Creatures of Ava is an excellent title, and it’s on Game Pass at launch. If you want a game that lets you explore a gorgeous alien planet, get your inner photographer on, and know when to mix in its version of combat then I think it is well worth a download.

SteamWorld Heist II is a delight. Brilliant tactical combat is mixed with a clever story, great music, and engaging progression. Whether you’ve played the first title or not if you’re into turn-based, strategic combat then this is one to check out.

STAR WARS Bounty Hunter is a competent port of a mediocre title. Aspyr has done its best to make the game look and run as well as it can while modernizing the controls. At $20 it will come down to how nostalgic you’re feeling for one of gaming’s biggest franchises’ more mediocre entries.

Sweep the Board is a fun party game that’ll hold you and your family slash friends’ attention for the night. If you don’t have any of that, you could always go online and make new ones that way. But I think you’ll get most of your mileage out of this game by being a fan of Demon Slayer.

Nobody Wants to Die is an incredible experience. Engaging detective gameplay, an incredible soundtrack, and a fascinating noir-yarn come together to create one of my favorite games in a long time.

An incredible, nigh-on herculean effort from a very small team, developers Microbird Games have made something very special in Dungeons of Hinterberg. In my 20 or so hours exploring, I found a successful medley of genres with enjoyable combat and a variety of gameplay mechanics resulting in something uniquely memorable. Throw in a whole heap of imaginative puzzling and level design, great characters, and a surprisingly engaging plot to boot, and I can’t help but give this vacation spot very high marks indeed. I thoroughly enjoyed my ‘slay’.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is a lot of fun if you engage with all of it. At first, I was flying through the main quest before I slowed down and explored every inch of each map. Once I made that change I went from enjoying my time to loving it. It’s not the tightest game out there, but it has a lot of great ideas that come together for a package well worth experience.

Magical Delicacy is a beautiful albeit tedious 2D Metroidvania. It’s fun is hampered by clunky platforming and resource management that get in the way of what I want to be—a witch that can cook, not a scavenger.

Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus is among the best games I’ve played and easily stands alongside the other greats in this genre. Have you been waiting to play Silksong for years and years? Well you’ll still be waiting, but this game is an absolute must play. And at a reported cost of only 20 USD, I recommend Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus to anyone and everyone even tangibly interested in metroidvanias. Move aside little Knight, it’s the Lotus’s turn in the spotlight.

Bright, bold and absolutely bursting with vibrant colour and the kind of charming quirkiness that constantly teases a smile; this is truly a world of creature comforts. It doesn’t do a lot ‘new’, but what it does do, it does brilliantly. If you’re an Xbox Game Pass subscriber, you should absolutely add this one to your download queue.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is experimental Capcom at its best. While some of the fights can teeter on feeling unfair the majority of the game is a glorious mix of hack-and-slash action with a heavy dose of tower defense. It’s launching directly into Game Pass and is well worth checking out for anyone looking for 14+ hours of a damned good time.

Darkest Dungeon 2 is a beautiful, great-sounding, difficult, and addictive roguelike. If you’re into the genre then it’s an easy recommendation on whatever platform you prefer. It works great with a controller and can last 100+ hours if you want to see everything.

Neon White features incredible gameplay and some of the best “one more try” levels in recent memory. It’s so fun to play that it can’t be brought down by its poor story. It is worth a purchase or Game Pass download, especially if you’ve got some friends to compete with on the leaderboards.

Colour me impressed. When I think indie, I rarely think “open-world”, but BINGOBELL showed me that’s it’s possible to craft a great and ambitious adventure game without a large body count. KAKU: Ancient Seals is one of the best open-world indie games I’ve ever played and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for their fill of lush environments and challenging dungeoneering.

The Case of the Golden Idol is not a game for everyone, but I suspect many who miss the classic adventure and point-and-click games of yesteryear will find an enjoyable and satisfyingly tricky detective based puzzle game to tackle here.

