Lost Judgment is a subtle improvement on the original, and continues the fun of seeing the seedy sides of Kamurocho and Ijincho while staying mostly on the good side of the law. A new combat style combined with a few more tricks up Yagami-san’s sleeves provide more entertaining ways to dispatch or get the upper hand on enemies, and of course the usual slate of minigames offer a much-needed respite from the main campaign’s twisted story. It may tread a lot of the same ground as the previous game, but that is absolutely a good thing.

Overall, Super Animal Royale doesn’t really do anything groundbreaking, but it is still a fresh entry into the battle royale genre with its cute animal theme and the ability to quickly get into games without much waiting around. Cross play adds a lot of possible players to the pool and what’s here in the package works and it’s fun to play. The game does just enough to keep you coming back for more without being such a huge time commitment.

Lost in Random is a magical adventure, and though its dice and card-based combat system never achieves a significant depth at which it could, its still a worthwhile journey. Zoink’s strength lies in building wonderous, mysterious, and frankly just weird characters and worlds. Hand-in-hand with Even and Dicey, you won’t be disappointed at getting lost in Random.

There isn't anything else quite like Deathloop. It's a riveting detective mystery, plays with time loops in unique ways, and never feels like it slows down, even in those stealthier moments. It's a game that's thought out top-to-bottom, with two perfect leads heralding the charge and a unique multiplayer component that feels central to everything that Deathloop is, without ever getting in the way. Whether you're looking to break the loop or preserve it, Blackreef is certainly worth the visit. You may find yourself as stuck there too.

Even with the occasional tricky platforming section The Touryst is an absolute joy to play. There’s a diverse range of puzzles and silly mini-games for you to discover and have an absolute blast with. It’s a delightful bite-sized adventure that, just like a real holiday, is likely to leave you with fond memories and wishing you could spend more time there.

Life is Strange: True Colors is just as much a story about Asian American heritage, mental illness, broken homes, and systemic failure as it is a drama centering around dealing with loss, regrets, and trauma. Alex, up until the events of the game, is forced to hide her emotions for fear of alienating everyone around her and appeal to potential foster homes. She despises her father—a first-generation Chinese immigrant—for leaving her and her brother after their mother died from an illness. Alex calls herself “broken,” and it’s only until she reunites with her brother Gabe that she finally begins the process of healing.

The Medium is an admirable horror experience from a developer that has been making a lot of huge strides for itself in the world of horror game development. It’s not something that is going to change the world of horror games, but it does enough unique things with the simultaneous dual-world mechanic to stand out. Like many horror games before it, it fails to balance its tension with certain gameplay mechanics that can turn from fear to frustration pretty quickly, but these are spaced out enough that it never ruined the experience wholesale. For any horror fans looking for a Silent Hill-esque game to fill that ominous void, The Medium will at least scratch that itch.

While it may not redefine the Metroidvania style of games by any stretch of the imagination, F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch is a stellar example of the genre done right. Featuring mildly interesting characters, a world teeming with life, and a well-designed map that is very player-friendly, it genuinely feels like it does damn near everything right. As long as you don’t mind an occasional table flip encounter here and there, this is a hare-raising adventure for the ages.

Tales of Arise is gorgeous. The lands are lush and vibrant, even those trapped in extreme weather patterns. Calaglia’s arid landscape makes me thirsty and trudging through Cyslodia’s tundra reminds me of long Canadian winters. Sadly this all seems to be lost when it’s time to throw in some anime. The switch from game graphics to anime cutscenes is actually rather jarring and I’m not a fan. I like the anime separately as its own entity, just not within the game itself. If the coloring matched the game, sure. But it washes out all of the hard work the level design team put into the game. Pair this with just way too much going on with the artes system and you can see how, though a fantastic game, it falls just shy of hitting a perfect ten.

I Am Dead is a hidden object game where players can get as much or as little out of it as they wish. Those following the story will find a short but simple game, perhaps too simple for some. The secondary objectives add more to do but seem like a compromise to keep adventure veterans entertained seeing as they carry very little reward. Away from the gameplay, I Am Dead dances around the raw emotions of death but deals with its impacts in a pleasant way. All living things must come to an end but memories can live on and have an impact on the future. Whether this game will be remembered in the future remains to be seen.

