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Magical Princess may just be the best example of a raising simulator yet. The story is engaging and works well with the replay mechanic, it gives plenty of time and scenes to get to know the characters, and it nails the gameplay and usability. Combined with top-class audiovisuals and a very reasonable price, it is a must-play.
There’s not a lot of major surprises in Welcome to Cafe Lumière! ~A Dragon Girl Concept Cafe~, as it’s an otherwise somewhat straightforward slice-of-life cafe-based adult visual novel. Still, I found it more enjoyable than I perhaps was expecting, mainly due to a rather fun main heroine who had quite a bit to enjoy. It ends somewhat abruptly for what it is, although it’s already received an (unlocalized at the time of writing) sequel, so if this is to be considered the start of a series, I enjoyed this maiden voyage enough for what it was.
The Rogue Prince of Persia is an absolutely gripping experience with a unique movement system and just enough lessons learned from the genre to keep you coming back for “one more run” until the early hours of the morning. Your first successful run will likely come quicker than in most titles from the genre, but there are plenty of ways to make the game a much tougher and grueling experience should you need to feed your masochistic side. It’s quite sad that the Sands of Time Remake got cancelled, but The Rogue Prince of Persia does a fantastic job of not only healing that wound but offering another standout title not only in the franchise but in the roguelite genre as a whole. All hail the prince!
I love boomer shooters, and I love '80s/'90s media and manga/anime. MULLET MADJACK is just an amalgamation of those things in a larger-than-life product with some loud presentation and an addictive gameplay loop. It manages to combine the random world of roguelites with the moment-to-moment gameplay of the classic first-person shooter. Jack Banhammer is the man, and MULLET MADJACK is an absolute treasure of a game. If you are within its target audience, there is not much this game does wrong outside of only having a very short campaign. If you happen to be on the outside looking in, this is going to look like an absolute smack to the senses, which, in terms of this game, is not the worst thing!
On paper, Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered, much like every title in the franchise, doesn’t seem too special. Average gameplay is once again a plague on the stronger aspects, but it all just works together and presents an honestly outstanding title that is better than the sum of its parts. Some excellent quality of life changes, extra content to dive into, and a flawless framerate with beautiful HD textures manage to edge out some of the nastier aspects of this remaster, including its propensity to crash towards the later stages of the game. I now wait with bated breath for Blood Omen 1 and 2 to get equally as tasty remasters. Vae Victus.
Pragmata was well worth the long wait. It delivers a fun and unique hybrid gameplay experience, which ties into the emotional journey between Hugh and Diana, their growing familial connection, and their reliance upon one another. The way the multitasking gameplay mechanics tie into their bond works brilliantly. While this is a rather focused and linear experience in some ways, there remains plenty of detail to explore for those willing to dive in.
While there’s plenty to like, Rose Gun Days -Season 1- makes for a bit of a bumpy start to this series. There are the makings of a compelling, thrilling, and thought-provoking political action-drama here, but it takes awhile to hit its stride, by which point it feels like it is already setting itself up for its next season. It’s an enjoyable and worthwhile read for what it is, though it’s not fully realized just yet and has some cracks along the way.
As a port, Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta will get the job done. It’s very no frills, and if you’re a fan of this title, that’s fine. That being said, my thoughts on this game are incredibly mixed. It’s filled with growing pains in both design and narrative intent, ones that would pay off in the superb follow-up in Ys VIII, but here they leave a lot to be desired. While the basic hack-and-slash gameplay is fun, the exploration isn’t quite up to scratch because of the pacebreaking nature of the Unique Actions in conjunction with its generally linear progression structure, and the main story not being interesting enough to maintain my motivation. Bosses fare a lot better, however, being genuinely fun to master and leveraging combat mechanics in ways that are always interesting. Outside of that, the game is inoffensive at worst, but the Memoire iteration disappoints because all it adds is a mediocre iteration of a soundtrack that was originally great. I think this is worth playing for fans of Ys because it gives you a real appreciation for how far the series has come since then, and that alone still makes it an interesting game.
Legacy of Kain: Ascendance is a game that frankly doesn’t just tarnish the franchise but outright hurts it. It feels like a cheap cash-in based on a polarizing graphic novel with no love and care for the series it’s representing. Waiting twenty-three years for this to be released feels like a massive slap in the face for fans. There’s only a boring and trite time to be had with this title, where the only good aspects are the soundtrack and the voice acting. The only other accolade I can gift Ascendance is that it has managed to dethrone Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2 as the most dislikable title in the franchise. Hopefully, the fanbase can just emulate Raziel and forget this ever happened.
