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The Talos Principle: Reawakened is an already incredible game made more amazing thanks to meaningful quality of life additions, stellar graphical remastering and insightful new content in the new campaign and developer commentaries. It's beautiful, tranquil and pensive. Filled with philosophical platitudes, brain-wrinkling puzzles and sheer tranquil vibes in all the environments, Croteam have masterfully reworked their beloved puzzle game to be as quintessential as ever.
Star Overdrive rides with so much damn heart and style that it's hard not to appreciate its charm. While the combat definitely feels like more than a speed bump, and the camera can be road rage inducing, the exhilarating thrill of movement, unique storytelling and killer retro vibe keeps the somewhat bumpy ride going. Everything is nicely wrapped up in a compelling mystery, and if you're down to drift through the world of Cebet to solve it, Star Overdrive definitely earns a place in your indie collection.
Game Over: A Musical RPG is a passion project which is bleeding heart and soul. The soundtrack is incredible, every encounter is unique and entertaining, with nothing being repeated. All the characters are charming and have their own unique personalities that help the world feel grounded. The dialogue and comedy are perfectly timed and full of wit and there were genuine laughs around every corner. If you're a fan of Undertale, Earthbound or The Stanley Parable, please do yourself a favour and check out this home-grown Australian indie.
Much like the titular protagonist having to restore his name and save face, The First Berserker: Khazan overcomes doubt that there is room for new, great big beasts in the Souls-like space. It may not be the most original experience and may be overflowing with too much loot, but despite that, it provides incredible play variety, meaningful character progression, spectacle, and exciting boss encounters to boot. Bathed in blood and dripping in metal-as-hell edge and angst, The First Berserker: Khazan is another unbelievably fun and great action RPG for the books.
I cannot overstate how much Blue Prince blew me away. With an addicting gameplay loop and an expansive mystery that appears bottomless, it's the kind of game that makes you want to nuke your memory of playing it so that you can experience it all over again. Every time you think you've surely seen it all, it will prove you wrong with a new challenge that'll test your powers of observation like never before. The sense of discovery you'll feel time and time again is nothing short of phenomenal, making this debut game from Dogubomb something truly special.
Promise Mascot Agency is bizarre, hilarious, stylish, and incredibly fun. It gets its hooks into you with its brilliant world-building, wicked sense of humour, and thrilling narrative, then delivers a blend of gameplay systems that combine into something truly unique. There are a few quality-of-life bugbears, but these pale in comparison to the wealth of content that this game has to offer.
South of Midnight delivers one of the most interesting and visually stunning settings in recent memory. It feels like a tribute to the Deep South; it shows reverence to actual folklore while adding its own interesting twists that interweave with Hazel's family history and the story Compulsion Games wanted to tell. Its traversal and combat don't offer anything we haven't seen before, but it's a well-made experience, with its biggest crime being overly familiar systems. What it lacks in gameplay innovation, it more than makes up for with its quirky storytelling and style; ultimately, South of Midnight offers a distinct and gripping point of view that's hard not to fall in love with.
While the Croc: Legend of the Gobbos remaster is a love letter to the original, packed with passionate behind-the-scenes features and a beautiful visual update, it's hard to ignore that platforming has come a long way since 1997. The gameplay is clunky and simplistic compared to the experiences we've come to expect today. But for those who remember the days of tail-whipping, saving Gobbos, and hopping around the colourful worlds of Croc, this remaster is pure nostalgia gold.
A cosy, brief, beautifully crafted narrative experience, Leila tells its story in a uniquely interactive way. It leverages its gorgeous hand-drawn artwork in its environmental puzzles, which tend to satisfy despite some occasional frustrating pixel hunting. Its short length does mean that you're left with more of an aesthetic wash rather than an impactful narrative journey, but for the right player, Leila's bite-sized story will be just enough of a cosy treat to satisfy.
Rogue: Genesia is one of the most ambitious bullet heavens out there and is all from one hardworking developer, Ouadi Huard. It combines the best parts of genre titans to create a game with unlimited build potential, deep meta-progression, and a massive power curve. But it's not perfect. Weapon imbalances and upgrade power mean challenge often takes a backseat to sheer spectacle, and the visual clutter may be overwhelming for some players. If you love min-maxing, insane scaling, and watching enemies evaporate by the thousands, this game is for you.
