Strayed Lights is a difficult game to love. It looks and sounds nice, and if you're really into dodging weaving rather than charging into battle I could see how it might be interesting in small doses, but as it stands, it doesn't feel like there's enough here to really make for a satisfying game.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a game that's an absolute joy to play. Exploring these worlds, slicing through enemies, customizing how Cal looks, uncovering the game's lore: it's all done perfectly here, in a way that should appeal to anyone, regardless of their familiarity with Star Wars itself (though being a fan probably helps). There are minor flaws, to be sure, but they're so minor, they feel like nitpicking. In a year that's already featured some outstanding games, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor still manages to stand out.
The game is plagued by camera controls so dire, they make it impossible to enjoy anything else. With some major tweaks to those controls, it'd be easy to imagine Molly Medusa becoming an under-the-radar hit, but for now, it's definitely one to avoid.
Spider's Thread makes a great game even better. Ghostwire: Tokyo didn't get nearly the level of attention it deserved on its initial release last year, and now that the game is free for Game Pass and PS+ subscribers (and generally inexpensive enough to buy on PC), there's even less reason why it should be slept on. Do yourself a favour and get it now.
Quite possibly the best Sherlock game that Frogwares has made in years, if not ever.
When I write that Ship Graveyard Simulator is an enjoyable game by the standards of the (Insert Job Here) Simulator franchise, understand that is a very low bar to clear. It may be the best Simulator I've played in awhile, but that's only because most of them have been so bad.
EA Sports PGA Tour is meant for people who want a golf game that's true to the sport. It's not often you see a sports game that embraces the "get good" mentality to the extent this one does, but if you're after the real thing, you'll find it here.
I can't judge Shadow Warrior 3: Definitive Edition on how well it matches up with its predecessors. What I can do, however, is judge Shadow Warrior 3: Definitive Edition on how much fun it is -- and by that metric, I can't imagine a more enjoyable game.
Once Upon A Jester isn't like too many other games out there, but if you're willing to give it a chance, you'll find that it does what it sets out to do incredibly well.
Even if Castle Renovator delivered on exactly what its name promised, I have a hard time imagining it'd be much more fun. There's a way to make these job sims fun, and a way to make them feel like a dull slog, and every design decision here ensures that this game falls squarely in the latter camp.
Part of the reason it feels like MLB The Show 23 is treading water is that, for so many years, it was far and away the best sports game available. When you nail a sport so accurately, all that's left is the sort of tinkering around the edges that MLB The Show 23 does here. But unless you have a burning need to play as Satchel Paige -- and who could blame you if you do -- it makes it really difficult to see why you'd want to pick it up rather than just sticking with MLB The Show 22.
It's great to see an established series take risks like this, and it'll be interesting to see where the series evolves from here, but as of now, there's still much room for improvement.
To be sure, Fashion Police Squad isn't going to make you forget the games it's borrowing from. But part of why it's so fun is because it's poking fun at a genre that can sometimes feel like it hasn't evolved much since the original DOOM, and showing that there's still room for it to grow and evolve. As Fashion Police Squad shows, there's still some life -- and some room to innovate -- in the old genre yet.
Justice League: Cosmic Chaos is surprisingly fun -- and surprisingly funny.
Scars Above is a competent enough game that efficiently gets you through its six-hour runtime. It won't make you forget its influences, but if you can find this one on sale, you could definitely do a lot worse.
Digimon World: Next Order seems to think that the most enjoyable part of monster-training games is endless, repetitive grinding.
To get Sonic Colors: Ultimate's fun gameplay on PC means putting up with graphics that are, at best, an eyesore. Given that there are plenty of other options for playing the game, it may not be a trade-off you want -- or need -- to make.
Pretty much what you'd expect from a 2D Kirby game -- but seeing as the baseline for those is "cute platformer that won't tax you too much and that you can play with pretty much anyone," that?s hardly a bad thing. Add in a few new elements, and you have the ingredients for a pretty solid remake.
If you're after more Castlevania, without actually playing Castlevania again, then that's fine, and Elderand will provide you with a perfectly competent experience. But given that other games have taken that route and shown far more personality, it's hard to see why you'd want to choose this game instead of any of those other ones.
To be sure, Akka Arrh is a niche game: to enjoy it, you not only need to enjoy old school arcade shooters, you also need to enjoy Llamasoft's specific brand of psychedelic weirdness on top of that, as well as the weird idiosyncrasies in the game design. But if all of that appeals to you, then the good news is that Akka Arrh exists, and it's pretty fun.