Deceive Inc. is a great title that allows players to put their stealth and sleuthing abilities to the test in ways that feel really rewarding. While there are a number of bugs in the game right now and it’s still missing some major features, it will be interesting to see if and how this game is able to evolve as we get further out from the release date.
Tin Hearts is a great game that puzzle fans are sure to fall in love with thanks to the easy-to-understand but hard-to-master gameplay. While it may be slow, it often picks up when you least expect it to provide an expanded world. Rogue Son clearly put its heart into this title, with countless moments feeling like they were pulled from a fairy tale.
Miasma Chronicles is a pretty interesting strategy adventure, even if it doesn’t try anything exceptionally revolutionary. It’s a great entry in a genre filled with XCOM clones and has a world faced with a threat that is genuinely interesting to learn about. It also adds the benefit of free exploration, even if the world you find yourself looking around in falls a little flat in representation.
From the beginning, Tartarus Key engulfs the player in a Saw-like mystery where they’re responsible for the lives of a group of misfits. The puzzles are easy enough to figure out thanks to their escape room simplicity, but some will still have to take time to figure out each step. While it’s not the most revolutionary puzzle game, the low poly aesthetic and fulfilling puzzles make it an enjoyable one.
]Dordogne's beautiful scenery, comforting gameplay, and heartfelt story make it just as much a piece of summer art as it is a game. There are the occasional technical issues that affect visuals, but it's nothing that will impact the best parts of the gameplay for most players.
Final Fantasy XVI has over 25 years of history to live up to, largely acting as the culmination of the battle systems and dramatic storytelling from that time. While the animation and combat are truly extraordinary, the pacing in the quests and drawn-out cinematics often left me hungry for the next fight.
Full Void offers a tense pixel-platforming adventure that will see players jumping across a variety of urban areas as they work to fight off an AI that’s taken over the world. While the gameplay is basic and the runtime short, it’s interesting and varied enough that most players will enjoy the time they spend with it. It would be interesting to see OutOfTheBit evolve on this concept further in the future to really flesh out these ideas.
If you’ve got a friend or two, Moving Out 2 is a good game to pass some time and challenge your friendship with a multitude of houses to move. The title evolves on the moving concept in its most literal forms and those who enjoyed the first time will have a lot of fun exploring each new level. It doesn’t evoke the same anticipation other titles have, but SMG Studio and Devm Games do enough to keep players and their friends entertained for hours.
Just like with the horror movie genre when the original was released, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is trying to change the way this type of game is played. It’s a game that can be as tense as it is beautiful, with each match introducing you to something new from the world of the movies. While the balancing isn’t perfect and makes escaping a much harder goal, there’s enough here that asymmetrical horror fans will enjoy.
For fans of the Indiana Jones movies, Phantom Abyss will feel like something out of a dream. As players slyly avoid traps and use their whip to grapple out of danger, they’ll truly channel the fedora wearing adventure hero. However, not every run will end with the same success, so be prepared to fail until you learn the mechanics.
It’s a fun game while learning the ropes but quickly becomes a chore when you get used to the world around you. If you’ve run out of horror games or have a PlayStation, you may get a fair amount of enjoyment out of Ghostwire: Tokyo.
Overall, DNF Duel is a beautiful anime fighting game that brings together a roster of 16 unique fighters to the arena. While the game is inviting to new players, it doesn’t feel like there is a lot of content for returning players to engage with. While the game is beautiful to look at, there are reasonable questions about how long players will engage with this game.
Bed and Breakfast is an adorable game that manages to create a charming atmosphere through its main character Hank and all his friends. That being said, the world can be hard to enjoy when everything in the world feels like it’s moving at a snail’s pace. Gummy Cat managed to create a wonderful atmosphere for this game, it’s just too bad enjoying it takes so long.
Hooked on You: A Dead by Daylight Dating Sim will be a lot of fun for fans who’ve spent the last six years growing with the original Dead by Daylight. While the mechanics can become a bit stale near the end of each path, it’s almost worth it to get a closer look at each of the killers that we’ve become so familiar with over the years. Players who are new to the series may want to play the original before trying this one out.
Overall, Islets is cute and will offer a lot of fun to those who’ve played other popular platformers in recent years. The cute world and characters offer a lot of charm and it’s always a pleasure when you come across a new creature. That being said, the combat is pretty repetitive and there isn’t enough information provided about your objective when entering a new area.
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is a tribute to over 20 years of the show’s history, banking on classic references and memes to impress players. While there is a lot to do in this new version of Bikini Bottom, it largely involves much of the same linear progression as past games. If you’ve followed and enjoyed the last two decades of the show, then this game will likely be perfect for you.
Redemption Reapers is a brutal strategy RPG where every move you make can be the difference between success and defeat. While the game might be unapproachable to start, there are moments of true joy to be felt for those who are willing to put in the effort. Although to get there, you’ll have to be willing to take multiple punches to the jaw after trying to get through the UI.
While Innchanted doesn’t manage to do anything revolutionary, it does play with some fun concepts while evolving on Overcooked’s style. This game will likely be enjoyed the most by those who can play with friends as it’s a really good time when you get everything right. The game encourages the player to reach better milestones, but it may not engage the player long enough to reach those benchmarks.
While Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun might be one of the more visually impressive retro shooters in a long time, it also provided me with plenty of frustration during my playtime. The monsters, guts, and gore make for exciting gameplay, but it feels like Auroch Digital is trying to milk it for all that it’s worth at times. Boltgun is a natural successor to retro 90s shooters, for better or worse.
Let’s School may be remembered as the most in-depth school simulator ever released, even towering above what Two Point Academy tried to accomplish last year. While there can be a lot of information force-fed to you at once, Panthea Games has done a great job of simulating the complexity of running a dynamic operation like a school. Even if it does feel less approachable because of that sometimes.