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Nomada Studios has truly cemented their place in the indie landscape as a representative of how video games are a strong narrative medium. They do this through beautifully crafted animation, vibrant backgrounds, and a whimsical yet powerful soundtrack. Every element of Neva perfectly encapsulates the immersive experience of the player, from story to gameplay, resulting in Neva standing tall in the face of its predecessor, Gris, as its own masterpiece.
Metamorphosis is a visually appealing game set in a Kafkaesque world of surrealism and dreamlike qualities. Unfortunately, there are bugs (not the insects in the game) that break immersion and make gameplay frustrating at times.
Equal parts DLC and fully-integrated expansion, Void Shadows is a fantastic addition to the already-incredible Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader package. A must-have, and all-new content, all rolled into one. Stop reading this and go get it for your next run – the Emperor demands it.
Starfield: Shattered Space has some excellent side quests and interesting new places to explore. Unfortunately, it's all tied together by a largely boring main quest, and leaves what could have been its standout character as completely optional and in the background.
Overall, Metaphor plays like a dream from start to finish. There's less downtime than Persona and fewer frustrating moments than Shin Megami Tensei, with the whole game feeling like a high-stakes road trip with your best friends. The road to the throne is a tough one, but it's one well worth walking.
I came away from Undisputed frustrated. In here is an incredible boxing game buried under entirely too many bugs, balance issues, and incomplete features for launch. Maybe round 2?
The Until Dawn remake is a bit of a mixed bag overall. While it breathes new life into a beloved horror classic, offering a revamped experience, it also loses sight of some of what made the original so special. It's a splendid upgrade in some areas and a massive downgrade in others. Find out for yourself if you can stomach the horrific asking price.
If you had any doubts about the Silent Hill 2 remake, then throw them out the window because Bloober Team cooked with this one. It successfully modernizes a classic without losing sight of what made it special in the first place.
A fantastic expansion with a very compelling set of features, including a new class, a far-better approach to bosses, and a few borrowed elements from their other MMO works. It's a big step in the right direction, and I can't wait to see what's next.
Bloodless approaches the idea of a brawler with a unique spin featuring its non-lethal combat, but feels like it can be pulling its punches in some areas. Parrying your way through waves of enemies is novel, yet the implementation can lead to some overwhelming moments in an otherwise engaging experience. The path of mercy was never going to be easy though, and Bloodless still manages to be an overall fun journey of finding an end to violence.
Loddlenaut is so perfectly simple, relaxing, and beautiful that I can't help but want to dive straight back into the planet of GUP-14 to breathe life into it all over again. Its gameplay is satisfying and grants the player enough control to not bring down the pace in bogging down the mechanics; it never overstays its welcome but provides a plentiful amount of stress relief and fun to stand out in the indie world. With its gorgeous graphics and style, I hope I can venture across space again with Moon Lagoon to clean up its planets.
Remnant II Dark Horizon is an extremely fun DLC that caps the game off in a brilliant way. Sure, there is no expansion to the main story but there didn't need to be. Instead, the story of N'Erud is finished in a fun way.
A complete package, with all DLC packed in, Final Fantasy XVI Complete Edition lives up to its name. The performance on a wide variety of hardware speaks to a lot of optimization work, and mods make the skies the limit. This is the ultimate way to experience this fantastic entry to the series.
Khaos Reigns doesn't shake up Mortal Kombat 1 as much as a chaotic regime implies. Instead, it sticks to what works, or at least what it thinks will work. More story mode, more ninjas, and more guest characters. For me, the ninjas steal the show over a weak story and an unexciting (although yet to be released) guest ensemble.
So where does that leave us? God of War: Ragnarök's PC port is certainly packed with features, and while most players won't encounter some of the issues outlined above, the button prompts problem can remain an annoyance for those who like the Classic control scheme. It's also possible some of the bugs we ran into were just strange accidents, as we cannot replicate them again aside from Atreus' green hair on Deck. With that in mind, while PS5 may still be the ideal way to play, the PC version will allow players to experience the game at the absolute best visual quality it can hit.
Overall, Bloomtown: A Different Story is like a carefree summer vacation. It's a fun ride with its quirky characters, cozy blended with spooky vibes, and some thoughtful moments that have the foundation for a great game. The gorgeous visuals paint the world beautifully and its demons are original and striking to see in battle. However, this game lacks the depth and voice to stand out in its genre, especially with how closely it uses Persona as an inspiration.
G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra is an energetic, nostalgia-fueled beat-em-up that has some length and technical issues, but not enough to seriously dampen the solid side-scrolling gameplay and excellent retro aesthetic.
There's a lot to like in Star Trucker, and it's bursting with potential. It's also in need of some balance and tweaking. Still, what's on offer is well worth the asking price, and should keep you trucking for a long while.
Ara: History Untold tweaks the Civilization formula, but doesn't change it all that much. While it's a well polished experience, I'm not sure it does enough to push the genre forward, settling instead to do what it does well. That said, good strategy games can be hard to find, and Ara is a good one in a crowded field.
While a gorgeous remake with great quality of life features, Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed still suffers by being itself. Outside of the aesthetic and choices, Epic Mickey was a fairly rote platformer with uninteresting challenges and objectives. Rebrushed adds a wonderful new coat of paint, but it's still the same game at its core.