The experience of embodying superheroes is a lot of fun at times, but the lack of variety sets it way back.

If you have kids interested in things like fantasy storytelling and adventure games, but titles like the recent Legend of Zelda feel like too much for them, Ravenlok is an easy suggestion. And if you’re just looking for something breezy that’s visually enticing but not much of an investment otherwise, you can do a lot worse than this. It may be a little monotonous and unambitious, but the adventure is over well before it can overstay its welcome. Ravenlok feels like a nice piece of fluff that’s polished and genre-heavy enough to be fun, but won’t address any cravings for the next big game in your stack.

Zoo Tycoon may have taken a best-of-both-worlds approach, but to my surprise and delight, ends up being more successful as a "game" than a mere family-friendly "experience."

Firmament was an extremely meditative puzzle solving experience. I applaud Cyan Worlds for continuing to design these games without flashy ruckus, time limits, or deaths to speak of. It’s a peaceful journey through vast and mysterious lands full of wild and interesting machinery built into beautiful natural surroundings. However, as is often the case with Cyan Worlds games, Firmament is also a test of patience and sheer experimentation. You could spend extremely long periods of time stuck on a spot in this game and the only thing you can do is either quit and come back later or figure it out. Nonetheless, it presents another mystery I felt compelled to solve and I feel that other puzzle-minded players will thoroughly enjoy the variety of ways you can use the Adjunct and unlock Firmament’s secrets.

Shortcomings aside, Earth Defense Force 2025 is an action experience that will put a big, stupid grin on your face. Like Starship Troopers, EDF is a campy adventure that doesn't attempt to redefine the paradigm, but offers a reliably good time.

As I expected, your mileage will Killing Floor 3 will likely depend on the friends you bring to the party. Fortunately, crossplay between PC and consoles makes that easier than ever. Unfortunately, if you don’t have some buds on hand, the content here might not keep you hooked in for more than a few hours. The difficulties remain a way to bring the greatest chaos to this fight, where Normal can be handled solo, Hard is good for groups, and Hell on Earth is absurdly hard, but it’s still a limited array of content that feels tough to grind in the later stages by yourself. I’m happy with this starting course. I’m going to play Killing Floor 3 for dozens of hours with my friends. And I look forward to seeing how this game grows as Tripwire adds more to what I consider a very nice start.

It’s hard to imagine Touken Ranbu Warriors having strong appeal to anyone that’s not a die-hard Musou fan itching for a new Warriors-like. Those that played the original Touken Ranbu will surely get a kick out of seeing those characters come to life in a new way, but there isn’t much to write home about beyond that novelty. Touken Ranbu Warriors feels like just enough to maybe hold you over until the next mainline Dynasty Warriorsentry comes around.

Star Wars: Battlefront II is a pretty good game and you’re going to get it if you’re a fan of Star Wars, no matter what anyone says. I’m just thankful that the game is an improvement over the first attempt and is incredibly fun solo, or with friends online. The loot crates diminish its value greatly, and it’s a shame EA forces them down your throat as part of the core gameplay, but the game looks gorgeous and is enjoyable to play.

This colorful burst of anime goodness may not be flawless, but it's exemplary for the genre, and another of Arc System Works' great efforts. It's quite short and a bit on the shallow end, but when it comes to presentation and sticking close by to the anime, few titles have done it better. For newcomers, it's best to watch the series first, but for Kill la Kill faithful and Trigger enthusiasts, it's a great weekend rental or purchase.

It's enjoyable in its best moments and especially in one of its multiplayer modes, but the problem comes with its lack of longevity.

If you’re a bigtime Marvel head and your goal is to maximize your collection of Marvel video games, then look no further than the Marvel MaXimum Collection as a hefty step forward in that endeavor. Pun intended. For a low price you get a fat stack of games, and if you ignore the fact that several of them are probably bargain bin occupiers in retro game stores right now, that’s not a bad deal from a collector’s point of view. You can hop online and have fun with X-Men, check out the other games out of varying degrees of curiosity, then admire the thing on your shelf once you’re done. That’s fine! Also, it’s easier than ever to hit your unsuspecting friends with Silver Surfer, and that’s always a hoot. Just don’t expect to set this bad boy up next to… any other reputable retro compilation.

