Matt Karoglou's Reviews
Metaphor: ReFantazio leverages its Persona influence along with more classic RPG inspiration to deliver an unmissable role-playing experience.
Kazutaka Kodaka and Kotaro Uchikoshi's collaboration on The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is a winning mix befitting both creators' legacies.
Sonic X Shadow Generations is a loving homage to all eras of Sonic and a reminder of why both the character and his games continue to endure.
Square Enix has taken one of the most beloved Dragon Quest games and given it a heavy visual uplift along with a slew of quality-of-life improvements.
Tales of Graces f Remastered frees the PS3 classic from its console exclusivity, bringing one of the series' best entries to modern hardware.
Trails Through Daybreak 2 picks up where its predecessor left off, delivering a thrilling JRPG experience that furthers the series' current arc.
Assassin's Creed Shadows is a spectacular return to form for the franchise, delivering one of the series' more tightly focused historical adventures.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown is a short but very sweet turn-based tactics experience that makes the most of its iconic license.
A near-perfect merging of FromSoftware game design and roguelike structure, Elden Ring Nightreign is a bold experiment and one of 2025's highlights.
The Game Kitchen has outdone itself on the Ninja Gaiden series' glorious return to 2D with Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, a near-perfect action-platformer.
Konami has partnered with shoot 'em up port experts M2 to deliver one of the best collections the Gradius series has ever received.
Team Ninja and PlatinumGames' collaboration on Ninja Gaiden 4 is a stunning return to form that does right by the series' 3D lineage.
In terms of modern Metroidvania titles, Noreya: The Gold Project is a game that doesn’t stray far from the core elements of the genre. But that is in no way a knock against the title, as its emphasis on the genre’s fundamentals (and understanding of how they should work in practice) sets it apart from many of its contemporaries. Noreya‘s pacing and combat tend to struggle a bit in comparison to the game’s excellent platforming and visual style, but its manageable length and responsive controls act as a salve to any of the minor weak points the game may have. Noreya is a “meat and potatoes” experience that sets reasonable expectations and nails every one of them, and its technical performance on the Steam Deck is rock solid following a rapid slew of updates in the wake of the game’s initial release.
It may not have the same narrative pull as games like Hades (despite having a compelling setup to do so), but Ravenswatch places its focus on combat. Admittedly, the moment-to-moment gameplay and impressively large pool of upgrades and run modifiers is what made Passtech's last roguelike, Curse of the Dead Gods, such a surprise hit among fans of the genre. Ravenswatch only improves on that formula while also continuing Passtech's trademark panache for beautiful cel-shaded visuals and eye-catching animations. It might still need some wrinkles ironed out in terms of its balance and difficulty, but otherwise, Ravenswatch is a strong action roguelike and a worthwhile entry into the increasingly crowded genre.
Laika: Aged Through Blood is a unique "Motovania" that offers moments of zen-like gameplay punctuated by frustrations holding it back from greatness.
Konami Digital Entertainment's Suikoden I&II HD Remaster is light on updates, but it still delivers two of the greatest RPG experiences of all time.
Capcom Fighting Collection 2 is a solid fighting game compilation but an even better example of game preservation done right.
Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny is a remaster that does the PS2 original justice and a great experience to whet the appetite before the series' revival.
Lost in Random: The Eternal Die is an action roguelike follow-up to the original that balances its narrative pull with some phenomenal combat.
Chronicles of the Wolf is an unabashedly old-school Metroidvania that's sure to please a specific contingent of the genre's fanbase.