Panic Porcupine is very much as you could expect as a homage to Sonic the Hedgehog, though it certainly stands alone with a much higher level of difficulty torn straight out of the guts of Super Meat Boy. While more than passable, it has a few core issues in a game like this, one being input lag. Still, despite the problems I found, I can genuinely imagine this being an enjoyable title for fans of the genre.

Age of Wonders 4 offers a rare and refreshing level of flexibility for a 4X game, allowing you to customize your leader, people, and realm to an impressive degree. This can be a bit bewildering at first, and the level of complexity threatens to overwhelm the game’s limited tactical battles, but it all comes together as a satisfying package after a bit of trial and error. Age of Wonders 4 may not be the perfect potion for all turn-based strategy fans, but it should enchant a good portion of them.

Diablo IV is a return to form at a much needed time for Blizzard. It delivers incredibly fun hack and slash action combat, a greatly improved skill system, and a ton of things to do, not to mention the best story told in the franchise yet. It also looks awesome, sounds great, and runs well (except for rare instances of traversal stuttering)...That said, it sticks a little bit too closely to the rulebook, which works against it in a few areas. The open world is not as dynamic as one could have hoped, with events getting repetitive rather quickly. The side content doesn't provide any real narrative juice, and the endgame replayability may not be as deep as needed due to limited randomization and lack of certain features.

Street Fighter 6 is the culmination of the experience CAPCOM introduced to the video gaming world back in 1987. With extremely solid gameplay mechanics, a wealth of excellent single-player content that teaches the basics in an extremely fun way, flawless online experience, amazing character design and attention to accessibility, Street Fighter 6 is in a league of its own, and one of the best fighting games in decades.

Overall, this is a solid remake that should lay the foundations for what modern gaming should bring to the future. While it does have its rough edges, it's still a more than enjoyable experience all around that, while frustrating due to its design, can still offer a few hours of entertainment as an action game with cyber-horror elements.

The Lord of the Rings Gollum is a game that has a lot of technical issues that also ultimately drag its presentation back. However, it still is a charming game in its own way with its setting, writing, and some incredible environment design that can catch your breath at times. This game is a cautious recommendation for players that aren't Lord of the Rings enthusiasts.

Star Trek: Resurgence is possibly one of the more accurate games to have captured the Star Trek world in a more contemplative manner, with the adventure game format being particularly suited to it. With a compelling narrative, interesting characters (new and returning) and a game that plays well, there is a lot to like here, despite a number of technical hiccups on the PC version.

Being able to finally see the townscapes and dabble around in side quests, as mundane as delivery fetch quests can be before an introduction, does give me some hope for Final Fantasy XVI being able to bring the RPG part of the equation to the forefront without making sacrifices to accommodate for the action gameplay. [4-Hour Impressions]

Lego 2K Drive is a nicely-polished ride, offering up unexpectedly-intense kart-racing action and a handful of diverting sandbox stages to explore. Unfortunately, the game is also a bit light on content and its aggressive microtransactions may make parents looking for something light to play with their kids pump the brakes. Lego 2K Drive is still worth considering, particularly once it goes on sale, but it feels like it’s a few bricks short of what it could have been.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sticks closely to the blueprint established by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but it’s a richer, more rewarding game in most ways that count, offering a more intricate world, versatile suite of abilities, epic story, and satisfying dungeons. The familiarity of this Hyrule and a handful of frustrating sections keep Tears of the Kingdom from feeling quite as surprising and magical as its predecessor, but make no mistake, the wait has been worth it. While it probably behooves Nintendo to carve out an entirely new Legend next, Link’s latest should fill most fans’ heart meters nicely in the meantime.

Honkai Star Rail highlights the issues that Genshin Impact had despite how many issues have been addressed. The game's barebones RPG mechanics will definitely improve over time, but it still will take a lot to convince any enthusiast to pick this game over other turn-based RPG gacha games.

With Redfall, Arkane strayed a bit too far from its roots and couldn't nail the landing. While the core gameplay is fun, and there are moments of brilliance that harken back to Arkane's glorious portfolio, most of the studio's strengths clearly do not mesh well with the open world genre, as exemplified by the disappointing safe house missions. Additionally, the writing is very uneven, never succeeding in making the player care about any of the characters, and the co-op mode adds little substance.

Omega Strikers is a fun experience with an excellent presentation. While the game doesn't have much else besides its standard versus modes, it's an incredible game that's very easy to get into and tough to master. The game's free-to-play structure could use some work in terms of the kinds of goodies you get for free, but other than that, it still can be a fun time for most players.

Cal Kestis' latest journey, this time to seek out a long-lost Jedi stronghold on Tanalorr, should feel intimately familiar to fans of Jedi: Fallen Order. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor builds upon the successes of the original title but doesn't quite do enough to stand up on its own merits.