Lifeless Moon takes on the challenge of describing the root of evil, taking to detail what the product of one’s environment is. And even though the game struggles to tell it, it’s a novel story set in the backdrop of space and time (and occasionally the pretty vista). If you can put up with weak platforming and light puzzle solving, you can knock this one out in an afternoon and have something to think about for the evening.

Tchia is the latest, and one of my favorite, late ports to Xbox that’s arriving thanks to Game Pass. It’s a beautiful game, with an incredible soundtrack, fun gameplay, and an emotional story full of loss and love.

It’s nice to see a Neptunia game (and particularly a Compile Heart title) make its way to Xbox platforms. I’ve always thought this series knew its audience and its audience know of it—you’ll know right away whether you like Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters’ video game-themed world and characters and designs. Just keep in mind that you’ll be putting with a fairly weak RPG trapped in a time period where an overclocked GameCube was the hottest gadget on the market and Hannah Montana once had a presence at E3.

NeoSprint is a fun and well-made homage to racing games of old, with a fun and precise arcade driving model from a top-down view. There’s a vast selection of tracks, a solid editor to create and download new ones, various cars and plenty of customization, including several callbacks to other Atari classics, making this game worth the time for racing fans who aren’t afraid of playing something that winks to an era before 3D racers got popular. Lack of proper online multiplayer is a bummer, although leaderboards and downloadable ghosts are in the game. Ultimately, NeoSprint is a retro arcade bonanza that I can see myself coming back to for a while, especially if the community and developers keep the content and challenges coming.

Graven is an old-school dark fantasy first-person shooter that somehow feels like no other, taking cues not only from classics like Hexen but also throwing in elements of RPG, immersive sim, and more, creating a mix that feels unique and engaging. The game’s lengthy campaign does feature some questionable progression at times, with somewhat needless soulslike elements, time-consuming puzzles, and an uneven balance, but none of these flaws could ruin the game for me. Graven is not just a mechanically fun FPS, it’s also a great journey worth experiencing for yourself – but next to spellbooks, metal swords, and medieval armor, do remember to pack a healthy dose of patience, as its often convoluted design can cause some frustration.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is my favorite expansion ever. Supplanting the twins of The Witcher 3: Blood & Wine, and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, there is more to do here than most games twice over. Outside of an over-tuned final boss, I have zero major gripes and dozens of things I adore. It’s not easy, it’s not meant to be, but it is amazing.

#Blud is a damned funny title with a great art style. While the combat and puzzles could leave me feeling a bit burnt out at times it’s still an easy recommendation for anyone looking for a beautiful, funny dungeon crawler.

Still Wakes the Deep is a special experience. A brilliant setting for a horror story is matched by quality writing and stellar voice acting.

For any fan of Alan Wake 2 and especially those that are invested in the greater Remedy storylines this expansion is a no-brainer. It’s $20 for this and the second release, Lake House, which should hit around October 2024. Do yourself a favor and play this ASAP and with as little info going in as possible. It looks and runs great and adds exciting new branches to the ever-expanding storyline of Remedy’s future titles.

Horizon Chase 2 is a brilliant sequel to an already fun retro-themed racer. Gorgeous visuals, much-improved track designs, better handling, a more interesting progression and even a brand new online mode with cross-play to boot. It may lack the cinematic story presentation of the first game’s Senna Forever DLC, but other than that, this sequel is the best the series has ever been, and it’s a pretty much essential buy for fans of old school racers.

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is a great refresh of a game that I had gripes with back then. Besides the far more interesting Vengeance route, the additional quality-of-life changes, added mechanics, and greatly improved performance make Vengeance easily the best version of a great turn-based RPG. Great for returning players and an even better deal for new ones.

Tour De France 2024 isn’t for everyone, and it feels somewhat poorly made in a lot of areas, but it’s still an interesting game for cycling fans who, especially on console, don’t have a lot to pick from anyway.

