Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is an easy game of the year contender so far. While I still need a bit of time to test the online when cross play is available from launch day, the gameplay is sublime and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 looks and sounds superb across the board. Having played it on PS5 and Steam Deck with cross progression, I don’t recommend playing it on Valve’s handheld right now. It gets an easy recommendation on PS5 though. I will be updating this with a full score once I’ve gotten enough time with the multiplayer and some patches. [Impressions]

I need more time to see it through, but Black Myth: Wukong is an impressive action RPG with fantastic music, great visuals, and one I want to replay on console after Steam Deck. It is surprisingly playable on Valve's handheld already, and I imagine things will only improve with updates and once both Valve and Game Science optimize it for the hardware. I'm curious to see how the PS5 version feels when I get access to it.

On the off-chance that any readers do understand the language well enough to get through it, Seilane is a decent, relatively straightforward adventure with some charming characters. You can tell it was aimed at a slightly younger audience, but that’s fine. Not the best work from Microcabin, and I suppose that is a statement in and of itself, but it’s worth a playthrough if you enjoy the genre. But again, this is all predicated on you being able to read Japanese at a fairly decent level. If you can’t, I really wouldn’t recommend picking this up.

So far, Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail is the summer vacation we all needed after a busy release season. At least I needed a break after putting in tons of time into Trails through Daybreak, Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, and still playing Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree. Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail looks great on Steam Deck and Xbox, it sounds incredible, and I can’t wait to see where things go later on. I just hope we get more voiced dialog added.

Witch and Lilies is pretty excellent right now, but it looks like it will be worth buying in about a month or two based on its roadmap once more fixes and enhancements arrive. It plays well on Steam Deck already aside from some minor issues, and is shaping up to be a solid release for fans of yuri and dungeon RPGs. I can’t wait to see how it feels in a few months when I revisit it.

Right now, I can see myself playing Foundry daily for a session or two solo or with others as a nice way to chill. It has a solid base already, and I hope to see it improve even on Steam Deck support with the many patches and content updates planned to arrive in the future. If you’ve wanted a solid base building and automation experience that is a lot of fun even early on, Foundry is worth checking out. [Early Access Review]

In its current state, ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist in Steam Early Access feels more like a lengthy demo. What I’ve played is amazing and it absolutely shines on the Steam Deck OLED right from day one. I cannot wait to play more of it and see how it evolves through updates in the early access period. If you enjoyed Ender Lilies, ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist is essential already as long as you’re ok with the content included in the early access version so far. [Early Access Review]

While I need more time to see the story to its conclusion and explore more of the vocations and world, Dragon's Dogma 2 is an uncompromised Dragon's Dogma experience that basically does everything I liked in the original better. It is an incredible RPG, but one that isn't without its flaws. I kept thinking to myself how this is a game that I can't believe exists, but here we are. Kudos to Capcom for greenlighting this and I really wish there was a big box PC release for it with a cloth map and artbook. It is that kind of game. In its current state though, I don't recommend playing Dragon's Dogma 2 on Steam Deck. Grab it on PS5 or Xbox Series X if you have those options available. [Review in Progress]

While I need a bit more time to see how Death Stranding Director’s Cut feels later on, I can say that it is a very impressive conversion so far in parts that can look great on the iPhone 15 Pro screen. It isn’t ready for being the only way you experience the game though, at least right now based on the time I’ve put into it. I don’t recommend playing it with touch controls at all either, but if you have a Backbone One or external controller, it will be worth buying after the performance issues can be ironed out. The developers went the extra mile and even added some DualSense features into the release and even implemented gyro controls, but the performance issues hold this back right now.

Right now, even as an early access game, Wizordum has tons for the player from its superb gameplay in the first main episode, level designer, and more. I love the aesthetic, music, gameplay, and premise. Wizordum is the real deal, and I can’t wait to keep revisiting it as it gets updates over time. It looks gorgeous on Steam Deck as well, and really makes me wish I had a Steam Deck OLED right now. I urge you to download the demo and see how good it is for yourself.

Forgive Me Father 2 even in its early access state right now, is gorgeous and fun to play. Just keep in mind that this is still early access and there isn’t a full game here. If that’s ok with you, jump in. Forgive Me Father 2 looks gorgeous, sounds amazing, and feels brilliant to play. It also fixed whatever I disliked in the first game. This is definitely shaping up to be special, but needs more time. I’ll be covering it more as it gets closer to its full release.

Just like Shaun told me, a Trese Brothers game means it starts out with a lot of potential, but will bloom into something special if the many releases by the developers are anything to go by. In its current state, Cyber Knights: Flashpoint plays and looks great, and it just has a few quirks with its interface on Steam Deck. This is well worth keeping an eye on through its early access period.

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is an essential for fans of dungeon crawlers even in its current state. Those looking to sample a true classic will also find a lot to love here. This release was my first taste of the original Wizardry, and I think Digital Eclipse has done a great job even in its initial Early Access version. I can’t wait to see how it evolves over time.

When Wartales is behaving itself, it’s an enjoyable game. I’d love to lose hours to it. Maybe someday, after more patches, I’ll be able to. I hope this review is eventually useless. But the reality is that this game is on sale right now at a fairly high price, and it’s fundamentally broken worse than just about any other Switch release I’ve seen. Was it worth shadow-dropping a game in this kind of state? Do not buy Wartales on Switch until it’s properly fixed. It’s a waste of your money and of your time.

