When I rolled credits on Mixtape, I was sad that it was over so soon. But then, I was immediately excited at the prospect of multiple future playthroughs where I could toy with all of the quirky minigames and their outcomes en route to seeing everything the game had to offer. It’s how I knew that I truly love a video game. Like with many of the coming-of-age films it takes inspiration from and the timeless artists featured on its soundtrack, I know I won’t be able to resist the urge to come back to Mixtape again and again.

Last Flag's biggest problem, unfortunately, is that it feels limited. Two maps at launch, regardless of how well-designed they are, is an undeniable disappointment. I wish I could have seen the developers go to town on multiple maps, giving them the same detailed treatment that they gave to the game's characters. I wanted to feel the same love for Last Flag that I did for Team Fortress 2 (and its CTF mode) back in the day, but that intangible hook just wasn't there...Still, if you're into Capture the Flag, I wouldn't wave the white flag on Last Flag and its budget price point, because it's certainly a solid debut effort from the Night Street Games crew.

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.

Besides fun gameplay, 007 First Light packs a punch in the presentation department. Its audiovisuals are stunning to behold; you’ll feel like you’re playing a Bond movie, but with all the accoutrements of a modern video game, alongside decision-making that feels uniquely yours. [Hands-On Impressions]

Invincible VS is a satisfying fighter when you learn its tricks, and while a few caveats keep it from being a perfect start for Quarter Up, I’m excited to see how it grows over time.

Aphelion is far from the next classic Don’t Nod game, but fans of the studio will likely have a good enough time with it. The concept and narrative execution are strong here, but so much of it is bogged down by gameplay segments that made me wish I could skip like a cutscene.

Coming into 2026, I knew that few games were a surer bet than Saros. Housemarque’s 2021 breakout is still one of the PS5’s best games, and Saros will now stand alongside it. I could see some players lamenting just how similar it feels to Returnal, but Saros was exactly what I needed from a spiritual successor.

Rhythm Psychosis is a heck of an experience that, depending on how much you know about this stuff going in, can be a window into an unfamiliar world, a push down a rabbit hole you had no previous plans to enter. And that’s fascinating, and a cool central theme to wrap a whole music game around. Combine that with some brilliant localization for what had to be some mind-boggling source material, an admittedly strange but catchy soundtrack, solid enough rhythm gameplay (think DJMAX but a bit simpler), and some storytelling chops unafraid to tackle dark material in an empathetic way, and you have a deranged feast of a game to sift through. That said, having to grind out levels far beyond what the tracklist can reasonably support just to finish the story is criminal. Yunyun Syndrome’s momentum plunges off a cliff about halfway through, and that’s a real shame considering how much energy it has out of the gate. I feel like I’ve wasted hours of my life on this game despite loving it at first, and that’s a sense of conflict I wish I didn’t have to contend with.

Vampire Crawlers is fun. Like, capital-F Fun. I’ve spent many hours with it and will spend more, especially if there’s as much long-term support as we saw with Survivors. But while Survivors felt like a totally fresh kind of experience in a lot of ways, Crawlers steps into territory that has a long and dense history, which means it’s fitting into a framework with plenty of comparison points available. And where Crawlers is weak, it’s weak in the very spot that defines the new space it’s walked into. That’s a bummer. Where it hits is all in how its trademark style and systems translate, the snappy card combat, and of course the banging soundtrack I’m only just mentioning because I’m not great at talking about music. So a thumbs up from me, but one that comes with an acute sadness at how much more Vampire Crawlers could have been if it had true blobber bona fides.

Life is Strange: Reunion is going to make a lot of people happy and I don't begrudge any of them. There are people out there who waited a long time to give Max and Chloe a happy ending. However, as someone who watched Max Caulfield persevere through tragedy to build a happy life for herself, Reunion felt like a regression for this character. If the story was told well, I could overlook a lot of my personal hangups with the story. Unfortunately, I saw the potential of what they were setting up with Chloe and Safi, with Chloe's uncertain place in existence, with the nature of fate and the idea that some events are fixed and always meant to unfold. Reunion set up some tantalizing plot points and all of them underwhelmed.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream gave me a unique chance to create an ecosystem that would make a 2000s era TV producer weep tears of joy. I can’t say I ever expected a game to give me this kind of experience, but I guess that’s just what it’s like when you’re Living the Dream.

Set in a gritty noire story told through rubberhose animated-characters, Mouse: P.I. takes players into the seedy underbelly of Mouseberg, and while I often felt like more of a “Mouse Mercenary” than a P.I., the look and feel of the game had me hooked throughout the twisting and turning adventure.

Pragmata dug its hooks into me in ways I didn’t expect. While I knew from the demo that the gameplay would be something special, it’s the story and characters that I can’t stop thinking about. This could be the birth of a new tentpole IP for Capcom, but even if it isn’t, Pragmata won’t be leaving my mind anytime soon.

People of Note has lot of heart. However muddied its story might be, I can't say that it doesn't have charm. Its turn-based battles are some of the best I've seen in an RPG in a long time, making the most of its musical motif. Plus, the musical performances go a long way toward making this game more memorable than it would have been without them. I wouldn't say it's worthy of topping the Billboard charts, but it's certainly worth a few plays.

