Its look and feel gives it a charming aesthetic that draws you in, and its solid controls coupled with balanced puzzles makes you stay a while. A funny campaign that has some true laugh out loud moments, but sometimes has vague mission objectives forcing you to wander around aimlessly until you stumble upon the next step.
Vectronom is a superb platformer that utilizes music in a creative and dynamic way. Ludopium and ARTE’s collaborative effort shines bright in this rhythm platforming hybrid. Although the lack of additional content/ game modes feels like a missed opportunity to truly up the ante, Vectronom is still a romp that’s easy to pick up, and hard to put down.
Muse Dash is an exceptional rhythm/action game that thrives on the Nintendo Switch.
This dungeon crawling RPG builds upon familiar mechanics to craft something fresh and new.
Overall, Etherborn is a short and sweet puzzle platformer that centers around ideas of identity and purpose.
Although it’s best played in co-op mode, there’s a fair amount of fun to be had in playing alone too. Throw in the fact that Knights and Bikes features clearly defined mechanics along with some powerful instances and you’ve got yourself quite the charming indie experience.
Sparklite is an impressive outing from mobile developer Red Blue Games. It’s visuals and core mechanics harken back to classic action-adventure titles. At the same time, cleverly designed and well defined systems provide for something fresh and exciting.
Performance issues and lazy tropes hold them back from being excellent, but Pokemon Sword and Shield are a strong step in the right direction for franchises latest generation.
Lost Ember is an experience that will stick with well past the credit roll.
Ring Fit Adventure is an excellent cross between fitness and action/adventure. Nintendo manages to create their best exercise game yet while weaving in classic adventure tropes to gamify the experience.
A great take on a classic genre.
Freedom Finger is an enjoyable take on the classic shoot’em up thanks to its simple yet challenging gameplay.
One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 is a great installation in the Pirate Warriors series and feels like a love letter to fans of the franchise.
Sky Racket is an excitingly fun love letter to retro gaming.
PiedPipers Team’s Plebby Quest: The Crusades is a fresh take on the historical strategy sim.
Warhammer Underworlds Online is practically a 1:1 recreation of the board game. Players are restricted on how many moves they’re allowed to make between turns, forcing them to carefully consider each and every move. While everything has gone digital, the game still operates using a virtual die. In several cases, the fate of a match came down to either a good or bad dice roll. This could potentially frustrate some players.
Atomicrops is an unlikely meeting of two genres. Set to the backdrop of a post-nuclear apocalypse, Bird Bath Games finds a way to adequately weave together two styles of gameplay that typically shouldn’t work together. Although there are moments where the two primary modes of play feel like they’re stepping on each others’ toes, those moments are few and far between. Bird Bath’s Atomicrops is an excellent addition to PC and home console indie catalogues.
Valorant delivers as a highly competitive FPS. From a pure design standpoint, Riot’s shooter stands tall on excellent gunplay, diverse agents, and balanced maps. This alone is enough to capture the attention of hardcore fans of the genre. It’s been clear in Riot Games communication that they are committed to responding to player feedback and using that to shape their development path. Valorant is already an insanely good game, but it’s poised to become a superstar of the medium in the years to come.
Upstream Arcade’s West of Dead is an impressive roguelike. With a solid twin-stick shooting system, West of Dead has a more than serviceable gameplay loop. However, the game is truly anchored by it’s incredible visuals and art design. Add on top of this an excellent voice performance and unique sense of worldbuilding, and you’ve got a roguelike formidable in any standoff.
With characters and a story so true to the source material, Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time is an excellently executed adaptation that Samurai Jack fans will adore.