SHINONOME ABYSS The Maiden Exorcist perfectly fuses the world of survival horror with the surprise and punishing difficulty of the roguelike, especially in the randomly generated mode. It’s held me captive much longer than I anticipated. That said, it is a slow and punishing game, so you’re either going to fall in love with it or it might just not click if that’s not your cup of tea. The puzzle aspects may throw people off, too. But for me, it’s been a genuine sleeper hit for 2026, and I would love to see how far this unique formula can be taken.
It’s impressive to think just how far the Legacy Collection branch of Mega Man has come since that original package with the first six Classic Mega Man games. What were once competent, if somewhat safe and boring, compilations now feel like proper celebrations of Mega Man’s diversity and rich history. Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection, to my delight and surprise, is perhaps the collection that best exemplifies this. Even despite the series being more lowkey and less popular than its big brother on GBA, Capcom still saw fit to give it the royalty treatment. While it’s certainly debatable whether it’s the best collection in terms of the actual games on offer, I would go to bat and say this is the best collection they’ve ever done in terms of tender loving care. The improvements to presentation, including sound and drawing quality, makes each game feel like it jumped a generation ahead. Considered gameplay tweaks that were thankfully made optional helps to also smooth over frustrations of the original games, especially in Star Force 2’s case. A suite of artwork, online features, and bonuses all around makes this the best way to experience these games, even accounting for changes made to accommodate the transition to one screen. It helps that these games are, foundationally, all a lot of fun in their own ways and feature writing that far surpasses the Battle Network series in terms of character writing, meaningful theming, and a grander sense of emotion. Star Force 3 in particular is one of the very best games in the entire Mega Man franchise, being the peak of the series’ gameplay while also offering a very strong narrative conclusion to the whole package. If this is the quality Capcom will be moving forward with in their Mega Man collections, then the Legends series is in great hands.
The routes in Making*Lovers: First Blush vary from a comforting experience with low-stakes domesticity to high-energy comedic antics, with varying levels of plot-importance depending on the route. This variety ensures that each route feels distinct, but it does lead to what feels like an inconsistency in the quality of routes. Tedium started to creep in as I read some routes where the slice-of-life moments and comedy didn’t entertain as much, while others were a lot more engaging. Still, as long as you enjoy more character-driven romance visual novels with a focus on those comedic slice-of-life moments, you should find something to enjoy here. Even if they vary slightly in style at times, SMEE titles are always good for humor, and this is no exception.
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is a good game that I’m ultimately left conflicted on. While it’s the biggest, most polished, and most mechanically thoughtful a Stories title has ever been, it’s also at the cost of what I feel was the series’ unique personality. While the series has been aging with its audience ever since the previous game, Stories 2 struck a much more resonant emotional balance, embracing something more somber and thoughtful while still respecting the oftentimes silly and satirical nature of the original Stories game. Stories 3, in its push to appear as more grown up, abandons a lot of that in favor of an okay but more generic narrative that doesn’t manage to leverage what makes the Monster Hunter series tonally unique. On the gameplay side of things, Stories 3 is broadly a success. Changes to combat keep its simplicity, while the more punishing boss battles still push it towards being something where you really have to think more than before. It’s also perhaps the most beautiful Monster Hunter game ever made, with tasteful watercolor visuals applied to superb modeling and animations. There is plenty of good here, despite my prior complaints. That said, Stories 3 only feels like half a victory, where it has its own accomplishments but feels dragged down by some of the same things currently plaguing the mainline games. It doesn’t feel finished, performance is wonky, and despite the want for a more involved narrative, in the end it misplaces what made Monster Hunter really work in the first place.
Machine Child is a raising sim visual novel that features a cast of cute daughters that readers are given the opportunity to dote on as they accompany them through a critical year of personal growth. The game, through its simplistic gameplay and easy-to-understand mechanics, offers a relaxing time should you give it a try. Although I find the narrative too segmented to properly appreciate its implied continuity, the mini-episodes that lead to any of the heroine’s seven possible endings were concise and weirdly emotional despite the very limited format in which the text is implemented. But for most of the game, the text feels too shallow in its progression that it’s a little bit hard to enjoy, despite the relatively interesting social dynamics it tries to discuss. When it comes to visual presentation, however, the game is well supplied with beautiful art from Ooyari Ashito housed within an adorable UI layout that just oozes cute. There’s also a healthy mix of fashionable and skimpy outfits for each heroine that are exciting yet equally frustrating to try to collect until completion. This pretty image does come at a cost, however, as many of the cute screen transitions related to the gameplay loop do artificially increase the length of every playthrough. It makes it a little bit unappealing to continuously replay, especially considering that missing items might be gated behind unpredictable RNG mechanics. If you like grindy raising sims that mainly revolve around cute girls doing cute things regardless of whether or not there’s an overarching storyline, then Machine Child might be a game for you. The in-game achievement list and available outfits make for a good challenge, whether it be to figure out the most efficient way to unlock everything or simply help you to stay sane as a minor mistake costs you your entire run. Just be careful about its lack of a save system; it’s pretty easy to lose hours of progress by misclicking important buttons. Not all button prompts are created equal, after all!