In an increasingly digital world, I find myself longing for the days of Blockbuster and Hollywood Video. Unfortunately, I don’t think those days will ever come back, but Retro Rewind is a fulfilling trip down memory lane.

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.

I once again have to point to Minishoot’ Adventures succeeding where it matters most: execution. Genre mashups are plentiful these days, and sometimes the math is off, or there’s something incongruous the developers struggle to overcome. I think of games like TMNT: Tactical Takedown or Pac-Man World 2’s bizarre Sonic DLC as recent examples of mashups going hard in the paint and nailing premises that sound odd on paper. Minishoot’ Adventures definitely stands among them as a new stellar example of presenting a strange-sounding concept and nailing it at a base level.

The beauty of Marathon is that it’s not a game for everyone. It’s a game for a specific niche. Bungie knows this and Marathon excels because of it. Bungie has been intentional, hyper-focused, and utterly conscious of what it has delivered with Marathon. It is a brutal and challenging game with an art style that demands attention. The shooting feels superb, the factions are dripping with personality and meaningful upgrades, and the systems and gameplay converge into an experience that sinks its teeth into your subconscious. I’m thinking about Marathon every waking moment. Bungie has once again shown why it’s the king in the shooter space.

MLB The Show 26 retains enough of what makes this series stand out that I still see it as an overall positive. New settings and quality-of-life improvements across the core modes are always welcome, and I’ll likely end the year with more hours in this than any other sports game. Still, I don’t think this franchise can sustain another year where it just treads water, maintaining the status quo without doing anything to elevate its game.

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.

Xenonauts 2 is quite impressive in its faithfulness to the oldest form of X-Com. I appreciate how far it goes to capture those old-school vibes, and I can very easily see what Goldhawk Interactive improved upon from the first game. This is a shamelessly difficult alien invasion tactical strategy, where every success or failure rely on careful, timely decisions and a bit of luck. I wish the aircraft game was a better piece of the overall puzzle, but it’s hard to be too sore about that when I’m just outright relieved to get all of my squaddies home in one piece and ready to prep for the next contact.

Despite my issues, there are feelings Super Meat Boy 3D gets right. It’s that same level of hard that begs to be conquered, cultivated in the original. And when I finished a particularly hard level, I got to see a marathon of my little Meat Boys failing all over the level until I finally got one of them through, and that part is as triumphant as it has ever been. Other dedicated people will conquer this game. I suspect some speedrunner will weave wizardry in their mastery of Super Meat Boy 3D and its levels. That said, this feels like a game in which you have to have more patience that ever to put up with the shenanigans that a fast-paced 3D Meat Boy game presents.

For a surprise, low-cost look into Rayman history, Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition is a neat little treat. But it

As a new entry in an old-school racing series, Screamer hardly bears resemblance to its origins. But at the same time, it shoots for a similar target. This is an over the top spectacle of a racer that needles in an interest in sim-adjacent car physics and handling. The target just looks a lot different these days, as the definition of “over the top” is subject to inflation here in the video game world. Three decades later, a realistic setting with cool, intense animations has translated to realistic physics in an epic-length anime story with similar production values and style to something like Dispatch. It’s absurd, but that absurdity is executed with such confidence that it sells the whole package, warts and all. Prospective fans who are more on the casual side will struggle, but in this case that struggle has an excellent reward system in the form of a storytelling strength you almost never see in this genre.

Crimson Desert is an exercise in excess, and it is worse for it. If you believe more is always better and are so enraptured by “world big” that you are willing to overlook substantial, glaring flaws (and there are many), you’ll love Crimson Desert. Perhaps the most damning thing I can say about Crimson Desert is that it is an enormous game with a ton of content, and I spent most of my time with it wishing I was doing anything else.

To put it simply, I just didn’t have a good time with God of War Sons of Sparta. This game stepped into an overly crowded space, brought nothing new or interesting to the table, and has this weird, corporate, “how do you do fellow kids” energy with its faux-retro trimmings that don’t have any historical verisimilitude. Sauceless combat, a do-nothing story, and striking lack of personality don’t do any favors to a novel premise and quality voice acting that gave an initially promising first impression. A God of War Metroidvania could have been a productive and exciting use of the IP, especially in a post-Silksong world, but Sons of Sparta doesn’t have a fraction of that juice.

John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando feels like the kind of game I would’ve rented on the Xbox 360, for better and worse. It’s a simple, no-nonsense shooter that offers some classic arcade-like fun. That comes at the cost of narrative and mechanical depth, but it’s still a good time if you’re looking to restore that old school feeling.

I dig how Monster Hunter Stories’ monster collecting spinoff has evolved over the years. Twisted Reflection has enough juice to be a good RPG for most players between its charming story, interesting characters, and engaging combat. And then when you get to the monster management, it opens up like never before with a wide variety of improvements, discoveries, and stat swapping to make your party as cracked as you want them to be. This game’s hairiest encounters put your party management and pattern recognition to the test in big ways. I wish more of the weapon classes had made it over, and that monster collection didn’t feel so tedious once you’re deep in it, but Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is a fine benchmark for how far these spinoffs have come, and whether you’re returning from previous games or cracking a Stories game for the first time, there’s a lot to love here for stat-loving RPG fans.