Ultimately, Turbo Dash Kart 2024 Racing is somewhat serviceable in terms of driving experience and not exactly broken in any significant way. But at the same time, the game design is as basic and generic as it gets, with nothing that really stands out, no part of the game that feels particularly finetuned, and no true reason to play this specific game over the dozens of far superior Mario Kart clones available on Xbox alone. The lack of any form of multiplayer pretty much seals the deal. Hardcore fans of kart racers may spend a passable couple hours here, but I wouldn’t recommend this game to others.

Destiny 2: The Final Shape mixes incredible environmental art, fun gameplay, and a compelling new subclass with a boring story full of predictable cliches. It’s not the rebirth of Destiny 2 that some were hoping for, but it’s still as fun to play as ever. If you felt burnt out this expansion isn’t likely to change that. If you want to ignore a disappointing story and enjoy a gorgeous new area to play through with a plethora of fun new toys then this one is worth checking out once the server issues clear up, if the $50 price tag doesn’t scare you off.

The gameplay and visual variety will have to improve a little bit as the game’s seasons progress, with perhaps some more ambition to be expected in future content updates. Still, the game’s core is already very strong, offering that classic arena shooting experience that even recent titles in Activision’s long lasting franchise seem to have abandoned, in favour of a more chaotic experience – for better or worse that may be. Ubisoft have a great multiplayer first person shooter in their hands: now it’s up to them to make it a mainstay for enthusiasts via a convincing post-launch support. For one, I’ll be here to play for the foreseeable future.

Humanity is an excellent blend of puzzle and platformer that has an enormous amount of content. It’s one that will be in my Quick Resume for a long time as I jump in for a quick puzzle or two. It’s in Game Pass at launch on Xbox and I highly recommend anyone interested give it a spin.

I think HYPERCHARGE Unboxed’s biggest strength has been its marketing over the years. They’re not going for some live service title that is your forever game. The base game is $30 and if you have friends to play with you’ll get a week or two of fun out of the campaign as you try to unlock everything. It’s never bad, it’s never great, it’s fine.

Turbo Golf Racing is a great racing game and an all right golfing experience. It’s got an appealing visual style and music and it’s a casual title that’s easy to pick up and play but it’s also hard to master. There’s lots of customisation you can unlock to stand out of the crowd, no matter the playstyle. If RC cars and balls appeal to you, this game is for you.

Jokes and gaming slash cartoon references swim freely in this self-aware point and click adventure. I thoroughly enjoyed the humour in “Jorel’s Brother and The Most Important Game of the Galaxy” short runtime, even with a middling middle portion. A good title to experience on the go and for fans of the original television show.

Despite the backing of a company as large and as well-funded as Microsoft, Ninja Theory have, in my opinion, nurtured their independent spirit and kept it well and truly alive in every facet. It's brutal. It's breath-taking. It's brilliant. If this is “Independent AAA”, sign me up for more.

Pool Party is a fun sit-down and get-dirty physics-based party game that’s a lot of fun to play but feels lacking in its content offerings. Easy to pick up and play for everyone, even the less gaming-inclined.

System Shock is an all-time classic, and this is by far the best way to experience it. Nightdive Studios have followed through on their promise and delivered a full remake that gets what made the original so special.

While the level design is serviceable and the budget of the game clearly shows in things like the UI, the combat flows very well once you get a hang of it and the game is always giving you more monstrosities to slash into ribbons. Morbid: The Lords of Ire might not be the best soulslike I’ve played, but it’s absolutely one of the better games in the genre. And considering it’s not launching as a full-priced game, it’s hard not to recommend the game for fans of the genre looking for something similar but still fun enough to have a good time.

Revisiting Braid: Anniversary Edition has been a nice nostalgic experience for me, having not played the original since I fully completed it back in 2008. I was amazed at how some solutions had been completely forgotten by my aging brain, and it was lovely to get that feeling of being a genius all over again. Equally though, I found the discordant screeching of the audio mix combined when rewinding time to be too loud and more than a little irritating, but it’s a very minor niggle indeed. Maybe I’m just getting old.

