Dungeons of Dreadrock is a fantastic puzzle game that's unlike anything else I've ever played. It's a truly unique experience, twisting genres and building on its own mechanics to create an experience that is both incredibly satisfying and near-impossible to put down. It's one of the best puzzle games on the Switch, and easily in the top ten on PC and mobile too.

It's a tad dumb but it's old-school dumb fun. Jump in with a friend or three and relive the glory days of zombie shooters in a simpler time when battles weren't 'royale' and zombies were hotter than Jessica Alba.

When the game releases on Friday, you’ll get the patch and be off and whacking balls with your mates online. But some people won’t, whether they can’t get online or can’t afford it, paywall-ing some of the stuff that could elevate this above Wii Sports and bring back that craze for a new generation. Wii Sports was free, Wii Sports Resort wasn’t, but it had a lot more going on than what we’ve played thus far. I hope I can delete most of this review and finish it off strong when the patch releases. [Review in Progress]

Force Unleashed had a lot of love when it was first made. For its time, the game provided a new Star Wars adventure with a fun and novel way to play it. Now more than a decade later, games are made differently, and The Force Unleashed features a lot of gameplay mechanics we don't see anymore. Stiff and repetitive waggle controls are now at least optional, but quick-time events and a wooden presentation make this a great example of what games were a long time ago, in a galaxy not too far away.

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is the biggest shake-up of the Lego game formula while also cramming nine movies into one game, like stuffing Luke into a Tauntaun. It won't be the way you remember the old levels for long-term fans, but they give you the universe to traverse in between adventures to keep you busy for hours.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is the best Kirby game I’ve ever played. It’s probably the best Kirby game you’ve played to date, too. More evolution than revolution, it's nonetheless a big step forwards, not only in its newly added third dimension of gameplay, but also in its quality of life additions, its clever approach to powerups, and its delicious gameplay loop. Sure, there are issues with it, if I sit down and try to think hard, but the moment I get into the game they all fall by the wayside and I’m sucked into a wonderful, incredible, enjoyable experience that’s quite unlike anything else in the series.

Triangle Strategy is an excellent strategy game with a heavy focus on a very good, very malleable story. Characters are well-written and very likeable, the story goes to some absolutely fascinating places, and the game’s strategy combat is best-in-class amongst its peers. Unfortunately, inconsistent visuals and a gameplay/story balance skewed far too heavily on the story side hold it back at times — but looking past that is easy when the rest of it is so good.

Chocobo GP is a playable Kart racer. I wish I could say it was an enjoyable one. The attacks/obstacles are too punishing; there aren't enough tracks that scream to be played over and over, awkward controls and some yet-unpriced IAP and 'Prize Passes'. The Story Mode offers some funny moments with plenty of FF winks and nods in the goofiest ways, but completing it is a frustrating experience. Try out Chocobo GP Lite before putting any cash down on this game.

Overcooked: All You Can Eat is an easy sell to co-op players who revel in chaos. If you’ve already forked out for the two games and their DLC, this is likely salt on the wound. It’s hard to recommend getting this game if you’re going to go it alone. It’s doable, but this is a game that really excels with others to join. It’s been out for a while now, but with the birthday update it’s the icing on the cake.

As the first release by Sbug Games, Webbed is a brilliant romp that’ll make you proud of the Australian video game scene. The sets and characters have a lot of charm and swinging around the bush and launching Buddy the spider feels great. Webbed should definitely be on the radar of Aussies and non-Aussies alike!

Disco Elysium is strange, ground-breaking, and incredibly funny. No combat, not really an RPG, but something boldly new. A cacophony of internal personalities resting on the membrane of consciousness.

If you're waiting for the Lego Star Wars: Skywalker Saga to finally come out to satisfy your Lego game fix, Lego Marvel Superheroes will help tide you over. It is unfortunate it's taken so long to come out on the Switch. It's one of the more enjoyable Lego games over the last eight years.

I’ve dragged myself through Pokémon games in recent years, but not with this one. Pokémon Arceus Legends is the future of Pokémon games. It’s the game we’ve all been waiting for for years, with a new and fun way to catch Pokemon, a story that adds to and pulls from Pokemon lore and a region you can genuinely get lost in. Pokemon Legend Arceus is Pokémon, evolved.

Like the oxygen line connected to your space explorer, you must remain close to Astroneer to gain anything from it. A directionless experience that rewards investment with growing base complexity, combined with the constant possibility of discovery, makes this a perfect game for the right type of player.

Death's Door tightly packs a challenging action-adventure into some of the more enjoyable ten hours of 2021. It's a game deserving of the hype and spots on game of the year lists. Unfortunately, there aren't any difficulty options to help make the game more accessible. While it is a challenging game, it's a challenge that you feel you can overcome as you unravel what is going on in the department.

Aspire: Ina’s Tale still leaves an outstanding impression. Traversing the big ol’ tower and solving puzzles with Ina was satisfying despite a few tricky hiccups. The brilliant art style is the absolute star of the show, however. Aspire: Ina’s Tale is a game with striking visuals that’ll keep you agasp through its entirety.

