Praey for the Gods from No Matter Studios is a game with potential. It has some good survival gameplay design and is an interesting open-world adventure that encourages exploration of its desolate landscape. There’s a lot to like here, though not completely perfect in some gameplay aspects.
Thunder Tier One is a good game. It has a decent amount of customization options, features a good tactical system that will entertain those looking for a tactical fix, and doesn’t really do anything groundbreaking or genre-changing for tactical shooters. It’s simply a good game with hopes for more content in the future.
Tandem: A Tale of Shadows from Monochrome is a cleverly designed game that puzzle-loving gamers will enjoy. The range of difficulty helps to sell this, as does the level design and characters you confront in the game. If you don't like puzzle games, then this probably won't bring you into the genre.
Moonlight Kids have a hit on their hands with The Wild at Heart. It brings a strong narrative, some clever puzzles, and enough of an endearing journey to make it one of the better releases this holiday season on the PlayStation.
G-Darius HD is a fun trip down memory lane and reminds us that arcade games knew how to eat up your quarters. It will certainly frustrate common gamers out there, but for nostalgia-seeking suckers like myself, it was fun frustration.
Dovetail Games provides an accurate train simulator. It's unforgiving, brutal at times, but oddly relaxing and fun when things start running smoothly. It is truly a train simulator.
Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut is truly a masterpiece, much like its original release. It introduces an entirely new and separate experience with Iki while bringing and refining the beauty of the gameplay and visuals.
Scarlet Nexus is one of the better action RPGs to hit this current generation of consoles. It's a gorgeous game with a complicated backend that makes you want to keep playing. The side-quests might be forgettable, but it certainly has a lot more to offer with its main story.
Chorus is a gorgeous space flight fight simulator that harkens back to the days of Wing Commander with eventually smooth controls and intense battles. It does have some visible flaws to the narrative and some onscreen issues during battle, but for the most part, it’s darn good.
Papa's Quiz is a game that tries different ways to spruce up the party game/quiz game genre, and it does a good job in most of its execution. It stumbles in the quiz question balance but excels in its creativity to personalize the experience for its players.
MotoGP 2021 is an impressive game that features the right balance of complication and a lukewarm welcome to new players trying to get into it for the first time. It's a polished experience that sets the bar for the motorcycle racing scene.
Synduality: Echo of Ada from developer Game Studio Inc. has the potential to be bigger and better than it currently is with the initial release. As it stands now, the gameplay is a bit bland with battles, the exploration needs to create more motivation to give players more meaningful substance, and bigger story pieces that could help players connect with the gameplay. Given time, this game could be outstanding.
Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition brings a lot of new additions to a perfect game that is still fun to play two years after its initial release. Having a fully orchestrated soundtrack, more adventures, a 2D option, and nostalgic places to explore just leaves room for one more upgrade - a PS5 update. Regardless, if you're playing this on a PS4 or PS5, this is the best edition of the game to get and you won't be disappointed.
Thy Creature is a beautifully woven horror show with a balanced puzzle and bullet hell component. The addition of an unsettling narrative brings it together to make for a more robust bullet hell experience. While more hardcore fans of bullet hell games might find this an easy go around, the less seasoned gamers will get right into the game’s balanced design quickly and without much fuss.
Ori Mees did a superb job with Blake: The Visual Novel. The story is compelling, the choices feel real, and the consequences will have you trying the game again once it’s done.
SaGa Frontier Remastered has great upgrades that positively add to the original gameplay experience, especially if you loved this title back in the late 90s. If you have never played this, it might seem like an overwhelmingly difficult game with a mess of great ideas that had not been completely sorted out. It was certainly ahead of its time and groundbreaking in some areas of gameplay.
Madden NFL 22 has some good parts to it, mainly the usual suspects, but falls flat with Face of the Franchise. I know Face of the Franchise is a key part of Madden's success and what fans look forward to as a main piece of the Madden pie each year, but honestly, it has so many glitches in it that at times it is unplayable. Could these be fixed, and this year's title saved? Most definitely, but as it stands at launch, the game has issues that need rectifying.
The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos is a great tactical RPG from Artefacts Studio. It has everything you want from a tactical RPG, adds a sprinkle of difference with some of its design elements, and brings it all together with a solid bit of wacky humor and fun personalities.
Amerzone from developer Microids Studio Paris is a Myst-like experience that features a heavy narrative, great characters, and incredibly challenging puzzles. It may not be for everyone, but those who want this type of gaming experience will certainly be thrilled with the delivery.
Overall, the gameplay design for Edna & Harvey: The Breakout - Anniversary Edition is clunky on a console controller and might give too much freedom for a point and click-based game. That said, the story is good enough to push beyond those issues, the puzzles are incredibly clever as they relate to the story, though enormously difficult to overcome at times. At the end of the day, the experience might well be worth the frustration the design causes.