The game follows the typical Super PowerUP Games Pinball setup of having incredibly easy-to-obtain achievements. With a modicum of skill, you’ll be able to snag 1000g in 30 minutes to an hour. There isn’t anything else to the game, like always, so unless you’re that desperate to get your gamerscore up for $3 US this one is impossible to recommend. It’s a generic, boring, table that looks fine but is not satisfying to play.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is a beautiful, challenging, and occasionally infuriating love letter to old-school FPS titles. It’s just the right length and despite a few flaws it is worth a purchase on both console or PC.

Despite a fairly negative-sounding review, Protodroid DeLTA is a fun game. It manages to capture most of the magic of action-platformers of the era, Mega Man X in particular but also the Sonic Adventure games to an extent, with fun, dynamic combat and tons of platforming and a bright, colourful look. Unfortunately, while the gameplay has its moments, it’s also not quite as precise and polished as such a game would require, and with how prevalent and difficult the platforming sequences become, this is certainly a big issue. Nostalgic gamers and people dying to play something resemblign a new 3D Mega Man are still bound to have a pretty fun time with Protodroid DeLTA, and here’s hoping that the title can be successful enough to warrant a sequel that fixes some of its shortcomings.

As the credits rolled, I found myself reflecting on companionship and what shared experiences mean to me personally. How many games can do that to a player?

I could barely be happier with the end result, and so even with a few hiccups, LEGO 2K Drive is one of the most fun arcade racers in recent years and already one of my favourite games of 2023, and one that I really hope to see become a long-lasting franchise.

Aside from a handful of technical hiccups, TrackMania (2020) is in many ways the highest point of the series so far, with more game modes, events and updates than ever. It may not be the racing game for everybody, but if you’re willing to dedicate yourself to an adrenaline-packed yet technical arcade racer for months or years to come, you’ll find a lot to love in Nadeo’s and Ubisoft’s latest racer.

The Creepy Syndrome is not creepy and features no syndromes. It is a low-budget horror title that relies entirely on jump scares and stilted, cliché-filled writing. If you skip the dialogue and get a strategy video you can get an easy 1000g out of it in an hour or two, but you will not have an enjoyable time while doing so.

Teslagrad 2 is a short but well-designed and pleasant experience. Perfect for those who just want to master speed and puzzle solving in a Metroidvania over fighting hordes of enemies.

It ultimately feels like the game’s developers are not really sure who they’re targeting with this game. It doesn’t have the depth and simulation levels to be appreciated by hardcore racing fans, but it also has a difficult driving model that isn’t at all snappy and reactive, making each corner feel like a major commitment under braking and while riding out the racing line. And with only the limited variety of tracks that the island offers, an unimpressive and frankly unnecessary open world addition, flat graphics and rather basic game features, it’s hard to recommend the rather average experience that is TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 3, one that I hoped would be a bigger upgrade from RiMS Racing.

I beat the game and earned all 1000g in roughly 25 minutes of playtime. For $5 it’s an easy sell for achievement hunters out there, and one of the better playing achieve games I’ve played.

Mia and the Dragon Princess is worth a look if you are a fan of this type of game. Impressive acting talent is present although they are in full-on ‘hamming it up’ mode, the fight scenes are well choreographed and there are a few killer lines of dialogue. If the idea of a children’s TV drama mixed with a brutal British gangster film appeals to you, this could be a dream come true.

In Ravenlok’s well-paced narrative and gameplay structure, I’m sad to say that I didn’t find the game to be very compelling. For every fun puzzle there was another quest or dull combat sequence that I button mashed out of with ease. Still, I could appreciate the expectations the game places on the player to simply figure things out on their own and having a straightforward, no-nonsense plot. A lost art in gaming (and arguably other mediums) today.

Redfall is fantastic in most ways. A few baffling design decisions around its co-op implementation and some frustrating technical issues hold it back. It is fun as hell solo, and ridiculously so in co-op. With a little post-launch support it is going to become something special. This may end up being Arkane’s worst-reviewed title ever, but it is going to be their most successful. Alone or with friends Redfall is a game any fan of the genre should play.