After 16 years of waiting, though, Psychonauts 2 more than makes up for lost time. It’s a glorious return for the franchise, one that should keep existing fans happy while being perfectly welcoming for new players. Let’s just hope we won’t have to wait a similar amount of time for the third game.

It never quite reaches its full potential, but as long as you don’t mind that it’s quite grindy in places, then it is a worthwhile adventure. There’s also a couch co-op mode which is perfect if you have been looking for a simple RPG to introduce to a younger gamer or if you just want something low key to play with a friend.

Golf Club: Wasteland has a great vibe for its somber and solemn story about the end of the Earth, and I loved the concept behind its world. But it’s burdened by a golf game that is simply not all that fun (granted, perhaps it shouldn’t be fun to golf on the headstone of humanity). Occasional moments that seemed to portend exciting new golf puzzle mechanics were quickly followed by more lobbing to almost out of reach platforms, made intolerable by frustratingly simple mechanics that seem to have an air of randomness and luck. But while I won’t be subjecting myself to Iron Mode, I did thoroughly enjoy the story, art, and music throughout as it plainly commented on the state of the world, making at least one round of golf on this post-apocalyptic world very cathartic indeed.

For all of its issues, Rustler is a fun little game that tries something a bit different, recapturing a long-lost element of game design and adding a fun new twist. Its humorous and satirical elements help keep it light-hearted, and though it occasionally has some comedic misses, its also full of genuinely laugh-out-loud moments. I’d hope to see some adjustments to the combat system as well as a general cleanup of the odd variety of bugs encountered, but as a whole Rustler is a clever and fun title that has zero shame being exactly what it is.

Hoa is a wondrous adventure that can easily be consumed in a day. It’ll make you forget about your troubles as the soundtrack lifts you up. Even its climax isn’t particularly intense, but the last level is a great change of pace. Though it lacks some of the modern features we take for granted these days, perhaps part of the charm is randomly running through the whole thing again so that you can be reminded of simpler times, when games didn’t ask you for more money with flashing ad banners for the latest season pass or premium skin, or fail to even start because of a service being offline. There are longer games priced at $14.99, but none are this pleasing to the senses.

Perhaps the biggest downside is that, as of right now, Monster Harvest isn’t particularly long for a farming sim game. I think I finished it in just over twenty hours or so. To be fair, I was grinding so I could write this review, but by the time I finished the first year in-game, I had already reached my maximum XP cap and unlocked the bunker. In the first week of Year Two I had fully upgraded all of my tools and had enough materials (just short on cash) to finish upgrading all of my farm buildings. In week two I beat the SlimeCo boss. If the developer doesn’t have plans to make events a real part of the game or expand the story and dungeons, this unique experience just isn’t worth a full price investment.

Overall, NEO: The World Ends With You is a wonderful homage for fans of the series, in many ways it seems like a remake of The World Ends With You on a bigger screen and a fresh set of faces. However, if you were not a fan of the original game, NEO may come across as lacking in plot and game mechanics; perhaps it is worth a rewind to really appreciate the lore of this franchise.

I wish Tormented Souls had a story to match the amazing visual work. I get imparting the tale via personal journals but pairing that with characters that pretty much ignore Caroline’s direct questions and statements regarding it is just sloppy and uninspired. This could have been a game that left me with my hairs standing on end and delicious goosebumps. Instead, when Caroline’s screams persisted through the continue screen and bled into my game it ate away my desire to pick the controller back up. Not enough morphine in the world to make me want to suffer through this again.

Finally, it seems we have some competition in the superbike video game space. RiMS Racing is a solid start from RaceWard Studio, and they should be proud of what they have built. From here, expanding upon the bike roster should be priority number one, because we are spoiled for choice in other bike racers. Just the thought of this team getting their hands on new bikes to scan, model, and record gets me excited in much the same way as hearing Polyphony Digital does the same thing to add to their roster of cars. You just know it’s going to be given the royal treatment! The parts removal/installation mechanic is neat, but a way to speed on past it would be great for those who play games to get away from the more mundane portions of a hobby. One thing is for sure: it’s an invigorating time to be a superbike fan, and RiMS Racing is a great example of why.

