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The Rogue Prince of Persia is both a fantastic Prince of Persia game and a brilliant roguelite. Evil Empire draws on the DNA of Dead Cells to make a game that offers a compelling combination of platforming and combat, robust roguelite systems, and an understanding of the underlying rhythms of action games. It's as enthralling to watch and listen to as it is to play.
Despite the passage of time, OFF still holds up incredibly well. The newer translation lets the utterly hilarious dialogue shine, the updates to the combat make it far more intuitive to use, but the part that really holds it together, the story, hasn't changed at all, and honestly didn't need to. It's still a well-written, bite-sized experience that deserves the attention of anyone who loves newer RPG maker games or games inspired by that genre. You owe it to yourself to finally get around to beating OFF.
While its spoofing of the management sim lacks bite and its cast of characters is a tad thin, Discounty is otherwise an interesting debut title. Rearranging and optimising the layout of its titular supermarket is simple but unnervingly satisfying, and its daily loop makes for an addictive trip down the pixelated produce aisle, even if I can't help but be disappointed by the ambition its story lost along the way.
With Drag x Drive, Nintendo's latest multiplayer jaunt is both the things we hoped for and the things we feared. It feels immersive and thrilling in the middle of matches to be giving it your all as you speed across a court and try to sink shots as best you can, being one with the chaos. Similarly, it's a concept and control scheme that we haven't seen before in games, one that deserves credit. In the same breath, though, this hyper-specific control scheme and skill ceiling will leave a lot of players, both casual and lesser-abled, behind with how demanding it can be. It doesn't help that the Nintendo charm isn't quite there, nor is there enough substantial side content. Fun in controlled doses, Drag x Drive remains a game I will eagerly keep an eye on, hoping and praying it gets the post-launch support, quality of life and updates it needs to be the hallmark of quirky and accessible multiplayer game design it is so clearly desperately trying to be.
The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily is a hilarious take on a strategy campaign, pairing an unserious yet compelling story with genuinely tough gameplay to create an experience that is easy to recommend to any genre fan. The characters are rendered in a striking anime style, making it easy to fall in love with Scarlet, Lily, and their growing band of rebels. The fact that it's light on side content means that the pacing remains fast and efficient, so you never have a chance to get bored.
Echoes of the End has strong puzzle foundations and a good grasp on difficulty, making it the type of challenge that is just right. That said, these puzzles dominate gameplay with action getting less of the spotlight, making for a lack of balance. This is a fantastic pick if you prefer brain-teasers over fisticuffs. But if you were looking for a thrilling escapade, you may be disappointed, as the action in this adventure mostly takes a backseat.
Static Dread: The Lighthouse is a disappointing attempt at combining the suspense, dread, and worldbuilding of Lovecraftian horror with the gameplay of Papers, Please. With what little this game does right, such as its incredible character designs and art, it is sadly overlooked by its tonal inconsistencies and its diabolical mediocrity, from its poorly implemented sanity and energy mechanics to its horrendously easy and repetitive gameplay loop. It's an easily forgettable and thematically incoherent narrative, lacking any genuine horror elements, and revealing its eldritch threats too early on. Few games capture the essence of H.P. Lovecraft, and Static Dread falls flat at every turn.
MAGES. Inc. delivered and then some with Iwakura Aria. What's within is an electric and rich visual novel story, a page-turner that is filled to the brim with memorable and beautiful prose as it expertly weaves its themes. Better yet, it sands off all the rough edges of the genre with quality-of-life improvements. Where there's sacrifice and power found within the halls of the Iwakura mansion, there's also love, adoration and devotion. Whether it's in protagonist Ichiko's investment in the illustrious Aria or the player following along at every beat, you're both in for an artful and magnificent ride.
Overall, Tiny Bookshop is a fun, cozy game for book lovers where you live that dream of running a bookstore, while also forming friendships with the locals. The use of real books makes it feel personal, especially if you're someone who reads often, plus it makes recommending titles to others a breeze. While the story isn't perfect due to its lack of execution, it's not too big of a deal unless you're someone who's invested in the narrative. Regardless, it's still enjoyable and could introduce you to your next book.
