Bleach Rebirth of Souls makes an excellent first impression, with cool, loud menu UI, amped-up music, and in-game action that looks fast and furious from a distance. But when you actually dive in to learn the game and experience all of its parts, the cracks show rather quickly. The mechanics feel unrefined and poorly balanced, and the story mode has a low budget vibe that betrays the new anime’s energy. Aside from impressive animations and a few distinct ideas, this isn’t the comeback Bleach fans have been hoping for over the last decade.

I have for years held the opinion that MLB The Show is the best of the annualized sport sim franchises. While it’s not without its faults, it’s pound-for-pound the best simulation of its real-life counterpart, while hosting a bevy of modes that feel thoroughly fleshed out and supported. It’s the most hours I’ve sunk into a new MLB The Show game in years, and it’ll probably be my go-to sports game for many months to come.

It's easy to write Khazan off as just another Soulslike at a glance, and it would be refreshing to see Neople create its own style and structure instead of just imitating a popular convention. However, Neople went further than most Soulslikes and actually innovated with its take on the genre's combat. That's a big positive, seeing as there's not much else to Khazan outside of battle, but at least all the time spent in combat is enjoyable.

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.

I see and respect what Bubble Ghost Remake attempted here. Take an obscure game, reimagine it, make it big and beautiful, and offer something fresh to puzzle fans. But as it turns out, “bigger” was a crucial mistake. Not everyone will see this and seek out the original, but if they do, they’ll plainly observe how a smaller, stage-based challenge structure turns something kind of wonky and frustrating into a true hidden gem. And considering how my biggest takeaway is how grateful I am to have Game Boy Bubble Ghost in my rotation now, I suggest anyone and everyone do just that.

When I saw that Coulombe was involved in the cult classic, Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden, I knew I was in for a ride simply by association. But I wasn’t fully prepared for the depths of creative madness I was gazing into with Look Outside. Each step was full of dread and morbid glee, as I never knew what to expect, was terrified of what could happen, but absolutely refused to miss a thing. I would’ve liked a little more balance when it came to getting mauled by random enemy encounters, and controller support was a little weird, but any frustration I felt from a momentum-halting game over melted away when the next stop on this roller coaster of suffering came into view. Frankly, I was bummed to get off when the ride was over.

Your goal in Atomfall is to escape, but the reality is this world is far too interesting to want to leave. I cared very little about finding this Interchange at first, and instead preferred to hunt for buried caches, find recipes, read notes, and uncover secrets. I killed characters just to see what was in their pockets, but not before I heard what interesting things they had to say. It wasn’t personal on my end, but those three bullets and the key to the secret room behind them was far more valuable to me than their life. If that seems harsh, no problem, because you’re free to play the complete opposite of me, and I promise it will be just as entertaining.

Series fans will find a lot to love here, even if Shadows doesn’t quite take the step of truly challenging itself to be more than what we might have expected it to be. The moment-to-moment gameplay is fun, Naoe and Yasuke are both compelling in their own way, and the backdrop of Japan really does make for a beautiful stage on which everything plays out.

If you can get past its tedious organization and swaths of overleveled monsters in your way, Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is incredible. This was a game that eluded many fans back in 2015. Now, it has a fresh chance to shine and do so with a new coat of paint and some thoughtful QoL changes. It doesn’t always hit the bullseye, and some 2015 issues went unaddressed. That said, if you let yourself get lost in the wilds of Mira, it’s more than easy to overlook the few things that drag the fun down. Whether you missed Xenoblade Chronicles X the first time or are revisiting Mira, there’s a lot to love and appreciate for fans and newcomers alike.

FragPunk is launching in a strange, unbalanced state where it actively undermines its best features and doesn't quite know how to build on its own strong foundation. It's still fun, a more casual alternative to something like Valorant, but there's a definite sense that FragPunk isn't living up to its full potential. Hopefully, NetEase can work out a way to sharpen its focus in future updates and clean up the awful menus.

Just like its impressively long and unwieldy title, Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land is a messy game. But it’s a messy game with lofty ambitions and a lot to like, even if which pieces you end up liking are not the pieces you expected or wanted to like, especially if you’re a returning Atelier fan. It’s also hard to recommend Yumia as a starting point despite its apparent interest in being one, when I can point to Ryza as a strong foundation that manages to justify itself as a three-part arc that never overstays its welcome. What we have here is an RPG that casts too wide a net for its own good, but has a lot of cool ideas and hits enough different notes in different ways that still make it worth playing. For folks willing to engage with a flawed experience in good faith and put up with some janky bloat, Atelier Yumia has a lot going for it. But those looking for a more realized vision that cleanly hits its targets will likely lose patience.

The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty is a fascinating, challenging, and compelling story that uses its form as a visual novel to tell a story about normal, flawed, and vulnerable people. These people are dealt horrible hands outside of their control, and through a historical lens, we as the audience are shown choices that believably could have been made in real life during the depicted period. It can be ugly, but it can also be full of life, with tragedy and violence punctuated by characters bonding over shadow puppets or a meal. There’s a darkness to this story that could justifiably turn people away, but I never got a sense of titillation or glee on the creative side, but rather an interest in showing the reader a difficult piece of human history. The prose can be a bit dry at times on top of that, but otherwise in a space that’s full of anime-style fantasy and action, it was refreshing to find something more grounded in reality.

Wanderstop is like Spiritfarer for burnout sufferers and overachievers. The central focus is meaningful and expertly executed in its own right. However, it's the attention to detail in every other area that makes Wanderstop feel special, to the point where anything, even just planting flowers, enriches everything else. Ivy Road just gets it.