Despite the developer's pedigree with slower-moving games like Echo Night, it had great difficulty putting together a meaningful narrative that was pleasurable in any real way to watch unfold. If From Software opts to create another VR title in the future, I hope it's at the very least a different genre.

I will give Kill It With Fire credit for running smoothly on my PC and being a bug-free (groan) experience from the start to finish of its uncommonly short run time. The one fear-inducing music cue it uses repeatedly was worth a half-chuckle the first time I heard it, so I will give credit there. I don’t feel like there is anything here I can recommend to players unless they are deathly afraid of spiders or want to fake scream for a livestream show or two. The spiders can’t even hurt you, so the stakes here are literally zero for those not already stricken with bug phobia.

Phantom Breaker: Omnia is a really interesting anime fighting game with an eclectic cast of characters, even if some of those characters’ art styles look strange and out of place. An interesting and easy-to-understand fighting system also means being able to specialize any given character with the game’s three systems and further boosting playstyle variety.

If you’re a fan of Umamusume Pretty Derby, Party Dash is worth getting. Its cute retro art direction manages to capture the energy and charisma of the franchise even if it's a little lackluster on the surface level. The PC port I played ahead of release ran perfectly fine but being able to use resolutions above 1080p would've been nice. What is here is a great and will delight fans but might not be enough to turn newcomers into Umamusume-believers.

As a Metroidvania-enjoyer, I largely had a good time with Inayah - Life After Gods. There’s a creative world to explore, some truly impressive art and animation, and the weapons doubling as your door keys and fake sequence-breaking gadgets was awesome. Combat was a real downer, though, and the awkward map and enormous rooms made for some unpleasant backtracking. Even if you don’t end up in a goofy situation like I did, you’ll feel the pace dragging down. It’s probably a good idea to start with the sword.

Gauntlet is the perfect party game. It brings people together while tearing them apart. There's fast action that's easy to pick up for more casual players, and a decent selection of relics for players that want to make to experiment with ways to make their character an unstoppable loot grabbing killing machine.

Project Cars 3 is the first game to feature the all-new 8th generation Corvette, a car that driving enthusiasts were itching to get their hands on. It is used in the opening tutorial where its grand first impression is wasted on a two-lap quagmire of bad AI drivers and garish UI popups. Maybe that Mad Box console will come out one day and make things better

King of Seas does lots of things well, from its visual presentation to the simplicity of its sailing mechanics. It touches base with many of the things that made classics out of the games that came prior while streamlining the experience into something that feels like a store-brand version of the thing I actually wanted.

Hatoful Boyfriend is very much a mixed bag, in terms of story quality, but also proves to be a quaint curiosity. If nothing else, the anime art style is a pleasure to behold, with some bright and engaging set pieces on display.

Costume Quest 2 fits in wonderfully as a Halloween tale, but its RPG mechanics and whimsical quests fit in just as well at all times of the year. It's charming and sweet enough to induce cavities, which really should be what Halloween is all about.

A more coherent story and confident use of setting could've helped Ad Infinitum live up to its full potential. The dilapidated mansion, nightmare trenches, and horrible creatures still give it a unique identity that goes some way toward making up for the narrative shortcomings. However, I hope there's a "next time" for Hekate and Ad Infinitum and a chance for both to play into their strengths.

While I wish that Splitgate 2 was a stronger, more confident evolution of the awesome concept presented in the first game, I can’t deny that I had some good fun just hopping in and shooting around for a few matches every night. Battle royale ultimately feels derivitave, but the modes I actually enjoed were able to scratch that FPS itch. I wish it was the kind of shooter that I could get completely lost in, but it’s not that. Still, it’s among the more interesting options in an arena shooter genre that’s pretty barren right now.

