Consume Me is teeming with creativity and personality, and for that, it's earned a special place in my heart.
Melinoë's journey showcases Supergiant's expert world-building, combat design, and sharp dialogue to a degree that somehow surpasses one of my all-time favorite games. Godlike, indeed.
Some will enjoy struggling to climb sandy dunes and laughing at their friends falling down the same cliffside for the hundredth time, but no amount of creative appreciation will change how I felt playing Baby Steps. Every time I put the controller down, I dreaded picking it back up.
The game is intentionally abstract and open to interpretation, so you'll fill in the gaps with your partner: you create a relationship between your Lego avatars, shorthand for game terms to get through levels, and eventually build a new, player-specific version of the game for yourself. Light Brick Studio did a great job designing Lego Voyagers, but the experience I built with my partner is what will stick with me.
With my 100-percent playthrough clocking in at about five hours, Is This Seat Taken is a satisfying snack of a game. Complete with a chill soundtrack and a cute art style, it felt like a breath of fresh air. While I played it on PC, it would feel right at home on the go on its other platforms, Switch and mobile. It's an easy recommendation for anyone even slightly interested in puzzle games.
On paper, I don't mind the lack of story, competitive modes, or procedurally generated content, but when the gameplay isn't engaging or interesting enough to keep me playing, the lack of other game modes is especially glaring. Recent updates have eliminated the tedious grind for upgrades, but the lack of a strong foundation underneath leaves FBC: Firebreak with too little, too late.
It doesn't have enough Pac-Man for fans of that franchise, and its Metroidvania elements are too weak to appeal to fans of the genre, so why did they make a Pac-Man Metroidvania? After spending 40 hours with the game, I still don't know, and that makes it difficult to recommend.
The realm of indie roguelikes is competitive and crowded, but despite years of tough competition, Monster Train 2 has strongly reasserted its series as one of the leaders of the pack. In other words, many games are good; few are as good as Hell.
The Midnight Walk is a rare case of a book best judged by its cover. If its aesthetic speaks to you, you'll have a pleasant, spooky journey alongside Potboy.
Blue Prince is everything I want in an indie game: a unique, creative idea brought to life with expert execution. Its combination of roguelikes and puzzle games feels effortless, with each aspect boosting my enjoyment of the other.
Thanks to its vibrant art, music, and storytelling, I had a wonderful time with South of Midnight. Its narrative goes to some surprisingly dark places, yet it still brims with whimsy, making it a fitting adaptation of the source mythology's similar tone.
I don't regret my time with Atomfall. It knows what it wants to be, with a reasonable scope and solid shooting mechanics. But issues with the skill system, its underbaked stealth, and an unengaging narrative are asterisks too large to ignore. Like the world it depicts, something exciting and unique lies at Atomfall's core. I just wish it wasn't walled off by my laundry list of frustrations.
The Forbidden Lands are an enticing new playground for the series, and I look forward to spending dozens more hours uncovering the rest of its secrets.
Ultimately, Marvel Rivals is not a revolution in game design, but a culmination of the successful shooters that came before it. Its gameplay is tight and balanced, its characters are satisfying to use, and I'm coming back to play more every night. I have gripes with the distribution of hero roles, but it doesn't spoil the game as a whole. Marvel Rivals isn't finding success because it's a cash grab, it's finding success because it's earned it.
At multiple points in the game, text flashes on the screen saying, "I hope this hurts," an ambiguous message from one character to another. We never learn who says it to who, but it's a particularly dark line: an explicit desire for suffering in a story where everyone is suffering in their own ways already.
Arco tells a story about consequence, sacrifice, colonialism, revenge, and grief. From small, funny exchanges between siblings to the dramatic, overarching plot connecting the main characters, the phenomenal writing is only elevated by how the player can affect it. The ending I got was a fitting conclusion you'd expect to see in any classic Western film, and I'm eager to return to see how dark it gets if I make different choices.
While I hope 1000xResist will inspire sequels, successors, or copycats, it certainly exists as a bright memory in my mind. A story that remains, and remains, and remains.
Tales of Kenzera: Zau conveys its somber themes with nuance and passion. It's just a shame the gameplay doesn't always match those highs, especially in a genre flooded with quality indies, because Zau's journey – and Zuberi's parallel journey – are stories I'll be thinking about for quite some time
Pepper Grinder is an innovative indie experience, packed with tense battles, fluid platforming, and eye-catching visual design. While its short runtime left me wanting more, I'm happy with what it is: a bright action platformer that's anything but a grind.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a simple game, but as is the case with Mario's best titles, there's an elegance to that simplicity. Nintendo has done a stellar job adding features to make it more palatable to a modern audience, but it only comes together because of how well the classic levels hold up. Mario and Donkey Kong have been rivals for over 40 years, and this game admirably carries that legacy forward.