God of Rock has to be one of the worst attempts at combining rhythm games with other genres. While the game has a solid foundation, it really doesn't have much else as it fails as both a rhythm game and its fighting game aspects feel more like an overcomplication of something that already works well in other versus rhythm games.

With the current flood of action role-playing games inspired by the Souls series, Stray Blade wasn't setting out to light the world on fire, but the game did have the potential to be much better than it turned out to be. While the experience isn't entirely unplayable when everything clicks together, the clunky execution of most of its gameplay mechanics makes it difficult to recommend the game to anyone but those who live and breathe ARPGs and need to play each and every one of them.

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is a very respectable retrofit of two of the best old-school tactical strategy games of all time. Some may question who the audience for this package is as it doesn’t offer much new content for experienced commanders, but these are still objectively high-quality games and this remake does little to diminish their charms. If you’re new to the Advance Wars series or just looking for a more convenient way to play some of its best entries again, this remake is likely to capture your heart (and free time).

For being a game that has been in development hell for over ten years, Dead Island 2 turned out alright, thanks to the wacky atmosphere and characters, fun combat, and acceptable quest quality. All of these features, however, become progressively worse as the campaign proceeds, making the game nothing more than an acceptable experience that may not be worthy of its full price tag for those looking for something a bit more involving.

The Settlers: New Allies isn't quite the return to Settlers that fans of the franchise would want. Shallow across all areas, with basic city-building and very basic strategy elements, held together by an average narrative. It's not a bad game, but it's also not good.

Meet Your Maker may grab you for a while with its tricky die-and-retry raids and reasonably approachable building tools, but some frustrating quirks and a lack of depth means the game’s not a lock to become Behaviour Interactive’s next live-service success. Meet Your Maker is certainly worth trying for “free” on PS Plus (and other subscription services it's likely to show up on in the future) but don’t count on constructing a long-term relationship with the game.

Sherlock Holmes The Awakened is a competent remake featuring all the best features the series is known for, such as an engaging mystery and solid investigative gameplay. While the game is lacking in terms of innovation, doing away with the open-world setting seen in Chapter One, Frogwares developed Sherlock Holmes The Awakened it in less than a year and in the middle of a war, so no one should be disappointed that the game doesn't feel much different from past entries in the franchise.

The Great War: Western Front is an interesting strategy game that delves into its setting for better and worse. Offering various strategic and tactical opportunities provides a lot for strategy game fans. However, the glacially slow pace will undeniably turn some people off, despite being very much due to the World War One setting. If there is one key issue, the AI is almost like a relic of previous games, seemingly not following the same rules as the player. Other issues with pathfinding also feature. However, despite these issues, I can't help but admit the game is compelling.

Despite the lack of meaningful and varied activities in its open-world biomes, Ravenbound proves it is possible to blend open-world and roguelite mechanics and create an engaging experience. Unfortunately, the major focus on combat detracts from the experience a bit, as, outside of fighting all sorts of enemies in a surprisingly solid yet a little limited combat system, there isn't a whole lot to do on the island of Ávalt.

The makers of MLB The Show 23 clearly heard the complaints about a lack of fresh features in recent entries, as this year’s game offers up the new exciting and enlightening Storylines mode as well as significant tweaks and improvements to Franchise, March to October, and Diamond Dynasty. A lack of innovation when it comes to core gameplay keeps this year’s title from being a true home run, but it’s at least a strong double.

Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key has to be one of the most straightforward and beautiful RPGs in the series as a whole while also being way friendlier to new players than other installments in the series. This is a game that even non Atelier fans will be able to sink their teeth into easily while being able to fully customize their experience through the game's new Synthesis system and its Secret Key mechanic.

Resident Evil 4 was the ultimate test of Capcom’s remake skills, and unfortunately, they buckled a bit under the pressure. The game suffers from minor mechanical issues and doesn’t reinvent or elevate the original material as boldly as some might have hoped it would. That said, Capcom hasn’t broken anything either as this is still a fun, inventive thrill ride that has been brought up to modern technical standards in striking fashion. The new Resident Evil 4 is well worth it for fans of the series, just keep your hopes slightly in check and you won’t be spin-kicked by inflated expectations.

Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon’s restrained tone and quirky dual-character mechanics won’t immediately connect with everyone, but you owe it to yourself to give the game a chance. Bayonetta Origins eventually comes into its own in a big way, delivering escalating action, compelling character development, and expertly-executed fan-pleasing moments en route to a satisfying finale. This tale of friendship is the perfect companion for Bayonetta 3 and may even win over those who haven’t been bewitched by the franchise in the past.

WWE 2K23 is the best entry this long-suffering franchise has put out in nearly a decade, offering mechanically-sound action, a pair of satisfying MyRise career mode storylines, and a handful of other well-executed, if limited, additions like WarGames. WWE 2K23’s gameplay and presentation could still use some further polish and not all of its modes are must plays, but for the first time in a long time it feels like this series’ star is on the rise, even if it hasn’t achieved main-event status yet.