Reviews
PC
4 min read
1000xResist
A fully voiced science fiction epic whose layered revelations reward every hour, with friction at the edges from map-less navigation and an opaque ending board.
PC
3 min read
103
A genuinely sharp sub-hour corridor loop with a devastating guilt reveal, undermined almost entirely by a price tag that asks full rates for one of the shortest experiences in its genre.
Switch
3 min read
198X
A five-part anthology of original minigames channelling 80s arcade archetypes, stitched by voice-acted coming-of-age narration, undermined only by unexplained mechanics and a part-one ending with no part two in sight.
PC
4 min read
7th Sector
An Inside-lineage dystopian puzzle adventure whose possession mechanic and environmental storytelling excel, undermined by obtuse puzzles without failsafes, rough controller support and a fragile PC port.
PC
3 min read
A Death in the Red Light
A witty 1988 Amsterdam puzzle anthology in a detective's coat, with a superb soundtrack, a humane non-murder at its heart, and some poorly signposted puzzles.
PC
4 min read
A Monster's Expedition
A cosy-but-secretly-hard tree-pushing puzzler whose deadpan monster-archaeology plaques are the real reward, with 700 islands, raft traversal and a 100% completion that is genuinely one hell of a feat.
Series X
3 min read
A Space for the Unbound
A grief narrative disguised as a cosy slice-of-life adventure, whose structural honesty, Ace Attorney-style heart dives and lived-in Indonesian setting outweigh flaky input registration and an errand-padded middle.
Switch
4 min read
A Tiny Sticker Tale
A cosy sticker-album puzzler whose inventory-as-toybox freedom and quietly devastating father-reveal finale earn real warmth, held back by opaque internal rules and two sluggish minigames.
PC
4 min read
A Void Hope
A brief, soundtrack-driven puzzle platformer about a memory plague whose interlocked district design and NPC-hostility mechanic shine, despite aim-locked combat and stubborn ambiguities.
PC
3 min read
Achilles: Legends Untold
A Greek-mythology isometric action game whose spear-build power fantasy and exploration-first map outweigh trivial late-game balance, dross-filled chests and a bugged final boss.
PC
4 min read
Ad Infinitum
A document-driven First World War psychological horror whose family-tragedy structure and creature design impress, undermined by a relentlessly dark presentation and a near-useless wind-up torch.
Series X
3 min read
After Us
A gorgeous movement-first resurrection fable whose traversal kit, world-greening spectacle and collectibles-that-come-alive outweigh floaty precision jumps, untracked memories and two hard technical incidents.
Switch
4 min read
Afterdream
A quiet psychological ghost story whose dual-purpose camera obscura (revealing, erasing and lighting) is a genuinely original puzzle verb, slightly undermined by soft-walled puzzle logic and a near-total absence of danger.
PC
3 min read
Alien Breed 2: Assault
A punchy top-down horde shooter with properly kick-ass weapons and a log-driven ghost-ship tragedy, undercut by a detour-loop structure worn thin and a climax that ends without a fight.
PC
3 min read
Alien Breed 3: Descent
A trilogy finale with its best set-piece staging and a proper final boss, paying its predecessor's structural debts while the series' oldest detour trick finally wears through.
PC
3 min read
Alien Breed: Impact
A solid twin-stick foundation whose shop economy, log-driven lore and enemy ecology were fully formed from day one, undercut by the trilogy's worst camera, its thinnest enemy roster and its easiest boss.
Series X
4 min read
Alien: Isolation
A masterwork of systemic horror whose cat-and-mouse stalker AI and period-faithful Sevastopol worldbuilding hold up completely, betrayed only by rare scripted AI stretches, a no-save finale and thin DLC value.
Series X
4 min read
Amnesia: The Bunker
A devious, beautifully systemic bunker crawler whose full randomisation turns even deaths into progress, pairing an audio-first stalker with a WWI tragedy told through paper and a finale that makes the monster a man.
PC
3 min read
Angelo and Deemon: One Hell of a Quest
A sharp, reference-dense point-and-click satire of influencer culture, held back by static-image transitions and classic soft-wall friction.
PC
3 min read
Anima Flux
A stylish two-character metroidvania with a real identity buried under an opening hour that actively works against it; push through, get the dash, and the game it wants to be finally shows up.
PC
3 min read
Anomaly Agent
A stylish, genre-hopping character-action brawler whose soundtrack, combat expansion and structural variety shine, held back only by unparryable shotgun enemies and late-game ability bloat.
Switch
3 min read
Anuchard
A compact action-RPG whose bell-wielding rescue loop, excellent soundtrack and surprisingly dark late-game outweigh no-map navigation, no sprint and a punishing completionism economy.
PC
3 min read
Aphelion
A cinematic near-future survival adventure whose facial animation and alternating-protagonist structure impress, held back by late stealth friction, a barely functional sprint and a late-arriving crouch.
PC
4 min read
Apocalipsis: Harry at the End of the World
A Goya-esque medieval point-and-click whose no-hints design and grotesque art appeal, undermined by puzzles well below genre difficulty, an impenetrable story and an abrupt ending.
PC
3 min read
ArcaniA: Fall of Setarrif
A brief, generous-looted victory lap for an imported end-game character that coasts pleasantly until a reskinned final boss and sub-three-hour length expose how little new content is here.
PC
4 min read
ArcaniA
A flawed, shallow Action, RPG whose completionist treasure hunts, dual-outcome quests and mindless combat loop deliver exactly the fun it promised, undone by awkward writing, movement friction and port jank.
Series X
3 min read
Arietta of Spirits
A heartfelt top-down ghost story whose emotional beats and hidden-layer island exploration outweigh one-note combat and contact-damage reliance.
PS3
3 min read
Army of Two: The 40th Day
A bombastic buddy-shooter whose co-op systems grammar (aggro, mock surrender, back-to-back) and collapsing-Shanghai spectacle deliver on pure play, undermined by vault-versus-stick cover ambiguity, cheap spawn waves and an illusionary morality system.
PS3
3 min read
Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel
A competent buddy-shooter swan song whose dedicated cover button finally fixes the series' stickiest problem and whose Overkill catharsis delights, undercut by exploding cover, grenade spam and an ending that literally breaks.
PC
3 min read
Ashina: The Red Witch
A small, warm, sorrowful yo-kai adventure whose tragic ensemble writing, catchy soundtrack and shared-universe reveal outweigh pure fetch-quest bartering, opaque interactions and loud dialogue blips.
Series X
3 min read
Aspire: Ina's Tale
A calm, combat-free puzzle-platformer whose fair puzzles, hymn-adjacent music and quietly sorrowful ending outweigh finicky orb physics and a missable collectible.
NDS
3 min read
Assassin's Creed 2: Discovery
A 2.5D stealth-action interquel that leaps far beyond its handheld predecessor, undone late by bloated levels, sparse checkpoints and a punishing speed mismatch.
PC
3 min read
Assassin's Creed 2
A Renaissance open world whose villa economy, tomb puzzles and mission density still earn the best-in-series reputation, carried alongside its inherited free-running jank.
NDS
4 min read
Assassin's Creed Altaïr's Chronicles
A DS prequel with creative touchscreen minigames and surprisingly respectable visuals, undermined by uncontrollable jump physics, broken checkpoint placement and a prequel story that explains nothing.
PSP
4 min read
Assassin's Creed Bloodlines
A surprisingly faithful portable condensation of the original's systems, held back by floaty map icons, respawn-heavy castles and a missing camera stick.
PC
4 min read
Assassin's Creed
The foundational social-stealth sandbox still holds up nearly two decades on, with the PC port as the definitive version, though finicky climbing, lethal water and absurd corpse-detection show the formula's rough first draft.
PC
4 min read
Astalon: Tears of the Earth
A metroidvania structured like an RPG party game, whose die-to-upgrade economy, fair secret design and Athena's Bell quality-of-life pivot make it a genre highlight despite spike-heavy deaths and a brutal mid-game wall.
Series X
3 min read
Asterigos: Curse of the Stars
A dense Greek-myth Souls-vania whose interlocking exploration, readable worldbuilding and one gloriously broken skill outweigh vague quests, add-spam bosses and unvoiced text dumps.
SNES
3 min read
Astérix
Catchy music and generous lives sit alongside broken hitboxes, right-hand screen placement and a pyramid act that punishes without warning.
Switch
3 min read
Astral Chain
A stylish Legion-tethered action game with a genuinely detective-shaped case structure, undone in places by poor platforming, predictable villainy and unmarked-case cleanup.
PC
4 min read
Awesome Pea 2
A retro-styled precision platformer that improves on its predecessor with a double jump, per-stage music and varied backdrops, carrying over the franchise's spite-placed hazards and inconsistent hitboxes.
