Dune: Awakening is a big game. Its wide array of content to explore makes the game a perfect one to boot up with a group, but it’s also entirely playable solo as long as you’re prepared for a slow grind. I’d argue taking it slow is what this game wants you to do, though. Dune: Awakening wants you to explore its many nooks and crannies, find the best location for your base of operations, and come into your own as you learn the ins and outs of Arrakis. Its survival systems and world mechanics did a lot to make me feel immersed in the desert planet. Some of those immersive mechanics might go a step too far if you’re not someone who wants to keep logging in consistently, but if you’re in for the long haul, Dune: Awakening has a lot here for pretty much any type of player.

While I wish that Splitgate 2 was a stronger, more confident evolution of the awesome concept presented in the first game, I can’t deny that I had some good fun just hopping in and shooting around for a few matches every night. Battle royale ultimately feels derivitave, but the modes I actually enjoed were able to scratch that FPS itch. I wish it was the kind of shooter that I could get completely lost in, but it’s not that. Still, it’s among the more interesting options in an arena shooter genre that’s pretty barren right now.

Bambas! has style and heart, but without clearer direction or refinement, it ends up walking in circles.

Survive the Fall is a fun game that does a lot right, but its rough edges, bugs, and optimization issues also mean it never reaches the heights it could. There are a lot of good ideas here, and patient fans of base management and survival games can find a lot to love. Sadly, that love is not unconditional, and your patience may be tested sometimes while playing.

There’s enough variety to the levels, both visual and otherwise, to keep things interesting, and Sandman Team does a good job of iterating on concepts in interesting ways while ensuring they don’t overstay their welcome. Through the Nightmares isn’t a long game — you can get through the whole thing in about five or six hours — but it is a good one with a unique concept, and it feels custom-made to be played in short bursts. It gives just as much back as you put in, and I appreciate that in a platformer like this. It probably won’t change your life, but it might just get you through a couple of sleepless nights. Sometimes, all you need is a little help from a friendly Sandman to make it to dawn.

Action-RPGs, especially ones that didn’t have “Devil May Cry” in the title back in the PS2 games, were an actively evolving genre back in the PS2 days. The rules were still being written, and many games didn’t have the depth or complexity we often take for granted these days. Raidou’s debut was one of those, a niche within a niche within a niche that had interesting ideas but only so much runway to explore them. Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is an attempt to bring an old school, fan favorite character to the modern Megami Tensei fanbase, but one that’s afraid to present the original’s rough, experimental edge while simultaneously too risk-averse to swing with a full remake. So much like the Frankentitle, we have a Frankenupdate. Neither historically accurate nor boastfully made-over, what we have is… weird! Neat, but weird.

As it is now, Battle Train is a fun ride, but maybe not everyone should ride these rails just yet.

I like the Tron universe. I’ve been following it since the beginning and have played quite a few games within the IP throughout the decades. Tron: Catalyst’s biggest problem is that it just doesn’t do enough to stand out in the series. The combat and look of the game are boring. The atmosphere and music are detached and out of alignment with the story. The light cycle is fun, but you’re very restrained in where you can use it. And ultimately, while the time loop makes the story and progression more interesting, that arguably worthwhile story is attached to a fairly humdrum action game wearing all of the expected components of the Tron aesthetic.

FBC: Firebreak is an impressive multiplayer take on the Control universe. Each Job is cleverly designed to make the most of the game’s various playstyles, while also enjoying a steep amount of replayability thanks to Job customization. It’s a multiplayer game that can give you chill, casual vibes and intense, challenging gameplay; it’s all about what you want to get out of it.

I wish the writing was a bit less shallow, which feels like a side effect of trying to cram so much in a small space and doing so with a sandbox-style structure. Visual novels benefit from guardrails preventing them from catering too much to the player, and Date Everything abstains to its own detriment. But it’s still cute and fun, and there’s no denying the dopamine hits and humor from each new character reveal. Sassy Chap’s debut game is a commendable effort, and more like this can only benefit visual novels as a whole.

It can be very difficult to take these games that are focused on complex system management and add a nice layer of humanity to it all, offering a reason beyond simple efficiencies and problem-solving for people to engage, but 11 Bit Studios does it well and has once again succeeded with The Alters.

I enjoyed my time with Welcome Tour. Just be aware of what you’re getting if you decide to buy yourself a ticket to this, Nintendo’s other museum. It’s not a bad game, it’s just not entirely a game; that, coupled with the higher cost if you want to experience all the program has to offer, results in a product that won’t be for everyone.

Kathy Rain 2 isn't bad. Its puzzle design is excellent, and Clifftop's artists made one of the best-looking pixel games around. It just doesn't live up to its full potential and plays more like a quick homage to classic genres than a well-considered mystery thriller in its own right.

Elden Ring Nightreign isn’t your dad’s Dark Souls game. It’s not a slow, methodical, and exploration-driven experience. It is high octane, caffeine into the veins, run until you drop. The game kept me up at night, well past my bedtime, as I tried to clear just one more Expedition – maybe this next run would be the one. I went to sleep with it on my mind and woke up ready to dive back in. Even after rolling credits, I wanted to get in and keep playing. FromSoftware has done it again.

To a T is just the sort of whimsy that one would expect out of a game with Keita Takahashi's name on it. It's wholesome, hilarious, and at times just plain bizarre. This game has all of that, but it's also wrapped in a story that's inspirational to kids and adults alike. The game may not be perfect, because there are some dialogue issues that point to some localization snafus and occasional bugs that forced me to start from a previous save point. With that said, it won't take much to have you singing the main character's praises. He is, after all, the perfect shape.

Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo could easily be mistaken for an action-adventure romp for the Game Boy Advance that was somehow lost to time, and resurfaced when some collector found a prototype cart and sold it to preservationists for a historic ROM dump. It perfectly captures the vibe, design sensibilities, and even the flaws of games from that era. It has a lot of neat and creative ideas all revolving around the yoyo gimmick, and sometimes (especially in combat and some platforming) gets a little too cute for its own good. But when it’s nailing its concept it really nails it, and making your way through the adventure feels like an endearing throwback to the time of WarioWare, Zelda: The Minish Cap, and Mother 3, without being bogged down by loud, boilerplate references. Plus, the 3D handheld thing rules.

There are things I respect about Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon. Its soundtrack, for one, is uniformly pretty good, and the game’s ambition is undeniable, but I can’t really say I enjoyed much of my time playing it, moment to moment. Occasional striking vistas and questlines can’t make up for a world that feels pretty inauthentic in its representation of a fictionalized version of Celtic culture, and the way you are forced to constantly wander it to complete straightforward missions makes it a space that is hard to enjoy exploring. And while there are interesting roleplaying narrative beats, that is rarely reflected in gameplay that railroads you into one of two playstyles.

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.

Veterans of the series should only consider F1 25 if they're specifically interested in the expanded My Team mode or invested in the next chapter of Braking Point. Otherwise, if you're satisfied with F1 24, there's no pressing reason to upgrade this year.

It’s a bummer, because when Scar-Lead Salvation actually gets around to where it wants to be, this game can cook. The boss fights are awesome, the rooms that actually fill up with enemies really test your knowledge and reflexes, and again, the basic gunplay and combat mechanics feel great to engage with. It’s all the other structural stuff that really holds the experience back, and makes me wonder if this project really needed to be a roguelike at all in the first place. For a game that is clearly inspired by Returnal, we seem to have really missed the forest for the trees here. But points for trying, especially from a set of studios that haven't played in this space before. I’d love to see another shot, no pun intended.

By the end, Deliver At All Costs reminded me of the 2000s, where a good idea wouldn't realize its full potential, but it was still good for a few hours of entertainment. This is a game that would have fit in wonderfully in that era. In that sense, this game does offer a sense of nostalgia, just like its 1950s setting.

Short, sweet, and smart, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown took me by surprise. It’s not just about how much I enjoyed it, but how intelligently Strange Scaffold came up with a gimmick that sounds bizarre on paper, but absolutely nailed it in practice. I never could have guessed what a turn-based beat-em-up could possibly be, but now I perfectly understand the concept. As someone who’s more keen on brawlers than being a general on the battlefield, this is an approach to tactics that lit up all the best parts of my brain, and kept on cooking until the credits rolled. And then some, because the song that plays at the end is a banger.

Monster Train 2 capably builds on the original game and improves on it immensely. It leaves the station and only picks up more speed as it goes, so get on board or get out of the way.

Onimusha 2 is a strange but good action game. There aren’t many things like it, but I’m glad it’s back just the way it is. The swordplay and progression are great and the story is an oddity determined by a number of decisions you make at crucial points. As such, there’s plenty to explore across a number of runs. The QoL and visual upgrades also add nicely without getting in the way or cheapening the experience. This remaster doesn’t hit every bullseye, but it’s an upgraded version of Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny in most places that count and I’m happy to have it.

Blades of Fire is probably going to end up as one of those games people refer to as a PS2-ass video game (complimentary), and I feel that. It’s a kind of game that feels out of place in time, but benefits from its accidental time travel by doing things a PlayStation 2-era console simply can’t. And in turn, it benefits from not being beholden to several more decades of convention that burden so many games coming out today, in a much more risk-averse and audience-starved environment. In that respect, Blades of Fire is pretty cool and interesting. It also annoys the bejeezus out of me at every possible opportunity. But I’m glad I played it, which is way more than I can say about Samus Returns.

Roadcraft brilliantly evokes the feeling of being a kid in a giant sandbox - only with grown-up tools. Jumping between massive machines, loading materials, flattening asphalt, and restoring order to disaster zones is immensely satisfying. Once you get past some UI quirks and minor annoyances, Roadcraft offers hours of engaging, mud-slinging fun. Bring a few friends, and the experience becomes even more rewarding.

Capcom Fighting Collection 2 is easily my favorite of the Capcom bundles so far, and a big part of that is simply the game selection. This legitimately feels like there’s something for everyone and it all plays in solid form with a bevy of quality-of-life features. There are small things I wish weren’t changed in ways that can’t be adjusted, but it doesn’t keep the majority of this collection from being an absolute feast of Capcom’s most delightful arcade titles. Whether you’ve played these games before or are cracking them open for the first time, you’re in for a treat, especially if you bring some friends along.

Deedlee Doo! Carkour! is weird, charming, and delightful. Coming off of The Axis Unseen, it feels like an example of Purkeypile stretching his creative legs and doing something that is simply fun. Carkour! can certainly be frustrating. You will fail dozens of times and it will probably be because of wacky physics, but success feels delicious and its aesthetic is so silly it was hard for me to be mad at any of it for long. For those looking for a new physics challenge, it will be fascinating to see the different ways to get through Carkour!, but it’s the speedrunning methods I’m most excited to see.