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Alone in the Dark is a strong return to form for the series that helped kickstart the survival horror genre. Its excellent atmosphere, strong mystery, and largely engaging combat design lend to a satisfying and thrilling experience. Some of the character work feels underdeveloped, and a few design choices don't always make sense, but Alone in the Dark is worth the scares, and offers a decent amount of replayability for multiple playthroughs.
Rising Lords is a hexagon-grid-based tactics game that introduces elements from Battle Brothers, Civilization, and chess to create a game that is rich in mechanics, but lacking in depth. Its medieval presentation and art style are a highlight, and there's a decent variety in the content offered. While it's fun for a couple of hours and up to a couple of days, the lack of a multiplayer scene or mod support seriously harms the longevity of the game.
Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection is the perfect way to revisit the series on modern platforms. The addictive gunplay, diverse units, and level variety hold up to this day, and you can easily spend hundreds of hours in each entry thanks to multiple game modes, and multiplayer. The UI is a bit dated now, and the lack of crossplay support is holding the collection back, but if you're looking for some of the best Star Wars action video games have to offer, you can't go wrong with this.
Berserk Boy is a love letter to Mega Man X, and there's a lot to like here. Its fast-paced combat and movement system thanks to the Berserk Orbs keeps things fresh, and great animation work sells each dash and bash. Some uneven elements of the presentation aside, Berserk Boy is worth your time if you're a fan of 2D action platformers.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth sets a new standard for JRPGs, and it's one of the best entries in the franchise yet. It's a sequel that tackles a classic with respect, and reverence to retain what made it special but delves deep into its characters, and the world to satisfy fans of the original, and the remake alike. The combat is a highlight and meaningfully iterates on the 2020 entry and the jaw-dropping presentation invites you to explore every inch of its diverse world. Some technical issues aside, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is an incredible game that's worth spending close to a hundred hours in.
The Thaumaturge is a story driven top-down adventure game that plays like an existentialist novel by Dostoevsky. Its rich cast of characters and expanding story draws you in and sinks its pangs into your brain. If you're looking for a story-rich game that's relatively easy to get into and has some excellent art direction, this is the one. Just be mindful of the performance issues and uneven voice acting in some parts.
Expeditions: A MudRunner Game is an excellent addition to the MudRunner series that retains the core experience of trekking through hazardous terrain while adding new tools that push you to become creative with how you maneuver around all sorts of obstacles. Its scientific research backdrop lends to greater mission variety, and deeper customization allows you to make each truck your own. It's a great place for newcomers to the series, and a fantastic new adventure for veterans alike.
Classified: France '44 is a turn-based tactics game that manages to convey what it feels like to perform clandestine operations perfectly. Its diverse cast of characters, paired with its ample weapon and enemy variety makes it a thrilling experience that's sure to keep you entertained for days on end.
WRATH: Aeon of Ruin is a fantastic entry to a genre catered to a niche audience. Its high-octane combat and design choices will take you back to the glory days of FPS gaming, and with the help of the engine that powered those days, you'll be blasting demons like it's 1996. Despite some uneven presentation and a paper-thin story, WRATH lives up to the promise and delivers where it counts.
Captain Velvet Meteor is a relaxing tactical adventure game that doesn't take itself too seriously. The main character is lovable and has a colorful imagination and features companion characters lifted from popular anime and manga IPs that mix well with the story and art style. The combat can be a little easy but lets you focus on other elements like the story, exploration, and collectibles.
Skull and Bones has some fun naval combat mechanics and a largely engaging sandbox experience that's brought down by live-service trappings and a lack of freedom outside of controlling your ship. There's a lot of room for improvement, and Skull and Bones has the potential to realize its setting by reexamining the games it's influenced by.
Slave Zero X is a fantastic character action game that's rewarding, challenging, and has clear focus. Its deep combat mechanics, paired with an excellent biopunk presentation, elevate it above many similar releases while offering a fairly replayable campaign. It's brought down by a lack of movelist section in-game or in practice, and some gameplay quirks keep it from reaching the heights of the titans in the genre.
PlateUp! is an excellent cooking simulator that lets you bring friends to the kitchen. A steep learning curve might dissuade some players but it's a rewarding experience for the chefs that stick around. While it might be too much to handle solo, couch co-op friends can easily multiply the fun and divide the workload.
Tomb Raider I - III Remastered is a faithful recreation of the original Tomb Raider trilogy, however, its attempts to innovate and modernize the control scheme has left it in a weird state where it feels broken even though it isn't. In its current state, the game definitely feels weird, and until those issues are resolved, the game will remain an uneven remaster at best.
Island of Insight is a sandbox adventure game that's brimming with hundreds of unique puzzles to solve. It's not a game in the traditional sense, rather, a sandbox experience that allows you to mold it however you want. It's a solid educational tool and a perfect aid for winding down at the end of the day while keeping your mind active.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is a heartfelt love story, and both Red and Antea are incredibly memorable leads. The detailed haunting cases, difficult choices, and dense atmosphere add up to one of DON'T NOD's best narrative titles in years. Banishers gracefully improves upon the foundation laid by Vampyr in more ways than one, but it's often bogged down by repetitive combat that takes too long to get going. Despite that, it's an adventure worth embarking on, that's refined and respectful of your time.
Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League has the potential to be a great game, and there is already a lot to like here. Unfortunately, the short yet tedious side quests manage to drag down the overall enjoyment. Amazing animation work, voice acting, satisfying traversal, and some good jokes lift the experience, but it turns sour as soon as you have to save four NPCs for the 5th time. To make it a better game Rocksteady needs to make fundamental changes to the repetitive quests, especially to spice up the endgame.
Persona 3 Reload is a fantastic remake that cleverly integrates mechanics from subsequent entries to provide an experience that's polished, expertly paced, and full of heart. Its fast-paced combat, quality-of-life additions, and host of activities always keep you engaged no matter where you are in the story. The darker tone lends to an overall narrative that feels more consequential, and Tatsumi Port Island is a joy to explore. It's an excellent place for newcomers to the series and a must-buy for RPG fans.
Chronique des Silencieux is a narrative-driven point-and-click detective game that prioritizes agency over everything and allows you to connect the dots, and solve the mysteries however you deem fit. It doesn't hold your hand and trusts you to come to your own conclusions and while I'm not a fan of the art style, and some minor bugs get in the way of fun, it's a detective game unlike anything else that's definitely worth playing.
Stargate: Timekeepers is a stealth-focused strategy game set in the Stargate universe that tries to fill in big shoes but barely manages to fit into a single one. Its foundational mechanics are great, however, it's apparent that many of them need further polish. The game has the potential to become a cult classic one day, but alas, that day is not today.