PC
4 min read
Awesome Pea
A tough but fair Game Boy-pastel micro-platformer whose bite-sized levels and displayed collectible tallies make full completion genuinely rewarding, provided the bubble hitboxes can be forgiven.
Series X
3 min read
Axiom Verge
A loving, inventive Metroid homage whose glitch-corruption mechanic, passcode translation puzzles and superb boss music outweigh restricted aiming, stingy health drops and a miserable 100% map grind.
Series X
3 min read
Aztech Forgotten Gods
A movement-first open-city boss gauntlet in Mesoamerican futurism whose flying traversal and narrative twists outweigh janky reticle combat and buggy pursuits.
PC
4 min read
Baba Is You
A rule-rewriting puzzle game of remarkable cleverness and multiple solutions, whose late-game Meta world and cursor navigation turn brilliance into tedium.
Series X
3 min read
Battlefield 1
A short, inventive WWI anthology whose five war stories each swap the core verb, held together by sombre framing, with awkward air combat, un-stealthable finale armour and repeated tutorial hints as the friction.
Series X
4 min read
Battlefield 4
A relentless set-piece campaign whose collapsing buildings and ships carry it far, undermined by aggressive lens flares with no disable toggle and enemies who absorb absurd volumes of fire.
Series X
3 min read
Battlefield V
A varied WWII anthology whose native-language performances, Tiger-tank finale and four-perspective structure outweigh a series-worst menu, spongey enemies and a buggy final war story.
PC
3 min read
Battlefield 6
A campaign whose destructible buildings and mission variety deliver classic spectacle, hampered by smoke-choked readability and a jarring flashback structure.
Series X
3 min read
Battlefield Hardline
A corny, confident cops-and-criminals spin-off whose TV-cop-show writing, Far Cry-style stealth and case-file hunting outweigh unreliable takedowns, missing UI prompts and AI jank.
Switch
3 min read
Beacon Pines
A charming branching mystery where charm words rewrite the story at Turning Points, carried by gorgeous storybook art and a trio of quirky kids, with the single-true-path constraint as its one honest limitation.
PC
4 min read
Bendy and the Dark Revival
A confident genre-upgrade for the cartoon-horror series whose Bioshock-style loot-and-upgrade loop and stealth powers excel, undermined by an antagonist that spawns without reachable hiding spots and combat with no defensive option.
Series X
4 min read
Bendy and the Ink Machine
A rubber-hose cartoon-horror exploration game whose 1930s studio aesthetic and audio-log lore charm, undermined by interactables that vanish into the ink palette, a trivially exploitable hiding system and shallow combat.
PC
4 min read
Between Horizons
A beautifully presented sci-fi detective story with meaningful irreversible case verdicts, held back by broken PC controller bindings, confusing ship navigation and one under-clued final deduction.
PC
4 min read
Bionic Commando
A grapple-first third-person action game whose swinging traversal and creative arm combat excel, undermined by imprecise grapple targeting and cheap late-game difficulty spikes.
GameCube
3 min read
Bionicle
An affectionate 2003 licensed tour of Mata Nui with six distinct elemental gimmicks and a startlingly deep lore database, dragged down by identical energy-beam combat and a punishing penultimate escape.
PC
4 min read
Black Myth: Wukong
A spectacle-driven journey through Journey to the West whose endless original bosses, punchy sound design and zero-punishment deaths make it a genre highlight, marred only by one atrocious boss and some opaque mechanics.
PC
3 min read
Blacktail
A folklore-drenched origin tale whose morality system genuinely reshapes the world and whose twisted fairy-tale lore enchants, held back by awkward controls, under-taught mechanics and a hollow winter chapter.
PC
3 min read
Blade Chimera
A story-rich Metroidvania whose demon-companion traversal and time-loop plot reward a full completionist run, marred by an over-tuned final boss and secret walls that stay invisible far too late.
PS1
3 min read
Blazing Dragons
A pun-dense dragon's-eye parody of Arthurian legend whose relentless joke writing and voice work outweigh fiddly verb switching and archaic saving.
Xbox One
3 min read
Bleed
A brilliant, bite-sized arcade shooter whose bullet-time-dash choreography, varied level gimmicks and glorious stat-card credits outweigh an unusual control layout and astonishing brevity.
PC
4 min read
Blight Night
An impressively crafted solo-developer zombie conspiracy romp whose note-rich storytelling and radio broadcasts shine, undermined by punishing stamina, inventory friction and a preventable soft lock.
PC
3 min read
Blood West
A slow-burn stealth-horror western with exceptional note-based writing, oppressive atmosphere and endlessly tinkerable builds, undone only by a punishing Chapter 1 boss and sluggish gun reloads.
PC
4 min read
Blur
A combat racer with real cars and deliberately chosen power-ups, still unique today, undermined by erratic difficulty scaling and one badly tuned final challenge.
PC
4 min read
Boris and the Dark Survival
A top-down audio-driven scavenger whose sound-signature stalker roster and unlock loop charm, undermined by a transparently thin core loop, RNG-heavy collectible hunts and an ending that never arrives.
PC
3 min read
Bound By Blades
A bite-sized Monster Hunter-lite whose fast, repeatable boss loop and hitless rank economy hook hard, undermined by janky hitboxes, unexplained self-damaging enchantments and a thin story.
PC
3 min read
Boxes: Lost Fragments
A bright, toy-like puzzle-box adventure with superb variety and a clever AI twist, limited by low difficulty, unresettable sliding puzzles and minor control friction.
Series X
4 min read
BPM: Bullets Per Minute
A first-person roguelike shooter in which every reload, dodge and enemy volley lands on a metal soundtrack, held back by arenas where the things killing you are hard to see.
Series X
3 min read
Bramble The Mountain King
A brutal Nordic fairy tale whose child-scale horror and wordless storytelling outweigh fixed-camera friction and fiddly traversal.
PS1
3 min read
Brave Prove
A lost fan-translated PS1 Action, RPG whose fighting-game-style combo combat, four swappable elementals and excellent music outweigh maze-like recycled dungeons, era jank and an unbalanced final boss.
PC
4 min read
Breath Of Death VII: The Beginning Reanimated
A joke-dense retro micro-JRPG with genuinely clever encounter design, undermined by an uneven difficulty curve and samey maze dungeons.
Series X
4 min read
Bright Memory: Infinite
A dazzling, four-hour power fantasy from a one-person studio whose exo-suit combat and technical spectacle outrun its crash bug, shallow progression and a story that never explains its own black hole.
Series X
4 min read
Bright Memory
A one-developer ray-traced FPS/melee hybrid whose power-fantasy combat justifies repeat runs, priced and paced like the tech demo it openly is.
PC
3 min read
Broken Pieces
A hauntingly atmospheric French folk-mystery whose investigation loop and season-switching outshine its janky, crash-prone pistol combat.
Xbox One
4 min read
Bucket Knight
A cheap, cheerful one-hour NES-style run-and-gun that knows exactly what it is, with a satisfying weapon-progression loop undermined by dropped jump inputs, unfair enemy design and the game's deadliest hazard: cheese.
PC
3 min read
Buckshot Roulette
A distilled Russian-roulette odds game with grimy style and pure tension, held back only by item RNG swings and a throwaway stats screen.
PC
3 min read
Bulb Boy 2: Jar of Despair
A brighter, absurdist puzzle sequel with constant mechanical reinvention, let down by guessy hidden-logic puzzles and a slower-burning horror edge than its predecessor.
PC
3 min read
Bulb Boy
A short, bizarre horror-comedy point-and-click whose generous checkpoints and bulb-light puzzles delight, undermined only by a final teeth-dodging sequence that fights its own controls.
PS2
3 min read
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
A charming PS2-era spin-off whose mission variety (bomber, tank, AA guns, beaches) and documentary interludes earn real affection, held back by grenade spam, screen shake and mushy enemy reactions.
PC
3 min read
Call of Duty 2
A genre-defining 2005 WWII shooter that still runs beautifully and plays smoothly across three varied campaigns, held back only by relentless enemy grenade spam and one mission-breaking AI bug.
PS3
3 min read
Call of Duty 3
The most character-driven of the classic WWII entries, with four Allied perspectives and strong mission variety, held back by gimmicky motion mini-games, a missing sprint and hold-position repetition.
PC
4 min read
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
A maligned futuristic entry that plays far better than its reputation, carried by exo mobility and a movie-star villain arc, brought down only by its own PC port's hourly audio bug.
PC
4 min read
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
A dual-timeline cold-war thriller whose branching campaign, consequence-driven choices and inventive Strike Force missions make it stand apart, held back only by standard shooting and odd future-setting choices.
