Drew Meadows
Yakuza: Like a Dragon is almost a soft reboot of an aging franchise. It takes the long-running series in a new direction that works really well as a first outing.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla builds upon what made Odyssey and Origins great, and it removes a good amount of terrible side quests.
Watch Dogs: Legion isn’t a bad game; it’s just not a great one either. I’m still intending to go back through and finish sweeping up the tech points that I’ve missed so far and recruiting the most random NPCs I can find, but it definitely feels like a step backward from Watch Dogs 2.
Fight Crab is one of those games you have to see to believe. But after the charm wears off, you'll be wondering why you're still playing it.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning might be worth it for those that never got around to the original. It's hard to recommend to returning players as a bare-bones remaster.
Activision knocks another remaster out of the park with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, an incredible re-release for the twentieth anniversary.
Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is the anime FIFA I never knew I wanted but now can’t live without.
Drake Hollow is great fun with faster paced gameplay than most survival games.
Death end re;Quest 2 nails a lot of things: narrative, aesthetics, soundtrack, and character growth are all fantastic. It falters in narrative delivery, visual design, and difficulty spikes. It’s a commendable gothic JRPG from Idea Factory that does interesting things even if not all of them work.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs. Maxiboost On knocks it out of the park in terms of content, presentation, and playability.
What Happened has some neat ideas for the way it handles mental health, but poor gameplay design and a narrative that overstays its welcome made me want to give up halfway through.
Destroy All Humans shows its age with poor level and game design, but the chaos that can be wrought upon the Earth with Crypto's arsenal of weapons makes it worth a playthrough.
Cubicity is far from a bad game, but easy puzzles make it one that you'll forget about pretty quickly. However, it comes with plenty of content.
Paper Mario: The Origami King is a fun romp back into the world of Paper Mario, but mundane combat and a lack of experience points really hinder the main activity of the game. Charming writing is the real draw here and what will keep bringing players back for more.
Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia suffers from pacing issues throughout, but it still manages to hold its own in the tactical RPG genre with tight systems that have tons of customization options to make each playthrough your own.
I have to commend developer AY Games too. It almost feels like they’ve taken visual cues from Darkest Dungeon, mixed them with mechanics from Slay the Spire, all while giving it their own unique spin on things. The result is a pretty solid title.
Pity Pit is priced at $4.99. Even that I think is too high. This is generic trophy fodder garbage, and luckily the platinum can be reached in less than an hour.
Maneater is the game I never knew I wanted.
The Persistence doesn’t break a lot of new ground, but it is a tense sci-fi rogue-lite with some interesting ideas and solid throughout.
Streets of Rage 4 didn’t need to reinvent the formula; it just needed to expand upon it. There are some great changes here that help elevate the gameplay and combat, but the bland story and environments drag it down a bit. These things won’t deter those looking for a new Streets of Rage entry, especially one that has such great combat.