Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports may not be terribly wacky, but it shines more so than it fumbles. Tennis and Soccer are the best sports in this package, with Basketball and Golf just shy of being somewhat entertaining. The real star of the show; however, is the presentation given to the cast. Sure, I would do with some actual victory animations and some more buffoonery, but the depiction of these characters and the cel-shaded 3D models go a long way.
While a few aspects of Elsie don’t quite succeed, the Mega Man X influenced gameplay certainly does. The combat loop of improving your stats and swapping out abilities in a run does a lot to shake up one run from the next. However, the limited scope of its environmental layouts needs work. The biomes are colorful and vibrant, and all look incredible, but the repeated tilesets and transition zones appear far too frequent causing extreme repetition to play out, especially as it can take a while to start to unlock more of the story and see more of what the game is capable of. Elsie has an interesting hook, taking the pixel platformer down the roguelite road; however, with few stops on the way that makes it memorable, or even original, it’s one journey that can unfortunately run out of gas far too soon.
Mouthwashing is more bizarre than I could have imagined, especially during the game's final puzzle, a grotesque and disturbing moment that will stick with me for a long time. The approach to the game's visuals really sold the atmosphere and tone and took a game that could have fallen flat and really made it something really memorable. Mouthwashing is likely not what you think it is, it's far more bizarre than you could possibly imagine.
Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is a product of its time, and Purple Lamp has done a fine enough job at rebuilding its world and tending to maintain what it was, even if I truly feel it needed some more work to make it fun for today’s standards. Despite my issues with the core game still being a bit too outdated, this is easily the best version of the game as it is considerably better looking and has a far better framerate. It doesn’t bring anything new to the genre that you haven’t seen before, and despite the Paint and Thinner mechanics knocking at that door, they are far too basic to really be revolutionary or inventive, even for the time. Epic Mickey was a fine enough game 14 years ago, but now, it’s an outdated relic that is the definition of paint by number.
Karate Kid: Street Rumble is a solid attempt at entering into the genre with a property that works well here. While it doesn’t add to the genre, and could be priced a tad too high, Street Rumble is exactly what it appears to be, a fun beat’em up brawler built around a movie property that many hold in high regard.
Mortuary Assistant may not give off a great first impression visually, but the aesthetics and horror elements shine. They take a series of mundane tasks and overlay a series of jumpscares and a mood that really feels extremely well executed, even if the control on consoles doesn’t quite impress. Rebecca's past colors a lot of the game’s best scares, and her desire to reveal the truth of River Fields makes for a compelling narrative highlighted by a strong performance of its lead. It’s janky, and extremely clunky, but it is a shining example of horror done right.
Keylocker has some gorgeous pixel art, a great soundtrack, and a deep enough combat system that I really enjoyed. That said, the level design and vague clues as to how to progress had me wandering so much of this game in the dark.
The Plucky Squire has a lot of incredible moments, with a scale of creativity that is often executed well. Unfortunately, the 3D sections are nowhere as interesting as the 2D elements, and often fail at using the best qualities of the mechanics to really stand out. All that said, when The Plucky Squire is leaning on its best ideas, it’s a truly engaging and creative title that should be experienced.
Void Bastards is a title that I absolutely adored, so it set a lot of my expectations with what I wanted from Wild Bastards. The roster itself has a great deal of charm and personality, but the elements you engage with; combat, enemies, and the environments, where both of those play out, just fell incredibly flat. The character progression to improve the gang works well, and the abilities they have make for some interesting combat encounters. The conflicts between the gang are well written, acted, and executed, making for a compelling drama with the right amount of humor. As I mentioned before, I don’t think Wild Bastards is even remotely a bad game, it just feels like a step back for the team that gave us the vastly superior Void Bastards.
Caravan Sandwitch may offer a lot of gameplay systems we’ve seen before, but its cast and story feel part of the gameplay in ways that really make this game stand out. I would often just pick a direction and explore and take the van for a joy ride. While I would have loved a radio to swap to one of the game’s incredible songs, I would encounter small radios here and there and just take in the music and view. Caravan Sandwitch is special. Its joyful writing and charm are everywhere you look, with a crisp and gorgeous presentation on the PS5 that showcases one stunning experience to enjoy, and savor, and now all I can think about is sandwiches..
