Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is an incredibly fun adventure puzzle game with some very well put-together mechanics that make investigating and solving puzzles almost as interesting as its Lovecraftian roots, which is why it's a shame that it fumbles properly connecting those roots to its gameplay, leaving much of the horror and tension built up in its early chapters at the bottom of the ocean. Odd missteps in its storytelling and an unfortunate amount of bugs that entirely blocked progression and left save files corrupted don't help its case, but when it's all working as it should, the gameplay generates a rewarding and fun loop that'll keep you glued to your screen as if Cthulhu already has full control of your mind.

God of War: Sons of Sparta is a perfectly fine Metrovania on its own, but it doesn’t live up to the Kratos lineage otherwise. Either temper your expectations for Kratos’ origin story, or go into this one with an open mind that it’s another generic Greek adventure, and you won’t find your time in Laconia to be a tragedy.

Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown is a text and story-heavy trek that follows the story of Voyager as it returns from the Delta Quadrant, but allowing you to change the events of the story in a game that has impactful choices wrapped around an FTL-style survival game and copious amounts of resource management. Not a masterpiece, the sum feels like more than the whole, though I will admit my view may be clouded as a fan of Star Trek, Voyager, and the genre.

Mario Tennis Fever still scores points for its core gameplay, particularly when playing against other people, but the game’s frustrating new Fever Racket gimmick and underwhelming single-player modes don’t bring all that much to the court. The result is a game that can be fun at times, but doesn’t stand out from other recent Mario Tennis games in a way that’s likely to raise Switch 2 owners’ temperatures.

Would I recommend giving it a go? For the art style alone, I probably would, yes. It's an absolutely gorgeous game, and there were moments that I genuinely had a smile on my face. It was a shame that there were other moments when I literally sighed and said, "I've had enough now," although this may not be the same for everybody.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is no classic, that's for sure. The game's side content is mediocre at best, and its technical optimization is among the worst seen recently. That said, the setting's atmosphere is intact, the combat is fun, and the main story is well-crafted. I recommend it to fans, but only at a lower price than the launch one.

Don’t get me wrong, despite the relatively negative tone of this review, Little Nightmares III does have its moments and can be fun with another human player. The game just doesn’t stand out in any particular way and with a relatively brief 4-hour runtime, this will likely be one of those dreams that fades from your mind not long after you wake up.

Dying Light: The Beast's parkour mechanics and crunchy melee combat are the two load-bearing pillars that make it a game worth leaping into, with support from a beautiful world to explore (minus the infected) and a tense day and night cycle that greatly raises the stakes on its survival elements. Beyond that, the mechanical and narrative pacing, inconsistent writing and narrative tone, and world design choices that feel antithetical to the series in the first place all bring it to a fairly uninteresting experience that is only worth it for however long you want to turn your brain off and enjoy watching digital infected brains go *splat.*

With average quest design, a lack of polish, and a forgettable story, Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Claws of Awaji shows how the series’ quantity-over-quality approach is continuing to fail. While the Bo weapon for Naoe and the excellent Nowaki questline stand out, they’re drowned by questionable design choices that undermine the experience, making the expansion worthwhile only for the most die-hard fans.

Dead Reset is worth experiencing for its performances, its tense atmosphere built on strong lighting and sound design choices, and well-paced story that makes you want to keep finding out what will happen next, but its entertainment value wanes after you've hit the credits. It's less enticing on replays or 'resets,' and its worst attributes don't help carry the experience beyond a single play through.

Echoes of the End has more bad than good to it, and the jank of its technical issues running throughout all aspects of the game bring down even its best elements, like its strong visual presentation, character-driven storytelling, and some fun platforming and puzzle challenges. The combat both overall fails to innovate and pass the standard bar for interesting, and as a whole package it's likely not worth your time when you need to get five-chapters deep in a 10-chapter story to get to its best bits.

Drag x Drive delivers some moments of frenetic multiplayer fun, but an inflexible and physically-demanding control scheme, lack of personality, and dearth of content severely limits the game's long-term appeal. Drag x Drive could have been a solid addition to a larger Wii-Sports-style collection designed to show off the Switch 2's mouse functionality, but on its own, the game is far from a slam-dunk purchase.

Tales of the Shire is a frustrating missed opportunity. Decent cooking mechanics aside, nearly everything else you’d hope to see from a cozy hobbit life sim is either missing or half-heartedly executed. Meanwhile, those familiar with developer Weta Workshop for their contributions to the groundbreaking Lord of the Rings films will likely be surprised by how technically inept the game is. Even the smallest person can change the course of the future, but in this case, our furry-footed friends simply fall short.