PC
4 min read
Call of Duty: Black Ops III
A far smarter, stranger and more intriguing campaign than its meme reputation suggests, carried by the series' best cyber ability kit, though restrictive weapons, finicky wall-running and a broken final mission test patience.
PC
3 min read
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
The most structurally varied campaign the series has fielded, from a puzzle-stuffed safe house to a heist and a horror level, let down by a punishing finale and cosmetic graphical bugs.
PC
3 min read
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
A Cold War espionage campaign with an immersive-sim standout mission and a genuinely clever sleeper twist, hampered by wayfinding confusion and worst-in-series launcher promotion.
PC
3 min read
Call of Duty: Black Ops
A paranoid Cold War thriller whose hallucination twist and period atmosphere still make it one of the franchise's best campaigns, held back only by 2010-era port limitations and scripted glitches.
PS2
3 min read
Call of Duty: Finest Hour
Two-thirds of a very good early-2000s WWII anthology, carried by the Soviet and British campaigns and a real-history tank battalion, before the final American act's escorts, health drought and dark levels undo it.
PC
3 min read
Call of Duty: Ghosts
An inventive campaign whose relentless mission variety outperforms its maligned reputation, hampered by a petty villain and one of the series' roughest PC ports.
PC
3 min read
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
A character-driven space war epic whose hub-based campaign, Jackal dogfights and genuinely costly ending punch far above the series' usual formula, marred only by micro-stutters and bullet-sponge robots.
PC
3 min read
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
Spectacle set-pieces, sharp banter and a mid-campaign betrayal carry the campaign, undercut by buggy visuals, enemy swarms and continuity confusion in the finale.
PC
3 min read
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered
A tight, four-hour masterpiece of set pieces and betrayals whose controversy was earned and whose classic status is deserved, modernised with clearer visuals and friendlier failure states.
PC
4 min read
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
A grounded, morally grey reboot whose bold storytelling and standout townhouse raid outweigh deliberately sluggish movement, recurring visual glitches and a Warzone-shaped ending.
PC
3 min read
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
Satisfying gunplay and superb voice acting carry a campaign undermined by an incoherent story, overused Warzone-derived open missions and persistent stability problems.
PC
3 min read
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
The original trilogy's underdog sticks the landing with permanent, meaningful character deaths and a globe-spanning war, despite invisible enemies, audio glitches and a keyboard-only PC port.
PC
4 min read
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered
A landmark modern-military campaign whose spectacle set pieces and Pripyat stealth still hold up, given a visual overhaul that finally matches its reputation, marred only by obstructive squadmate AI.
PSP
3 min read
Call of Duty: Roads to Victory
Generous aim assist and checkpoints make a stick-less handheld shooter surprisingly workable, though awkward controls, shoving squadmates and a three-hour length limit its reach.
PC
3 min read
Call of Duty: United Offensive
The expansion that invented several franchise staples, from sprint to bomber turret missions, and outperforms the base game on nearly every axis, held back by medkit survival mechanics and 2004-era control quirks.
PC
4 min read
Call of Duty: Vanguard
A five-specialist anthology campaign with strong character writing and standout abilities, held back by forced slow movement, a self-promotional UI and a flashback-heavy structure.
PC
4 min read
Call of Duty: World at War
A shockingly brutal dual-front WWII campaign with a heavy, surprising soundtrack, undercut only by relentless grenade spam and a PC port that resists controllers and skippable credits.
PC
3 min read
Call of Duty: WWII
A return to form whose finite med-kit economy and squad-support requests vindicate the old health-bar era, undermined by awkward stick QTEs, opaque stealth detection and an ending that loses its footing.
PC
3 min read
Call of Duty
The founding template of the franchise still plays as a punchy three-campaign WWII tour, with the car-convoy escape and Captain Price's debut intact, dragged down by weak ally AI and defence missions.
PC
3 min read
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
A western prequel whose brother-choice system genuinely diverges levels and whose concentration gunplay and framing narration excel, dented by controller-hostile duels, an ADS quirk and shaky-cam set pieces.
PC
4 min read
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
An arcade western whose unreliable-narrator story visibly rewrites itself mid-mission and whose fact-checkable history cards elevate it far above genre peers, dented only by finicky duel timing and scattered technical friction.
PC
4 min read
Call of Juarez: The Cartel
A competent modern cover shooter wearing the wrong series name, whose solid gunplay and co-op secret-agenda system entertain despite repetitive missions, thin western identity and scattered technical problems.
PC
4 min read
Call of Juarez
A characterful two-protagonist western whose duels and preacher gunplay carry its age, despite finicky whip traversal, inconsistent stealth detection and PC-specific control jank.
Switch
3 min read
Carrion
A gleeful reverse-horror Metroidvania whose monster power fantasy, ability-gated tricks and shortcut loop outweigh size-dependent control jank, a missing map and thin enemy variety.
PC
3 min read
Cat Quest II
A charming, pun-dense Action, RPG whose relentless humour, side-quest density and over-levelled dungeon stomping outweigh traversal friction and a handful of under-delivering endgame rewards.
PC
4 min read
Cat Quest III
A pun-soaked pirate Action, RPG whose ship-based sandbox, naval combat and treasure loop make it the freshest entry in the series, undone only by a badly tuned optional superboss and persistent loot-menu friction.
PC
3 min read
Cat Quest
A charming, tightly-scoped cat-pun Action, RPG whose surprising story depth and dense side-quest storytelling outshine pun fatigue, repeated quest structures and minor UI gaps.
PC
4 min read
Catto's Post Office
A bite-sized cat-town delivery toybox whose physics silliness and wholesome surprise-party arc charm despite respawning clutter and rubbery trolleys.
PS2
3 min read
Champions of Norrath
A Snowblind-engine Action, RPG whose blocking-based combat and sarcastic EverQuest-flavoured writing shine despite carry-weight tedium, missing quality-of-life and brutal boss spikes.
Series X
3 min read
Chasing Static
A tight, atmospheric PS1-style thriller whose frequency-tuning collectible hunts and rain-soaked village mystery outweigh shallow ending variants and a scare factor that fades once the ghosts are seen.
Xbox One
3 min read
Chernobylite
An atmospheric, forgiving sci-fi survival RPG set in a dread-soaked Exclusion Zone, whose five-component crafting, psyche system and Mass Effect-style heist finale carry it past mediocre combat and stability stumbles.
PC
4 min read
Chicken Police: Into the Hive
A beautifully written animal-noir detective sequel whose dialogue, voice acting and spy-conspiracy plotting excel, undermined by whiplash pacing in the final chapters and a bafflingly staged character death.
Xbox One
3 min read
Chicken Police: Paint It RED!
Superb voice work and pitch-perfect noir presentation elevate a fully voiced animal detective story, marred slightly by clumsy optional shooting minigames.
Series X
3 min read
Children of Silentown
A haunting, music-laced storybook mystery where collected sounds become songs that unlock memories, whose dread, soundtrack and recontextualising finale outweigh uneven puzzles and a tedious jigsaw.
PC
3 min read
Chinatown Detective Agency
A cyber-noir detective adventure whose genuine real-world research puzzles make every case feel like actual detective work, undercut by identical replay endings and flight-cost friction.
PC
3 min read
Chipmonk
A faithful woodland-creature homage to the 16-bit beat-'em-up, let down by an unforgiving continue economy, adjacent-only hitboxes and instant-death water jumps.
Switch
3 min read
Choo-Choo Charles
A short, silly, genuinely fun horror novelty about shooting a giant spider-train from the cab of an armed locomotive, with on-foot jank and a toothless mid-game monster as the honest costs.
PC
4 min read
Close To The Sun
A handsome art-deco horror voyage with genuine narrative payoff, hampered by restrictive movement, useless maps and a default gamma that hides its own best work.
Series X
3 min read
Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly
A warm, faithful sequel whose returning cast and humane writing outweigh ambiguous brewing puzzles and a finicky latte-art interface.
PS2
4 min read
Cold Fear
A storm-lashed whaler setting that rolls the entire level underfoot, undercut by an inconsistent checkpoint system and a shambolic final boss phase.
PC
3 min read
Conarium
A faithful, text-heavy Lovecraft adaptation with dense lore and oppressive atmosphere, undermined by unintuitive puzzle controls, cheap jump scares and thriller-level tension.
Xbox 360
3 min read
Condemned 2 Bloodshot
A grim melee-horror brawler with a deep combat system and forensic investigation framing, undercut by clunky throws, head-bob, and a QTE-only finale with no resolution.
