Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition is an eventually great game. It requires a ton of patience to see through, so even though it’s on Game Pass you need to make sure you’re willing to commit that much time because boy does it both start slow and make some head-scratching decisions when it comes to the map and exploration.

Ms. Chalice and the new weaponry and charms are an excellent addition to what was already a stellar package and you can even complete all of it on the simple mode for once! Everyone should at least see if not play this expansion, it is truly wonderful.

Outriders: Worldslayer is a solid 8 or so hour expansion that adds a seemingly long and quite enjoyable endgame grind to what was already a solid title. With the base game on Game Pass, it is worth giving that a shot and if you like it just know that this expansion is available, and it’s damned good. It takes everything the main campaign has and dials it up to eleven in a brilliantly dumb-fun kinda way.

Codemasters figured out long ago what makes a compelling Formula 1 experience to racing fans, and this year's entry is no exception.

Broken Mind can sometimes be a fascinating experience with some interesting story beats and curious playable segments, but it’s sadly hampered by formulaic puzzles, clunky combat and uneven technical polish. The game is still worth a shot for those looking for peculiar horror games.

Besides being a darn good collection, it all comes down to whether or not you’re interested in the games. For fans of Darkstalkers and Capcom’s fighters in general, the improvements and first-time ports are worth it, plus the museum has some nice goodies like concept art and design documents. These games are still visual treats with lovely spritework and animations, too. And while I don’t think this will net a tonne of newcomers into fighting games and Darlkstalkers, ports for today’s hardware (with good improvements!) are always welcome.

With a mixture of wit, humor, and above all else heart this game is something no one should miss. Whether a fan of the Visual Novel genre or not this is a damn near perfect follow-up to the original.

Between the co-op, collectibles, challenges, achievements and upgrades, there’s more reasons to keep going back to Shredder’s Revenge than probably any other game in the genre has ever provided. This is all on top of fun and fantastic combat and a nostalgia overload that most should love. But even those who weren’t necessarily fans of the Ninja Turtles, still have a great scrolling beat ’em up to make their way through.

This game is such a tribute to a beloved genre that it even contains rules that will help you to survive (if you bother to learn them.) It may not be the cheapest but it sure is an experience to enjoy. Having Jason’s ‘kill, kill, kill’ motif echoing around your head as you play it is not a prerequisite but it sure is fun.

A fantastic game. Visual novels normally aren’t my thing, but I quickly found myself engrossed in the mystery. It has one of the best scripts I can remember in a game, and truly stellar voice acting.

Lost Ruins should be an OK game for fans of the genre, as it stands though if you play this game and are ok with its art style then as the zoomers would say, that’s sus. A fun gear system, rather nice graphics, and great music are massively let down by a paint by number, creepy as hell story. Technically I might have been interested in what this dev can do in the future, but God damn man. This game is gross.

The good news is that you can enjoy the hell out of this game without spending a penny, but if you’re either prone to MTX-it is or really care about PVP it wildly throws off the endgame balance.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker is a damned good game.

Spellforce III: Reforced is a great package with a lot of content for players who are into a vibe of playing games like Baldurs Gate and Diablo or fans of RTS games like the original Warcraft 3 or Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War series. While the campaign story is good and understandable it is easy to become overwhelmed by the forced dialogue and the RTS gameplay is intuitive but it can take a while to take it all in and program your hands to use the radial wheels efficiently.

You might think that a music game where the actual rhythm-based segment is not all that memorable is doomed from the start, but this isn’t the case: not in Soundfall’s case, anyway.

Swansong promised a lot but delivered what I felt to be a severely flawed gaming experience. Quality cut-scenes alone cannot carry a title and that has been proved out here. With boring, glacially paced gameplay, janky controls and far too many technical issues wiping out any sense of pleasure gained from playing through to the games anti-climax, I was left wanting.

Silt is a rather short, basic to control game. The story was intriguing from the start, and if you can look past how bland and unfun it is to play at times it might be worth checking out. For me though a nice art style and possibly interesting story simply isn’t enough to overcome how poor feeling and frustrating I found everything else.

Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath is just as good today as it was 17 years ago. In an era of gaming where first-person cameras in third-person games were used as a crutch for early camerawork, Stranger’s Wrath uses it to its advantage to build a solid action-adventure game that I can easily recommend to anyone.

You need to see it in motion to truly appreciate it. Both graphically and setup-wise I’m not sure I’ve played something like it before on an Xbox system.

It’s a comprehensive and entertaining package. The story is a bit basic overall but features well-written, snappy dialogue. Combat is solid and making your ultimate gear setup never got old, and the graphics are gorgeous. Despite their flaming red hair, these twins are full of (Young) Soul(s).

Random glitches aside this is indeed a relaxing exploration game. You identify interesting locations, make your way to them, explore the area and collect things. This is a very inoffensive way to game for a while and I would recommend it.

