Opting for 6v6 and a third-person camera view, Marvel Rivals has a vast variety of playstyles across its launch roster. Offering everything from simple shooting-focused heroes like Punisher to complex melee heroes like Spider-Man, all the while making it feel cohesive. Although it will undoubtedly be chaotic for players trying a hero shooter like this for the first time, there are a variety of heroes that make picking up the game simple and an impressive roster of alternative picks that can gradually increase complexity.

It does have limited main game modes at launch, with only Domination, which involves fighting over a control point; Convoy, where a team escorts a payload; and Convergence, which is a combination of the two. These are split across a variety of maps taken from the Marvel multiverse, with locations like Tokyo 2099, Yggsgard, and the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda. These different locations provide a ton of environmental variety, with the pristine look of Asgard contrasted with the dense buildings of Tokyo 2099. While the visual styles don't change the flow of the game, the map layouts do. For example, both Tokyo 2099 and Klyntar have hybrid maps--where the attacking team must capture a control point, which unlocks a payload to push--but Tokyo 2099 has multiple buildings blocking the defenders' line of sight, while on Klyntar the area from spawn to the point is much more open, promoting more long-range hero options. It can become visually stale, but more importantly, having fewer modes means that your team's strategies don't shift as much from match to match, which can result in them blending together because each individual match doesn't feel unique, aside from the team compositions.

DKC Returns HD does retain the tweaks made to the 2013 3DS port, including a Modern mode (originally called New mode in the 3DS version) with additional items in Cranky's shop and an extra pip of health. The items in Cranky's shop are especially tuned to let you selectively tweak the difficulty, since the banana coins currency are so plentiful that you'll almost always have enough to spare on an item or two. Those items range from help finding collectible puzzle pieces to temporary invincibility. You can always opt for the original mode to play with the original Wii difficulty, if that's more your flavor. And it does look nicely polished on Switch, especially on the OLED screen. That said, the character models look relatively simplistic compared to Tropical Freeze, a 2014 Wii U game that was already ported to Switch in 2018.

The Modern mode is meant to sand off the edges of the notoriously punishing game and make it more approachable, but make no mistake: This is still a brutally difficult game. Even with three hearts instead of the original two, it's very easy to lose multiple lives (or near the end, tens of lives) in a single stage as you learn its rhythms and assorted traps. And the difficulty in DKC Returns is true to its roots, which centers heavily on memorization. The game frequently introduces threats too quickly to react to the first time, and DK himself feels stiff and heavy compared to the acrobatic Mario. Trickier stages will even give the appearance of one type of obstacle and then frustratingly punish you for reacting to the fake-out.

If you're unfamiliar with the long-running series, Dynasty Warriors is based on Luo Guanzhong's 14th-century novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms--and the ancient history it's based on--loosely adapting the classic Chinese novel by taking some absurd creative liberties along the way. While previous games in the series have typically covered the bulk of the Three Kingdoms period from 184 AD to 280 AD, Origins tightly focuses on the early parts of the story, beginning with the rise of the Yellow Turban Rebellion and culminating in the decisive Battle of Chibi. Unlike the rest of the series, the story is also told from the perspective of an amnesiac warrior who's meeting legendary figures like Guan Yu, Dong Zhuo, and the fearsome Lü Bu for the first time. This setup is clearly designed with newcomers in mind, making the series' enduring legacy and myriad beloved characters much more palatable for new players to dive into for the first time.

Still, that doesn't mean returning players will be left wanting. By focusing on the early events of the Three Kingdoms' tapestry, Omega Force has opted to delve into the time period in greater detail than before, with a renewed emphasis on storytelling and character development. Even minor figures are more fleshed out, while pivotal moments are given the gravitas they deserve. This is somewhat of a double-edged sword, however. The writing is generally solid, with defined, charming, and likable characters engaging in moral quandaries and battles of both wit and brawn, but the overabundance of cutscenes sometimes works to its detriment. Too many conversations simply feel derivative, either repeating plot points or adding little of substance to the narrative and your understanding of its ensemble cast of characters. This disrupts the game's pacing, leading to more than a few occasions where you're forced to wait impatiently for the next battle to arrive as you cycle through one superfluous conversation after another.