Warhammer 40K: Space Marine II is superb. Its campaign is well-written, its characters are engaging, and the complicated nature of working in the shadows allows for some tense moments that shine. Warhammer 40K deserved a visually impressive and chunky return, and Space Marine II is a bloody good time, and a game worthy of the Emperor.
Bloodless was an interesting game to play as its unique look and concept largely works well. The moments of frustration are brief but can dominate your time spent with it. While my biggest criticism are the enemy waves, largely because I feel the game is not truly balanced around them, I still have smaller annoyances, like Tomoe being lost in the action, or the stiff movement or auto-game that are frustrating to a lesser degree. Regardless, if you are up for the challenge and want a different type of experience, Bloodless might just offer you that, should you be able to look past its noticeable blemishes.
Ultimately, Shadow of the Ninja: Reborn knows what it wants to be and doesn’t deter from the path. It is meant to exist within the era of the original while having a brand new visual look that really is breathtaking in its execution. While I personally would have loved to see some changes to the movement system, and a better method to use your items, I can respect the developer’s choice to maintain the appeal of the original and what games of that era played like, even if I feel it makes for more frustration than anything else. Shadow of the Ninja: Reborn is a gorgeous remake meant to appeal to those looking for a challenge and to dive into the love those players have for this type of game.
Star Wars: Outlaws was a game that I was really looking forward to. While I have small issues with the game from its lack of innovation in stealth to its fairly basic space combat, the story Massive Entertainment has told within the Star Wars universe was really fantastic and gave me a small group of characters to really root for. Humberly González is fantastic as Kay and Jay Rincon is a standout with ND-5. What Massive Entertainment has done here is breathtaking and is something that only could have been done in a video game. This take on Star Wars is frankly the best we’ve seen in a video game, and all without a Jedi in sight.
Hunt: Showdown 1896 is an impressive overhaul to a pretty enjoyable game. While the UI has sparked controversy and the team is set to revamp it further, many players have had performance issues on PC that are still present. Regardless, it’s impressive to see the visual enhancements for PS5 and Series X/S that bring the game a bit closer to the medium/high-end PC experience, especially with the jump to 60fps across all platforms. While its rogue-like elements don’t always sit well with me, I can’t deny how fun the game can often be, even if I am dying as frequently as I am.
While there are a few side jobs and collectibles to track down, Mika and the Witch's Mountain is a shockingly short experience that unfortunately fails to really lean into its premise in any memorable way. Its inspirations are clear as day, but doesn't have enough time to really allow its story or its characters to feel even remotely engaging. While it is painful to see a game turn out bad, it's another thing altogether to see a game completely fail to live up to its potential.
Gestalt: Steam and Cinder shines in its simplicity without any of its components feeling watered-down. The story and its lead character shine and work well alongside a great feeling set of attacks and abilities. For this being a studio's first game, it is remarkably polished with superb animations and detail. Make no mistake, this is one gorgeous game that shines with an equally great soundtrack to boot. It may not set the genre on fire, but it is an excellent entry that stands alongside some of the best to ever do it.
The controls, camera, and audio, are painfully executed here and create moments of frustration that could have been addressed, especially the audio. Honestly, I probably heard the Wilhelm scream at least a hundred times each level. The presentation of the story, and the story itself is fine for what it is, but so much of that fades from your view the moment many of the game’s issues present themselves. Bounty Hunter is a game that should have benefitted from the same remake sensibilities of others around that era that are recently being reintroduced to a modern audience, instead of showing new players just how clunky games of that era used to be.
While I do enjoy what Cat Quest III offers, I feel that Cat Quest II is simply the better game by far. Its world felt huge and lived in, and the cast of characters made the journey that much more memorable. I don’t feel that with Cat Quest III, unfortunately. I think the game is a good continuation of the formula, but one that feels like a much smaller-scale adventure than one to top its previous outing. With where the story is going, I am still excited to see what Cat Quest IV can offer, but it needs some fresh ideas and gameplay to really be worthy of the sequel this series needs.
I ended up with Creatures of Ava being something that sort of came out of nowhere to impress me. It has its fair share of faults with gameplay that is not revolutionary or wholly original, but its cast of characters, story, themes, and gameplay largely won me over. However, despite the journey and what it meant to be a part of it, it’s the game's final moments that will sit with me for some time, an ending that honestly, satisfied me in ways I wish more games would be comfortable with pulling off. Creatures of Ava may not be a consistently well-executed journey, but it certainly will be a memorable one for those looking to take it on.