Mediterranea Inferno is an excellent contemporary visual novel that will connect to you even through its eccentricities. A gorgeous presentation along with a mash of personal struggle grounded in Italian culture and LGBT-positive themes.

Little Kitty, Big City is a short and sweet experience, much like this review. Full of charm and heart, it’s well worth checking out Day One on Xbox Game Pass whether you’re a cat person or not.

Sea of Thieves remains an incredible experience for those of us who like to venture out into the unknown. The framework provided by the quests and the world is merely a routine, a backdrop of activities that allows the wonderfully unexpected and often hilarious to happen. It’s a beautiful and incredibly realised shared-world adventure, and for many players, the question of what might be over that horizon remains as alluring as ever.

Indika is an odd, wonderful title. Mixing 3D photo-realistic art with 2D-pixel graphics makes some bold choices. Excellent writing and voice acting help carry mediocre gameplay and created an experience I will never forget.

All in all, it’s a very promising start for Sker Ritual – I’m eager to see patches, balance changes, DLCs or even a sequel tackle the few shortcomings, because, underneath it all, it has all the elements that made us fall in love with the Zombies formula and then some. Bravo!

Ultimately, Richman 11 boils down to being a very well-made videogame rendition of a solid, though not particularly original or unmissable virtual board game. With multiple game modes, tons of customization, large amounts of shenanigans happening in the match with cards, deities, and more, plus even a solid online mode, it’s hard to ask more from a videogame of this kind. But the board game itself, underneath it all, is a slightly more varied but also somewhat more monotonous Monopoly, one that I don’t consider to be endlessly replayable like certain classics. Still, with this much content and all sorts of local and online multiplayer options, Richman 11 is easily one of the better board game experiences on Xbox, especially for younger folks who’d prefer something a bit more accessible.

Another Crab’s Treasure is a balls-hard Soulslike that was one of the most frustrating experiences of my reviewing career until I gave in and used its game-saving accessibility options. Once the difficulty was better balanced the game’s humor and heart were able to shine through.

SAND LAND offers a big beautiful dust bowl for players to explore to their hearts’ content. I found its story and its characters to be the main driver for my playthrough, but the fun vehicle combat went hand-in-hand in my enjoyment of the game. A great adaptation of a legend’s work.

Right now I’m not having nearly as much fun as I was hoping. Gorgeous visuals, occasionally stellar combat, and an intriguing narrative have been held back by progression issues, and far too much busywork in-between runs. I have confidence that Moon Studios will figure things out, though, and that by version 1.0 this game could be an all-timer. [Early Access Provisional Score = 65]

There’s nothing actually inherently wrong or bad with Wrath of the Mutants in terms of mechanics and combat. It’s a serviceable scrolling beat ’em up that brilliantly pays homage to the TV show it’s based on. I guess the “issue” is, that it’s not great either. It’s just ok. It’s just that “being ok” really stands out at a time when scrolling beat ’em ups are experiencing a renaissance with games releasing in the genre that stand toe to toe with classics of the past. Wrath of the Mutants does not. But I guess that’s ok.

Tales of Kenzera: Zau is a triumphant debut for Surgent Studios. At $20, and available on day one for PlayStation+ subscribers, any fan of the action-platformer genre would do well to check it out. Zau’s journey through loss will stick with me for a long time, and the excellent gameplay already has me itching to play through it all again.

TopSpin 2K25 is a massive disappointment. Feeling more like beta software, with a lack of modes, players, and fun. I cannot recommend this one at the egregious $70 price point.

With the Kickstarter long behind, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes was easily worth the backing fee, my copy coming in just last Friday. I was skeptical, as stories with enormous casts don’t always fare well in pacing—but great combat, excellent visuals, and an entertaining story about rising from the ruins of warmongering makes for a fantastic turn-based time.