It’s good to see Skunkape get to continue its revisitation of classic Telltale history, instead of riding off into the sunset after finishing the Sam and Max trilogy. It’s also neat to see this little oddity in particular not only come back, but do so with tweaks and even keeping the Team Fortress 2 interactivity intact. I hope this team gets to continue working on stuff, keeping that era of adventure games alive for as long as possible. In the meantime though, I’m feeling like I could get pretty good at poker.

I enjoyed WWE 2K24 and WWE 2K25, especially the Bloodline-driven Showcase mode in last year’s entry. But WWE 2K26 stands tall over them. Even though some elements are recycled from last year’s (and the year before that, and the year before that), 2K26’s fun Showcase mode, compelling MyRise story, and strong presentation and gameplay systems make this my new favorite installment.

I’m sad CiNG isn’t around anymore, but I’m glad Arc System Works makes more than just fighting games, and is willing to take risks and greenlight projects like this. The spirit of visual novels that find beauty in the mundane CiNG captured in titles like Hotel Dusk is very much alive in Dear Me, I Was… and I’m grateful for that. In many ways, this experience has made me feel kind of uncomfortable, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. A lot happens during a life, and when it’s my turn to look back like this, I hope the colors are just as vibrant.

The Scott Pilgrim universe has a naturally good vibe that captures the urban brawling and traversal of a River City brawler better than most of them. It’s a nonstop gauntlet of funny little refrerences and in-jokes, but it’s carried by such a solid cast, fun moves, and ridiculous fights that it’s easy to appreciate whether you know much about Scott Pilgrim or just want to punch goons.

Crisol: Theater of Idols shoots for the moon (or the Sun, considering the narrative) with some bold ideas. The blood curse is a cool concept and opens some doors, both mechanically and narratively. Not everything hits, unfortunately, and that brings the whole experience back down to Earth. It's unique enough that I won't forget it anytime soon, but not quite good enough to make me a Sun worshipper.

If you haven’t played the original version, Tales of Berseria Remastered is a must-play. It tackles revenge in a way you don’t see often, especially in games that look like this. Violet is an all-timer of an anti-hero protagonist, and the supporting crew of misfits are great to spend time with as well. The combat system is fun too, although it’s not as strict or expressive as others in the series. If you already know Berseria well, there isn’t really a great reason to show up outside of convenience and a new set of trophies if you’re not already hankering for a replay. I’d love to see older Tales games get the re-release treatment instead, but I can’t deny Berseria’s banger status, either. An enthusiastic but slightly confused thumbs up from me, then.

Resident Evil Requiem is a crown jewel in Capcom’s survival horror crown. Its characters develop realistically, its rhythm between action and horror should more than satisfy fans of both styles, and its story gripped me from beginning to end. This is Resident Evil at its finest, and I can’t wait to see where Capcom takes the series next.

There’s nothing out there in video games quite like multiplayer Bomberman. And with the Super Bomberman Collection, we’ve righted a historical wrong, with over half this series previously unavailable in North America without importing carts that wouldn’t fit in a Super Nintendo without taking a pair of pliers to the poor thing. This is a respectable collection that includes multiple new localizations, high quality museum assets, and a dope, new unboxing feature. It doesn’t have the same production value as Konami’s other collections, and it’s a bummer the big sign of that is no online play. But if you can get your friends together in a room, I guarantee you’ll have a megaton blast.

If you’re someone who finds themselves complaining about the state of modern games, you owe it to yourself to play Love Eternal. Even if platformers aren’t your go-to genre, the story is a strong enough motivator to see it through. If you do like platformers, well, you’re in for a treat. There are some major swings here, and while they’re not all home runs, I know one thing for sure: I won’t be able to shake Love Eternal for a long time.

BlazBlue Entropy Effect X is one of those “pure gameplay” roller coasters that offer you tons of value just in terms of how awesome it feels to press buttons and really dive into what you can do. If you like BlazBlue already, great! Pick your favorite (hopefully they’re here) and dive until you want to throw up from the excess. If you aren’t into BlazBlue, it doesn’t matter - if you just like dope combat systems in 2D action games, that’s what’s on the table here and in heaping piles. Even the roguelikey build-crafting stuff takes a backseat in terms of relevance once you get your first few upgrades. It’s really just all about Ragna the Bloodedge fighting ninjas with his demonic blood powers. And that’s plenty.

Romeo is a Deadman is an exceptionally strange game. Not only is it the strangeness players have come to love from Suda51 (a good thing), it’s strange in a way where nothing really quite comes together in a cohesive package despite offering some neat ideas. It’s almost as if, in a bid to be weird and whacky, Grasshopper Manufacture ran out of time to let it cook properly. For the cult followers, there’s plenty of zaniness here to sustain you with acceptable hack ‘n’ slash gameplay. For anyone else, it’s just a bizarre and hollow experience with shortcomings that are too hard to ignore.

Mario Tennis Fever is a strong rebound from an era of Mario Sports games that left plenty to be desired, even if there are still some glaring shortcomings. The actual on-court gameplay, wide character roster, and abundance of Fever Rackets were enough to keep me experimenting every time I fired the game up. I’m itching to jump into Ranked and see what I’ve really got once the rest of the world can join in on the fun.