Sonic 3 picks up some time after the last movie, and the Wachowskis have adopted Tails and Knuckles along with Sonic--they've got a nice little family unit going. Robotnik, meanwhile, is very depressed, just hanging out in his crab mech binge-eating snacks and binge-watching telenovelas. In other words, all is well. At least until an unknown person manages to free the mysterious Shadow the Hedgehog from stasis, letting him loose to pursue revenge for something that happened long ago and putting him into conflict with Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles.

That unknown person was, it turns out, another Dr. Robotnik--grandpa to the one we know (but still played by Jim Carrey). Robotnik Sr. and Shadow are allies, having shared a deep trauma decades earlier that is driving them both to extreme lengths for revenge. The younger Robotnik, the one who was a bad guy in the other two movies, serves as a wild card, because he wants to team up with his grandad but has a pretty different ultimate goal.

Now, 25 years later--and 21 years since the last game in the series--Legacy of Kain makes its overdue return with Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1&2 Remastered, bundling together two of the greatest action-adventure games of all time. Developed in partnership with Crystal Dynamics and Aspyr--the latter of which recently launched the similarly packaged Tomb Raider I-III Remastered--this bundle reintroduces the world to vampire protagonist Raziel and his quest for revenge against the eponymous Kain. With improved visuals and a modern control scheme, it's a solid remaster that, above all, showcases why these games are so revered.

Set in the decaying land of Nosgoth--where vampires are apex predators and humans cower within walled cities--the first Soul Reaver begins with Raziel committing the sin of surpassing his master, Kain, in evolution. As the self-proclaimed king of Nosgoth, Kain sired and raised Raziel as his eldest lieutenant and son, tasking him and his four brothers with besieging the land and decimating humanity to ensure his despotic rule. By growing a set of wings, however, Raziel is deemed to have threatened Kain's supremacy and is thrown into the Lake of the Dead to suffer for all eternity. After rotting for centuries, Raziel is resurrected by a dormant god and set on a path of vengeance to seek out his brothers and kill them before doing the same to Kain.

Rita's Rewind fully recognizes the passage of time, even pinning down specific years. The original Rangers are still fighting evil in 2023, now against a mechanized Robo Rita--a timely reference to the villain of the reunion movie, 2023's Power Rangers: Once and Always. But apparently overwhelmed by these Rangers who have decades of experience, Robo Rita hatches a plan to go back in time and team up with her flesh-and-blood self. The modern-day Rangers say it's too dangerous to follow her through time and risk a paradox, so they just have to hope their younger selves are able to withstand the machinations of two Ritas.

That places Rita's Rewind strictly on the 1993 timeline, which means it's the first time the Rangers are encountering mainstays like Goldar and the Green Ranger. The only real difference is that this time we see Rita Repulsa bickering with Robo Rita over strategy.

It's not quite what I expected from a studio known for its frenetic shooters, nor a game that's been described as a first-person action-adventure. For the most part, The Great Circle is a stealth game that resembles Dishonored more than any of MachineGames' previous output. Sure, you could skulk through the shadows in Wolfenstein, plunging knives into Nazi spines, but it was a shooter first and foremost. The Great Circle has moments of action, but its violence is sudden and tends to end quickly, indicative of Indiana Jones as a character; it wouldn't make sense if he were running and gunning like BJ Blazkowicz. It's a refreshing change of pace for the studio, and it's a rip-roaring good time, even if the inexperience of creating this sort of game sometimes shows.

In terms of story and tone, MachineGames definitely understood the assignment. The Great Circle's prologue is essentially a love letter to Raiders of the Lost Ark, immediately making it clear how much the studio both grasps and reveres the series and its globe-trotting protagonist. This feeling persists throughout the entire game, beginning with an opening level that takes place inside the fictional walls of Marshall College, where Indy teaches archeology. The Great Circle is set between the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, weaving into the existing fabric of the series in a way that makes it feel like a natural extension of Indy's story. A few familiar faces return, and new characters seamlessly blend into its cinematic world, contributing to a compelling adventure that sees you travel the world, uncover ancient mysteries, and butt heads with the Axis powers.

