For those who were disappointed by Ultimate Alliance 3's first few DLC offerings, Shadow of Doom has some more meat to it and should be more of what true believers are looking for.

It's bright, wacky, and colorful. I'll give it that. But there's really no edge over playing this bizarre amalgam of space poo and disembodied brains over a shooter like Ikaruga, which has far more polish. I do have to admit though, that these silly adult games never get old, even when they're as middle-of-the-road as this one. As it stands, this waifu would have been left just fine covered.

Warhammer Underworlds Online is practically a 1:1 recreation of the board game. Players are restricted on how many moves they’re allowed to make between turns, forcing them to carefully consider each and every move. While everything has gone digital, the game still operates using a virtual die. In several cases, the fate of a match came down to either a good or bad dice roll. This could potentially frustrate some players.

As far as a dating sim goes, it’s not the worst I’ve seen, and I would go so far as to say the stories of some characters drew me in at times and made me laugh at others, even if some of it was still an eye-rolling level of writing. On the other end, the dog care angle is also enjoyable and raising your furry friend’s stats to make them the best puppo they can be wasn’t a bad time.

The marketing materials for R.B.I. Baseball 21 makes some bold claims that the end product fails to deliver on. While it does carry the full MLB and players union license, it is a lesser representation of the game of baseball than some of its more-arcadey rivals. It touts features of AAA sports games, yet trips over its own cleats when asked to make a clutch play. The lack of online play will make it a non-starter for many and the aggressively bad animations will disqualify it for anyone hoping for a semi-serious game of baseball. This mess could be cleaned up, but players will need to wait for next year’s outing to find out.

There could have been a little more done, specifically with the user interface, but the extras that are here make this a fun collection. If you didn't get to experience this handheld era of Castlevania games, maybe take some time to see what you missed.

DEEER Simulator is freaking ridiculous, and I say that mostly in a good way. It’s not here to give you the flashiest graphics or the most cohesive gameplay experience. You should not expect to come into it and say, “ah, that makes sense” at pretty much any point. It’s a game of ridiculously over-the-top physics, antics, and freedom. I wouldn’t say it’s an incredibly long experience (I wish there was more), and its jank can sometimes be so much that it actually detriments the game. That said, if you want something that’s just plain silly - that lets you be a deer and do crimes - DEEER Simulator might be well worth the distraction.

A Memoir Blue is over before you know it, so it doesn't quite earn a gold medal. However, for a debut effort, this is a solid outing for Cloisters Interactive, one worth dipping your toes in.

Spacelines from the Far Out was an unexpected delight. The premise itself is just bananas, but the execution is also excellent as you figure out what will get you from A to B with as few holes in your spacecraft as possible.

Raft is simply one of the most charming survival games I’ve played. Simply standing on my raft as it floats over the waves through an endless body of water is truly relaxing. There’s also a great sense of pride and achievement that comes with seeing what I’ve built every time I load into the game. It’s an easy recommendation for survival fans that may have been holding off on jumping into early access, as well as those just learning about the game for the first time.

Iron Galaxy has not only put forward one of the best games of 2022 so far, it's also created one of the best battle royales in a long time. It manages to be wildly different from its contemporaries while also being a game worth learning and mastering in its own right.

GigaBash has a lot of fun elements to it. The monsters are quite varied and well-designed, in terms of both original creatures and obvious nods to classics. I also really enjoyed the battlegrounds, music, and stories (as short as the latter was). And that last note ultimately sums up my experience. In both gameplay modes and story, it doesn’t take a lot of time to see everything GigaBash has going on. Even so, if you can wrangle some buddies together either locally or online, GigaBash would make a solid addition to a party game night.

Ghost Signal: A Stellaris Game presents a neat take on the popular sci-fi universe that’s easy to understand and challenging throughout. It’s satisfying gameplay loop was enough to keep me moving through Sectors and upgrading the Aurora, but I’m just not sure it warrants being an exclusive VR experience.

In its current state though, it doesn’t feel like it’s worth its $20 (USD) price tag. Unless you’re ok with the extra work of digging through its file folders to import your own music that is, because as the game is right now, you can burn through all of its 10-track base game content in less than an hour. And there's nothing much else to it beyond that.

Despite the stark lack of context, Hello Neighbor VR: Search & Rescue has an interesting house to explore with fun environmental puzzles, an unnerving persistent threat, and an interesting dynamic between the kids all working to help each other move forward in the house by degrees. It’s just all gummed up in unreasonably janky interactions and contrivances. I’m also not thrilled that it does nothing to ease you into the game, making it an utterly confusing experience for anyone who hasn’t been on board with Hello Neighbor already. I would like to think this can be a starting point of what to do and what not to do for tinyBuild and Steel Wool Studios if they go for a VR Hello Neighbor again. The puzzle and environment design is good, but they need to put a lot more time into what makes both a comfortable and responsive VR experience.

Berzerk: Recharged is on the sleeve about what it is. It’s one of the more influential arcade classics of the 1980s with a fresh coat of paint and a few new bells and whistles.

If anything, I’m grateful to qomp2 for introducing me to the concept, and eventually to experiencing the first qomp. I can see why that game hit the way it did, and inspired Atari to pick it up and try its own version. It’s a cool subversion of one of gaming’s oldest-standing innovators. But it feels shortsighted to hand the project off to a different set of hands, when the first set is the one that made the magic happen in the first place. And there’s genuine effort here, but the vibes are off, man.

Highwater is an excellent adventure game that puts a magnifying glass up to the growing issue of climate change and the ambivalence that humans can have towards the state of the environment. While the story is bogged down by inconsistent writing, I found plenty to enjoy in its combat system and its ancillary storytelling.

The climbing in Surmount is a bit wonky and takes some getting used to, but once you get a feel for it, climbing quickly becomes addicting. Reaching camp at the end of each level was met with a sigh of relief and a feeling of satisfaction that compelled me to keep making progress. The levels are challenging enough to give you a sense of accomplishment when finished. The rigorous platforming is offset by the colorful, cartoony aesthetic and charming characters. I enjoyed getting to know the locals and unraveling the mysteries of Mount Om just as much as I enjoyed trekking to the summit. Technical issues aside, Surmount offers an engaging and accessible climbing adventure that kept me coming back for more.

Eldritch Realms adds an impressive number of new ways to think about Age of Wonders 4, and the hero units and realm challenges are among the strategy game’s best so far. Sure, it’s not another Empires and Ashes-level expansion, but it’s pretty darn close.

What the Car? was a nice, little moment of silliness in a packed summer, full of games that have demanded a lot of time and energy. It made my hardened critic's face crack a smile multiple times, even if it had just annoyed me moments before. I’m not ready to turn all the way around and start banging the “wiggly game” drums just yet, but it was nice to know there’s still hope out there for this particular brand of video game foolishness.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.