Alone in the Dark is a strong return to form for the series that helped kickstart the survival horror genre. Its excellent atmosphere, strong mystery, and largely engaging combat design lend to a satisfying and thrilling experience. Some of the character work feels underdeveloped, and a few design choices don't always make sense, but Alone in the Dark is worth the scares, and offers a decent amount of replayability for multiple playthroughs.
WRATH: Aeon of Ruin is a fantastic entry to a genre catered to a niche audience. Its high-octane combat and design choices will take you back to the glory days of FPS gaming, and with the help of the engine that powered those days, you'll be blasting demons like it's 1996. Despite some uneven presentation and a paper-thin story, WRATH lives up to the promise and delivers where it counts.
Skull and Bones has some fun naval combat mechanics and a largely engaging sandbox experience that's brought down by live-service trappings and a lack of freedom outside of controlling your ship. There's a lot of room for improvement, and Skull and Bones has the potential to realize its setting by reexamining the games it's influenced by.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is a fantastic new entry to the series and bridges the gap between the most recent mainline releases. It's an absolute delight to play as Kazuma Kiryu again with his new skillset and tools. With a plethora of new additions to the franchise, this is one that fans won't want to miss out on until Infinite Wealth in 2024. It's a game packed with rich content for story enthusiasts, and fans of the known and new side activities in the series. Like a Dragon Gaiden is a great package that offers a lot of variety to different ranges of fans.
The Invincible is a story about surviving an unforgiving planet brimming with the unknown. The slow-burn takes a while to get interesting and you should be ready for a lot of exploration with minimal gameplay elements. The voice acting does a great job of keeping you immersed in the world, and the story ultimately The visuals may not be the best, but they're decent enough to set the pace for a decent story.
RoboCop: Rogue City is a fantastic title that does the IP justice. Being able to play as the titular character feels satisfying he's essentially a walking tank with weight behind every punch and throw. The RPG elements not only let you customize RoboCop's abilities but provide some narrative decision-making opportunities as well. Fighting for a crime-ridden Detroit with its fantastic visuals consistent with fims' art direction further helps with the fantasy, and this is definitely a must-play for fans of the forgotten character.
The Jackbox Party Pack 10 may not be Jack's best attempt at the party pack in recent times, but there is still fun to be had if you have a friend group size of 4 people and are a fan of the drawing and rhythm games. However, we hope that Party Pack 11 can offer slightly better games.
Sonic Superstars is a fantastic return to the 2D Sonic series and offers a wealth of content and playable characters, all wrapped up in a pristine package that's easy on the eyes, wonderful to play with enough replayability to last you a while.
Detective Pikachu Returns is a fun game that is brimming with personality, a memorable cast of characters, and a familiar setting that is somehow new again. Unfortunately, it's held back by a menial playtime with no replay value and a very predictable plot, but that doesn't take away from enjoying the world of Detective Pikachu Returns.
Party Animals is a lot of fun, and it innovates in multiple unique ways to stand out and keep the genre fresh. There are tons of game modes to try out, and the superb presentation and customization keep things fresh. While it can be played alone, the real fun comes with friends.
Kentucky Route Zero is a fantastic story that took 7 years to tell, 12 hours to play, and will forever be one of my favorite point-and-click adventure games for a long while. It's rare for a game like this to captivate players with its deep characters, and excellent presentation and it does so brilliantly.
Moving Out 2 is a fleshed-out party game that packs a lot of heart and spirit into what a sequel should be. It offers a lot of engaging features and mechanics to test your "moving" ability and improves upon an already great game even further. If you have any friends who enjoy cooperative games, this is a must-buy, but it's hard to recommend if you want to go it alone.
Stray Gods does stray from the path of its competitors by doing a lot of new and unique things and it does so with pride. With a great cast of voice actors, a memorable story, and a unique dialogue system, the game truly stands out in the genre. However, the lack of ability for players to explore the world on their own outside of a static scene feels awkward at times, particularly when the world looks stunning.
Venba is a beautiful cooking game that emphasizes the meaning of family, culture, and tradition. It's a game that will hit home for many who had to make the difficult choice of moving away from home, and one where you might shed a tear at the end.
Maquette is a brilliant yet short adventure that is well worth a visit if you have Game Pass. Great story through strong visuals, great voice acting, music, and some good puzzle mechanics delivers a great package of emotions.
With a great visual setting, well written and memorable townspeople to interact with Fall of Porcupine tries to do something new. However a few crucial omissions keep the game from being great - with no manual save, and the lack of ability to skip puzzles in a casual game like this severely ruin the experience. Add in a lackluster ending, the game has a lot of good but equally bad aspects.
With average horror elements that have their moments and a somewhat interesting story that unfolds as you descend into a rabbit hole of madness, Layers of Fear does enough to keep players engaged, but not enough to push the series forward in a meaningful way.
Killer Frequency is a fun title that you should get if you are really into puzzles, enjoy the 80's atmosphere, or enjoy games with multiple endings. With a decent cast of characters, the game is one you don't want to change stations on.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a fantastic sequel that improves upon basically every aspect of the original. Its excellent cast of characters, improved combat, expanded world design, and plot tie into one of the most satisfying Star Wars experiences we've ever had only held back by performance issues on every platform.
Coffee Talk Episode 2 is a relaxing, and absorbing title with an engaging gameplay loop, memorable characters, and excellent writing. It's a great game to play when you to unwind, and immerse yourself in a cozy well realized world with a cast of characters that will stay with you after you've finished your cup of hot brew.