I had much more fun with Last Man Sitting than I ever expected I would. Part of it comes from gameplay systems I’m familiar with. The roguelite elements, character and weapon selection, perks, and other unlockables in and out of a match make Last Man Sitting go from decent game to excellent game. When you hit that perfect assembly of weapons, perks, and upgrades that carry you to a victory, it feels excellent. This might look like a silly game about white collar workers fighting a robot uprising from the comforts of their office chairs, but once you add some fire, poison, lightning, and a large caliber rifle to the mix, Last Man Sitting blooms.

Artifacts of Power hits most of the right marks. There are some wonderfully creative physics based puzzles, multiplayer support, and breathtaking graphics. There's even some nice humor in the game, like when Amadeus briefly tries to explain why getting into the Wizard's Academy is so weird and difficult...At the same time, there's a feeling that the game lost something when it went fully 3D.

Serious Sam 4 is fun to play – and an even bigger joy if you bring co-op into the mix. If you’re a fan of the series, then you’re going to feel right at home. If you’ve never played a Serious Sam game, then just don’t go into it expecting the same level of narrative as story-driven games, because you aren’t going to find it here.

PUSS! is a game that’s distinctly unique, if nothing else. The visual presentation and art style are oozing with weirdness and have no shortage of absurdity. The levels themselves are also quite well done, though it’s a shame the experience is bogged down by unnecessary roguelike elements. Despite those issues, PUSS! is still quite the challenge for any hardened player looking to test their skills.

Unfortunately, the pacing is slower than a triceratops wading through a tar pit. Cooler dinos and greater objective variety should keep players coming back for more, but they're unfortunately locked behind a story that's more tedious than Jurassic World and unfolds just as slowly. This is without even mentioning that cutscenes can sometimes play twice and some story instances (I'm looking at you, Magnum!) will not only play out multiple times, they'll play out with the same unskippable dialogue, the same extended loading times, and the same objectives...I just want to shoot dinosaurs, man.

Battlefield 2042 has a serious identity crisis. It clearly wants to be like Call of Duty: Warzone, with its overreliance on fast-quip Specialists that will serve as mannequins for endless cosmetic microtransactions. It also wants to grab some of the audience who religiously play Hunt: Showdown or Escape from Tarkov with its undercooked Hazard Zone mode. Finally, it also wants to be Battlefield to what’s left of a dedicated fan base that’s been left to watch the franchise chase the tail of its competitors for years. We loved Battlefield because it wasn’t Call of Duty or Counter-Strike or Fortnite or Apex or any other popular shooter. This mismanaged project clearly needed more time in the oven and a cohesive design that works to Battlefield’s strengths rather than a game attempting to be multiple things to multiple audiences. In a year where so many releases have been marred by a lack of polish and bugs, Battlefield 2042 may be the biggest offender.

The game shows that not only can Purple Lamb Studios give games the proper remake treatment, they can also follow them up with something refreshingly new, and I can’t wait to see what else the studio cooks up in the future. Especially if it’s another SpongeBob game, because if Cosmic Shake is any indication, Purple Lamb Studios clearly “gets it” concept wise, and are fully able to execute that concept to the fullest.

If you’re looking for a chill and often lackadaisical journey you'll steer in meaningful ways, Where the Heart Leads is a narrative-heavy series of roads you may be inclined to explore again and again.

Rollers of the Realm, by most respects, is an excellent pinball and RPG hybrid. However, it takes a great amount of skill and no small share of luck to get through it.

For a while there, things weren’t looking so great for Bomberman, one of the most underappreciated gaming mascots out there. But it feels like the weird, little guy’s alive and kicking now, with two retail games within a few years of each other and more. Super Bomberman R 2 isn’t the ultimate Bomberman experience, but it’s a cute, wholesome package of old school, multiplayer videogame glee. Which is weird to say about a game with Pyramid Head in it.

