South of Midnight features a striking setting with excellent music, and explores a world that is rarely visited. But its dull gameplay, uneven writing and repetitive structure don't exactly give this folk tale a happy ending.
Koira is another minimalist 2D adventure that has a few charming moments and a warm friendship at its core, but doesn't really offer enough to stand out in the crowded genre.
Another solid entry for the series, Assassin's Creed Shadows offers a wonderfully rendered natural world, though it's not as unique as it once could have been. The typical mix of stealth and action gameplay is still enjoyable and is now split between two protagonists, though switching between them can be cumbersome. Fans of the franchise should be satisfied, if not exactly impressed.
Civilization VII brings a lot of changes to the formula, but they don't feel entirely innovative or fully realized. The core of the experience retains its addictive qualities, and yet lacks refinement at launch.
The medieval RPG series offers an improved sophomore effort, with another engaging and very immersive open world, interesting quests and better technical performance. Not everyone will find joy in its rigid mechanics and challenging combat, but Deliverance 2 continues to offer a strong foundation of some devoted role-playing.
Although still impressive and unmatched in its scale, the 2024 sequel to Microsoft Flight Simulator can't be carried by its novelty alone. The added career mode seems competent on paper, and being able to step outside your aircraft adds immersion. But the entire experience is hamstrung by very disappointing visuals and data streaming issues, as well as plentiful bugs and design shortcomings.
LEGO Horizon Adventures faithfully recreates the world of machines from the PlayStation game series, and has some fun combat. However, it is aimed squarely at younger players, and is rather brief. A fun and accessible introduction for newcomers, but returning fans will find this diversion not as worthwhile. =
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a worthwhile return for the RPG franchise. Despite some oversimplification of mechanics and uneven writing, the new combat style and interesting characters and narrative choices make for an engaging fantasy adventure.
The Casting of Frank Stone may not be weighed down by its ties to the Dead by Daylight universe, but it's nonetheless unable to reach the surface from under the waves of a slow story, dull gameplay and a lack of thrills.
Neva is a great looking game that provides a few hours of joy from simply being immersed in its world. The gameplay, story, and pacing are a bit more subdued, however.
NHL 25 makes some minor strides to improve on last year's game, but will mostly appeal to those interested in team management and being a superstar forward. As a franchise, it continues to wait for a top draft pick that can turn things around in a meaningful way.
EA Sports FC 25 delivers on the usual incremental improvement model of this sports franchise. It's a solid football game with plenty of variety that fans won't be too conflicted about getting stuck into.
Frostpunk 2 isn't afraid to shake things up and bring a different kind of experience to the franchise, although that new design philosophy leaves a bit more to be desired in mechanics, UI and narrative elements.
Ara: History Untold is a decent foray into the historical 4X, with enough borrowed and slightly tweaked elements to make it worth a look for fans of the genre. Its original ideas become too much of a slog however, along with a scattering of UI issues and performance hiccups that need addressing.
Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is unable to recapture the magic or originality of its predecessors, nor keep up with the current leaders of the genre. It's an open world racing game that lacks content and has too many frustrations to qualify for the starting grid.
The Plucky Squire has a nice art style and some clever tricks with shifting between two different perspectives on the world, though ultimately this storybook will appeal to younger players the most.
As an entertaining, accessible, and polished 3D platformer, Astro Bot offers plenty of variety in both visuals and gameplay, delivering a lively space adventure with plenty of PlayStation references.
Dustborn grabs the generic modern day adventure game formula and adds a bunch of cliché and often annoying characters, a subpar story, some low-grade music, along with a heavy-handed dose of politics front and center, resulting in a middling and overlong road trip that's more concerned about its poorly delivered message than anything else.
World of Goo 2 picks up right where the original game left off, offering more levels and entertaining conundrums to construct your way out of. It's no longer the unique physics puzzler that it once was, but the mechanics have proven to be timeless.
Given its low price, Nobody Wants to Die may be worth checking out for the visual style and unique atmosphere, but the basic gameplay and underwhelming story make for a forgettable adventure.