If you can handle some curious design quirks, a few bugs, and don’t mind poking around in the dark looking for clues, The Last Case of Benedict Fox might just be a breath of fresh air.

With a low play time of 2 hours or less, I would definitely recommend this game if you are at all interested. The story is engaging, even though it ends abruptly. You might feel yourself wanting more, but if you save your progress along the way, you can go back and complete those mini-games you might have skipped or try to find the secret scenes. there isn’t much to dislike about this charming installment other than it ends too soon.

STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor continues Respawn’s run as one of the best in the industry. It is an incredible accomplishment, blending top-tier gameplay and narrative in a package few games can match. Performance during my review was rough, but if they can smooth it out then this is a game that no one should miss. For fans of STAR WARS, this is the game we have been waiting for. One that fixes the mistakes of the previous, and soars to heights we could have only dreamed of.

I had a good time with Afterimage. Its levels got more and more interesting as you progressed, the characters you’d run into were well-acted and I liked the interactions Renee had with them. There’s a lot of game to go through with Afterimage, multiple endings in fact. And though I spent most of my time cheesing encounters because I could, and I take issues with the game’s presentation, there’s a strong gameplay loop that I think many players, especially those new to Metroidvania-style games, will enjoy in Aurogon Shanghai’s first venture into 2D action games.

Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak is loaded with even more content and more ways to play said content. The changes to the weapons, to the gear and the added variety in both monsters and locale, make this an easy recommendation for anyone who enjoys the game and wants reasons to either keep playing or to come back. If you haven’t gotten your fill of hunting monsters yet, Elgado Outpost could surely use your help.

I can’t stress enough how close Embers is to something great here. Strayed Lights is just a few design decisions, tweaks and adjustments away from being fantastic. It’s a beautiful world you want to explore, but you just need a touch more guidance to feel less aimless. Even as someone who cares little for story in games, a little something here might help players feel more connected with the world.

While I enjoyed catching up with some of the familiar faces, Coffee Talk Episode 2 doesn’t add anything to make for a better experience and overall feels lesser than the first. Thankfully, Game Pass makes this an easy recommendation for the music alone, but I don’t think you’d be missing out on much if you stopped with the first game.

It’s the simplicity of the game that makes it so much fun to play—it’s just done so well. The gorgeous visuals, solid score, and strong gameplay system make The Mageseekers: A League of Legends Story so easy to recommend to anyone. This game is way too good to pass up on.

Dead Island 2 is fantastic. It knows what it is, and that’s a ton of sneakily smart dumb fun. The FLESH system is horrific and awful and the best. Smashing, chopping, burning, and exploding humans has never been so fun. At $70 some may want to wait as it isn’t the longest campaign. I’m already doing a second playthrough though, and this is a game I’ll be coming back to for a long time.

God of Rock is a unique rhythm game experience that offers a lot in the way of gameplay options and content. Online and crossplay are also present alongside a custom notetrack maker for songs that easy to use. And even if I like the idea and the aesthetics, I felt that the game doesn’t really know whether to focus on being a fighter or a rhythm game and I ultimately left the game with middling feelings.

There is no part of this game that warrants it’s $40 asking price. It would be a bad deal at a quarter of that cost. Mediocre driving, poor performance, terrible world textures, ridiculous achievements, and a lack of any intriguing content make me question what is a “simulator” about it at all.

Minecraft Legends wasn't a game I was particularly excited about, mostly due to its strategy leanings. However, it's always nice to be surprised, and there's a lot of fun to be had, particularly with friends online. The single player can be as chill as you'd like it to be, but PVP is absolute panic-inducing carnage in the best kind of way.

Ghostwire: Tokyo is finally on Xbox, and of course, it’s on Game Pass. It features fast and fluid combat, that takes a little too long to get going. The gorgeous recreation of Japan is hampered by severe performance issues in all but the ugliest graphical mode, but the story is interesting enough to push on through. It might not reach the highs of the studio’s title Hi-Fi Rush, but few games do and Ghostwire: Tokyo is a damned fun game in its own right.

