Valkyrie Elysium is a very fun game with a mildly-intricate combat system that allows for plenty of satisfying moments of pulling off long combos to create a visual feast. Its narrative is lacking but the core characters are charming enough that by the end you can't help but almost feel attached to them all, as you've fought your way through to whichever ending you've chosen. If it weren't for the fact that you're constantly having to make everything work in spite of a camera and lock-on system that feels against you specifically, it would be a much easier game to recommend.
Metal: Hellsinger is an absolute head-banger of a game with amazing tracks to accompany each level, but it's rhythm-based gameplay does little to stop it from constantly reminding you of the games that inspired it, games that are fundamentally better executed in their core gameplay. It's repetitiveness and lack of any innovation doesn't make it a must-play game for shooter fans, but it's music does for any heavy metal fan.
Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed might be a brutally honest remake of the original game, but that doesn't make it any more pleasant to sit through all its rough parts. Few elements of the core gameplay remain as fun as they were on the PS2, but it's far too shallow to be worth it, especially when it is still riddled with performance issues that can seriously effect your experience.
Rollerdrome is an incredible arcade shooter that combines fluid movement with addicting mechanical loops which encourage you to pull off visually appealing stunts with ease. Though your mileage may vary be you a high-score chaser or not, it never fails to be fun, and Rollerdrome is more than worth a look for any arcade shooter lover.
OlliOlli World's Void Rider's DLC is definitely a must-buy for fans. It houses the best levels across the rest of the game, and includes some of the most visually pleasing levels in the entire game. Though the boss levels are somewhat disappointing, that does little to reduce how fun every other level included in the DLC is.
Salt And Sacrifice is every bit the sequel I could have wanted for Salt And Sanctuary. Everything about the gameplay has been elevated a polished better than any previous title from Ska Studios. With excellent combat, and a flexible progression system that lets you alter your build and playstyle how you like, mixed with amazing art, creature design, and atmosphere, this is the latest must-buy indie title.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga does a lot of things right that make it the best LEGO Star Wars game, and LEGO game to date. But it's level structure and pacing leave something to be desired more often than not, and co-op play has seemingly gotten far less care and attention than it deserved, putting a damper on what is otherwise a hilarious and fun experience.
Elden Ring took the best parts of previous FromSoftware games and expanded them across a living open-world with endless discovery, excitement, and danger. It's not lost the edge of previous titles, but it is the most approachable FromSoftware game yet, and is an excellent point for players to jump in on if they've not tried previous titles. While its technical issues can be annoying, even they can't dampen the experience of playing Elden Ring. FromSoftware's latest is an artistic, innovative and cultural achievement like nothing before it.
Sifu has an extremely high skill ceiling and very deep gameplay, paired wonderfully with stylized visuals and great art. The gameplay is extremely refined, but Sifu's narrative just feels unfinished as a whole, and could have been the difference from Sifu being a lot more than what it is.
OlliOlli World is an incredible reboot and the perfect evolution of the OlliOlli franchise. It's vivid and bright levels combined with the creativity in their design make for a deep gameplay meta that will keep you coming back for years. To put it simply, Roll7 did for OlliOlli in 2022 what Sony Santa Monica did for God Of War in 2018.
God Of War on PC is unsurprisingly the same amazing game it was on PS4 back in 2018, although its pain points are more blatant years later. The visuals, narrative and stunning experience however do not disappoint and remain as impactful as they've always been. It also helps that this is so far, Sony's best port to PC in terms of optimization. This is well worth picking up, whether or not it is your first time.
While there are some improvements that can be made, Halo: Infinite is a return to form for the storied FPS franchise.
Chorus is a mostly good game, with excellent dogfighting and gameplay that always feels fun to pull off. It also looks gorgeous and can make for an entertaining narrative, even if it's not really breaking the mold too much with its plot. Still, it's almost tragic how poorly the game's ending lets down the rest of the solid work that made everything else about it so brilliant.
Riders Republic is at its core a fun game that only wants you to have fun, more than most games. Its UI isn't the best, and there still seem to be some bugs that need to be ironed out, but there are no issues that really breaks your fun all the way. On top of the gorgeous presentation, Riders Republic is easy to recommend for anyone with a liking towards a game where they can flip around three times on a pair of rocket ski's mid-air while dressed as a giraffe.
NHL 22 does an excellent job at bringing back old arcade-y mechanics and blending it with today's simulation quality presentation in a way that works together rather than against itself. Some modes could still use a refresh, but the core gameplay of NHL 22 shows that the NHL series is really hitting its stride with this release.
Back 4 Blood stands as a new standard in co-op shooters. With vibrant, intricate level design, solid gunplay, and intense moments brought on by a variety of dizzying enemy types balanced through a deep card system, it stands as a great achievement. The difficulty wall is annoying and other in game choices feel odd, to say the least, but that doesn't stop you from having an absolute blast, especially playing with friends.
BPM: Bullets Per Minute is a fast-paced and intense shooter stripped down to only the very basics, all of which is meant to focus you in on the core mechanic of staying on beat. Fortunately, it works beautifully well and creates a fun and addicting gameplay experience that stands above some minor flaws.
JETT: The Far Shore is home to a compelling cast of characters and a narrative worth playing and paying attention to, but it ultimately misses its mark and the less than compelling gameplay only further drags it down to an experience that overall feels just okay, and potentially downright boring if you're not gripped by the narrative.
Hot Wheels Unleashed is an excellent arcade racing games with some truly inventive and crazy tracks, wonderfully recreated Hot Wheels toys that drive beautifully and the visuals to back it all up. Unfortunately an in-balance of reasonably long to extremely long tracks and their many hazard risks make it too easy to get frustrated when struggling to reach top spot, and the track builder while very well detailed fails to make the user experience anything but pleasant.
Aragami 2 could be a good stealth game, with a good foundation of stealth gameplay and even an intriguing story, but it is plagued by constant bugs, performance issues, poor level design, pacing, rough implementation of gameplay mechanics and a visual style that only further serves to make its flaws even more evident then they already are.