Touting a unique brand of offbeat humour and some absolutely beautiful pixel art, Artis Impact is a labour of love that mostly hits the mark. While its combat system lacks depth and it could use a stronger core narrative, it presents a gorgeous world filled with charming character moments that surprise and delight. Despite a few rough edges, this is a bite-sized RPG full of heart.
In moments where you can dive into the mechanics on offer, Ritual of Raven really shines. Tinkering with the automations is fun and rewarding, providing a fresh spin on a well-worn genre. But the game doesn't encourage these moments, instead pulling you through a narrative in a world that doesn't feel fully realised. There are some excellent ideas here, but they don't form a compelling whole.
1000 Deaths feels like it's a crazy fever dream I had in the early 2000s after falling asleep in front of the TV. I mean this in the best way possible. Filled with fun levels, genuine heart and a killer, crazy aesthetic, if you're looking for a colourful experience reminiscent of classic 3D platformers, this is for you.
Demon Slayer – The Hinokami Chronicles 2 gives you a strong fighting game that draws you into the story just like the original manga/anime. Prioritising teamwork and combos makes you utilise every moveset for maximum effectiveness. It's not an easy game to master, and the story can be finished in a few hours. Fans will love what this game has to offer, but you may not enjoy the game if you've never heard of the Demon Slayer series.
At first, Mafia: The Old Country swept me up straight away. Its stunning world, compelling story, and rich sense of place felt like an Italian holiday. As I played on, the simplicity of its combat and stealth stood out more, but that's not what I valued most. Not the most inventive action game, but one of the most immersive you'll play this year. This is a leaner and more focused Mafia game that trades scale for storytelling and worldbuilding, and in doing so, delivers something quietly special.
The Wandering Village has a grasp of the building blocks of its genre, but never truly capitalises on its core mechanics or its premise. Rather, it presents an enjoyable but somewhat shallow city-builder that just happens to also be on top of a wandering behemoth, rather than truly embracing and exploring what that could mean in gameplay terms. While its visuals and audio are both lovely, there is little here to really sink your teeth into, particularly for a veteran of the genre. The Wandering Village is worth a visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.
Killing Floor 3 delivers the punch and the thrill that you'd expect from this well-renowned franchise. Upgraded with modern audiences in mind, the title could have easily been the next big release from a talented development studio. However, with too little focus on content and polish and too much focus on replicating games-as-a-service design philosophies, Killing Floor 3 falls short of its potential.
Despite not completely lacking in fun, MADO MONOGATARI: Fia and the Wondrous Academy stops short of doing anything interesting with its academy life sim elements or its dungeon crawling. Try-hard 'funny' dialogue waffles for too long, academy activities is largely messing around in menus, and dungeons are one-note and house the same enemies and traps that don't offer a true challenge. If this is your very first dungeon crawler and you're under the age of twelve, you might find enough fun to get you to the end, but for everyone else, this one will likely lie unfinished on the shelf after the first five hours.
The King is Watching is a satisfying, if slightly homogeneous, tetris-like roguelite base builder. While it struggles a bit with variety and uneven meta-progression, its gaze mechanic is a simple and clean hook that, alongside a creative setting and range of kings, makes for an almost comforting building manager run after run. The only problem is, that may not be enough to steal player's gaze away from the wealth of other roguelikes it's competing with this year.
Based on the impressive visuals and soundtrack, I wish I had a better time with Atomic Owl. I love a good roguelike platformer as much as the next person, but without carefully executed roguelike random elements, Atomic Owl is just a platformer where you start from the beginning after every game over. This tested my patience as I powered through the same levels, again and again, after every failure. Atomic Owl also currently has too many issues with frequent crashes, buggy boss fights, and poor design to merit a recommendation to anyone but the most tolerant of platformer fans.
While there are certainly some areas where Tales of the Shire shines, like its highly engaging cooking mechanics, the package as a whole is lacking the polish to be a real winner. There was clearly a lot of love put into the game, and hopefully, with future patches, the performance issues will be resolved. For now, though, I am still longing for the rolling green hills of the Shire, because this game didn't quite scratch that itch.