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In these moments, I think about my own dogs, about Alba and Neva, and the wolf who came before. I’ve thought a lot about how my relationship with the new pup will change and grow — about how it’ll be different or the same as with my best friend. There is no replacement to what I’ve lost, to what Alba and Neva have lost. But even forged in grief, something beautiful will grow. We’ll just move forward. Alba and Neva do, too.

In the end, Blasphemous 2 is a strong union of narrative and function. Its gloomy world is full of nooks and crannies to explore, and its inhabitants have compelling stories to tell. Its boss fights — arguably the biggest piece of twine — may be frayed, but the slick mechanics and biting themes more than make up for any weakness in the braid. 

Even as I dig into the intricacies of the deck building systems, the game’s pacing issues continue — particularly in one portion that requires me to go through a certain amount of in-game days to proceed. Taking on the politics of The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood’s world means campaigning for roughly 30 or so day cycles, talking to characters to better understand what the witchy world has been going through while in isolation. I was able to make a reading ahead of this section that made me question why Fortuna even had to progress in such a way, making this portion of the game feel dragged out for no reason. It felt, at some points, like cycles for the sake of length, and I think a tighter experience may have had more impact.

There are a few typos in the game’s UI, like the status effect ‘inmune’, or receiving a blessing with an extra S. But despite a few small issues, I otherwise found this Riot Forge title to be another smooth ride through League’s increasingly complex canon. The Mageseeker makes the smart move of setting up some truly hateable villains, and then lets me smash their hopes and dreams — what more could I want from a game about toppling the elite? 

Dread reimagines the Metroid format with confidence and care, and it trusts the player to make leaps along the way. While following its interwoven path of epic boss fights, satisfying upgrades, and otherworldly environments, all I could think was that this is the Metroid game I’ve been waiting for. It easily stands astride the best entries in the series, and I eagerly await a follow-up in the year 2040. 

When I finally arrive at the end of the story — it took me maybe eight hours — I find myself forgiving its frustrations. Mechanically, Arise delivers intriguing time-manipulation puzzles and a flawed platforming system. But more than that, it’s a moving narrative game that investigates the passage of human life and the importance of companionship. It makes me remember to value the loved ones in my life.

Bleak Sword’s super simplistic and macabre art style instantly caught my eye when I first browsed through Apple Arcade’s initial offerings. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and I certainly didn’t imagine such an enjoyably crushing experience to come out of something that looked so simple.

The question of how far we allow their designs to shape our lives has never been more urgent. The Red Strings Club does a good job of framing this problem, and allowing us to explore its dimensions

To call Metroid: Samus Returns a remake feels unfair. Remakes are old games with new coats of paint: an upgrade in resolution here, reworked artwork there. Samus Returns is far more than that. It’s a top-to-bottom reimagining, bringing the bones of a game that’s over 25 years old into the modern era with fantastic results.

This is perhaps the most damning and instructive thing I can say about Rime. Save for its manipulative final moments, I spent the of the entirety of the game completely stone-faced. I felt only a detached appreciation for visuals and music that, because of the monotonous game they envelop, never congeal into something really moving. No giggles of delight, no gasps of wonder, just ... nothing.

That's really the biggest shame in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2: It carries over all of the original game's weaknesses but fails to live up to its strengths. Three years ago, it seemed like MercurySteam had an intriguing vision for its rebooted Castlevania universe. But what we're left with at the end of the trilogy is a couple of cool ideas with no momentum. It's not payoff — it's anticlimax.

Despite its friendly aesthetic and fast-paced action, Alien Spidy fails to deliver on its promises. With a punishing gatekeeping system and slippery controls, the difficulty often feels artificial and unfair, ruining what could have been a much more charming game. There's an excellent platformer inside of Alien Spidy, but you'll need superhuman patience to find it.

There's something almost clever about how rigidly Mirror of Fate sticks to its name. It's a reflection: reversed repetition of the same tricks and plot twists employed to greater effect in 2010's Lords of Shadow; a muddied misunderstanding of the structure and design of Castlevanias past. Mirror of Fate fails to build an identity of its own, but more damningly it fails to create a believable likeness of its lineage.

While Deadlight makes a gamble hiding some of its biggest narrative successes behind collectible items, that risk pays off well enough to overlook some of its mechanical flaws. Tequila Works pushes the presentation and production values of the genre past where anyone could reasonably expect, and has a game that stands out because of it. If it were longer, it would suffer more, but the time investment required and the ultimate rewards Deadlight offers make it a standout for this year's Summer of Arcade.