The Ascent succeeds at delivering an action-shooter with challenging enemies and a diverse set of levels to explore. This is bolstered by a rich universe that’s practically bursting with interesting lore at every seam. Despite some wonkiness with the in-game map layout, it’s a quite enjoyable experience, especially if you decide to go online and team up with friends. The Ascent is a vastly impressive first outing for Neon Giant, and one that sets the bar high for the studio’s future endeavors.

As someone who enjoyed both Dead Island games, warts and all, Dying Light certainly feels like a vast improvement...Unfortunately, Techland is still unable to deliver a story worth telling. I didn’t feel any emotional attachment to any of the characters, nor did I care if they ended up surviving or not.

When it comes to movie and video game crossovers, most developers fail to capture the spirit of the movie’s characters while also bringing their own spin to the world. Bithell Games has managed to do both here, and if John Wick Hex is as close as we ever get to becoming John Wick, then it’s close enough for me.

Sonic Colors: Ultimate is a decent return to arguably one of the best 3D entries in the series. Though there are some solid visual upgrades, I was disappointed by the missed potential in having a version for the newest consoles. Besides that, refined controls, a revamped soundtrack, and some new features still make Sonic Colors: Ultimate a game that fans of the franchise will surely enjoy.

It has some nice Metroidvania moments, although it sputters towards the end to only rely on its color-coded components to keep me out of certain areas, which felt like a cheap way to finish the game.

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.

There’s still work to be done, but Cities Skylines 2 is an impressive improvement over the original. Its systems work together seamlessly, and you have more control over how your city develops without it feeling overwhelming or intimidating. It's a shame some features like green building are gone, but I'm looking forward to seeing how Colossal Order keeps building Skylines 2 in the future.

When mixed with the camera’s specific framing the low-res polygonal visual design and clear progression delineation, Virginia is a marvel of sight and sound.

Despite fumbling at the finish line, Children of Silentown presents an intriguing story that illustrates how fear can cause people to lose sight of what’s important. The puzzles are reasonably challenging and varied, with appealing visuals that help amplify the game’s moody atmosphere. Although the pacing drags in certain areas, Children of Silentown is an enjoyable point-and-click game overall and I would recommend it for both fans of the genre and puzzle game aficionados alike.

As a revolutionary step forward for the arcade SHMUP, CYGNI: All Guns Blazing misses its mark. However, as a perfectly entertaining arcade romp, it does hit its target. Whether players boot it up and play a level at a time for the story or try to do it all in a single life in Arcade Mode, it hits all the right notes with engaging mechanics, fluid gameplay, challenging enemies that frequently fill the screen, and intense boss battles. CYGNI throws everything and the kitchen sink at players, sometimes to its detriment, because dozens upon dozens of enemies filling the screen did lead to occasional performance issues, even on the PlayStation 5. For a debut effort, KeelWorks should feel proud of CYGNI. It's also a foundation to build on, because there's certainly one in place to make something even better.

Narita Boy is a game that takes such a strong influence from so many past works, it can often feel a bit derivative. However, that doesn’t stop the game from being enjoyable, as there’s plenty of unique challenges to overcome as well as some solid lore-building. It’s gorgeous visual design and soundtrack will be enough to entice anyone familiar with 80s pop culture, and could prove irresistible to those that have a fondness for the era.

While the main focus of the story isn’t on how badass Batman is, Telltale has done a great job with the combat sequences, and the story-driven choices that are littered throughout the narrative really help to push the character forward.

Some of our favorite parts of Dungeon Defenders: Awakened lies in its art style and implementation of tower defense with meaningful looting, leveling, and gear systems.

LEGO 2K Drive's solid Story Mode is mainly undone by uneven pacing and the inability to play it online with friends. Add in the game's comprehensive vehicle builder, and it all leads to a solid debut for the 2K/LEGO partnership, even if the microtransactions can feel like stepping on a square LEGO brick.

If you want a high-quality visual novel, a good mystery story to follow, and a time capsule of game design all in one, the Famicom Detective Club remakes feel like a solid call.

Minecraft Dungeons does provide a level of ease and accessibility and proves to be a fun romp in small doses. However, there are a few sticking points that prevent it from standing out as anything special. By the end, I couldn't help but feel like it was overly simplistic and somewhat restrictive. And that hurts coming from something with the name "Minecraft" on it.

Call of Duty: Ghosts is yet another serviceable entry to Activision's long-running franchise. The franchise's staleness increasingly leaves something to be desired, but at its core, Call of Duty is still reliably fun. New additions like Extinction and Squads will likely suffice for series fans, who don't mind the franchise playing it safe.

One Piece Odyssey is a wonderful trip down memory lane for fans of the series. The game’s original story is earnest and the endearing bond between the Straw Hat Pirates comes through loud and clear. The engaging combat system and a decent number of side quests don’t hurt either. Sure, new players might get overwhelmed by some of the rushed chapters in the midgame and the flow between chapters could be better, but it’s hard not to notice the amount of heart and soul that was poured into the game. More than just a fantastic anime-based video game, One Piece Odyssey is an impressive JRPG and already one of the best surprises this year.

There's a lot of satisfaction that comes out of overcoming Volgarr the Viking 2's intense challenge. It comes with a lot of frustration, so be aware of that going in, but as a throwback to the Blockbuster Video rental era of gaming, this is a fairly mighty effort.

Ubisoft brought many of their strengths to the table in Far Cry New Dawn. The gunplay, sights and sounds, and environmental storytelling were great. I’m not sure the light RPG approach worked and would have loved to see more consistency throughout the narrative and from the characters that presented it. Far Cry New Dawn did provide me with a sense of closure in Hope County, and the highs outweighed the lows, but ultimately it left me craving a more complete experience.

Multiplayer may be fun, but it plays too safe to overcome the genuinely disappointing single-player campaign.

It’s not a long game and the adventure arrives at the credits before you know it, but for what it has going, FAR: Changing Tides is a compelling and gorgeous puzzle full of satisfying mechanical engagement and incredible breakthrough moments as you sail ever forward.

KeyWe does a great job at delivering exactly what’s on the parcel: it’s a cute and charming co-op experience that will challenge your communication skills. So grab a friend and get ready to sort the mail, because this one is something special.

Like many sports franchises that release yearly iterations, EA Sports FC 25 is going to be much like the game you remember from last year. While FC IQ and roles do a good job of making tactics feel varied and exciting, there are many adjustments and improvements that need to be made to AI before things feel balanced. When slide comes to tackle, not too much has changed this year.

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 hope the servers hold up going forward, but for all of its issues, when all of Enoch is in working order, Outriders' spectacle and progression are quite a rewarding experience I want to keep returning to for a long time.

The sequel is definitely stronger than the original, but the improvements are incremental, and I can't help but wonder what a strong game we might have had if Nintendo had combined the best parts of both.

Bread & Fred has solid platforming mechanics, and the introduction of the rope opens the door to brand-new frustrations and gameplay elements. It succeeds greatly at producing a co-op experience that’ll either have you at the throats of your friends and loved ones, or laughing uncontrollably, even if it feels like there isn’t much more substance beneath the surface.