Cassette Beasts does fall into some familiar pitfalls, making for a hit-and-miss adventure. Some might find its complexity appealing, but that comes at the expense of casual appeal and legibility. Still, I’m encouraged by how many of its original ideas land. Monster fusion is a truly impressive trick, exploration feels classic and modern in the same breath, and its cassette motif is a clever bit of theming that gives it a distinct style. Perhaps Game Freak should be the one taking notes this time.
Empire of Sin delivers a clever, genre-melding experience that perfectly marries the world of 1920s organized crime with strategy gameplay. Bugs and a lack of combat speed or automation options can grind its pace to a halt, but it does a stellar job of putting the player in the mindset of a mob mastermind (or a gun-toting buffoon) with streamlined speakeasy management.
Perhaps it’s thematically fitting that the game itself is such an oddball outlier that’s been met with cruelty and misunderstanding since its announcement. There’s poetry to that, but it didn’t make my 11-hour playthrough any more enjoyable.
South Park: Snow Day! brings the cartoon’s up-and-down foray into gaming full circle. The co-op adventure underwhelms with sloppy action, repetitive combat, and a poorly implemented roguelite structure. Fans of the show’s first few seasons may get some laughs from its throwback humor, but the fun setup gets flushed down the drain like Mr. Hankey.
Balan Wonderworld is a hodge-podge of half-formed platforming ideas that squander a whole lot of charm.
AEW: Fight Forever will win over N64 nostalgists, but anyone looking for a modern wrestling experience may be let down by an unpolished, bare-bones package.
Destruction AllStars has a sturdy engine, but it’s overworked in almost every respect. The needless on-foot component and character abilities clutter an otherwise light but fun pick-up-and-play game with satisfying wrecks. Toss in some overeager DualSense support, and the result is a multiplayer game that’s chaotic for all the wrong reasons.
The Teal Mask contains your average monster catching fun, but it doesn't do enough to address Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's biggest problems.
Everybody 1-2-Switch! is a perfectly enjoyable minigame collection dragged down by what feel like obvious oversights.
Hogwarts Legacy will likely please die-hard Harry Potter fans, but its tired open-world design lacks imagination.
Scorn impresses as a visual tribute to H. R. Giger, but half-formed gameplay hurt its horror more than it helps.
Triangle Strategy delivers smart tactics, but battles play second fiddle to its dull political lore.
Godfall's dazzling visuals and promising combat are held back by repetitive dungeon crawling.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX squanders its charming premise with repetitive gameplay.
Though Harold Halibut leaves me with a lot to pick at, it’s a fitting debut for what’s sure to become one of gaming’s most exciting new studios. Like Harold himself, Slow Bros. finds itself pushing gaming’s mundane comfort zone into the stratosphere with an approach that few will dare to replicate. It’s a bold risk; I’m sure the studio could have made a lot of commercially viable games in the 14 years it took to put this together. But why settle for stagnation?
Princess Peach: Showtime! is a charming start to a new series, even if it feels like a dress rehearsal for the real show.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a fun, if unremarkable way to kill time while you wait for the Nintendo Switch 2.
Foamstars' core gameplay offers plenty of strategic fun, but you'll have to grit your teeth through some of its worst instincts to enjoy them.
Ultros is a bold and beautiful artistic vision, but a convoluted Metroidvania.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora can't put its human nature aside long enough to properly honor the Na'vi.