Despite its amusing concept and charming vibes, Skatebird can't get far when it actually gets on the board.
While there's still some ramshackle charm and memorable silliness to be had, The Good Life takes every opportunity to sell itself short and make playing it a frustrating, repetitive, and user-antagonistic experience.
Remothered: Broken Porcelain's striking visuals and outstanding sound design can't disguise the repetitive, mundane survival horror game lurking underneath.
Hoa is a lavish visual feast with a lack of mechanics to match
You don't need to be the clairvoyant Madame Webb, who first appearance was Amazing Spider-Man 210, to know that Amazing is anything but. The various game crashes, audio glitches, and unceasing loading make up an additional catalog of do-not-want, but it's really just how diminished Spider-Man is that hurts. The anemic plot and the oft-repeated zingers give us a pencil sketch of the great Spider-Man, when he deserves to be inked and colored.
JETT: The Far Shore has admirable ambition in its narrative that its mechanics can't match. This planet might be a nice place for a visit, but you likely won't want to live there.
Doraemon Story of Seasons is a competent farming sim with an enticing look that's unfortunately hampered by snail-paced narrative elements and the wrong kind of tedium overwhelming its gameplay.
The odds are almost always stacked against you, and the repetitive conflicts they never seem like a fair challenge. The story's breadcrumbs are more often than not eaten by the birds, or perhaps the game's figurative bugs. There's not enough material for the spark of creativity to ignite, and Betrayer never finds its focus. This mix of ideas just never properly congeals. Uncovering mysteries and vanquishing foes while building up your repertoire and knowledge should be fun, but wandering this world is often little better than performing listless chores.
While its narrative aspirations and desire for immersive role playing seem to aim at the Hollywood tradition of the Western, Weird West ends up feeling more like a disposable dime novel.
A lack of focus, vague combat, and some truly befuddling performance issues hamper the still competent, and often enjoyable, detective sim that the best parts of Cyberpunk 2077 want to be.
Jazzpunk ends up being scatological and surreal, but it's not sublime. Like Meatloaf says, two out of three ain't bad. But when's the last time anyone listened to Meatloaf? Jazzpunk is funny in its own peculiar way, but that's about all it is.
While certainly rough around the edges, Raji: An Ancient Epic is an earnest swing that shows a ton of heart and some great ideas.
While some new aspects feel undercooked and the online multiplayer's reward economy feels imbalanced, Nintendo Switch Sports still has that undeniable charm and endless replayability that we remember.
OlliOlli World stumbles here and there, with a steep difficulty curve and occasional technical hitches, but fans of skateboarding games will find plenty of combo-stringing complexity to enjoy.
Dedicated fans of the genre will find exactly what they were looking for here. While its pacing doesn't treat players' time as well it could, Tales of Arise is an enjoyable, memorable action RPG.
While there are gameplay hiccups and under-utilized systems, Scarlet Nexus has enough exciting combat and brain-twisting story to find its audience, and deliver major fun for those who enjoy its acquired taste.
Still, Genesis Noir deserves commendation for being its own thing, possessing such a clear ambition that drips off of every gorgeous screen. These screen caps here, lush as they are, lack the game’s beautiful sense of motion. Even if you don’t play Genesis Noir yourself, check out a few Let’s Plays to really appreciate the craft. This is a game that will stick in my mind for a long time, its grandeur overshadowing all the moments of annoyance it gave me on the way.
Crown Trick is slow to start and can't always get out of its own way, but patience is rewarded by a brain-twisting action RPG with a killer look.
Oxenfree II: Lost Signals brings the same level of charm and creepiness as its predecessor, and though its new perspective doesn't quite push narrative or gameplay elements far enough into the unknown, it's still an excellent scary story for a dark and stormy night.
While it doesn't reinvent the open world or stray too far from its predecessor, Horizon Forbidden West is a worthwhile endeavor for those in the mood for more open world adventures, with surprising nuance and complexity for those who make the trip.