Game8's Reviews
Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles 2 carves its mark among the elite of anime games, honing nearly every edge of its predecessor. With tighter, more fluid combat and a cinematic presentation that nearly rivals Ufotable’s legendary adaptation, this sequel feels like a true evolution from the very first swing. It's not flawless, but the sheer volume of content and pure fun it delivers more than makes up for its shortcomings. If the original was Hinoe rank, this one unquestionably earns its place among the Hashira.
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is a spinoff that revitalizes the series and the genre with its callback to its original side-scrolling gameplay. With well-crafted levels, dynamically engaging combat, and gorgeous pixel art, it uses the simplicity of the side-scrolling gameplay to its maximum potential. It has a few flaws here and there, like its short runtime and balance near the end, but is otherwise a great way to keep the hype for the series’ upcoming title.
Death Relives is the kind of game that makes you question your life choices because of the slow drain of wasted time. Its ambition is buried under poor execution, lifeless AI integration, and half-formed mechanics. Even its better ideas, like the puzzles, are let down by clunky design. There’s simply nothing here worth your time, money, or patience.
Abiotic Factor stands out in the survival crafting genre by fusing humor, tension, and sci-fi absurdity into a deeply replayable experience. It’s clever, strange, and thoroughly satisfying, but not without its rough edges. Several mechanics are left entirely unexplained, and playing solo can feel overwhelming without companions to share the burden. Yet despite its flaws, it’s an experience that thrives on discovery, rewarding those who approach it with curiosity and a willingness to experiment.
Tales of the Shire is a decent life-sim game with an engaging cooking mechanic, but that's the most stellar thing about it. Bywater, while picturesque in its own way, doesn't feel like home, and it doesn’t help that the game is also flawed by its technical and optimization issues, which only turns the experience more sour.
Luto is a masterclass in psychological horror atmosphe—rerefined, personal, and haunting. It lingers not through terror, but through tension. However, immersion falters at times due to rough edges like placeholder text, untranslated lines, and puzzles that verge on the inscrutable. It's a powerful experience, just shy of perfection.
Killing Floor 3 is NOTHING like the older games—and while that’s not all bad, it loses much of the chaotic charm in trying to be something new. It takes itself too seriously, trading identity for polish, but without the baggage of its predecessors, there’s still fun to be had.
Wildgate feels like what you'd get if you mixed Overwatch with Sea of Thieves—a bold, chaotic fusion of hero-based teamwork and ship-to-ship space battles. It’s not without its flaws, but at its best, it delivers fun, frantic gameplay that thrives on cooperation. Space piracy mayhem at its finest.
Wild Hearts S is the Switch 2 version of the original and is a solid monster-hunting game with a strong identity, thanks to its Karakuri building system. But a shaky camera, finicky combat, and a paper-thin story weigh it down. As a port, it brings little new to the table—so unless you’re a first-time player or a handheld-focused hunter, it’s hard to recommend a second purchase.
Super Mario Party Jamboree is still the same friendship-ending game you may or may not have loved a couple of months back, and Jamboree TV sprinkles in a few bright ideas. Frenzy Rules and mouse-control minigames are very fun. The problem is that everything else feels like a tech showcase in search of a reason to exist, and the awkward separation from the base game doesn’t help its case. What’s worse, there isn’t even a new game board! When the highlight of a $20 add-on is a handful of quick novelties and minigames that force you to buy a peripheral, it’s hard to imagine this being worth picking over other party games.
Fia and her band of lovable disasters in Mado Monogatari: Fia and the Wondrous Academy might not cast the deepest spells, but they’ve got just enough magic to keep things moving. The dungeon crawling is light, the combat mildly engaging, and the school life fluff adds just enough variety to break up the loop. Thankfully, it’s all wrapped in a silly, self-aware package that leans into its anime logic and wears it proudly. There’s not much depth to uncover, but you might end up smiling more than you’d expect.
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is a bona fide Soulslike that has deep combat mechanics and unique progression systems that synergize perfectly to create one of the more satisfying gameplay loops in the genre. This is further reinforced by giving the player the power to freely experiment with builds and create their own unique way to play. There are some nitpicks here and there, as well as the difficulty spiking in certain areas, but all that is moot with how well packaged everything is.
RoboCop: Rogue City – Unfinished Business is a gritty, action-packed expansion that builds on the brutal satisfaction of the original. While it's a bit easier and has its fair share of bugs, it still powerfully captures what matters most—feeling like RoboCop in all his relentless, law-enforcing glory.
Shadow Labyrinth is built on a compelling concept—reimagining Pac-Man within a Metroidvania framework—but ultimately struggles to bring that vision to life. Although there are flashes of creativity and thoughtful design, they’re frequently undermined by clunky platforming, uninspired visuals, imprecise combat hitboxes, and a convoluted narrative that fails to captivate. What might have been a bold and refreshing reinvention instead becomes an uneven experience weighed down by its own ambition.
The Wandering Village marries survival and city-building atop a living creature with charm and originality, but genre quirks, flat storytelling, and a few design snags keep it from soaring. It’s a thoughtful, well-crafted game—just one that asks you to overlook some rough edges.
While anthologies often struggle with inconsistent quality and clashing writing styles, Depersonalization largely avoids this. Its story arcs remain surprisingly consistent, offering a thought-provoking—if occasionally painful—narrative experience.
Juggling escape rooms, dream dives, and alien conspiracies while wearing a scanty bunny suit sounds like it shouldn't work, but No Sleep for Kaname Date somehow makes it all come together in a way that's equal parts ridiculous and compelling. The puzzles are clever, the cast is endearing, and the story—while occasionally overstuffed—remains hard to look away from. Even when the visuals lag and the exposition gets heavy, it will definitely keep you up late into the night to find out what happens next.
Destiny 2’s decline has been a long time coming, and The Edge of Fate only speeds it along. A dull epilogue paired with frustrating mechanics does little to justify its existence. The real improvements came from the free updates, not the expansion itself, not that it saves that much, anyway.
Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition truly is the definitive edition that improves on everything that the game already has and even adds much more. After two decades, it’s still as nostalgic and memorable as ever, yet somehow you can tell just how much better it is.
Long-time fans of HUNTER x HUNTER have waited for a video game adaptation that does the franchise justice. Sadly, it seems they’ll have to wait a little longer, as this one is plagued by numerous modern fighting game pitfalls and its unjustifiable price.