DeVuego

Gothic 1 Remake definitely deserves praise for preserving everything good about the original release and for its revamped visuals. However, that isn't enough to excuse its poor performance and dated combat, facets crucial to the experience that actively prevent it from being easy to recommend.

007 First Light is a great stealth-action experience packaged into a very strong exploration of Bond's early days that's both as charming and as intriguing as we hoped it would be. Its missions are set in maps that take you all around the world, and are always brimming with possibilities as you make your way around them. This one's definitely among our favorites this year, and for good reason.

The Occultist gets enough of its world right to be an interesting game but it drops the ball on its gameplay.

Paying homage to the classics while simultaneously serving as a breath of fresh air, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound masterfully builds on the side-scrolling format of the older titles while adding its own twists.

Blades of Fire stands out with its unique sword-based combat and surprisingly deep forging system. While it stumbles with repetitive enemy encounters and frustrating escort missions, there's no denying the charm and originality in its core gameplay loop. It’s a flawed gem, but one that action-RPG fans will find plenty to enjoy in.

Post Trauma is an interesting experiment in the horror genre that tries to bring back classic gameplay styles to a modern age. Despite this, there are still strange puzzles to deal with, and the first-person segments feel counter-productive to the excellent atmosphere created by fixed camera angles.

Even if I can't fully piece together what kind of an experience Everhood 2 wants to be, it's a rhythmic odyssey of bizarre proportions.

Even if The Spirit of the Samurai does little to endear you to its story, the animation provides a decent jumping on point. Unfortunately, it's squandered by the terrible quality of everything else.

Almost six years after Gris, Nomada Studio delivers another emotional masterpiece with Neva that tugs at your heartstrings while offering a smorgasbord of vibrant sights and sounds.

After Us combines solid platforming with a wonderfully realized post-apocalyptic vision of over-consumption. Even if Memories feel like a missed opportunity, the overall narrative and gameplay make it a worthwhile trip into a morbid future.

Endling - Extinction is Forever is a bit of a gut punch- in the best way possible. It\'s bleak and it\'s oppressive, but it\'s also surprisingly affecting, and in spite of some repetition, should keep you engaged throughout its brief runtime.

All said and done, Ikai is a frustrating game. There’s a kernel of a good idea in there – psychological horror inspired by Japanese folklore is always interesting, while the atmosphere the game builds from the first second is also commendable – but it’s all outmatched to an almost overwhelming degree by the game’s many issues. The fact that it’s as short as it is and still manages to feel longer than it should be should tell you what you need to know about Ikai– that it’s a good idea that’s failed to evolve into a good game.

It’s really hard to recommend Evil Inside to… well, anyone, really. My recommendation would be to just go play P.T if that’s the kind of horror experience you’re looking for, because a) that’s actually horror, and b) it’s actually good. But P.T. isn’t as readily available to everyone as it should be- in which case, I’d tell you to go play a fan-made version of P.T. in Dreams or something. If that’s still something you can’t or don’t want to do- well, even in that case Evil Inside is a hard sell. This is a game that you can finish in one sitting, in less than an hour, and that combined with the fact that none of what it does is worth a lot of praise means that spending money on the game isn’t something that anyone should do, at least not until it hits a deep, deep discount.

Call of the Sea’s intriguing piecemeal story and beautiful setting falls to the wayside when its lack of signposting and overall artificially obtuse puzzles take center stage for much longer than acceptable.

Arise: A Simple Story creates an entire package whose diverse gameplay, beautiful environments, and touching story make for a fully immersive and unmissable experience.

Kromaia wants to be more than what it is, but it tries too hard with too many active parts all at once. Falling flat while at the same time continually exploding images on screen to achieve a more frenzied momentum feels desperate.

Despite the faults that hold the game back from being something of greatness, it's worth the experience. Three-player co-operative gameplay lends the game a helping hand in delivering an element of entertainment, but tedious combat is forever present from start to finish.