Whenever it can get out of its own way and just let the player roam, Adventures of Elliot is an absolute delight that is easy to recommend to veteran gamers and newbie players alike.
Bubsy 4D is a flawed but fun retro title that, at its best, makes a good case for 3D platforming’s modern applicability.
Gorgeously realized world and top-notch art design create a stunning setting.
Scott Pilgrim EX makes for one of the most purely entertaining and easily engaging games I’ve played in a while. As a fan of the source material, it’s a pitch-perfect love letter to Scott Pilgrim and the history of gaming — and it’s also just a flawless action game on top of that.
Developer Tribute Games, which accomplished a similar feat with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge in 2023, has brought that classic approach beautifully into the modern gaming space in a way that feels authentic to the past without being beholden to it.
A hodgepodge of VR action-game mechanics spread out across a cartoony and crass tour of the Marvel Universe, Marvel’s Deadpool VR is never boring. It can get aggravating at times, especially when Deadpool needs to fill the time during a cutscene by babbling nonstop.
While it might not be the most in-depth experience, Pine Creek Games has found a winning formula with their riff on a family-friendly survival/cozy life-sim. Exploring the woods and repairing a family home in a tree is perfectly sweet and makes for a charming experience. Winter Burrow is the perfect game to cuddle up next to the fire with.
Double Fine’s Keeper is one of the best arguments for gaming as an art form in recent memory, a nature walk with puzzles that make up for their lack of challenge with a sense of bittersweet whimsy and colorful decay. While it might not be for everyone, Keeper is a good reminder about the artistic core of Double Fine as a studio and what gaming can do when it’s willing to experiment with style and form.