IGN's Reviews
Grounded is a fantastic survival game with a killer premise, rewarding progression, and boundless creativity that even a host of bugs can’t spoil.
An unapologetically tricky ode to street skating, Session is packed with a palpable love for the sport, but bugs and unsympathetic tutorial and mission design decisions undermine its approachability.
Real-time tactics meets old-timey politics in The DioField Chronicle, a fast-paced JRPG where quick and fun combat are paired with a generic story and some awkward controls.
There are brilliant ideas in the ambitious early access release of Terra Invicta, and a lot of fun to find for strategy game enthusiasts, but you need to be willing to drill down into sometimes-opaque and confusing mechanics to do it. Politics are fun, if overwhelming, and the space layer is very cool, but the two just don't quite gel together yet. I do recommend Terra Invicta, but when playing takes so much trial-and-error to see results, my overall recommendation has to come with big caveats until it has spent some more time in early access.
Shovel Knight Dig is a wonderful melding of the mechanics and feel of Shovel Knight and the ever evolving roguelite genre. It stumbles a bit on its roguelite progression mechanics, and its a bit on the short side, but none of that stops Shovel Knight Dig from being a blast to play.
Soulstice is a competent action game with creative monsters, but they're doomed to live in a bland setting with tedious level design.
Return to Monkey Island expectedly comes packed full of smartly crafted puzzles, funny dialogue, and memorable characters. But as series creator Ron Gilbert returns to the series’ director’s chair for the first time since 1991, it unexpectedly offers a lot of heart, too. It is an adventure gamer’s delight.
Isonzo is a well-made shooter that welcomes all comers to its gorgeous, mountainous World War I multiplayer battlefields, though a lot of that approachability and familiarity comes at the cost of period authenticity and distinctive gameplay.
Rather austere in its presentation, and repetitive in its gameplay, Foretales unpacks an intriguing story via a roguelite narration, which makes you throw part by game, but in moderation. You will at least want to achieve a beautiful ending!
NBA 2K23's on-court improvements should've led it to an easy layup, but the ever-present nuisance of pay-to-win microtransactions make it much harder to enjoy.
A beautiful platformer with a funny story and characters that can be easily completed even a novice at video games can easily complete.
Metal: Hellsinger might not be the greatest demon-slaying shoot 'em up in the world, but it's certainly a stirring tribute.
Disney Dreamlight Valley is an incredibly strong early access start to a bewitching, Disney-infused life sim.
It's a lot of fun to experience JoJo’s eccentric and ostentatious battles in solid yet boilerplate offline modes, but online struggles often knock the wind out of it.
Steelrising is a decent soulslike with a great setting, but it does little else to rise above so many others like it.
Splatoon 3 has done a great job anticipating the needs of returning players.
Splatoon 3’s campaign features a fresh take on an open hub world design, mixing in short but satisfying missions to let you experiment with different weapons and abilities.
Beyond The Wire provides a delightfully hefty incarnation of World War One. Redstone Interactive makes its massive, 100-player servers sing with Arma-quality realism, complete with jolting firearm kickback, brutal melee beatdowns, and a huge number of dynamic character classes that can shift the tide of the battle. All of this takes place on beautiful multiplayer maps that capture the nightmarish truth of early 20th century warfighting.
F1 Manager 2022 speeds to the front of the grid with a deep, compulsive, and largely authentic motorsports management sim.
Ooblets is an adorably sweet meal made with familiar creature-collection and farming sim-style ingredients, but its flavor is missing the depth it needs to make it stand out.