The Talos Principle 2 builds on the foundation of the first excellent game. It has a rich, thoughtful narrative where the puzzles aren’t just moving laser beams, but trying to figure out what it means to be part of a society. Moving the laser beams is fun, too, and there are enough systems to make those puzzles accessible but challenging. The Talos Principle 2 gives players a lot to think about.
Anyone who enjoyed Dead Island 2 will probably enjoy Haus as well. It has the same engaging humor and social satire, the same gory action, and even more visually impressive levels. What it doesn’t have are a lot of new ideas. It’s a pretty short romp, too. Haus is definitely, for better or worse, more of the same. I’m ok with that.
Achilles: Legends Untold is a safe and standard hack-and-slash dungeon crawler. Its ancient Greek setting and attractive environments help it stand out a bit, but on the whole it’s a formulaic game. The Soulslike mechanics aren’t especially well developed but represent a small element of originality. If fans of the genre can look past the lackluster missions, script and acting, they’ll probably enjoy the action.
Vampire: The Masquerade-Justice is a stealth-action RPG that’s a convincing fit for VR. The core gameplay is pretty standard, and character models are a bit disappointing, but its implementation in VR, coupled with excellent environmental design and lighting, help sell the experience. New Meta Quest 3 or PS VR2 owners with a taste for virtual blood will enjoy spending time in Venice’s virtual world of shadows.
Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria doesn’t take any huge chances with the survival crafting genre. Still, the Lord of the Rings overlay and familiar character cameos help make its familiar loops seem fresh enough. In the mixed-bag pantheon of Lord of the Rings-inspired games, Return to Moria acquits itself quite well.
Quantum Error desperately wants to just be a dystopian sci-fi CGI film, without any pesky gameplay to kill its momentum. Alas, there is a clunky, antiquated, and unrefined shooter wedged between the game’s Unreal Engine 5 cinematics. Love and attention was poured into the cutscenes, but the shooter is malnourished and not very much fun. Next time, just make a movie.
Maybe it isn’t fair to compare Cities: Skylines II to its predecessor, which has had years of updates and addons. Setting aside some technical issues, Cities: Skylines II has some interesting new systems, some welcome mechanical improvements, and lots of potential. But it’s missing some content that long time players have probably come to expect, and it’s in need of optimization, bug fixes, and the sense of life and fun that characterized the first game.
Alan Wake 2 rewards fans of the first game for their patience, and invites new players along for a wild, sometimes terrifying and mind-bending ride.
As a comic brought to life, Hellboy Web of Wyrd nails the narrative tone and art style that Mike Mignola perfected decades ago. As an action game, there are impediments to enjoyment, starting with the purposefully choppy animation and Hellboy’s lack of fluid movement. What works in the pages of a book doesn’t necessarily translate to fun in the hands of the player.
With incredible art design, challenging action, and a very innovative, dual-world mechanic, Lords of the Fallen is probably a must-play for fans of Soulslikes. But it’s hard to ignore the game’s issues, too, from sometimes unrefined movement and clunky combat to its many technical hiccups. While these can be frustrating or worse, ultimately the game’s ambition and dark fantasy vision are at least as compelling as its flaws.
There’s probably an audience for Payday 3, as there was for the previous game. A jank-tolerant group of friends might have fun killing some time and causing mayhem. They’d have to have a pretty low bar for shooter mechanics, graphics, and story, though. Apart from that. there’s really no reason to spend money or time with Payday 3.
Although some mechanical elements suggest other games, Under the Waves uses deep sea exploration for its twin themes of personal grief and environmental exploitation in a unique way. There’s a lack of technical refinement here and there, and the messaging gets heavy-handed at times. Under the Waves is actually about something which puts it ahead of many other games in the survival crafting genre.
Back in 2017, Shuyan Saga was probably a decent mobile game. It has a competent, if not very original, narrative and the graphic novel is broken up by real-time kung fu fighting. In 2023 and on bleeding edge consoles, Shuyan Saga feels out of place and unlikely to satisfy gamers used to more elaborate productions and nuanced mechanics.
Calling Lies of P derivative is both obvious and misses the point. It’s is a love letter to FromSoftware, but one that quite often matches or even exceeds its inspiration. Lies of P doesn’t quite attain the elegance of Dark Souls, Elden Ring, or Bloodborne’s best level designs, but its art, graphics, and combat are possibly the best of any Soulslike not developed by Miyazaki and company. Lies of P is addictive, challenging, and rewarding, and a must-play for fans of action RPGs.
Everspace 2 has a solid narrative, great arcade-style flight and combat mechanics, and an addictive explore, loot, and fight gameplay loop. That was true on the PC and it’s just as true on consoles. Everspace 2 is proof that an unexpected genre mashup like looter/shooter and space combat can play nicely together.
Armored Core VI is not just fan service. It’s an incredible synthesis of a respected franchise and lessons learned over ten years of game design. For longtime players of Armored Core, the new game moves the series forward in a remarkably successful way. While it’s an entirely different experience, gamers coming from Dark Souls will still recognize FromSoftware’s core philosophy of challenge, persistence and reward. Armored Core VI is fast-paced, brutally difficult in places and extremely satisfying to play.
Ride 5 is not a huge, evolutionary leap from the last game in 2020. Instead, Ride 5 continues to refine and add depth, options, and polish to an already excellent racer. The continued lack of a thorough, step-by-step tutorial is puzzling. Ride 5 has options for inexperienced riders, but it’s clearly leaning hard into being an exacting motorcycle sim for fans of the sport.
Blasphemous 2 is a very challenging game but by and large, it’s a fair one, too. Timing, persistence, and the ability to read patterns — not brute force — are the only keys to making it out the other side. In terms of level design and weapon variety, it’s a step forward from the first game. If you enjoyed Blasphemous, the sequel will feel both familiar and surprising in equal measure.
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is a challenging and extremely entertaining stealth action and tactics game. It has a charming setting and story, with characters and mechanics that encourage creative and varied approaches to combat. There aren’t nearly enough great pirate games, so I’m glad Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew sailed into port.
Gord is a richer and more complex game than it first appears. There are interesting layers of moral ambiguity and mental health to consider. Gord is a dark Slavic folk tale in survival/RTS-game disguise. Its mechanics and systems add up to an engaging gameplay experience. For a modest entry price, Gord provides a lot of entertainment, an engaging story and plenty of replay value via customizable scenarios.