniest game I've played.

Flexible, fun, and ferocious too, this roguelike has more than enough dungeon diving for everyone.

A pachinko-roguelike that properly rewards strategic play. Terrific.

Marvel Rivals is a well-made hero shooter that is easy to enjoy, and while it's managed to distinguish itself from Overwatch 2 in terms of heroes, it's fallen into the same pitfalls.

Caves of Qud is a genre-defining achievement in play, story, and roleplaying freedom.

Like if an immersive sim got caught in a teleporter accident with Uncharted. Some aspects of The Great Circle are weaker than others, but it joins Batman Arkham and Goldeneye in the god tier of licensed games.

Fantasian will make you work hard for every win, but the reward's always worth the effort.

What Infinity Nikki lacks in difficulty, it makes up for with a gorgeous wardrobe and charmingly scenic world I can't stop poking around.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 fulfills the promise of being the most true-to-life and detailed game of its kind.

Void Crew lacks long-term depth, but it's already the best misfits-in-space game in the whole universe.

Empire of the Ants features a lavish rendering of the world from a few millimeters high, but fails at the basics of interesting RTS play.

Just like in the old days, performance issues and bugs don't stop Stalker's mad, wonderful heart from shining through.

Insultingly short for its price, but that might be its one saving grace considering how derivative it feels.

I keep promising myself one more go… just like I did the last one more go.

A beautiful 2D soulslike with enough bright ideas of its own to stand out.

Personality, creativity, and co-op multiplayer elevate this Hades-like beyond its rough edges.

Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D is welcoming for newcomers, a fan's dream, and a truly timeless classic.

A gritty detective adventure that's nearly as clever and captivating as the original.

A smart, stylish adaptation that beats the odds to capture Metal Slug’s spirit in another genre, with a few irritating bugs.

Call of Duty's strongest multiplayer offering in years is dragged down by a tedious campaign.

A flawed but fun action slaughterfest with a great NPC-possession hook.

Planet Coaster 2 may not be the deepest management sim you can buy, but its powerful creation tools and newly added water attractions make a sufficiently satisfying splash.

It's great to have Max Caulfield back, but I'm not sure she ever needed to be in the first place. A somewhat unnecessary-feeling sequel that still manages to tell a compelling story, if not a little messy and underbaked.

A genuinely enjoyable, gorgeous action-RPG that lacks the storytelling nuance of previous Dragon Age games.