This starting point for Mistfall Hunter is very strong. A satisfying and addictive gameplay loop, interesting combat and a visually striking dark fantasy world make this an exciting multipler/co-op experience already, and I’m curious to see how it evolves from here.
Whether you grew up on the classic King’s Field games, no matter how many hours you put into soulslike games, and even if you find these formulas incredibly difficult and punishing – Verho – Curse of Faces is worth your time and attention. A dark adventure full of secrets, well designed levels, with immaculate retro vibes and an interesting lore and campaign that doesn’t overstay its welcome and doesn’t overly punish newcomers either. It may be somewhat derivative when looking at the source material, and yet, I’ve found this a fascinating journey all in all that I would recommend to anyone looking for an RPG that’s very much unlike what modern gaming tends to be.
Truck-kun is Supporting Me from Another World?! is a short burst arcade insanity with a crazy premise, an addictive gameplay loop and an infectious humor. It may feel a little aimless after a while, and the game’s depth and variety are a little lacking, yet I’ve had a legitimate blast running through the just over 3 hours long campaign. Ever fantasized about isekai-ing a young marketing VP into a fantasy RPG world while doing deliveries in an acrobatic truck? No? Well, you still should give Truck-kun a go, especially if crazy arcade classics like Crazy Taxi are your jam.
It may lack the depth or variety of some of the bests out there, but Shard Squad is a fairly unique take on the crowded bullet heaven genre. Having to evolve and create synergies between creatures, and even being able to combine said abilities in co-op, makes for an addictive and fun experience, with more than enough content to enjoy over plenty of hours. Sure it’s a bit repetitive and grindy, but I’ve also found it to be an excellent timewaster and a perfectly enjoyable survivors-like if you, like me, can’t get enough of this formula.
Cultic is deliberately not as fast-paced and chaotic as some of the most beloved 90’s classics, and it plays into that angle with an excellent horror aesthetic, marvelous level designs, interesting puzzles and a combat that requires some reasoning, not just fast fingers on the trigger. It’s probably not for everyone, but if it scratches the right itch for you, it can be a stellar shooter.
Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains is a fun twist on the good old Monopoly formula, trading some of the depth of its property-system for interesting class-based team fights, with a nice Star Wars presentation to boot. It’s quite feature-complete and only features a handful of shortcomings, though I would say that the game’s focus on triggering ‘GO!‘ events can make matches even more lop-sided than normal if someone gets particularly high dice rolls on the regular. Still, for fans like me of the iconic board game and Star Wars enthusiasts, there’s a couple of fun hours to be had here – in local and online play alike.
In a vacuum, Dead or Alive 6 Last Round is a perfectly playable version of a perfectly fine fighter, but it’s still a somewhat underwhelming package all in all. Not quite enough improvements to reignite the interest around the base game, and also plenty of baffling limitations end up weighing a ton on the overall experience – one that only hardcore Dead or Alive fans might bother with.
All in all, I had a good time with Luna Abyss. It doesn’t quite reinvent the wheel, but its fast-paced yet relatively accessible bullet hell shooting makes for an interesting gameplay loop, coupled with various fun gameplay twists and great visuals. It could have been a bit more unique or daring, with some padding and replayability issues here and there, but especially as a Game Pass day one title, it’s easy to recommend shooting through the many mysteries of Luna.
Like a long Family Guy skit or an Asylum movie, it’s not even the quality of the humor itself – it’s the sheer audacity of coming up with this stuff and committing to it in a finished product. Priest Simulator: Vampire Show is not a balanced, polished or ambitious videogame, but the sheer absurdity of the humor and player freedom make it a fun experience – even though the actual gameplay is pretty damn janky and repetitive.
Bus Bound, to me, is the kind of game that proves that a bus driving simulation game can be fun, rewarding, and enjoyable, even if the act of slowly maneuvering such a vehicle is not something that excites you in the slightest. But a satisfying yet relaxing driving model, precise yet somewhat forgiving rules of the road, and a very lively and great-looking town to explore and evolve to your liking turn the game into a very enjoyable experience. Not a massive amount of content as of today, but with a lot of player agency and even a 4-player online co-op mode, it’s definitely one of the finest vehicle simulation games I’ve ever played.
A fun driving model, a deep and incredibly rewarding vehicle-building system, with plenty of challenging content to play for dozens of hours. It has a few balance issues, and it may lack the ludicrous depths of some of the best bullet-hell games, but its unique gameplay loop and deep build variety make TerraTech Legion pretty much a must-play for fans of the genre.
While not as groundbreaking of an evolution as last year’s game, MotoGP 26 pretty much does everything right. It tweaks both the simulation and arcade riding styles, it adds more options to career and multiplayer modes alike, and offers plenty of content and customization options. It has a few technical issues that are atypical for this series, and it may still lack the incredible depth and variety of the licensed F1 games. Yet, MotoGP 26 is a fine step forward for an already excellent racer, even if its iterative nature makes it a less essential upgrade than last year’s game.
Vampire Crawlers is one of the best roguelike deck-builders on the market right now. It’s fast, charming, addictive and tremendously well-crafted. Poncle has done it again.
The golden era of track-based arcade racers may be behind us, but that didn’t stop Milestone from developing a marvellous one in this day and age. This reboot of Screamer has all the core elements of a modern classic: a meaty single player campaign with a rich story, a fantastic sense of style, a snappy arcade-style driving model with a high skill ceiling, and plenty of content to enjoy in both local and online play. Screamer is bold, exciting, but most importantly, incredibly fun, and it may just be one of the finest arcade racers in years. If you miss the good old days of fantastic arcade racers with personality, do yourself a favour and buy Screamer.
Is Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War! a stellar shooter? Not really. In fact, it doesn’t even touch the heights of Auroch Digital‘s own Boltgun. But this Starship Troopers tie-in is respectful to the source material, and the giant battles against bugs with retro shooter vibes is both fun and nostalgic. Not a ton of depth or variety to boot, and the lack of any form of multiplayer is a missed opportunity, but this all-out war between humans and bugs can be quite a riot at times.
Marathon is a hugely inconsistent game. Some marvelous vistas and stylistic choices, yet the world feels void of interesting events and feels small, with only a few small, static and repetitive maps. Some great shooting is accompanied by a crazy low TTK that encourages playing as passively as possible.
iRacing Arcade is a good time, but it comes short of true greatness. The presentation is cute, and the driving model makes for a solid arcade romp to waste some time on. But the snappy controls make faster cars not very pleasant to drive, which heavily impacts its viability as a “serious” arcade racer. A shame, because it boasts a fairly impressive list of tracks, a solid online suite and leaderboards, as well, on top of being tremendously well optimized.
POOLS is quite literally a walking game. No story, progression, dialogue or clear message to speak of – it’s all about vibes and interpretation, despite having some sort of an endign that’s open to interpretation. It’s a short but fascinating ride, even though there is barely any gameplay, which may turn away some people.
Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition is how such remasters should be done. All versions, all the content you could imagine, tons of modern emulation tricks, a never before available playable prototype, and a brilliant new documentary to boot. It’s even priced well, at 19.99 USD/EUR! Now… can we please get a similar treatment for the Rayman sequels?
What we’re left with is a mostly competent, not particularly memorable arcade racer with a handful of highs, but some baffling lows as well.