On paper, this Trilogy remasters sounds like a done deal. All the points are there to let a new generation of players enjoy these games - warts and all. However, what we really have is an insult to the legacy of these games, to fans of the series and the word Remastered. These ports should be avoided unless you're a diehard fan. Because these games always had a level of jank that you could put up with, and those fun games are still here if you fight through the pain. But for anyone else, trust that GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas were terrific games and play their legacy in everything else they inspired instead. I don't think there are any amount of patches that can help the Switch version of this Trilogy.

Loop Hero is one of the best indie games of the year, and it feels great to play on the Switch. While the controls can take some getting used to, the gameplay is engrossing enough that the learning curve is worthwhile, and somewhat reflects the deep-dive nature of the experience itself.

Sam and Max: Beyond Time and Space is an exceptional throwback to the glory days of Telltale Games. Foiling schemers and scammers’ deviously stupid schemes and saving the world has never been so entertaining. The game was hilarious in 2007 and holds up far too well today, frankly. Along with added touchscreen support on the Nintendo Switch, Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space is a first-rate remaster of an adventure classic.

Shin Megami Tensei V is more of what SMT fans would want, now with open-ish worlds and platforming. The Press Turn mechanic is still enjoyable and keeps the game interesting as you try to best or befriend every demon that comes your way. Newcomers might find the brutal difficulty off-putting, with too much grinding for too little story. I have no doubts it will be a beloved Shin Megami Tensei game for the already converted. I’ve always enjoyed the series but hope it can become even more accessible to a broader audience and still keep everything that makes it what it is. But we might be waiting for the next game for that to happen.

Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain is a solid collection of brain-teasing minigames that’s enjoyable enough alone but is unlikely to hold your attention for an extended period unless you’ve got some fellow brainiacs to go up against. That competitive drive to improve and beat your friends and family will keep you coming back once the allure of another cute hat wears off. If you’ve got some people to share the experience with, you’ll have a good time with this one.

Diablo II Resurrected, for the most part, strikes a perfectly respectable balance between maintaining the look and feel of the original and updating it for a modern audience. It's unambitious, but it doesn't really need to be any more than that — Diablo II was a wonderful game, and all it really needed was a bit of sprucing up at the end of the day. That's been done here, and done mostly well, and the transition to a gamepad is probably is good as it could've been. Still, it feels dated in some ways, and its online/offline character split was a dreadful choice, given how bad the servers have been for it. Still, it is Diablo II, for better and for worse, and if you're like me and have a nostalgic attachment to it, it's probably worth a play.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are bordering on a masterclass of how to do faithful remakes of a classic and beloved series. They're nostalgic, charming, lovely experiences that perfectly mix the old with the new to present a journey that will appeal to fans of the originals while still keeping things fresh and up-to-date. As one half of a pair of Sinnoh games, they deliver on their half in spades, and show that The Pokémon Company is ready, willing, and able to mess with the formula for the sake of the series. I have my complaints here and there, too, but overall, these are the Diamond and Pearl remakes that I didn't know I wanted until I fell in love with them.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are bordering on a masterclass of how to do faithful remakes of a classic and beloved series. They're nostalgic, charming, lovely experiences that perfectly mix the old with the new to present a journey that will appeal to fans of the originals while still keeping things fresh and up-to-date. As one half of a pair of Sinnoh games, they deliver on their half in spades, and show that The Pokémon Company is ready, willing, and able to mess with the formula for the sake of the series. I have my complaints here and there, too, but overall, these are the Diamond and Pearl remakes that I didn't know I wanted until I fell in love with them.

Mario Party Superstars is the greatest hits reunion tour of some of the best parts of Mario Party history, and it does a fantastic job of bringing the magic and wonder of classic boards and minigames into your living room. Still, it's hard to shake the feeling that Superstars could have been — and could still be — something more. It's right on the verge of becoming the definitive Mario Party experience, and everything it does, it does right. If you're content with the content on offer already, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better party game than this, either on the Switch or on any other platform.

Ultimately the premise of ghost hunting using your camera to defeat them is much better than the execution in Maiden of Black Water. At first, it's easy to get caught up in the dark dread-filled environments, keeping the spirits at bay with your Camera Obscura. Then you're returning to the same places, with long drawn-out moments broken up by ghost fights that go on too long when they get stuck in a wall. If you're not already a Project Zero/Fatal Frame fan, this game might not be the one to get you into the series.

If this review has sounded a little contemplative, it’s a testament to some clever design that invites you into that headspace. Arranging the protagonist’s collection of belongings is a subtle but thoughtful way of telling a person’s life story without saying a word, and the act of doing so, as well as how you choose to do it, might just end up saying a bit about yourself. Unpacking is a calming, enjoyable journey through time that is as satisfying as it is self-reflective. Much like every object you unpack, this game itself is simple and unassuming at face value. The sentimentality you choose to attach to it, however, is up to you.

As the credits rolled I found myself thinking the game could’ve done with a bit of length. If you charge through it, you could probably finish No Longer Home in less than two hours. And that’s not to say I would prefer some padding but I wanted some more resolution. But perhaps this is just the length and type of story that Humble Grove wanted to tell, and that’s okay. No Longer Home is a great game regardless, and if you’ve been in a similarly uncertain situation to Ao and Bo’s (or Hana and Cel’s) you’ll be sure get some enjoyment here.