It’s a shame that Seeking Dawn didn’t perform as well as I hoped, especially with the production values through the roof. Multiverse clearly has a firm grasp on creating worlds within VR. Hopefully, their next experience will trim the fat and give us the lean adventure VR game the team is certainly capable of delivering.

Just Cause 4 is a very entertaining package and its potential won’t be fully tapped for a long time.

It is rare for a game to be about something, to work its themes into every fiber of its being, to ask us to think about the world around us and reflect on who we are, the world we live in, and the things we’ve done to make it what it is. Dustborn does that, and it's special because of it. It doesn’t always work, but what it gets wrong pales in comparison to what it does right. It is a reminder that what we say and do matters. That, to quote Hemingway, “The world is a fine place, and worth fighting for.” That a better world is possible, if only we have the courage to build it, if we can find the right words to speak it into existence. Let there be light.

Encodya truly has some neat aspects going for it. Endearing characters, beautiful art design, solid quality of life features. However, none of those are enough to overcome a heavy-handed narrative and some messy gameplay mechanics. Encodya is a sometimes passable, middling take on Cyberpunk, and an average point-and-click adventure.

It’d be nice if the game did more in the way of teaching you the ropes, offered different control schemes, and provided a wider array of accessibility options. In general as well, it’d be nice if the game offered more in the way of incentives, excitement, and action to keep you coming back for more, regardless of its punishing difficulty.

Nightdive Studios has tackled this 2002 classic as its latest effort in games restoration and preservation, but more than that, the team actually fixed issues that held this game back when it was first released, making it arguably one of the most fascinating Nightdive remasters yet.

Open Roads is the quintessential Annapurna Interactive video game. There are prominent actors giving authentic performances in a story that’s beautifully written, there’s a unique approach to art direction, and the music is top-of-the-line. I didn’t vibe with all of the design decisions, but it’s impossible to walk away from Open Roads without feeling at least a little contemplative about your own life journey and relationships.

It's nice to take a break from the increasingly convoluted plot of the main storyline with a straightforward tale of revenge set in a historic corner of the world that often doesn't get a lot of attention in Western video games.

Putting aside the weird, tone-deaf childishness of the plot setup, Grit and Valor – 1949 is occasionally an exciting little strategy game. Some of its map designs and optional objectives force you to make the most of scant resources, and for all the challenge, it's refreshingly quick and easy to make up losses when you fail. It's just frustratingly shallow in its take on roguelike structures for longer than it should be.

There’s a fun and challenging experience down in the depths of Below, especially in the very lowest levels. Unfortunately, the cumbersome design will turn players away and keep the game’s treasures hidden forever.

The somewhat ridiculous bugs and some slight repetition leave Sniper Elite III just short of joining the elite action pack alongside other games. In itself, it's still a pretty good experience for those who like to leave their mark from a distance.

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons is not just another punching, kicking, and grapple combo adventure with Billy and Jimmy Lee. They brought back a ton of nostalgic features and worked it into a new rogue-lite approach to the franchise.

Marvel’s Avengers impresses with a well-written, dramatic campaign. From a gameplay standpoint, the combat is as fun and satisfying as one could hope for in a title based on the superhero team. Though the online live service aspect is bogged down by overly complicated menus, systems, and matchmaking woes, there’s still a fun experience underneath. Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix deliver a perfectly adequate adaptation of an iconic property with Marvel’s Avengers.

Heroes 7 has a number of problems that completely ruin the experience.

Pirates isn't a terrible game, but its pedigree means it needed to aim higher. Black Flag's ship combat was extremely refined, but Pirates comes off as a shallow imitator, and will undoubtedly leave players wanting.

it's another example of a game with a great idea that flew too close to the sun.

Back on PSP, I loved playing the Class of Heroes games. They scratched a similar itch as series like Etrian Odyssey and Wizardry at the time. Nowadays there are many more cool and interesting DRPGs, such as NIS’ Labyrinth series and everything Experience, Inc. has done since then. But due to their cutesy charm, silly attitude and surprisingly treacherous dungeons, Class of Heroes stands out to this day. If you like to set up your own party of weirdos based on your own granular choices, then bash them against endless waves of monsters and traps for the sake of loot and progress, you can’t go wrong with Class of Heroes 1 & 2 Complete Edition.