WWE 2K25 is a banner year for the franchise. It’s easily the most refined entry yet, bursting with ways to play and the series’ largest roster to date, which is sure to please virtually everyone no matter which era of wrestling you prefer. (And if your favorite character is missing, you’ll be able to expand the roster once fans start uploading their custom creations.) The Island is hit or miss, but the rest of the package is sure to tide wrestling fans over until 2026.

I want to be clear: despite all of the technical issues Slime Heroes has, I think it’s a good game if you’re playing alone. I have high hopes for the co-op once it’s fixed. It’s charming and cute and playing with the spell system is a good time, and it has the ebb and flow of combat that makes Souls-likes fun. If you’re looking for a kinder, gentler Souls-like, Slime Heroes is the game for you. It just feels unfinished. I hope Pancake Games gets to fix it, because this is a hero’s journey you should be able to take together because… y’know, that’s kind of the point. Nobody saves the world alone.

Carmen Sandiego is a fun romp through a genre that I had figured was lost to mobile marketplaces and predatory YouTube channels. If I was a kid, I bet I would absolutely love it. It’s not much of a challenge in terms of knowing things, but it does use historical and geographical education as a backdrop for a fun mystery-solving loop that tests your deduction skills just as much as your ability to soak up facts. I do wish there was a little more friction when it came to identifying the criminals, and the loop itself does run out of ideas pretty quickly. The minigames don’t add a whole lot aside from vibes, but the writing itself is often a hoot. At the end of the day, I really enjoyed this unexpected blast from the past, and appreciated how committed to the originals it ended up being. If you’re a parent looking for something of substance for your kid for a real video game machine that isn’t some app trying to needle your wallet in exchange for low-rent Sesame Street lessons, Carmen Sandiego might just be the ticket.

I really like what Hazelight Studios has done with their handle on co-op gaming in Split Fiction. It doesn’t necessarily feel like a drastic evolution from It Takes Two the way that game was from A Way Out, but it refines what Hazelight does best and straps it to an interesting duo of characters with wide imaginations that create equally compelling worlds for us to explore.

Like Fights before it, Knights in Tight Spaces is the kind of game where it's easy to lose track of time. The story will have you reaching for the Skip button by the time you go on your 10th or 20th run, but there's nothing repetitive about the formula, especially as battles get more intense with tougher foes. It turns out that even when the clock is dialed back a few dozen centuries, close quarters fighting is still a grand old time.

PGA Tour 2K25 places plenty of pressure on EA Sports PGA Tour to step up its game. The two-year hiatus has given 2K’s latest effort, with its solid gameplay and improved graphics, a slight edge over its rival. It’s disappointing that a couple of the new mechanics in MyCareer don’t go far enough, and the microtransaction shenanigans with the equipment and locked skill trees have been shoehorned in unnecessarily. Still, the game is sitting at the top of the leaderboard when it comes to golf sims and is looking back at EA to see if it can catch up or be left in the sand trap.

If it wasn’t for the tortuous combat I probably would’ve loved Omega 6: The Triangle Stars. It’s weird, it’s funny as heck, and it has ample Nintendo charm despite not being a Nintendo game. It almost feels like the team at WarioWare, Inc. made a whole game instead of a sketchy microgame. But for as much as I enjoyed exploring the world, meeting the goofy characters, and solving puzzles while uncovering the story, the overbearing presence of the worst rock, paper, scissors gauntlet ever made clouded the whole thing. I figured combat would be a silly minigame I’d run into on occasion, but instead it was a massive, unavoidable part of the equation. If Omega 6 was a pure visual novel I would’ve loved it. It’s still neat, but now I just want to read the manga when it comes out in English later this year and never look back.

Two Point Museum is, for me, the best amalgam of Two Point Studios' business management and mechanics yet. The road to five-star museums is paved with fun challenges and customization that will likely have empty spaces looking like your personal dream attraction hours in. Even when I reached one-star at Wailon Lodge, I was so proud of the haunted house maze of supernatural fascinations that I couldn’t help but stare at my work for a while before moving to the next thing. This game may have a few frustrations in waiting and free design, but it’s also full of warm moments to be proud of what you put together as the visitors enjoy your assembly, and that’s exactly what I want out of a Two Point game.

Monster Hunter Wilds moves the franchise forward from previous games, yet it tends to step into some of the same traps that both World and Rise did. Those issues, however, are dwarfed by an addictive gameplay loop that will keep players engaged for hundreds of hours. When you factor in the game-changing Seikret, and the ease of which players can launch into hunts, Monster Hunter Wilds is a must-play for series fans.

Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog is a remarkable tribute to PC-98 visual novels and hard sci-fi anime of a specific vintage. The visuals are pitch-perfect with multiple settings that offer different vibes, and the soundtrack is a complex beast of speaker-straining chiptunes that enhances the mood even further. But this is a severe case of style over substance, and the storytelling does not deliver on the promises being made by Gun-Dog’s immaculate presentation. I had a decent time but walked away massively disappointed, feeling like I had been tricked into watching a Disney Star Wars spinoff by someone promising the next Armored Trooper VOTOMS. I’d be totally willing to check out what’s next from this team, but with massively tempered expectations.

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii won’t take up as much of your time as Yakuza 6 or Infinite Wealth, but it’s most certainly a fun and exciting way to pass the time with our favorite Mad Dog of Shimano while we wait for RGG’s next big thing.

If anything these minor glitches are a testament to this game’s release being something of a minor miracle. Without going too much into the details, Aftterlove’s creative director, Mohammad Fahmi, tragically passed away in 2022. It is thanks to the teams at Pikselnesia and Fellow Traveller that the game was seen through to release. I can’t imagine a more beautiful tribute to a developer who is only ever spoken of in the highest terms by his peers than Afterlove EP — a game that understands that even if things will never be ok again, we can still keep living.

