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If you want combat that feels unmatched in a life sim, Kynseed has it. If you want to look at beautiful pixel art, and hear a soundtrack that fits a game exceptionally well, Kynseed has that too. You can pick what you want to do in life and go out and achieve it. There is so much to see and do that it can feel overwhelming. But Kynseed lacks too. There's little emotional toll to building relationships, and frustrating gameplay bugs. The attention to detail is massive in places and lacking in others. Knyseed is close to being the groundbreaking life sim of my dreams. But unfortunately, that dream is still elusive.
The Callisto Protocol is a gorgeous and gory science fiction horror experience that lives up to its big brother Dead Space in many ways, but fails to do so in others. The high production value, stellar cast of characters, top notch audio and visual design, and an excellent mix of adrenaline pumping action and terrifying horror are all overshadowed by a frustratingly designed dodge mechanic.
Simply put, Chained Echoes is a heartfelt love letter to the SNES JRPG classics from the 90s that boasts an incredible cast of characters, amazing pixel artwork, a brilliant soundtrack, impeccable attention to detail, and a complex narrative.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is a true successor to Fatshark's previous Vermintide series. If you were afraid the jump from fantasy to 40K would ruin the experience, fear not, it's even better. Darktide feels less linear than the previous takes, the story takes place between cutscenes of missions. Levels are linear, but do a great job of hiding that fact. Loadouts are a great improvement, along with a wide array of weapons to specialize and unlock. The only unfortunate part is that Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is still best enjoyed with a full party.
For the most part, Tactic Ogre: Reborn is a good game. Heck, it's a great game. But my run took me headfirst into what feels like the cheapest and most unfair change of mechanics that I can remember in my entire personal gaming history. The entire playing experience was spoiled as a result. With the review finished, I am now deleting this game from my hard drive and never returning. I feel betrayed by a terrible design choice and look at the dozens of hours to get to this point as a waste of my time.
Far Cry 6: Lost Between Worlds feels like a bit of a wash, echoing too much of what came prior in the base game and DLCs. With required repeated runs through the same environments and a new combat mechanic that doesn't amount to much, this expansion doesn't provide much players haven't seen before outside of a strange new story for Dani Rojas.
Camouflag has put an extraordinary amount of work into the Quest 2 port of Marvel's Iron Man VR, solving many of the issues that held back this extraordinary game upon its initial PSVR release. What is left is the best superhero sim on the market, with amazing flight and combat and a pretty great Marvel story. VR fans should not hesitate to grab this game; it's quite simply one of the best VR titles ever released.
I understand the hate that Pokémon Violet is getting. Frame rate issues, glitches, and design choices that make little sense are everywhere. Making characters less customizable is unforgivable. Developers saying their game is open-world when there are level caps is redundant. But I'm still having more fun than I've ever had in a Pokémon title. Violet takes the Pokémon formula and twists it into what I hope becomes the new normal in many ways. Three stories to play through and a UI that feels easier to use than ever before deliver elements Pokémon fans have long been looking for. Violet gave me the same emotional high that I got from the original game, which isn't easy to do. I love being able to take on gym leaders, knock out giant oversized Pokémon, or break into someone's hideout all in the same game. The heart of Pokémon is still here, still beating, even if the outside is full of fatty nonsense at times.
Evil West in fun in the moment, but largely forgettable due to the poor writing and level design. While the combat is stellar and intuitive when in the heat of battle, the glue holding those battles together could use some love. With a boring protagonist and stilted dialogue, Evil West feels more low budget than it likely really is. Luckily, there is a solid core here to build upon for the inevitable sequel, and punching dudes with electricity never gets old.
100% unacceptable. Glitches and game breaking bugs left and right. This game should have never been allowed to be released in this state. It's a shame really, because while the first game wasn't amazing, it was decent for what it was. Cobra Kai 2 is a complete failure at almost every level. Stay far far far away from this game.