Yakuza Kiwami 3 isn’t a well-reasoned, but flawed remake of an old PS2 game not easily playable anymore. It’s a meddled-with version of a PS3 game that already has an accessible PS4/PC remaster, which is being removed from sale for this. Major features are missing from the original. The story seems to have been changed in ways returning fans will take issue with, continuing a trend that’s upsetting more and more people. And to top it all off, this game (perhaps accidentally) is the tip of the spear of an effort to culturally rehabilitate a sex offender who is on the public record as going beyond “allegations.” Feels bad.

Between a vast open world and new combat styles, Nioh 3 is the series' most ambitious title yet, even if the changes don't always strike true.

Perhaps it’s okay that Dragon Quest 7 is a bit of an odd duck. It’s because of that struggle that Dragon Quest found itself more in later entries, and became a series that could thrive and stand out as more than the funny, old school RPG with the goofy monsters. Perhaps this is a case of trying to cram a square peg into a round hole, making Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined feel “forced” in some ways. While it’s a gorgeous and fun adventure that feels quite good to play in a mechanical sense, it’s not one that’s leaving an impact on my soul the same way other entries have. It’s been nice to see these characters again in such a fascinating visual style, and some of the new additions are cool, but there’s a palpable Cliff Notes energy to the scenario that I can’t see resonating well with newcomers. I can’t speak for what actually happens when people play it of course, but my curiosity to see how that plays out is stronger than my actual emotional response to playing it myself.

Dungeon Antiqua’s mixture of Wizardry mechanics with Final Fantasy visuals and combat is a novel concept, and one that clearly has enough appeal to develop a new series in the indie RPG space. Dungeon Antiqua 2 was something I’ve been looking forward to for months, especially because adding a Final Fantasy 5-style emphasis on a job system sounds like a perfect way to add a new twist for a sequel. As fun as the experience is overall, though, there’s a bit too much overcorrection on the Wizardry side, one that I’m not sure was asked for by anyone who enjoyed the first game. Without the friction the game feels a little more generic, losing a piece of its strong identity. It’s still a great time, however, especially for fans of games like Bravely Default or Etrian Odyssey. Here’s to part 3 getting another chance to nail that sweet spot part 2 is clearly aiming for.

Cairn is a phenomenal climbing game. There were times where I wanted to throw in the towel because of some minor animation hiccup, but, like Aava, I couldn’t stop. There’s this intriguing parallel at play here, one that I found myself thinking about in those moments where I needed to rest my sweaty palms and Aava needed to recharge her stamina. Neither of us could stop. We had to see it through to the end, in whatever form that took. By the time the credits rolled, I knew that Cairn would stick with me for a long time. This is a game you absolutely have to experience.

While a little rough around the edges in some ways, I had a blast with Don’t Stop, Girlypop! all the way through. It was nice and refreshing to play a shooter that wasn’t about ripping and tearing or doing weird military propaganda with bizarre concoctions of hyperrealism and Fortnite seeping out of monied crevices like bleeding gums. Instead, I bedazzled my shotgun like a true Y2K sicko without being asked for a single dollar. Some mechanics were a little funky, and the absurd (complimentary) flip phone dialogue segments were plagued with wooden acting, but the moment to moment chaos was a hearty dose of arcade-style energy disguised as an arena shooter.

Code Vein 2 is here, and it carries on much of the goodness from the original, while expanding into an open world design that becomes even more complex with the layering of time travel and eras set on the same map. It doesn’t hit on every level, but Code Vein 2 is still a solid sequel with a story that pulled me in and made me care, just like the first.

MIO: Memories in Orbit takes place in a fascinating world, and its story is often beautiful. If there was no combat, it would be a substantially better game. But there is, and it is not. Like all Metroidvanias, MIO: Memories in Orbit asks you to imagine the Vessel as a place that was once wondrous. But I could not imagine a world where I was happy to play in its ruins, no matter how beautiful what’s left of it was.

Long story short, Phila Fantasy is cute. It’s a neat, simple action-RPG that sets out to do a few things, and accomplishes them well enough to offer a dozen or so hours of fluffy entertainment. If you like to run around a new world, bonk some monsters, and make some numbers go up, you can do worse. You can probably do a lot better as well, though. If you’re concerned about the limited time you have left on this planet, you might come away from this adventure a little frustrated. But if you’re the type of digital adventurer who likes to dip their toes into everything possible, there’s a nice little chunk of video game to enjoy here. Just don’t expect to find your new favorite this time.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon feels like a stress test. Turns out when you introduce a dozen different plot threads across several sets of stories set in different geographical locations, bringing them all together is a massive, unwieldy task. There’s fun stuff in here between the annoying parts, like really cool special attack animations, interesting character developments, crazy monster designs, and world-shattering twists. But I wish so much time wasn’t wasted on achingly boring expository setup, non-optional side content with next to no substance, and a combat system that’s in the middle of an identity crisis. Falcom has done a lot more with a lot less in the past, and all this excess is wearing me down.

