At its core, Once Human is a survival game that encourages and rewards exploration. It nails the gameplay loop of gathering resources and gear, upgrading your character, and then venturing out to do it all over again. I had a great time running around and fighting alongside friends, and I’ll probably continue to jump in and play when I get that survival itch. However, it’s hard not to be put off by forced live-service elements that undercut mechanics and lock unique items behind a paywall.

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.

Sonic Frontiers is nothing short of a marvel in how it blends together beloved elements from previous games with exciting new twists and turns to create something wholly unique.

Last Stop feels like a glorified interactive cutscene, though a cutscene I was eager to continue watching. It’s just unfortunate that the gameplay comes across as an interruption rather than anything that lifts the experience.

Lost Ember is a great adventure through a world reclaimed by nature following the days of man. Only taking a few hours to get through, it manages to tell a meaningful and necessary story without ever overstaying its welcome. The visually pleasing art style coupled with some neat gameplay mechanics are enough to overcome some gameplay hiccups. Lost Ember is an experience that will stick with well past the credit roll.

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.

If you're aching for a familiar and exciting JRPG, there's better to be found out there. While this is a serviceable option, there are plenty other more memorable ones out there.

Burger Time Party! succeeds in providing Burger Time on the Nintendo Switch. Beyond that, there’s not a whole lot else going on to justify the 5-star price for the 2-star burgers it serves up.

All things considered, it took me a little over an hour or so to see just about everything that Cruis’n Blast has to offer. The Nintendo Switch racing scene has been dominated by Mario Kart and I feel like Cruis’n Blast had a chance to make a real case for bringing other classic Nintendo racers back into the scene. But if lackluster graphics and mediocre racing mechanics are all we’d get it might be better to leave our precious memories in the past. Cruis’n Blast isn’t unplayable though and would probably make an enjoyable experience for someone with kids or younger siblings. Everyone else should probably head to the arcade and hope they have a much more enjoyable arcade experience available to try out.

After cutting loose with a pair of chainsaw swords, or giving zombies a devastating Street Fighter "Shoryuken" Dragon Punch, you can wash the blood and gore off your boots with the knowledge that it was all time well spent.

It’s a rare Metroidvania that feels different, that knows what it wants to be and manages to pull it off without feeling overly indebted to the games that inspired it. I enjoyed it, but most importantly, I felt like I was playing something with its own identity. Like the Sandfox themself, it could not be here without what came before it. But like the Sandfox, it charts its own path forward.

Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway isn’t the worst kart racer I’ve ever played, but again, it’s also not the best especially when compared to previous entries in the series. As previously mentioned, Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway is a middle of the road racer in almost every aspect save for its character roster, graphics, and elements like picking three characters to be part of your pit crew.

Every positive–the twisting storyline, the iconic villains, and the superb combat–are undermined by other factors. Mediocre acting, rough dialogue, and overuse of the Batmobile, leave Batman: Arkham Knight that much less cohesive than its predecessors.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is a breath of fresh air when it comes to the Souls-lite genre. The challenging combat, unusual lore, and well-crafted environments blend the new with the old in an original way. While the gameplay could be more refined, the game succeeds in making the genre more accessible. The story is rather quick on the draw at the start and the ending trails off suddenly, but the relationship between Nor and Enki is enough to carry the bulk of the narrative. As a first entry, Flintlock is off to a solid start, and I look forward to having more adventures with this unlikely pair.

Darksiders 3 does seem a bit lacking when compared to its series brethren, at least for those who come in with high expectations. Darksiders 3 is recognizably a Darksiders game. However, the game would have benefited from more risk-taking in areas where it chose to play it safe. Nevertheless, Fury’s story is one worth experiencing, especially for long-time fans who are anxious to see how the next chapter of the four horsemen unfurls.

I went into this game really expecting to like it – and I did, for the most part. In the end, I couldn't get past the odd tone and the feeling that it was penned by someone who didn't actually respect the source material, but wanted to write a self-aware parody of it.

Fe's charm is in its concept and its songs, as I learned new songs with different pitches and tones, and learned to communicate with new wildlife. It also has flashes of visual brilliance, thanks to its use of soothing water color landscapes. But a humdrum story, lack of direction, and inconsistent controls didn't leave me wanting an encore.

Ronin has a brilliant concept, but its execution leaves something to be desired. The gameplay demands a level of precision and control that the game doesn't completely deliver.

Fans will most definitely enjoy their time in the VR world of Virtual Rick-ality, but they shouldn’t go in expecting to have their minds totally blown either.

Button City is a pretty decent second outing from the team at Subliminal Games. The fascinating characters and hilarious dialogue make the story really endearing, and it’s all bolstered by the game’s art and music. The minigames are hit or miss, but it’s not enough to ruin an overall joyful experience.

Madden NFL 22 is an upgrade from the last few entries in the series. The new momentum mechanic, addition of Quality/Performance Modes, and some changes to Franchise genuinely make it feel like a step forward. However, the game fails to skirt around some of the same issues that’s held it down for years. A poorly executed Face of the Franchise, and an Ultimate Team mode that’s pretty much more of the same stop the game from being the endzone celebration that it could be.

The clever puzzles and vivid visuals can only do so much to quell the frustration caused by the unfortunate glitches and bugs I encountered throughout the game. However, if you can push through the myriad of technical hiccups, Airhead is a decent puzzle-platformer that simply needs a bit more tuning under the hood.

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.

Multiplayer, to its credit, does offer more variety. You can play modes like tag or capture the flag, for example, in addition to the sandbox play. These are fun, but feel more like side attractions to the main way to play. And without more built-in motivation to keep engaging with the game, multiplayer doesn’t magically patch that breach in the hull.

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.

Even though Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars isn’t a “full” game in terms of what it offers and its pricing, it still has lots of potential. The end product is a puzzle game that is easy to play, but difficult to master.

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.

If you love H.R. Giger, unsettling body horror such as those seen in the works of Junji Ito, or creepy alien experimentation scenes from films like Fire in the Sky, you’ll undoubtedly appreciate Scorn’s overarching concept. Sadly the execution leaves much to be desired, which is a shame as I feel like Scorn could have been a real standout as far as atmospheric horror games go.