While I feel the live service elements are out of place, I ultimately can't hate the final product. Crash Team Rumble is a blast, one that's easy to learn and hard to put down.

Is it another Enter the Gungeon? No, it isn't. But as a quick arcade romp, it's a blast. It shows that even when shifting genres, Dodge Roll knows how to craft a good roguelike and keep players wanting to punish themselves more and more with each run.

Bus Simulator 18 is not a game changer and to be honest, it’s not the most rewarding experience I’ve ever had in front of my PC. Still, it has solid driving mechanics, some detailed buses, and a gameplay loop that is strangely relaxing.

Atomicrops is an unlikely meeting of two genres. Set to the backdrop of a post-nuclear apocalypse, Bird Bath Games finds a way to adequately weave together two styles of gameplay that typically shouldn’t work together. Although there are moments where the two primary modes of play feel like they’re stepping on each others’ toes, those moments are few and far between. Bird Bath’s Atomicrops is an excellent addition to PC and home console indie catalogues.

While I dug absolutely every facet of the game's aesthetics and the fact that I was finally able to get more No More Heroes after such a long wait, I didn't quite want it in this format. While it was clear at the start that this wouldn't be a core entry in the series, it's also bereft of much of what makes No More Heroes such an unforgettable and classic game in the first place. Technical issues, strange gameplay decisions, and an overall lackluster series of features make Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes an unworthy placeholder for the next entry in the series.

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is an amalgam of both positive and negative design choices, but overall it’s an excellent combination of interesting fights, varied characters, and entertaining fan service. It’s a worthy successor to the last home Dissidia release, and while it’s not perfect, it’s certainly a slick and stylish way to spend a few hours unlocking new costumes and moves.

XDefiant feels like a niche, that knows it’s a niche, and tries to sprinkle some broad appeal on top. Just enough to draw in more than the hardcores, without risking alienating them too much. At the same time, it’s a line in the sand moment for all the FPS hardcores who are sick and tired of SBMM. On top of all that, crossing over Tom Clancy series has the appeal of mixing a bowl of potato chips from different brands that are all the same flavor. And Watch Dogs? Anyway, there’s a solid foundation here with rock-solid arena shooter mechanics. If the matchmaking experiment works out and some key adjustments are made, I can see this game sticking around for a good while.

Oddworld: Soulstorm is an excellent adventure game and platformer, with cool mechanics that keep gameplay fresh. The environments are stunning, and the 2.9D animation makes the world feel three-dimensional and lived-in. Only held back by a slew of bugs, Oddworld: Soulstorm is a great installment in a classic franchise.

It's not the best Kirby game out there, but it's certainly better than I expected it to be. It doesn't have the same staying power that a game like Mario Party or WarioWare does, but if nothing else, it's a tasty appetizer.

Tron: Identity weaves an interesting detective story that expands the franchise mythos. While those invested in the lore will enjoy diving deeper into this universe, newcomers would have benefitted from a bit more exposition. Despite that, Tron: Identity’s branching story, puzzles, and visuals make it quite an enjoyable visual novel.

Frozenheim is quite a test of strategic resource management and combat tactics as you raise your settlement, make it self-sufficient, and defend it from outside forces. I really enjoyed the ability to diversify through clan types and the maps are just plain beautiful at all ends. Some resources are far more unwieldy than others, and players will likely find frustration learning how to keep the things they constantly need in check. However, for everything on offer, Frozenheim is a solid arrangement of primitive economics and warfare and should scratch an itch for anyone looking to enjoy a solid strategy experience, either solo or with friendly opponents.

For WWE fans, there is a lot to like with the package, but ultimately, bad design cripples what could be a real winner. While I was not the biggest fan of them, the removal of the showcase events is a huge loss for longtime wrestling fans.

