Mr. Sun’s Hatbox is a rogue-lite with chaotically fun stealth presented in a simple cute art style. But for all its hyperactive successes, it struggles to keep you playing with a clumsy progression system and perhaps a bit too much slapstick randomness.
With strong presentation and art, for the most part, and an autumnal young adult mystery, Beacon Pines stands out, bringing new ideas to branching narrative gaming while not quite making the landing.
Railbound is a relaxing open-ended logic puzzler with a lovely aesthetic that only falters in its finish. With a short run time and pleasant difficulty curve, it is a great way to spend an afternoon.
Despite a misguided challenge system, Rollerdrome innovates with plenty of guns, grinds, grabs, and even strategy.
TUNIC is an obtuse deconstruction of the original Legend of Zelda, capturing its spirit and modernizing it with a soulslike edge.
Grapple Dog is an approachable platformer with enough depth in its central mechanics to encourage replayability and mastery.
Airborne Kingdom’s unique nomadic city-builder premise is held up by brilliant multi-layered strategic decisions that not only make it intriguing to strategy veterans but very approachable to newcomers through its organic tutorials.
With striking cinematic superstructures and landscapes, gliding through JETT: The Far Shore can be an incredible sight.
Tails of Iron might not reinvent the wheel, but it introduces new ideas and a refined souls-like experience with a dark fantasy Redwall theme.
Aerial_Knight's Never Yield is an unambitious yet entertaining endless runner that stumbles a bit in the story department but stands out with a killer soundtrack and sharp distinctive look.
Shelter 3 is not for everyone and disappointed some fans. However, there is still a decent experience buried under some clunky design decisions.
Through its flexible choices and paths, Suzerain avoids the binaries that many choice-based games fall into, and it allows for the stark and realistic depiction of a young democracy.
With an incredible presentation, flashy combat, memorable characters, and depth and nuance in its complicated time-travelling kaiju-fighting narrative, 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim is a must-play for most PS4 owners with at least a tolerance for anime melodrama.