Onimusha is back, and with a strong entry to make its case as one of Capcom’s best. With responsive combat and great flow between animations, it’s a great time for fans of action games. While some aspects of the original franchise might be a little weak, Way of the Sword managed to build its own identity without feeling too derivative of other titles like it. It starts strong and can only grow from here.
Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game will likely disappoint fans of the show and fail to ease a new audience into the genre. At the same time, it's also a very good and refreshing fighting game. Instead of bringing Avatar fans into the FGC, this game is likely to make a sizeable portion of the FGC into Avatar fans.
Echoes of Aincrad is a classic case of "sometimes less is more". It's a game that dilutes too much of its content in an attempt to look grander than it is. This can be a fun experience for those who value certain gameplay loops and new takes on established combat formulas, but it's frankly unacceptable for a AAA title. Only major SAO fans will likely get something out of this one.
Mina the Hollower easily cements Yacht Club Games' capacity to deliver high-quality retro experiences. The game takes inspiration from several sources, both old and new, and carefully fine-tunes each into a polished experience that is both curated and customizable.
Bubsy 4D is definitely the best game in the franchise. That may not be a particularly high hurdle to clear, but Fabraz did so with ease and raised the bar considerably for any upcoming title to follow. It has a great movement system and finally gives Bubsy an identity that's more than just memes, despite being maybe just a tad too short. It's an easy recommendation for fans of arcade titles and guaranteed to be worth the time for any platformer aficionado.
Clockwork Ambrosia is a decent Metroidvania with a really good gun customization feature. It's an indie project that's been in the works for 15 years now, since the team couldn't work full-time on it. A good game for fans of the genre, but one that won't really surprise you. It's a perfect title to play on the go, but it doesn't play ball with non-Windows systems.