Valor Mortis only stumbles on the technical front. A game held back from reaching its top speed by performance issues and other bugs, all of which are fixable. Weighty combat that still feels like a dance, mixed with parkour movement through a bleak and miserable world that shows you the price of war. Valor Mortis is a truly satisfying soulslike that showcases just how good gameplay can be when a studio leans on their strengths.
Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival is a game that has such sights to show you. Even if sometimes you want to look away.
Fuse Games have an incredible starting position to be able to add new features and content to Galactic Racer over time, but even now, for Arcade Racers Star Wars: Galactic Racer takes first place.
While the story drags in places and fumbles some heavy themes, that bumpy runway still doesn’t prevent Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve from taking to the skies.
Big Walk showcases what games can be. Something that brings memories with friends. Something to look forward to playing after work. It’s clever in the design approach, and never makes you feel dumb on purpose. A game that is truly as much about walking, as it is talking.
I’ll be honest, John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando doesn’t hit as hard as I wanted it to. The 4 different classes are fine, the weapon upgrades and cosmetics do the job. I just wanted the wrapper it all came in to be oozing a little more 80s. As strange as it is to say about a game called John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando, it just feels like it plays it all a little safe. I was expecting big wild crazy swings, and it just doesn’t feel like they’re here.
Resident Evil Requiem has a little something for everyone. No matter which of the series is your favourite, there’s going to something you can find to enjoy.
REANIMAL works on at the big picture level, giving you a world you want to explore even if you may not like what you find.
Mewgenics is one of those special titles that ends up standing above the rest of the genre. Like Binding of Isaac It’s going to infuriate some people and become an obsession for others.
Citizen Sleeper 2 is one of our first reviews of 2025, and will be one we’re still talking about at the end of the year. An emotionally impactful sojourn in the far reaches of space. Citizen Sleeper 2 is a game that tasks you with some heavy questions, but gives you the friends, and dice to try and answer them.
MIO: Memories in Orbit doesn’t reinvent the wheel, and the developers never were looking for that. They simply wanted to put their own spin on it, and they succeeded in that regard. A Metroidvania that clearly shows the games and ideas that inspired it. MIO: Memories in Orbit creates a visually beautiful world, filled with characters you can care about, and gives you a mystery you want to solve, even if some hostile design ideas push back a little harder than you’d like them to.
Dispatch ends up giving us incredible flawed characters that feel real while nailing that group of misfits overcoming trope and while it does stick the landing for the most part, there are some minor missteps. The only flaw in Dispatch’s otherwise exemplary season is that it just spins too many plates. When that happens some of them are going to hit the floor. Roberts backstory is addressed, but parts of it replicate a comic book almost too well, as it feels like the writers realised they were running out of pages
Escape Simulator 2 is held back by the problems with a few puzzles, but the rest of the design and areas showcase a step up for Pine Studio, clearly knowing what they’re doing and creating great ideas from it. Escape Simulator 2 gives you more puzzles to solve with your friends, and most importantly more puzzle pieces to find.
Ball x Pit thrives on fusion, it’s intrinsic to the nature of the game, and it thrives on creativity. It keeps every run feeling different, rewards creativity, and allows the player to break the game in their own fun way.
Digimon Story Time Stranger, brings you two worlds that you can lose yourself in and the friends you want to go on that journey with. A wonderful RPG to spend your time in, even if the menus to access some of the parts of that world feel like they’re fighting you as hard as some of the bosses do. A game that you could play just for the story alone but if you do you’ll miss out on one of the best creature capture pet battlers of the year. Digimon Story Time Stranger feels like a game for fans, whether they’ve been here the whole time or are nostalgia driven tourists looking for a holiday.
Out of Time could be better, it could be more polished. The underlying combat is a blast to engage with, the tether system is a cool teamwork concept, and being able to focus on the run and worry about loot at the end keeps everything moving at a nice pace. It just gets held back by some odd balancing issues and a little too steep a grind.
Bennett Foddy is an evil genius. Watching players work through his creations like Jigsaw as they try to figure out just how exactly they ended up in this predicament and what for the life of them they can do to get out of it. The answer of course, is just as simple as it was at the beginning. One foot in front of the other. Baby Steps.
There’s something charming about to a T. Teen is a strong main character. Their joy at life, and the struggles they deal with on display. Showcasing a message about being true to oneself. Embracing what makes us, us, and just enjoying every moment with your friends. It’s refreshingly soft and colourful, even if camera frustrations and tedious routines try to raise friction during that experience.
The largest problem with Monster Train 2 is the initial experience. It’s not as streamlined or smooth as the first, and there are bumps along that track. If you persist though, there’s more of what makes Monster Train great, along with a fleshed out story for you to learn more about the clans, the characters and the locations you were choo choo’ing your way through the previous go round.
Bringing new ideas to an old concept Doom: The Dark Ages replaces the verticality and speed of Eternal with old school projectile dodging and a more grounded methodical approach making you feel like an unstoppable juggernaut. The shield is a welcome addition to the franchise, sadly the same can’t be said for the Atlan or the Mecha-Dragon.