Gradius Origins demonstrates that arcade shoot 'em ups are still popular. The audio still sounds good, the graphics are still strong, and the gameplay is still tight. This package celebrates the past while preserving it for the future, and the icing on the cake is Salamander III, a brand-new game that proudly stands beside its predecessors.
Mado Monogatari: Fia and the Wondrous Academy. It provides a cozy, approachable dungeon-crawling experience on the Nintendo Switch, complete with slapstick humor, anime charm, and oddball features like curry-based stamina management. It offers a fun, low-pressure journey for casual RPG enthusiasts or those interested in a peculiar bit of Japanese gaming history.
The Nintendo Switch's Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth Complete Edition offers two complete role-playing games that are jam-packed with captivating systems, unforgettable tales, and an abundance of Digimon to gather and train.
When One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 is at its best, it provides hours of wild fun—the kind of cathartic experience where you lose track of time because it is so gratifying to destroy thousands of enemies. It stands tall as one of the greatest in the genre. For pure, unadulterated entertainment, this game is worth playing regardless of your level of One Piece fandom or lack thereof.
Bendy: Lone Wolf is a well-executed survival game that recognizes its advantages but doesn't go beyond them. You would like this if you enjoyed Boris and the Dark Survival. This remaster won't convince you if you weren't already.
Tiny Bookshop is an utterly charming management life sim that delivers exactly what it promises: a cozy, heartfelt escape into the world of bookselling.
Grounded 2 is really a horrifying survival horror game that is expertly cloaked as a fun backyard adventure. It builds on the original game in significant ways while preserving all that made it great. After considering user comments, Obsidian created a world that feels bigger, more vibrant, and much scarier. It's hilarious, eerie, and completely captivating.
Heartworm seems to be a sincere homage to the heyday of survival horror. It has a remarkable level of accuracy in capturing the style, sound, and cadence of its inspirations.
Back to the Dawn is an engaging, reactive role-playing game that values repetition and danger. It rewards your curiosity, perseverance, and cunning while forcing you to learn by doing and failing. This game offers hours of rich content for those who enjoy organizing the ideal escape, forming alliances, and investigating every opportunity.
Patapon is one of the few games that seamlessly combines music and physics. It feels completely at home on the Nintendo Switch, giving the Patapon tribe another opportunity to march, chant, and rule.
ISLANDERS: New Shores is the epitome of what a fantastic sequel ought to be. It adds to the experience in significant and thoughtful ways while honoring what made the original game unique.
Cast n Chill is a cozy, charming fishing sim that nails relaxation through simple mechanics, lovely visuals, and calming sound. Whether you're actively casting or letting Idle Mode take the reins, this is a cozy experience well worth your time.
Lost in Random: The Eternal Die is a clever rogue-lite twist on the Lost in Random universe. Its dice mechanics and strategic depth shine, even if repetition and limited variety hold it back. It's a fun, satisfying gamble worth taking.
FBC: Firebreak is a shallow, repetitive co-op shooter that fails to capture the magic of Remedy’s prior work. While the concept of fighting supernatural threats in a sentient building sounds exciting on paper, the game’s execution is lackluster across the board. For longtime fans of Control or Alan Wake, this $40 multiplayer offshoot will feel more like a low-effort add-on than a worthy new chapter.
Five Nights at Freddy's: Secret of the Mimic is ultimately a game made for the fans, those who know their Springtraps from their Scraptraps, who've memorized the sound of a vented crawl from three rooms away. If you're one of them, you'll find enough here to keep your Faz-heart beating. And if not? Well… maybe this one's not your cup of Freddy Fazbear-branded tea.
The Alters is a daring, intensely reflective game that pushes 11 Bit Studios' narrative goals to new heights. It successfully fuses a philosophical and intimate story with survival mechanics. The main idea of the game—creating several versions of yourself in order to survive—is handled with both mechanical depth and emotional sensitivity.
The ruthless, difficult roguelite Dragon Is Dead unashamedly displays its influences. For players who like to master difficult mechanics, the game offers comprehensive character customization, tight, gratifying combat, and a rewarding gaming loop. Although it struggles with level diversity, narrative depth, and sometimes annoying difficulty spikes, it's a promising and heartfelt game.
Although there are several aspects of Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma that may be improved, such as the cooking mechanisms, small settlements, and the occasional bloat in the skill tree, these are small issues in a polished and charming game. In addition to being a fantastic Rune Factory game, Guardians of Azuma offers an original and innovative approach to the farming role-playing game genre.
Wuthering Waves is a stunningly flawed yet incredibly captivating journey through a world resonating with risk, intrigue, and the lingering effects of a bygone era. If they are prepared to endure some early setbacks, players seeking crisp fighting mechanics, immersive traversal, and an environment that encourages curiosity will find a lot to enjoy in this game.
If you missed Returns the first time around, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is the best version yet. The controls are intact, the performance is mostly smooth, and all previous content is included. It doesn't rewrite the past, but it does preserve it respectfully. It's just a shame that some of the original game's rough edges weren't smoothed out in the process.