Avowed delivers where it matters: an interesting world with memorable companions and a rich combat system that rewards experimentation. Pillars of Eternity fans will feast on the various nods and references to the beloved CRPGs, but newcomers to Eora will still find plenty to enjoy with Obsidian Entertainment’s latest RPG.

There isn’t a whole lot more to Rift of the NecroDancer, but that isn’t a problem at all. It’s a clever core concept that doesn’t wear out its welcome with additional complications or gimmicks, opting instead to deliver the best experience possible based on that core. It’s a ton of fun to play for long or short sessions, and holds the door wide open for the community to take over for further shenanigans. As a follow-up to Crypt of the NecroDancer, it’s a very different kind of experience, but one that’s delivered with the same kind of creative energy that made the first game such a hoot.

If you can’t tell by now, I’m deeply in love with this game. I just don’t want to give away too much yet. But I believe it tells an important story about the made-up, easily digestible realities behind the complicated, horrible events in our day-to-day lives. About social media white knight justice as a feel-good spectator sport and how we treat tragedies, culprits, and their victims in our always-online world. This game couldn’t have come out at a better time. In light of recent events, perpetrated by the convenient realities many of us love to escape into, it is important to remember that the convenient truths that most of us can live with always have innocent victims we're not aware of until looking for them. But I guess there’s no Urban Myth Dissolution Center for that.

Ultimately I enjoyed my time with Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To, due to its colorful visuals, relaxing soundtrack from Meltycanon, and familiar puzzle gameplay. But the overall experience feels just a little too breezy to make a lasting impact. The writing is cute but shallow, and the puzzle action feels like it’s barely interested in being there. The vibes are pleasant, but I feel like I’m left wanting for more substance. A little more pizazz to the gameplay or depth to the storytelling, and we’d have something special here.

When it comes down to it, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a brilliant and astounding experience by a developer that has shown itself to be a leader in the open-world genre. Henry makes for such a pleasant protagonist that you can’t help but love him, and the journey you go on across medieval Bohemia is equal parts complex and deeply absorbing. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 shines bright among its peers, even with its dints and dents.

Despite my gripes, the biggest compliment that I can give Civilization 7 is to say that this review is inconvenient. Any time I’m talking, writing, or thinking about the game, I want to play it. I’ve been writing this for hours, and those are precious hours where I could be growing my Ming empire and slapping the other leaders around. Civ 7 is an absolute banger.

I hope this doesn’t read too negatively, but the build I played had all the makings of a great game but was held back by small technical issues here and there that just kept piling up. If you’re intro Metroidvanias with tight combat, there is a lot to love here but unless you can forgive some jank, I recommend at least waiting for a couple more patches before you dive into this one.

We’ve probably made life measurably worse for ourselves by building systems that feed on labor and thrive on diminishing returns. But while playing by the rules and struggling to get by is painful, there is still something innately precious about living and building what you can with the hand you’re dealt. That’s what I felt Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector was trying to communicate over the time I spent with it. It’s a conversation about selfness as much as it is a cool sci-fi video game about machines and dice. It challenges you with harsh conditions and constant dread while telling you a story about what work does to a body, practically forcing you to reflect on your own history. It doesn’t reward you with hope or simple optimism, but it does offer validation. In this case, that might be better.

I can’t make heads or tails of Eternal Strands. If we talk about polish, art direction, music, and combat I think it is a great title that will entertain for quite some time. But once all was said and done, I struggled to remember anything aside from a few cool combat encounters. The progression system aside from spells is a little uninspired, and the story outside of its charming cast isn’t much to write home about either. If you want to know if this game is for you or not, I highly suggest you give the demo a go. If you like what the game is putting down after completing that, I think you’ll enjoy it. If you don’t, I doubt the rest of the game will make you fall in love with it either. While I’m walking away from Eternal Strands with my hunger sated, I would’ve liked more adventurous appetizers and a dessert alongside the filling main course.

Sniper Elite: Resistance is very much worth your time if you have any interest in sniping, exploring maps in occupied France, or feeling like an action hero from WWII movies. The shooting mechanics, both at long-range and in close quarters, are fun and satisfying. There's nothing quite like using the sound of the thunderstorm to mask your sniper shots, or landing several silenced headshots from your pistol in a row. Gathering collectibles, unlocking attachments for your weapons, and finding new and interesting ways to tackle each objective gives Sniper Elite: Resistance a lot of replay value. Add in co-op mode, the Invasion mode, and all-out multiplayer, plus DLC and a season pass, and you'll be spending many hours behind enemy lines. If you're like me, it may just be the best time you've had in a stealth action game since Splinter Cell.

As someone who plays a lot of games, it is very rare to question “Why am I doing this?” “Why am I getting platinum trophies?” “Why am I levelling up every sub-class?” “Why am I prestiging?” We do it because it's fun, or satisfying, or because it will reward us in some way. Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap had me questioning those rewards and that satisfaction in a very fundamental way. I have leveled up characters, beat hidden bosses, and gotten golden gun skins… But to what end though? So I can do it again? So I can move the boulder ever slightly further up the mountain before it slides back down again? For most games, we do it because the answer is, “It's fun.”...Simply put, the act of playing Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap is not fun enough to abate that existential question from rattling around your head while you play.

Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders is about chilling out, chasing personal bests, and enjoying the bone-crunching hits that ensue. Ironically, that means this game is at its best when it isn't so lonely. Grab some friends and hit the slopes, but maybe wait for a few patches first.

To put it simply, if this was one of those retro re-releases that are basically fancy emulators with additional screen filters and save states, maybe online play as a treat, Star Wars: Episode 1: Jedi Power Battles (whew) probably would’ve been alright. Instead, we have this bizarre Frankenmaster that looks and sounds like the end result of someone playing with a PlayStation emulator for the first time and pushing the sliders all the way up. Preservation is important, even for games that aren’t “classics.” This isn't the preservation you've been looking for.

