Layers of Fear (2023) makes full use of Unreal Engine 5 to elevate its visuals, lighting, and environments to all-new heights, reimagines the original Layers of Fear, and features brand-new DLC content to tie the entire story together. Layers of Fear 2 still struggles to compare, however, and scares often fail to land.
Wizard with a Gun from Devolver Digital and Galvanic Games successfully builds an enthralling apocalyptic world with unique time and magic-based mechanics to power its addictive, roguelite gameplay loop. Some rough performance and visual edges detract from the magic, though.
From its distinctive art style to its decently fleshed-out world, Kitaria Fables is as cute as they come and filled with its own personal brand of charm. However, surprisingly engrossing combat and a stable experience don't cover the myriad of strange game design decisions that cause Kitaria Fables to move at glacial pace.
After Us features a sprawling, desolate world painstakingly crafted to show the destruction wrought by human greed, but its camera controls and level design make the platforming awkward and often frustrating.
Hints of a solid, finished shooter shine in CrossfireX at times, but at the end of the day, all you're getting is a short, average campaign and a multiplayer experience that lacks content and feels torn between two worlds.