Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree does a lot of things right with its story, character moments, and the time hijinks of the village itself. While the roguelite systems are what we’ve come to expect, with the studio rarely coloring outside the lines, the combat can often feel underbaked and a chaotic mess of trying to find your character in the chaos.

Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor is one of the best in the Survivors genre due to some choices in its gameplay. It rewards progression with wide assortment of enhancements, modes, new characters, levels, and more. With its added personality with voices to your miners and your objective-giver, it really is a joy to drop dozens of hours in and mine away at success.

Bloober Team found their confidence in the Silent Hill 2 remake, and this has shown a side of the studio that could be a force to be reckoned with. Cronus: The New Dawn is easily their best work, and I say that as someone who found the Silent Hill 2 remake to be absolutely jaw-dropping.

Sword of Sea, like previous Giant Squid releases, is more of an experience than a game, and for the reasons that allow the studio to flex its creative muscle. With some gorgeous spectacles that are punctuated by a flawless score by Austin Wintory, Sword of the Sea is a wild ride that, while brief, is a sight to behold.

Killing Floor 3 is vastly more enjoyable with friends as you are communicating and joking around, thanks to full crossplay support, something that Killing Floor 2 didn’t have. The repetition isn’t so apparent then, but it’s hard to nonetheless stick with it after fighting the same three bosses over and over again.

Everybody’s Golf: Hot Shots is a brand new entry that you can play on PS5, PC, or even the Nintendo Switch! All the classic gameplay returns with a host of new characters, all new courses, and tons of things to collect. Grab a club and start swinging!

While Order of Giants does fine in its offering, it lacks the excitement of the campaign and provides far too simple puzzles across its roughly 8 to 10 hours in length. It’s more of The Great Circle, but that just isn’t enough this time.

Developed my Meowspirit, Monsmuso Girls: Autobattler is exactly what you think it is, an Autobattler decked out in several layers of fanservice, with a colorful and vibrant bunch of waifu ladies ready to conquer the minions of the resurrected Demon King.

Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel is the latest Vampire Survivors-like, but it brings with it a greater degree of detail and visuals to its gameplay. As a Viking, Ranger, Dwarf, a banished Valkyrie, and more, you’ll combine your power with the very gods to conquer your foes.

Metal Eden is a fast-paced shooter that rarely lets up. It's a cyberpunk dystopian arena shooter that is drenched in the brilliance of the same aesthetic that made Ruiner such a visual feast. It's bombastic, fast-paced, and has some of the best feeling gunplay I've ever experienced.

Knightling has some great ideas and its story is certainly the game's best element. But, the unresponsive combat is the game's biggest failing, and makes encounters more about survival than achieving victory.

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is truly fantastic, and hits all the right beats for the genre, and its combat progression keeps Joe Musashi powerful without feeling unstoppable, due to some fantastic work with its roster of enemies and bosses.

Echoes of the End was an extremely fun game that, while flawed in several ways, reminded me of why I love third-person adventure games. It joins the ranks of some of my favorite in the genre with some smart choices around its cast and the ways it attempts to keep combat and exploration fresh.

As color is drained from the land, and as tragic events have consumed her life, Europa takes it upon herself to finally get answers to this curse and to rid it once and for all, even at the cost of her life. This Metroidvania has some ok ideas, but several mechanics hold it back from competing with the greats.

As Fallen City is under siege, four strangers will come together to put an end to Ignition Gear. As a throw back to the arcade brawlers, Fallen City Brawl is good, but rarely presents anything new or engaging. It’s fun, quick, and solid in two-player, it’s just too damn easy.

While there are a few excellent moments here, especially one in particular, the DLC, Ashes of Elrant, was not quite the adventure I wanted. I was surprised how straight forward and lean it was, given the lead up into it stating that this was meant to be this “massive” DLC.