The shmup has a vast history across gaming. With hundreds of titles that relate in some way to the Shoot’em up, several of them often take an existing formula and put their own spin on it. R-Type is certainly one of the most popular associated with the genre, but developer Next Game Level has bridged the shoot’em up with that of a twin-stick shooter, creating the fantastic, if flawed, Remote Life.
Almost out of nowhere, Roller Champions has been released, a game that I feel like I’ve heard more about through various podcasts from the past year than any sort of marketing. The Roller derby genre is an empty one, devoid of pretty much any competition, but as a multiplayer game, especially one that is free to play, well that is one very crowded arena.
Cotton Fantasy is the first new Cotton game in almost two decades and features several characters each with their own unique bullet patterns, mechanics, and playstyle. As Cotton, you’ll once again team up with Silk to uncover a mystery, one here that threatens the very thing that Cotton loves most; the candy treat known as Willows.
Chernobylite is a survival horror rogue-lite that randomizes its missions as you tour a radiated exclusion zone to track down resources to keep yourself alive as well as cater to the needs of your group back at your base. You’ll customize a living space and craft and upgrade your gear, all to head back out and find out what happened to your beloved Tatyana.
Evil Dead, as a franchise, had all the markings of being a solid video game, but past installments always came up short. Thankfully, Saber Interactive went to the man himself, Bruce Campbell, and was able to wrangle many of the actors across all eras of the franchise. This asymmetrical multiplayer experience is damn impressive, gory as all hell, and a blast to play. Hail to the King, Baby!
While Wildcat Gun Machine sounds like the name of a metal band you'd expect to be an opening act for Ozzfest, it's actually a chaotic bite-sized shooter that feels as if the developers of Cat Quest took their turn at creating the next Doom. With lasers, monsters, and a healthy stock of cat lives, Wildcat Gun Machine is a solid, if flawed, action shooter.
Seven Pirates H is a fan service driven adventure where a group of monster girls head out on an adventure and come into contact with rival monster girls all wanting the same long-lost treasure. To outfit your party for success, you’ll rub down each member of your party and shape their breasts in various ways to boost your stats. Am I kidding? Well, read more to find out!
Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King is inspired by the beloved Dark Souls series. It has all the trappings you look for all while dolled up in a gorgeous aesthetic and massive open world. However, its world lacks rewarding exploration, and its combat, while mostly enjoyable, lacks any sort of weight. There is a good game here, but you do have to spend a good deal of frustration to find it.
Trek to Yomi largely succeeds with a truly brutal and satisfying combat system that unfortunately takes a while to find its stride. The direction to depict its era is well met with gorgeous backdrops that elevate the game to honor its inspirations even if its occasionally far too pulled back camera, lackluster villain, and forgettable cast sadly disappoint.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is a joyous blast that is constantly fun to play. The shooting mechanics and spells are incredibly satisfying, with storytelling that is years ahead of whatever Borderlands 3 tried doing. Still, it does feel a bit too safe, lacks innovation, and my playthrough was littered with bugs, and not the kind that explode when you shoot them.
Road 96 sees you in the roles of six missing teens, each heading north to a border that might end in their freedom, or hauled away to a labor camp. Along the journey, you’ll either get picked up by a deranged cab driver or a pair of bumbling criminals always talking about that next big score. Your choices will dictate the path around you as well as shape its world and the characters that you’ll come to rely on.
Forgotten Land may not have the budget that Nintendo gives to their flagship titles such as Mario or The Legend of Zelda, but that doesn’t stop Kirby and the Forgotten Land from being one of Nintendo’s best in years. With the new Mouthful Mode, Kirby will take the forms of Cars, Pylons, Staircases, and more, all in an effort to say the Waddle Dee’s from the forces of evil.
As a partial retelling of the first Final Fantasy, you’ll join Jack on his quest to rid the world of Chaos. As you hack and slash through themed environments based on Final Fantasy games of the past, you’ll take part in combat via a series of over two dozen jobs, complete with a wide variety of weapons and gear. While combat satisfies greatly, the story, characters, and visuals sadly do not.
Weird West, an occult flavored CRPG, is definitely worth playing, but it does suffer from some growing pains of creating a new property and controlling how much repetition there is in its environments and combat systems. That said, the story, characters, and world are all interesting, and often engaging and while the game could be a bit weirder, it still offers a fun time for about 20 hours.
Elden Ring will go down as FromSoftware’s most successful entry and its most played to completion as well. While there is no direct easy mode, the sheer flexibility of its open world, and how you engage with it, can certainly make the game more accessible. While Elden Ring is full of challenge and intrigue, its vast open-world is the first in years where I felt a true sense of discovery.
KOF XV feels like a greatest hits of the series, featuring a wealth of past favorites, and is a gorgeous game to boot. Its fighting systems are deep enough for the hardcore player yet friendly enough for newcomers, which is sadly not shared with its nonsensical story. Despite its great presentation and gameplay, it lacks staying power in its few modes, which hopefully will see some love via various DLC additions later on.
Horizon Forbidden West is a damn impressive adventure with stunning visuals, a solid story, and a presentation that is often unrivaled. However, the game is also plagued by several technical problems, a map that has already labeled where all the fun is, and a collection of activities that can often feel like filler.