While Tricore definitely has something here, Yuoni wholly misses the mark—if it was even aiming for anything at all. If you want a survival horror game with stealth mechanics, go play Alien: Isolation or Outlast. If you want a narrative-rich, detailed world, go play the classic Resident Evil games. If you want a horror game with traditional Japanese horror elements and spirits, go play Fatal Frame.

For returning players, Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut is well worth diving back into for the Iki Island expansion alone and the way it explores a different facet of Jin's internal conflicts. It may not sate the desire for a full sequel, but it does a lot of cool things to make the experience feel fresh even as it explores the familiar. For brand new players who missed the game on PS4, there's no better way to experience Ghost of Tsushima. An engaging new story chapter will give new players even more insight into Jin and PS5 enhancements improve the entire adventure, which itself was already a technical marvel on last-gen consoles. Sony's experiment into re-releasing last-gen games on the new consoles with meaningful additions is so far paying off.

It’s a bit rough around the edges, but Foreclosed’s story and style are worth a look, especially for the PS+ launch price of $15.99 ($19.99 normally). When I think of my time spent in Foreclosed, I think it made for a good, short adventure that had me impressed by its presentation, but ultimately left me wanting more. More story, more combat, more world building, more consequences from my actions. Just about the only thing I didn’t want more of would be the stealth sections. So, with any luck, the open-ended nature of Foreclosed’s endings, combined with enough sales of this game, may result in us seeing a sequel down the line.

Greak: Memories of Azur provided me the opportunity to experience a beautiful hand-drawn world in a way that best suits my gaming time and style. As I get older and find myself more and more selective with my gaming, intimate experiences like Greak are so much more rewarding than the biennial installment of a huge triple A title. Perhaps you’re noticing the same habit forming with your gaming. If so, this hidden gem might be exactly what you’ve been looking for, too.

Blue Fire does not punish players for exploring their environment and that is further reinforced with the addition of side quests you can pick up along the way. Despite the difficult platforming the game does not feel overwhelming to complete, and there is always a benefit to revisiting old areas. There is always a missed breakable object or an emoting statue that was forgotten; one should not underestimate the power of emoting.

Despite these bugs, Button City is a relaxing little game with a great storyline and characters you care about despite their faults. Players can work their way through the game at their own pace as they battle to save the arcade from greed, and Fennel from his own shy and unconfident self. The story isn’t lengthy, clocking in at 6-8 hours depending on how much time you spend playing arcade games and completing side missions, but it’s a nice little distraction for a rainy day.

I haven’t felt this drawn to a game in a long time. Hades is fully deserving of every award that it has earned, and PlayStation players finally get to experience this perfected Supergiant Games masterpiece on PS4 and PS5. It’s an utterly brilliant melding of narrative, art, music, gameplay, world, and characters, with unique details throughout each element that come together to create a game unlike any other. Hades bears the mark of being a Supergiant game, while never feeling like it retreads any of the developer’s past work. Rather it builds on everything they’ve learned. It’s a triumph of player choice and discovery, consistently engaging, and always begging for just one more escape attempt.

Tribes of Midgard has its moments of awe buried in a mountain of grinding. Players who enjoy a long haul to get to sweet rewards will find a lot to love here, especially for only $19.99. Others who don’t have the time to invest in yet another survival game will probably want to look elsewhere, though unlocking the Survival mode can make things easy enough to simply enjoy the game on your own terms. Playing with friends is, as usual, the best way to experience this co-op adventure, over and over and over again.

Cris Tales‘ number one selling point is its use of time manipulation as both a plot device and battle mechanic. It’s what makes the entire experience. It’s a solid mid-range game, great for teens and adults looking for a fairly breezy thirty-ish hour adventure. However, there are better games out there that you should experience first, especially if you have to be more selective with your cash.