Impulsegamer

Tamadotchi Life: Living the Dream might not be the bold reinvention some fans hoped for, but it doesn’t need to be to recapture the series’ charm. Even with its missing legacy features and a few creative tools that don’t quite hit the mark, it remains a wonderfully daft, personality‑driven sim that thrives on the unexpected. Perhaps what’s most important, though, is that even after spending a serious amount of time with Living the Dream, it remained funny. It’s the kind of game you dip into for ten minutes and suddenly find yourself grinning at a Mii having a meltdown or, well, trying to stop a Mii from making an ill-timed proposal to someone that’s just not that into them. If you’re willing to embrace its quirks and forgive its limitations, Living the Dream is a welcome, delightfully weird return to one of Nintendo’s most eccentric worlds, and an even better introduction to those yet to familiarise themselves with the Tamadotchi universe.

The Shadow Update builds on what already works and expands it in ways that feel thoughtful and consistent. The new characters introduce fresh playstyles, the ball types open up a huge range of combinations, and the added passives and building give you more control over how everything comes together. It’s the kind of update that makes you wonder how the game felt before it existed. With one more free update on the way later this year, it’s clear the game isn’t slowing down, and if this pace continues, it’s only going to get harder to put down.

Aphelion is a beautifully created game by Dontnod and while it's gameplay has its issues, the narrative is pure sci-fi perfection.

WRATH: Aeon of Ruin VR - Brutal Edition drops you into a dying world where constant movement and quick decisions are the only way to survive. You push through large, secret-filled levels using a mix of ranged weapons, close combat, and fast traversal tools that keep every fight in motion. It’s a gritty, old-school inspired VR shooter that thrives on speed, pressure, and learning to stay one step ahead of everything coming at you.

ChainStaff is a fast-paced action platformer built around a single, highly flexible weapon that blends combat and movement into one system. You explore alien-infested environments while making choices that affect your abilities, progression, and how the story unfolds. It’s a game focused on experimentation, replayability, and learning how to master its unique traversal and combat flow.

Despite its many foibles, I still found it hard to put Starfield down. It’s a Bethesda game like no other, in that it’s actually best experienced by sticking to the main path rather than picking a direction and seeing what trouble you get into. The fragmentation of its narrative and structure over dozens of small maps robs it of the same spirit of manifest destiny that Fallout and, to a lesser extent, The Elder Scrolls. You’re not drawn to towers in the distance, to dragons on the horizon; it’s more a case of I wonder what Earth is like now, or if that ship in the distance will open fire on me, and is there anything worth stealing in its hull? It’s this fractious nature and the sheer drudgery of space travel that make it a tough sell to even fans of other Bethesda RPGs. But if you’re a sucker for secret sects and a cosmological mystery, chances are Starfield will be a trip into the bleak emptiness of space you’ll want to take.

The Day I Became a Bird is a short, cozy narrative adventure that tells a simple but heartfelt story about childhood feelings and imagination. You move through small, relaxed interactions and light puzzles that focus more on atmosphere than challenge. While it doesn’t offer much depth or replay value, its charm, visuals, and tone leave a gentle, lasting impression.

Tides of Tomorrow set out to overhaul the choice-based games genre with it's Story-Link feature and, while promising, it is a relatively shallow mechanic. Still, the original wrinkle it adds on top of a solid, albeit flawed single-player choice-based game is a welcome addition to the genre.

Saros, while not without some notable flaws, is still an engaging, intricately crafted, and intriguing roguelike action game that sets a new bar for Housemarque as an upgrade to Returnal in many ways.

A fantastic 3D puzzle game with relaxing music and beautiful touches of life in many scenes.