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Claymore Game Studios realized what made the original Commandos games so great, retained the heart and soul, and sanded off all the prickly edges. Commandos: Origins is a love letter to the originals in everything it does.
Putting aside the weird, tone-deaf childishness of the plot setup, Grit and Valor – 1949 is occasionally an exciting little strategy game. Some of its map designs and optional objectives force you to make the most of scant resources, and for all the challenge, it's refreshingly quick and easy to make up losses when you fail. It's just frustratingly shallow in its take on roguelike structures for longer than it should be.
Despite that and an ambient soundtrack that can feel dull, Blue Prince's formula and its abundance of secrets are undeniably engaging. Even if it takes over 100 days to get to the fortune in the 46th room, this is a game that will have players feeling rich regardless.
This might not crack the top of my SaGa list, but it’s still a worthy entry in my favorite cult RPG series. Frankly though, I’m glad I waited for the remaster to try it.
Reading about Koira doesn't convey just how well-designed it is. It's a rare case where every piece of it, from the visual direction to the smallest part of audio design, exists in exquisite harmony. Sure, it still relies heavily on a specific kind of emotional appeal to pull you in, but when everything beyond that is this good, it's easy to overlook.
South of Midnight is an impressive narrative feat from Compulsion Games. It's a well-paced adventure that goes big on characters and story, though combat and platforming feel a bit uniform. I hope it's not the last we've seen of this world and these characters.
Bleach Rebirth of Souls makes an excellent first impression, with cool, loud menu UI, amped-up music, and in-game action that looks fast and furious from a distance.
It's easy to write Khazan off as just another Soulslike at a glance, and it would be refreshing to see Neople create its own style and structure instead of just imitating a popular convention. However, Neople went further than most Soulslikes and actually innovated with its take on the genre's combat. That's a big positive, seeing as there's not much else to Khazan outside of battle, but at least all the time spent in combat is enjoyable.
I have for years held the opinion that MLB The Show is the best of the annualized sport sim franchises. While it’s not without its faults, it’s pound-for-pound the best simulation of its real-life counterpart, while hosting a bevy of modes that feel thoroughly fleshed out and supported. It’s the most hours I’ve sunk into a new MLB The Show game in years, and it’ll probably be my go-to sports game for many months to come.
I see and respect what Bubble Ghost Remake attempted here. Take an obscure game, reimagine it, make it big and beautiful, and offer something fresh to puzzle fans. But as it turns out, “bigger” was a crucial mistake.
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When I saw that Coulombe was involved in the cult classic, Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden, I knew I was in for a ride simply by association. But I wasn’t fully prepared for the depths of creative madness I was gazing into with Look Outside.
If you can get past its tedious organization and swaths of overleveled monsters in your way, Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is incredible.
Series fans will find a lot to love here, even if Shadows doesn’t quite take the step of truly challenging itself to be more than what we might have expected it to be. The moment-to-moment gameplay is fun, Naoe and Yasuke are both compelling in their own way, and the backdrop of Japan really does make for a beautiful stage on which everything plays out.
FragPunk is launching in a strange, unbalanced state where it actively undermines its best features and doesn't quite know how to build on its own strong foundation.
Just like its impressively long and unwieldy title, Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land is a messy game. But it’s a messy game with lofty ambitions and a lot to like, even if which pieces you end up liking are not the pieces you expected or wanted to like, especially if you’re a returning Atelier fan.
The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty is a fascinating, challenging, and compelling story that uses its form as a visual novel to tell a story about normal, flawed, and vulnerable people.
Wanderstop is like Spiritfarer for burnout sufferers and overachievers. The central focus is meaningful and expertly executed in its own right. However, it's the attention to detail in every other area that makes Wanderstop feel special, to the point where anything, even just planting flowers, enriches everything else. Ivy Road just gets it.
WWE 2K25 is a banner year for the franchise. It’s easily the most refined entry yet, bursting with ways to play and the series’ largest roster to date, which is sure to please virtually everyone no matter which era of wrestling you prefer.
I think it’s a good game if you’re playing alone. I have high hopes for the co-op once it’s fixed. It’s charming and cute and playing with the spell system is a good time, and it has the ebb and flow of combat that makes Souls-likes fun. If you’re looking for a kinder, gentler Souls-like, Slime Heroes is the game for you.