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Your outlook on Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is going to depend on your perspective. As a historical document, it chronicles Atari as a company but still seems focused on the 2600 and old arcade stuff above all else. As a game compilation, it still feels lacking in the latter half of the company's game history, as some of the more interesting titles from the 7800 era onward aren't here; one can argue that the company's output at the time doesn't make the job any easier, though. There are certainly enough curios to keep existing owners of Atari Vault interested thanks to the presence of new titles here, but it could've used more curation to make it an item that's worth celebrating.
River City Girls 2 is pretty much everything you'd expect from a sequel: more enemies, more allies, more moves, more areas to explore, and more everything. It doesn't veer too far away from any of the original's design choices, and the result is a comfortable, if safe, sequel. The boss fights feel a little less tightly designed than they did in the first game, but it's a small complaint at best, and there's still plenty to enjoy here. If you enjoy quirky comedy with a fighting game twist, River City Girls 2 has a lot to enjoy. It's also way too cool to body-slam folks as a muscular, super-cool version of one of gaming's most famous damsels in distress.
Overall, High on Life is a solid first-person shooter/adventure game. The action is exciting, and the boss fights are frustrating in their difficulty but satisfying once you take down someone. The exploration portions make you want to return to each area to suss out secrets, and you'd just wish there were more environments to explore. All of this is done at a good length, but only if you're a fan of the humor. If you are a fan, add an extra point to the score. Even if you're not a fan of the humor, the adventure is worth experiencing at least once.
New Tales from the Borderlands tries to go all-out but ends up with unlikable characters, mind-boggling story twists, and forced comedic writing. Even some interesting decisions and entertaining side characters cannot save what is otherwise an uninteresting romp through the world of Borderlands. If anything, NTFTB confirms that the original was indeed a perfect storm that isn't easily replicated. Fans of the franchise may end up enjoying the adventure, but I'd advise waiting for a sale before embarking on this strange adventure.
The Callisto Protocol is frustrating as a game because it's so easy to see how it could have been great. There's no single thing that drags down the game, but it's an endless stream of annoyances that are exacerbated by the constant reminders of better titles. The Callisto Protocol can be fun, but it's constantly getting in the way of its own fun. It's possible that patches might smooth out some of the combat issues and improve the game a fair bit. At launch, though, it's more frustrating than fun. There's a lot of potential for a sequel that takes the lessons to heart, but for the moment, you're better off waiting for a sale.
Marvel's Midnight Suns is probably my top shocker for the year. I'm surprised at how well everything comes together. It almost seems like a bit too much on paper, but it feels amazing once you get your hands on the game. The combat is addictive and incredibly fun, and the story is pure comic book schlock in the best sort of ways. If you are looking for Marvel XCOM, you'll be disappointed, but that's the most significant "flaw" I can think of. Marvel fans of all types will be delighted with Midnight Suns, which is a love letter to the spooky side of the universe. It's a game that I easily see myself coming back to time and time again.
Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core Reunion manages to be a lot more than the sum of its parts. There are a lot of things that you can complain about, from the dumb antagonist to the legacy of its PSP roots. It's a credit to the game that despite those flaws, it is still probably one of the best Final Fantasy spin-off games on the market, and Reunion is by far the best way to experience it. It should do a good job of tiding over fans until at least Final Fantasy XVI.
Portal remains a masterpiece of a game. Even more than 15 years later, the game still hits its marks, from puzzle design to length and everything in between. Portal with RTX adds to that by sprucing up the graphics enough that it immediately rivals many modern releases on more advanced game engines. The high system requirements, along with the breaking of some core functionality, restricts who can enjoy the improvements, but the sting doesn't hurt as much due to the fact that it's free. If you are fine with those caveats, give Portal with RTX a spin, whether this is the first time you're playing it - or the 50th.
Harvestella isn't going to remove Rune Factory from existence, but it has a lot of potential as a strong competitor. This first (and hopefully not only) outing has an extremely strong basis and manages to hit a lot of the high marks of JRPG-style farming simulation, while having enough of its own personality to avoid feeling like a clone. Only the overly stiff combat and general simplicity of the game hold it back from being as good as its obvious inspirations. It's so close to being great that it's easy to imagine a sequel hitting all of the marks. There's a lot to like here if you can get past the slow start, and by the time I finished the game, I felt almost as satisfied as I was with Rune Factory 5. Harvestella is absolutely worth a look if you're a fan of the Rune Factory franchise and want to see a different developer's take on the concept.