It's not a game for everyone, and unless you’re into the franchise or are looking for a more casual extraction shooter experience with science fiction flavor, it won’t turn you into a believer in either.

Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero is a clumsy-feeling game, but its scatterbrained energy comes from an admirable place of bucking standardized gameplay conventions in a genre that doesn’t budge often. The first game had some interesting ideas back 20 years ago, and those ideas are streamlined and expanded upon, without losing that experimental feeling. Its systems are as grindy as they are weird though, and the writing mostly being on the happy-go-lucky side isn’t going out of its way to yank you along. Instead it wants you to relax and tackle things at a slower pace, which feels good until it starts exposing problems. Anyone who loved the original (greetings, fellow 30 or 40-something RPG dork) will probably have fun here, although the rounded edges may be disappointing. For anyone else, I’d say go for it if you’re specifically looking for something new and novel. Come in prepared to be overwhelmed at first; if you make it over the hump there’s a solid adventure on the other side. It's a perfect use case for a demo, and sure enough there is one.

I’ve played another game from this developer, Summer in Mara, and I can see the rich world-building the team is developing across all of its titles as characters from Chibig’s other games made guest appearances in this one. I’m not sure everyone will have the appetite for the fetch quest, back and forth nature of Mika and the Witch’s Mountain, but I found the map size to be appropriate to balance that out. While it may need a little more time brewing in the cauldron, Mika and the Witch’s Mountain was a fun ride and just goes to show that Chibig is one developer worth keeping an eye on.

At every point, Dynasty Warriors: Origins tells me how important I am, how crucial my role is, how the battles would have been lost without me. It is hollow, all of it. I am the most important man there is in a story that I cannot change because this is the way the story goes. I am a peacemaker who brings peace through slaughter. A weapon to be wielded to tame a violent nation. I am a gun. And God help me, in the moment, as I land the attack that I know may be killing the kid I made my name saving, fighting for men who go against everything I believe, it feels good. And that is Origins’ greatest failing.

Tales of Graces is an entry in the series I’ve heard about the least over the years, partially due to its absence on the Wii when it was new, and the PS3’s relative struggle to get eyeballs in front of RPGs. So having Tales of Graces f Remastered out, with all the DLC included, modern visual updates and other neat, little quality of life touches, is a nice way to comfortably explore the past. If you’re someone who has only come to the Tales table recently through recent entries like Zestiria, Bersaria, or Arise, this is a comfortable way to visit what the series looked like in a previous era. It isn’t an all-time entry like Symphonia, but it isn’t an easier skip like Tales of Hearts either. And if the somewhat clumsy combat system clicks on top of the endearing characters and fun story, you’ve got a lowkey banger on your hands.

Blade Chimera is short, sweet, and simple. It’s also visually enthralling and just… really dang cool. It’s the perfect kind of game to run into in January 2025, especially after so much of my time up until now has been eaten by multiple dozen-hour RPGs. I blazed through this game in two sittings and loved every minute, cliches and all. Seeing Team Ladybug come out swinging like this for its first fully-original metroidvania is a delight, and Blade Chimera has fully cemented this team as one to look out for going forward.

Those who haven't experienced Donkey Kong Country Returns in the past owe it to themselves to try it out. It's a masterpiece with inspired level design, a beautiful art style, and fun that can be experienced alone or with a friend. However, those who have already taken this journey on Wii or 3DS won't really find anything new in this barrel of monkeys. It's safe to go back in your treehouse and wait for Donkey Kong to return again.

It really is the quintessential Vita game. It tries a lot of things, hits really hard on a few, and everything else doesn’t quite come together. It’s from before even Capcom struck gold with Monster Hunter World, still figuring things out and building momentum itself. The gameplay along can sustain hours of squadded up, monster wrangling, gear upgrading fun. But the storytelling really whiffs despite a strong start, disappointing more as a result. And in terms of interesting stuff going on besides the main loop, Freedom Wars fails to find the sauce as well. This one is here for a good time, but not a long time. I should probably go to jail myself for that one, yikes.

Diving into Ys history is a fun exercise for a few reasons, especially as Falcom continues to grow and capture more and more mindshare in the RPG community. Because the series has gone on so long through so many platforms, there’s so much variety between each game and each version thereof, from what each one plays like to what each one looks like. There are identifiable eras you can group them in, and Oath in Felghana is a key representative of its group. This game was available before on Steam, but Ys Memoire is the most refined version, even without the couple extra flourishes sprinkled on top.

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete does a great job at taking the freemium version of the 2017 game and offering a more complete package, albeit at a premium price. For those that never had the joy of setting up camp when it first came out, this could very well be your next mobile game addiction. But for me, there just isn’t enough here to warrant diving back in with the same fervor I did seven years ago. While this collector goblin is glad she’s got all her digital knicknacks stored in-game, it’s time for this tired camper to find a new place to rest.

I liked most of the systems Tokyo Clanpool offers, especially how they all revolve around each other. Synergy in RPGs is great! The only problem here is that combat proceeds at a ludicrously slow pace, and doesn’t have much in the way of flourish. It’s mostly slowly-scrolling text in front of wobbling enemy art, with chibi character portraits occasionally appearing when something cool happens. But they just kind of appear and vanish without doing anything, once again giving off a low budget vibe regardless of what the budget may have actually been. I ended up holding down the fast-forward button for most combat encounters, which is a bad sign for a game that’s mostly combat encounters.

If there is a piece of good news here, I feel confident that Asobo will continue to resolve these issues and, given enough time, we'll end up with a Microsoft Flight Simulator that is as stable as 2020 and benefits from all the additional technical improvements. We're not there now though, and now is when folks have spent their money on this product. The '2024' title feels premature; this game needed another 6-12 months of development and testing. It's apparent that it's simply not ready and much more work is required before it is. Flight simmers now have to decide if they want to go back to 2020, like many have, or be the beta testers for 2024 and accept that it'll take time before things are better.

