Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion features a very intricate story, with multiple twists and some memorable characters. I like the fact they don’t shy away from offering many cutscenes, in fact most bosses will have a custscene where they explain their reasoning. It’s also nice to see that they bring in lots of side quests to bring you more lore and introduce different characters. What’s great about Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is that it helps the franchise evolve by introducing a large open world, great customization features and faster-paced combat. The world they made is beautiful, but also scary to live in, and you will hold on for dear life through every combat encounter. Then again, that’s what makes a game like this fun, you always need to be prepared, experiment with weapons/armor and find the best ones to give you an edge in combat.

We’ve seen a lot of horror remakes recently, for Silent Hill or Resident Evil, and it was expected that Fatal Frame will see its remakes at some point. I am very glad that they chose Fatal Frame II, and while I was not accustomed to the series and its gameplay, it certainly managed to grow on me as I played. It’s also nice that the remake is more of a reimagining of the original and not just a remaster. Plus, the great thing is that Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake performs very well, there were no crashes or major bugs. It’s a great release, and the fact that new horror fans get to experience this classic with all these bells and whistles is exciting. The best part is that they added some much-needed quality of life features and new story content, so even veterans will be compelled to try it. Sure, it will take a bit to get used to combat and lore, but it’s a journey worth embarking on.

Neurodeck is an engaging take on the deck-builder genre. The enemies are varied, the cards have cool synergies, the runs in their entirety integrate combat and other activities well. Some difficulty spikes feel unfair. The good news is there are no opponents that cannot be taken down with good card selection and battle strategy. The game does not have the breath or innovation of the best of its class. But the focus on phobia, mental health, and stress make it an interesting experiment. Neurodeck shows how you can create a video game that offers information about the real world without looking preachy while also offering good core mechanics.

Even though its roguelike recipe feels flawed, Returnal's exhilarating gunplay, clever story, and mesmerizing atmosphere elevate it to a higher than average rank. Its addictive gameplay loop, gorgeous visuals, and amazing 3D sound create an immersive atmosphere that is difficult to imitate.

The enticing story and solid characters are definitely the main highlights of Omensight, so if you're looking for a game that has both, Spearhead Games' new title will deliver. On the flip side, the repetitive nature of the time-travel mechanic is one of the game's main downsides, but if you can get passed it, you'll find that Omensight is actually a wonderful gem.

Meatgrinder manages the difficult task of mixing the first-person view with platforming and shooting in equally exciting parts. I died plenty more times from touching from failing to secure a platform but enemies are more than speed bumps and can take out the player if his focus is only on movement. The difficulty level is high but the game rewards good reflexes and solid use of its many special abilities. The lack of story will make it harder for many players to deal with failure and push forward (the game thankfully has difficulty levels) but I like the focus on non-stop action, with nothing else getting in the way. For players who want a first-person shooter with a well-executed twist, Meatgrinder is fast, tough, and rewards quick thinking.

Desktop Dungeons: Rewind’s idea of mixing exploration with health and mana regeneration is great, as are how players can use it. It’s very fun to explore the levels, discover enemies, decide the best way to tackle them, and then, finally, gather enough resources to kill the boss and take the trophy. The rest of the experience, including the kingdom development and the puzzles, is competent but not as impressive. Upgrades should probably cost a little less. But the core gameplay root is so good that Desktop Dungeons: Rewind is the rare game I plan to return to frequently, if only for one or two runs.

I grew quite fond of Endzone 2 and its world, the building design, but also the innate feeling of helplessness that the game brings at times. It’s definitely one of the go-to titles in the strategy-survival genre for me, alongside Frostpunk and Banished.

Blooming Business: Casino is a good tycoon management game and will satisfy gamers who want to create attractive gambling rooms, keep them in tip-top condition, and find the best ways to satisfy customers and VIPs. The title’s mechanics are good and the presentation and narrative offer a laid back atmosphere. Given these strong foundations, I’m a little disappointed that the developers at Homo Ludens didn’t include at least one big twist to the genre. The VIP focus is about half an innovation and I wanted a bigger new idea to work with. Blooming Business: Casino is a perfectly pleasant game with strong core concepts but should have aimed for more.

