PCInvasion

On one hand I really like a lot of what Fall Guys has to offer. It's bright, colorful, zany, and it controls well, but some of the round types are simply obnoxious and the RNG makes each game a crapshoot.

Horizon Zero Dawn is gorgeous and innately playable, even if the open-world gameplay it presents will feel overly familiar to most. The port has some issues that will almost certainly get stamped out in short order and the gameplay has its fair share of frustrations, but anyone looking to stalk some robots will find plenty to like.

A very respectable attempt at creating a 3D puzzle platformer but its pacing issues and somewhat frustrating camera design prevent Skully from being a great game. Still, there's some good value there for those willing to dish out the hefty $30 price tag.

Hellbound has really good movement and the texture quality looks nice, but it's insanely short, the level design is mediocre, and there's nothing here that FPS fans haven't seen done better for decades.

Simply put, Relicta is in a class of its own. Its design is often head and shoulders above many of its contemporaries, the writing is of the highest quality, and the game looks far better than it honestly needs to. Absolutely anyone who considers themselves a fan of the genre owes it to themselves to play this game. It'll take you to the moon.

Despite trying to capture a more realistic skateboarding system, Skater XL's high points are brought down by some rough areas which could use some work. With more updates and fine-tuning, it does at least have the potential to be an XL package rather than an XS snoozefest.

Fae Tactics is a game filled with one step forward and two steps back. While its art style and music are charming, they are very limited. Likewise, the gameplay is solid but holds itself back with a few odd design decisions. While not a bad game, it may not be enough to excite fans of the genre.

The game is two hours too long, repeating familiar narrative beats like a broken record. Its horror-infused puzzle solving seldom captures Stiles’ internal conflict — its diverse visuals being far more potent. More often than not, What Happened is a better sight-seeing trip than it is an exploration of anxiety and depression.

A lot of anime games are full of personality but lack refinement and polish. Fairy Tail undermines those expectations by being well made whilst still capturing what made the original manga so special. Newcomers may find the limited retelling of the plot hard to follow but franchise veterans should have a blast.

Hellpoint tries to incorporate familiar concepts you've seen from more popular action titles such as the Souls series. Unfortunately, it also adds various ideas that turn it into a jumbled mess. Combined with cryptic presentation of information, confusing level layouts, clunky combat, and abysmally bad platforming mechanics, it's one game that you'll say "Oh, hell no" to.

Maid of Sker has very strong visuals and the hotel itself is well designed. But everything else, from its gameplay systems to its progression and foes, is so weak and ill-considered that I can’t imagine most people enjoying what little it has to offer. It might be billed as a horror title, but the only scary thing about it is realizing what you’ve spent money on once the credits roll.

Othercide has a number of interesting quirks and its art design, with gothic and noir elements, creates a uniquely forboding atmosphere. Unfortunately, it's also got a ridiculous degree of difficulty that you normally don't associate with the turn-based strategy genre. The game's roguelite concepts are more than welcome, though repetition and restarts, combined with the genre's slower progression and mission system, will make playthroughs feel like time-consuming affairs.

Röki is the heartfelt story of a family divided, and a lesson about trust, family, and strength. It preserves the magic and message of the folk tales it draws inspiration from.

Destroy All Humans! has excellent visuals and is fun for a couple of hours. But it's so redundant, uninspired, and devoid of any real energy that I can't recommend it to anyone that doesn't already love the original.

The ending is satisfying enough, but there’s no emphasis on replayability outside of personal challenges such as speedruns and becoming a completionist by finding power enhancements you don’t need. Some sort of puzzle mode might give the game some longer tentacles, but as it is, there’s not much to do once the credits roll. I suppose now I’ll have to wait for the horror movie sequel.

Necrobarista won’t be everybody’s cuppa coffee, but its excellent presentation, strong writing, and likable cast of characters make it easy to recommend to fans of visual novels or motion comics. Or even fans of extremely Australian conversations. I may have found myself reading much of the dialogue out loud while doing my horribly inaccurate rendition of the accent.

Death Come True has some curious idiosyncrasies from technical and budgetary standpoints, but it’s simply a good movie with an enjoyable story and strong performances. Fans of Kodaka’s other work will almost certainly enjoy it, as will anyone who likes a good mystery thriller. Just take it easy when making those choices. The spinning camera might make you a bit dizzy.

Leveraging perspective to elevate the narrative is the walking simulator special. Paws and Soul found itself a unique narrator, but not the right one to tell its stories. The world of the wolf could be replaced with anything, and there would be little difference.

I’ve never had much luck with the subgenre, but Neon Abyss was my saving grace. Perhaps it throws its players a treat too many, but the emphasis on thriving over surviving is a breath of fresh air. Neon Abyss might not be good for as many runs as other roguelikes and rogue-lites, but each trip into the abyss packs a whole lot more punch.

Orcs Must Die! 3 is a very strong, enjoyable action and tower defense game. It handles a huge number of detailed character models very well and has a great suite of traps and a lot of tactical considerations. I had a great time with it and fans of the genre likely will too.

Although not awful, NASCAR Heat 5 feels like a rehashed version of its already underwhelming predecessor. The small quality of life improvements do not make up for its disappointing lack of any meaningful innovation.

Death Stranding is an excellent game with a lot of content and a ton of unique angles. The story is straight-up dumb a lot of the time and things can get tedious and clunky, but the thrill of exploration and making your own way overcomes all obstacles. Just like. Ugh. Sam Porter Bridges.

It might be short and simple but that doesn't stop it from being plenty entertaining and gorgeous to look at. If the idea of blasting shadow creatures with an energy beam while standing in place sounds like a good time to you, you'll probably find enough to like here.

Inti Creates has a habit of coming out of nowhere with these awesome retro games, and Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 is no different. With hours of replayability, fantastic visuals, and tight gameplay, there are a whole lot of reasons to get cursed by the moon again. As long as you don’t mind replaying the game multiple times to see the real ending.

While the original game is about six hours long, Beyond a Steel Sky will take most players 10-12 hours to beat. The length of the game feels just right, with no sections dragging on too long. The puzzles can get a bit redundant, but stay consistently fun.