Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 offers that much-needed shot of nostalgia, from a time where all any of us wanted to do was feel cool.
Ruffy and the Riverside is a joyful and quirky collectathon that attempts to bridge past and present sensibilities. Bursting with personality and a novel gameplay mechanic, should enjoy a sense of discovery and a helping of clever puzzles.
FBC: Firebreak makes a concerted effort to differentiate itself from the horde of team-based multiplayer shooters on the market. Despite making a poor first impression, Remedy Entertainment's charm does a lot of heavy lifting.
Isolationist, existential, and compelling, The Alters molds the struggle of one's self into an often bleak, obtusely hopeful exercise of survival. By bending the genre to its whims, 11 bit studios have crafted a futuristic study on purpose and time.
Elden Ring Nightreign proves, if anything, that FromSoftware's design fundamentals are confident enough to be malleable in the most surprising of ways. Its punishing pace may initially overwhelm but there is truly strength in numbers.
Sea of Stars: Throes of the Watchmaker is a pristine piece of DLC. Forgoing the inclination to merely take on more of the same, Sabotage Studio diversifies what made the base game great and continues delivering a masterful understanding of RPGs.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate comes to PlayStation, bringing this noble attempt at a Turtles roguelike to a new audience. It may borrow from Hades but Super Evil Megacorp has the foundation for a riotous time with friends wanting to beat up the Foot Clan.
Capcom Fighting Collection 2 is another feather in Capcom's cap as it works to revitalize marooned games in its catalog. Though distinctly for genre enthusiasts, the high-quality netcode ensures that decades-old titles could have their time in the competitive scene.
Once Upon a Puppet excels in its ability to build a fantastical world cobbled together from the dilapidated remains of opulence. As a 2.5D platformer, the game’s attempts to use the genre’s foundations are often mixed. Clever puzzles and bursts of action go hand-in-hand with movement that can often not feel fluid and satisfying enough. But players open to the game’s charm should be able to ignore the blemishes and enjoy the moments that truly shine.
SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered is another invaluable entry in Square Enix's increasing catalog of updated games. But this particular PlayStation 1 gem is distinct for its varying risks, impeccable style, and tendency to be different.
Despite an obtuse overarching narrative and minimal gameplay, Karma: The Dark World continually swings for the fences. Pollard Studio's debut heavily leans on artistic direction that will linger with the player long after the story fades from memory.
DOOM: The Dark Ages dials back the complexity of Eternal, hoping to capitalize on what made DOOM a household gore fest. Hordes of enemies are meat under the player's boot in yet another evolved take on the classic arena shooter.
Wanderstop often feels like a diversion from any traditional standards a player may expect from a game, even one so cozy or hinting at purported narrative subterfuge. But in abandoning expectations, it truly thrives.
Assassin's Creed Shadows finally brings the series to its most requested locale. And it is in Japan's tumultuous Sengoku period where Ubisoft seems to have found the most harmony with the series in years, delivering an experience worthy of the setting.
Split Fiction is the culmination of Hazelight Studios' work in the cooperative space, a vision only constrained by the boundless limits of creativity. Players are fed a buffet of expertly executed ideas, bursting at the seams with variety and challenge.
Oppression and hopelessness are somehow transformed into admirable traits in Darkest Dungeon II. Forgoing its predecessor's structure for a run-based format, cracking through the sheer brutality reaps the best of rewards.
ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist takes the best elements of its predecessor, building a more confident game. Certainly a fantastic Metroidvania, it could still push the envelope to deliver an exceptional variation to a flooded genre.
Moons of Darsalon captures the zany slapstick of older platformers while introducing numerous tools to spice up the action. Though aesthetically beholden to a time and place, this is a worthy interpretation of a forgotten genre.
Dreamcore captures the ethos of liminal spaces, using the Backrooms phenomenon as its springboard. Though certainly not a "chill" venture, the eerie vibes it produces are effective despite having only two levels available at launch.
Turbo Overkill is part of a rapidly growing renaissance of classically-styled first-person shooters. While modern conveniences apply here, the crux of Trigger Happy Interactive's offering is to allow players to rampage through absurd scenarios.