It has been a very long time since I played a game as assured, polished, and emotionally affecting as Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2.
Dark Envoy isn’t without its strengths. The class system and skill trees lend themselves to interesting character builds and adventure party variety. But Director’s Cut or not, Dark Envoy simply had too many serious technical issues and minor hiccups. They constantly intruded into whatever fun the game was trying to give me. I’ll check back later to see if things improve but for now, Malakai and Kaela are on their own.
Games like Cryptmaster are rare. Not just because of a particular aesthetic or unique mechanic, but because they take a core idea and focus it. Cryptmaster is ok with not being for every gamer, but puzzle-RPG fans with a love of words, a wicked sense of humor, and a taste for the macabre will enjoy it.
Men of War 2 appears more approachable than it actually is. There’s a depth and complexity that’s rewarding to master, but getting there takes a lot of time. Fans of the original will find it to be a worthy sequel. Casual RPG players might feel a little overwhelmed at first. Although there’s plenty of content for single players, Men of War 2 really comes into its own with or against other humans on the battlefield. In that genre, it’s one of the best.
Fabledom has deeper mechanics than maybe its storybook look suggests, and the folding-in of fairytale fantasy is winning. While both the fairytale and romance elements are unique twists, the core mechanics are pretty standard. Fans of the genre will feel right at home. I wouldn’t call Fabledom uninspired, but whatever it lacks in ambition it makes up in charm and familiar fun.
Indika has a compelling and genuinely original story to tell. It’s by turns darkly humorous, thought-provoking, philosophically challenging, and emotionally shocking. It’s weird, too, but sometimes more attached to its off-kilter elements than it should be. Things like ignoring fun and narrative consistency for the sake of being quirky feel like missteps when they waste the player’s time or slow the pace. Indika is definitely original and sometimes daring, but stumbles a bit in its execution. Imperfect or not, I can’t help but admire the look of the game, the memorable characters, and the audacious themes.
While yet another return to Yaesha is slightly disappointing, everything else about The Forgotten Kingdom is a must-have for Remnant 2 players. The enemies, weapons, bosses, and the new Archetype are all up to the base game’s overall excellence. Especially at a very reasonable price, it’s easy to recommend The Forgotten Kingdom.
Creative Assembly continues to support the base game with quality free and paid content. If you’re a fan of Total War: Warhammer III, Thrones of Decay is a no-brainer purchase. Like previous DLCs, it gives players a trio of new Lords to learn, a large number of new units to play with, and another reason to sink hours and hours into the game.
Making its way to PS5 and Switch, it’s only a little disappointing that Grounded didn’t bring along a lot of new content, though it does include all updates, new ant queens, and a new game+ mode. Grounded is still an excellent and unique survival game. Its big-world crafting RPG mechanics scale down to miniature size quite well and there are a ton of ways to make the game your own. Like their PC and Xbox counterparts, Sony and Nintendo fans of the survival/crafting genre will not be disappointed by Grounded.
2023’s Dead Island 2 was gaming junk food in the best possible way. It was dumb fun surrounded by smart humor and satire. In SoLa, none of that has really changed. Melee combat is still visceral — literally — and bloody good fun. The game’s visuals remain sharp, detailed, and full of humorous touches. The new DLC is an improvement over Haus, but there are more and more moments where things feel a bit stale, too. Come to SoLa with realistic expectations for more of the same, and it’ll be a pretty good time. Let’s hope that the planned third DLC shakes things up.
I guess I can imagine a group of friends spending a few moments — and even fewer brain cells — blasting through a few levels of Perish. I can’t conceive of a solo player doing anything but bouncing off the game’s repetitive and unsatisfying combat. Aside from some sharp visuals and a nonsensical blend of mythologies, Perish is just too rooted in outdated FPS tropes and bland design to spend much time with.
Tales of Kenzera: Zau is a well-made Metroidvania with an intriguing and culturally unique narrative and setting. It doesn’t try to reinvent the genre, but there’s nothing wrong with sticking to a familiar path if the result is polished and fun. Tales of Kenzera: Zau has a colorful, welcoming vibe with a mythic story to tell and enough action to keep players engaged.
In the end, I think Harold Halibut ought to be experienced for its amazing technical achievement, if nothing else. While its gameplay doesn’t always engage, its narrative, characters, and themes are coherent in the manner of good speculative fiction. Both Harold the character and Harold Halibut the game are weird, wonderful, and quite unlike anything we’ve seen this year.
In the end, Withering Rooms’ somewhat clunky and graceless combat is not enough to seriously detract from what it does well. Withering Rooms looks unlike any recent game in the genre. Its setting is haunting and haunted and its blend of roguelike, puzzle, and action mechanics guarantees variety. It’s a compelling choice for fans of action games with more than a dash of horror.
Broken Roads delivers an engaging exploration of competing ethical systems in the guise of a CRPG. A respectful and authentic setting and characters sweeten the deal, making philosophy fun. The writing is mostly spot-on and entertaining. All that is good news for fans of the genre. Less successful: the game’s awkwardly blended or superficial combat and RPG mechanics. They’re not great, but they don’t seriously undermine the core of what makes Broken Roads unique.
Highwater understands its limitations. It’s not a game that tries to do too much and fails. Some aspects work well, like the world-building, premise, and combat. But I wanted to be told less, and discover more. Given a bigger budget and less restrictive, more open-ended gameplay, Highwater could be a standout in a crowded field. Highwater has good intentions, but it needs a team of writers who understand character and dialogue a little better, and that showing is better than telling.
There are quite a few zoo sims out there, ranging from pixel art constructions to Planet Zoo, which is definitely the ultimate game in the genre. For those without the requisite PC, the PS5 port does a generally outstanding job of translating the Planet Zoo experience to console. It’s genuinely educational, engaging, and addictive fun. I wish the new edition was just a bit more generous with content at launch, but there’s plenty there to work with. Animal and sim lovers should rejoice, Planet Zoo has arrived on consoles at last.
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is an impressive solo achievement. Its disregard for traditional goals, victory conditions or game-limiting objectives makes Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles stand out in a — pun intended — sea of builders. As a set of automated construction mechanics, the Freebuild Mode feels great. Sometimes the campaign scenarios sit uncomfortably in the middle, tasking players to discover how things work but not always giving them a clear, actionable goal. Fans of games like Townscapers will enjoy Bulwark very much, and players of more traditional RTS games will appreciate its fresh approach to the genre.
From character creation on, Dragon’s Dogma 2 asks to be approached with patience, understanding, and above all, ownership of choices. You get one save at a time.
Although it can be played solo, surviving The Outlast Trials is better and more fun with friends, although they’ll need pretty strong stomachs and a taste for extreme imagery. The Outlast Trials has strong survival puzzle mechanics, a good bit of macabre humor, and a confidently over-the-top presentation. It’ll need some additional content over time for real longevity, but the foundation is strong.