I always found city builders to be a very relaxing game genre, and ISLANDERS: New Shores is no exception. Granted, you can’t build the city of your dreams, instead you try to create small establishments on lost/forgotten islands. But it’s a lot of fun, and I am sure tons of people will strive to get the highest scores they can. And they should, because the game is engaging, but it can also be something you play on the side, as you wait in queue for your MMO’s dungeon crawls. I think ISLANDERS: New Shores’s main appeal is that it adds a whole lot of new stuff when compared to its predecessor. And it shows, the gameplay has evolved, the boons system is creative and enjoyable, and the sandbox system is exceptional for creatives that want no barriers. It’s the type of game you can enter, play for a few minutes or an hour and never get bored. Plus, the minimalist aesthetic and beautiful graphics serve the game, as it differentiates itself from the predecessor, while also adding some creative elements that make it a worthwhile city builder.

Distant Worlds 2 is a rich space-based, real-time strategy experience that can provide hundreds of hours of fun to a dedicated fan. The writing and narrative aren’t interesting enough but the mechanics more than make-up for this weakness. The automation options are deep and make it easier to focus on certain aspects of the 4X concept, delegating the rest to a decent computer algorithm. But before anyone jumps into Distant Worlds 2, they should set aside time and patience. Make extensive use of the in-game help, read forums if you need to, delegate a lot at first, and only engage with what you like. Code Force has delivered a solid strategy package, which means updates and DLC can only improve it and add accessibility and fun.

The Valiant has a good set of mechanics, although less innovative than they seem initially, and a decent story, hitting all the notes that you expect from the premise and setting. The single-player campaign delivers enjoyable tactical puzzles. Players who love the mechanics have the option to engage in players-versus-player and players-versus-environment matches. But the game never tries to push its idea forward. There’s nothing here that has not been done in other contexts or with slight variations. The Valiant is a good squad-focused strategy title but KITE Games should try to introduce more innovation to their next project.

Endling - Extinction is Forever is a warning signal about humans that should pay more attention to their environment and avoid it being ruined by the pollution born out of greed. At the same time it is also a truly engaging and immersive game with well thought out mechanics. It manages to combine the social message with a fun experience. It is the perfect example of games that challenge your intellect while leaving a lasting impression due to the emotional load they carry. It has both heartwarming and extremely sad moments, the atmosphere of the game accompanying you for some time after you have seen the end credits.

Rhythm Sprout is a good take on the rhythm game adventure genre, with decent mechanics and a world that gives players reasons to push through and master songs. I like the variety of possible tweaks for any level and the Beginner mode. But the music-driven mechanics do not offer too much variety and the difficulty curve ramps up pretty quickly. The entire experience is a good way of introducing players to the rhythm genre, especially if they skew younger. And the game would have benefited greatly from a cooperative mode that allowed a more experienced player to guide a new one. Rhythm Sprout is competent and colorful but never attempts to significantly tweak a familiar formula.

Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is a fun experience that shines when played alone but also with a few friends. Bear in mind that cooperation is key and you might need some time before you get accustomed to the problematic controls.

Live by the Sword: Tactics will be a great experience for gamers who fell in love with the role-playing tactics titles of their youth and are susceptible to the draw of nostalgia. The story mode has solid battles, although the narrative does not impress. Adventure mode puts an interesting new spin on the core mechanics. But the game is unlikely to draw in players who don’t already like what it has to offer. It needs a stronger narrative hook or more innovation and accessibility. Live by the Sword: Tactics is a nice project for a small development team and fulfills its core promise of delivering a good classic tactics RPG experience.

Minutes is an innovative experience that manages to capture your heart through the clever premise. However, it’s way too challenging for its own good and becomes downright punishing as you progress through the levels.

Star Renegades although borrows many elements from other games, manages to feel fresh and entertaining. It offers plenty of content, and though you will have to go through several attempts to crack it, the game manages to avoid feeling repetitive. The deep combat system, the different heroes, the procedurally generated maps, the different difficulty levels all contribute to the high replay value of the game. Star Renegades builds on the nostalgic factor and is targeting mainly the fans of TBT, but it proves to be enjoyable by anyone who decides to try it.

