Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii is a ball of a time if you want a free-form action-adventure pirate game featuring a likeable-if-eccentric main character and his colourful crewmates taking place in contemporary times. Granted, the second half of the 15+ hour (minimum at best) playthrough may require some context from past Like A Dragon/Yakuza games, but if you can shut your brain off from the deeper lore bits, this title won't leave you high and dry.
Afterlove EP is a quaint and charming adventure title solely focused on moving on, and does a great job conveying that with its scenario, characters, and music numbers. [S]core one more point for Indonesia's gaming scene for another banger of a title.
Strictly for the diehard shmup fans who just need another cheap-looking notch in their danmaku holster; nothing more.
Big Helmet Heroes happily fills in the multiplayer beat-em-up-but-in-3D niche to a tee with its look, its controls and gameplay, and overall fun atmosphere and feel. It works just fine and doesn't break down halfway like some indie brawler titles, and does try to switch things up with some fun top-down shenanigans. I'd say give this a try if you want couch co-op beat-em-up fun with giant heads and even bigger hearts.
Rift of the Necrodancer is one of this year’s early heavy-hitters if we’re talking indie music games. [...] Replayable, tough as heck when you want it to be, and full of fun minigames that remind you of a time when Nintendo gave a crap about the Rhythm Heaven series: all this and a fun aesthetic make for a quintessential music offering that does its Brace Yourself Games brand proud.
Tales Of Graces F is an underrated gem that goes back to basics in the action RPG department while delivering a heartfelt tale. The remaster preserves all these aspects while offering optional quality-of-life changes (and ways to speed up the process), not to mention a graphical upgrade that justifies its price tag.
While not the most ambitious of remasters, Freedom Wars Remastered is still a hoot to play even after all these years. Its plot isn't the most engrossing, but it's serviceable enough and doesn't get in the way of the giant-slaying and team-based multiplayer action.
While I'm no Power Rangers fan, aficionados of the series deserve better than this stock churned-out co-op beat-em-up that is less "Mighty" and more "Adequate". If you need a 90s beat-em-up with today's modern conveniences, you're better off with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge.
For just US$10, you'll have a ball of a time with this lovely spin on Arkanoid/Breakout. It's been ages since we've played a retro title that changes some fundamental rules of the 80s/90s classic ball-pinging and wall-busting title for the better.
Despite technical & network issues, Path of Exile 2 is clearly set on being the de facto soon-to-be-free-to-play (getting in now requires you to fork out RM130+) action RPG of whichever year it fully releases. The Early Access is already packed with so much to do and a lot to strive forward to, with multitudes of builds for the available 6 base classes, the passive skill trees they're situated on, and the many Skill Gems, Support Gems, and other buffs & powerups that lead to crazy builds limited by your imagination and time constraints. The levels are brutal, the boss fights will test you, and you will savour every punishing moment of it while you strive to gear up and play better.
It ain't as spectacular as Pizza Tower -a fair comparison given how good that 2023 indie gem was- but Antonblast is still a damn fine 2D platforming and action title that stands on its own red little feet.
Long story short, this free-to-play adventure game is as whimsical as it gets from its plot to the nature of the game. And that's not a bad thing, as long as it's pulled off right. Infinity Nikki's got substance to back up that style.
Developer Sunny Syrup Studio had the best of intentions in combining two awesome genres: Capcom-style run-and-gun action and platforming with deckbuilding ala Slay The Spire. In this unfortunate case, ambitions exceed game design and technical know-how.
I can foresee a future LEGO Horizon-themed toyline happening if this game gets loads of traction, but at the very least, this isn't poorly-made license fare. Guerilla and Studio Gobo did good work in making a co-op family game for all, and even moreso fun if you've played the Horizon games and see how they've adapted the serious storyline into a LEGO-fied concept. A fun experiment, in other words.
Dragon Age - The Veilguard is far from being a disaster that many internet haters are claiming it to be. It's a serviceable and high-budget comfort food-level action role-playing game. Though if I'm being fair, that's probably the worst thing a standout trendsetter company like Bioware can commit: something that straddles along the lines of "fine".
This strategy title offers some neat-yet-short challenges, a replayable roguelike structure that lets you mix and match new units as well as tons of unlocks and Metal Slug backstory lore to uncover, as well as features a slew of new mechanics that other future strategy titles should borrow from. [...] Metal Slug Tactics is a strange entry in the series, but a fresh and welcoming one indeed.
While it's not the biggest game changer in the franchise ala Ys VIII, Ys X: Nordics is still a fun and smooth-sailing ride that truly throws you back to the days when Adol had less people to work with in the combat field. Having said that, new character Karja is a worthy addition and a tag-team player to go alongside Adol, and does help form a pretty fun-if-potentially-broken combat system involving tag-team moves that go in sync.
Even with the already saturated sea of JRPGs this year, this Romancing SaGa remake is worthy of your time whether you played the 1993 original to death, or just want to jump into a new style of the genre with fresh eyes and perspectives. Many of the original's core tenets are preserved and made better in this remake, which is the goal of the project really.
Neva is love, Neva is life, and also a fun-if-brief visual splendour to boot.
While the game is not the most in-depth title from a competitive standpoint, Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero is this generation's best Dragon Ball-themed 3D fighter complete with thrills, spills, and fanservice up the wazoo.