It’s always nice to see an IP within a genre that’s difficult to stand out it. While it may never reach the heights of giants like Pokemon, Digimon, etc, it’s important that there are fresh experiences. It’s wonderful when one can take heavy inspirations from these giants as well, while truly making them their own. Monster Crown: Sin Eater deserves a place in the hearts of gamers who love the monster taming, RPG genre. It’s a beautiful, yet dark and dangerous world. Teeming with monsters and people struggling under the weight of evil, fans of the genre should experience the world of Monster Crown: Sin Eater.
While making sure that every item is in its correct location, balanced perfectly, and faced in the correct way; a tedious yet relaxing task, zoned out as if in a meditative state, and lost in your own thoughts, time stops. While you’re absorbing all the stories and requests your customers have, arriving one at a time, indulging in their lives, your outlet to the outside world, nothing else matters. inKONBINI is a reverie, a narrative driven game that needs some engagement, but only asking from you what you want to give it. It nails the very atmosphere of a quiet, slow, nighttime 1993 experience. While its stories could be better delivered through voiced dialogue, it’s an experience I would highly recommend if you are looking for a reverie.
Elementallis is a game that pays homage and draws inspiration from an iconic series many gamers love – Zelda. They do this by successfully applying the gameplay mechanics that made us love this top-down, action adventure genre. Elementallis is a game about redemption; a story of taking a link of the past, accepting all that it has to offer, and using it to make a fantastic game to call their own. Apart from some questionable quality of life designs, Elementallis was truly a joy to play. An homage to the past that everyone should experience.
Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege is a fantastic homage to NES-style 2D platformers, bringing retro gameplay to today’s gamers. They say that imitation is the greatest form of flattery, right? Fans of Castlevania will immediately recognize enemies and their attack patterns, platforming, levels, and items.
People of Note has many gameplay elements that reminds me of games I’ve played before: the campy narrative style, the stylishly drawn characters, pun-filled world, turn based battle, and musical cutscenes. However, everything about People of Note feels new, refreshing, and fun; elements that have been remixed into its own style. You can tell how much love Iridium Studios put into their game. While it could use some fine tuning before it can be a masterpiece, this is a beat that you shouldn’t miss. I highly recommend it!
Fishbowl is a game that you need to accept with open arms and an open mind. A game that attempts, and at often times succeeds, in making you empathetic to Alo’s emotional state and perhaps even make you reflect in yours. They do this through their great usage of simple gameplay mechanics, art direction, sound, and music. It’ll make you happy. It’ll make you sad. It’s a game that you need to be ready for in order to fully appreciate, if you’ll let it.
You play Trash Goblin for the relaxing tedium of everyday shopkeeping as well as encountering interesting folks along the way. You don’t play this if you’re looking for a challenge or engaging gameplay. That isn’t a bad thing necessarily. It’s entirely up to you depending on the kind of game you want to play.
GreedFall: The Dying World is a game that built upon the potential of its predecessor, and in many ways, it succeeded in this. They created a game that many RPG fans have been aching for: storytelling, choices, and world. Unfortunately, the tactical experience, while good, was lacking in finesse. The game spent 18 months in early access, and I believe it was time well spent, on PC. The console experience had much to be desired, but nothing a few patches can’t fix, I hope.
Reimagined is overall a good game. However, it certainly doesn’t feel like a game created for those who grew up with Dragon Quest. This is because we’ve grown, and Dragon Quest 7’s gameplay is still, in its own way, very much stuck in the past. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as now, this is a game I would love my kids to play, so they can fall in love with Dragon Quest and JRPGs in general.
God of War Sons of Sparta is a decent game overall. It’s interesting to see the canon representation of Kratos by Mega Cat Studios, hearing the voice actors from the original trilogy, and seeing the game in its 3rd genre: a 2D metroidvania. While it didn’t fully deliver to my satisfaction, I enjoyed my time with the game at the beginning though my enjoyment waned towards the end. It’s a decent game to sink time into while waiting for the newly announced God of War trilogy remake, though not necessarily required to rush and play it.
However, if there’s anything to take away from this review, it’s the deep emotional connection I felt during and after the climb. I felt frustration, happiness, sadness, despair, relief, and guilt. For a mostly solitary and quiet game about climbing a mountain, I learned much about myself. I may be exaggerating, I don’t know. But I loved this game! What a fantastic way to start 2026!
Teamkill Media’s 2nd game in 3 years made by 4 people, leaves much to be desired. It’s a near full priced game on a closed platform like the PlayStation 5. Code Violet is a game that boasts player urgency, discovery, and the appreciation of a strong and beautiful female lead. However, their game didn’t reflect their talk. My overall experience was not the greatest, most of the time I was bewildered by what I played. It’s not a game I can recommend at release, especially not for the asking price. It’s a campy, playable game. A game one can enjoy in a several sitting, when you have disposable time and money to spend. And perhaps a much lower price point.
All in all, Tiny Lands Deluxe Edition is a delightful, soothing experience that should happily find its home in your collection on PS5 or Xbox Series if you are looking to relax and enjoy a bit of mindful fun.
Triangle Strategy is a well produced, well delivered game with fantastic visuals, sound and tactical gameplay. Square Enix’s trend of remastering classic Japanese Role Playing games with modern quality of life features and graphical effects is evident in this game. However, much like this text-heavy review, it isn’t a game I would recommend to those looking for a more gameplay focused experience. I would, however, greatly recommend it to those who love a deep, politically driven narrative, with heavy emphasis on character development, and player driven choices that impacts the course of the game. With several endings, paths to take, and party members to recruit along the way, Triangle Strategy delivers a wonderfully woven tale.
Discounty had the recipe for a very fun, very addictive gameplay loop that is reminiscent of typical cozy games. Fans of the genre will have expectations and the lack of polish in performance severely hindering gameplay and fun, some seemingly incomplete gameplay features, and a world that felt like it wasn’t fully realized kept this game from being truly great. So much so that I’m left wondering if the game is finished. While many of these negatives can easily be adapted through and look past, they are numerous enough to impact overall enjoyment.
9 Years of Shadows is a beautiful game with interesting mechanics. It’s filled with great intentions and ideas that were never fully realized. However, even with its glitches, confusingly long load time, and input lag, it was an enjoyable experience, albeit a sometimes frustrating one.
Typically, a game that dips its toes into many genres and attempts to accomplish many things at the same time is unable to deliver on it or at best is mediocre. I went into this game, with such fond memories of with the IP, with high expectations, and has surprisingly exceeded them all! This is a game that is fun, looks great, and runs well! A triple threat! If you’re into cozy, fantasy RPGs, I would highly recommend it! It’s Level 5 at their best!
Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo is Yoyovania that excel in all aspects of what makes metroidvanias great and so much fun! A definite must-play for fans of this genre
Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping is a mystery game that executes everything they want to do to near perfection. It’s a fun, simple, and short palate cleanser game. Only downfall, if any, is that it’s executed so well, that I wish there were more. This is the second game to the Duck Detective series, and I am very much looking forward to the next one!
Nice Day for Fishing has very unique premise and foundation, though bogged down with tedious gameplay and missing gameplay features that are typically found in this genre. Add a point if you’re into Viva La Dirt League, maybe, but otherwise, I hope they make a second game and deliver a better overall product.