PC
3 min read
Condemned: Criminal Origins
An atmospheric forensic-horror brawler whose grimy melee combat and mannequin dread hold up two decades on, scuffed by inconsistent blocking, slow movement and PC-port key-binding nonsense.
PC
3 min read
Confidential Killings
A Golden Idol-style deduction serial whose interlocking 1970s conspiracy sings, slowed by names that never carry between cases and rough localisation.
SNES
3 min read
Contra III: The Alien Wars
A technical showpiece whose Mode 7 stages and relentless escalation earn its standing, though dense bullet patterns and mandatory D-pad precision punish the unprepared.
Sega Mega Drive
3 min read
Contra: Hard Corps
Wildly varied set pieces and an outstanding soundtrack make this the series' most ambitious entry, though ambiguous hazard readability blurs what kills on touch.
NES
3 min read
Contra
The archetype of NES hard-action, whose varied stages and genre-defining spread gun survive instant-death difficulty and era-typical enemy pop-in.
PC
3 min read
Cosmic Fear
A solo-developed Lovecraftian horror told through documents and dread, undermined by inconsistent creature detection and backtracking-heavy navigation.
PC
4 min read
Costume Quest 2
A funnier, more generous sequel whose comedy and quality-of-life fixes shine, though homogenised timing-only combat, turn-costing treat cards and a punishing XP curve take a step back from the original.
PC
4 min read
Costume Quest
A charming Halloween RPG whose costume-transformation concept perfectly captures childhood imagination, undermined only by an RNG-reliant DLC final boss and PC text pacing.
PS1
4 min read
Crash Team Racing
A kart racer whose overworld adventure mode, four challenge layers per track and timeless power-slide handling make it more than a Mario Kart rival, with a surprisingly short runtime and one brutal crystal challenge as the only costs.
PC
3 min read
Creepy Tale 2
A folklore-horror sequel that upgrades everything (voice acting, richer art, triple the length) with genuinely clever puzzle design, dented by a soft-locking swamp-hiding gauntlet and an illegible diary font.
PC
4 min read
Creepy Tale 3: Ingrid Penance
A grim fairy-tale descent through hell whose owl-tree mansion, interactive tooth-pulling finale and sharpest series dialogue excel, dented by binary morality choices and a padded dead-water fetch chain.
PC
4 min read
Creepy Tale: Some Other Place
A hand-drawn folklore puzzler continuing the series' unbroken originality with wholly fresh mechanics per chapter, dented by a blind-hostile mine puzzle and the series' weakest stealth section.
PC
3 min read
Creepy Tale
A wordless picture-book puzzler whose environmental imagery teaches everything and whose witch sequence delivers genuine tension, held back by opaque colour-mixing puzzles and a soundtrack that never exists.
PC
4 min read
Crisol: Theater of Idols
An impressive debut survival horror where blood is ammunition and puzzles shine across three districts, undercut by one-way doors that lock completionists out of full maps and pistol-dominant weapon balance.
PC
3 min read
Cronos: The New Dawn
An excellent survival-horror package built around a corpse-merging enemy threat and retro-Polish quarantine atmosphere, undermined only by a melee-focused final boss unfit for its own movement design.
PC
4 min read
Crow Country
A faithful PS1-era survival horror homage whose document-driven mystery and clever puzzle design excel, slightly undermined by off-angle camera aiming, ubiquitous poison traps and a low scare quotient.
PC
3 min read
Crysis 2 Remastered
A nano-suit stealth sandbox in virus-ravaged Manhattan whose identity still holds, hampered by ray-tracing stutter, uneven enemy tuning and thin weapon balance.
PC
3 min read
Crysis 3 Remastered
A bow-and-cloak hunter fantasy inside a domed Manhattan jungle, with the sandbox intact but hacking systems unexplained, enemy variety thin and multiplayer stripped.
PC
4 min read
Crysis Remastered
The tropical sandbox that defined a benchmark still delivers timeless cloak-first stealth, undermined by brutally overtuned nano-suit enemies, an overloaded finale and a light-flicker bug.
PC
3 min read
Crysis Warhead
A compressed, action-packed companion piece told from Psycho's side of the invasion, with cloak routes intact but checkpoint-less defence waves and maze-like vehicle chases stinging.
PC
4 min read
Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss
A two-solution deduction system makes morality mechanical, but inputs that stop working at random nearly sink the investigation.
Switch
3 min read
Cuphead
A punishing, gorgeous boss rush whose hand-drawn 1930s presentation and fair pattern-based fights outweigh self-inflicted parry deaths, loadout friction and one Curse Relic grind.
PC
4 min read
Cursed Mountain
A forgotten survival-horror curio whose glyph-tracing ghost combat and deeply researched Tibetan setting reward patience, undermined by fixed cameras, swaying hitboxes and a bugged oxygen gauge.
PC
3 min read
Dandy & Randy
A charming, faithful homage to 16-bit top-down puzzle adventures, let down by unreliable hitboxes and a pointless money system.
PC
3 min read
Dap
A dark, horror-tinged twist on follower management whose cryptic atmosphere and light-as-weapon design reward curiosity, marred by a locked zoomed-in camera, sniper-heavy gauntlets and an obtuse final boss.
Switch
3 min read
Dark Devotion
A grim, note-driven 2D souls-like roguelike with inventive bosses and permanent tablet progression, undermined by a curse economy balanced against the player and a one-way door structure that punishes exploration.
PC
4 min read
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
A one-of-a-kind first-person physics sandbox whose kick-centric combat and hybrid builds still shine, despite janky traversal and occasionally opaque objectives.
Switch
3 min read
Darkwood
An uncompromising survival horror whose sound-first dread, hostile woods and relentless day/night loop outweigh clumsy melee and punishingly opaque progression.
PC
4 min read
Day of the Tentacle Remastered
A beautifully remastered comedy classic whose time-flushing puzzle design and relentless gag density hold up completely, with only genre-typical friction in the way.
PC
4 min read
Dead Island
A janky but deeply fun first-person zombie looter whose ragdoll melee and crafting economy still hold up, despite slow escorts, punishing respawns and 2011-era quest jank.
PC
3 min read
Dead Space 2
A faster, more aggressive sequel whose memory-rewarding level design, infamous eye-machine set-piece and ever-reliable plasma cutter outweigh hyper-aggressive Leapers and a PC-missing DLC.
PC
3 min read
Dead Space (2023)
A faithful-but-rearranged remake that deepens the original's atmosphere and tools considerably, marred by rough PC performance and a stubbornly confusing ship layout.
PC
3 min read
Dead Space 3
A series-best weapon-crafting bench and a generous side-content economy propel an action-leaning finale, even as universal ammo flattens gun identity and the abrupt ending demands the DLC coda.
Wii
3 min read
Dead Space: Extraction
A story-rich on-rails prequel whose ground-level view of the Aegis 7 collapse rewards lore lovers, held back by a swinging camera, unreliable waggle and missed pickups.
PC
4 min read
Dead Space
The series' purest survival-horror entry, whose dread-soaked atmosphere, masterfully staged intro and eternally reliable plasma cutter still hold up more than a decade on, held back only by delayed store access and small glitches.
PC
4 min read
Deadfall Adventures
A pulp-adventure shooter whose flashlight-reveal combat and genuinely varied puzzle catalogue reward exploration, roughened by heavy-handed puzzle hints, endless enemy waves and direction-blind treasure maps.
PC
4 min read
Deathbound
A genuinely novel party-swap soulslike whose essence-binding and morph-strike systems shine, dragged down by health-stamina coupling, clunky execution and a DLC that reuses old bosses.
PC
3 min read
Death's Gambit: Afterlife
A 2D soulslike whose class system, memorable multi-phase bosses and the fighting-your-alternate-choices premise reward persistence, held back by finicky equipment UX, awkward backtracking gates and a grindy endgame.
PC
4 min read
DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue
A joke-dense action-RPG sequel whose comedy writing and gun-layered combat keep the formula fresh, slowed only by early backtracking without fast travel and a thin X Island payoff.
PC
4 min read
DeathSpank
A relentlessly funny ARPG whose dialogue and quest design elevate a simple hack-and-slash skeleton, dented only by inconsistent late-game damage spikes, a stun-heavy final boss and one grindy scavenger quest.
Switch
3 min read
Decarnation
A disturbing, beautiful story-first adventure that tells a captivity narrative through symbolic dream puzzles and a French cabaret soundtrack, with slow act pacing and a couple of punishing minigames as its only real costs.
PC
3 min read
Deliver Us Mars
A moving sci-fi family drama carried by strong worldbuilding and zero-gravity traversal, held back by a clunky climbing mechanic and padded backtracking.
