App Trigger

Relicta has a lot of clever ideas that are marred by a heavy lack of polish. Unnecessarily large hub worlds littered with an oversaturation of clone items, like benches and beanbag chairs, broken and muddy textures, and a wealth of characters that all feel written in the same voice, create a world that felt less like an escape and more like a chore.

Fantasian was designed by legendary RPG king Hironobu Sakaguchi as a love letter to games like Final Fantasy 6. It works in many interesting ideas such as the ability to drag a spell in a way to throw it like a curveball and hit multiple enemies or ones behind shields.

As far as Picross games go, this game is middle of the road. It offers nothing new and devolves into basic pictures of birds and animals once it goes through a few Hatsune Miku puzzles. As far as a Hatsune Miku game though, it’s a huge disappointment. None of the iconic songs are present nor the animation quality. It’s just a Picross game with pictures of Hatsune Miku taped over it.

Bravely Default II ticks off all boxes for people looking for an old school, turn-based RPG experience but at the same time makes it very difficult for the casual gamer to enjoy it. Even if you get a hang of the gameplay, the story is such a remarkable slog, and the dialogue delivered at such a slow pace that it could easily replace melatonin as my go-to sleep aid.

Persona 5 Strikers is an absolute love letter to Persona 5 and a worthy sequel. Despite some camera issues and some massive framerate dips in the Switch version, the game is an absolute joy, filled with bizarre villains, fantastic plot twists and fun new mechanics.

Although there are some surprisingly strong stealth elements in the gameplay, Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood’s mediocre combat, dull characters, and boring plot makes this experience an average one at best.

While definitely a niche title, Capcom Arcade Stadium is perfect for those looking for a classic arcade experience. It’s a wonderful old-school arcade simulator featuring 32 different titles with a ton of options to adjust everything from visual appearance to in-game settings. Local multiplayer and online tournaments and leaderboards keep you engaged and make this worth every token.

While Natsuki Chronicles doesn’t add anything new to the genre, it definitely has a lot to offer those who are fans of bullet hell games. Despite a very distracting story mixed with equally distracting visuals, the game is a real fun time with plenty of unlocks to keep the replay value high.

Little Nightmares 2 is gorgeous and disturbing with smooth controls and a cute little collectible system that allows you to collect hats throughout the game and change them at will. Aside from some random clipping during gameplay, this game is practically perfect with beautifully terrifying environments, helpful AI, scary sound mixing and a story with villains that will give you nightmares.

If you go into The Medium with very high hopes, I think you will be disappointed but if you walk in just looking for some eerie atmospheres, some award-winning voice acting and some nostalgic horror feels, then you will have some fun.

It’s everything you love and want from a Hitman game with extreme polish, intriguing levels and tons of replay value. The only knocks are average gun play and no multiplayer mode for a game that undoubtedly would shine even further with one.

Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The Game is amongst the best that the beat em’ up genre has to offer. The game feels like one of the few purely-good entertainment that this volcanic eruption of a planet we reside on has to offer.

Solid controls and fun exploration mechanics are somewhat marred by graphical slowdown and constant darkness — both in lighting and in depressing visuals and themes.

If you’re looking for a solid point-and-click title, you need to look no further than TOHU. While the story can get a little vague, discovering this beautiful world is an absolute delight. The puzzles are difficult but fair, the art is stunning, and the music is stellar. A system without TOHU is incomplete.

Call of the Sea is a visually beautiful story of a woman’s road to self-discovery and acceptance against a backdrop of Lovecraftian lore and storytelling. The great length and colorful graphics make for a medium-sized adventure, as long as you don’t rage quit from one of the puzzles.

When the Past was Around is an emotional roller coaster of a story told exclusively through gorgeous art and stirring violin music. The puzzles are clever and fun but a little immersion-breaking at times. The addition of touch screen support in handheld mode on Nintendo Switch adds to the experience as well.

While it’s an interesting piece of history for die-hard Nintendo fans, going back before the hundreds of quality of life features Nintendo gradually added to the series feels punishing to anyone but the purest of purists.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a fantastic game that elevates itself above the trappings of more general hack-and-slash fests thanks to its incredible and engaging narrative, epic musical soundtrack, and overall fun and fluid gameplay, making it a very worthy successor to Hyrule Warriors as well as an official entry into The Legend of Zelda lore.

No Straight Roads is a big and colorful musical experience with heavy JRPG influences that lets you fight the man, give power to the people of Vinyl City and bring joy, all with the sweet power of rock and roll.

While there are redeeming qualities in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the multiplayer offering just can’t hold up to its predecessor and the cross-platform bundle doesn’t offer enough to make up for the price boost on PS5.

The Pathless is about the journey. Your freedom to explore and take in the rich, breathtaking environments at your own pace is highlighted by the game’s satisfying traversal system and lack of clear cut directions. The puzzle-platforming and combat mechanics are simple but provide a refreshing break from the potential monotony of dashing through this mythical world.

Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is a watered-down trip down memory lane, fueled heavily by nostalgia and a love for the franchise’s soundtrack, which finally gets the attention and spotlight it deserves.

Clearly inspired by old-school action platformers, Angry Video Game Nerd 1 & 2 Deluxe presents two beautifully remastered games complimented by a rocking soundtrack. The game’s vulgar language and brutal difficulty won’t appeal to everyone, but retro gamers and AVGN fans will really appreciate everything this game has to offer.

Need for Speed Hot Pursuit is a gem from 2010 that we didn’t really need again. It definitely wasn’t in my top 5 NFS games to come back as a remaster, but still one to welcome with its new additions. This is a game for those who never experienced it in its initial state in 2010 or for those who want some variation in the arcade racing genre in the meantime until the 2021 iteration is released.

While I haven’t seen a game use this many of another game’s components since Super Mario Brothers 2, it definitely has it’s moments. Unfortunately, these moments are repeated till even the exciting parts are redundant and boring. Also, a beat’em up without multiplayer is just a cardinal sin. Plus, one of the unlockable pets has this name and I’m not comfortable with that.