Back in 2002, developer Computer Artworks attempted to translate this feeling into an officially licensed video game for The Thing. The now-shuttered studio came close to succeeding, too, creating a third-person horror-action game with a unique squad system that ensured you could never entirely trust the person fighting by your side. It's become somewhat of a cult classic since then, leading to this remaster from Nightdive Studios--a developer known for faithfully restoring myriad games, including Shadow Man and Star Wars: Dark Forces. The Thing: Remastered is a similarly authentic experience, albeit with a number of key improvements to the game's visuals, controls, and some quality-of-life mechanics. Beyond this, it's much the same game as it was in 2002, for both the good and the bad.

The game's setup is one of its better aspects, acting as a direct sequel to John Carpenter's iconic 1982 film. You play as the bland, one-dimensional Captain Blake, leader of a U.S. Special Forces rescue team sent to investigate Outpost 31 in the isolating tundra of Antarctica. Of course, we know what transpired when MacReady and the rest of this research facility encountered the shape-shifting alien life-form, and it doesn't take long before Blake is fighting off all manner of horrific entities. He's rather nonchalant about the whole thing, though, anchoring a relatively thin story that feels distinctly 2002 in all the worst ways. While it begins as a more action-oriented facsimile of the film it's ostensibly a sequel to, the narrative quickly delves into predictable territory with the military experimenting on the Thing to use the alien for its own gain. It's all very stereotypical, with melodramatic voice acting and--aside from a fun cameo from John Carpenter himself--an inherently disposable cast of characters.

In Life is Strange: Double Exposure, Max once again feels only as interesting as the characters surrounding her, making her a driving force that isn't particularly compelling and a fairly flat protagonist. Even as the game explores her grief following the loss of Chloe (either via a painful fall-out or her death, depending upon your selection) and a new loss that occurs during Double Exposure's opening chapter, Deck Nine stumbles in giving these processes depth and emotional resonance.

Despite this weak thread, Double Exposure is, admittedly, a visually impressive game with some well-executed narrative beats, an interesting twist on gameplay, and some endearing characters. However, it ultimately feels too similar to its predecessor in a few frustrating ways and suffers from inconsistent story quality and writing; this makes for an overall experience that lacks a lot of depth and falls short.

Yet, despite all of this, Stalker 2 is here. Its release is nothing short of a miraculous achievement and a testament to the people who fought tooth and nail to reach this point in the face of unimaginable hardships. The game that emerged from such horrifying events is one that boldly sticks to the studio's vision of a seamless open-world survival shooter, which the series has always strived to be. It's rough around the edges and uncompromising in a way that is sometimes off-putting. Yet the series' emergent gameplay remains intact and is further complemented by a fascinating setting and the most accomplished combat in the series so far. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, and at times it feels like you're playing a game straight out of 2010, but that's part of its charm and feeds into what makes Stalker 2 the quintessential Stalker experience.

If you're unfamiliar with GSC's post-apocalyptic world, each game takes place in an alternate version of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. Following the historical reactor meltdown of 1986, several laboratories were established in the surrounding area and began conducting various experiments. This led to a fictional second disaster in 2006 that mutated local plant and animal life and created phenomena known as anomalies. These strange, almost-supernatural occurrences cause valuable artifacts to appear, each containing unique and unexplainable properties. Stalkers come to the Zone in search of personal enrichment by recovering these artifacts, but they're not the only people who inhabit this irradiated area. Various factions exist within the Zone, from paramilitary organizations to groups of scientists seeking to understand the Zone, along with myriad bandits, religious fanatics, and outlaws who prefer to shoot first and ask questions later.

With such a pedigree behind it, it's no surprise that Square Enix has seen fit to re-release Dragon Quest III numerous times, with this HD-2D Remake edition being the latest--and also the most lavish--to date. Logic dictates that a game like this deserves a red-carpet treatment. But unlike Final Fantasy, which is no stranger to changing things up in its recent sequels and remakes, the old-fashioned elements of Dragon Quest's gameplay remain untouched no matter what.

