Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories is a brilliant, cute title that was built off their original RPG so many years ago. This feels like a step up for those who played the original story. The main takeaways will be the art and music for most players. You do have the freedom to explore, but the story only moves forward when finishing tasks assigned to you opening new sections. The game was updated back in May which added a quick save feature and fixed minor bugs. This title is very polished unlike many of the games flooding the Xbox marketplace currently. Melon Journey is not a shovel ware title and does have substance for those looking for a more relaxed game to pick up and enjoy. If you’re looking for heavy action, that will not be this title. It is low skill based and requires paying attention to text prompts to know where to go. This is a slower paced game, however, it is incredibly cute from the music production to character designs.

Space Otter Charlie is a lot of fun. The Zero-G puzzle platforming is great, as is the audio visual work. The multiplayer aspect is underwhelming but the campaign more than makes up for this with its inventive scenarios and levels. I highly recommend checking Space Otter Charlie out if you’re looking for a new platformer to play.

Syrup and The Ultimate Sweet isn’t a game that is meant for everyone. It is a visual novel after all. For its short playtime, you get to experience a satisfying story with 10 different endings and outcomes. I myself enjoyed my time with it though. Playing this game reminded me how much of a guilty pleasure visual novels are of mine; maybe it will do the same for you.

Like I mentioned this one was not on my radar, no pun intended, and I was pleasantly surprised. A few glitches with the enemies soured the experience a little but not enough for me to not recommend the game still. Even as someone who doesn’t gravitate to stealth games, this one was successful in integrating a system simple enough to pick up and swap between characters easily and make you feel satisfied clearing an area whether by yourself or through an automated, planned team effort. It has a thorough save system to boot which absolutely helped make the game more enjoyable with my trial and error. For sure, I recommend it as a really solid game.

PAC-MAN WORLD Re-PAC is not only a mouthful to say but it’s a great take on the game from yesteryear. PAC-MAN WORLD Re-PAC is the remastered version of PAC-MAN WORLD and it holds up great. The platforming is crisp and fun. I really like taking a beloved character like Pac-Man and changing his gameplay mechanics on their heads. You get the best of both worlds of classic Pac-man and classic platforming gameplay. Recommend!

Pinball FX brings virtual pinball action back to our consoles with this brand new iteration of the game. While it doesn’t feel great that previously bought tables don’t transfer to this game, it’s a great starting point for new players and there are options for returning. The premium pass is a good idea as a way to experience most of the tables that Pinball FX has to offer if you are okay not owning the tables once the subscription is up. Otherwise I’m happy with what I’ve played. It’s been fun to get a few rounds in each day and tackle the events to experience tables I otherwise might skip over. Worth the price of entry at free, but the microtransactions are a deterrent for some.

Another Sight does a wonderful job at making you feel invested in not only its characters, but its world, its story, and its deeper meaning. Whilst fairly short, it makes great use of its time through a constant influx of diverse, intelligently developed puzzles. Overall, despite some minor issues with its platforming elements, the game offers an adventure that’s every bit as engaging as it is intriguing, and one that’s unlike anything else readily available.

Welcome to Paradize is not going to set the world on fire graphically, but as far as zombie apocalypse games go this one is pretty fun and charming at times. The zombie hacking feature is pretty neat once you get a hang of it and the game has some length to it to keep you going for a while. I won’t lie it was a bit of a slow start but it did grow on me and is fun to play – something I plan to keep on doing.

Toy Soldiers was one of my favorite Xbox Live Arcade games back in the days of the Xbox 360. I’m delighted that a modern remaster in Toy Soldiers HD has surfaced today. It’s just as fun now as it was then and I hope more people give it a shot. Fun strategy game with a twist on the classic tower defense formula.

When you emulate some of the greatest games ever made it can be hard to stack up. Morbid: The Seven Acolytes is a decent game, its gruesome theme and vast lore that really bring the world to life. There’s a large variety of enemies but the combat is somewhat shallow. Exploring new environments is enjoyable, but trying to traverse them quickly can get tiresome due to the slow walking speed. If you enjoy the Soulsborne games, are a Lovecraft fan, or take pleasure in beating up on strange grotesque pixel art monsters, then Morbid: The Seven Acolytes is worth a look.

It’s gross, heartfelt, morbid, mind-fucking, and touching all at once, and how much you get out of it will depend on your penchant for the bizarre. Now I need to go lie down and think happy thoughts.

Doughlings: Invasion shows what a talented developer can achieve with the right mindset and tools. Not only does this game bring back a much loved classic, but like Doughlings: Arcade, it revitalizes the dated concept through the use of implementing fresh mechanics, heaps of variation, and a solid all-round pace. Sure, the audio is still very hit and miss, but in the midst of how fun the game is, this is easy to forgive.

The Legend of Tianding is a solid beat ’em up that offers a unique twist by allowing you to collect stackable buffs, making it a great way for you to customize their experience. The platforming and combat mechanics are superb, and fun. Overall, if you enjoy beat ’em up games, I highly recommend giving it a try.

