The basics of TombStar are well done, with nicely-frantic action that keeps the bullets flowing at a good pace.
While I found my playtime kneecapped by the physical hardware, Loud has nice tunes playing in sync to plenty of fun note tracks. Astrid’s tale isn’t particularly deep (what happened to her band?), but she’s a likeable character who grows into her music over the three years of the story. The twelve tracks have plenty of replayability thanks to the multiple difficulty levels, and there’s even an extra-hard bonus tune awarded in the free-play mode after game completion. Loud is a capable little music game with a lot of heart, but be aware you need either small hands or maybe a Pro Controller to get the most from it.
Once you get the hang of things Eyes in the Dark: The Curious Case of One Victoria Bloom clicks into place and becomes a great little action-platformer to blast through.
While a different game from its prequel, Mothergunship: Forge is a great arena shooter with a strong challenge level.
Skeleton Crew is currently broken in a way that makes it hard to recommend.
The weird thing is, though, that somehow it all ends up working.
While the opening can be off-putting, Salt and Sacrifice is a huge game that picks up almost instantly once you're past the beginning, with multiple large areas that will each take a good amount of hours to explore and track down all the Mages that roam there.
Rogue Legacy 2 is an enormous beast of an adventure, packed with fast combat, great platforming and endless replayability.
The Cruel King and the Great Hero is a pure charmer of an RPG. The playful storybook art and lovely soundtrack strike an adventurous tone, and all the characters from Yuu and the Dragon King down to the random monsters are adorably designed.
Infernax by Berzerk Studios
Grapple Dog is a fantastic platformer that nails just about everything it tries to do.
Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem is an excellent entry in the long-running series.
There's a lot to love about The Gunk even if the core gameplay rarely rises above being pretty OK. It's a good adventure through a unique and pretty alien world, filled with character and life.
While Asteroids: Recharged is a decent update of the classic game and is a welcome return for the series, it's also not as effective at tugging on the nostalgia strings as the previous Recharged games.
Archvale is a fantastic genre hybrid, easily merging the shooter and RPG elements together to create a ridiculously playable adventure.
Among Trees is a game that ends up being more pretty than good, but then again it's incredibly pretty so that's a high bar to clear.
While it would have been nice to see Centipeded: Recharged's leaderboard and score-reporting issues addressed in Black Widow: Recharged, the twin-stick shooting action provides a great quick-hit arcade rush.
While the start of Into the Pit is unquestionably rocky, the follow-through is a blast, with fast action and serious pyrokinetics as monsters turn into blood splats decorating the walls.
While the leaderboards are wonky the rest of Centipede: Recharged feels just about exactly like you'd want the original game to be when dragged into the current year.
Cave built up a strong fan-base over its years of development and Espgaluda II is a perfect example as to why.