Having taken a year off and changing its name, I was hoping Monster Energy Supercross 25 was going to be a drastic improvement. Sure it’s better in some aspects with the new engine, but it just feels like the same game once again. If I didn’t know what year of the game I was playing, I wouldn’t be able to tell you without looking. If you’ve skipped the last game or two, then it’s a worthwhile upgrade, as well if you’re a superfan of the sport, but for casual fans or those that buy it every year, it just feels like another lap.

While I enjoyed Parkitect, it’s not something I can see myself investing substantial amounts of time in. It’s easy enough to pick up and play for small amounts of time, and that is enjoyable. There just isn’t enough content to really keep me interested for long. That also falls into the statement made at the beginning of this review about me not being highly creative as well.

All in all though, I’ve really enjoyed my time with The Talos Principle: Reawakened. The puzzle mechanics are smartly designed and put to use in some truly ingenious scenarios that test our logic and ability to plan ahead and think outside the box. The new chapter is a worthy challenge for returning players, and bundling that in with the base game and DLC is pretty damn good value.

While visual novels don’t vary all too much outside of their stories, Destino Indomable’s unique telenovela show backdrop and unscripted scenes actually makes a lot of sense and is quite clever. While the lack of voice acting was a letdown, the over-the-top drama and slaps more than made up for it, and made for a memorable few hours with a dramatic Latin soap opera full of slaps.

There’s always some design decisions that have to be made when balancing fun gameplay versus pure realism. When simulator is in the name though, you generally expect it to be as realistic as possible, regardless of how mundane or tedious certain aspects may be, as simulating said job is the goal. Ambulance Life: A Paramedic Simulator gives an insight into the life of a paramedic, but there’s certainly a lot of design choices that were made for ‘gameplay’ over realism.

I will admit, although I am a bit older than the characters in Lost Records, I am close enough to their ages that the friendships, environment, feelings and music all resonated with me. When the credits rolled on Tape 1, I didn’t just like Lost Records, I loved it. It was a tale of friendship, adventure and testing the depths of ‘best friends forever’. If Don’t Nod can follow this up equally with Tape 2 on April 15th, this might take first place for me in the series and give me the same feeling I first had when I first played Life is Strange back in 2015.

The first one was groundbreaking and while maybe not perfect, it couldn't have set the stage any better for the second installment. This was undeniably better than what came before, and the third entry only sealed the deal on where this is going. Now though? This feels like The Last Jedi kind of disappointment. Nothing really seems fresh and interesting, instead just reskinned missions that could have easily been DLC for Sniper Elite 5.

While it’s a short career at just a few hours, it’s certainly a memorable one. Techno Banter is filled with hilarious and clever writing that’s sure to illicit some laughs. It’s an odd premise but it works surprisingly well and is wildly weird in all the best ways.

Although Pets Hotel is cute, it’s lacking. It could have been so much more, but I think it falls again into the category of games ported to console that should have had some more care added to them before release. I knew from the start to take the gameplay with a grain of salt. I enjoyed taking care of the animals and the minimal management elements added a bit of interest, but there just isn’t enough here to captivate and keep me playing for a long period of time. While I might recommend this for younger gamers because it’s pretty simple, the clunky mechanics would be frustrating for them, I think.

Is PGA Tour 2K25 worth buying? Yes. The developers are constantly improving the game and making it more accessible. The graphics are finally next-gen. The EvoSwing system may take time to adjust to, but it adds a new dimension to the gameplay. However, the more casual players will probably wait for the game to go on sale.

All in all, Cat Rescue story was cute, and the adoptions were a heart warming and best part for me. Far from Purr-fect, but fun for cat lovers for a few hours.

I can appreciate that the Accolade Sports Collection is trying to preserve some classic sports titles and bring them to a new audience, adding some modern features along the way, but the games have not aged very well at all, some downright awful. Gamers that grew up with these titles will surely enjoy the nostalgia hit, as well retro fans, I just don’t see myself going back to play it anytime soon when there’s access to many other superior titles that I have fonder memories of.

Tap Wizard 2 is an extremely grindy game. Even though you can AFK for much of it, it does take checking in every so often to actually make significant progress. Interestingly, there’s no Quick Resume support on Xbox, so going to another game closes it completely and puts it into ‘offline mode’. Some might be confused with a $18.99 CAD game where you don’t have to play it very much, but I’ve been hooked, checking back in every chance I can to get one more upgrade so I can make it just that much further on the next run.

I actually enjoyed Cuisineer more than I thought I would. Once I got a few upgrades and didn’t have to come running back to town after filling my bags in ten minutes, I started to enjoy it much more. Having a fridge full of ingredients meant I could run my restaurant all day and make some good coin. There’s certainly some pacing issues, an endgame grind, and could use much better tutorials, but playing casually, running a dungeon or serving patrons here and there is quite enjoyable and relaxing.

It takes some time for all of the mechanics to really make sense due to the poor tutorials, but once it does, Metal Slug Tactics goes from being a frustrating experience to a challenging but very rewarding once. Even being turn-based, it feels like a true Metal Slug game, and while I wasn’t sure how the genre change was going to turn out, it’s clear much care and effort went into not only making a great game on its own, but also keeping core fans in mind with a creative spin-off. Mission Start!