Mario Kart World features the most detailed gameplay mechanics ever featured in series history. The game embraces Mario’s platforming roots with a new moveset for racers to reach new heights in tracks by jumping, grinding, barrel rolling, and wall riding to multiple pathways and shortcuts.

Routine stands out. It targets a specific aesthetic, a specific vibe, and a specific cadence, and it pulls out every stop to land on those targets. It does so with striking accuracy, making technology that feels real and of this world despite its fiction, simply due to the ways in which you interact with it and use it to solve problems and progress the story. It runs at a slow pace that won’t gel with everyone, and its lack of interest in guiding players is an observable filter as well. But those interested in the hardest of hard sci-fi, the challenge of powerlessness against ever-present threats, and the patience for environmental deduction have six or so hours jam-packed with all that stuff ready for them here. Routine has a niche appeal, but wears it like a badge of honor.

There is a shocking amount of things to do in Where Winds Meet. If you’re into gacha or are just okay with trying something for free that is pretty rough around the edges, Where Winds Meet does have a lot of content that can be fun to engage in, especially with friends. If you’re just looking for a solo adventure with a good story to digest and cool combat, you’ll probably be let down, as Where Winds Meet doesn’t quite hit the highs that plenty of other games do in the action RPG genre.

Studio Folly and Toot Games have dealt players a good hand with Dogpile. Tetris dreaming is one thing, but it's another to see falling dogs in your sleep. It's a good problem to have, especially since they're all such good boys.

Ultimately, what do I score a game like Unbeatable that has such observable problems but some of the most heart-pumping emotional resonance I’ve experienced in games throughout this entire year? What cute, little video game review cliche can I lean on to help me out of this predicament? D-Cell itself offered a cheeky, little take at how review scores can be perceived, and I figure why not send that ball back over the net? I was thinking a seven at first, but Sonic Adventure 2’s problems are way more frustrating than Unbeatable’s. And I am a little shy as a person. So let’s go with that.

Skate Story is an insane love letter to the sport of skateboarding and the many cultures surrounding it. The game feels like an interactive street skating music video from the 1990s with a camera that creates epic and cinematic moments on every level, and a soundtrack from Blood Cultures that perfectly fits every moment from ambient chill spots to chaotic rhythms for boss battles. The visuals are accentuated by truly unique character models, wild art styles, a beautiful contrast of light and dark, and stunning set pieces.

When you find a village for the first time and it’s been completely destroyed, with no visible context on what happened or what you could have done to prevent it. When you go to grind a little to get stronger and the monsters are suddenly different and stretch you like a slinky. When you open the menu and the clock menacingly moves forward. Each hurdle is a part of a chaotic whole such that even figuring it out is part of the journey. Except for the cutscene subtitles. That part’s just a bummer.

It's honestly a shame that the story quality takes such a dip compared to previous games and can't complement the combat improvements. This is a game that trades in eight captivating character arcs for one mediocre one, and quality-of-life improvements like "The Story So Far" recaps at the start of each chapter can only help so much. There are very few exceptions in this game where you feel like a companion Traveler character has a satisfying storyline, but the rest of them feel faceless and interchangeable. Honestly, this series deserves better than that, especially given how much I enjoyed the game's town-building component. It's one step forward, one step back for Octopath Traveler 0. Or maybe that's eight steps forward and eight steps back? Really, who's counting?

My favorite thing about Sleep Awake is how it plays with its form as a video game to portray a conflict that isn’t a bad guy or a monster. You can’t just hit “falling asleep will kill you” with a pipe and move on to the next slobbering, gory metaphor for crimes you’ve committed, or zombie, or whatever. This is an internal fight for most of the story, and one that has no visible end. You and Katja start the game fully prepared to just kick the can down the road as long as possible, until the runway’s out and there’s nothing else you can do. That’s no way to live, but at the same time, what can you do in that scenario but live? The death cults are silly, but at the same time, ruminations on how humanity’s self-perceived resilience could work against it. That’s where Sleep Awake really hits. When the monsters do show up it stumbles, and feels more like a normal video game the longer it wades into the Whys and Hows. Not bad for a five-hour rollercoaster.

Despite the fact that Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is also launching on the original Switch, it truly feels like the proper showpiece for the Switch 2. The supreme gameplay design is beautifully complemented by the different input options, all of which are suitable ways to play through this adventure. The experience is bolstered by gorgeous visuals and spectacular performance regardless of how you choose to play.

While I’ve had fun with Bubble Bobble Sugar Dungeons, I don’t think it really succeeds at its own premise. It’s kind of a good time despite itself, with the core of Bubble Bobble’s unique, arcade-flavored gameplay shining through all the weird, clumsy roguelike stuff that doesn’t work well at all. Part of the problem is a bizarre balancing act and poor communication of what your expectations should be, and the other part is how annoying it is to have something inherently repetitive made artificially even more repetitive by making it structurally more punishing. More clarity and intuitive access to the upgrades would have helped a lot, and made especially the earlier hours feel less grindy and arduous. The roguelike stuff just ends up feeling not just tacked on, but limiting as well. But hey, if Sugar Dungeons sparks a craving for the real deal, Bubble Symphony is a perfect pack-in companion to satisfy that sweet tooth.