It’s tough to recommend Flint, though. While I did enjoy combat well enough, there was no real payoff for it. I didn’t care for why I’d win in battle or what that meant for the characters and the overall story. If you’re looking for a deep narrative adventure, this is probably not the game for you right now, but if you’re really itching for more strategic turn-based combat, or just really love the pirate setting, maybe consider giving Flint a try.

It’s a bummer combat feels like such a swing and a miss, because everything else about Fairy Tail 2 feels like an improvement from the first game. It’s a more full and lively-feeling experience, which is crucial for adapting something like a beloved anime series. The playable roster is larger, and a multi-pronged skill tree system allows for lots of customization for each character’s skills and passive abilities. As it stands, fans of Mashima’s fantasy epic will still probably have a good time seeing this version of the story through (and checking out the new epilogue!), but Fairy Tail 2 doesn’t get any closer to must-play status than the previous game, and oddly enough for different reasons.

For now, Marvel Rivals is a fine foray into the realm of hero shooters. It's tough to imagine making a splash in such saturated waters, but NetEase has managed to do it with its diverse hero roster, its monetization model, and its usage of destructible worlds. This will be a fun game to watch develop over time, and I'm excited to see where it is at this time next year, but for what it is now, this is a stellar debut.

Most of the time though, I still had a lot of fun running through Rita’s Rewind, beating the stuffing out of putties and other monsters, and chasing down the original series’ goofy boss monsters in the Rangers’ signature vehicles and mechs. I haven’t really thought much about Power Rangers in a long time, so it was a nice bit of organic nostalgia instead of the constant barrage I feel from video games normally. There have been other attempts over the years at making an impact with a Power Rangers game, but none of them (even the quite solid Battle for the Grid fighting game) have quite had the aggressive sense of style Digital Eclipse brought to the table here. With a few little tweaks and perhaps some additional content over time, Rita’s Rewind could really be a badge of honor. And even as it is now, it’s miles ahead of that Space Jam game.

Nikki caught my attention with its strong sense of identity, immediately standing out as something different than anything else it overlaps with on paper. Sure, you can easily connect some dots back to Genshin Impact or Zelda to name a few, but those elements are used to build a journey that has markedly different interests and goals. Infinity Nikki doesn’t reinvent any wheels, push boundaries, or offer a revelatory or novel gameplay experience. But it does offer a fresh perspective, a strange and captivating world to explore, bucketloads of silliness, and hours of breezy fun. If you can put up with the free-to-play trappings and some hopefully temporary technical instability at launch time, and if you can have a good time without needing to kill stuff, you can have a blast without needing to know a single thing about fashion. I still don’t trust the cat, though.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle may have broken just about every expectation I had for MachineGames, short of the fact that I expected a great game. It's definitely that, but the reasons for that greatness are that it’s an impactful brawler, a stylish action-platformer, and a clever puzzle game, with a solid cast to deliver its movie-like performances, exciting environments to explore, and an excellent score to punctuate the mood.

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.

While the best fitness games are designed for people who play video games, Fitness Boxing 3 feels like it was made for non-gamers who may happen to have a Switch in their home. Sure, it gets you moving, but there’s not much there to make the idea of exercising first thing in the morning remotely appealing.

Taking the time to farm elemental resistant accessories, equipment upgrades, and stronger skills, setting up your party loadout just so at a save point, then watching your team get ragdolled anyway all while you’re several levels above what the game says you need completely overshadows the effort put into the careful, puzzle-like design of each boss. Which is a shame, because if those fights weren’t so egregiously overtuned in such an unproductive way, the stuff actually holding up Fantasian’s systems would’ve really shined. The criticism from before clearly had an impact, but even with the adjustments there’s still moments where this game isn’t fun at all to engage with on its given terms. Even everything else, from Uematsu’s thematically apt soundtrack to the super neat diorama visuals, is hard to enjoy when your brain is bogged down by constant dread. Fantasian Neo Dimension has a distinct vibe and a lot of cool ideas, but over-commits to its idea of challenge such that it buries its own nuances under a pile of big numbers.

Even with its short length, Monument Valley 3 is a fun ride while it lasts. It will have puzzle aficionados begging for more and have them wondering what else Ustwo Games is capable of putting together. There are more than a few ways to blow the human mind, after all.

MySims Cozy Bundle is fun in the moment, and I enjoyed spending small bursts of time on building projects or gathering materials. It’s just that MySims itself is really quite bland and hardly even feels like a Sims game most of the time. MySims Kingdom might just be a fantasy repackaging of MySims, but it makes the most of the foundation EA created with the first game and is definitely the stronger of the two in this bundle.

I enjoy Pokemon TCG Pocket the most when I hardly play it at all. Logging in daily to do my free pack pulls and claim my free rewards is a simple and quiet life. However, the more time I spend in the app, the more frustrated I become with the game’s negative feedback loops and manipulative systems. I’ll undoubtedly check in for new events and the eventual Pokedex expansions, but as a lifelong fan of this franchise, it’s best that I keep Pokemon TCG Pocket at an arm’s-length.

