James O'Connor
Luigi's Mansion 3 has a completely solid setup for another ghost hunt. The hotel environment makes every floor stand out, the bosses and basic enemies feel like a great mix of the last two games, and Luigi himself really shines. It's a ghastly great time.
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair dials back expectations for the better in this more focused sequel.
Neo Cab is a smart visual novel that looks forward, but also feels very current.
A short but sweet game about causing as much mischief and upset as you can.
A gorgeous roguelike dungeon crawler that remains compelling and exciting throughout, despite a lot of grinding.
Man of Medan is a thinner, flawed follow-up to Until Dawn that is saved by its online co-op mode.
Dicey Dungeons is an occasionally frustrating but nevertheless entertaining roguelike that mixes deck building with unpredictable dice rolls.
198X is a throwback mash-up of five very brief genre excursions with an overwrought story of growing up thrown on top.
The mash-up of Zelda's style and structure with Crypt of the NecroDancer's gameplay go together like peanut butter and chocolate.
My Friend Pedro is a stylish and inventive arcade shooter that provides plenty of joy but isn't as groundbreaking as it initially seems.
Observation, a creepy space-station thriller in which you control an AI, is equal parts mysterious and compelling. And, it looks amazing.
Whispers of a Machine is a smart point-and-click that elevates its spotty lore with a great script and an excellent, if underused, augmentation system.
The fourth BoxBoy game isn't a major shake-up, but it's more reliably enjoyable puzzle fun.
An ambitious narrative adventure that mixes fun lore with fiddly mechanics.
Ape Out prioritizes style over substance, but it's weird and interesting enough to justify a play.
One of the best modern twin-stick shooters is now (slightly) better than ever.
The Hong Kong Massacre is a little janky, but it mostly replicates the wild Hong Kong action cinema that inspired it with aplomb.
A short, funny platforming adventure about a weird little dude on a strange quest, Pikuniku is a charming delight.
Vane follows in the footsteps of many arty puzzle-platformers before it, but a lack of a strong voice and purpose keep it from being great.
Below's foreboding atmosphere and slow, purposeful pace works in its early stages, but numerous frustrating design choices make its back half a nightmare.