PC
3 min read
Deliver Us The Moon
A quietly gripping sci-fi mystery built around planetary energy infrastructure, with superb atmosphere and memorable launch set-pieces, dimmed by floaty movement and fenced-off exploration.
Switch
3 min read
Dementium: The Ward
A short, effective handheld horror whose oppressive darkness, heartbeat tension and notebook puzzle design deliver real dread, showing its DS bones in clunky switching, tiny ammo caps and repeated door scares.
PC
4 min read
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction
A two-decade-old ARPG whose depth from secrecy still hooks completely, marred by undocumented systems, minion-hostile dungeons and an Act 5 snow map that hides its own waypoints.
PS3
4 min read
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls
A smooth, solo-viable Crusader power fantasy carried by free skill swapping and dense voiced lore, undercut by a difficulty curve that never asks for a potion.
Xbox One
3 min read
DISTRAINT 2
A short, clever, emotionally satisfying closer that resolves a sequel-proof ending with a single-second framing twist, trading puzzle depth for narrative payoff and winning the trade.
Xbox One
3 min read
DISTRAINT: Deluxe Edition
A short, darkly comic psychological horror whose guilt-driven narrative and unsettling art direction earn their dread through writing rather than scares, dragged only by slow traversal.
Series X
4 min read
Divination
A bleak, under-an-hour dystopian visual novel that punches well above its runtime on writing and atmosphere, with rune-drawn divinations and interstitial news bulletins carrying a complete narrative arc, if not much replay value.
PC
3 min read
Dolmen
A janky but engaging sci-fi soulslike whose elemental energy-mode combat, deep crafting and boss-rematch hub carry it through one-shot bosses, hit-through-wall jank and a punishing back half.
Switch
3 min read
Doom 3
A dated but durable horror shooter whose darkness-driven dread, audio-log storytelling and hidden-wall ambushes outweigh late-game enemy spam and spongy foes, the black sheep earning its keep.
PC
3 min read
Doors: Paradox
A diorama puzzle game whose 58 bite-sized levels deliver constant variety and momentum, held back only by a flat difficulty curve and ambiguous object interaction.
Xbox One
3 min read
Draugen
A short, beautifully scored and superbly written walking simulator where the companion is the game and the twist earns its melancholy, held back only by gamma-fighting darkness and small technical quirks.
PC
3 min read
Dreaming Sarah
A one-hour dream-logic exploration oddity with imaginative item unlocks and deadpan writing, limited by guesswork navigation and a very short runtime.
PC
3 min read
Driven Out
A brutally fair telegraph-reading duelling game whose deliberate combat earns its difficulty, undermined on Xbox by a fatal-error crash at the finish line.
PC
4 min read
Duck Detective The Ghost Of Glamping
A cosy duck-noir comedy mystery whose voice acting and clever spy reveal charm across ninety brisk minutes, with deduction kept deliberately light.
PC
4 min read
Duck Detective The Secret Salami
A fully voiced duck-noir comedy whose mundane lunch theft unravels into a sharp conspiracy, with limited evidence re-examination as the one real friction.
Dreamcast
4 min read
Dynamite Cop
An arcade brawler where everything on screen doubles as a weapon, limited only by a three-mission scope and absent enemy health bars.
Switch
3 min read
Eastern Exorcist
A parry-driven wuxia slasher whose dual campaigns and ink-painted folklore outweigh erratic boss design and Switch-specific bugs.
PC
4 min read
Echo Generation
A short, charming Paper Mario-flavoured homage blending Earthbound small-town weirdness with 1980s sci-fi, whose timed combat, voxel-pixel art and comedy writing outweigh opaque systems and difficulty spikes.
Switch
4 min read
ECHO
A one-of-a-kind stealth game where the enemy learns everything done in the light, held back only by technical jank and HUD noise eight years on.
Xbox One
3 min read
Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights
A beautiful, generous metroidvania whose NieR-adjacent soundtrack, best-in-genre map system and purify-the-bosses combat outweigh constant contact damage, third-phase spikes and one poison-mandatory zone.
PC
3 min read
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist
A melancholic metroidvania whose ability-unlock loop, best-in-genre quality-of-life and haunting soundtrack make it a clear step up from its predecessor, marred only by occasional boss frustrations and one pixel-perfect post-game room.
PC
3 min read
Enigma of Fear
A paranormal puzzle-horror adventure whose fourth-wall puzzles and 3D/pixel-art presentation shine, undermined by opaque boss encounters, force-quit deaths and loose controls.
PC
3 min read
Evan's Remains
Story-led puzzle design with a gorgeous presentation, undermined by an erratic difficulty curve and a complete absence of options.
PC
4 min read
Evil West
A polished pulpy vampire-hunter brawler whose quick-draw gunplay and growing arsenal satisfy throughout, held back only by a soft lock-on camera and one-way path forks.
PC
3 min read
Evoland
A short, affectionate playable museum of RPG history whose chest-by-chest evolution gimmick delights throughout, even as random encounters, an unclear final boss and deliberately shallow systems show its scaffolding.
PC
4 min read
Expedition Zero
A scrappy frozen-zone survival game whose temperature, battery and crafting systems reward persistence, wrapped in unsettling audio atmosphere and dragged down by alpha-grade jank and an opaque finale.
PC
3 min read
Extinction
A giant-slaying score-attack game whose broken rune-energy economy and carbon-copy missions squander genuinely fluid movement and one distinct civilian-as-resource idea.
Switch
3 min read
Fear The Spotlight
A two-person team's low-poly survival horror earns its dread through suggestion and a dual-perspective séance night, though the PC build's instability and fussy retro puzzles hold it back.
Series X
4 min read
Forza Horizon 2
A gorgeous, easygoing road-trip racer whose completionist sandbox delights even as toothless race AI, sadistic speed zones and permanently delisted DLC leave the experience feeling conflicted.
Xbox 360
4 min read
Forza Horizon
A breezy festival racer whose arcade handling and varied Colorado map still deliver, dragged by back-half track reuse, rubber-banded AI and a bare-bones rally expansion.
PC
4 min read
Frontlines: Fuel of War
A concise near-future oil-war shooter with a distinctive front-line system and excellent gadgets, undermined by titanium enemies, pinpoint-accuracy snipers and a PC port missing Vsync.
PC
4 min read
Gears 5
Semi-open hubs and a full robot-upgrade meta refresh the cover-shooting formula, though an abrupt, queen-less ending and final-act repetition blunt the closing hours.
Xbox 360
3 min read
Gears of War 2
The series at its most operatic, carried by art direction that outclasses modern remakes and an emotional core that lands, with janky companion AI and aggressive camera shake as friction.
Xbox 360
4 min read
Gears of War 3
A confident trilogy closer whose varied set-pieces and emotional final act land hard, held back by reduced ammo caps and Lambent enemies that explode on death.
PC
4 min read
Gears of War 4
A confident generational handover with a striking visual leap and a fixed sprint camera, weighed down by over-tanky Scions, a sequence-breaking dam bug and enormous pre-rendered install bloat.
Xbox 360
3 min read
Gears of War: Judgment
A star-scored prequel with a brilliant opt-in declassify system and strong new weapons, undermined by arcade-style segmentation that chops the campaign into jump cuts.
PC
4 min read
Gears of War: Reloaded
A remaster of a remaster whose underlying campaign still shines through active reloads and nostalgic atmosphere, undermined by untouched AI, traversal jank and a marginal visual uplift.
PC
3 min read
Ghostwire: Tokyo
A folklore-soaked collectathon whose elemental combat and generous map-clearing loop carry a thin story, with temperamental traversal and awkward blocking as its main friction.
PS2
3 min read
God of War II
Refined combat, faster traversal and sharp mythological storytelling make this a clear upgrade over its predecessor, though late-game puzzle bosses and a weak magic line-up blunt the finale.
PC
3 min read
God of War (2018)
A Norse soft reboot whose father-son story, axe-and-blades combat depth and lore density earn their reputation, with lock-on and reskinned-troll bosses as the standing irritants.
PS3
3 min read
God of War III
A visually spectacular Greek-saga conclusion with a superb reworked weapon system, marred by edge-of-screen QTE prompts and a drawn-out labyrinth stretch.
PS3
3 min read
God of War: Ascension
A visually dazzling, puzzle-forward prequel held back by the series' thinnest arsenal, an early upgrade ceiling and one notorious bug.
PSP
4 min read
God of War: Chains of Olympus
A very competent PSP prequel whose clean texture-pack visuals, classic blades combat and emotionally heavy finale outweigh a thin boss roster and worthless red chests.
PSP
3 min read
God of War: Ghost of Sparta
A story-rich PSP prequel whose Deimos narrative, Thera's Bane armour-breaking combat and strong boss lineup outweigh its awkward D-pad magic and underwhelming spells.
