Joonatan Itkonen's Reviews
Exquisitely designed with astonishingly deep gameplay mechanics, Farthest Frontier is the second masterpiece in the simulator genre this year that will impress fans for years to come.
While the gameplay itself is superficial, Dispatch is a surprisingly funny and poignant debut that shows great potential.
An unexpected delight, Octopath Traveler 0 isn't just a superbly polished addition to the franchise, it's one of the best RPGs of the year.
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A technical marvel with enough lore and addictive gameplay to satisfy both fans and newcomers alike.
Hugely ambitious and rife with ideas, Of Ash and Steel is an unpolished and deeply broken throwback to an era most have left behind.
Jurassic World Evolution 3 is a perfectly fine building and business sim that struggles with a lack of evolution in its genre. It's the best dinosaur park simulator out there, I just wish it didn't feel like so much busywork.
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Packed with superb design and a kicking soundtrack, Sektori is pure twin-stick shooter nirvana that is as close to arcade perfection as you can get.
Winter Burrow is beautiful and wonderfully written adventure brought down by obtuse and frustrating design choices.
Smartly designed, impeccably produced, and tremendously enjoyable, Anno 117 is one of the best games in its genre this year.
If you loved The Outer Worlds, you will at the very least like The Outer Worlds 2. It won't surprise or challenge you, but it does deliver comfort food of sorts with the skill and precision that Obsidian Entertainment does best.
It's hard to recommend ARC Raiders to anyone but the fiercely devoted. If it had dared to think outside of the limitations of the extraction shooter genre, it could have come upon something really special.
Dragon Quest returns with a gorgeous set of remakes that make this the best possible way to experience the iconic adventures today.
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Simon the Sorcerer Origins is a finely crafted and gorgeous throwback to the heyday of the genre. It is witty, fun, and wholesome in a way that should delight gamers of all ages. I loved it more than I could have anticipated.
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Nostalgic to a fault, Battlefield 6 is the bare minimum product that is designed to get better over time. Right now, it's just fine, but nothing more.
At its best, Ninja Gaiden 4 is an exhilarating bloodbath that has finally struck the perfect balance between hardcore and accessible. It's a reminder of how invigorating this franchise once was, and how, in the right hands, it can be once again.
I would warmly recommend Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2. They are two of the best games in the Mario franchise, and some of the best platformers ever made. They've barely aged in the past two decades, and feel just as innovative and joyous as they did on the original Nintendo Wii. For those who've never played them, they'll feel like a revelation, even when compared to newer, fancier titles. For everyone else, it's like coming back home.
Silent Hill f is a brilliantly written and intensely moody horror adventure that struggles to redefine itself as a game. Everything about the mechanics is dated, and it constantly diminishes the story's numerous literary achievements.
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Cronos scared me, it made me jumpy, and I had a blast every unnerving minute I spent with it. That's precisely why I play survivor horror titles, and to achieve that means the game has done the job right.
A superb addition to the franchise, Ragebound is both a fantastic throwback and a great entry point to the series for newcomers.
Players should really listen to Randy Pitchford on this one and leave Borderlands 4 alone for now. It's a fun game when it works, which isn't often, and it'll probably be better in a year when it's cheaper and hopefully fixed.
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