Sherlock Holmes The Awakened does what a good remake should, and remakes the entire game. New graphics, gameplay, story elements, dialogue, and more all work to bring together an experience any fan of detective-focused gameplay will love. It has some issues with signposting and movement bugs, but if you love Sherlock Holmes then this is a trip worth taking.

Meg’s Monster offers a heartwarming tale for those that love watching gruff big guys become sweethearts over an unsuspecting intrusion in their lives. And with strong art direction, pleasant music, and a well-paced story, this game is a no-brainer for story lovers.

Thirty minutes gets you 1000 Gamerscore and a stiff neck from a whiplash of an ending. For the price of a fast food burger you get to see meaningless digital numbers go up, and sometimes that’s all you want out of a night.

For $3 US this is one of the better titles for achievement hunters to check out. It’s cheap, decently fun to play, and all of the achievements can be earned in no more than two hours.

Road 96: Mile 0 may be an interesting experience to anyone new to the universe but can hardly be classed as an essential play. Mixing rhythm gaming sections into the standard walking simulator gameplay is somewhat jarring and frankly unnecessary. It may have been a better idea to release a standalone title for rhythm fans than taint the gameplay style that had worked so well previously. This game can easily be avoided without really missing out on anything, especially for fans of the original game for whom the narrative is already flawed.

Until they fix the level 14 achievement, don’t buy this one for a quick 1000 achievement score fix, which is what this series is about. Keep an eye on the user reviews and once it’s fixed this is another mind-numbingly boring $10 Aery game. You know what you’re getting, and it isn’t very good, but at least it’s short.

ACL Pro Cornhole is overpriced, and a miserable slog to play against the computer. The physics behind your shots never feels consistent, it looks terrible, and even in couch co-op, this is simply one I cannot recommend.

Infinite Guitars has so much potential. It is a shame to see its wonderful music, killer art style, potentially intriguing story, and promising combat system ruined by questionable design choices.

Rally Adventure is grounded expansion. Those aren’t typically my favorite in the Horizon series, but this one is the exception. I’m still not a huge fan of the chatter from the NPCs but every other part of this expansion is top-notch. If you love the base game, this is more of it in a better-than-ever package.

In short, this is a solid port. It’s well worth the dime if you’re looking to kill some time. Kingdom Rush is a solid franchise, and those who play it are forever wise.

LUNARK was a game I had never heard of a day before this review, and I loved my time with it. A beautifully realized throwback look is mixed with fun gameplay and an incredible soundtrack. For $20 if the premise sounds interesting to you then you should do yourself a favor and give this one a go.

Saga of Sins looks good. Its use of the stained glass window art style is its only redeeming feature, though. The gameplay is atrocious, and the level design is no better. The voice acting and music are passable at this price point, but I can’t recommend this game to anyone in good faith.

If you can find a way to break through the difficulty barrier, there’s a fantastic brawler on offer here that I definitely think is the template going forward to bring the 2D scrolling beat ’em ups into the 3D world. Where previous efforts like Die Hard Arcade didn’t quite stick the landing, SIFU definitely takes home the gold.

This is possibly one of the most deeply emotional gaming experiences out there and boasts an art style that works perfectly for a visual novel. As well as serving up a unique game mechanic this is an inexpensive title that could easily go unnoticed in this world of AAA behemoths, but hopefully, it will get the attention that it rightly deserves. Delivering a truly different gaming experience, fans of the genre are sure to appreciate what is on offer here. After all, any game with a pumping theme tune in the style of the soundtrack to Road 96, which shouts out the classic French indie game “Night Call” has to be worth anybody’s time. It is strangely cathartic to lead a broken character through one of her darkest days and succeed in leading her out into the sunshine with the hope of a better life going forwards.

Dredge is an absolute gem. It features a rich, compelling narrative alongside an excellent gameplay and upgrade loop. It doesn’t overstay its welcome and has an excellent narrative. It is a game that you should not miss.

This is easily Gust’s best Atelier game. Offering a fun and relaxing experience for those that want to craft and battle away, this is the best final chapter Ryza could ask for.

