Ultimately, Sniper Ghost Warrior: Contracts 2 is a really strong stealth shooter in an unfortunate package.

Sequels are often expected to be bigger and better, but sometimes a good sequel is just more of what made the original geat. I suppose I would have liked to see Schell Games push the mechanics and missions further, but ultimately I’m satisfied to play another round of cleverly designed spy puzzles. It’s not particularly ambitious, but it’s consistently good from beginning to end. If you liked the original, there’s absolutely no way you won’t like I Expect You To Die 2.

Eldest Souls is one of the most beautiful indie games out there but the hurdle to get into it is far too high. The skill points handed out to upgrade your character do little to help while there is no room to learn the mechanics. The notorious Souls difficulty is only amplified in the boss-rush genre, which makes this a near-impossible entry-level game. For anyone who enjoys Dark Souls’ most difficult segments emphatically because of the challenge, Eldest Souls has a lot to love. But that’s just it - Eldest Souls is one for the die-hard fans and no one else.

Riven remains one of the most captivating and challenging puzzle games I have ever played. You can’t help but leave the game wanting to learn more about the strange and mysterious world it welcomes you into. I encourage anyone to play this remake, however, while it’s a fine VR game, it’s best enjoyed on PC so you can fully commit to note-taking for puzzles and avoid the added frustration of whipping your headset on and off.

Despite my frustrations with math and science, the game is carefully designed to encourage experimentation and exploration. A wealth of resources and notes in the encyclopedia help guide you to finding the cure for your illness all while working alongside the most adorable mushrooms you’ve ever seen.

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince is a mixed bag. On the one hand, it has the best mechanics and combat the Dragon Quest series has ever seen, with the monster-focused gameplay loop providing endless fun. On the other hand, overcommitment to the silent protagonist trope and shocking performance issues drag the experience down significantly. Although held back by dated hardware and dated design choices, The Dark Prince is one worth courting.

Card games can be a tough sell, especially in video games. The threat of mechanical complexity can put some off, while for others it just seems a boring choice when fully-animated adventures are just as readily available. Sometimes, Foretales doesn’t do the best job of countering this argument, as it can disappear up itself through endless, monotonous combat. And yet, when it puts down the dagger and lets you explore the world to work things out for yourself, it shows that we’re nowhere near close running out of engaging new ways to use small slabs of art.

The enjoyment you get out of this pack will be directly related to how much you enjoy the game itself. Tomb Kings is very much just more of the same with a glossy covering. While it brings you some cleaner and nicer areas to explore, it really is just an extra, stand-alone chapter to the game. Nothing more, nothing less.

A perfectly fun experience with some replay value, but even in writing this review, I have reached level 33 of the Dun-Djinn with a level-capped Blood Drinker Railermaster and it already feels too repetitive to keep my interest for long. I suppose I could level new characters, but the drive for that is diminished knowing there is not much to do once that journey is complete.

The Skate part of Skate Story is very good, offering variety, pace, and a unique approach to boss battles. But it's less intricate by design than other skating sims, and that's to make room for the Story part. Your mileage may vary on this, and there's clearly a lot of thought gone into every element, but sometimes so much of it comes off as noise. Or maybe you're smarter than me, and you'll just get it.

With those yearly grievances aired, Madden NFL 22 is still a worthwhile pickup if you were on the fence. There's nothing that's painstakingly new in this year's release. However, next-gen technology elevates gameplay with more realistic player movements, while home field advantage is, finally, exactly that. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go draft Tim Tebow as my starting tight end.

I love Doom lore, and this expansion goes exactly where I was hoping it would go. The three levels are wonderfully designed and have some of the most memorable set pieces in the entire game. There's a fight in a foggy swamp against invisible enemies that I adored and there's one particular arena with transforming pillars that I found to be really inspired. I think the combat has become too complicated and I hope Part Two can reign it in a bit, though at this point, I'm expecting to fight three Marauders all possessed by spirits and buffed by totems while turrets shoot me to death. Don't feel bad about lowering the difficulty on this one even if you got through Eternal on Nightmare. It's not you, the game is just frustratingly hard now.

The character placement and controls in Cannibal Cuisine could use a bit of tightening - for instance, there seems to be a pretty wide and inconsistent margin as to when a player falls into a gap and when they don’t - but for the most part, Cannibal Cuisine is just as fun as other co-op party games such as Overcooked and Tools Up! Its bloody cartoon violence - and, you know, cannibalism - is probably a bit too much for younger players. But for groups of older gamers who are fans of this sort of game, you’ll likely eat up Cannibal Cuisine.

The best part of this game, however, is that you won’t miss much by the time you complete it. You’re free to explore at your leisure, though you’ll be guided to the conclusion one way or another. How you interpret it depends on how much you’ve learned about Gilda and Keegan, and how much faith you have in their relationship. It’s a short, bittersweet story of love, devotion, and hope.

