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.
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy succeeds with everything it sets out to do, bringing three great games to modern consoles in their most approachable forms to date. I was fully immersed in its classic courtroom battles in the 80 or so hours it took me to get through all three titles. Even though not every trial is a winner, the majority are, and with a new suite of quality-of-life improvements, it's never been easier or more enjoyable to experience Apollo Justice's journey.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 is a successful second attempt at the groundwork laid by its predecessor. Fair Play delivers a solid platform fighter that simultaneously improves the franchise's core mechanics and introduces side content to flesh out the overall package. It's nothing mind-blowing, and it's certainly not the next Super Smash Bros., but it's engaging, exciting, and worth your time.
Super Bomberman R 2’s best parts are the ones carried over from older games in the series. Messing around with friends in local and online matches is still fun, and if that's all you're interested in, it's a fine enough experience. Unfortunately, that’s a small portion of the game, making it hard to recommend.
Overall, Stray Gods rocks. Between the cast's fantastic performances, a fun twist on Greek mythology, and a genuinely novel game mechanic, it's a game I didn't know I needed, but one I'm happy to give a standing ovation to.
Akka Arrh is an interesting experiment. Despite its shortcomings, Atari fans can still find some fun in this blaster from the past – the game just comes with a big asterisk. As much as I’m excited to see a lost piece of gaming history revitalized and brought to modern consoles, overwhelming visuals and confusing, abstract game mechanics bring the experience down.
It’s this buildup of minor annoyances that makes it hard to recommend Dragon Quest Treasures. The experience is driven by charm and nostalgia, but if you don’t have an existing appreciation for the series, there isn’t much here that I could recommend over most other open-world role-playing games. It’s an experience that would greatly vary depending on the player; in other words, one player’s Dragon Quest trash is another player’s Dragon Quest Treasure.
Despite some issues with the audio and the slowness of the third act, Pentiment is a wonderfully unique storytelling experience overflowing with respect for the historical era it strives to recreate. Much like the game’s themes of stories persisting over time, I’ll be thinking about Andreas Maler and the town of Tassing for years to come.