I think it is fair to say that Deliver Us Mars is a frustrating experience and somewhat of a let-down compared to Deliver Us The Moon. While the environmental art style, musical score, platforming and accessibility settings are of a high standard, far too many aspects of the game are poor. This becomes even worse when you consider that this is the glitchiest game I have ever played on my Xbox Series X.

Compared to the recent Security Breach and Hello Neighbor, Bendy and the Dark Revival succeeds at being the better game by having proper level design and, for the most part, proper enemy encounters. It’s a shame it falls flat in so many regards because had it not been for the clumsier BioShock-like gameplay and the port being a spot of frustration, Bendy’s latest retreat could’ve been a solid adventure title. Still, the groundwork is present if not a bit misguided and it’s a good canvas as any to ink future entries onto. Which I approve of! I find this style of bedroom horror more interesting than the thirteenth billion zombie shooter anyway.

After I completed the game, I couldn’t wait to start it over again, and I never thought that with any of the previous action-oriented RE titles. Whether you’re a fan of the original or tend to gravitate towards the non-action-oriented games in the series, I think Resident Evil 4 Remake is well worth your time.

Defend the Rook is a solid roguelike-tower-defense-tactics game. It’s a unique spin on a handful of genres that I like, but it has some control and difficulty issues that hold it back.

For a full launch, I think there’s plenty of content that’ll keep you entertained. It has a strong driving model with interesting mechanics and plenty of modes to tackle alone, with a pair, or a group of mates. I find KartRider: Drift to be very addicting, seeing as I’ve put well over 50 hours into the game already, I can easily see myself putting more than double over the coming months.

In the end, emoji Kart Racer is an extremely basic kart racer with not enough content compared to the competition: 16 tracks ain’t bad, but with no online, no arenas, no time attacks, a low variety of karts, an even lower selection of power-ups, 30 Euros is just a bit too steep. And while some of the level design is visually pleasing, with the technical aspects of the game being surprisingly decent for a budget title like this, the actual design of the courses ranges from passable to annoying, with neither the driving model or the physics proving to be deep or reliable enough to bother coming back for more past the quick, 5 hours or so 1000G of achievements you get by completing the 3 cups and little more. Unless you feel the desire to try every single kart racer on Xbox, you are safe to skip this one and go towards the dozens of better alternatives on the market.

Zombie Derby: Pixel Survival is one of the better Time to Money to 1000g games I’ve played. It’s not offensively bad, nor will it take up much of your time or money.

WWE 2K23 continues the series’ upwards trajectory. It’s a massive package full of different things to do. The roster is enormous, the microtransactions seem egregious in familiar “yearly sports title ways”, and the in-ring action almost nails riding the line between sports sim and scripted tv show. There is a love of the genre on display here and for any major or minor fan of sports entertainment, this year’s entry is worth checking out.

Destiny 2: Lightfall has been a great experience thus far. The gameplay additions, the Quality of Life improvements, and the music and sound design are all best in class. The Lightfall campaign is going to be divisive for a long time to come and I think that’s okay. Its storytelling doesn’t live up to the Witch Queen’s standards, but the level design is top-notch. I loved the characters we met along the way, the post-campaign content, and Neomuna itself. I’m looking forward to the day-one raid coming up very soon and to see what else might happen in this world after it has been beaten by whichever team might be the World’s First. I still have some things I’d like to wrap up in Destiny 2: Lightfall before I deliver my final verdict, but right now, I’m having just as much fun as I ever have in Destiny.

I’ve rarely been so disappointed in a game. Clash is stunning to look at and listen to. It has excellent 1 on 1 combat set in a uniquely crazy world. The utter lack of care for its player’s time and obtuseness to the point of maddening frustration hold back what should be one of the year’s most compelling titles. If you have the skill, patience, and a walkthrough guide this one may be worth a look at on sale.

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse is a fun romp through old fashioned Japanese horror. The atmosphere is lovely, the story is interesting, and though the gameplay might wear down a bit over time, it’s a unique survival horror game that I can recommend to anyone.