Monster Energy Supercross 5 is certainly not a revolution, and if you’re still knee-deep into the high octane races of last year’s installment, there’s perhaps not many reasons to upgrade yet. However, a revised physics model and much improved riding assistances make the game a lot more accessible than before, making this the best episode so far for newcomers.

TUNIC is both an incredible and incredibly frustrating title. The combat lets down what otherwise is a masterpiece.

Game length is about right and although there is very little narrative, the story does come full circle and has a satisfying conclusion. If you are looking for a chilled-out, unusual puzzle-solving game I heartily recommend this one.

Kao the Kangaroo is a well-meaning game, and despite some missteps, it is in my opinion one of the better 3D platformers of modern gaming.

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands does not try to reinvent the Borderlands wheel. Instead, it molds it into something fresh enough to satisfy fans of the series that are looking for more.

Catie in MeowmeowLand is extremely niche: unless you are a child, a parent playing with a child, or you simply like really weird and bizarre things.

Crusader Kings III is a phenomenal game that is not for most. If you have the patience, reading ability, and time this is one of the best, funniest, and most varied sim games on the market.

Engaging combat is matched with stellar writing, great music, and most importantly it’s just damned fun.

The game’s variety is not very high in fact, and once you see all the transforming vehicle has to offer, it doesn’t really have many new tricks left up its sleeve. It only lasts a couple hours so it’s certainly not a grave issue, but it’s quite noticeable that Agent Intercept was a fun, if basic mobile game, and the transition to consoles hasn’t really added much value to it.

Featuring some of the best on-the-field action I’ve ever experienced in a baseball title, a massive amount of game modes, excellent commentary from the new team, and incredible customization options, it is worth your time.

An incredible achievement. Spanning 9 feature-length films yet never feeling like it overstays its welcome while featuring tons of actually funny stupid jokes, solid gameplay, gorgeous graphics, great voice acting, and all the nostalgia you could ever wish for this game is a triumph.

If you want to play games that respect your gaming time this is probably not for you. This game has a lot going for it but at the same time contains many things that diminish its playability.

If you enjoy deckbuilding roguelikes, and the thought of one with a competent and voiced story excites you then this is the game for you.

Tunnels of Terror is a great first expansion with a lot of high-quality content and it’s well worth your time and money if the base game ever held your interest.

Road 96 is fun to play, a challenge, and also makes you question your political beliefs. Play this game, help others and always vote against fascism.

I’m shocked at just how much I have enjoyed Godfall. The melee combat is some of the most satisfying out there and the time since release has been well spent as they’ve rebuilt and tweaked what was a weak new-generation launch title into something far more substantial.

Technically, the game does look the part, with solid graphics especially on Xbox Series X where the game was tested, albeit there’s noticeable and rather annoying framerate drops whenever the game loads new players into our session. In the end, I find myself having a good time with Shredders, but there’s still plenty to iron out in its design before it has the chance to be remembered as one of the great snowboarding titles.

At the end of each mission/day, it’s hard to tell how much food everyone needs, there isn’t a bar or gauge to let you know. I also ran into the issue where I couldn’t access my crafting tables and machines … half the game is crafting and building your base. If you can’t do that at the end of the day when you get supplies, what’s the point??

Rogue Legacy 2 is excellent in every conceivable metric. The gameplay is fast, tight, and feels fair. It’s simplistic but beautiful graphically. The music is excellent, and the story is intriguing but not in the way.

The game performed well on my Series X, the artwork, music and voice acting is of the usual high calibre and fans of the universe will find this entry as enjoyable to play as any of the others that have gone before it.

After a slow start Loot River really grew on me.

The game is impressive and an apt tribute to its cinematic roots. Blood spurts satisfyingly as you strike enemies down, burning arrows soar overhead ominously and supernatural sections are sufficiently eerie yet intriguing.

I was shocked by how incredible this game feels to play. Paired with a solid story, great music, and surprising depth it’s an easy recommendation on Game Pass or for its $20 price tag at launch. Whether you’re looking for a balls to the wall thrill ride or something that feels great and is chill to play you can customize the difficulty how you see fit.

The new content is where the game truly opens up for players that have walked these office halls before, and the commentary on more modern video game design starts to creep in, in hilarious and surprising ways.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising is a really good 6 hour game stretched to be nearly three times as long.

Graphically the game looks average at best. It is a muddy and grimy-looking affair. The lighting system works well for the dark settings but a lot of the texture work for the environment and some of the enemies look last gen.

Dolmen wants to put its mark in the Action RPG genre with a potentially intriguing Space/Horror tale that never really goes to space, and isn’t at all scary. It never feels good to play, broke on me constantly, and was an ugly maze of bland/blocky corridors.

Floppy Knights is a fun game that is really close to being a great one. Its major flaw for me is how long everything takes. From mission length to waiting on enemy turns, and the slow loading of the menu system it can be a drag.