This review has certainly gone off the rails but, in my defense, it’s my eighth one and I’m shocked every year that I find a new way to say the same thing. Yes, everything that EA Vancouver added is cool or nice or awesome but, no, it’s not enough. I know it’s not the developer’s fault, and I genuinely feel bad for them. They seem like hockey nuts, like the rest of us, but it’s not my job to pat anyone on the back for delivering patch-sized video games at full price just because their boss sucks. It’s actually my job to call that out, but hopefully one of these years I get to gush over a fully updated, feature rich game that doesn’t pick one mode to care about each season.

I ultimately concluded that it's not meant to be that deep. It's just a boring game.

While A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead makes for a decent adaptation of the breakout horror franchise, it ends up falling short due to a slow, uninspired narrative and frustrating sneaking sections. That said, it's still an engaging, tense romp through the world of A Quiet Place and fans of the movie will get their fill here.

Biomutant is a solid debut from Experiment 101. Though a couple of the game’s concepts don’t feel entirely fleshed out, there’s still a lot to appreciate. The amount of variety in both the narrative and in combat ensures that no two players have an identical experience. With a fluid combat system and enough style to spare, Biomutant is still a formidable RPG.

The Crew 2 fails at providing the heart of what what a racing game should offer, specifically a fun and rewarding driving experience. All the icing and fancy decoration in the world won’t make a crappy cake into a great cake. The Crew 2 can take a pack of exotic cars racing on a mountain road and produce results that are about as exciting as a round of solitaire.

Ultra Street Fighter II tries to add a robust package around its tried-and-true Arcade mode, but much of that package doesn't pan out. All that leaves is the Arcade and Versus modes and for as great as Street Fighter II is, it's a game that also shows its age after a while. Fighting games have come so much farther since SF2 pioneered the genre, so it's hard to imagine going back and especially for a hefty $40 price tag. Thanks for memories, Street Fighter II, but I'm hoping that this is indeed the Final Challenge.

To compare Super Meat Boy Forever to its predecessor is folly. They're two different types of games, but Team Meat makes sure to inject its unique seasoning into both. As far as auto-runners go, Forever stands along the top as one of the best in the genre, despite a short story length. With so many possible stage layouts, a multitude of challenging mechanics, and Team Meat's fluid platforming design, it makes this game feel like a joy.

Despite its veneer of limitless design possibilities, players are ultimately constrained in the types of attractions they can create and pursue during the campaign. While Sandbox mode is your best bet for getting creative with all the bells and whistles Park Beyond has to offer, it too is not immune to the myriad of glitches and technical issues present throughout the game. Although you can spend hours designing and constructing your ideal park, the looming threat of crashes diminishes the incentive to do so, even in Sandbox mode. While there is an innovative theme park sim beneath all the glitches and design flaws, Park Beyond ultimately doesn’t break new ground in its genre and would benefit from taking a few pointers from its predecessors.

Aeolis Tournament is a fun, easy to pick up multiplayer game that pits friends against each other to determine the top spot. Players will enjoy the simple control scheme and short events. However, the lack of variety in the events will hinder the replay value of Aeolis Tournament, thus turning some players away.

It takes advantage of its lore, iconography, and even some of its mechanics to tell a tale that fans will undoubtedly dissect for the foreseeable future.

Kiln is the latest example of one of gaming’s most creative studios executing well on a fresh idea. There may be a couple of aspects that could’ve used more time in the oven, but Double Fine’s Kiln is a cool and quirky addition to Xbox’s 2026 lineup.

Even the true fans will retreat to YouTube to watch the cutscenes, because there's nothing to entice players here. Re Mind is a dud and a total disappointment for any KH fan.

Square seems to have taken critiques of the first two games to heart and corrected them. Gone are the oppressively limited environments and the convoluted stories. In their place are a large world, clear story, and the latest refinement of what was already among the most radically inventive combat systems to hit JRPGs in years.