ARC Raiders might be a casual take on the extraction shooter genre, but it’s not a lesser experience because of it, quite the opposite. The defeats sting, but the pain of losing all your gear is softened by the approachable combat, player interaction, and the ARC enemies. And despite this approachability, the game has a gnarled edge. There’s texture to the world, a visceral tang and depth to the weaponry, and engrossing foundational systems that make the whole thing hurt so good. With ARC Raiders, Embark Studios has proved, once again, it knows how to deliver the goods.

If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. I respect Tribute Games’ approach with Marvel Cosmic Invasion because it’s very much an extension of nearly everything Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge did right with just a bit of improvement and additions along the way. This big character pool makes the tag feature a delight, giving us more chances to experience some oddball and safe picks as we go. Meanwhile, with up-to-four player online and local gameplay on solidly working systems, it feels like another fun option for folks that want to get together and have an entertaining time with friends in a universe we love. Marvel Cosmic Invasion didn’t have much need to reinvent the wheel. It’s a well-tuned Tribute Games brawler that will fit nicely into game nights.

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.

Constance is a game about confronting your inner darkness. Its hand-drawn cartoony art style won me over initially. Its challenging platforming puzzles and boss fights that required me to fully utilize the plethora of techniques I’d learned throughout the journey kept me engaged and always felt satisfying to complete. This fluid and extremely rewarding gameplay loop alone solidifies Constance as a must-play platformer. The heartfelt story at the core of it all is a welcome added bonus.

Total Chaos is a game of extremes for me. I really like its combat and survival elements, but the action of melee and gunplay against the lesser enemies is less enjoyable than I would have hoped. There is also some noticeable jankiness that pulls away from its best elements. However, I was almost always enamored with Total Chaos’ set pieces, environment, and sound. The bigger scares in this game and the build-ups to them are great. It’s not often we see such a thematic change between games like the move from Turbo Overkill to Total Chaos, but I think Trigger Happy Interactive has built something quite fun with this game. It might not always be consistent, but when Total Chaos hits, it hits like a sledgehammer crushing a twisted figment of our warping sanity.

Marvel’s Deadpool VR doesn’t hit the immersive highs as Batman: Arkham Shadows did last year, but it’s still a fun superhero romp from Oculus Studios. The developers at Twisted Pixel make great use of the Deadpool IP, and there’s no shortage of havoc to wreak if you’re just looking for an action-heavy VR experience.

Kirby Air Riders is a beefy Switch 2 racer that’s constantly shifting gears, and it’s a damn good time behind the wheel.

An old dub track sounding like an old dub track isn’t so bad, as far as what’s taking up the “biggest problem” slot for a release like this. Tales of Xillia Remastered is a totally competent, if not intriguing or surprising in some way, refresh of a niche PlayStation 3 RPG that was cool enough to get a direct sequel, even in the middle of its series niche era. Xillia’s base holds up, from its fighting game-like combat language to its colorful characters and focused story. Veteran fans don’t have a lot to show up for unless they’ve already been jonesing for a replay, but anyone who’s become a Tales fan in the years since have a new, easy way to play a game worth catching up on, and that’s worth celebrating.

Some surprising quality-of-life additions, like the simultaneous Doominate prompts, add to an already solid package in that area. Plus, it's always easy and fun to dive into games as an audience member. The Jackbox Party Pack 11 may not go down as Jackbox Games' best overall package, but the effort to mix up the party themes is at least appreciated.

What I’ll remember about Demonschool are the little things: the jokes, the quiet character moments, when a fight clicks and what had seemed impossible becomes routine, the bliss of a plan well-executed. When I beat ol’ skeleton face from the opening paragraph, he and his minions barely touched me. Namako survived the whole thing with barely a scratch, and my whole team ended the fight feeling like they could lasso the moon. I came, I saw, I conquered. And you’d best believe I got that A rank. And then we did some karaoke. It was a good day.

Dispatch is my most pleasant surprise this year. In a pop culture landscape that’s littered with superhero parodies and deconstructions, Dispatch manages to carve its own unique path. The message that anyone is capable of doing good, regardless of where they came from or the mistakes they've made in the past, truly resonated with me. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get a little emotional during the final credit roll...On top of that, it’s a hilarious superhero romp with satisfying storylines and characters that I am practically begging to see again. If this is the standard of quality that we can expect from AdHoc Studio, the interactive narrative genre is in good hands.

Ultimately, the Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe series is a treat for fans, and a brilliant new way for possible newcomers to jump into the best the Atelier series currently has to offer. It’s a perfect way to try Atelier for the first time, especially since you don’t even have to buy the whole trilogy upfront if you don’t want to. But it’s an excellent deal between the new content and upgrades, and even if the Switch 2 version isn’t the perfect edition I had in my head, it’s still a great chunk of RPG goodness for the new console. Regardless of the platform, Ryza’s three-part adventure was a big deal the first time around for real reasons, and the DX version only serves as a reinforcement.

Arise is an absolute triumph. The visuals are some of Enhance's best, utilizing the best of both Unity and its own proprietary Synaesthesia Engine. It's wildly fun and unexpectedly challenging in places, but above all, it's a relaxing pleasure.

