With its engaging story, dark atmosphere, charming characters, and excellent combat, Tales of Arise provides an experience that feels both new and familiar at the same time, making for a game that both long-time fans and newcomers will enjoy. While the excessive linearity and the removal of multiplayer will disappoint some, the pros far outweigh the cons, making Tales of Arise one of the best entries in the series to date.

F.I.S.T. Forged in Shadow Torch throws a lot of different things at the wall and tries to make them all stick. In the end, it's a bit of a messy mix of platforming, combat, robots, and animals that Dr. Robotnik would be proud of, but it's still great fun to play even if it doesn't make a lot of sense.

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is a faithful adaptation of the tabletop RPG, featuring an engaging story, well-written characters, and extremely deep gameplay mechanics. Although Owlcat Games' did their best to make the game feel welcoming to newcomers with plenty of in-game resources, tutorials, and difficulty customization options, the depth of the experience can be intimidating. Those who brave through the initial confusion, however, will find one of the best computer RPGs released in recent times.

The Myst remake does many things right. Unfortunately, it still has a few snags that would keep me from recommending it to veterans over realMyst: Masterpiece Edition. Likewise, most of the adjustments and revisions are made with veteran players in mind while the newer players may feel alienated by the lack of accessibility options.

Humankind is a very interesting 4X strategy game with a wide variety of elements, most of which are very detailed - though some, like religion, can feel a little undercooked. From city building, expansion and the urban sprawl over time, so much of the development of the world is well represented here. Science, influence, war, economy, growth - there's very little you'll find covered here.

No More Heroes III is a glorious, gory mess, bursting with excitement and creativity from beginning to end. The game’s intensity does shift down a gear when exploring its dated open world, but its best moments shine bright enough to keep your heart and beam katana pumping through the slower bits. Suda51 has scored another bloody Touchdown.

Recompile is stylish and well-written, but its messy Metroidvania structure and clumsy platforming corrupt what fun it might have offered. Maybe this game would have been easier to recommend a decade ago, but in a world where Hollow Knight and Axiom Verge exist, and an actual Metroid game is coming out in around a month, Recompile just isn’t up to code.

With excellent combat and traversal mechanics and a unique atmosphere, Naraka: Bladepoint stands out from the battle royale crowd. Cluttered interface, controls that require some tweaking, the bad implementation of microtransactions, and general lack of content, however, damage the experience a bit, preventing it from becoming a must-buy for fans of the genre. The foundation is still extremely solid, so with proper support, Naraka: Bladepoint definitely has the chance to rival all of the most popular battle royale games on the market.

An experience built for a fireteam of three, Aliens: Fireteam Elite turns the xenomorph horror on LV-895 into a shooting gallery that sadly misses the mark of what made its source material so iconic in the first place.

Psychonauts 2 delivers on everything it madly promises. That includes old school platforming with new school precision, an impressive visual style that never falters, and a world begging to be explored.

Foreclosed's visual style is nice, the cyberpunk aesthetic is one I fell in love with and wished could be explored more in-depth, and the plot is by the numbers but still engaging. Unfortunately, all of these good things are held back by a lackluster upgrade system, a laughably incompetent enemy AI, and sometimes downright insulting level design that feels more like it’s built around trial and error rather than tactical usage of resources and abilities. The game should be approached with caution as it can provide a fun experience but also a mildly infuriating one.

With a story that fails to go beyond serviceable and some not particularly inspired characters, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: The Siege of Paris fails to reach the heights of the Wrath of the Druid expansion, basically offering more of the same in a somewhat uninteresting setting. The Infiltration Missions, a nice callback to earlier entries in the series, are not enough to salvage an experience that only the most die-hard Assassin’s Creed Valhalla fans will thoroughly enjoy.

The first three Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters are a somewhat solid remastering effort that could have been so much better with a few tweaks. While the amazing rearranged soundtracks sound great and the balancing tweaks make the three games still feel great to play, the divisive overhauled visuals reminiscent of the 16-bit entries, technical issues like the lack of a V-Sync toggle and display settings not saving and lack of additional content found in prior remakes make these remasters a truly worthy purchase only for those who live and breathe Final Fantasy.

The first three Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters are a somewhat solid remastering effort that could have been so much better with a few tweaks. While the amazing rearranged soundtracks sound great and the balancing tweaks make the three games still feel great to play, the divisive overhauled visuals reminiscent of the 16-bit entries, technical issues like the lack of a V-Sync toggle and display settings not saving and lack of additional content found in prior remakes make these remasters a truly worthy purchase only for those who live and breathe Final Fantasy.