Rage of the Dragons NEO is a niche within a niche, an odd game with an odd history that appeals to an extremely specific kind of audience. That’s tough for any game, but especially a fighting game that has to compete with the likes of Street Fighter and Guilty Gear. Not having cross-platform play is an additional barrier that seems to already be making online an actual ghost town. That’s unfortunate. But if you’re interested in gaming history, fighting games, and the weird intersections thereof, Rage of the Dragons NEO is really cool. I can see it coming out in-between sets of the bigger titles, a fun side game at local tournaments, or just a cool thing for enthusiasts to satisfy their own curiosity with. The Bleem! IP is also involved somehow, making perhaps even this new version a novel relic of its own.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 offers an excellent framework on which more can be built. The world, especially the Zone, is just oozing with style, and the systems that are present are worth investing in, despite how shallow they can feel compared to other games in adjacent genres. Honestly, if I wasn’t so enamoured with this gorgeous world, I’d be scoring this lower. Similarly, if there was just more to do and richer systems in place to engage with, it’d be higher. I think that those out there who love the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise will feel at home in this game, as the world is stunning, the sense of loneliness and isolation permeates everything, and the combat against the human factions is intense. Fortunately, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is still on its path to greatness. It’s just going to need a little more love to get it to its destination. I just hope the rest of the journey is a bit faster than Skif’s walking speed.

I do think the overall shallowness is a shame, and a game that looks this interesting was begging for a photo mode. It is also great to see Sony release this title on PC and Nintendo Switch on day one, even if the console war gods still demand that Xbox be sacrificed on the altar of platform partisanship. Ultimately, Lego Horizon Adventures is a solid title for kids, or to play with kids, but it’s hard to escape the idea that those same kids are likely a little bit smarter than the challenges that are on offer here.

Those moments of anguish were not massive parts of the game, although they were gnarly roadblocks. Everything else, from the vibes to the storytelling, and even the combat when it was reasonable, were compelling to the end. I’m still curious about the other endings, but the trauma from that generator setpiece has me wanting to wait for possible adjustments or new settings in the future. Horror enthusiasts, especially those who revel in the weird, who are also secret gaming gunslingers and are cool with sudden spikes in difficulty will find a lot to like here.

I admit, as fun as it looked with its shiny, new coat of paint and new features to play with, I approached Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake with some cynicism. How couldn’t I with a title like that? Seriously, it sounds more like I bought a used car than played a video game. But the charm and timelessness of Dragon Quest 3 will shine through anything, and having it on a big screen and operating like a modern game was admittedly exciting. For all the bells, whistles, and flourishes, this is still the classic adventure that inspired millions of players over thirty years ago. A polish job like this just makes it shine brighter.

Feel Free Games has done a really good job at marrying up many of our beloved cozy RPG elements. While there are a few things I’d love to see expanded upon, Luma Island is a treasure to behold, packed with content. And yet it seems there’s much to look forward to as well. I’ve had so much fun on Luma Island and will continue to do so for many hours yet. This is one of my top games for the year.

You might have to take notes outside the game to keep up, but it’s worth putting up with the annoyance. Rise of the Golden Idol is one of the most captivating mystery games around, one that makes clever use of every tool available to it and expands the possibilities of what a logical deduction game can achieve.

Petit Island is an adorable and cozy experience, and I’m pawsitively sure I’ll find myself booting this game up to work on my collectibles again. There are also a few mysteries around the volcano I’d like to uncover. However, while cozy games and cute kittens go paw-in-paw, there isn’t quite enough here to make it a fancy feast. Nevertheless, this was a fun little tail. Whisker me away to Petit Island, cause I’m feline like a getaway. Okay, that’s all the puns I’ve got.

Tetris Forever tells a complete story, from the origins to the current Tetris Company, 40 years later. The new interview footage, filmic editing, curated game placement, and supplemental materials are arranged with tremendous skill and care. I can’t gush enough about how Tetris Forever takes the concept and structure of Gold Master and nails it, showing that weaving the “museum” content and gameplay together to tell a singular story leads to something that’s fun and intellectually gratifying at the same time.

Death Note Killer Within is truly fascinating, even to look at from a distance. It’s a smart adaptation of a Shonen Jump manga that is famous for challenging what “Shonen Jump manga” could be at its moment in time. Seeing the characters pop up in games like Jump Ultimate Stars or Jump Force was always awkward, and the other games based on the series remain obscure. So it’s cool to see the folks who made this identify a trend and realize the IP is a good fit, then execute it in a way that both adapts Death Note and have fun with it at the same time. I think it has a pretty limited audience though, as you have to cross several barriers of entry to get what feels like the only way to have a good time. If the gameplay gave more time for its nuances to breathe and shine, was more adaptable to the inherent instability of online play, and was more approachable, there’d be something really special here.

I’ve lost a lot of time to Metal Slug Tactics during this review period, and I’ll lose countless more as the year goes on. It’s a game for sickos, and I love it for that. But more importantly, it nails the run-and-gun feel of Metal Slug, and somehow transforms that into a tactics game, and that’s a hell of an accomplishment. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got an itch, and the only salve is another run.

Batman: Arkham Shadow is the blueprint for how to do AAA VR. The game makes every effort to translate the franchise’s best features to virtual reality, with a level of detail that makes you feel like Batman himself. It’s all complemented by an original story that’s on the same level of quality as most games in the series.

I’ve avoided the Call of Duty franchise for years. Long before the gameplay outgrew me, I outgrew the gameplay. I came into BO6 with low expectations but was pleasantly surprised. Despite some faults, the campaign has more good than bad. Zombies is a fun mode, even if there’s nothing there for me personally. Multiplayer, however, is where the magic happens. The fact that I’m enjoying playing against people half my age who can kill me before I can squint to see them is testament to that. Okay, so I’m clearly exaggerating, but even when I’m getting rocked, there are always tools at my disposal that ensure I’m having a blast. Grenade away!

Mario has ventured to massive worlds before. He's even surfed the cosmos across different galaxies. Rarely has a world in any of his games felt this connected. Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a game about building bonds, the kind that Mario shares with his cherished brother.