I’d like to say something more original or outstanding about ArcRunner, but in so many ways it’s as generic of a cyberpunk third person roguelite shooter as it gets. Solid visuals, a decent soundtrack, enjoyable but not outstanding gameplay, though impacted by a low variety that becomes evident when grinding through near identical scenarios one after another. And yet, I had a great time with this game, with tight difficulty and risk vs reward gameplay making it an enjoyable way to pass a couple evenings in this relatively unexciting April of new releases. If you need some mindless action that plays and looks pretty good, do keep an eye out for this one.

A distinct lack of it’s own identity, a bit of jank, some uneven performance and a lack of online multiplayer perhaps doesn’t make it into an essential buy, but if you’re nostalgic for FlatOut games, or just the arcade racer attitude of the 00’s and are able to put up with some of the jank, you will surely have a lovely time in Trail Out.

If you’re expecting more action and puzzles, then boy, you might bounce right off this one once you’ve finished gawking at how pretty it all is. My advice? Take it slow, and enjoy every moment with this bizarre and eccentric cast of characters. Games like Harold Halibut don’t come around very often.

House Flipper 2 is a massive improvement over the first game. While it can have some issues with a controller it’s not enough to keep me from recommending the title. Painting, Planting, Selling, and Flipping has never been a more enjoyably chill vibe than it is here.

Ereban: Shadow Legacy is an occasionally pretty, decently fun title. It’s not too long, and if you’re into collecting things there’s a solid reason to replay each chapter. I’m not sure when it is going to hit Xbox but if you have even a decent PC and love stealth platformers then this could be one worth picking up.

Botany Manor is an enjoyable puzzle-focused adventure with an obsession in weird plants and an interesting estate. What might be lacking in overall narrative is made up for pleasant pacing and a relaxing homework assignment at a country side world of plants.

So ultimately, Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection is a severely disappointing remaster work of two classics that aged a good bunch, yet are still enjoyable due to the sheer quality of these iconic shooters.

Despite the lack of quality of life features, however, GRANDIA HD Collection serves as a great way for players to play a set of excellent RPGs on modern platforms. Either games can be played to your liking at anytime and are great fun thanks to a solid combat system and presentation.

Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is not made for everyone. It’s an odd duck in the way it controls, the way it tells its story and the way it simulates the world, but it truly is a great way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon. Want a conventional strategy game or city-builder? Look elsewhere. Are you in for something executed by a single developer, taking risks and doing something new? Well then – The Ursee awaits.

A new score and weapon mechanic compliments Contra: Operation Galuga’s fun gameplay, but they can’t cover for levels that feel poorly paced and uninteresting enemy design.

For me, for a multiplayer game all focused on replaying levels again and again, the very fact that both my teammates and I were already tired at the mere suggestion of playing through all this snow again, meant one thing. I’m afraid I’m going to have sit this blizzard out.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a fantastic video game. It improves on every facet of the first title. An excellent main quest is paired with Capcom’s best English VO, and some incredible emergent combat.

Alone in the Dark has come a long way from its initial showings. Clever writing, great performances by its two leads, and solid gameplay come together to give the franchise a new life.

Outcast: A New Beginning does its best to invoke a sense of wonder as you jetpack 4 feet off of the ground in an occasionally beautiful alien world. Weak writing, terrible performance, and repetitive quest design work together to make it a dour experience in the end.

Swarm 2 is a ton of fun. You’ll swing around shooting robots in decent-sized arenas until you can barely stand because it feels so damned good. A solid progression system and good looks don’t hurt either.

Unicorn Overlord is a fantastic strategy game that is both gorgeous as it is fun. Tactics fans are in for a treat, and even those weak to the genre find this game to be a fulfilling experience.

WWE 2K24 is the best wrestling game that Visual Concepts has made by far. They have a complete package, with a massive roster, and a clear vision. If you’ve held off on upgrading at launch the last few years I think this is the time to jump in.