The first three Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters are a somewhat solid remastering effort that could have been so much better with a few tweaks. While the amazing rearranged soundtracks sound great and the balancing tweaks make the three games still feel great to play, the divisive overhauled visuals reminiscent of the 16-bit entries, technical issues like the lack of a V-Sync toggle and display settings not saving and lack of additional content found in prior remakes make these remasters a truly worthy purchase only for those who live and breathe Final Fantasy.

Tribes of Midgard can be a fun, satisfying, and surprisingly friendly action-survival experience, but without the right guide and crew, you might find yourself lost at sea. Dedicated Vikings may find treasure here, but for some, Tribes of Midgard will wear thin quickly – just another trinket for your pile of shame.

Pokémon Unite is a genuinely fun and charming game, with quick and accessible combat with enough tactical element to keep it interesting, while not overwhelming newcomers to the genre. However, it is predatory in all the worst ways, copying the worst tactics of pay-to-win free-to-play games, such as five currencies, loot boxes, buyable (with real-money) boosts, and items that influence battle, and more. While the game can be fun, the predatory tactics leave a nasty taste in the mouth.

The Forgotten City just feels so satisfying to play. You'll constantly be solving little mysteries and discovering new secrets to hit you with some immediate gratifications, all the while working on the larger puzzlers and tangled storyline to reach the end.

NEO: The World Ends With You is the excellent sequel of one of the most unique JRPG ever released, featuring a stylish setting, charming characters, engaging story, masterfully crafted action combat, and tons of content that are on par (if not better) with the original. While some of the novelty is lost, as the game does not innovate the series' mechanics in any significant way, NEO: The World Ends With You is truly the sequel that all fans of the franchise were waiting for.

A long lost tale of courtroom heroics and tribulations, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is finally available in English for the first time and well worth the six years long wait.

Sword of Legends Online has so much to offer, but it's sadly gated off by utterly terribly localisation in the text, the cutscenes, voice acting and - worst of all - the UI. If you can get around this and the horribly slow and tedious levelling process, there are a wealth of features to dig into, some that give this one of the better endgames in any MMO, particularly a non-subscription and non-P2W title. With excellent combat, only enhanced as the game progresses, and features like player housing, pets, extra narrative elements like character biographies (somewhat more understandable than the core story) and more, it's worth the grind, even though the grind is atrocious. On balance, for MMO fans who are used to, and can put up with this sort of nonsense.

Cris Tales is a gorgeous, heartfelt, and often creative adventure that provides an interesting peek at a culture not well-represented in the world of gaming. Sadly, it falls a bit short of its grand potential due to some mechanical and balance issues and a final act that badly overstays its welcome. Cris Tales feels like a game that would have benefitted from some more time in development, but if you’re willing to forgive a few faults, your own time with the game won’t be wasted.

F1 2021 has undeniably struggled with COVID and the limitations it has put on both the sport and the game. However, either despite or because of these limitations, this manages a step forward that the series failed to take two years ago, it brings a genuine story to the game. Braking Point is an undeniable success and, one would hope, marks a starting point in which Codemasters can advance as the series moves forward. Beyond this new mode, almost every aspect has been polished to a diamond-like shine, with the only aspects needing improvement are the MyTeam mode, which already looks lacking as a story of progression when compared to Braking Point, and the poor AI in team management. Despite this minor issue, there's no doubt in my mind that this is the best of the franchise so far and a great launching point to the next generation.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is a conservative update to one of Link’s less-heralded adventures that’s unlikely to change many minds one way or the other. The padding, control limitations, and other issues fans have long bemoaned are still in full effect. That said, there’s really no such thing as a bad Zelda game, and this one still shines at times thanks to a strong story, excellent dungeons, and some intense boss battles. If you’re impatient for Breath of the Wild 2 and have never played Skyward Sword, by all means, give the game a shot, just keep your expectations slightly grounded.

Bloodline expands on Watch Dogs Legion's London, with new missions, returning characters, and a slightly different setting to explore. While it doesn't add much in the way of new features, it's the perfect reason to come back to the Old Smoke and give it the middle finger once again.

Edge of Eternity aims for the stars and manages to reach a few of them, delivering a compelling plot and an expansive, varied, and often-beautiful world. Sadly, clunky dialogue, issues with exploration and combat, and a pervasive level of jankiness hold the game back. You have to admire Midgar Studio for pushing themselves, but as is, the Edge of Eternity may be too jagged for some.

Geared towards a younger or perhaps less experienced player base, Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin carves off a big piece of hunting joy while trimming away the fat.

The Africa Pack includes no more and no less than fans of the series have come to expect. The quality is superb, the new additions only adding more variety to the games complexity and adds several hours worth of challenge on top of the additions to the sandbox.