Thumb Wars's Reviews
With the new Crossworlds mechanic really spicing things up gameplay-wise, alongside the Gadget Plate, this might be the best Sonic racing game ever, and it’s definitely the best of 2025, including the moustachioed plumber’s latest offering.
Cronos: The New Dawn hits nearly every beat it needs to, from a genuinely terrifying atmosphere and environment painstakingly created, to a gameplay loop that harkens back to a nostalgic age of survival horror, all wrapped up in one of the most unique stories of 2025. If you’re looking to be scared, look no further.
Forgive Me Father 2 is a fun and chaotic game that is filled with beautifully crafted locations that are fully explorable with numerous secrets hidden within. The weapons are incredibly detailed with all kinds of bizarre and haunting variations that will have players afraid of their own weapons, let alone the horrors awaiting them. Bar the lack of some tutorials, the overall gameplay loop is very fun with an interesting story.
Dying Light: The Beast is a return to the zombie-slaughter, parkour-jumping form we needed, and it never disappoints. From huge hordes to new enemies, human and not, it’ll not only have you running for your life, but desperately seeking out shelter in a way the franchise has been missing for a while. Horror fan? Zombie fan? Parkour fan? All-out-carnage fan? You won’t regret getting Techland’s latest offering.
While playing Borderlands 4, I constantly found myself enjoying the world that the game is set in, as it was full of colorful landscapes, as well as the numerous forms of life that made the game feel complete. The side quests, as always, were very fun and kept me interested for a very long time, but after a while the long distances to run between them and their objectives did get tiresome.
Clearly influenced by sci-fi legends like The Thing and Alien, Dead Reset will have you neck deep in body horror, blood, and time-looping shenanigans. Mixed bag performances and a lack of consequences to your actions are a drawback, but the atmosphere and audio will draw you back in. The completionists will love the tracker available, and no matter the ending, you’ll always be wondering if you could have done something differently.
During my time with Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel, I found the experience to be rather fun with the numerous different characters to try, along with the different abilities that could be granted to me to even the score against the enemy hordes. However, I did find the game to only be good in short bursts, completing only a few missions each session, as the grind could get boring rather easily.
Hell is Us hits so many of the milestones the developers clearly wanted to, with ominous, environmental storytelling brilliantly achieved, a dark and brooding story that’ll have you questioning your own humanity, and a supernatural tale that weaves into all of that seamlessly, elevating it further. Issues with optimization aside, you’d be missing out if you don’t give Hell is Us a real chance, and it may just be Nacon’s best offering yet.
During my time with SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance, I found myself enjoying every aspect, from the fast-paced combat to the gripping story and the beautiful locations that I explored. Although the combat was challenging to get to grips with, it felt very rewarding once perfected and even led to many satisfying victories against annoying enemies and challenging bosses.
In my opinion, Fresh Tracks is a unique and fun game full of amazing songs, unique mechanics, and complicated challenges that make it a fun game to play while also providing all kinds of replayability. The characters and world of Fresh Tracks are incredibly detailed, with plenty of unique and colorful scenes that players can easily get lost in if they aren’t too busy trying to survive the constant onslaught of obstacles.
My final thoughts on One Man’s Trash are that it is full of secrets to find that can be fun for those who are looking for a mystery hunt, but in terms of gameplay, it can be very boring and repetitive if played for a long period of time.
The frankly beautiful environment, rags-to-riches/forbidden love story, and memorable characters lift up the game, while the popping-in and optimization, and lack of a true open-world let the finished game down. With a couple of patches, this could end up being elevated to the best of the franchise, but for now, it’s just on the cusp.
Magic Inn is a very vibrant and detailed game that puts emphasis on being able to cook good food and design a lovely inn that customers would want to go to, while also having fun gameplay mechanics that keep the player involved.
For me, Dead Take was a unique and haunting psychological experience that stayed with me for a long time, even after completing it, while also being an enjoyable puzzle-solving escape room-like game filled with mystery and intrigue that had me guessing the entire playthrough. The best part for me was the acting, as each moment felt full of personality and passion for the craft by each actor.
S.P.L.I.T is full of confusing and complicated moments due to some of its gameplay, but these moments feel gratifying once completed. The story, as well, is full of dark twists and turns that nobody could ever see coming, making it a showstopper.
Theres so much I could say about my time with Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, but in a time where everyone and their dog is attempting to capitalise on the Soulslike craze, Leenzee have left me feeling like I've encountered and experienced something special with Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, and something I can't help but gush about to anyone that'll listen. It's fun, frustrating in the best way, and one of the best Soulslikes for a long while.
For me, Architect Life: A House Design Simulator is a fun and unique title that allowed me to have fun and be creative while doing so, allowing for some interesting and relaxing hours of gameplay.
By the end of my time with it, I found The Drifter to be a fun and haunting experience throughout, as it constantly kept me engaged both regarding the puzzles I had to solve through the game and the story itself being both interesting and gripping, as each new piece of information led me to want to discover more.
Ready or Not has some truly cinematic moments, all with a realistic tone. The firefights feel urgent and truly life-or-death every single time. The variety of situations and levels, alongside the replayability thanks to the freedom of choice, will keep you coming back and trying to do better, for you, your team, and those you save (or don’t).
For me, Still Wakes the Deep: Siren’s Rest is a fun and interesting title, as it provided me with plenty of answers to questions I already had while also providing new questions as it took me through detailed and challenging gameplay mechanics.