Once players round the hurdle of its initial difficulty spikes, Nioh 3 becomes a festival of player choice in its deluge of loot-based combat. A focus on open zones and a second combat style give the formula renewed energy to carry players into the rich endgame.
BlazBlue Entropy Effect X brings the stellar roguelite by way of fighting game to a broader audience. Incorporating a massive roster with deep combat turns it into one of the genre's flashiest and most entertaining spectacles.
SLEEP AWAKE's psychedelic horror takes players on a delirious journey where the very world shifts and deceives. Mediocre stealth inflicts minimal damage on this mind-bending narrative that exists to confound with its captivating premise.
MARVEL Cosmic Invasion is an excellent excuse to play a satisfying beat 'em up with friends. Covering a wide variety of content and characters from the comics, there's an Easter Egg for everyone yet the gameplay can grow repetitive after awhile.
Sektori is an intense arcade classic that will leave players in a trance-like state. With a splash of modernity, this explosion of particles, color, and skill begs for constant replays once players master its finely-tuned difficulty curve.
A.I.L.A dabbles in the delicate space between the tricks developers can play on our minds and the complex places games can take us. Though made by obvious horror fans, it may be genre veterans who grow weary of its predictable paths and tropes.
Wielding incredible style, an emotional story, and layered action, Constance strives to be more than just another derivative Metroidvania in a sea of heavy-hitters. It may be overshadowed by some monoliths but this painterly tale has a few strokes of genius.
Minimalist yet poignant, The Berlin Apartment offers a handful of narrative vignettes allowing players to experience the tumultuous history of Germany across the decades. Though brief, its stories pack an emotional punch that won't be forgotten.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 presents a gargantuan amount of content meant to satisfy players of all stripes. While the story can't rival last year's roller coaster, Treyarch's masterclass gunplay stretches across numerous modes with unified progression.
ARC Raiders' ability to evoke an unprecedented amount of tension and exaltation is the stuff any live service game dreams of siphoning from its players. Time will only tell if Embark's extraction shooter is a flash in the pan but for now, it sets the precedent for the genre.
Equal parts original, absurd, goofy, clever, catchy, and sincere, Once Upon a Jester is a gem of creativity that uses hilarious writing and a wonderful soundtrack to punch well above its weight.
Godbreakers is packed with smooth, tight action and engaging boss fights that can be invigorating in co-op. But a lack of content outside of blistering difficulty modifiers may be disappointing for roguelike fans.
Ignoring its by-the-numbers single-player campaign, Battlefield 6 strikes an expected chord with its class-based, destructive multiplayer. Vehicular and infantry clashes shine across massive maps that are sure to keep players engaged.
Though an amalgamation of ideas, BALL x PIT makes for simple, addicting fun. Its ball-breaker concept is packed with enough variety to keep you hooked for increasingly harder challenges.
Though Little Nightmares III is not a drastic evolution over Tarsier Studios' vision, Supermassive Games excels at crafting their own warped horrors rife with tense chases and puzzles.
Ghost of Yōtei is every bit the spectacle players should expect from the team behind Ghost of Tsushima. While the fundamental core remains familiar, Sucker Punch shows an even deeper understanding of vibrant, engaging worlds and Japanese culture.
Tiptoeing on the knife's edge of punishing rage bait and profound accomplishment, Baby Steps will either victimize or enthrall depending on the player. That fine line opens the path for both a brilliant anti-game or a fist through your screen, your mileage simply may vary.
Wizordum has all the trappings of an early 90s first-person shooter, expertly looking and playing the part well. But Emberheart Games has gone the extra mile to incorporate modern flair, creating more than just homage.
LEGO Voyagers embraces a cooperative, child-like sense of play. While the game rarely tests the mettle of its participants in its short runtime, this charming journey is hard not to love.
Shadow Labyrinth is an earnest attempt at transmogrifying Pac-Man into something more than he is. While a futuristic Metroidvania makes as much sense as anything else, the game fails in many key ways that keep the genre engaging and not an absolute slog.