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With a strong atmosphere, interesting story, and engaging but fairly simple mix of puzzle and platforming gameplay, American Arcadia makes for a memorable place to visit - and escape from.
With weaponized nostalgia, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III delivers a satisfying experience in multiplayer and zombies. A diverse selection of returning battlegrounds augments the competitive action and the deep open-world undead mode is entertaining for hours, making it worth playing despite the disappointing campaign.
The Invincible offers up plenty of sci-fi intrigue, but even as a fan of walking simulators, the gameplay just falls too short of the mark. I still enjoyed my time on Regis III, but there were definitely ways to improve the experience.
Jusant is a distinct adventure with striking presentation, simple yet fun climbing mechanics, and an engaging atmosphere that's worth the hike.
Sonic Superstars draws upon its classic roots and wears that inspiration on a sleeve. The cooperative play is superb, but the unimaginative zones and underwhelming battle mode prove the stage a superstar performs on matters.
Cities: Skylines II is a modest improvement on its predecessor, integrating a good amount of features and content to feel like a worthwhile sequel. The underlying design remains great and should eventually reach its full potential, but a lack of structure and poor technical performance mean that it's not yet time to make the switch.
Despite its wonderful atmosphere and interesting locations, Alan Wake 2 is a middling third-person survival-horror game with sluggish pacing, a lackluster Mind Place feature, and lazy jump-scares, too concerned about being obscure and filling itself with quirky meta-references.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is exactly what fans hoped for from the return of a 2D Mario franchise. The tight, precise platforming has been mixed with the wild creativity seen in the 3D exploits of Nintendo's iconic plumber to create one of the best titles of the year.
With thought-provoking philosophy and sharply varied puzzles, The Talos Principle 2 is a sublime sequel that seeks the knowledge of the gods but maintains its humanity.
RoboCop: Rogue City faithfully recreates the classic character, but gives him nothing to work with. The narrative is dull, presentation is poor, and too many lackluster mechanics are shoehorned in. With unsatisfying action, this title is an empty metal shell of a game.
Station to Station is a fairly novel puzzle game that has some charm to it, and will appeal most to players who enjoy freeform path optimization and experimentation through repeated attempts.
Detective Pikachu Returns had the potential to appeal to everyone as most Nintendo and Pokemon games do, but instead falls in the bracket of being a milquetoast experience that will only occupy younger players.
With familiar but still great gameplay that has a few new moves, strong presentation, and a mostly engaging story which gets better in the second half, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a crowd-pleasing blockbuster sequel that's worth playing for any superhero fan.
Assassin's Creed Mirage is a decent return to the series' roots that puts stealth and free-running parkour back into focus. While it has several issues, and Basim's story is uninspired, many will still appreciate silently exploring a smaller sand castle.
NHL 24 puts all of its pucks into the online play basket, so only players who fall into that category will find some excitement this year. The new controls and pressure mechanics leave something to be desired, and the complete lack of offline mode changes is baffling, as are the still incredibly slow menus.
Fading Afternoon takes the concept of time and creates a melancholic experience which explores heavy themes surrounding self-reflection and existentialism. However, occasional bugs and repetitive combat hold it back from its true potential.
EA Sports FC 24 may be a new name, but it contains the very familiar game. With minor improvements across the board, and thanks to a still solid foundation, it's the annual sports entry that you'd expect, no more and no less.
El Paso, Elsewhere doesn't boast the slickest gameplay out there, but its tale of love, death and the impending end of the world is one that consistently kept my attention. This is an entirely unique experience, and one I suggest checking out if you are a fan of supernatural neo-noir.
Cocoon is a clever and original world-stacking puzzler with complex mechanics that are kept in check by limiting how players arrange and explore worlds. While it's possible to stumble upon solutions through a confusing haze, the game's few moments of brilliance make it worth checking out.
Forza Motorsport returns to the track with some high quality sim racing, a healthy amount of content, impressive presentation, and enough tweaks to make its familiar formula feel fresh again.