I wish the soundtrack had cooked a little hotter, but it’s hard to ask for much more than that out of a sequel that is otherwise improved this much. I don’t know if Nintendo will treat Age of Imprisonment as canon, but if it’s the final ribbon on the Breath of Wild era, it’s a dang good one…Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is both an excellent companion to Tears of the Kingdom and another fantastic evolution of the Musou style.

With classic games and a heartfelt documentary, Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection continues to show that there's nobody better at this type of compilation than Digital Eclipse. Whether you're an old-school fighter or want to teach your kids what MK looked like in the old days, this is the best way to do it.

My questions at the beginning were answered pretty clearly. Dragon Quest 1 is a game that’s hard to mess with too much, as its simplicity holds most of its lasting appeal. Adding too much makes it top-heavy, although it doesn’t help when what is added feels shallow and poorly balanced. Perhaps there’s another version of this project that’s simply better in my eyes that pulls the effort off more cleanly. In fact, I can see the vision in Dragon Quest 2, which is a more robust, thoughtful, and gracefully implemented set of updates to what is at heart a Famicom game from the earliest days of RPG history. The end result of this package is strangely funny; two sides of a coin I never would have expected. It’s the worst time I’ve ever had with Dragon Quest 1, and the best time I’ve ever had with Dragon Quest 2. If this is your first time with this pair of historically powerful journeys, I almost don’t know what to tell you. But if you enjoyed your time with DQ 3 last year, you owe it to yourself to see the story through to the end. These are classics in every sense of the word, warts and all.

Despite a few qualms here and there, The Other Worlds 2 provides another solid sci-fi RPG experience from Obsidian Entertainment. It probably won’t win over folks who are tired of its corporate comedy act, but those who enjoyed the first will find that most of what they liked is improved in the second. The factional tug-of-war in The Outer Worlds 2 is fun to explore, and the companions you bring with you on the way make the adventure that much more engaging. More than that, this is an exciting adventure you can’t possible explore all of in one go, and whether you make the first one count or go back for another run down an untaken path, The Outer Worlds 2 will provide you with plenty of rewarding experiences for your trouble.

I had a lot of hope going into Full Metal Schoolgirl. My pitch for the review was simply, “hello, I would like to play this because it looks insane.” It seemed like some fun silliness to indulge in, and when it got started, the promise of a cathartic, satirical takedown of our soon to be apocalyptic real-life labor structures had me ready for something special. Then the dreaded Loop kicked in, and I realized this was going to be several hours of grinding and unseasoned chicken-coded combat. So it goes.

It’s basically the kind of greatest hits-style structure you’d expect from a quirky, arcade-style franchise game over a decade removed from its last major entry (unless you’re in the Apple Arcade mines). It’s got everything you’d expect to see but more of it, lots of unlockables, music DLC, self-referential content out the wahzoo, so on and so forth. It’s a lot of fun even if Katamari’s trademark weirdness isn’t so weird anymore, and it doesn’t really seem to have ambitions to redefine anything (not that it needs to). Aside from the whole crown thing putting me off, it’s been a blast picking away at the experience piece by piece. And listening to Lonely Rolling Star in the menu. On repeat. A lot.

Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted packs in everything fans loved about the original game, plus lots more. It’s a deep strategy game for older players and a whimsical introduction to tower defense gameplay for younger demographics. All of that, plus a price point of only $20, make Replanted a must-buy, and the ultimate version of a classic I’ll be revisiting again and again.

I have a handful of gripes about PowerWash Simulator 2, but they hardly bring down the experience. It feels like a love letter to all of the fans and the things they’ve asked for over the years, and we end up getting a really neat collection of structures to clean up beside it. If the first PowerWash Simulator was any indicator, we can likely look forward to loads of post-launch content as well. If you’re not into these games, I doubt PowerWash Simulator 2 is going to win you over. But if you hanker for more high-PSI water cleaning, this sequel provides a fantastic set of features and improvements to make it about as enjoyable as can be.

Jurassic World Evolution 3 is the series nearly at its full potential. The previous games established an excellent foundation, and the addition of juvenile dinosaurs and improvements to customization have taken things to another level. Any Jurassic fan that’s fantasized about managing their own park will find that dream realized in Jurassic World Evolution 3.

It’s not a perfect game, but Ninja Gaiden 4 hits a lot of the notes that count and ties a fine ribbon on the whole thing by the end. I wouldn’t mind playing Yakumo in more games, but if this is the curtain call on this arc of Ninja Gaiden, it’s a good one.

If you're in the kind of mood to think about the nature of the universe, Keeper is the story to check out. It's hard to imagine a living lighthouse is capable of bringing out emotion in people, but that's what makes this game a Keeper.

Battlefield 6 is a triumph in almost every way. It has problems that need to be ironed out, but nothing that can’t be addressed as time moves on. The good news is that the core of the game, the soul of what makes a great Battlefield experience, is there. The visuals, the sound effects, the destruction raining down on you while you lie prone in the rubble and exhaust the last of your rifle’s ammunition. The tools and details required to give every player, no matter their interest or skill level, the opportunity to create memorable moments. Battlefield is back, baby.

