Jackbox Party Pack 7 is yet another fantastic party game with something for everyone. While Talking Points and Blather 'Round are the highlights here, every game is still bundles of fun. I wonder, does Jackbox Games get tired of putting out banger after banger every year? Because I'm sure not tired of their innovation and creativity.
While Sam & Max Save the World remastered makes a few concessions for its console release and the touch screen support is lacking, it's still a gorgeous and hilarious game that is well worth playing in any form.
The Kingdom Hearts PC ports are surprisingly excellent. With a substantial amount of options in 3 especially, this will no doubt please players who want to experience some of the saga at upwards of 900 frames per second. While there are a few blemishes, like blurry movies and no mouse support, each of these games is well worth owning for fans of the series. Just wait for a big sale.
New Pokémon Snap is a delightful photography game that I'll be coming back to constantly for just one more course. Seeing Pokémon in their natural habitats captures a unique magic the series has been missing for a while, and seeing how they react to you is a ton of fun. While filling out the Photodex is rewarding, equally rewarding is taking more creative snaps, editing them, and sharing them online.
Umurangi Generation is one of the most important games of the modern era. It captures young people's current anxieties in a masterful way, and allows you to approach them in your own way through taking and editing pictures. It's powerful and a ton of fun to replay, but sadly suffers from slow down fairly often.
Chicory: A Colorful Tale is a delightful experience that, while confronting some of the darker parts of creativity, will simply make you feel good. The world is cute and fun to explore, puzzles are a joy to solve, and coloring in the Picnic Province is relaxing.
The Siege of Paris is a very enjoyable step up from Wrath of the Druids and leaves you wanting more, in a good way. If this is indeed the final big expansion for Valhalla, it's a high note to end on. While I'm not a fan of the infinite content machines the developers seem intent on shoving into every game, the story content is excellent, Paris and the surrounding countryside are gorgeous, and the new gameplay additions mix things up enough to feel worthy of a paid DLC.
Tales of Arise is a huge leap forward for the series. Combat is incredibly fun and fluid, the story is fantastic despite a lackluster finale, and the characters are as charming as ever. It's not only one of the best Tales games, but one of the best the PS5 has to offer.
Pathologic 1 & 2 are masterpieces of games as art. They are cruel and disturbing, but ask unique questions and do things you won't see anywhere else. These are singularly unique experiences that are worth suffering through.
Pathologic 1 & 2 are masterpieces of games as art. They are cruel and disturbing, but ask unique questions and do things you won't see anywhere else. These are singularly unique experiences that are worth suffering through.
Elden Ring is the culmination of all the Souls entries up to this point, creating a near perfect gameplay experience filled to the brim with incredible boss fights, gorgeous graphics, and an insanely large world to explore. A variety of new ideas, including crafting and the addition of the spirit horse Torrent, help bring a new level of immersion to the proceedings while simultaneously helping Elden Ring feel like a unique entry in the Souls genre. With gameplay tailored for players who want to experience the world solo as well as those who wish to play nearly the entire game in co-op, Elden Ring is a masterclass in design. Minor gripes about a couple of boss fights and the sheer density of the world to explore leaving many areas potentially undiscovered aside, Elden Ring is a nearly flawless experience which old and new fans of the Souls series will enjoy.
Paradise Killer is now the perfect murder mystery. With some visual and performance issues taken care of and the addition of new secrets to uncover as well as some gorgeous Ray Tracing, there's never been a better time to breathe life back into paradise.
Card Shark is unlike any game you've played before. As a card game where you don't actually play cards, learning and executing various methods of cheating is a ton of fun. The historical setting contributes to the conspiracy central to the story, while adding its own colorful cast of enjoyable characters in the gorgeous setting of 18th century France.
The Quarry is a tense horror adventure with incredibly likable characters and some effective scares. The central mystery is fun to figure out, and the game doesn't take itself too seriously. While there are a few hiccups, you can either work around them or ignore them as they're not so major as to detract from the overall experience. This is Supermassive's best work yet.
Spike Chunsoft has done it again with AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES nirvanA Initiative. They tell an incredible murder mystery that's a ton of fun to figure out, all while solving brain-bending puzzles and talking to a colorful cast of endearing characters. There are a lot of performance issues and bugs, but those are nitpicks compared to just the sheer joy of diving into people's minds to solve the case.
Portal and Portal 2 are like a magic trick you'll never figure out or a joke that doesn't get old. The duology is just as fun and fresh now as they were when they were first released, perhaps even better. They run flawlessly on Switch and control impeccably with the addition of gyro aiming, so the Portal Companion Collection is well worth it whether this is your first time or your thirtieth.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 gracefully fuses story and gameplay in a masterful conclusion to the Claus saga. It draws from earlier games in ways that will satisfy long time fans, while also firmly establishing its own world and characters. Aionios is a beautiful world to explore, with a rich history and fascinating conflict. The characters that stand at the center of this tale are some of the deepest, most relatable people in gaming history with a fantastic english dub backing them up. This is a game that will keep you engaged for hundreds of hours, and even stick with you well after.
One Dreamer is an excellent story about game development, depression, burnout, and second chances. The puzzles are a ton of fun to solve and relate to real-world coding, the music and voice acting are both great, and to top it off the simplistic pixel art is accentuated with some gorgeous lighting.
OneShot is an incredibly unique experience, and one of my favorite adventure games. While there is a tiny bit of magic lost in the transition to console, the additions more than make up for it, especially for fans double dipping with the World Machine Edition. Whether it's your first, second, or third time adventuring with Niko, this is an incredibly memorable journey that you will never forget.
NieR: Automata The End of YoRHa Edition takes one of the best games ever made and turns it into a miraculous, portable experience. While 30 fps may seem like a downgrade, you won't even feel the difference after a few minutes and the sacrifice is more than worth it. The new costumes are a great way to freshen up the game, but this version does lack some of the older cosmetics still exclusive to other versions.