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Ball X Pit carries the spirit of an arcade classic, while imbuing it with modern roguelike ideas. It's immediately one of the best indie games of the year.
With its barmy riff on a medieval dungeoneering game show, there's something very likeable about the odd world of King of Meat. The platforming, puzzling and combat is a bit too woolly for my tastes, lacking a bit of staying power, but with UGC gaming more relevant than ever, King of Meat provides a great onramp for players to explore their creativity in a constrained setting.
Unlike the most recent Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, Pokémon Legends: Z-A is a game that really holds your attention. The spiritual successor to Legends Arceus, it's learned from the mistakes of the distant past and beautifully shows what city life is like in the Pokémon universe. I can see myself playing this for another hundred hours as I finish my Pokédex, shiny hunt and generally have a great time. This is easily the best Pokémon game on the market.
Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is the gold standard of JRPG remakes - a perfect blend of the charm and nostalgia of the original with all the right elements of a modern-day masterpiece.
If I could have Absolum without the roguelite elements – and admittedly, a few less glitches – then I would have my ideal 2D side-scrolling beat 'em up, the best I've ever played. As it is, the roguelite structure and its inconsistent delivery unfortunately lowers the overall experience. It's still a very enjoyable game, even with these issues, but this was so close to being a classic of the genre.
Battlefield 6 is a return to form for the large scale shooter, with a great blend of infantry classes, mechanised warfare, some clever new game modes, and without too much nonsense wrapped around it. It's a true successor to Battlefield 4, right down to the naff campaign.
Whilst offering bombastic fun in online multiplayer, this Hades-like roguelite is oddly muted in single-player, an issue likely exacerbated due to the developer failing in making the most of the game's iconic mythological setting. A decently reliable experience then, but one so similar to so many other roguelites you'd have sworn you had already played Sworn before.
Little Nightmares 3 is a gorgeously crafted collection of grim visuals, memorable creatures and fear-inducing horror. The co-op play is a natural and understandable evolution for the series, but it does alter the overarching atmosphere, albeit it subtly.
Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact is a dodgy fighting game with oversimplified mechanics, a thin roster, and barely any game modes. As far as full-priced modern fighting games go, you can do far better with almost any other game.
Disgaea 7 Complete clearly is the ultimate version of Vows of the Virtueless. The story is as quirky and fun as ever, and the bonus content is an absolute must for die-hard fans. Being able to play it on the Switch 2 on the go is also great, with the game looking and feeling fantastic in both handheld and docked mode. The only knock is the uphill struggle for newcomers with reams of tiresome tutorials – hopefully NIS will have figured out by the time Disgaea 8 rolls around.
Blood of Mehran is a bit of a throwback, taking its inspiration from games a couple of generations back. The foundation has been put in place, but Blood of Mehran is a distinctively average eight hour experience with combat not reaching the levels it could, voice acting that could be better, and various performance issues that need addressing.
Lego Party is everything you want for a Friday night in with the family. Silly, funny, and accessible, finally Mario Party has some competition.
Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny does have entertainment value to it, especially for a younger audience, but those looking for a nostalgic trip revisiting Nickelodeon characters might be a bit disappointed due to how basic the gameplay and levels are. There are also technical hitches that need to be addressed.
Discounty just misses the mark for me as a cosy game. While actually running the supermarket can be pretty enjoyable, it's wrapped up with frustrating busy work, NPCs who are so routinely annoying and unpleasant. It's like moving into the town where Hot Fuzz is set: something is off; people are weird and standoffish; and I just want to go home.
Silly, creative fun, LEGO Voyagers is just like the toy it's based upon. If only there was a bit more to it, then we could have had a real contender for a great Lego video game.
I really, really like Digimon Story Time Stranger. While it's hardly upending the monster collection and battling genre, it's a really comfortable and enjoyable game that feels reminiscent of watching Saturday morning cartoons as a kid. It's an awful lot of fun, and is right up there as one of my favourite games of the year.
Super Mario Galaxy and Galaxy 2 are proper remasters of two all-time platforming greats. With tasteful graphical improvements, more integrated gameplay tweaks with better controls for handheld, they're a solid, sensible way to celebrate a 40th birthday.
EA Sports FC 26 is a better game than FC 25 and can give you a good game of football, especially when Authentic mode in single player comes together properly. However, for that to happen you need to play on World Class difficulty, as anything below that exposes poor defending by the AI. There has been evolution here, but FC 26 is still only a step towards getting the balance right, and not the final stop.
I have a tonne of respect for Blippo+ and the work that was put into it. It's weird and creative, which all my favourite things are, but it's so niche that it's hard to think of someone I know that I could recommend it to. Then again, I expect the developers and actors don't really care too much about that.
Does Claws of Awaji finally provide a more fitting ending to Assassin's Creed: Shadows? Kind of. In an irritating and distinctively Ubisoft way, enough is left open to require at least another dose of DLC. Still, if you really haven't had too much of a good thing, that's certainly no bad thing.