Dragon Blaze is a nice-looking, decently fun 23-year-old arcade port. It’s overpriced and the achievements are a real p.i.t.a. to get. If you have a co-op partner and a vertical monitor though there are worse ways to spend your money.

Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania is the dream DLC I never knew I wanted for one of my favorite games of the past decade. It’s full of content that is all of supremely high quality. Whether you own the game outright or play it on Game Pass if any of this sounds the least bit appealing then spend $10 on this expansion. It is phenomenal.

In a vacuum, Pinball FX is for the most part a sensational pinball game, and to be fair the closest competition is Zen Studios own fantastic pinball games themselves – who, for yet another installment, remain the kings of pinball in videogame form.

For $6 the ratio of time to earning all 17 achievements isn’t bad at all, and while it’s not fun per se it isn’t the pure torture that some recent titles I’ve reviewed have been.

Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania is the dream DLC I never knew I wanted for one of my favorite games of the past decade. It’s full of content that is all of supremely high quality. Whether you own the game outright or play it on Game Pass if any of this sounds the least bit appealing then spend $10 on this expansion. It is phenomenal.

It frustrates me that I have to leave Blood Bowl 3 with a middling review, but despite the solid core gameplay, everything around it frustrates me too much for me to continue playing. These issues may be fixed in the future, but at the moment I struggle to recommend this game to fans of Warhammer, strategy, or possibly even the more hardcore Blood Bowl fan.

The Redress of Mira is an oddly titled, terrible experience. It never plays well, and never looks good. It will, however, get you a lot of achievement points in a relatively short period of time.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is an epic ass-kicking time. Featuring ridiculously cool characters, stunning music, and a deeply engaging combat system, this one is an easy recommendation for purchase or downloading on Game Pass.

Accident doesn’t look good, runs poorly, controls even worse, and feels like it’s in bad taste more often than not. The basic premise makes little sense, but it does have an excellent soundtrack of all things. If you’re feeling morbid and want to rescue breath a 13-year-old whose mom is dead in the front seat then get help and still avoid this game.

Scars Above is a good-looking cinematic third person action game with engaging combat, a cool if not particularly original plot narrated via some rather average characters in excellent and exciting locations. As an “AA” release, it cuts some corners compared to the behemoths of the genre to make ends meet, but the end credits roll on a satisfying note before the game’s formula and ideas could become boring or repetitive. Mad Head Games’ first foray into the cinematic third person games doesn’t try to reinvent the formula, yet offers an engaging, memorable and atmospheric adventure that I can wholeheartedly recommend to any fan of the genre who’s able to appreciate the game’s relatively limited scope.

Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator is the best kind of laidback experience you could ask for. Being able to cook meals at your own pace as well as making the restaurant your own space feels cathartic and you could spend hours unlocking and upgrading meals. Not to mention how you decorate your restaurant to appeal to certain crowds, building your own wardrobe, etcetera. A Michelin-star worthy game.

There is a lot in Remoteness that could have worked out well on paper, but the game’s good ideas clash with a disastrous execution where even the basic controls are nearly unusable and almost all elements of the game are severely unfinished and often straight up not working, making it near impossible to even aim and shoot at enemies. That should be the absolute bare minimum a shooter should deliver, but alas, Remoteness fails even at that. As such, I can’t recommend this game to anybody in this state.

Grim Guardians: Demon Purge is a good action platformer that comes together remarkably well. Another score for Inti Creates’ catalogue of fun 2D platformers.

Atomic Heart is an excellent game, and it’s an incredible debut title from Mundfish. Clever storytelling, massive set pieces, fun combat, and more make this one easy to recommend.

Like A Dragon: Ishin! deserves its acclaimed reputation and can only have been improved by this modernising makeover. The story, visuals, sound design, and game mechanics are all top-class. Complexity is the name of the game as usual, but fans of the series will have no complaints about what has been delivered here. Everything that gamers love about the series has been included and improved upon to freshen things up. Even the use of familiar faces feels right when it could have seemed very wrong.

