At the end of the day Mina the Hollower is a good game that cannot get out of its own way. I appreciate the inclusion of modifiers so that anyone, regardless of skill level or patience, can experience the game from start to finish. It accomplishes what it sets out to do which is to marry the top-down Zelda experience with the difficulty of a Soulslike. In that respect it is extremely well made and if that sounds like your jam, this could be a game of the year contender for you. For me, I enjoyed my time with it in spite of itself. I’m curious to see where this franchise goes next.

My time with Star Fire : The Eternal Cycle was, for the most part enjoyable. The game looks and plays very well, and for this being Ethereal Fish Studios first attempt at a game, I don’t think you could go wrong by picking this up and giving it a try. The title on the Microsoft store retails for $16.99 which is reasonable for a title such as this. There are a lot worse games you could sink more money into buying. If you enjoy the rogue lite genre and like side scrolling beat ‘em ups, then you will probably like this game. If you are looking for fast paced action, you’ve come to the right place. If you are looking for story… you might walk away feeling a little underwhelmed.

The Rugrats Retro Rewind Collection is a novelty at best. The games included are nothing special and the extras are disappointing to say the least. I was really hoping for more with this one. I cannot recommend this to anyone outside the die-hard Rugrats fans who can look past its mediocrity and just enjoy it as a sort of time capsule.

Warhammer 40K Speed Freeks should be commended for trying to fill the enormous Twisted Metal-sized hole that the gaming industry has had for so many years. With an Ork faction who literally seems designed for this, some massive maps and plenty of over-the-top vehicles and weapons; one would think it would have made a bigger dent than it did. Sadly, though the game fails to bring something new and interesting to the battlefield. If you are a Warhammer 40K video game fan as I am, I’d suggest just waiting for a sale on this one.

As the content here feels more akin to a very generous demo than a complete package. I really like the idea of Thick as Thieves, but in its current iteration it has found it self stuck between its PvP past and its Co-Op future and try as it might, to me, Thick as Thieves is trying to cater to both audiences and in the end satisfying neither.

As much as I wanted to like going back to relive some of my childhood memories, this game just doesn’t quite hit the mark. And it made me question when did these types of games become so hard? With its hard levels and limited gameplay modes, I don’t think this is for me. And even if you are a super fan of the series, I would wait to play this till they work out a couple bugs and the game comes down in price.

Ariana and the Elder Codex is a decent metroidvania and one fans of the genre who are desperate for another game to play might enjoy. However, due to its predictable story, uninteresting characters and some notable flaws with visibility/unbalanced difficulty, it’s also one that’s harder to recommend than some others in the genre.

Overall, Bubsy 4D had my attention and when it hits, it is fun to play. Sadly, most of the time it just isn’t. I tried very hard to love this game, and while it is the best Bubsy game to date, it still falls short to most similar platformers. Thirty plus years later I am still waiting for the Bubsy game that will be considered a classic, but at this point I feel it just might not be in the cards for everyone’s favorite bobcat.

Monster Crown: Sin Eater nails the feeling of a more mature and darker, Pokémon game. With its story of revenge for a brother slain it comes out you hard and fast with an evil faction that feels genuinely terrifying instead of just a cartoon threat. The overall story is hit or miss and the overall freeform nature of the game wasn’t really for me, but if you are someone who loves less handholding in your games, well come get revenge with Asur.

Replaced didn’t turn out to be what I thought it was, nevertheless, I enjoyed its narrative and the things it had to say about A.I; given where we are in 2026 it felt pretty timely. I did have some small graphical issues on PC but the fact that the Xbox version is not capable of telling players what buttons to press in order to be successful is just crazy to me. I should not have to spend 10 minutes of trial and error to figure out a mechanic that the game should display in the tutorial. For a game that has been delayed so many times it’s these kinds of bugs that are just simply a bad look for the developer. There is some fun to be had with Replaced on Series X but I would wait for a patch or two before I began to go looking for it.

As a relative noob to Cthulhu’s lore, I really loved Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss because of its more psychological horror nature. It would be easy to make this into a monster blasting, shooter type but the choice to slow things down, and tell a more methodical story was a great thing. As a fan of the investigative type games this was a joy to play despite the issues with performance I had on Series X.

When Icarus originally launched on PC, it was session-based with time-sensitive missions where once your objective was reached, you would be extracted. Hence the roguelite feeling, as anything you built on the surface would be lost. Luckily the developers added the more traditional open survival mode later and if you are playing on console, you get everything all at once, you lucky player you. But as much as I love the more open mode, I do feel like the underlying structure of the session-based mode translates well to console users; especially for those that want to play these games without it feeling like a demanding second job.

Screamer is one of Milestone’s most interesting games for sure, but it has a laundry list of issues that hold it back. These could all be addressed with patches, and some have shortly after launch. I just wonder if players will stick around long enough to see them all. I will definitely keep my eye on it over time, as I do adore a great arcade racing game. Where it stands, Screamer is an interesting game with a few setbacks. Definitely recommend waiting for a sale before diving in.

