One of Akitoshi Kawazu's most experimental titles from the Super Famicom, Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven shows that a classic JRPG can be given a complete overhaul to turn into something brand new while still retaining its unique quirks and charm.

Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO is undeniably one of the best games based on Akira Toriyama's series. With an engaging story mode that includes intriguing what-if scenarios, a combat system that's easy to learn but challenging to master, a massive character roster, and impressive attention to detail, Spike Chunsoft has created a must-have for Dragon Ball fans. If you've ever wanted to be Goku and scream your heart out before unleashing secret techniques, this is the game for you.

Super Mario Party Jamboree doesn’t bring anything overly surprising to this well-worn series, and not every mode and minigame will put you in a festive mood, but overall, the game offers plenty to celebrate. Jamboree may not entice those who have had their fill of Nintendo’s shindigs, but those still down for a good button-mashing bash should appreciate just how much they’ve stuffed into this goodie bag.

Ys X Nordics stands as one of the best entries in the series, second only to the excellent YS VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana. With a cast of charming characters, an engaging story, and fast-paced action gameplay powered by some interesting mechanics that force players to balance offense and defense, the franchise by Falcom has taken a decisive step forward, delivering a highly polished and satisfying experience.

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.

Those who harbor an innate distaste for the social systems and time limits of modern Persona titles will find no solace here, but those who are willing to embrace what very well could be the sixth Persona title in all but name alone will experience one of the most stylish Japanese roleplaying games of 2024.

For now, though, Diablo IV Vessel of Hatred is a solid expansion that is perhaps not heavy on content but more than makes up for it with many systemic changes that will elevate the whole game for years to come. [Review in Progress]

Silent Hill 2 is the best game Bloober Team has made. A faithful reimagining of the original, bringing it to the modern day without losing what made the original the best horror game ever, using modern game mechanics to improve where they could, and expanding on what was already an engrossing world. Without any shadow of a doubt, a resounding success, one that will likely come as a surprise to many.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom brings some new ideas to the table, but in the end, the game is more about modernizing the classic 2D Zelda experience. The attention-grabbing echo copying mechanic has its pros and cons, but where Echoes of Wisdom consistently hits is in the tried-and-true design of its world and dungeons, which are as good as any the franchise has delivered in the past. This may be Zelda's first starring adventure, but past Legends still echo strongly here.

Disney's Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is a solid remaster that enhances the original experience with some nice improvements. Unfortunately, the experience is still carried by the setting exploring Disney's forgotten history, as the remaster does little to address dated level design, lackluster combat, and underdeveloped features like the morality system. Despite these shortcomings, Mickey's journey in the Wasteland remains enjoyable, especially for hardcore Disney fans eager to see some of the company’s long-forgotten characters brought back to life.

Ara: History Untold is a highly ambitious 4X game that looks to branch out and add even more depth to an already detailed genre. In many ways, it succeeds, bringing in a map and city-building system that far surpasses others in the genre and successfully interlinking practically every area. However, with some successes come issues, with the added depth in the supply chain making it a bit of a micromanagement nightmare; it tries to alleviate some of these issues with a user-friendly UI, but it could be a sticking point for some. The AI also seems to go on the fritz and break the game's rules.

Frostpunk is an excellent-looking, excellent sounding, and great playing organic growth and succession from the original. Spreading further along the wasteland, you have to balance more as you deal with politics, resources, factions, and ever more challenges, often including settling and building in new areas. Still a challenge, but more approachable, this is yet another city builder that will shine out amongst others.

Although the game was a lot of fun and I enjoyed the actual gameplay elements of it, the story just didn't grab me. Initially, I was also deterred by the massively contrasting art styles and the finicky menus. Overall, the game is a pleasant experience, appropriate for gamers of all ages. If the story had some more flashy dramatics, it may have pulled me in earlier. The Plucky Squire is very evidently a product made with a lot of love, and you can tell that from the level of polish it has.