I’m stunned. It is an incredible first effort from the team at Omega Force. Mixing Monster Hunting with Green Lantern crafting works beautifully. I hope this series is around for a very long time, because this game is excellent.

Ten Dates does many things well. For a reasonably cheap title, it has a high-quality look to it, the acting is at the same level as I would expect from a television drama and the gameplay is very inclusive. Interactive movie games have come a long way in the last couple of years and this one is no exception. Of course, it is no ‘Immortality’ but that game has to be considered the zenith of this genre. It may overstay its welcome in the end, but fans of the first game will have a lot of fun playing this. Are Twenty Dates on the horizon? Only time will tell.

Frankly, this game just isn’t very good.

This feels like it’s a cheap Gamerscore game, but it’s neither cheap enough or easy enough to get the full 1000 achievement points. If you can get this for a couple of bucks on sale it might be worth frilling away your time, but even then I’d say give this game a pass.

This is a decent time waster, that’ll get you a bunch of Gamerscore. It’s not a good game, but it’s cheap, and you’ll see your numbers go up. Sometimes that’s all you need out of a couple of bucks and thirty minutes of your time.

Although TRANSIRUBY isn’t particularly evocative, it’s a solid Metroidvania through and through. Completion is a couple of hours, and its slow pacing makes it a game that I can recommend to beginners of the genre.

Hogwarts Legacy borrows a lot of design choices and ideas from other open world titles, and yet, it creates a truly unique product unlike any title in the genre, with a true focus on world-building rather than non-stop combat encounters; and it’s a title that should be experienced, even by those who aren’t Potter fans at all.

The idea of cleaning, repairing, and building ancient European houses and castles was an appealing one. Unfortunately, Castle Renovator fails to be enjoyable by any metric.

Fashion Police Squad is smart, plays pretty well, and doesn’t overstay its welcome. It’s priced at $20 on Steam, and if that holds true for the Xbox launch then this one is an easy recommendation for any lover of first-person shooters and fashion.

It is amazing how much passion was put into this project by its sole developer Matthias Linda and the artists involved. And you can see it permeate through the games gorgeous 16-bit visuals, accompanied by Eddie Marianukroh’s phenomenal score consisting of tempered orchestra and pleasing synthetic melodies. Despite my frustrations with the combat system, there’s a lot of good you’ll find in Chained Echoes. I can easily recommend this game for any Super Nintendo era role-playing game. A beautiful rose with a very sharp thorn.

The Pathless has a nice visual design and cleverly designed puzzles to solve. The movement mechanic is different but may not be to everyone’s taste and could even be off-putting for some. My main issue is that once gameplay has been established in the first and second sections it is pretty much repeated for the remainder of the game. I am sure that there are people out there (completionists especially) who will love this game as it is, but I cannot help but feel that a bit more inventiveness and a less cliché story would have made it much better.

Inkulinati is now available in Game Preview and on Game Pass, and it’s already a very unique turn-based strategy game. The game’s visuals fall into the surprisingly popular recent trend of medieval art, such as the one found in Pentiment, yet offering a compelling combo where players are tasked with assembling a deadly army of anthropomorphic animal soldiers – all this with a highly replayable campaign, much to unlock and even a PvP mode, though that one’s unfortunately limited to local play only. This is a review in progress because the game itself is in development still, but fans of turn-based strategy should absolutely keep an eye on this one.

The game’s cutesy style that reminisces perhaps too many forgettable indie games is only a ruse – the game has charming characters, the humor is on point, the amount and variety of content is quite impressive and, most importantly, the gameplay works very well. It isn’t the most complex or riveting gameplay loop, but then again the popularity of titles like Muse Dash show how simplicity and polish walk hand in hand, and now Rhythm Sprout is furtger proof of this. Recommended to all rhythm game fans looking for a more humorous take on the genre.

The Dead Space Remake has no flaws for me. It took one of my favorite franchises and reinvented it perfectly. It is stunning to look at, and every single change or addition they made works. This remake is a masterpiece and I hope that this is the rebirth that the Dead Space franchise deserves.

