Ultimate Bug War! is a clear callback to the FPS games of the late 90s with some flavoring from the PlayStation 2 era in the 2000s and, of course, modern accoutrements and comforts. At its core though, it’s really simple: you have a wide arsenal of Bug-repelling weapons. Use them freely and fiercely to defend humanity as Private Sammy Dietz.

After playing Monster Hunter Stories 3 for over 10 hours, the potential for this turn-based spinoff to reach greater heights is definitely there. Monsties, anyone?

Have you ever wished you could interact with a cartoonishly charming world with all the elasticity of Mario’s face from the Super Mario 64 start screen? Draw Me A Pixel is where your hands need to reach for then.

It’s hard not to recommend ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard. The puzzles are satisfying, I felt immense satisfaction working within (and out of) its boundaries, and now I feel like I could apply to be in Mensa. The places it goes, literally and figuratively, are things I haven’t seen done in a game like this before. I’d hate to spoil any of the key moments so I won’t, suffice to say they all work incredibly well, from the easter egg references to other games and media, to things from Pixel Maniacs’ own creative minds.

I first saw Fallen Tear: The Ascencion after I received a press release promoting a trailer for the game. When I found out it was being developed by a studio in the Philippines, it had my full attention. My roots are important to me.

In 2000, Nintendo released the original Paper Mario, an instant hit for RPG and Nintendo fans alike. While recent entries have left many fans disappointed, its legacy has spawned several titles from indie devs that have attempted, and generally succeeded,…

Sometimes it’s worth it to just feel like a kid again who doesn’t have strong opinions about intuitiveness and just loves cartoons because they exist. Despite the four games in Nickelodeon Splat Pack being of mixed quality, if you grew up with the classic Nickelodeon cartoons then you really should get this game.

Romeo is a Dead Man is a great action title with some bloody combat, but it’s a bit too messy in its delivery.

Code Vein II remains a big piece of the puzzle in a world littered with puzzling Soulslike at the moment. Usually, a second entry into a series like this one does something that would surprise fans (in a good way), but I fail to see that happening for Code Vein II.

There is absolutely fun to be had and I’ve been solo queuing this whole time so far. Finding good loot is exhilarating, strategizing on the spot during a raid is demanding yet rewarding (if you win anyway), and the plethora of content on the horizon is enticing. I may be biased toward this sort of game, but it’s only going to win me over with solid gameplay, compelling design, and respect for the player. Highguard has all of that so far.

The state of the arcade racing genre in 2026 is fascinating to say the least. Founding fathers Sega and Namco have been on a milk carton, apart from the surprising inclusion of Virtua Racing in the Sega Ages lineup over on Nintendo Switch, or the random Ridge Racer drop on Hamster’s Arcade Archives or the PlayStation Classics line. This has left the genre to a bunch of indie studios that have done a great job paying tribute to those old classics with games like Formula Retro Racing: World Tour, DDI Rally Championship, and most recently, Super Woden: Rally Edge. Tribute and succession are two different things, however, and as fun as a lot of these games can be, there’s a certain noticeable gap between them and the games that inspired them.

Nioh 3 is an excellent entry in the series, simply because of how open it is to experimentation. The dual fighting styles between a Samurai and a Ninja highlight this aspect of its gameplay philosophy, and that’s just the beginning of what you can expect from Team Ninja’s commitment to an intricate combat and exploration system. If you’ve never played a Nioh game before, that’s okay! I believe this one can attract a lot of new fans to the series.