One thing that keeps the game from true greatness is that it gets very repetitive. This is particularly in the beginning where you only have one character and axe to throw and no sword yet. However, as you engage the match and level up (hard to do in the last-man standing mode) you will see additional perks and (sword or multiple axes) weapons available.

The characters make the game, and while the pacing is a bit up and down through the course of the story, the ending more than makes up for any bumps along the way. I’m less sold on the side-stories and exploratory bits, but the overall experience is one worth checking out.

It sounds cliched, but it's hard to believe I'm playing a game of this caliber on iOS. All too often we see games that sacrifice gameplay depth for visuals or vice versa. Other than a few minor glitches, Ravensword: Shadowlands is the real deal, and is an excellent open-world RPG with a decent story, ample content, deep character customization and beautiful visuals.

It's perhaps limited as it's focused toward amusement and tallying up the endings versus telling some kind of grand, cryptic story with it. But if goofy animations for solving cryptic puzzles sounds like fun to you, download this. You'll have a good time.

Deadcraft isn’t what I would call fancy dining, but it’s a lot better than it looks. It’s a solid survival-based action-RPG with a few unique elements that make it more engaging than the average entry in that category. It’s a shame it doesn’t have a catchier title or more striking visuals, because I can’t help but feel people are going to miss it with things being what they are. If you’re not totally sick of zombies or survival RPGs, make sure you give this one a shot.

Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER feels like a weird sequel in how it didn’t end up being what I hoped for, but still had me glad it exists and enjoying it more or less all the way. The music, art, and interactions elevate this to an essential for fans of 2064: Read Only Memories, but I still like the original game more.

General fans of the genre can find many better games to choose from simply due to how much of a sea change there has been since 2009 in this genre, and most of those choices are cheaper to boot. Those interested in playing a Rune Factory game would probably be better served checking out Rune Factory 4 Special or Rune Factory 5. That mainly leaves those who are interested in exploring the past, those who have devoured all of the other good farming games, and people with a lot of specific nostalgia for this entry. If you find yourself in one or more of those groups, then sure, you could do a lot worse than this.

Right now, there's a solid package of soccer gameplay, just one that could use a lot more tweaking and finalization, even though it's in general release.

With NBA 2K25, the Steam Deck now delivers a fantastic portable basketball experience at feature parity with PS5 and Xbox Series X. With a bit of tweaking, it looks and runs great, and I’m glad to see 2K finally bring all the features to PC after many years. If you own a Steam Deck and were hoping for a good experience with NBA 2K25, 2K and Visual Concepts have delivered. Just be aware of the microtransactions in some of the game modes though.

There's no shortage of puzzle games on the App Store, but I can say that Help me Fly is one of the truly worthwhile ones.

Instantion contains 50 levels, with each level taking at least a few minutes to figure out even if you're quite fast to pick up on things, making for a fairly meaty puzzler.

If you have an iPad, then you owe it to yourself to check out this arcade shooter.

If you have a couple of bucks to spare, Dungelot is the way to go. For those who have exhausted that game, or those who aren't keen to spend money, I can now at least say that Dungelot 2 is almost as good.

This feels like a game primed for time attacking, but there are no systems in place to support that kind of long-term mastery. At the very minimum, though, you'll get a couple of hours of fun out of it, and if you get into its meta-goals, you might find quite a bit more.

Feral Interactive have done a brilliant job here in bringing another true PC classic game to mobile devices. If you enjoy strategy games and don’t mind spending a bit of time adjusting to the interface, I can’t imagine anything better for you than Total War: MEDIEVAL II. I enjoyed my time with Total War: MEDIEVAL II on iPad a lot more than iPhone though. If I had a bigger screen on my iPhone, I might’ve enjoyed it more, but the iPad Pro version looks and feels amazing.

ATONE: Heart of the Elder Tree is if nothing else a unique experience, and it’s nice to see it make a relatively unscathed trip to the Switch.

I already thought Peglin was fantastic even in its early access state. While some balance issues hold it back a bit, it is an essential on Switch if “pachinko x roguelike" sounds good to you. I also love that the developers made full use of the Switch hardware features by adding good rumble, full touchscreen support, and button controls making it so that you can play however you want. Now we just need a physical release.

Stuttery control issues aside, Blazing Star features some of the most intricate shooter gameplay you can find in the vast pool of shmups available on the App Store.

This isn't called Virtual Boxing, or Street Boxer, or Extreme Boxing. It's called Real Boxing for a very good reason, and it lives up to its name impeccably well.

In its current state, Temtem is moving in the right direction and is absolutely worth your time on Switch as long as you’re ok with the online-only aspect of it. I still have issues with the lack of any sort of offline support for a portable system like Nintendo Switch, but the core gameplay loop and amount of content available with the 1.0 launch is well worth the asking price. The Switch port is also very good considering the hardware and how it runs on other platforms as well.

If you skipped the original Norn9 release, play that first for sure. If you liked it or end up liking it, Norn9: Last Era is essential for all it adds to the universe. It really pushes the envelope for a fandisk and feels like a blend of that and a sequel release thanks to everything included. On its own, it is hard to recommend Norn9: Last Era, but fans of the original will find a lot to love here.

If you're willing to overlook the fact that movement in the game can sometimes be genuinely frustrating, On The Wind is a pleasant way to wile away your time.

It's rare to find a game that embraces such an enjoyable mechanic.

As sad as it sounds, it's rare these days to find a free-to-play game that offers a good balance between actual gameplay and having to pay for extras via freemium elements. For the most part, Zombiewood does a great job hitting that balance.

Mimpi is adorable, the artwork is amazing, and the puzzles are both challenging and simply fun to play through. Silicon Jelly and Crescent Moon have a winner on their hands, and I highly recommend folks check it out.

Twisty Planets probably won’t be converting any non-fans to the genre, but for those that appreciate this brand of puzzle-platformer, it’s well worth playing. I’m a fan of the gravity mechanics, and there’re plenty of levels and enough of a difficulty curve to keep players busy for awhile. Veteran and newbie fans of the gameplay should simply check it out.

It may be be acting as a prelude to the bigger Hellraid game but The Escape holds its own very well and is highly recommended.

While there are some moments that frustrate or drag a little during its runtime, Smelter is quite impressive on the whole. It’s not difficult to spot its inspirations, but it does its own thing well enough that it avoids the pitfall of feeling like a lesser copy. Fans of 16-bit action games will definitely want to give it a look.