Gaming Boulevard

Space Control has personality, a fun sci-fi setup, and solid voice work, but it never becomes as interactive or chaotic as it promises to be. The world is fun to visit, and the humor works most of the time. That being said, the physical interactions lack variation to stay fun for longer periods of time. Overall, I think that the simple tasks and passive pacing hold the game back too much. In the end, it works better in short bursts than as a full game.

Invincible VS is more than just an arcade fighting game. It’s a tribute to the original material. The characters have been given great animation, and even feature (most of) the original voice actors. While some are missing from the roster, the replacement voice actors do a remarkable job. The combat and most modes are what you would expect from an arcade fighter, but the story mode is a great addition that puts all the characters in the spotlight. It is somewhat short, though. It’s more like an episode of a show instead of an entire campaign. A good fighting game needs a strong community to succeed, so the coming months will show if Invincible VS will be a hit. But if what I played is anything to go by, I think most players who come to this release because they love the show, will stick around because they will also fall in love with this game.

OPUS: Prism Peak is not a game that tries to win you over right from the start. It takes its time to develop, and you’ll need some patience. In return, it offers something that feels personal, sometimes uncomfortably so. It’s a game about looking back, about the things we carry with us, and the ways we choose to frame them. That doesn’t mean it’s without flaws. The lack of clear direction can occasionally break immersion rather than enhance it, leaving you momentarily disconnected from the experience. There are stretches where the pacing dips, where the balance between exploration and progression feels slightly off. But those moments don’t define the game. In a landscape where games often feel the need to constantly guide, inform, and validate (or throw you off the deep end over and over again), something is refreshing about a title that’s willing to step back and let you find your own way. Even if that means getting a little lost along the journey, because that’s what being on a journey is all about, no?

The Spell Brigade offers an interesting twist on the survivor-like genre. The more intricate map design combined with the quest system adds more strategy to runs, but the slow unlocking of these systems and the lack of enemy variety make the game sometimes feel repetitive. The safe choice to not deviate too much from genre staples also adds to this feeling. Multiplayer is fun, but the lack of synergy between players makes it feel like you are just playing next to each other instead of working together. The game can be used as a social experience when you and your friends love to play survivor-like games, but don’t expect any big changes to an already existing formula.

Little Nightmares VR: Altered Echoes doesn’t change the key ingredients of the Little Nightmares franchise, but puts you in the middle of the horrors. It’s very immersive, more direct, and sometimes a bit rough because of it. Not everything works perfectly, but it’s one of the most memorable VR games out there for sure.

Pokémon Champions is surprisingly accessible without spending any money if you’re a casual VGC enthusiast. Launching with a few bugs and less content than fans of the series expected, it’s clear that we’ll have to wait for future updates to know where the series is heading in this purely online competitive Pokémon game. The fact that you can play the game without importing from Home by recruiting and tweaking stats on the fly makes this game a very competitive hub for the series. We hope future monetisation plans will not eventually wring out casual players from the game’s population. A tailored selection of Pokémon and items for this first season has both casual and competitive fans creating a brand-new meta for competitive play, and while it falls short in some areas, the game has the potential to become the ultimate generation-spanning battle arena for everyone.

Ultimately, Shapez 2 is a game that knows exactly what it wants to be. It’s not here to tell a grand story or dazzle you with spectacle. Instead, it offers a space to think, to experiment, and to create systems that are uniquely your own. And in a landscape where bigger often tries to mean better, there’s power in not trying to do so. Because sometimes, all you really need is a few shapes, a handful of belts, and the quiet satisfaction of knowing that, for once, everything is running exactly as it should. Excel, hidden in a ga- oh, no wait, that was Europa Universalis.

Saros stands out as a must-play for fans of the genre and a worthy successor to Returnal, pushing roguelike shooters forward with confidence and style.

Tides of Tomorrow introduces one of the most interesting gameplay mechanics in years, but it’s not without its flaws. The story lacks some depth, and the gameplay loop can become repetitive a bit too quickly. That being said, it still stands out as one of the more unique games out there and deserves credit for that. If you’re looking to try something different, this might be worth your time.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream delivers on its promises. It’s a fun way to design a world with characters you’ve envisioned. Whether you want to base your creations on existing people or make something original, the Mii creation screen is detailed enough to make your wildest dreams come true. The city builder is also intuitive and easy to use, making city management feel great in practice. While interaction between Miis is clearly the star of the show, the lack of goals or quests can sometimes make the game feel a bit repetitive. However, if you are intrinsically motivated and able to set your own goals in a sandbox world, I have no doubt that you will be able to lose yourself in Tomodachi Life for hours on end.