City Hunter is a hard game to recommend unless you specifically fit into that crossover I mentioned earlier. You need to be a massive fan of the franchise and have some sort of nostalgia for this particularly mediocre side-scrolling action title. Otherwise, it just falls flat. I wanted to love it, TurboGrafx 16 games are normally hidden gems, but this one just exists. I am glad it is available, but there is just not enough here to make it a forgotten classic.

Star Trek Voyager – Across the Universe isn’t going to win any awards for presentation or technical polish. But what it does do right is capture the feeling of commanding a lone Starfleet ship far from home, help and allies. It makes players struggle with if the needs of the many, do in fact outweigh the needs of the few. And honestly, for a lifelong Star Trek fan who never quite fell head over heels with Voyager… that might be the biggest compliment I can give it.

Greedfall: The Dying World feels like a giant leap backwards for the developers at Spiders. I was over the moon when I had heard that Greedfall was getting a sequel, and while this game delivers in its writing and narrative in parts, it pretty much fails in everything else. Lackluster combat, glacial pacing at the onset and bugs galore spoil what should have been a triumphant return for the studio, especially after the greatness that was their last game; Steelrising. With a little energon and a lot of luck the team can probably right this ship, but I’d wait for a sale before heading off for this one.

High on Life 2 capitalizes on what made the original interesting with its guns and boss fights and falls apart on almost everything else. It feels like it isn’t quite finished when it comes to performance and image quality, and a lot of the humor falls flat. I really loved the original game, but the sequel is much harder to recommend. Thankfully it is on Game Pass, so if you subscribe the barrier to entry is low. Otherwise, I have a hard time recommending this one at full price.

Sons of Sparta should have been a slam dunk, but it just has too much holding it back to be a classic. I loved the idea; it was the execution that disappointed me. I want to know more about the Greek era of Kratos, really looking forward to the remakes, but this origin story falls flat at times and the simplified Metroid aspects are not tailored to the character or the game.

The Prisoning is an interesting and unique game and really goes a long way to justifying the return of Acclaim. It feels familiar enough, yet sprinkling in a host of flavor to make it stand out. I really enjoyed playing through the game. The boss fights are the highlight for sure, and I wish it was a bit more fleshed out, but this is a novel title that breaks the standard on several levels. Definitely worth checking out.

This collection is hard to recommend unless you have an extremely strong nostalgia for any of the titles included. Even then revisiting these titles has been a challenge. With the exception of Rocko, there isn’t a ton of fun to be had here. The limited options and upgrades are glaring, and I wish Limited Run would go back to spending more time with these. As of now they just feel like an assembly line of rom dumps, which is hugely disappointing.

Tavern Manager Simulator isn’t a bad game, but it is an uneven one. The late-game systems show real promise and deliver on the tavern-running fantasy, but the slow early progression and frequent crashes on Xbox Series X make the journey harder to recommend. If you’re patient, persistent, and willing to power through the rough opening hours, there’s fun to be found here. Just know that this tavern doesn’t really come alive until long after the doors first open.

This is by far one of the most obscure collections I have experienced to date. Earnest Evans is niche and the other two included games will only be recognized by the hardest of the hardcore. It is also not a lot of fun to play these games, so the nostalgia wears off fairly quickly. It was cool to check out, but I did not find myself coming back for more after a couple hours. This will likely sit in my collection as an oddity, which I guess is fitting as the original games likely suffered the same fate.

There’s a strong identity here, a clear vision, and a combat system that has depth if you’re willing to invest the time. As a newcomer to the series though, I was constantly bombarded with terms, weird items and new systems that felt overwhelming, especially since there is no pause in the game. And then there is the story; if I was asked to explain this game I would have nothing other than “it’s hard, and has anime vampire girl” Code Vein 2 is stylish, punishing, and unapologetically dense. It just might also be a little too closed-off for its own good, and I think a lot of returning fans will be upset with some of the changes, especially the removal of co-op.

In the end the Fighting Force Collection is more of a curiosity than a compilation of classics. Some people have nostalgia for the first game, it was decent. The second game, however, should have remained forgotten. Core Design started strong and ended with a whimper and I would rather remember them for titles like Tomb Raider and Soulstar, and not the travesty that is Fighting Force 2.

Romeo is a Dead Man is experimental in all the right ways when it comes to its aesthetic and visuals but forgets to try anything new when it comes to its gameplay.

In the end, I Hate This Place is a strong survival-horror experience that knows exactly what it wants to be. It’s tense, stylish, and unapologetically hostile, but it’s also fair more often than not. The rough spots are noticeable, but they don’t overshadow the game’s strengths. If you enjoy survival-focused gameplay, atmospheric horror, and a visual style that stands out from the crowd, this is absolutely worth your time.

By the time the dust settles, Haunted House Renovator is far from flawless, yet it remains an oddly engaging detour that leans heavily on its personality. Anyone looking for a straightforward, turn-your-brain-off decorating sim may come away disappointed. Honestly though I think those that come for the haunted bits might be more disappointed. While a really neat idea, the half-baked ‘ghost busting’ brings the whole house down.

For those willing to meet it on its own terms, Rue Valley is something special. It is thoughtful without being pretentious, somber without being hopeless, and confident enough to let its themes speak for themselves. And while Rue Valley certainly has some issues with pacing, its story is one that is worth exploring.