PC
4 min read
God of War Ragnarök
A visually stunning, enormous sequel that fixes its predecessor's structural gripes, marred only by relentless puzzle hand-holding and camera trouble in cramped multi-enemy arenas.
PS2
3 min read
God of War
A foundational mythological spectacle whose exploration-rich temple design still holds, marred by inconsistent grab targeting and a punishing family-defence finale.
Switch
4 min read
GYLT
A child's-eye take on light-based horror whose flashlight-reveal stealth and re-openable level design reward patient play, roughened by thin enemy variety and finicky distraction tools.
PC
3 min read
Hidden Around The World
A massively scaled hidden-object sequel whose snapshot recreation mode and earworm soundtrack outweigh item lists that ignore the world locations they are placed in.
PC
3 min read
Hidden Folks
Hand-drawn monochrome hiding spots with human-voiced sound effects and tactile interactive clues, straining eyes and patience on its largest maps.
PC
4 min read
Hidden In My Paradise
A cosy hidden-object diorama game whose movable-world snap photography is a genuine evolution of the format, slightly undermined by inconsistent snap validation, weak multi-item hints and a one-song soundtrack.
PC
3 min read
Hidden Through Time 2: Discovery
The series' first story-led campaign brings genuine charm across three eras, but condensed maps and oversized targets make this the easiest and shortest Hidden Through Time game yet.
PC
4 min read
Hidden Through Time 2 Myths & Magic
Charming mythological era-hopping with weather-transformed maps, undermined by a misleading secret-item UI and the occasional invisible target.
PC
3 min read
Hidden Through Time
Colour-forward dioramas make every era a readable hunt, with a joke-dense clue list and five DLC packs offset by a few near-invisible targets.
PC
4 min read
Hollowbody
A solo-developed Silent Hill homage set in a post-Brexit quarantine dystopia, whose atmosphere and document-driven worldbuilding excel while combat balance never quite sustains tension.
PC
3 min read
If On A Winter's Night, Four Travelers
A free, literary tragedy anthology whose three 1920s vignettes and purgatorial frame outclass its price tag, held back only by sparse interstitial exploration and occasional puzzle opacity.
SNES
4 min read
Illusion of Gaia
A charming, thematically ambitious Quintet Action, RPG whose transformation system and no-grind jewel loop shine, held back by short-ranged combat and a thinly supplied healing economy.
Switch
4 min read
Inmost
A short, gorgeous, melancholy puzzle-platformer whose three-protagonist structure pays off with a devastating ending, despite oddly hidden collectables and arbitrary checkpoints.
PC
3 min read
Inner Chains
A Gigeresque FPS whose art direction and weapon design outpace brain-dead enemies, sparse checkpoints and a deliberately impenetrable story.
Series X
4 min read
Inside
A short, stunning, deliberately opaque descent whose immense scale, possession puzzles and sound design deliver a masterclass in wordless dread.
Switch
3 min read
Kindergarten
A wickedly funny, tightly designed puzzle-adventure whose deadpan-sinister writing and dependency-chained quest web reward full completion, with brute-force day restarts as the only real tax.
PC
4 min read
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning
A hugely generous action-RPG whose fluid combat and remaster fixes reward a full completionist run, dragged down only by 2012-era quest filler, inventory friction and recycled endgame enemies.
PC
4 min read
King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones
A fan remake that turns a 1985 fetch-quest into a voice-acted mystery-thriller with series-spanning payoffs, dimmed slightly by transition tedium and inherited AGI-era UI friction.
PC
4 min read
King's Quest
A rare reboot that honours rather than replaces Sierra's classics, with superb gags and Sierra callbacks outweighing lopsided chapter lengths and a sequencing stumble in chapter two.
PC
3 min read
King's Quest III: To Heir Is Human
The tensest entry in the fan-remake trilogy, built around a wizard's countdown timer, with a satisfying cat-cookie payoff and a hat-passing finale, dimmed by rigid spell requirements.
PC
4 min read
King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella
The SCI-era showpiece of its series with unusually strong writing and a fair puzzle chain, held back by parser-era friction and one tedious ghost-appeasement stretch.
PC
4 min read
King's Quest V: Absence Makes The Heart Go Yonder
A fully voiced 1990 fairy-tale adventure whose barter-chain economy and ant musical number charm, undermined by soft-lock design and a hidden desert thirst timer.
PC
4 min read
King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow
The series' richest and least cruel classic entry, whose branching island quest, barter economy, spell-crafting and make-Death-weep underworld challenge justify its high-water-mark reputation.
PC
3 min read
King's Quest VII The Princeless Bride
A cel-animated, dual-protagonist chapter adventure that trades the series' cruelty for accessibility, held back by a disorienting desert opening and opaque bookmark saves.
PC
3 min read
King's Quest VIII: Mask Of Eternity
A region-gated action-adventure mis-served by its own branding, with generous levelling and ambition undermined by swing-and-hope combat and binary jumping.
PC
3 min read
King's Quest: Quest for the Crown
A charming VGA remake of the foundational Sierra adventure whose fairy-tale puzzle chain still delights, marred by a notorious condor-grab timing puzzle and fall-happy mountain walkways.
PC
3 min read
Kona II: Brume
A fully narrated detective sequel with handsome visuals and quiet-dread atmosphere, held back by an oversized map, an absent monster and a finale undone by technical failure.
PC
3 min read
Kona
A narrated detective novel dressed as a survival game, brief and slightly janky but wholly memorable, with document-driven storytelling that no other title attempts.
PC
4 min read
Kraken Academy!!
A six-hour comedy adventure whose cast of eccentrics and deadpan institutional-satire writing carry it, despite a bottle economy that collapses under its own generosity and a final boss that barely fights back.
Switch
4 min read
Legend of Mana
A one-of-a-kind anthology RPG whose artifact world-building and soundtrack still astonish, held back by obtuse event triggers and stiff, two-directional combat.
PC
4 min read
Lies of P
A phenomenal Soulslike whose parry-centric combat, weapon assembly and elite quality-of-life design survive its most frustrating bosses intact, from full-health phase resets to a camera that loses fights.
PC
3 min read
Lifted
A cinematic comedic time-travel platformer with superb writing and Unreal Engine splendour, held back only by camera occlusion and vestigial collectibles.
Series X
4 min read
Little Nightmares II
A clear step up from its predecessor, carried by companion AI, TV teleport puzzles and scale-based horror, with one clunky school-combat chapter as its only real complaint.
Series X
4 min read
Little Nightmares
A grotesque, scale-obsessed horror puzzle-platformer whose creature design and DLC gnome puzzles shine, despite depth-perception platforming, iffy grab controls and punishing darkness.
PC
3 min read
Loop//Error
A solo-developed horror visual novel with a one-of-a-kind dithered aesthetic and a creative guilt-loop story, dimmed slightly by shallow branching and bare-bones skip options.
PC
3 min read
Luctus
A handsome short 2D action-adventure with excellent pixel art, a clever rune-cipher and fun stance combat, undercut by a restart-heavy platforming chase and an unusable heavy attack.
NDS
3 min read
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
A dual-protagonist Mario RPG whose Bowser power fantasy and comedy writing outshine DS touchscreen friction and small map sizes.
NDS
3 min read
Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time
A four-hero time-travel RPG with superb comedic writing and deep party combat, hampered by a tutorial barrage, long status effects and an itemised special-attack experiment.
GBA
4 min read
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
A comedy RPG whose fair-but-subtle enemy attack tells and dual-bro action commands still hold up superbly, undercut only by Cackletta's bloated second phase and GBA-era quality-of-life friction.
Switch
4 min read
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
The definitive content-rich kart racer with a superb Tour-track soundtrack, dragged by ruthless 150cc item chaos and unskippable highlight reels.
GameCube
4 min read
Mario Kart Arcade GP
A creatively rich arcade curio whose Namco crossover roster, dozens of unique items and challenge games deserved a home release, held back by recycled track variants and a punishing coin economy.
PS3
4 min read
Medal of Honor (2010)
A short, sombre reboot that trades WWII pageantry for modern special-operations austerity, whose grounded tension, night stealth and airstrike set-pieces outweigh stingy resupply, hit-detection misses and visible pop-in.
PS2
4 min read
Medal of Honor: European Assault
A four-theatre WWII campaign whose squad systems and optional-objective missions reward thoroughness, undermined by starved ammunition, fragile health and an enemy-spam finale.
PSP
4 min read
Medal of Honor Heroes 2
A visually impressive handheld shooter elevated by scale and undone by unbalanced enemy spam, a weak regenerating-health model and a coverless checkpoint-free finale.