Taking all aspects into consideration, I would highly recommend Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos. Despite its lack of engaging plot and characters, the gameplay is outstanding and makes the experience worth it on its own. I did not find myself wishing for a better plot and characters 99% of the time, because I was so caught up in trying to figure out how to make it through or find the next dungeon. Even better, the game can be multiplier, so it has the perfect setup to have a blast trying to get through the dungeons with family or friends.

It's got some issues and bugs - both technical and actual bugs - but any game that lets you play as a wombat is at least worth a quick look. Lost Ember is an engrossing experience, and you'll be running, digging, swimming and flying to your next destination just to see how the story will turn out.

EqqO is a short game with a lot of creativity in its design. It's worth checking out for those who want a unique puzzle experience on the Switch, so long as they are aware that there are some issues on the technical side of things that can make things more frustrating than they need to be.

Paleo Pines is a largely successful execution of standard farming sim formulas and brings an interesting new (read: peaceful) interpretation to the monster-tamer genre. Collecting and caring for dinosaurs is the most compelling part of the game, almost to the detriment of other mechanics. As it stands, the game is a little unbalanced and could do with more effort put into the dinosaur-centric mechanics and less reverence placed on tying progression to arbitrary limits on player freedom.

Detective Dotson succeeds in both its objectives – to capture everyday Indian life and create a compelling whodunnit murder mystery. Apart from some clunky animation, a slightly unintuitive mystery board, and unnecessary voice acting that sounds like a last minute addition, it's a point-and-click adventure that hits all the right notes and doesn't take itself seriously.

Pizza Time Explosion is an enjoyable arcade-style shooter that will please those who love a challenge and beating high scores. The game isn't exactly bursting with content, but there is plenty here when you consider that it's an indie budget game that is centered around one pizza's journey to give everyone more pizza.

There’s a lot to love about Potion Permit. It’s a game that, as mentioned, gives you a purpose, and does a great job of letting you experience the journey from total newcomer to heart of the community. It’s a perfect game for those seeking a relaxing, chilled-out experience - a tonic for a market filled with life sims that emphasise profit and efficiency. The only things lacking are a little difficulty to keep things interesting and some bug fixing to keep things running smoothly.

The game feels like a far more welcoming world than the Harry Potter series that can still appeal to older kids. The Academy: The First Riddle is also a title that I would recommend to parents who are looking for ways to keep their kids’ brains sharp over summer vacation, with its brain teaser-like puzzles that require extra thoughtfulness and work. And, thanks to the game being available on both PC and mobile devices, playing the game is as accessible as it can be to keep kids busy (and entertained) as they explore the mysteries of The Academy.

Summer in Mara gets a lot right in a game that can be enjoyed by narrative adventure players and farming sim players alike. It might be a bit overly ambitious in that regard, not perfecting or catering to one single genre more than the other. However, for those willing to be patient in the early game and look past its lack of directions and slight technical issues, Summer in Mara is a game that will provide plenty of charm and easy-going fun this summer.

Elsinore is a game with a specific audience in mind. Lovers of Shakespeare and point-and-clicks will enjoy unraveling mysteries and creating alternate endings to Hamlet. While the game probably won’t entice anyone outside of that core audience, it still solidifies Golden Glitch as a studio to watch. This game proves that they’re a creative team with a talent for weaving story and gameplay together into a compelling whole.

This port is an enjoyable way to experience the game, but it is much more limited than the name ‘Neo Dimension’ might imply, especially with Square Enix branding it as an enhanced release. The inventive combat and gorgeous dioramas Fantasian always excelled at are still incredible here, while its inconsistent pacing and poor character development remain untouched. It has had some bells and whistles added, including an easier difficulty mode over the at-times grueling challenge of the original game, but nothing that substantially improves the experience. Fantasian is still a mobile game, you can just play it on a bigger screen now.

Even if Rogue City had started to rust a little towards the end of its lengthy campaign, its surprisingly in-depth shooting and roleplaying mechanics, love of the source material, and keen understanding of what makes RoboCop so great in the first place has made it one of the biggest surprises of 2023 for me. In a year full of absolute bangers, make sure you spend some time in Detroit.

Audica delivers on a super satisfying shooter/music game combo that is unique even among the throngs of VR rhythm games. I definitely recommend it, provided you skip the campaign and go in knowing it's a bit feature incomplete.

Despite its combat and platforming only being serviceable and the overall package needing a bit more polish, Mutants Unleashed still managed to be a turtle surprise because of how much love and understanding it has for the source material. It may not reach the same gameplay heights of Shredder’s Revenge or Splintered Fate, but it has one of the best tales to tell of any TMNT game.