Santa Ragione delivers a subversive, sometimes shocking, often funny first-person narrative horror that, while perhaps a little insubstantial, remains an engagingly unconventional exploration of some timely themes.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is enjoyable enough, and has glimpses of vintage Metroid shining through, but this game could and should have been so much more.
The game is pretty ugly, though. That's the only real criticism I have after a good five hours in its twisted take on historical Japan. But I don't come to Nioh for the weirdly shiny, slightly-homogenised graphics. I come for the gameplay. And, from what I've played so far, I can assume I'm going to stick around for a long time when the game launches. I hope we get another demo, so Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja can really show off the gripping potential this game has. [5-Hour Hands-On Impressions]
While racing is at its core, Kirby Air Riders channels the chaotic energy of Smash Bros. to deliver a deceptively deep one-button gameplay experience - and tops it with absolutely oodles of things to do, see, and unlock.
A shift away from single-player leaves Call of Duty with its most lopsided and homogenous entry in decades, though what it does offer is consistently good fun when accepted on its own terms.
These games have always come with oddities, but the central mode is so staggeringly joyous and compelling that it draws my eye and my attention and leaves me powerless to do anything else. Unlike Tetris, Lumines didn't need a borrowing from Lumines to become even better. All it needs - and this may just be me, and I know we have the Steam Deck - is a release on Switch 2, where that glorious panoramic screen that you hold in your hands is waiting to take this absolute dazzler back home to its portable origins.
Rich PvE combat and an unusually friendly community make Arc Raiders a more approachable extraction shooter than most, but Embark Studios' continued use of AI voice generation is a black mark against its reputation.
Oh, and here's a bonus: this is one of these games that runs well. I don't associate Warriors with that, even on higher-end consoles. But this is great. I don't know if it began life as a Switch 1 game and was then shifted to the successor machine or what, but whatever the reasoning I'm thrilled to note that this looks nice enough but also maintains a solid and high frame rate, even when hundreds of troops are bouncing around on screen. [Impressions]
The Outer Worlds 2 is for better and worse still fluffy gaming comfort food, but it is significantly improved and better than its predecessor in almost every way.
