Wander Stars does enough to earn a thumbs up. The combat system is great, easy to grasp, but with surprising depth. And the story bowls along at a good pace, keeping you playing.
All in all, whilst Fling to the Finish works in single player mode, it really comes alive in multiplayer. If you have a regular pal to play with, either online or on the couch, then Fling to the Finish is an easy sell. But if you don’t have such a friend...
Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 does enough to make it worth a punt. The story is silly and funny, and the action on display, the so called “matchroidvania”, does enough to make it addictive and playable.
Silent Hill f is absolutely brilliant, 90% of the time. The tension, as well as the atmosphere that the graphics and sound create is amazing, really drawing you in; play this game in the dark with headphones on and you’ll understand what I mean.
The new characters are fun, the gunplay is as cool as ever, and the additional mechanics add an extra layer. The only fly in the ointment is that the sheer amount of fights do start to get repetitive, but with a crew, Borderlands 4 is about as good as it gets.
Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition is a worthy addition to the Alien canon of games. It isn’t all out action like Aliens: Fireteam Elite, but requires you to use your brain as well as your trigger finger. I just wish the save system was better.
Sky of Destruction is sufficiently different from a run of the mill shooter to make it interesting. The composition of your fleet, and the way that you can configure the aircraft you use, add a bit of spice to a stale genre. On the downside, the tutorial is extremely poor and doesn’t really give us much of a clue as to what to do.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is a beautiful, infuriating, visually stunning game with a lot to offer the dedicated player.
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is ambitious, but a little flawed. The scope of the game is amazing, and the world is a pretty cool place to be, but technical issues drag the score back a bit, sadly.
And so the question remains – is there such a thing as too much Gears? I don’t think so, and that is proven with the release of Gears of War: Reloaded; a game that is as good as ever, slightly better looking than before, and now absolutely chock full of content.
Vlad Circus: Curse of Asmodeus is a pretty good game. The graphics work nicely, the story is compelling and Josef, while a bit of a scumbag, is a likable enough protagonist. Unravelling his story is a worthwhile pursuit, and if you like a disturbing game, this might well be up your alley.
If you like the Baki Hanma series, or Punch Out, then you should come out fighting with Baki Hanma: Blood Arena.
I’ve played dozens of KEMCO games over the years, and most of those have very much been in the retro camp, but Dragon Ruins is the perfect blend of too retro, in terms of the visuals, and not enough gameplay.
Grit and Valor – 1949 is extremely interesting, as well as being pretty fast paced. While it isn’t, strictly speaking, an RTS, it’s close enough for me, and that means it is more than worth a dabble.
If you are a fan of Cobra, this is an easy sell, but even if you are not, Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening is more than decent enough in its own right.
GRADIUS ORIGINS does what it says on the tin. It allows us to play all the Gradius and Gradius adjacent games in one place, either toughing it out or wimping out with the new features.
If you want a ninja themed side scroller, then put SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance at the top of your list. It is quite simply flawless.
Dungeon & Dragons Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition is a bit of a mixed bag.
Heretic + Hexen has a good long run time, and with the DLC added in, there is a lot of content that will keep you playing for a while.
If you fancy a retro style brick breaker, Tri Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Odyssey should be seen as one worthy of a shot.