Killing Floor 3 isn't a bad game in a lot of ways. The base pitch of killing Zeds can be fun, and when you get some friends together to properly line up different Perks, it can be a good time to pull different abilities together and get some good teamwork flowing. But there are better games you can play to accomplish all the things that Killing Floor 3 accomplishes, and with the flat sounding weapons and so little to do, on top of the early technical problems, Killing Floor 3 is not the kind of game you should run to your computer to check out at launch. Maybe in a year, though.

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is an ambitious passion project that clearly invokes some of the highlights of Bethesda's signature RPG series while retaining some unique quirks all their own. Unfortunately, the first few steps out of Early Access show that this adventure into Avalon could have used a little more time fending off the Red Death.

Ultimately, I'm disappointed to have to say that I wouldn't recommend Deliver At All Costs. It's a game that tries to do way too much, and because it fails at so much of what it tries, it sours the experience of the things it was doing really well when you first start playing.

Empyreal's ambition to do something different is commendable, but it's ultimately the only thing it truly has going for it. While character customization and the Cartogram system are solid enough, the forgettable and generic story and characters, average and clunky combat and the lack of proper multiplayer mechanics make the game a frustrating experience that gets tiring very quickly and one that only the most diehard ARPG fans might briefly appreciate.

Revenge of the Savage Planet is a fun mix of sharp satire and toilet humor, with whimsical and cartoon-y animations, character designs, and smart level design that strengthens the gameplay experience when it opens up to you fully. The problem, is getting to that point, with tedious missions and upgrade pacing that halt any momentum it starts to build, and with it lacking a story with any real punch, if the charm isn't working for you, it's unlikely, and understandable, if you don't stick around long enough for it to start clicking.

South of Midnight has some incredibly strong storytelling chops, brought together by its stunning visual design and excellent soundtrack. Unfortunately, the experience is bogged down by boring, repetitive combat and lackluster platforming, but it's worth rushing through those parts to experience everything else South of Midnight has to offer.

WWE 2K25 doesn’t manage to build on the momentum created by the last few entries in the series. For every step forward, such as online MyGM or the varied Bloodline 2K Showcase, there’s a step back, like the lifeless MyRise career mode and some questionable changes to core gameplay. The biggest blemish is The Island hub, which excels at separating players from their money and not much else. There’s certainly still fun to be had with WWE 2K25, but the series risks dropping back to the midcard if it continues on this new trajectory.

I loved the nostalgic feel of the game, and how detailed the world was, with the ability to capture everything with the camcorder. However, a lot of the conversations felt too drawn out, with a lot of awkward pauses, or overlapping conversation that just felt too overwhelming.

Flint: Treasure of Oblivion is a game that undoubtedly required way more time in the oven. While its engaging story, captivating presentation, and the charismatic pirate captain James Flint pull players into the adventure early on, the experience is marred by a horrendous interface, clunky controls, poor tutorials, and the subpar execution of several mechanics. As a result, the game is hard to recommend except to the most dedicated tactical role-playing game enthusiasts willing to overlook its many glaring flaws.

Adapting the final explosive story arc of the original story, Fairy Tail 2 is a game that goes straight to the point, featuring charming characters and a well-crafted combat system that makes fighting the forces of the Alvarez Empire incredibly fun. The lack of any involving side activity, lackluster world design and very short length, however, limit the appeal of the experience only to fans of Hiro Mashima's works, as there simply isn't enough for those who are already in love with Fairy Tail to justify a purchase.

Overall, my experience with Wayfinder was pretty average. Unfortunately, nothing about the game stuck out, and there wasn't much that felt unique or groundbreaking. While the dungeons were a lot of fun, and the combat was the main thing that drew me in, it wasn't enough to keep me playing. Hopefully, as the game continues to get updated, new content and features will be added to improve the game.

Lego Horizon Adventures carries over a lot of the things previous Horizon games did well, offering lush visuals, a likable cast, and a wide range of robo dinos to take down. Unfortunately, not everything survived blockification, with an overly-simplified story, sometimes-unsatisfying core gameplay, bland level design, and an overall lack of content resulting in a Lego game that’s a few bricks shy of a load.

Slitterhead is an experience that's fantastic in still shots or in story trailers but the actual gameplay becomes a muddled mess when the player is forced into repetitive chase and combat sequences.

If Alan Wake 2: The Lake House was priced reasonably, it would have been a much better proposition, as it is a worthy continuation of the base game in terms of story, themes, and atmosphere. As the only way to get the expansion is by purchasing the Deluxe Edition, however, I don't think it offers quite enough to upgrade to the more expensive edition of the game for all but the most die-hard fans of the base game and the Remedy Connected Universe.

The Starfield Shattered Space expansion leaves a lot to be desired. While it introduces a more focused and engaging story compared to the base game, the average map and quest design, along with the lack of new features, turn the adventure in Va'Ruun'kai into a bit of a slog rather quickly. Although the tighter focus is welcome, the Starfield experience as a whole needs something more substantial to reach its full potential.