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.
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.
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.
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.
C-Smash VRS is an absolute must-buy game for anyone armed with a PS5 and PSVR2. It's a brilliant execution of a game that balances fun and challenge while taking full advantage of what makes VR special, and it absolutely shines brightest when playing one of its four VRS modes, even if for now it feels light on content.
Ultros is ultimately an excellent game, and I loved almost every minute I spent with it exploring what is really a giant work of art. The storytelling, the music, the art, the design and exploration are all wonderful to experience, even if its biggest puzzle mechanic is also its biggest frustration. But those frustrations don't overshadow the things that make Ultros shine, and they are all why it is a must-play game for Metroidvania fans, or anyone that just wants to be awed by what they're looking at every five minutes.
Pacific Drive is a game absolutely dripping in atmosphere and excellent spooky vibes, with an exploration-to-looting-to-tense extraction-to-crafting/upgrading and back again gameplay loop that doesn't get old, and a story that is both emotional and intriguing. While pacing issues do hamper it down some, that doesn't damage the experience enough to leave it off anyone's must-play list for 2024.
OkunoKA Madness is a great platformer that is easy to recommend for those looking for a good challenge. It only loses points for some minor annoyances like cluttered levels, occasional difficulty spikes, and disappointing boss fights.
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.
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.
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.
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.
What The Bat? doesn't really do a whole lot to make it an essential experience among the PlayStation VR2 launch window of titles, but if PSVR2 is your first VR headset ever, then you'd only be doing yourself a favour to jump into Triband's hilarious and fun bats-for-hands world.
Lies Of P is one of the best Soulslike games to enter the genre, and on multiple occasions builds on the games that inspired it, adding refinements that result in a better gameplay experience. However it emulates its influences a little too closely, and fails to hit the same highs as the games that it has clearly used as a skeleton, inviting comparisons that aren't always flattering. Along with an incredibly disruptive difficulty spike, Lies Of P stands as a game that is very nearly great, and will scratch the right itch for fans of the genre to stick with it.
The Signifier is an intriguing and enjoyable narrative-driven game that benefits from proper pacing and discovery mixed with a very interesting setting and environments.
A niche on top of a niche, Star Wars Squadrons makes up for it's almost empty feeling with core gameplay that just does not stop being fun. While the story falls flat, the multiplayer shines bright enough that you can still have an incredible Star Wars experience each time you jump into the cockpit.
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.
Payday 3 is a good game right now, with great heists that are fun to play no matter the direction you take, though the overhaul to stealth gameplay steals the spotlight more than anything. How it launched was however unacceptable, and further highlighted the issues prevalent with games that require you to always be online. It also doesn't help itself by not providing a well-thought out experience for an online game. Due to that online nature though give it a year and it'll likely be fixed, and a great game, but its a shame it didn't launch like that.
Survivorman VR: The Descent walks a difficult tightrope between trying to be a fun game, and an authentic educational tool, and it does an okay job. It's quality as an educational tool is extremely high, but that doesn't always mesh with being a fun game, and it feels like there's a lot of missed opportunities with how it goes about teaching you. Still, it's a fun, short time that is a great to experience for how it depicts nature alone, especially at such a great price.
Slave Zero X is an old school game that is great to look at, thrilling to play at times with excellent animations and a feedback loop to the combat that makes smashing enemies into a bloody mess amazingly fun, but it's difficulty spikes and how those spikes are escalated only work to wear you down. By the end of the game those things you might've enjoyed about Slave Zero X are being crushed under a pile of frustrations as high as the body count you'll rack up across a full playthrough. When the wins no longer provide any feeling of satisfaction, it's easy to be left wondering what you continue for. But all the things that are so well executed in Slave Zero X still make it worth checking out, especially if you're already intrigued by the difficulty barrier-to-entry to cross the line into 'enjoying Slave Zero X, even if it makes you want to throw something.'