MLB The Show 25 provides an authentic baseball experience that brings you directly to the field. Various gameplay modes challenge you and the settings let you further customise your experience. The niche appeal and high difficulty make it tough to recommend for players who aren't already interested in baseball. But if you have any passing interest or knowledge, you won't regret picking this game up.
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma perfectly blends the farming and combat experience with Japanese influences. The result is an immersive cultural experience that you don't want to put down. You actually feel like you are rebuilding villages and restoring prosperity to the land instead of just being a landowner. While it isn't perfect despite several improvements to the formula, it nevertheless delivers a fun experience that you won't soon forget.
Weird West’s combination of the Wild West mythos with dark fantasy elements brings together an enjoyable RPG experience. Being able to forge your own path through the world with your actions and combat is a fun and enjoyable experience. While there are some noticeable flaws, Weird West does a great job of giving you the tools you make to create your own legend in the West.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage gives you an engaging Assassin experience that enhances gameplay. Doing additional work to reach your target immerses you in the assassination experience. Using different weapons and objects is engaging and lets you find your preferred playstyle. Finding items and exploring locations have several benefits that make it worthwhile. There are some visual glitches and indoor navigation is difficult, but it’s a solid game that is worth exploring.
The Outlast Trials takes its bone-chilling horror and extends it to a multiplayer aspect. The series retains its horror roots that scare you at every turn. Completing missions also makes you feel like you are improving, giving you goals to work towards. However, part of the fear is dampened when you realize that failure isn’t as painful as it used to be. Missions also take a long time, subtly encouraging you to play with friends.
Owning your own zoo and having a high level of control makes the experience immersive. You decide the animals, environment, and attractions that visitors get to experience. Managing the selection process and going through the tutorial is tough on a console. The learning curve is also high; trial-by-fire isn’t a reliable method. But if you ever want to make your own zoo a reality, there’s no game better than this.
Vampire Therapist may be about vampires, but there's something we can all learn from the journey of supernatural therapy.
Paper Ghost Stories: Third Eye Open delivers a fantastic tale but has some flaws with navigation and instructions that do stand out.
Necro Story delivers an entertaining and funny necromancer story, but it has some flaws holding it back from greatness.
Mindcop challenges you more than other point-and-click games. It's certainly not easy, but the mystery immersion is well worth the difficulty.
Recall: Empty Wishes stumbles with the supernatural and horror, but recovers in time to give you an unforgettable and emotional story.
Carmen Sandiego gives you the master thief experience with a sprinkling of educational content, even if it can be too easy at times.
KARMA: The Dark World does a great job in immersing you in a dystopian setting. The horror is prominent and challenges you to think. Some of the puzzles feel unnecessary and you have little guidance for the solutions. The experience is great if you can withstand the mature content and give the story time to flesh out.
Crown Gambit has a great political story and tactical gameplay, but it can be dry and has a few bugs that disrupt the experience.
Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei has great world-building and complex characters that helps to deliver a powerful story. Being able to shape the personality of the main character and feel invested in their adventure immerses you into the story, and you are tempted to see how everything ties together. The visual novel helps to break up the story and makes it easier to follow along. Replaying for different routes can be difficult since it’s not always clear what your choices affect, and the intensity of the action scenes isn’t helped by the visual novel medium. Despite its flaws, the story remains excellent, and you will be interested in seeing how the characters determine their future.
Miasma Chronicles takes the turn-based strategy formula and throws on additional layers of stealth to enforce guerilla-warfare strategies. It largely succeeds in this goal, ensuring players take in their surroundings while taking out as many enemies as they can. When combat starts, you use various abilities and character strengths to survive. This gameplay immerses you well, making you want to plan out your next strategy as soon as possible. There are some flaws in the gameplay, such as abilities and environmental objects not working as intended. It's also too easy to accidentally commit to a mistake while looking over the battlefield. But there are more strengths than weaknesses that allow Miasma Chronicles to deliver a fun strategic experience.
Layers of Fear is a great finale to a frightful series, tying together all loose ends and scaring you at every turn. The staggered story structure is confusing at first, but pays off when the game finally ends. Unexpected jump scares and a dark environment terrify even the most experienced horror veterans. Learning the backstories of each character and choosing different endings gives you control of the narrative. It's also easy to replay stories if you want to see different endings. The note-based storytelling and navigation difficulty can turn away players looking for a simpler experience. But for a psychological game that chills you to the bone, it's hard to find something as good as this.
ANONYMOUS;CODE is a story that requires a solid time investment from you. It's a difficult story to grasp at first and things only get weirder from there. But if you do put in the time, you will experience a thrilling sci-fi adventure like no other. The concept of reloading previous saves is taken to another level and it's done well. You really feel like you stepped into a realistic future that we might experience one day. It's not a perfect story by any means and there are moments where the immersion is broken. But even with the flaws, it's a visual novel that delivers on its premise and keeps you hooked.
The Crackpet Show: Happy Tree Friends Edition succeeds in being a more immersive rogue-lite than others in the genre. You are encouraged to be strategic, taking risks for greater rewards or playing it safe to survive. It's also easy to find weapons that work when you match them with the right perk, meaning there are no terrible options. However, longer episodes can make the randomisation aspect more punishing, and a lack of healing makes the game very difficult. It's a big time investment but there's a lot of fun to be had if you are willing to spend the hours.
Endless Dungeon adds a few layers of strategy to the roguelike genre and it works well. Going in with a team and having turrets for support forces you to pool your advantages together to win. With different team combinations and turret placements, you can spend hours finding the perfect playstyle. There is a steep learning curve compared to other roguelikes and some glitches are present. Fortunately, none of that drags the experience down and you still have a solid roguelike that keeps you on your toes.