If you enjoy Bethesda Game Studios' games, and more importantly love exploration and space, I think you should prepare to experience your new obsession with Starfield. I'm looking forward to spending more time with it, and seeing how it improves over time on both Steam Deck and Xbox Series X. [Review in Progress]

Disney Speedstorm in its current state on Nintendo Switch is a great kart racer held back by confusing in-game monetization. I’ve enjoyed playing Disney Speedstorm online with friends and randoms on both platforms, but Gameloft needs to do a better job with how unlocks and progression works for those unfamiliar with free to play mobile games. There’s a lot of potential here and there’s definitely fun to be had even in the early access release, but I was hoping for more. [Early Access Provisional Score = 70]

Curse of the Sea Rats has a nice presentation and I like the multiplayer support, a rare sight in a game like this. Unfortunately, the dreadful controls knock this game on its tail before it even gets up to speed. Slow, fussy, and prone to losing out to animation priorities, the very act of moving your character around and attacking feels unpleasant. Even if you stick with it long enough to get used to all of that, the game that awaits you is a decidedly average entry into its genre. Let this one sink with the ship.

Demolish & Build Classic is another in a too-long series of PC ports that don’t do enough to optimize or adjust the experience for the Switch. There’s a good idea at its core, but significant performance issues, fiddly collision detection, and a clumsy UI keep it from achieving the promise of that idea.

It’s hardly surprising that Motorcyle Mechanic Simulator 2021 is as unpleasant to play on the Switch as it is. Most of these simulator games are, simply because they’re built around PC play and the proper considerations haven’t been made for the Switch’s input methods and display. If you can get your head around the terrible controls and user interface, you might have fun taking apart bikes, fixing them, and putting them back together again. But at the very least, I’d wait for a deep, deep discount.

Overall, Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song is a fantastic re-do of a game that had lots of room for improvement, and this mobile port is top-shelf. SaGa fans will eat it up, and even if you’ve played the original you may want to check this out for its new content and additions. There are certainly some awkward carry-overs from its PlayStation 2 origins, like the lack of a player-controlled camera, and that may chafe some. It’s also a SaGa game through and through, and that’s either going to have you jumping with joy or running for the hills. I leave it up to you to make that final decision, but I know which side of the line I’m standing on. [Provisional Score = 80]

While the poor quality of the games was immediately evident when I started playing, it took even me a little bit of time to realize they were biting so hard off of pre-existing titles. But whoever you want to blame, at the end of it all this really isn’t a collection worth buying unless you have a bizarre fascination with the history of poorly-made copies.

Youkai Douchuki is a game that I could understand anyone enjoying. It has a pleasantly odd theme, and the gameplay mechanics are largely straightforward and easy to pick up. It’s a very challenging game, but such things aren’t unusual in the arcade end of the pool. On the other hand, it’s also not much of a stand-out. The arcade scene had plenty of run-and-gun platformers, and there’s nothing about this one that really speaks to me. Decent, but not much more than that. [Early Access Provisional Score = 60]

This is less of a billiards game and more a pack of billiards puzzles. You get one hundred stages, and there are different sets of rules you’ll run into as you go. Sometimes you’re on your own and need to sink all the balls. Sometimes you’re playing for points against the computer. It comes off like a poor man’s Side Pocket, and that is already a bit of a value meal on its own in modern times. As if to hammer the point home, it’s full of unnecessary boosts you can buy with the coins you earn, a three-star ranking system, and a really awkward UI that feels ill-suited for button controls. Throw in some bugs, and you’ve got a scratch.

The controls are laggy. The load times are horrendous, sometimes as long as a minute and a half to start a simple exhibition game. It crashes sometimes. The AI for your teammates and goalkeeper is utterly incompetent. The classic controls ape the EA NHL Genesis layout, but map the A/B/C to B/A/X, putting a key action on the most awkward button on the controller. But the real kicker? Even when everything is going right, Bush Hockey League just doesn’t feel good to play. There’s so much obvious love put into this game by a team I am sure is full of big hockey fans, but that doesn’t change the end result.

You can have a great concept, nice visuals, and plenty of novelty, but it’s all for naught if the game doesn’t feel good to play. Unfortunately, SkateBIRD has a lot of issues in that regard. The physics lack weight, which I can forgive to an extent because they are birds. The ridiculous camera is harder to get past. Anytime you’re near pretty much any object, the camera has a tendency to start going haywire, making it hard to point yourself in the direction you want to go and really easy to fall off of raised surfaces. Your birdie boarder also falls off its board at the drop of a hat, and between that and the camera you can end up in some very frustrating situations. All of the charm in the world isn’t enough to save this one.

This rendition includes multiple boards and features a local multiplayer mode for two players. If you want to play solo, there is an arcade mode that will throw increasingly challenging opponents and situations at you. This has never been a favorite of mine, but it certainly has fans.

If you have fond memories of Knightmare, you’ll probably enjoy this lavish love letter to the game. Otherwise? Well, I don’t know too many Switch owners that are starving enough for vertical shoot-em-ups to pick up one that’s merely decent.

The main idea is the same as ever. You have to guide a drop of water through each level, picking up all of the pearls while avoiding dangerous obstacles. The droplet keeps moving until it hits a wall once you’ve set it in motion, so you have to plan your moves carefully. There are more than 80 levels in this version of the game, giving you plenty of relaxing yet challenging fun for your money.