Planet Coaster 2 is a fantastic second entry to Frontier Developments’ spiritual successor to one of gaming's greatest titles. I might be a little disappointed that the core behind these games' formula hasn’t changed in 25 years, but if it ain’t broken why fix it? Aside from little issues like guests' pathfinding being borked on occasion and my spiteful relationship with the way paths snap to each other, I’m overjoyed to share that this game will continue to consume my life in the near future. While the simulation sicko in the back of my mind wishes there was a little more depth to managing my parks, all the other voices fight over what to build next, and there are certainly worse problems to have.

I enjoyed New World: Aeternum as an action RPG with relaxed character-building and challenging content but was never motivated to stick around and grind out an insane amount of hours. This almost feels intentional, with the quickened road to endgame and retooling of the campaign. The game certainly feels more fleshed out than it did three years ago and has settled into being a perfectly decent online game that I can drop into and enjoy in short bursts when the MMO itch comes around.

All told, The Fear Business is a pretty solid homage to the horror games of yesteryear. It’s not particularly original, but the PS1 aesthetic, sharp design of Solomon Manor, and compelling puzzles work well enough to make up for its annoyances. It’s not a long game (your first playthrough will probably take between 3 and 5 hours), but there are several difficulties to complete and secrets to find, and it seems ripe for speedrunning. I just wish it controlled better and dealing with Goat Face wasn’t so bloody annoying. But if you’re looking for a horror game to spend an evening with, you could do a lot worse. Just… you know, try to be smarter than Sarah the next time you’re investigating mysterious disappearances, yeah? If a dude had offered me a ride to a cult-infested mansion, I would have just gone home.

Ambition that slightly misses its mark is my main takeaway with Ys X: Nordics. There’s still a rock-solid foundation here, as any fan of action-RPGs can attest to. Ys is a series that’s stood on business for decades and with good reason. The problems here are all in the efforts made to try something different, which isn’t the worst thing to happen with a long-running series. Instead of resting on its laurels, Falcom has tried some new things with Ys X and there’s credit due for those efforts. The story and characters are on point, and the way the core mechanics try to act as a mirror for the themes is fascinating! But there’s some connective tissue missing that could’ve made things really sing. Meanwhile, the ship customization and combat is cool and rewarding in the long run, but the agonizingly slow pace of progression there really hurts the drive to care and engage long enough to see the payoff. Will these systems see iteration and come into their own, or will Falcom try something else next time? I’m curious to see if Adol can become a talented sailor one day.

This game isn’t entirely for me. I don’t have the patience to grind out tools, nor do I have a static group of homies to become virtual Syfy (or whatever it is now) Channel ghost-hunting superstars with. But Phasmophobia’s intricacy and malleability that offers both kinds of experiences is super impressive. I love that I can have an intense, singleplayer horror survival game, then invite some friends and have that same game morph into something else within its framework. And then, theoretically, have it turn into another different kind of game once the training wheels are off. It’s fascinating in its ambition and complexity, and even if every aspect of it isn’t perfectly fine-tuned, it’s still compelling to engage with. Since Phasmophobia's in early access despite coming to consoles, I can see that fine-tuning continue to take place over time, as the developers keep hammering their clever systems into shape. With a little more clarity and maintenance, I can see Phasmophobia being the horror game to return to year after year.

The original Life is Strange was enough to cement Max Caulfield as one of my favorite modern video game protagonists, and Double Exposure offers a beautiful continuation of her journey. She’s still the deeply goofy and empathetic artist that we fell in love with nearly a decade ago, and this new adventure further explores her personality and beliefs. Jumping back into her story all these years later felt like catching up with an old friend. On the other hand, it’s impossible to make your way through Life is Strange: Double Exposure without performance issues interfering with the experience. It’s ironically right in line with the game’s theme of duality, with the Living and Dead worlds serving as metaphors for what it’s like playing through the newest Life is Strange game.

This is formulaic BioWare set in a fantasy-fiction story with the feels of a summer movie, and while we think it’s a very well put-together game, we ultimately couldn’t find the oomph that could push it over into greatness.

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.

It’s been fascinating to see what Drecom has done with Wizardry since getting a hold of the rights in the middle of the pandemic. There’s a sense of reverence for the series’ history, as well as a fresh interpretation of what Wizardry can be with the new game and other materials in the pipeline. There’s a renewed sense of horror and urgency, that acknowledges the gamey adrenaline rush of risking it all for some sick loot while wanting to push how getting killed by goblins in a pit dug out of reality by flesh-eating demons shouldn’t be a cheerful hobby. Wizardry Variants Daphne is an expertly crafted mix of old school mechanics and distinct, modern presentation that takes advantage of the mobile platform as much as it is inherently expected to exploit it. I’m curious to see what kind of long-term prospects Daphne can muster, but for now I’m having a blast.

Not every party has to go all night long. The Jackbox Survey Scramble is less of a party pack and more like a lunchtime activity. There's room to play and you'll still have time to finish your sandwich.

Zero Sievert might use a lot of familiar genre descriptors, such as roguelike and extraction shooter, and it might not do a whole lot different from other, similar games that came before. However, everything it does, it does just right. It rewards you enough to make the steep challenge worth putting up with. It pushes you to explore and experiment by making both goals feel achievable with the right plan and a bit of luck, and eventually, it gives you the tools to make some fantastically detailed weapon builds and take on even bigger challenges with bigger rewards on offer. It's all recognizable, sure, but when Zero Sievert is this fun, innovation doesn't really matter.

As one of games media’s self-described SaGa Sickos, I had one question on my mind coming into Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven. Could a SaGa be rebuilt, explicitly for approachability, and still feel like SaGa? Or would sanding it down and making it friendlier turn it into a less daring and bold RPG that’s harder to distinguish from Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest? While some parts did have me feeling a little curmudgeonly, at the end of the day the answer is yes. Romancing SaGa 2’s remake is a fulfilling journey, giving fans of the original plenty to sink their teeth into, while simultaneously offering something that’s a lot more palatable for curious parties to finally set their fears aside and try something new. If it clicks, though, I implore you to dive into the deep end afterwards. Don't sleep on SaGa!

