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Whether it's your first run or 50th, Risk of Rain Returns offers roguelike action like few other titles. The HD visuals and new content are great, but the game's excellent core is polished and enhanced even more.
Achilles: Legends Untold feels like there were several great ideas thrown together but were ultimately let down by poor execution. The game has some interesting aspects, like fusing Souls-styled gameplay with a loot-focused action RPG gameplay loop, but the combat never really feels satisfying and the setting is little more than an excuse to get you out there to kill things.
While not on par with Kiryu or the franchise's finest outings, Like A Dragon Gaiden is still a good enough game that does the job of priming you up for the next big entry in the saga.
Dead Island 2's first of two expansions delivers some flashes of enjoyment, but it feels a bit too repetitive, in spite of how brief it is.
EA Sports WRC feels rooted in tradition but also like a big step forward for the franchise. It maintains the best parts of previous titles while still allowing Codemasters to flex its rally racing skills.
The Invincible isn't really a game you play for its core gameplay. You play it to experience an interesting story that takes place on an alien planet with technology plucked right from the early 1900s. The game may not have too many action moments, but it definitely does quite well with its fantastic art direction and wonderful audio that sell you on its philosophical aspects.
Football Manager 2024 builds on its predecessors with a number of granular improvements that come together to elevate the experience in notable ways.
Robocop: Rogue City, like Terminator: Resistance before it, aims to deliver a fan-crafted experience, and it succeeds on nearly every level. With the understanding that this title comes from a smaller studio with limitations in the AA space, it's easy to forgive the lack of polish in certain areas such as facial animations. Otherwise, Rogue City is a thrilling experience through and through.
Jusant mixes rock climbing and platforming with a calm atmosphere and an interesting story. It's an unexpected, but still welcome, surprise from DON'T NOD.
Dave the Diver is an improbably addictive game that stands out as one of the most unique and memorable experiences in a year full of great titles.
Despite having an interesting story concept, Quantum Error's underwhelming gameplay, terrible cinematics and horrendous voice acting drag down what could have potentially been a great horror experience.
EA Sports UFC 5 is a solid, if not particularly inventive, follow-up in the series. It can be fun, warts and all, but long-time fans will want for more.
Alan Wake 2 is a fantastic horror game with some excellent atmosphere and an incredibly interesting story. While it does make use of jump scares that feel downright unnecessary, thankfully, the other horror aspects of the game are more than up to the task of creeping you out. Just make sure that you at least read up on the plot synopsis of the original Alan Wake before jumping in.
Stray Souls isn't very good, even when it's unintentionally hilarious, and fails to deliver a competent gameplay experience, much less any scares.
Skull Island: Rise of Kong, more than anything else, feels like a hollow attempt at cashing in on the Kong brand. The game has no real redeeming quality aside from the fact that it didn't accidentally set my PC on fire, and it can't even bother to be the kind of bad where it's interesting, rather, just being bad enough to be a boring waste of time.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder lives up to its name and delivers one of the most joyous and inventive 2D titles the Mario series has ever had.
Ghostrunner 2 sticks to the fast-paced formula of "Live, die, repeat" while adding new mechanics, excellent levels and additions like the motorcycle. Some areas could use more polish, but as a whole, it's a futuristic rollercoaster from start to finish.
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 brings three classic stealth action games to a modern generation of players, and along with it, brings a host of goodies and books that are quite fun to dig through. The extra gameplay goodies, like different versions of classical games, are also fantastic additions.
While it's not going to set new standards in the survival crafting genre, Wildmender is decent enough to hold its own, but it desperately needs to improve performance, combat and itemization.
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 does a great job of overcoming the original's shortcomings, and comes out as a more complete and well-rounded racing game. While it isn't immune to scrutiny and criticism, it's still a great arcade racer that's well worth trying out.