Above and Beyond’s gunplay is tight, the VR controls and interactions are vast, varied, and engaging. Moreover, the campaign itself is an extensive gallery of both history and creativity combined into a gripping World War 2 campaign that pays reverence to both the experiences of those who lived through the war and the foundation of Medal of Honor as a whole.

Payday 3 gets most of the important stuff right: the heists offer a nice variety and encourage players to experiment with different systems and mechanics. Customization is deep and will keep players on the hook for dozens and dozens of hours. But it’s hard to overstate the blunder that is the online foundation that this game was built on. It makes Payday 3 needlessly frustrating and was the cause of one of the most severe online game outages I’ve seen in a long time. Payday 2 was a game that grew into a co-op masterpiece in the years following its release, so I’m confident that Payday 3 will only improve as time goes on.

State of Decay 2 is repetitive, but fun when it works. When it doesn’t, you'd be forgiven for a few rage quits. In a game where any misstep can result in losing an important survivor for good, to have this happen not due to my own mistakes, but a bug or glitch, is frustrating.

Because of its simplicity, Detective Pikachu Returns is an easy recommendation for young kids and their parents. Hardcore fans will have some fun comparing and contrasting the game's story with the 2019 movie. For everyone else, there are better, more challenging adventures out there, even if none of them feature an electric rat with a children's sized Sherlock Holmes hat.

It's stuffed to the brim with Moto Grand Prix-related details like racers, tracks, and commentary, and includes plenty of different options that riders can use to tweak their bikes and chase a podium finish. With that said, MotoGP 18 simply feels less thrilling than it should, mostly due to its underwhelming graphics, spartan presentation, and monotonous gameplay.

Anyone that has a previous installment of the game (including any of the ones currently available on the Wii Virtual Console) may find it tough to make the case for an upgrade. Bowser Party is worth a look, though, and is great for playing with kids or adults alike.

While Ventura Bay looks good and the game has plenty of missions and side missions to complete, the constant distractions I felt while playing it kept me away from enjoying it as much as I have previous iterations of the franchise.

The Magnificent Trufflepigs is a very condensed story, only taking about a few hours to reach the credits. Because of this, the narrative feels concise and free of filler. Despite spending such little time with them, I felt like I had a good understanding of these characters and the relationship forming between them, thanks to two exceptional voice performances. The game’s metal-detecting segments also make for some relaxing times as well. Although some design choices make certain moments more tedious than they need to be, The Magnificent Trufflepigs is a pleasant little experience.

Soundfall does quite a few things right. Its loot and shoot design set to a lot of good music is commendable. The tracks included in the game are of a wide variety and even if you get through the entire game, the ability to play levels to your own favorite music is pretty great (on PC). The problem is… Soundfall’s gear and enemies just aren’t all that compelling. The music and rhythmic gameplay are good enough to carry a lot of this game, but I can’t help but wish it had a more rewarding variety of gear to look forward to and enemies that didn’t quickly end up feeling like repetitive drones. Even so, if you can get down with a good rhythm action game alone or with friends, Soundfall might be worth it whether you play to its soundtrack or bring your own.

Although Citizens of Earth has its fun moments, I can't say that any part had me rolling in laughter. Its cast of characters may be cute and entertaining for a while, but relying on stereotypes and characters makes them forgettable. As a consequence, the entire game ends up being forgettable.

If 2022’s Saints Row had been an open-world game with fewer pawns on the board when it comes to enemy factions, a bit more time to bake in the development oven to iron out the assorted bugs and issues, and a story that doesn’t end up feeling forced and confused in regards to who it’s for, it would have ended up being far more likeable and worth recommending.

While Kirby Fighters 2 is fun for a night with a co-op partner, there's little entertainment beyond that. There are better Kirby games out there. Try those instead.

Legend of Legacy was fun and intriguing on the 3DS, but on the Switch it feels like a no-brainer. The frame rate issues and visual imperfections are gone, making the art and character designs stand out even more. The music, composed by Masashi Hamauzu for all you Final Fantasy XIII degenerates out there, is a home run. If this is the kind of game you can gel with, a hardcore dungeon-crawler with strange rules and light storytelling, don’t miss it. If some of these ideas sound neat, but other parts are scary, try out Alliance Alive instead. This team had something special going for sure, and it brings me hope for these kinds of passion projects to see them reappear on different platforms.

