Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake accomplishes its goal of bringing a decades old game to modern standards, offering a gorgeous art style and some quality-of-life additions. The tactical nature of the combat still works, although the lack of tactics during boss fights is disappointing. A chunk of battle animations could have used more love as it doesn't feel like complete remake. The story isn't as compelling as more focused modern RPGs, but it does still offer satisfying world-building and a few emotional beats. That said, the pros outweigh the cons for this remake, even if the remaking could have gone a bit further.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is a complete and spectacular package, offering a fun and varied campaign, lightning fast multiplayer, and a return to round-based zombies that lives up to the hype. It doesn’t fully reinvent what Call of Duty is, but it’s far more varied than previous entries and everything included feels like it got the love and attention it deserves, making it a must-play for anyone who has fondness for Black Ops or Call of Duty.
[REDACTED] is another action roguelite in a sea of games in that genre, and while it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it does have some unique ideas. A focus on fast-paced speed and defeating rivals throughout each run provides a nice twist and the fluid action matches that speed, making for a fun experience. The narrative is lacking, but it also doesn’t take up too much time anyway, letting you focus on slaughtering enemies as fast as you can.
Super Mario Party Jamboree is overstuffed with unnecessary and uninteresting side content. While the main party mode feels like the strongest of the Nintendo Switch entries, a lack of variety in the minigames and only a few standouts make for a Mario Party that has a strong core, but not much else.
Silent Hill 2 has more than enough modern features to make experiencing it in 2024 hit just as hard as it was praised for doing in 2001. The story still feels unmatched in the genre and the horror is upsetting in ways that feel quite different from some other modern horror titles. Its depiction of real-life horror is handled with incredible skill, using awful realities to benefit its horror without exploiting them or shying away from the realness of them. Combat doesn't have the depth you might hope for and its opening is stretched a bit too far, but it's still an excellent horror experience.
Funko Fusion is a slog to play. The puzzles are uninteresting, and the third-person shooting is tedious. It uses its mature movie franchises in strange ways, adding glood and violence to old-school slapstick comedy, creating a tonal mess.
Wild Bastards adds strategic depth to the roguelite game but sacrifices depth in its shooting to do so. The result is a game that has fun characters and great strategy, but the shooting sections become stale over the course of the campaign.
Astro Bot is nothing short of magic, applying fun and fluid platforming to a creative love letter to video games. The quality of detail in Astro Bot is only rivaled by the passion its developers so clearly have for video games.
Black Myth: Wukong delivers incredible boss fight with stunning visuals, but the in-between moments don't reach the same heights. Technical hiccups and poor level design hold it back for greatness, but the boss battles make it all worthwhile.
Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers is a fun take on blackjack and roguelike deck builders, using unique cards and rules to make blackjack a slightly more strategic game. It doesn't have the most engaging visual style and doesn't have the same extended sense of discovery other games in the genre have, but each run is unique enough to make you say "one more run" a few times.
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is a fun and well-put together action-RPG, with a trope filled story. It isn't going to blow anyone's socks off, but this small adventure has just enough going for it and a short enough runtime that makes it worth diving into, especially for people that love focused and methodical combat.
While incredibly gorgeous, and filled with small moments of greatness, Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus suffers from several rough edges in its combat, platforming, and level design. None of these make a bad game by themselves, but the frustrations mount over time, dragging down what could have been a special experience.
Another Crab's Treasure blends hardcore action with 3D platforming to create a special undersea adventure.
How Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged brings plenty of small improvements but doesn't fundamentally change much from the original.
Exoprimal keeps its cards close, saving some of its best moments for later.
Aliens: Dark Descent feels a lot like some of the recent Alien films, where there are plenty of good ideas but the execution is lacking. A real-time strategy game starring helpless, fragile marines sounds fun, but the slow and clunky controls makes it much harder to engage with the systems present in combat. The atmosphere and story are strong enough that if the game was even a bit more fun to play, it would be worth checking out for fans of Aliens, but as it stands Aliens: Dark Descent is a frustrating experience.
Cassette Beasts is a fresh take on the monster collecting genre, featuring both whimsical creatures and actual floating nightmares in its surreal world. A double battle system with dozens of different buffs and debuffs creates a need to be more strategic and its story goes far beyond a desire to become champion or to just catch'em all, but you can still do that too if you want to. A few shortcomings in the quest systems and platforming hold it back, but only slightly. Cassette Beasts proves itself as far more than just a knockoff, and is instead a brilliant game in its own right.
Classic SpongeBob humor combined with solid platforming makes for a fun nostalgia trip through the multiverse in The Cosmic Shake.
Trek to Yomi is a beautiful homage to a specific genre of old Japanese cinema and the artists who created those films. While occasionally too rigid in its dedication to paying tribute, a combat system with enough depth to satisfy most people and scenery worthy of its own canvas at every turn makes it a journey worth taking.
Hot Wheels Unleashed is an excellent arcade racing game that doesn't fully embrace some of the wackier parts of the toy brand.