We cleared all of the rooms in roughly 5 hours over a couple of nights, and we had a blast doing so. The lack of replayability aside, there’s a lot to enjoy within Escape Academy. Each room feels different enough, even when all we’re doing is finding another four digit number or word, and the fluffy tale underpinning the affair is easy enough to just sit back and enjoy without too much thought. Launching into Game Pass was a great choice, hopefully exposing it to more players, and whether you play it alone or in co-op, this is a great way to spend an evening or two.

AngerForce is an accessible yet challenging shmup that frequently rewards its players whether they win or lose. Its gameplay is tight, responsive, constantly packed with action, and comes complete with diverse environments, heaps of enemy variations, and a shed-load of upgrades. Not only is it one of the best looking shmups in recent memory, it’s easily one of the most entertaining. Genre fans would do well to have this on their radar.

Putting its slightly awkward handling and its tendency of dishing out cheap deaths to the side, Furwind goes on to get a lot more right than it gets wrong. The game sports quite a commendable amount of variation across its levels, its enemies, and its mechanics, and blends in a solid pace to keep things grounded, challenging, and fun. This may well not be the most sophisticated of platformers, but it does indeed provide a worthwhile adventure.

While the yearly Call of Duty is experience still remains fun, retreading old ground yet again is beginning to give off the feeling that there’s nowhere else to go for the franchise right now. I had fun playing Modern Warfare II, and those looking for solid shooting action will enjoy it, but I’d liked to see something new from the series going forward. Warzone 2.0 feels far fresher and more enjoyable to me, and is where I’ll be spending my time with COD until then.

SEGA Mega Drive Classics’ most impressive achievement is its vast and carefully selected collection of titles. There are games in this bundle that will appeal to everyone and although there’s a few performance hiccups to contend with, this is, by and large, one of the best compilations available on Xbox One.

Inertial Drift is a fun arcade racer that brings a unique mechanic to drifting that works very well. While the tracks can be a little hard to read at times, after a few plays this becomes much less of an issue. There are plenty of cars to unlock and try, twenty tracks to learn and a decent story mode to help with learning the intricacies of the controls and modes. There are better overall arcade racers out there, but Inertial Drift definitely deserves a look if you fancy something a little different.

This may seem like an easy cash grab scheme to re-release the same game and play on the nostalgia people have for the Ghostbusters. But they have done a lot of work to upscale the graphics to make it feel like the game belongs on the Xbox One. It is still a good fun game and it does feel like a continuation from the movies and great that you feel involved in the story. If you can ignore the few minor annoyances, then this game still holds up as a decent game for anyone and not just long-time fans.

Parkitect is a great little game that didn’t quite let me relive the glory days of the 90’s Theme Park game but it came closer than most. There’s tons of content to get stuck into for any wannabe theme park architect.

Odallus: The Dark Call was created in many ways to respect classic games such as Castlevania and it easily surpasses this goal. With an incredible soundtrack, engaging level design and easy to understand combat, the game really couldn’t be closer to the 8-bit gems of old. For gamers who want to enjoy a classic experience in a new game, Odallus: The Dark Call is certainly the game to do it.

The Expanse: A Teltale Series – Episode 5 ends the season on a spectacular high, rounding off the story with not only excellent beats but non stop, intense experiences. The entire series has been excellent overall, and is more than worth a high recommendation.

Odium is one hell of a challenging side-scroller, so much so that it walks a very fine line between being fun and being irritating. That said, Odium does a wonderful job at keeping its gameplay fresh through the steady flow of new, tricky additions. Furthermore, the game offers quite a decent chunk of replay value, and, thanks to its gorgeous monochromatic art style, together with its epic techno music, it rarely grows tiresome.

Selfloss wraps a touching, impactful tale in some clever puzzles, a gripping atmosphere, and some well designed areas. Bugs and a inconsistent camera let it down, but those willing to push through will find an experience that will not soon be forgotten.

In summary, Can’t Drive This is a fresh take on an already saturated party game market that’s a ton of fun with friends and gets very addictive, but loses steam after 10 hours with the few game modes it offers. There just isn’t enough content to play this game solo and unlock the majority of the cosmetics. With that being said, I personally absolutely love this game and would love to see the idea further expanded.

Lumines Remastered is an excellent puzzle game that offers hours and hours worth of content. The several varying modes ensures that there’s always something new to try out, and despite all of them leaning on the same concept, they’re equally as fun and addictive as one another. Issues with the difficulty’s fluctuation to the side, this is easily one of the best games of its kind in recent memory. Don’t pass this by.

Sea of Solitude offers a surprisingly deep adventure that not only toys with perception, but inadvertently encourages you to look inside yourself. Whilst the gameplay would have benefited from a bit more depth, what’s present is well balanced, well varied, and well paced. Collectively, this makes for a massively involved journey that showcases its developer’s heart remarkably. Whilst slightly flawed, Sea of Solitude is unlike anything else.