If you're a fan of the anime, you're going to enjoy this and you might even come to enjoy the flawed fighting mechanics. For anybody else, My Hero One's Justice 2 is just another aggressively mediocre anime fighter, the latest in a long line of them.

Though the experience is hampered by bugs, glitches, and a few design issues, the snappy and moreish combat, the treasure trove of stats and skills, and the delightfully chaotic co-op play make Torchlight 3 a must-have for anyone looking for more ARPG goodness.

There's a lot about The Jackbox Naughty Pack that feels less like a full-blown annual release and more like an experiment. There are positives to be found here, especially when it comes to the presentation and committing to the adult theme. The art for all three games is inspired and moments like the Faker dropping trou got some good laughs. The number of games and the way the games are structured feel like Jackbox Games didn't have a lot of confidence in what it was putting forward. That's not to say this isn't fun because Fakin' It All Night Long was a good time, and Dirty Drawful had its moments. With that said, the rest of the package feels, to put a bow on the M-rated theme... flaccid.

Road 96: Mile 0 presents a predictable yet relatable tale about teens pushed to the brink under an oppressive system. The energetic soundtrack, quality voice acting, and comedic moments help balance the heavier themes and darker undertones of the story. The newly added Rides serve to amplify Mile 0’s catchy tunes while adding another means of gameplay interaction beyond dialogue choices and minigames. Despite its shortcomings, the prequel does a decent job at laying the narrative foundation for the events of Road 96 while introducing new gameplay mechanics that cater to a new audience of players.

DONTNOD’s self-publishing debut is a worthwhile experience. Twin Mirror is anchored by a fascinating, unraveling mystery and its complex relationships between characters. Though our protagonist feels a bit generic, his unique abilities add a solid spice to gameplay. DONTNOD continues to be an expert at crafting unique and engaging stories.

Tomb Raider Reloaded has a fun gameplay loop thanks to its intuitive mobile design. The roguelike elements create genuinely challenging combat encounters, and I was a fan of the auto-fire combat design. That said, I was a bit annoyed with how shamelessly the game tries to sway you to spend time and money on it, and the sheer amount of non-gameplay features and mechanics felt like overkill. If you’re someone that can look past the stereotypical mobile game shenanigans, Tomb Raider Reloaded is a solid addition to your mobile gaming library.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 feels more like Black Ops 6.5. Everything from the in-game UI, to the gameplay feel of the core modes, are hardly different from last year’s game. There are a few meaningful changes to Multiplayer and Zombies, but they don’t overcome some baffling design decisions, which are tied together by the worst Black Ops storyline to date. Treyarch, for my money, is still the best studio making Call of Duty games, but Black Ops 7 is clear evidence that Activision and Microsoft need to give them more time to cook.

The minimalist design gives it a distinct, futuristic style but doesn’t excite.

Ebenezer and the Invisible World is a run-of-the-mill Metroidvania with the wrong story and outdated design. Except for the beautiful background art and an interesting variety of enemies, the adventure is a short, stodgy, rudimentary affair with weakly executed ideas. On the Christmas table, it’s the dry and underbaked fruitcake that is still technically edible but is surrounded by far too many better options.

It feels like there were some very specific ideas the creators of Graven wanted to communicate. But while those ideas sometimes weave together with the game’s dark fantasy, old-school shooter style to form some immaculate vibes, that’s about as deep as it gets. The game seems confused about whether or not it wants to be an awesome action game, a thoughtful explorative puzzler, or some kind of mutant Soulslike gimmick. It sputters across the finish line not really achieving anything but a cool look, undermined constantly by boredom. It’s a shame, because Graven has a hell of a vibe. But there’s simply too much bonkin’ and not enough bangin’.