FBC: Firebreak is one of those games that can be hard to describe, yet once you get into it, this game will become very addictive. And it’s easy to see why. Control’s world is amazing, mysterious, and a pleasure to explore. The multiplayer experience is quite impressive here, and they do an amazing job at making the levels feel interesting and a delight to go through. Of course, that doesn’t make FBC: Firebreak perfect. The core gameplay loop, while fun, gets very repetitive due to the lack of randomized elements, and few levels available at launch. Right now, having only 5 levels is an issue, as you have to repeat them over and over, albeit with modifiers and various difficulty levels. I think it’s well worth playing for any team-focused FPS lovers, but keep in mind this is just a foundation. I am sure that Remedy will continue adding more levels and fun stuff for us to unlock and customize our characters with. Yet that will arrive in due time.

MythForce is a great cooperative action experience for gamers who are nostalgic for Saturday morning cartoons and their limited fantasy universes. The overall narrative isn’t very engaging and filled with tropes. The four heroes each come complete with a unique approach to combat and their various abilities create some cool combo moments if players actually work together. The biggest issue is how quickly fun disappears when players take on a dungeon on their own. Characters gain power slowly and moving through the same spaces, battling the same enemies starts to become repetitive. Mythforce will deliver fun moments for players who have a good multiplayer group and like the presentation.

Guardians of Holme’s moment-to-moment action is initially fun, as players create complex trap setups and decide the best way to use their own special powers. The game offers plenty of options and upgrade paths, as well as extra characters and a ton of traps to unlock. Both tower-defense genre veterans and newcomers will have fun with it. The big issue is the repetitive nature, which is baked into the core ideas. The narrative is not interesting enough to keep players going. A love of the gameplay is required to get enough gems to unlock the second playable character. Guardians of Holme has a good design but struggles to keep its core loop exciting.

Druidstone is pretty great but not without flaws. Fortunately, the unforgiving strategic combat, charming art style and light puzzles sprinkled in between the fights, far exceed the balancing issues. You just need to keep playing it beyond the first 5-6 missions, you'll find that Druidstone is a hidden gem.

Quantum Witch is a short experience that has very good narrative beats. Ren’s adventure starts off a little slow, with many visits to a hint skeleton and some cult interactions. But once she goes magical and visits new worlds, the characters become funnier and the questions bigger, exploring big themes in interesting ways. Unfortunately, the actual gameplay is pretty limited, with only a few situations where the plane-shifting power is engaging to use. The presentation is good but requires some love of the 16-bit look. Quantum Witch is fun but it needs extra mechanical depth and a few more places to visit to appeal to a wider audience.

Yield! Fall of Rome takes familiar gameplay ideas and a well-known historical setting and distills them down into an approachable strategy experience. The entire design emphasizes quick play, with scenarios that can be completed in one sitting. The presentation doesn’t impress, but it also doesn’t hinder gameplay. I would have liked a clearer connection to the historical era and maybe a bigger focus on the leaders and diplomacy. Yield! Fall of Rome is a solid entry point for gamers who do not have much experience with turn-based strategy or want to engage in quick multiplayer sessions with a group of friends.

There are lots of great things to be had in Primal Planet. The time period they base the game on is something we rarely explore in games. On top of that, the pixelated world design is stunning, and I think the world itself looks incredible. The combat is also very good, although sometimes it does enter soulslike territory. And yes, there’s the map design that could get some improvements here and there. Did that deter me from playing? Not at all, I liked the fact that you can start crafting stuff, exploring the map and finding items/resources is always cool, and the animations/small cutscenes they have truly add a lot of character and personality to the game. Yes, there will be some frustration here and there, but in the end, the game is extremely fun, although it can take a bit to get used to some of its elements.

Despite its shortcomings, the story and the oppressing atmosphere of The Sinking City recommend it as one of the best Lovecraft inspired game to date. If you can get past the clunky combat and technical issues, there's much to like in The Sinking City.

Dicealot clearly aims to do for dice throwing what Balatro did for poker. The game mostly succeeds, giving players a simple combat system built around rolling dice that can be broken in a wide variety of ways through store purchases. Luck does play a bigger role than I would like, delivering the worst possible results at the worst moments. Gamers who fall in love with the core loop will have plenty of motivation to try out strategies and unlock new content. Others might struggle because the narrative universe is limited. Dicealot has a solid, unique idea and plenty of variety for those who want to discover the best ways to avoid a Farkle.

Guardians of the Galaxy is a great way to explore the comic book universe, which is also coming to the big screen, and the developers at Zen Studios have managed to create an experience that’s fun in the long term and encourages players to constantly look for ways to improve their overall score.