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is an ambitious, transformative revisit of a modern classic RPG, one that was a formative experience for a small, but hungry audience that caused a groundswell into one of today’s most absurdly epic storytelling experiments in video games. In a world full of remakes that feel like expensive wastes of time, 1st Chapter feels like it meets a moment in a helpful and genuinely impressive way. It’s mostly a massive presentational overhaul, but one that makes the “breathes new life” cliche feel like a genuine descriptive statement. The way combat is balanced is still annoying, and the weird real time, turn-based hybrid gimmick feels pointless and confused, but even so I found myself getting lost all over again in this game’s absurdly well-executed storytelling ambitions. If you’ve been hearing about Trails for years from the sickos and wanting a cleaner way to give it a shot, this is the moment you’ve been waiting for. And if you’ve been a Trailshead for a long time, you’ve obviously already decided to play this, but it’s a worthwhile excuse to go back to the beginning.

Despite having a lot of verbs, stats, tinkering, and codexes, Ball x Pit feels brainless. I’m just clicking on things to make numbers go up, because numbers going up is the only way I’m going to get through a level. There’s no clever strategy or hidden breakthroughs buried off the beaten path, which is weird in an action game based on pinball you can mold into turn-based combat at one point. For all the gimmicks, ideas, and mechanics Ball x Pit has up its sleeves, it’s so focused on Being a Roguelike it misses the forest for the trees and corners you with stats from the jump. While Vampire Survivors makes me sidestep my own tastes, Ball x Pit simply reinforced them.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A gave me just about everything I wanted from a new Legends game. It continues the trend of bucking against series norms while maintaining the essence of what makes these games so special for fans.

Dotemu and Guard Crush Games have not pulled any punches with Absolum. Its fluid, hard-hitting combat system is a blast to play, and piecing together the best build to crush foes with 100-hit combos never gets old. Every runthrough in the fantasy world of Talamn is challenging but fair and replete with new paths to discover. Despite a few minor flaws, Absolum takes a bold step toward modernizing the beat-’em-up genre with an original story and technical prowess.

It’s a thorough re-imagining, and even just sitting down with it to make the comparison is a fun and engaging exercise. I disagree with the way some of the edges have been sanded off, but Yooka-Replaylee is still a great time. And Trowzer the Snake is still hilarious.

Even if two friends can't experience Little Nightmares 3 in the same room, it's still a game worth enjoying. At the end of the day, it's sad that I can't share my awe and wonder to my partner personally in the moment, but at least I can share those feelings on Discord. And this tale of friendship is one that will definitely generate feelings.

I’m not sure King of Meat has truly captured my interest in order to keep me coming back after my work obligations are over. It’s a cute, welcoming multiplayer action game with a lot of challenges and interesting mechanics. But it also feels like I’ve seen pretty much everything there is to see after a few days of playing. Hopefully with time there will be more variety with post-launch content additions and a robust player content creation suite. I might not be around for it, but I’ll always be grateful for my awesome, new Discord server tag, a sword paired with a simple word: MEAT.

EA Sports FC 26 boasts some of the best on-field gameplay the series has ever seen. Casual and veteran players alike will appreciate the split in gameplay presents and just how distinct and responsive each dribble, pass, and shot feels in accordance with each. Monitization has unfortunately poked its ugly head into single-player modes now, too, so be fair warned in that regard. Still, this is the best soccer simulator I've played in years, so it is unlikely to disappoint anyone willing to look past some of its minor faults.

Time Stranger doesn’t always hit the way I was hoping, because I foolishly expected More Cyber Sleuth. I had to get used to a slower, more somber kind of energy, and for all the systemic improvements I found parts I didn’t actually love to engage with. But Time Stranger impressed me with its own vision and ambition to be more than just a sequel to the cult classic a bunch of weirdos love. It’s about time such a long wait between games delivered so cleanly. I’d gladly wait another ten years for the next one if that’s what it takes.

Whether you mastered gravity years ago or are venturing to Mario’s outer space for the first time, you’re in for a treat.

Hades 2 is everything that a gaming sequel should be, and it's one that will keep me coming back, whether it's on PC or Switch 2. (Cross-save works great, by the way.) Because even after conquering Chronos and scaling the surface, there's still so much more to do. Every time I thought I had this game or this story figured out, something else would happen that would turn everything on its head. Like the late "Rowdy" Roddy Piper used to say, when I thought I had the answers, Hades 2 changed the question. Heck, I might still discover something mind-blowing even after this review is posted. I look forward to seeing it. There's always something new to find in the House of Hades, a house that's eternal and yet never gets old.

Will I come back to LEGO Party! over time? In this case, it’s not up to me, it’s up to the folks I played with. I will say that’s part because these are the people I play party games with, and part because I probably won’t suggest it myself. LEGO Party! is a fine enough virtual board game, and is a particular standout in the ways it uses that LEGO license to the fullest. From the look and feel of the experience to the themes and ideas in minigames, the developers thought of damn near every way you could possibly think to incorporate LEGO into a Mario Party competitor. What holds it back is both how closely it adheres to the Mario Party formula, and how rough and unfriendly the minigames can be from a gameplay perspective, especially for younger or less experienced players. It’s a cute romp, but not all the way there yet.