Asha in Monster World is a very faithful remake of the 1994 Genesis classic that is infused with charm and personality in both its gameplay and visuals. However; much like the original, it is a rather short affair that could have benefitted from adding more to its offerings.

Granzella has crafted a sequel to a game that honors its legacy well enough but doesn’t feel as good as I think a modern R-Type game could feel. Regardless, R-Type FInal 2 succeeds more than it fails and still offers a fast-paced shooter wrapped in the series’ gameplay trappings.

Knockout City wasn’t a game I was planning on giving the time of day to, but damn if it didn’t sink its hooks into me deep. It’s a fast-paced 3v3 game of dodge ball on rooftops, in sewers, and out in traffic where the action rarely lets up. It’s hard to say the shelf life this game will have going for it, but given the community building around it, it’s likely to at least stay in the conversations for months to come.

Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance is still the fantastical hack and slash romp it was 20 years ago, despite some drastically dated mechanics and visuals. It certainly has its issues, even as a simple 4K re-release, but joined up with a friend in its local co-op mode certainly aids in pushing past its aging gameplay.

Village was exactly what I had hoped this entry would have entailed; the continued use of first-person, with more action-orientated encounters, and a cast of villains that consistently kept my interest, even if a few of them were vastly underused.

Nier: Automata’s road to what it became started here. The enhancements made to Replicant put it nearly in the same league as its sequel, whereas the original was a far cry from Automata’s greatness. The characters, the story, soundtrack, and enhanced combat give Replicant the much-needed push to have it stand alongside some of the best action games ever made.

Cozy Grove’s hand-drawn aesthetic is incredibly well suited to the tone and charm the game exudes. While you’ll have a few graphical oddities of pieces overlapping over one another, developer Spry Fox has crafted a visually stunning and charming experience in Cozy Grove