Ball x Pit is a brilliantly designed roguelite bursting with creativity, depth, and energy. A little grindy at times, but its fusion mechanics, character variety, and audiovisual style make it one of the year’s most exciting surprises.
NBA Bounce is a fun afternoon distraction that kids will enjoy, but it’s also a reminder that not every officially licensed game earns its price tag. What’s here is serviceable and occasionally charming, but the shallow gameplay, missing features, and awkward mascot focus make it feel like a layup that barely hits the rim. Its family-friendly gameplay and mascot charm can’t make up for its steep price, lack of online play, and uneven team representation. It’s a game that wants to celebrate the NBA’s fun side, but ends up bouncing a little too high for what it delivers.
Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny is the kind of crossover you’ll want to love more than you actually do. It’s ambitious and full of personality, but bogged down by repetition, weak writing, and uneven gameplay that never quite rolls in its favor. Fans of Nickelodeon will enjoy the nostalgia trip for a while, but as an RPG, it’s more filler episode than legendary quest.
Trails in the Sky: First Chapter Remake captures what made the original beloved while making it easier to fall in love with all over again. The voice acting breathes new life into its classic storytelling, and hearing the familiar English cast return feels like a heartfelt reunion for longtime fans. The new dual combat system lets players choose their rhythm, while upgraded visuals, sound, and smoother pacing make every emotional beat land more naturally. Quality-of-life improvements iron out much of the grind that once slowed the experience. While it isn’t flawless. A few voice deliveries miss the mark, real-time combat can get messy in larger encounters, and minor technical hiccups persist, none of that diminishes what this remake achieves. This is the most complete, accessible, and emotionally resonant way to experience where the Trails saga began.
If the developers tighten the dice descriptions and polish the shop readability, this could stand among the best dice-builders out there. As it stands, it’s still one of the most engaging examples of how luck and skill can dance together in perfect rhythm.
In a year packed with clever roguelites, CloverPit still manages to stand out by being uncomfortably human. It’s a mirror held up to our own compulsions, our own need to pull one more lever, to see if maybe this time, luck is on our side. For Mac players, that’s especially true—they’ve had to live that metaphor just to get through the title screen.
By the final whistle, FC 26 stands as the most complete and confident entry of the new EA Sports FC era. It may not be revolutionary, but it’s the most balanced and satisfying football simulation EA has released in years. The divide between Authentic and Competitive play is a masterstroke, the AI and physics feel genuinely refined, and the quality-of-life improvements finally make Ultimate Team and Clubs worth investing in again.
Immortal Edition is a package that shines in theory but falters in execution. The RPG elements remain engaging, the quest structure is robust, and the nostalgic weight of the original trilogy is undeniable. But all of that is held hostage by an AI that simply refuses to play fair. Puzzle Quest still has its charms, but when the board is this rigged, even the most loyal fans might find themselves questioning whether it’s worth the grind anymore.
Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian succeeds in capturing the spirit of the Atelier series while evolving it into something stronger. Rias and Slade’s story is engaging, the mechanics are rewarding, and the balance of nostalgia and accessibility ensures that fans old and new can enjoy the journey together. It is a game about restoration, discovery, and resilience.
The game embodies the paradox of adaptation. In trying to stay fresh and unexpected, it sacrifices the timeless strengths of Christie’s storytelling. It’s colorful, ambitious, and sometimes clever, but rarely elegant. Ultimately, Death on the Nile is less a triumphant voyage and more a cautionary tale in how easily a mystery can lose its edge when it strays too far from what makes it compelling in the first place.
For me, Consume Me was more than just another indie experiment. It was a mirror, one that was sometimes painful to look into but ultimately cathartic. It’s the kind of game that proves how the medium can go beyond simple entertainment, using humor, mechanics, and storytelling to shine light on struggles many people hide. You may not walk away with a happy ending, but you’ll walk away with something far more valuable: recognition, empathy, and maybe even a little understanding of yourself.
At its heart, LEGO® Voyagers is a meditation on friendship, trust, and creativity. It’s playful but profound, simple but layered, and intimate without being isolating. Like the best LEGO® creations, it’s less about what you build and more about the joy of building it together. The message is clear: playing and being creative is for everyone, but it’s always better with a friend. LEGO® Voyagers captures that truth with elegance and sincerity, making it one of the most essential games LEGO® has ever released.
It’s not exactly philosophy with horsepower, but it’s got enough steam to keep you entertained. Choo-choo-se this one if you like bad train puns, quick minigames, and watching thought experiments get crushed under steel wheels.
If you want to build something creative, fun, and genuinely rewarding, stick with Poly Bridge or Bridge Constructor. Build A Bridge! is less of a masterpiece and more of a shaky pile of planks held together by hype.
This isn’t awakening. It’s a game that should have stayed buried in the snow, untouched and forgotten. The more time you spend with it, the more obvious it becomes that the foundation was never solid enough to deliver on its lofty promises. What could have been an emotional journey through survival and mystery ends up as a shallow, broken trek through technical issues, uninspired writing, and an AI companion that makes you wish you were truly alone in the wilderness. Arctic Awakening doesn’t just fail to live up to its potential, it actively wastes it, and in the end leaves you cold in every sense of the word.
Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots feels like a day on the course that starts lighthearted, turns into real competition, and ends with laughter at the clubhouse. It’s a definitive entry in the franchise, a love letter to golf as a sport and as a community, and it leaves you ready to tee up again and again.
Titanic Scion is stylish but shallow, clunky but occasionally fun. It’s a PS2-era mech game wearing modern armor, and no amount of polish can hide the rust underneath.
By the time you reach the end, Shuten Order feels like more than just a murder mystery. It is a meditation on faith, mortality, and the lengths we go to preserve our existence. The fact that it delivers this through stealth sequences, detective puzzles, romance scenes, and death games only makes it more memorable. Shuten Order may stumble, but it never stops being fascinating. It is the kind of game that sticks with you not because it is perfect, but because it dares to be different. Blessed be the Shuten Order indeed.
EDENS ZERO is a cosmic adventure that captures the style and heart of its anime roots, but stumbles on polish and depth. It is a flawed game that still manages to be an endearing one. Fans will overlook the rough edges and enjoy the ride, while newcomers will find a decent but imperfect gateway into Mashima’s space fantasy.
Mafia: The Old Country is the crown jewel of the series. A story that makes you bleed, laugh, and curse in Sicilian all in the same breath. The graphics will blow your fedora off, the gameplay’s smoother than Sinatra, and the story’s got enough heart to remind you why family, no matter the sacrifice, always comes first. So pour yourself a glass of red, light a cigar, and remember… loyalty and ma familia above all.