While I’d love to live in a world of Shadow Generations being the whole thing, there’s fun to be had with Sonic Generations as well. It’s just like putting a $200 collectible figure on the table next to an action figure you picked up at Walmart for a fraction of the price. The action figure is fun to play with, but you can just sit and stare at the collectible in admiration every time you walk past it. While it’s relatively short, Shadow Generations feels like someone took Sonic Frontiers and retroactively applied its secret sauce to an older 3D Sonic platformer, elevating it to heights previously unseen. Sonic Generations is a respectable remaster of a decent game, but pales in comparison. Thus, Sonic x Shadow Generations is definitely a masterpiece in the eyes of someone already on board with the series, but might feel noticeably uneven to newcomers or folks aiming to cautiously dip their toes back in feeding off hype for the latest movie. It’s over for everyone when that Keanu Reeves DLC drops, though.

This is another one of those old school remasters with which part of the fun is simply experiencing it if you haven't already. You won't be seeing Killing Time in any "best of all time" lists, because it simply isn't that. It's rough around the edges, teetering on the bad end of schlocky, and the huge maps make finding your way around exhausting. But at the same time, being a 3DO game so fully committed to its era of FMV gimmicks and the overall strange vibes only a 90s shooter on obscure hardware can provide makes this the perfect subject of earnest digital archaeology. Is Killing Time a banger? Nah, not really. But Killing Time: Resurrected absolutely is.

Playing through Unknown 9: Awakening left me with a cocktail of emotions when I finally rolled credits after 13 hours. I usually pride myself in my ability to see eye to eye with a game’s vision and try to find even footing even if I didn’t have a good time with it, but this is different. The experience of playing Reflector Entertainment's debut title is akin to watching a bunch of trailers for those Phase 1 Marvel movies alongside the opening act of the first Avengers flick. It felt like proof of concept for a multimedia franchise that doesn’t want to give away too much but hasn’t figured yet out what it’s even about. All of this is skinned onto the early 2010s cinematic video game experience which aside from a few fun, if janky combat encounters doesn’t know how to set itself apart. It's heartbreaking because there is a much better experience in between the in-between that didn’t work.

UFO 50 is like stumbling across a time capsule and discovering a wealth of lost knowledge inside. And yet, it’s entirely a singular work of fiction. That by itself is deeply fascinating and makes this thing worth playing. Even if you pass over most of the games and only find a few that stick with you from a fun perspective, the depth on a conceptual level is absurd and gratifying to simply think about. We’re living at a time in which older games are vanishing from both physical reality and our sort of collective cultural well at an increasing rate, when remakes are seen as replacements for original work and curiosity to seek out history is dwindling unless there’s a purchasable remaster. UFO 50 is fun to play and take at face value, but it also highlights how age really isn’t a detriment to having a great time and engaging with games.

Super Mario Party Jamboree disproves the idea that if you've seen one Mario Party game, you've seen them all. Nintendo went out of its way to create something heads-and-tails above what came before. It doesn't always work, but there are far more winners than participation trophies in this package. The Jamboree Buddies, in particular, make this the ideal way to play Mario Party. It'll still wreck friendships. At the end of the day, it is still Mario Party. But, now those friendships will be wrecked in a more interesting way.

Neva, as a symbol of life itself, mirrors the inevitability of change, making the journey feel like a personal allegory for parenthood and the passage of time. In many ways, Neva ends just as it begins, with a poignant reflection on the cycle of life. Although the experience is brief–credits roll after about 5-6 hours–the impact of Neva lingers long after, making it a great choice for those looking to get emotionally gut-punched by a visually stunning and mechanically concise platforming adventure game.

I went into The Axis Unseen hoping it would be my jam, and it was. It even made me okay with not having a map (well, after a while), and as someone who has a terrible sense of direction on their best day, that’s no mean feat. I just wanted to explore its world, fight new monsters, and see what I could find. Mostly, though, I think about the stories I got to tell while playing it, like that bit with the Elder Horned Beast I told you about at the beginning here. A little while after I got the fire arrows, I realized I could probably kill a Tree Golem with them, and when I finally ran into one, I finally took it down. It was incredible. And there are so many stories like that in The Axis Unseen. I hope the technical issues get fixed, but even with them, I think Just Purkey Games has made something special. Just... be careful if you venture into this realm between realms? You’re off the edge of the map. Here be dragons. But if you play it right, the scariest thing in this world might just be you.

Narrative games sometimes struggle with balancing the flow of gameplay and storytelling. For Europa, the team at Novadust Entertainment has managed to keep the pacing tight throughout the entire experience, ensuring that the gameplay doesn’t detract from the story, and the tale doesn’t stop you from taking to the skies. Even if the journey has a few rough edges, Europa is an immersive and thought-provoking game that nails the Ghibli sense of wonder.

I was always going to pick up Amber Isle, so I was very happy to review it. Even though it has a few bugs related to the camera and UI, as well as some progression issues to be worked out, I know I'll be spending a lot more time in my shop crafting items to sell to my dinosaur customers. There’s a lot to like about Amber Isle and the team at Ambertail has tried its best to create a wholesome experience. All of these adorable dinos will be my friend before I’m through here, even the grumpy mayor.

Much like Danganronpa before it, despite its problems my time with Master Detective Archives: Rain Code Plus will be hard to forget. I’m thankful I waited until this updated version to give it a whirl; with a silky smooth frame rate and high resolution, the visual elements really get to sing. Even when I wasn’t fully on board with where the story was going, Rain Code made me think, which is high praise for a game about a deadly goth girlfriend puking rainbows and shooting heart-shaped laser beams from her face as a means of exposing criminal conspiracies.