From solid level design and an extremely well-done character controller, this game is an easy recommendation for the momentum-favoured platformer player.

Outlast Trials may not be for everyone, but I feel confident in saying that those that do love it, will really love it, and considering Red Barrels approach to listening to player feedback throughout it’s early access, it’s sure to be a worthwhile investment.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake is still a journey worth taking, and remains a shining example of how gameplay and narrative can combine to produce something that only this medium can provide. However, fans of the original will find little new here outside of a very nice coat of fresh paint and some easy to obtain achievement points.

Expeditions: A Mudrunner game looks great and is a more palatable entry in the series. It’s still full of that truck-puzzle maddening charm though, so both new entrants and fans of the series alike have a lot to enjoy in this 100+ hour-long title.

Star Wars: Dark Forces Remastered is a remaster done right. Its main issue is the game it is remastering doesn’t hold up to modern titles well enough. If you have that itch to dive back in and the $30 price isn’t too much then it is well worth the price. If you don’t have those feelings though, it’s tough to recommend.

Momodora: Moonlit Farewell is a great 2D platformer title that boasts a beautiful presentation and good level design that can challenge but never strangle you. Good narrative pacing and ability acquisitions keep Momo’s game from becoming stale—and don’t get me started on the fun boss fights. A perfect title for the Metroidvania faithful and newcomer.

Return to Grace is a short but sweet narrative adventure game. The puzzles are infrequent and never frustrating, while the storytelling and voice acting do an admirable job in telling this futuristic tale about the hopes and dreams of humanity. I think it’s well worth checking out on Game Pass.

It may not be the “AAAA” game Ubisoft touted, but with a solid enough foundation, a decently planned bevy of seasonal content ahead of it, and the uniqueness of making the ship and gear the focus, it may be finally on the right course after all.

Balatro is my new gaming obsession, I frigging love it. Deckbuilding roguelikes have had some phenomenal games over the years. Balatro reaches the lofty peak of Slay the Spire and has me hooked even harder than that incredible game ever did. You should buy it, now. Buylatro!

Now mind, if you do enjoy the oppressive approach to randomness and lack of resources, Daemonhunters is a great XCOM-like with your favourite band of Marines. Even a newcomer could pick up this game pretty quickly thanks to a solid tutorial and a decent user experience. It’s a blast up until the chaos begins and that just might be a make it or break it moment for the player.

PlateUp! is barrels of fun if you’re playing with friends or family. You’ll be barking orders to one-another before you know it. And even if you fail, you’ll find yourself starting another run in this fairly addicting cooking slash restaurant management roguelike.

A Little to the Left is at its absolute best when it’s focusing on finding just the right spot for everyday things, and at its worst when it’s operating on its own, chaotic-puzzle logic. Those two worlds and design choices are at odds in my opinion, and collide to unfortunately produce an uneven end result. However, I feel confident in saying any puzzle game fan will find something to like and perhaps even love here, and with it being available to try on Xbox Game Pass, it’s worth a download.

Gunvolt Records Cychronicle works great for what it is: a spin-off game with fanservice to Gunvolt fans, the game including CD versions of the series’ songs and all. But it’s also a fun rhythm game for anyone to pick up and play—it might even be convincing enough for new players to check out INTI’s catalogue of fun action platformers like the Gunvolt series.

In the end, Tomb Raider I-III Remastered brings us back to arguably the most exciting era of the franchise, allowing us to revisit with updated controls and graphics these iconic action adventure classics, while also mantaining the smart level designs, puzzles, etc. as they should be – though, for better or worse, without any real attempt to fix any of the games’ shortcomings either. While the game does indeed look and control better, there seems to be a rather heavy-handed use of AI for upscaling textures, with also various locations where the completely different lightning models used drastically alter the atmosphere – often for the worse. There’s also no real new content or updates, making it feel like we’re playing a slightly modded version of the originals. Which, for a Tomb Raider aficionado like me, is absolutely fine – these games still hold up for the most part, even though some of the action-packed sequences and convoluted puzzles of 2 and 3 are a bit over the top.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is a fantastic video game. It is the type that raises the medium and shows how incredible these experiences can be. The combat is good enough to rarely hinder your enjoyment as you help or harm the local populace. In an era where new single-player IPs are hard to find, this one deserves to succeed.