Whether you are using it for exercise or to laugh at family gatherings, Just Dance 2023 simply can't be beat. Accessible for beginners but requiring real skill if you want to top the leaderboards, Just Dance 2023 comes out swinging with a great group of new routines, delivered with a noticeable increase in production value. Though the World Dance Floor is sorely missed, the other improvements to the UI, multiplayer, and suggestion algorithms pull the franchise into the modern era.
50 years of memories. 50 years of being the king. I love how the 50th Anniversary Collection shows the ups and downs, and exposes the vulnerabilities, of one of the greatest companies of all time. Although some games could go, and I would love to see some DLC. Digital Eclipse deserves a round of applause for this as well. You love documentaries, and you love games, so here's both. And you're going to love it.
With the release of Miles Morales, PC gamers will be able to enjoy both great Spider-Man games if they don't own a PlayStation 4 or 5. The game does need a solid machine, and if you have a NVIDIA Ada Lovelace card, you can unlock some great extra performance. It's a continuation of Marvel's Spider-Man with some new powers and some slightly different enemies, but it's solid and will give fans of the first game more of what was good to begin with.
Astlibra Revision can be a bit grindy at times and has a lot of dialogue, even for an action RPG, but I'd be remiss if didn't say this is one of my favorite games I've played recently. The game looks and feels like you're playing an anime (complete with intro sequence at the start of each chapter) and the music is really hard not to rock out to. If you're into action RPGs or just want to give this a shot, you can check out the demo before hand to get an idea how mostly everything works. Once you're ready to dive into the full game, there's not much more to say but enjoy.
As the strongest entry yet, Devil in Me is a great finale for Season One of The Dark Pictures Anthology. With an original story and some showstopping sequences, the game is a step up for the series, despite some minor technical and animation issues. Fans of the franchise and horror in general should not hesitate to pick this one up, as Supermassive shows the true potential of its anthology experiment.
Harvestella is a fresh coat of paint on a familiar wall. It's a good wall, solid foundation, level, able to withstand the elements, and damn good paint. But it's still a wall. If you want to play the newest, most innovative farm sim to date, it's not going to be Harvestella. If you want to play the best version of the farm sim for the modern era, look no further. While it does some odd things, like invisible walls to areas you can clearly see, or not being able to jump on a rock, in the end, those don't matter. Farming is fun, dungeon crawling is fun. The visuals and soundtrack help make Harvestella one of the best possible versions of the farm sim.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II brings the core of what makes CoD games great and stays true to Infinity Ward's best efforts in the series. It's big step away in a positive direction from last year's Vanguard disaster. I just wish there was a bit more meat to sink my teeth into. The single player campaign makes no attempt at a commentary but will have you running through a series of competent missions and set pieces. Multiplayer is what you would expect from the series, both with competent gunplay as well as a map playlist that will need to expand over time. The new co-op mode seems a better experience with a friend than queuing with a random from the lobby. All in all there is good game on offer that moves slicker and the shine on your assault rifle looks more gorgeous than the series ever has.
Equal parts engrossing and buggy, Police Simulator: Patrol Officers is a couple of bug-squashing patches away from being a truly great simulator on console. Even so, Brighton and its exceedingly criminal citizenry are still worth protecting and serving, especially for fans of the genre.
Pentiment is a slow and deliberate novel of a game. Though quite lively at times, this is still a game that asks players to read long, intricate conversations and remember scores of characters in a historic setting. The mystery is interesting, and the history is fascinating, but if these aren't enough to pull you through, you might want to look elsewhere. For patient players, Pentiment is a game like no other, teaching lessons on history, community, and the nature of life itself.
Missile Command: Recharged is the upgrade you didn't think you needed. It's new missions and graphical polish is a very nice touch. I'd dare say this is one of the first tower defense/bullet hell games, and Atari never skimps on delivering the "hell" part of that equation. With snappy controls, and a cool soundtrack, Missile Command: Recharged will keep you on your toes, for as long as it wants to.