At its core, OddBallers is a fun game with an engaging gameplay loop and good enough variety to last for a while, but with little marketing, a seemingly nigh non-existent playerbase and some technical woes it’s hard to recommend this one just yet, unless you’re guaranteed have a group of friends to play with.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is the best SpongeBob game ever. There’s a lot of love that went into this project and you really feel it as you jump, swing, and kick about. A solid pick up for platforming and SpongeBob fans alike, this game is an example of what game software for children (and licensed property) should strive to be.

Hi-Fi RUSH came out of nowhere and floored me. It is one of my favorite-looking games, maybe ever. The combat is sublime, the story is great, and the music just works. Tango Gameworks has shifted from making ok to good horror games and created one of my favorite action platformers of all time.

Shoulders of Giants is a wonderful surprise. It’s a third-person action roguelike with a ton of heart. Great gameplay, stylish graphics, satisfying progression, and a killer soundtrack combine to create a game I loved spending time with. I know it’s great solo so as long as the co-op runs well this is a title you and your friends won’t want to miss.

It is a faithful 1:1 port of the mobile game, for better or worse. The controls work well in the end but did require some time to get used to. At only $10 at launch, it’s an easy purchase if you’re already a fan or someone new to the series. Here’s to hoping that this is just the start of the franchise porting over to consoles.

I think I would have preferred to have more conversations to read as opposed to playing the minigames, but I also think Salamander County covers an odd gaping hole once filled by Xbox Live Indies or Newgrounds games. You’ll likely not open this game again after you’ve stopped playing, but it could keep your nieces and nephews entertained for a moment. And of course, an easy thousand Gamerscore—likely my third time pulling off such a feat!

Its initial teasers promised a gorgeous magical world full of incredible sites. Instead, we’ve been given something boring, that runs terribly and has a story full of overused tropes.

If you love the idea of taking a floppy tube, pointing it at something hot, and spraying all over it until everything is cold and you’re filled with regret then FireFighting Simulator – The Squad can be done alone, but it’s far better with some friends.

Need For Speed Unbound, even at its launch, is certainly rather packed with content. The story sees the player throughout 4 weeks of days and nights throughout many events, some mandatory and most optional, with players always being able to decide how many seen-before events they wanna rush through again for some extra cash. With tons of unlockable and upgradable cars, a robust if uninspired multiplayer and an open world with plenty of things to do, Unbound’s unlikely to last you less than a couple dozen hours, unless you get bored before the end credits of course. But boredom isn’t what I’d associate with the latest installment in this everlasting franchise: Need For Speed has found its identity, and while a few concepts require some finetuning, it’s the best episode in a long while and one of the most stylish and generally finest racers of the generation thus far.

For twenty whole dollars this game is simply a fantastic deal, and one I can easily recommend to any Xbox player, JRPG fan or not. It’s launching on Game Pass too, so there’s no excuse. After all these years, this game still holds up. Hold the lattes for a few days and pick up Persona 4 Golden—you won’t regret it.

For Xbox players, Persona 3 Portable is an amazing game. And despite this version’s flaws, I implore you to give it a go.

Monster Hunter Rise benefits from a tighter focus and massive quality-of-life improvements over its predecessors. The performance is excellent, and your hunts are more enjoyable than ever. With it releasing day one on Game Pass it’s a world worth visiting by yourself or with some buddies.

GRIME is a series of good to great-pieces that are slightly held back by performance issues. Depending on when you’re reading this review I hope those are fixed because this game is fantastic. It’s beautiful, ugly, terrifying, and something any Metroidvania Soulslike fan should love.

Prison Simulator is $20, and I can’t recommend it. While it may be halfway decent on PC control wise it is a mess on console. There is not a single part of the game that is enjoyable to play, and even if it was the overall structure grew stale after a couple of hours of gameplay. This is one Simulation to stay far away from.

It runs terribly on consoles and feels awful to play. The overall setup and amount of content is its best point, but in execution, it simply isn’t fun.

Aery Path of Corruption is only $10, and even at that price, it’s too much. It is an ugly, boring, poorly paced, and thought-out fever dream of a game that even the most freakish feather head would do their best to avoid.