It aims to do a single thing, which is being a deep and addictive round-based bullet heaven shooter, with a ludicrous amount of items, weapons and upgrades that allow for quite literally infinite builds. It may lack the variety of Vampire Survivors, the production values of Soulstone Survivors and so on, but Brotato’s short-burst rushes of adrenaline make it one hell of a game anyway. And since it’s on Game Pass and otherwise only costs about 5 bucks… it’s hard not to recommend Brotato to anybody on Xbox.

As disappointed as I was with the first DLC I think I dislike the second one even more. It’s a mishmash of unenjoyable mini-games, and while the music is great the gameplay is not.

For fans of Destiny, The Division, and all the loot-focused games-as-a-service titles, this is a damned good one at launch. We’ll see if they can continue to grow and improve it over time.

The visuals are gorgeous, the pacing isn't overtly stretched out, the combat is fun and fluid, and the story is still great. Anyone can get in on this game's excellent blend of school life and role-playing genres and I can wholeheartedly recommend this game, not just because Persona 3 is a classic for me, but because Persona 3 Reload is genuinely fantastic.

Go Mecha Ball is a fantastic title to get on Game Pass. It looks great and plays incredibly well. The audio package and setup may leave me wanting but I can see this being one I dive back into repeatedly over the coming months to experience its sublime gameplay.

From cute visuals to the occasional brow-furrowing object hunt, Hidden Through Time 2 is a mostly relaxing object hunting game. Lots of levels to take on that’ll keep you busy for some hours. Though the time mechanism isn’t all that and the single-looping songs might get a bit unpleasant, it shouldn’t stop you from getting a warm feeling of finding a well-hidden book.

Lil Guardsman is funny, occasionally heartwarming, and a ton of fun. It takes a simple premise and builds it into a unique and excellent video game.

TEKKEN 8 is an outstanding fighting game. An extremely strong 3D fighter with lots of offline content, strong core mechanics, and all around a fun and stylish game. TEKKEN continues to show the world why it’s the winner of the Iron Fist Tournament.

Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth opens 2024 with a bang, showcasing the best of what the series has to offer and more.

Barring a middling ‘middle’ entry, The Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy brings a set of great games from a series I love to the big screen. There’s no beating the bush around this one: this collection does Apollo Justice.

Bulletstorm was been a guilty pleasure of mine around launch. It was never the best looking, and the story was terrible. It was just good, mindless FPS fun. The translation to VR, while commendable, doesn’t translate into an enjoyable gameplay experience. Combine that with a game that hasn’t aged well, and constant crashing on both PC and Quest 3, especially at $40, is not something I can recommend.

Turnip Boy Robs A Bank is a damned good time, that is just as long as it needs to be. Whether you’ve played the first game or not it is well worth checking out on Game Pass. Good looks, fun gameplay, and excellent music make it another solid addition to the platform.

The Spy Who Shot Me expertly manages to both be a homage and a parody to the legendary GoldenEye 007 on Nintendo 64, offering a little humorous gem that plays like old school shooters (though not all that much like its source material), but not without a handful of shortcomings and compromises that doesn’t quite allow it to enter the hall of fame of boomer shooters. Still, the game’s cool style, cheap price (about 8 bucks) and surprisingly decent gameplay variety makes this an enjoyable romp to blast through on a rainy evening or two, starting this 2024 on Xbox with a fun and funny experience.

An instant classic that gets what makes the Metroidvania genre so good.