There are just too many amazing Soulslike efforts to justify spending a lot of time with AI Limit, but that doesn't make it a bad game. It has some unique ideas that switch up combat just enough to be interesting, and its anime art style initially impresses. But for seasoned veterans of the genre, it doesn't provide much of a challenge and mostly feels like a retread. I'm sure there are people out there who have been scarred by Dark Souls and are looking for an entry-level Soulslike to ease them back in, and that's the kind of individual I'd recommend AI Limit to. They'll have fun, but it's a stepping stone to something far more riveting elsewhere.
A touching fable of companionship, Koira is a strong debut title whose thoughtful design belies its simple presentation. Its charming use of music over dialogue, affection for small, quiet moments and simple but clever mechanics create an affecting journey through and with nature.
Enjoyable enough to play for an hour or so, but Grit & Valor – 1949 quickly gave me the feeling of wishing I had the tools I needed to make responsive tactical decisions, and left me wanting to be offered choices that would lead me to different battleplans than the ones I started my runs with. In the end, providing giant robots just wasn't enough to win the day.
MLB The Show 25 provides an authentic baseball experience that brings you directly to the field. Various gameplay modes challenge you and the settings let you further customise your experience. The niche appeal and high difficulty make it tough to recommend for players who aren't already interested in baseball. But if you have any passing interest or knowledge, you won't regret picking this game up.
More could have been done to make Suikoden I&II HD Remaster Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars a more momentous release for the series' 30th anniversary. Quality of life additions such as a prettier look and cleaner HUD to the first game in particular could've made the two games stand together better in this collection, but two great games from thirty years ago are, unsurprisingly, still great games today. There's a lot of magic, charm and gusto to recruiting your dozens upon dozens of friends and allies, all in the hope of overcoming a greater, more powerful looming threat. This beautiful but also simultaneously terrifying world full of injustice is incredibly timely for both returning fans and newcomer RPG enthusiasts like myself. So gather your friends; it's time to take on the world.
Dollhouse: Behind The Broken Mirror felt like someone attempted to make a horror game who didn't know what made them scary to begin with, and then didn't show it to a single person for feedback before releasing it. The story is all over the place, and any lore you get throughout the game is hard to make sense of or connect to anything you have already learned. The enemies are obnoxious in number and any possible threat or fear goes out the window due to the sheer frustration that they instill. It feels like a bunch of half-baked concepts and locations thrown into a pot and left to boil for way too long. The flaws in the gameplay and overall functionality bleed so far through the experience that it felt like a slog, and the scariest part was the fact it took 8 hours to finish.
Atomfall is a departure and a triumph for Rebellion Developments. A showcase of narrative freedom that allows players to discover their own story within a tightly designed puzzle sandbox. While the strict mechanics have been seen before, the depth of the world and strength of the central mystery are the secrets behind Atomfall's true success.
Cabernet is a game with a lot of heart. It puts so much work into establishing the eastern-European setting, the vampire lore and all of its wonderful characters, which all have impressive voice acting that makes the story more emotional throughout. While the game does certainly lack a little polish in spots, it's a highly engaging story that's more than worth sinking your teeth into.
Look Outside is a moody horror RPG that is greater than the sum of its parts. Despite having a frustrating level design at times, a lack of map and being a little too breezy, what's forefront and centre is the vibes and setting. Francis Coulombe nails this, providing richly detailed pixel art that depicts grotesque beasties and monsters. Amalgams are made of teeth and limbs. Guys with eye clusters poring out of their torso. The designs are the whole nine yards. It's also a quality little bite-sized RPG with lots of charming systems and tidbits to flesh out the experience. Just, whatever you do, do not think too hard about the flesh monster that is knocking at your door. I promise all is OK.
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is a welcome return to one of the most ambitious JRPGs of its time, refined with visual upgrades, quality-of-life improvements, and new story content. While the core gameplay remains as deep and rewarding as ever, some of its rougher edges, like clunky menus, a steep learning curve, and persistent pop-in, keep it from feeling as polished as Monolith Soft's later work. Newcomers will find a daunting but fascinating journey, whereas returning fans can enjoy the extra content without reinventing the experience. It might not be the series's classic, but if you can embrace its complexity and occasional frustrations, Mira is still an open-world marvel.