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Beast of Reincarnation is a game of incredible highs and frustrating lows. Stilted dialogue mars competent voice acting, with bland city designs matched to incredible music remind me of Nier: Automata. The combat is fast, fluid, and feels fantastic. It is a wildly varying package when it comes to quality, and despite it all, I adored my time playing it. It is an experience few character action fans, with a ton of patience, should miss.

Gust’s games have improved significantly since this series’ inception—and while BLUE REFLECTION Quartet features games that aren’t particularly imaginative—those that enjoy good character stories, magical girls, and decent combat systems will find themselves home here in this hefty collection of RPGs.

The King is Watching is a solid mix of relaxing tower defense and intense battles. While the runs can last a bit too long at times, the game’s excellent music and fun gameplay kept me going for 20+ hours without issue.

It may lack the depth or variety of some of the bests out there, but Shard Squad is a fairly unique take on the crowded bullet heaven genre. Having to evolve and create synergies between creatures, and even being able to combine said abilities in co-op, makes for an addictive and fun experience, with more than enough content to enjoy over plenty of hours. Sure it’s a bit repetitive and grindy, but I’ve also found it to be an excellent timewaster and a perfectly enjoyable survivors-like if you, like me, can’t get enough of this formula.

Dystopicon’s portrayal of a collapsing authoritarian and fascist regime comes off as absurd, but the mechanisms within the presentation are far from any jest. It’s freaky and almost terrifying—even its gameplay will convince you, on occasion, to enter the Sarco pod just to get away from the TV once and for all.

Twenty-five years on, Halo: Combat Evolved remains one of the greatest first-person shooters ever made and Halo Studios celebrates that legacy with a surprisingly deft hand. Halo: Campaign Evolved feels less like a remake and more like a love letter, not only to Bungie's original vision, but to the millions of players who first set foot on the ring all those years ago. I eagerly look forward to more.

Cultic is deliberately not as fast-paced and chaotic as some of the most beloved 90’s classics, and it plays into that angle with an excellent horror aesthetic, marvelous level designs, interesting puzzles and a combat that requires some reasoning, not just fast fingers on the trigger. It’s probably not for everyone, but if it scratches the right itch for you, it can be a stellar shooter. It’s a shame then that the controller experience is, as of today, rather wonky, with a noticeable input delay and a game design that really seems to have been made with keyboard and mouse in mind. As such, the console version of Cultic is not the most optimal way to play the game, at least for now, but it’s a hard to miss shooter nonetheless.

‘Shift at Midnight’ genuinely surprised me with its mix of genres and lo-fi scares in a way that makes its low-budget rough edges a lot easier to make room for. My first hour or so was a fun experience of falling into a routine that was hooking me in even as flaws became apparent. While perhaps lacking in its multiplayer promises, there is plenty of potential and a good few hours of spooky fun to be had, even for solo players, and it has plenty of fun for fans of…less elevated horror.

Through RNG chaos and a simple yet fun card system does Culdcept BEGINS come out as a fantastic board game for players of all ages. Try not to get too mad!

Denshattack! combines Tony Hawk with Japanese-inspired stylings in a fun-as-hell romp across a future version of the country. You’ll race gangs, corporations, and even fate itself as a little engine that could, thanks to the power of friendship, rainbow tracks, and a (sometimes overwhelming) variety of gameplay mechanics.