PSP
3 min read
Medal of Honor Heroes
A brisk three-operation handheld anthology with dense objectives and nostalgic multiplayer history, undercut by total silence where a soundtrack should be and stiff PSP-era controls.
PS2
4 min read
Medal of Honor Rising Sun
A nostalgic Pacific-war romp whose Pearl Harbor opening, Singapore stealth and carrier-sabotage finale hold up, despite enemies that spawn behind the player, bayonet rushers and a shredding final stage.
PS3
3 min read
Medal of Honor: Warfighter
A serious-toned military shooter whose mission variety genuinely impresses (sniping, stealth driving, a demolition robot, tomahawk breaches) even as its time-jumped narrative baffles and invisible enemies frustrate.
PC
4 min read
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Counter-execution combat and the never-imitated Nemesis hierarchy still outclass most successors, with finicky traversal and crowd targeting as the tax.
PC
3 min read
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War
Fortress sieges and an addictive army-building loop tower over a grindy fortress-defence endgame and occasionally infuriating adaptive enemies.
PC
4 min read
Momodora II
A free, ultra-condensed metroidvania packing two endings and full item completion into an hour, held back only by a late-arriving true-ending upgrade and a spiked final boss.
PC
3 min read
Momodora III
A tightly-scoped hour-long action-platformer with item depth and series continuity, undermined by inconsistent instant-kill bomb enemies and awkward input setup.
PC
3 min read
Momodora: Moonlit Farewell
A gorgeous, genuinely demanding series send-off whose pixel-art leap, ability-gated traversal and cosy companion system outweigh sprint-stamina gating, hot difficulty spikes and genre-staple friction.
Xbox One
4 min read
Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight
A compact gothic metroidvania whose oppressive Karst City atmosphere and sharp difficulty carry it, despite ubiquitous contact damage, relentless poison and stingy early mobility.
PSP
4 min read
Monster Hunter Freedom Unite
A 2008 handheld classic whose nine-rank quest ladder, hunt-carve-craft loop and monster roster still reward dozens of hours, despite legacy hitbox jank and punishing elder-dragon health pools.
PC
3 min read
Monument Valley 2
A beautiful, imaginative sequel that swaps mechanics for emotional core, with mirroring-child puzzles and a shrinking flower, undone only by brevity and underused flatland ideas.
PC
4 min read
Monument Valley 3
The most alive entry in the perspective-puzzle series, with a sketchbook chapter, a sailable boat and genuine emotion, held back only by brevity and one hostile final puzzle.
PC
3 min read
Monument Valley
A perspective-illusion puzzle of impossible geometry and pop-up-book architecture, endlessly creative and beautifully scored, with snap-to-target controls as its one mechanical gripe.
PC
4 min read
Muse Dash
A soundtrack strong enough to carry an entire library of charts, tempered by a difficulty spike that arrives without warning around level 7.
PC
3 min read
Myst III: Exile
A journal-driven tragic-villain story and beautifully themed physics ages, carried by classic node-based puzzle design despite dated movement and one gruelling puzzle.
PC
4 min read
Myst
The remake modernises a foundational puzzle box with handsome visuals and practical quality-of-life fixes, though its wilfully vague objectives and a thin bonus age still test patience.
PS3
3 min read
Need for Speed: The Run
A cinematic, narrative road trip that plays like an action movie rather than a racing game, with joyful overpowered shortcuts and varied set pieces outweighing inconsistent reset rules and rubber-band quirks.
PC
4 min read
Need For Speed Underground
The foundational tuner racer whose garage charm, drift purity and era-defining soundtrack survive the decades intact, even when luck-driven races, late-game drags and an abrupt finale do not.
Switch
4 min read
Nocturnal
A tight, atmospheric 2D action-platformer whose fire-as-everything resource design and god-mode finale outshine its brevity, shallow combat and die-to-learn room design.
PC
3 min read
Oxenfree II: Lost Signals
A slow-burn coastal night lifted by a fixed dialogue system and a walkie-talkie ensemble, tempered by plodding movement and a fourth-wall epilogue.
PC
3 min read
Oxenfree
A naturalistic teen ghost story whose radio-dial puzzles and grief-laced writing still land, undercut by dialogue options that cut speakers off mid-sentence.
Switch
4 min read
Pascal's Wager
A rough-voiced but mechanically distinctive Souls-like whose sanity system and five-character roster earn a recommendation despite voice acting, navigation and performance that lag behind its ideas.
PS1
4 min read
Planet Laika
A boldly strange, disturbingly written PS1 adventure whose personality-swap design and audacious storytelling outweigh its opacity and a nearly redundant third alter.
Switch
3 min read
Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee!
A faithful, beautifully restyled Kanto reimagining whose catch-for-XP loop works well, though late-game grind, RNG mirror matches and motion-throw fatigue weigh on the back half.
PC
3 min read
PowerWash Simulator
An oddly satisfying, genuinely relaxing cleaning ritual with an astonishing breadth of content across 90-plus hours, held back only by awkward geometry and imprecise free aim.
Xbox 360
3 min read
Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
A flawed but deeply enjoyable slice of the lost tactical-shooter era, with a tag-breach-clear loop and constant XP progression that outshine janky squad AI and a brutal finale.
Xbox 360
3 min read
Rainbow Six: Vegas
A squad-based tactical shooter whose multi-angle room clearing and forgiving regenerating health define console cover shooting, dented by brutal close-quarters deaths, ambush AI and a non-persistent loadout.
PC
4 min read
RalliSport Challenge
A 2002 rally showcase whose discipline variety and exceptional visuals hold up beautifully, held back by a late difficulty spike, poor camera options and a small recycled track pool.
PC
3 min read
Rauniot
A stylish, authentically Finnish post-apocalyptic point-and-click whose hand-drawn presentation and dark humour shine, despite cryptic puzzle opacity and subtle hotspot detection.
PC
4 min read
Re:Turn 2: Runaway
A short, atmospheric sequel that trades brain-teasers for a constant stalker threat and full voice acting, with one under-clued candle room as its only real friction.
Switch
4 min read
Re:Turn One Way Trip
A puzzle-first ghost story braiding two timelines of the same train, whose tender final payoff and clever puzzle design outweigh the near-absence of real threat.
PC
4 min read
Re.Surs
A janky but lovable cyberpunk-Doom pixel shooter carried hard by its soundtrack, generous healing and character-swapping combat, undercut by trial-and-error platforming and a finale bug.
PC
3 min read
Realms of Ancient War
A knowingly unbalanced top-down Action, RPG whose overpowered wizard build delivers pure power fantasy, dragged down by thin writing, a level-breaking bug and odd control choices.
Switch
4 min read
Retro City Rampage DX
A loving, relentlessly referential open-world parody whose joke density and side-content suite shine, marred only by unmarked sprees and a few luck-dependent challenges.
PC
3 min read
Riddlewood Manor
A densely puzzled, hand-drawn haunted manor whose dark-comedy escape-room cleverness outshines its jump-scare branding, though consequence-free deaths drain any real tension.
PC
3 min read
Riven
A faithful Unreal Engine 5 remake of the 1997 classic whose learnable D'ni number cipher and gorgeous islands shine, dimmed by illegible journal handwriting and controller-sensitive precision puzzles.
PC
3 min read
Rock of Ages
A bizarre tower-defence and boulder-racing hybrid with sharp art-history comedy, undermined by asymmetric wind traps, one miserable water stage and imprecise boulder handling.
Sega Mega Drive
3 min read
Rocket Knight Adventures
A Mega Drive action platformer whose inventive stage-capping bosses and crunchy presentation outweigh two outright bad rides and punishing late restarts.
PC
3 min read
S.p.l.i.t
A razor-thin keyboard-only terminal thriller whose real-command hacking and thought-typing state machine earn the Hacknet comparison, despite opaque puzzles and a drawn-out body-horror ending.
PC
4 min read
Scorn
A one-of-a-kind Giger aesthetic and cleverly linked environmental machines, undercut by half-baked combat and an unresolved identity crisis.
PC
4 min read
Scribblenauts Unlimited
A joyous creativity sandbox whose near-infinite solution space makes every puzzle a delight, held back only by spelling friction, occasional solution inconsistency and a thin post-game.
PC
3 min read
Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure
A likeable superhero sandbox built on unrestricted word-creation, weakened by shallow randomised tasks, awkward controls and a temperamental camera.
SNES
4 min read
Secret of Evermore
A flawed but deeply charming SNES Action, RPG whose one-of-a-kind ingredient-based Alchemy system elevates it well above its combat frustrations and dungeon opacity.
