Sand Land is just another forgettable tie-in to add to the existing anime game pile.

A joyous adventure and fitting swan song for one of Japan's great RPG directors.

Tight design and compelling mythology compensate for a few too many borrowed ideas.

A killer puzzle game that tests your skill and your patience.

A great artstyle and flashes of brilliance never truly make up for a meandering, risk-averse plot.

A clever yet frustratingly muddled follow-up to Monster Train.

There's half of an amazing game in Broken Roads. Trouble is you have to play the other half.

A rough-edged but worthwhile spin on historical 4Xs that oddly leaves Civ's greatest flaws untouched.

Five hours of fun, frantic platforming that’s unwieldy and all the better for it.

Pleasant but rarely compelling characters undermine this spiritual sequel to Gone Home.

A pleasing world and satisfying jetpack exploration aside, Cutter Slade's return is rarely out of this world.

A charming but slight co-op action game where a basic combat system is elevated by clever bonuses and abilities, and half the pleasure is the world's incidental details.

Technically impressive but just not as fun or innovative as its predecessor.

A magnificent adventure with impressive fights and some very rough edges.

Unsettling and narratively ambitious, this is the best Alone in the Dark game since 1992.

There’s a lot to love in the core loop, but this diamond in the rough gets buried under a repetitive campaign and late game balance issues.

A suspenseful yet forgiving turn-based tactics game that lets you play a part in shaping history.

The Thaumaturge might be a bit light for RPG lovers, but it’s a gorgeous, incisive look at a world long past.

A creative fusion of familiar platformer elements that improves with time and investment, and proof that Evening Star is more than just the Sonic Mania crew.

One flipping good idea can’t save this repetitive roguelike deckbuilder from only rolling above average.

A great remaster of a beloved, if now very old school, FPS that is handled with great care and attention.

Ultros is easy enough that you rarely have to fully engage with its most interesting mechanics, and its writing struggles to effectively convey its lofty ideals. But the lines still connect together at the end, turning this metroidvania into a beautiful, circular experience of presence and balance. It’s a game that wants you to see the world differently when you finish it, and the way everything is connected. If nothing else, what other game lets you take a stroll through an umbilical cord?

With its emphasis on crafting and trading rather than action, Last Epoch puts the cart before the horse.

A novel and challenging survival game that puts you in the driver's seat of one the best cars in videogames.

A roguelike deckbuilder debut already worthy of joining Slay the Spire and Monster Train at the King’s table. Essential.

Combining moody and gratifying ship-on-ship combat with shallow live service trappings, Skull and Bones is great within the claustrophobic parameters of what market forces allow it to be.

Server issues aside, Helldivers 2 is a bombastic, strategically engaging and funny squad shooter.

Relink offers fluid combat against inventive bosses in gorgeous landscapes—this is an essential ARPG.