When you know how the story ends, it’s more about the journey than the destination. You know there’s going to be a sad ending, so seeing how Johnny’s life unfolded is both beautiful and heartbreaking. There’s plenty of emotions that you’re sure to feel going through the four to five hour journey, as the story is heavy hearted and tackles some serious topics. To the Moon is a compelling story that ties together quite well and in an interesting way, I just hope that its two sequels eventually come to console as well.

So, let's summarize Let's Sing 2025. We have an innovative karaoke game that connects to your smartphone via an app and allows you to use it as a microphone as you go through the needlessly long career mode while you deal with cliche characters and stereotypical situations. All the while limited to what you can sing depending on whether or not you decide to pay more money to unlock the VIP access or be contempt with less than 10 songs and focus on your pronouns and interactions with these stereotypical pandering character faces instead of actually singing good music. Would I pay for this? Never. I would get more enjoyment loading up YouTube, searching for the musical artist that I support their quality music for, and sing along to that, and save tons of money in the process. If you want a good karaoke game, then you can find them as far back as the PS2, but as for Let's Sing 2025, it's a pass for me.

Neva is a must play for fans of artistic and narrative games. The tight gameplay mixed with impressive hand drawn graphics and animations make it a joy to play. Its emotional story delivers an experience of love and loss that is enhanced by its beautiful score and immersive environment. You’ll spend about 3 to 4 hours within the world of Neva, and for me it flew by. I don’t know if it’s a game I will revisit more than once, but it’s a game that I am sure glad I experienced.

While Empire of the Ants may be a watered down basic RTS game at its core, the flipside to that means that it's more approachable for those that aren’t generally into the genre like myself. RTS enthusiasts will surely want more than what’s offered from a gameplay perspective, but I quite enjoyed the simplistic and streamlined take. While I generally don’t want my games to have thousands of bugs, Empire of the Ants is an exception.

VED has some interesting ideas but it’s as though the game didn’t know quite what it wanted to be at times. This is possibly because it was a completely different game in its early stages. It's hard to be harsh towards a small indie team that clearly made VED with their passion, but there’s so many different components that don’t mesh cohesively, and a story that becomes so confusing that it’s difficult to follow. Even if you could follow the convoluted narrative, you’ll be too distracted with the abysmal voice acting to even remember that combat was actually quite interesting.

It’s not often that a visual novel sticks with me after the credits roll, but Slay the Princess - The Pristine Cut has been with me the last week or so after getting many endings. There’s an intriguing story, great penciled artwork, and flawless voice acting. The branching paths and dialogue options are substantially different from one another and makes for one of the more memorable visual novels that deserve to be up there with the best of the genre.

A mix of combat, platforming and puzzle solving, Pepper Grinder is a cute indie game that will last a few hours, more if you want to collect everything. Once you get a feel for the controls, when levels flow, is when Pepper Grinder is at its best as you leap from one dig to the next.

If you’re a fan of 2D Beat ‘Em Ups, loved TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge and/or simply grew up with these types of games, you’ll love Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Revenge. Digital Eclipse has delivered a love letter to the Power Rangers’ heyday of 1993-1996. It’s a nice treat for the holiday season.

Squirrel with a Gun is whimsical, chaotic, and has some funny moments. If you enjoy the silly gameplay you get from games like Goat Simulator or Untitled Goose Game, you will likely enjoy this for the few hours it takes to complete it. Retailing at under $20 CDN, for the number of hours and laughs I got from it seems like a fair price for this nutty experience.

I will admit, I was apprehensive about Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and I had high expectations. Movie-based games are hard to pull off. Taking care to protect the IP but also creating a new story to appease many levels of fans isn’t an easy task. The game surpassed my expectations on every level, and I couldn’t put it down. It’s been a very long time since a game has had its grip on me like this one has. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle feels like the best Indiana Jones movie you’ve never seen, and I am already hoping we will see another adventure for Indiana Jones in the future.

At the end of the day, A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead was a better game than I’d ever expected it to be. I’d wanted to play it, but didn’t have high hopes. However, now that I’ve completed it, I can say that it’s a solid release and one that fans of Alien: Isolation style horror games should check out. It’s definitely not as good as that game, but it also doesn’t overstay its welcome as much as that classic did.

The OST once again is the standout. The metal soundtrack makes you want to put up the horns and headbang along to some great tunes. If you’re a fan of shmups and want to shoot some aliens to a kick ass metal soundtrack, Valfaris: Mecha Therion is an easy sell.

MechWarrior 5: Clans is a solid mech game that does have a lot of drawbacks. Yes, the story isn't the best, and yes the graphics outside of the cinematic characters leave a lot to be desired, and the sound outside of the weaponry should all be removed... But despite all of that going against it, I have to say that MechWarrior 5: Clans is a fairly enjoyable experience if you're into the genre. While priced now at $49.99, I can say that you should save your money and pick this up when it's on sale. There is a lot of room for growth with this game, and hopefully with some upgrades of its own and some fine tuning, this can become a truly sensational mech experience.