Turns out not all games with rocky development cycles are disasters. Dead Island 2 by Dambusters Studio is a fantastic zombie slaying action game that simply avoids taking risks.
Wilds Hearts is an incredibly fun monster hunting experience that's really only held back by its technical issues. Performance issues across the board on all platforms are what stop the otherwise faster paced and stylish action game from truly giving Monster Hunter a run for its money.
Forspoken is a bland experience about a girl and her cuff trying to save a world blanketed in corrupting mists. It tries to do a lot of things but doesn't ever really do any one thing well.
It's easy to look at Midnight Suns and blow it off for not being something we're used to getting. However, Firaxis has crafted a fantastic experience with a crew of not so well known superheroes. Even the developers themselves have expanded their repertoire by trying something entirely new as well. As far as Deck Building RTS games go, Marvel's Midnight Suns hits the nail on the head and obliterates it in the best way possible.
Evil West’s biggest issues are in its technical problems. The game is incredibly fun but it’s marred by performance issues and just feels dated with simple level design.
Asterigos: Curse of the Stars doesn’t elevate the Action RPG genre that’s been birthed from the Souls franchise to new new heights, but for what it does, it does well. Maybe it’s not be the most challenging game amongst its peers but it does prove that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
With an exception to its gated progression system, Justice Sucks is a wonderfully absurd journey about an AI vacuum that's silently murdering his way through 90's television shows in order to save his family from an evil corporation.
Gotham Knights is a fun, if not shoddily made super beat em up that is best experienced with a friend or three.
Soulstice isn't looking to reinvent any wheels but it's an incredibly fun hack-and-slash adventure game with decent storytelling. It's only downsides are it's weak visuals and finicky camera.
For what it’s worth, Hardspace: Shipbreaker is one of the most relaxing sci-fi games I’ve played in a long time and it runs wonderfully on the PS5. I don’t have to worry about crashing my ship into a planet or being shot up by aliens. As long as I’m not getting sucked into the furnace or shattering my helmet with a table I tried to throw into the furnace, life is good…especially once LYNX is out of the picture.
Steelrising offers a unique take on the French Revolutionas you assume the role of the Aegis hacking and slashing her way through a Paris besieged by an army of Automatons. While its developer, Spiders, does offer a unique twist on the Souls-like formula by tweaking the stamina mechanic and a focused narrative, it's clearly a game made on a budget. I personally had a lot of fun but I must admit that it has some issues like broken audio, textures and objects popping in and out, repetitive environments and it just becomes too easy by the end of the game.
Rollerdrome is a short, chaotic glimpse into a near dystopian future where the X-Games and the re-emergence of bloodsports have collided to bring viewers the most entertaining TV show ever.
For what it's worth, I enjoyed all the time I've been spending with Eiyuden Chronicles: Rising. On the surface, the gameplay really is quite simple and although it never really provided a real challenge, the game's simplicity worked in its favor. While it may have plenty of little hiccups, it is a fun sidescrolling RPG with a strong focus on town building. However, if you expect much more than that out of it, you might find yourself disappointed. Should you be a Gamepass subscriber, I highly recommend giving it a try.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is a good remastering of the LEGO Star Wars games of the past, giving a more extended version of each game in addition to updating the graphics for each story. However, this is showing that the LEGO formula itself is becoming dated when all it can do is add a fresh coat of paint to a series of games that we have seen done to death by this point, including the beginning of the Rey Trilogy.
Frightence has some good ideas behind it and builds a creepy ambience around its eerie apartment building, but technical, durational, and gameplay limitations plague it alongside a scarce amount of content.
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands had the potential to take RPG games and make them into something more like an RPG/FPS hybrid, but Gearbox forgot to keep the RPG bits in other sections of Tiny Tina's Wonderlands outside of the story. If there was more focus on the RPG side of things rather than established Looter/Shooter mechanics, then Tiny Tina's Wonderlands would be a much better game. But at the moment, it's just another Borderlands game, but a fan Borderlands game.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a triumph and a new direction for Kirby games as a whole. While not everything they throw in works, this is a game you'll enjoy playing, and then trying to get 100% completion on.
Despite its performance issues and clunky movement system, Ghostwire: Tokyo offers a unique twist on the First-Person, Open World formula. Ethereal Weaving is a fun way to combat the creepy visitors and it's incredibly easy to get lost in the Tokyo's dark alleyways.
Triangle Strategy brought very deep and compelling narratives and gameplay elements to this Nintendo Switch title. It doesn't always succeed in what it's trying to do. But overall, it's a fun experience.
Elex 2 is so full of problems, asking consumers to pay full price is ridiculous.