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is a solid remaster that enhances the original game with some welcome gameplay and quality-of-life improvements that go a long way to make the experience more enjoyable than ever. However, the remaster falters in the visual department, with dull colors that pale in comparison to the vibrant visuals of the original. Still, there's plenty to like in the Deluxe Remaster, as Frank West's journey to Willamette remains as engaging as ever, though the mostly faithful recreation of the original gameplay feels a little dated compared to its sequels.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown offers some solid fundamentals in terms of driving mechanics and course design, to the point the game might have been worth a qualified recommendation despite its surprisingly-bland recreation of Hong Kong, so-so visuals, and spotty performance, but ultimately, the game’s egregious always-online requirements make that impossible. Persistent server issues and a completely unreliable cloud save system send this racer careening off-track and it’s going to take some serious elbow grease to get this Solar Crown shining like it ought to.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a decent game, but one that becomes repetitive quite quickly, though fans of this sort of action combat could find it enjoyable.

The MARVEL vs. CAPCOM Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics is a fantastic celebration of the series, showcasing some of the best fighting games released by the Japanese publisher in the late '90s and early 2000s. Although the lack of cross-platform play reduces the collection's appeal, the additional options and extras are welcome enhancements that make playing these timeless classics on modern hardware even more enticing, especially on consoles.

The expansion was so close to perfect. If it wasn't for the update that Blizzard released where they went from undertuning everything to overtuning it, the expansion would have been perfection. The quests are fun, Hero Talents provide lots of cool options, and the music really makes the areas of Khaz Algar magical and threatening, all at the same time. Admittedly, the story for this expansion could have done with being a little longer, as it felt quite short overall compared to previous expansions. However, there is still time for them to add more in future patches.

A platformer that's intended to be accessible for players of all skill levels, Astro Bot brings a celebration of cameos and heroes from forgotten Sony-related franchises together in a title that shows off the unique potential of the PlayStation 5 and its DualSense controller.

Age of Mythology Retold brings back a classic, with new - great - visuals, a new UI, and a few new gameplay features. While it does, for the most part, feel more like a remaster, there's still an incredible amount to love here, and the few new features the army of developers have added bring a whole new level to the game.

The Casting of Frank Stone is yet another hit from Supermassive Games, delivering an engaging horror story deeply rooted into the lore of Dead of Daylight equally enjoyable by fans of the original game and those with no knowledge of the multiplayer game created by Behaviour Interactive. While its short length and limited gameplay may slightly hinder the experience, the game remains a worthwhile purchase for those who appreciate well-crafted supernatural horror stories.

Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club really sneaks up on you. For much of its runtime the game is a likable, if somewhat by the book, throwback detective visual novel, but Nintendo swings big in terms of narrative in its final hours, ultimately delivering a story that’s much more daring, dark, and affecting than anything this franchise has delivered before. Whether you’re a visual novel nut or just in the mood for a good mystery with some teeth, Emio will leave you grinning.

Visions of Mana is a fun JRPG for the first thirty hours but the continuous backtracking and overall padding left me feeling like my time wasn't being respected by the time Val's journey came to a close

Black Myth: Wukong stands out as one of the strongest debut games released in recent times. While not groundbreaking in any way, it masterfully blends elements from several popular franchises to deliver an engaging action RPG experience that ranks just below the very best in the genre. Although stuttering issues and minor gameplay flaws hold it back slightly, these shouldn't deter any action RPG or action game fan from picking it up. The Journey to the West has rarely been this enjoyable.

Overall, it was enjoyable to watch the relationships between the characters unfold. However, the prologue soured it early on for me, as it felt a bit too overexaggerated. The conversations and getting to explore new environments were some of the best parts of Dustborn, while I unfortunately found the combat system to be a little lacking in places. Still, the idea for this game is incredibly unique and one that I really enjoyed.

The Sims 4: Lovestruck does do a good job at sprucing up the game and trying to make it a little bit more dynamic, the same way Growing Together did. However, some of the features were incredibly lacking, and I felt that there could have been much more added to make it worthwhile. I really liked the new interactions that they added to the game, but aside from that, the expansion was still quite flat.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is an enjoyable and highly accessible Soulslite. A44 created a great entry point for the genre, not to mention an exciting fantasy setting that mixes black powder, magic, and influences that go beyond the usual European medieval style. The combat is fun and won't cause you to break any controllers. The story is also worth following, although the game perhaps end up too soon, leaving narrative and gameplay possibilities to be explored by a sequel.

While Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess may not be the best action game or the best tower defense game around, Yoshiro and Soh's journey is undeniably compelling. Thanks to great map, scenario, and enemy design, along with plenty of viable tactical options and a wide arsenal of abilities, this new IP from CAPCOM stands out as one of the most surprising titles of the year, held back only by minor issues, such as a shallow narrative and a low challenge level.