Moss: Book II doesn't lose any momentum and directly continues the touching story from the first title. It expands gameplay in new and fun ways and immerses you in its fairy tale world quite effectively. While it's a fun and highly polished affair, it still plays it a bit safe in some regards, but that's easy to forget when the end product looks and plays this well. Much like its predecessor, Moss: Book II is a must-play title in VR.
Ultimately, how much you enjoy Grounded is going to depend on how you play and if you choose to enable any of the customization options. In the default state, if you're looking to adventure through the story, you'll have a fun time, but Grounded is at its best when played as a survival sim. Focus on exploring the world, and let the story happen in the background. It may be a slower pace, but it's also more rewarding.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure is just as good now as it was during the release of the PS5. Stunning presentation aside, the platforming mechanics remain absolutely solid, and the transition from 2D to 3D is rather painless. The campaign runs at the right length with the right level of difficulty, and unlike past series entries, the multiplayer feels good instead of chaotic. The creative aspects of the original series are missed, but the game remains a solid entry in any platforming fan's game library.
Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song Remastered is an excellent remaster of a very weird game. It's one of those games that is difficult to necessarily recommend because so much of what it does evokes love or hate. If you're curious about the franchise, it's probably a lot easier to hop in with SaGa Frontier Remastered or Scarlet Graces. If you like games in the SaGa franchise or want to try something different, Minstrel Song is a worthwhile experience. If you already know that you don't like the franchise, you'll probably be annoyed and frustrated with this offering.
Ace Angler: Fishing Spirits is strange. The fishing is easy to learn but difficult to master due to the lack of tutorial or feedback system. The coin concept is off-putting enough until someone has a surplus of coins to play with. The story mode does a better job of easing you into the game mechanics because it removes the token mechanic and provides focused goals. The minigames and online play are fun, but they're terrible for the overall goal of the game. The coin-pushing game is a very slow burn unless you get lucky. There is an audience for this type of quirky game, but you need to have enough patience to learn the system.
In the end, Slaycation Paradise is a fun game, provided you're willing to overlook some of its shortcomings. The short gameplay loop works well enough, and the variety of objectives stops the game from falling into a rut. More levels would've been nice, and multiplayer would've been even nicer. For those looking for a little more out of their twin-stick shooters, Slaycation Paradise scratches the itch well if you're fine with the lack of levels and multiplayer.
By and large, Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet are fun. It's telling that I had a lot of fun with them despite the absolutely unforgivable performance problems. The basis for an extremely strong and engaging Pokémon game is here, but it's out in the wild without the extra months of development that it still needed to improve performance issues. If you're willing to forgive some jank for an otherwise great Pokémon experience, then you'll have a great time. Otherwise, it's probably worth skipping until it gets some patches. Even die-hard Pokéfans might have trouble getting past seeing their favorite Pokémon crawling along at five fps.
I don't want to close with the impression that I had a bad time with Gungrave G.O.R.E. I didn't. But I didn't have a memorable one, either. It was a nice bit of action nostalgia for a short while, but in a world where less glitzy action titles feature so much more depth, agility or even wit, Gungrave G.O.R.E. will have a tough time separating itself from all of the bullet-fare that's out there.
As mentioned earlier, Skeleton Crew is a game with a neat concept that isn't executed well. It's a novel idea to kick things all over the place as both a means of solving puzzles and attacking enemies; it ensures that you can still get out of a pickle even if you select someone you end up disliking. Throw in the multiplayer aspect, and it feels like something you'll want to play when company's over or if you can ensure someone you know is online and willing to play. That said, the actual kicking mechanics are slow, and the various bugs and balance issues mean that there's a good chance you'll need to play through some levels a few times through no fault of your own. Despite being out for this long, Skeleton Crew still needs more polish before you'll want to give it a chance.
Evil West is a fun and well-made beat-'em-up that doesn't exceed its reach. The focus is on the combat, and thankfully, that largely pays off. Even coming from God of War: Ragnarok, I managed to have a lot of fun with Evil West nonetheless. There isn't a ton to see beyond the combat, and you'll probably be done in a single playthrough, but that single playthrough will be a darn fun time.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Episode 4 – The Devil in Me is a solid ending to the first "season" of the franchise. It isn't the best game in the lineup (I'd probably give that to House of Ashes), but it's probably the best horror story of the lot. The same familiar gameplay is bolstered by some new additions, but at the end of the day, they don't change the formula. If you've played the previous games, you have a pretty good idea of what to expect here. The Devil in Me shows that Supermassive is experimenting with The Dark Pictures Anthology and trying to expand what its games can be. I'm looking forward to seeing what Season 2 brings.