PC
3 min read
Sifu
A compact, brutally demanding martial-arts brawler whose parry-and-structure combat and age-as-death-counter design reward mastery, with camera trouble, grapples and an obscure mercy route as the honest costs.
PC
3 min read
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2
Cooler mission structure, red-dot-assisted long-distance kills and a properly assembled ending, undercut by broken one-strike detection and Proton crashes.
PC
4 min read
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3
A scouting-then-sniping loop built on drone recon, a silent bow and bullet-cam long shots, undercut by one-miss AI alerts and a redundant crafting system.
PC
3 min read
Sniper: Ghost Warrior
Satisfying still-sniping with bullet cams and a useful visibility meter, undercut by buggy AI states, inconsistent bullet physics and a disjointed narrative.
Sega Mega Drive
3 min read
Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2
Superb presentation and inventive rocket-pack mechanics collide with unfair hitboxes and a final boss whose health pool borders on impossible.
Switch
4 min read
Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II
A very good horror visual novel whose deduction structure and new Lost Souls levelling earn its long runtime, with a finale that turns its monster into a tragedy.
PC
3 min read
Spirit Roots
A colourful Rayman-adjacent platformer wrecked by momentum-locking ice physics, blind hazards, a slide-attack that kills and a completion-busting bug.
PC
3 min read
SPRAWL
An incredibly stylish, superbly smooth movement-first shooter whose wall-run combat, dynamic soundtrack and retro-modern aesthetic outweigh two resented boss fights and some finicky late-game navigation.
PC
4 min read
Stasis
A slow-burn corporate-horror point-and-click whose PDA-archaeology storytelling and multi-screen puzzle chains reward patience, undermined by thin monster presence, disorienting navigation and a save system that fails when it matters.
Switch
3 min read
SteamWorld Dig 2
A joyful, generously written digging adventure whose hook shot, refundable cog mods and pun-laden artifacts outweigh a restricted airborne pickaxe, harsh fall damage and a scrappy final boss.
PC
3 min read
Steelrising
A Revolution-set soulslike whose boss-granted traversal tools and historical side quests reward persistence, undermined by trivial difficulty and committed, awkwardly timed combat.
PC
3 min read
Still Wakes The Deep
A human-scaled Scottish rig horror whose crew banter and tragic conviction overwhelm its readable stealth, floaty swimming and assorted presentation jank.
PC
3 min read
Strangeland
A sharply written psychological dark-fantasy point-and-click whose tarot-encoded puzzles and dense symbolism shine, hampered by a near-impossible shooting gallery and padded repetition.
NES
3 min read
Super C
A run-and-gun sequel whose visible bullets fix its predecessor's worst unfairness, held back only by disorienting top-down stages and an unexplained narrative swerve.
Switch
4 min read
Super Mario Odyssey
A joyful, endlessly inventive 3D platformer whose possession sandbox and 880-moon economy outshine forced motion controls and a tedious optional gauntlet.
Switch
4 min read
Terra Memoria
A delightful systems-forward RPG whose timeline combat and cooking-XP loop shine, with rough edges in quest signposting, stability and endgame balance rather than design.
Series X
3 min read
The Callisto Protocol
A gorgeous melee-forward survival horror whose patched dodge-and-dismember combat, evolving grip glove and kinetic hammer power fantasy outweigh thin enemy variety, a recycled brute and an atrocious DLC finale.
PC
3 min read
The Council
A dialogue-driven occult conspiracy whose vulnerability-and-immunity conversation system is genuinely clever, undercut by poor visual feedback and failure states with no teeth.
PC
3 min read
The Division
A pre-pandemic looter shooter whose addictive Intel-and-gear loop and uncanny environmental storytelling have aged far better than its repetitive mission design and samey enemies.
PC
3 min read
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
A very pretty Unreal Engine 5 coat over the 2006 foundation, whose 250-quest depth still rewards a hundred-hour completionist run despite remaster-only bugs and padded gates.
PC
4 min read
The Evil Within 2
A confident action-horror hybrid whose open first district, overhauled stealth and theatrical villain arc outweigh diluted scares, tanky flamethrower enemies and frame-rate-tied bugs.
PC
4 min read
The Evil Within
A strong, atmospheric first half built on scarcity and stealth squanders its goodwill with instant-kill bosses and tanky masked enemies, redeemed partly by excellent DLC.
PC
3 min read
The Invincible
A gorgeous, patient hard-SF mystery adapted from Lem, carried by its retro-futurist atmosphere and slow-burn story despite thin mechanics, sluggish movement and occasional bugs.
PC
3 min read
The Room Two
A confident sequel trading one impossible box for a cabinet of themed puzzle tables, with the series' cosmic-horror story clicking into gear, marred only by mouse-rotation controls.
PC
3 min read
The Room Three
The series' biggest and creepiest entry, scaling its puzzle-box formula across a whole estate with four endings, slightly hampered by awkward camera controls.
PC
3 min read
The Room 4: Old Sins
A whole-house puzzle machine built around a dollhouse hub, with the series' most satisfying click-when-correct feedback, slightly dimmed by uncommunicated puzzle affordances.
PC
3 min read
The Room
One impossible box, four chapters of superbly tactile puzzle design and a genuinely intriguing null-lore spine, slightly dimmed by a confusing final maze and its smartphone heritage.
PC
3 min read
The Sinking City 2
A tightly authored Lovecraftian survival horror with superb presentation and dodge-driven combat, dragged by forced enemy-swarm arenas and nagging inventory limits.
PC
3 min read
The Sinking City
A meaty Lovecraftian detective game that trusts the player completely, with self-directed investigation and branching moral choices, undermined by recycled side-case layouts and repetitive combat.
Series X
4 min read
The Surge
A sci-fi Souls-like whose targeted-dismemberment loot loop remains distinctive and satisfying years on, even if its lock-on interface, fall damage and DLC gating show their seams.
PC
3 min read
The Thaumaturge
A narrative RPG whose occupied-Warsaw atmosphere, salutation bond combat and emotionally resonant finale outweigh a mid-game sag in side-quest variety and combat challenge.
PC
3 min read
The Uncertain: Last Quiet Day
A brief, atmospheric sci-fi adventure whose extinct-humanity mystery and deadpan robot narration impress, despite obtuse puzzles, janky driving sections and an abrupt cliffhanger.
PC
3 min read
Thief's Shelter
A first-person point-and-click mystery with shifting-mansion surrealism and a superb reading-view toggle, lighter on scares and challenge than its presentation suggests.
PS1
4 min read
Tom & Jerry in House Trap
A split-screen house-wide trap duel with cheerfully offensive hazards, undermined only by unreliable melee and a missing item-drop button.
PC
3 min read
TR-49
A dense literary-mystery puzzle box played inside a fictional archive machine, with earned deductions and a satisfying twist, undermined only by finicky controller input.
PC
3 min read
Transient
A cyberpunk mystery adventure carried by two superb retro-homage chapters and layered dream-logic lore, weighed down by invisible interaction points and impenetrable prose.
PC
4 min read
Two Worlds
A janky, systems-deep open-world Action, RPG whose alchemy and equipment-combining progression outclasses its writing, horse handling and broken cutscenes.
PC
4 min read
Typoman: Revised
Spelling-based world design turns vocabulary into puzzles and weapons, though fiddly letter handling and one missable collectible dent the polish.
PC
4 min read
Unheard
An auditory detective built entirely on voice-matching and audio deduction, with a case web that pays off structurally and a few under-clued DLC leaps.
PC
4 min read
Unravel Two
A gorgeous co-op platformer that works surprisingly well solo, whose yarn-swinging traversal and touching closing message outweigh a puzzle-light shift, a muddled story and two brutal collectibles.
PC
4 min read
Unravel
A gorgeous, peaceful puzzle platformer whose yarn-as-body resource mechanic and standout soundtrack carry it past EA launcher friction and a few cruelly hidden collectibles.
PS2
4 min read
Urban Chaos: Riot Response
Rocksteady's pre-Batman debut is a short, punchy riot-police power fantasy whose near-invincible shield loop and satirical news-broadcast framing outweigh repetitive optional missions and late-game magnum spikes.
PC
4 min read
Vlad Circus: Curse of Asmodeus
A 1921-set pixel horror with lore-rich puzzle payoffs, undermined by interaction opacity that stalls progress for long stretches.
Switch
3 min read
Vlad Circus: Descend Into Madness
A quietly oppressive 1920s circus-horror built on memory puzzles and a stress system, dragged down by relentless rats, stamina limits and a chaotic finale chase.
PC
3 min read
You Will Die Here Tonight
A bite-sized survival horror whose top-down exploration snaps into first-person light-gun combat, with permadeath written so deeply into the plot that dying becomes the story's engine.