I fell in love almost instantly with Damon and Baby. It was a complete surprise, and I think Arc System Works has hit it out of the park, despite being known more for their fighting game entries. It shows they aren’t a one-trick pony, with ArcSys’s arc as a developer perfectly emulated in Damon and Baby as the game too constantly evolves throughout its somewhat poor pacing, both in the gameplay and the story. The game is a jack of all trades, and while it doesn’t master any, Damon and Baby makes for a rather entertaining time. It once again shows that developers don’t always need the biggest budgets and all the AAA bells and whistles to create an endearing and fun title.
Eve of the 12 Months is an adult romance visual novel that features themes of resilience, growth, and denial of fate. Through its use of a deliberately slow-paced plot progression and a usually non-confrontational cast, it allows the reader to simmer in their own thoughts as they are presented with sensitive topics that are unique to this game’s experience. Unfortunately, due to the lacking characterization that specific members of the cast have and how awkwardly the dialogue sometimes flows, the overall impact of important scenes feel diminished as actions and stakes lack solid foundations. Despite that, with how beautiful the visuals are and how well the soundtrack fits into the game’s various scenarios, it remains a complete package of a visual novel that’s sure to tug well at your heartstrings if you give it the chance.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a pretty darn good 2D platformer that demonstrates the old plumber can still hang with the best of the modern 2D gaming world. While it leans more on gimmicks than radical departures from series conventions, it still has immense charm, strong level design, and spectacular game feel. It’s chock full of stuff to do and ways to get enjoyment out of the experience, with levels having considerable replay value thanks to the many discoveries there are to find, keeping the game in line with 2D Mario at its peak. There are a lot of great experiences starring Mario on the Nintendo Switch, but Wonder is definitely one worth fitting in your library. The additions found in Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park are nice bonuses to add to an already loaded package. However, unless you expect to get a lot of mileage out of Attraction Central with your friends or family, I don’t quite think the additional £17 GBP/ $20 USD price tag makes the upgrade a must for Switch 2 owners, especially given it raises the full price of the game up to £67 GBP/$80 USD.
When I started up Project Songbird, I had to sit through quite a bit of dialogue from the creator trying to justify the game’s existence. Whenever I would load the game up, I’d be asked to rate it or have an aspect explained. I was enjoying the slow build before the “Otherworld” sections, but something just wasn’t quite sitting well with me. I feel that Project Songbird would have been a much stronger title if the creators of the game had more faith in their original design and choices. Instead, it feels like the developer is pleading with you to accept where they had to renege on their original vision, almost mirroring the narrative of the game. Frankly, it just weakens the title even further, a title that could have been something special if you look at its stronger points alone. Between spotty performance, disjointed gameplay, and apologetic dialogue, I couldn’t recommend Project Songbird. It had everything in place to be a hit indie horror title. Instead, it feels like outside factors may have ruined the original vision, which is bleeding through from the second you boot the game up.
Karigurashi Ren’ai: Living on Borrowed Love is full of comedic situations and amusing bickering between the cast. While the jokes don’t always land, it’s certainly plenty of laughs overall. The home rotation premise was used particularly well to keep things constantly changing throughout.
Resident Evil Village Gold Edition is another fantastic package for fans of the franchise and newcomers on the Nintendo Switch 2. It has the “Winters Expansion” from the jump, which contains a compelling and highly replayable Mercenaries mode, as well as a fairly lengthy post-game DLC. This gives you the most bang for your buck when it comes to Resident Evil Village. While in my opinion it’s one of the weaker entries in the franchise, I still believe Resident Evil Village is well worth playing, and I did really enjoy coming back to the game after a couple of years. I would steer away from the third-person mode, though. Performance isn’t quite perfect, but it’s still a great performing title on the Nintendo Switch 2.