Of course, the biggest deal about this remake--which its very title proudly proclaims--is the use of Square Enix's HD-2D visual style. Previous HD-2D games like Octopath Traveler, Triangle Strategy, and the Live A Live remake have established a strong visual identity, using 2D sprites, 3D backgrounds, and scrolling and perspective tricks to create an ornate and cinematic style that makes them stand out.

In Slay the Princess, however, death is only the beginning: the start of a time loop that nearly always resolves in mutually-assured destruction. But despite the horrors you endure and the promise of death--repeatedly and oftentimes brutally--the game begins with a small, strange note: This is a love story. And as a love story, a horrific visual novel, and a work of narrative-driven psychological fiction, Slay the Princess is remarkable. The Pristine Cut further polishes this gem of a game, adding more depth and replayability to an already-brilliant title that is abundant with introspection, poetic (and often humorous) writing, stellar voice acting, and memorable art and music. Though there are still a few rough spots--namely some of its audio mixing and its UX design on consoles--Slay the Princess is a beautiful experience, brimming with emotion and cleverness.

The premise is simple enough and explained by both its name and its exposition: "You're on a path in the woods, and at the end of that path, is a cabin. And in the basement of that cabin is a princess. You're here to slay her." Naturally, this raises a lot of questions: Why does she need to die? Why am I the one killing her? What is the motive of the person instructing you to do this? As the protagonist's primary, guiding voice, it is up to you to explore the dozen or so prompts that emerge as each new piece of information is brought to light. Your every response and action--or lack thereof--determines and alters the path laid before the hero, as well as the many other voices that join you in guiding him as successive loops unfold.

Despite using a zoomed-out third-person perspective familiar to Lego game players, Lego Horizon Adventures is a far more cinematic Lego game. This might not come as much of a surprise, however, considering how PlayStation has defined its brand by chasing Hollywood for the past 15 years. Gone are several Lego-game tropes, such as unlocking dozens of characters, or replaying levels with those characters to solve previously unapproachable puzzles. In fact, you'll hardly solve puzzles at all, save for a few very light platforming puzzles. Though you'll collect Lego studs to spend on rewards in-game, you won't be chasing collectibles like mini-kits or hidden items. Lego Horizon Adventures is instead a linear action-adventure game.

That has both advantages and disadvantages. On the brighter side, the game looks incredible. Lego Horizon ditches the series' typical style of brickifying only the playable area and giving the rest of the landscape, like backgrounds and foregrounds, a more lifelike look. In this game, everything is Lego bricks. It's somewhat subtle, but once I noticed that change, it partly helped explain how pretty it all is. By presenting a singular style, it feels like a real Lego set come to life in a way other games of this sort have never offered.

Much like its predecessor, The Rise of the Golden Idol presents you with what is essentially a diorama of a moment in time--typically taken at the precise second, or in the immediate aftermath, of a crime. It's up to you to deduce what exactly happened by pointing and clicking through all of the available evidence to figure out--among other things--who was involved, which items are incriminating, and what the exact sequence of events was. Whereas 2022's The Case of the Golden Idol revolved around a slew of murders related to the eponymous Idol, the kill count in this sequel is decidedly lower. There are still more than a few dead bodies amongst its 20 cases, but you're also tasked with unraveling the events behind prison escapes, experimental lab tests, and the backstage chaos of a talent show gone awry.

Rise of the Golden Idol picks up 200 years after the events of the first game, as the grisly history of the Golden Idol follows the artifact from the 18th century to the semi-modern setting of the 1970s. Once again, you're cast as an observer of these strange cases; an omnipresent force given license to freely explore each tableau at your own pace, burrowing into people's pockets, opening any door, and using logic to piece together the lurid events of its interconnected story.

While there have been a few spin-offs over the years, Metal Slug Tactics is the series' first foray into turn-based strategy, and it comes with a roguelike twist. It's a mostly successful mission thanks to clever gameplay and maintaining the silly charm the series is known for, though some outdated tropes and too much of your success being outside of your tactical control keep this operation from being a total victory.

Tactics moves the long-running sidescroller onto an isometric grid, and the pixel art-inspired models do a great job capturing the look and feel the series is known for. Everything from the iconic POWs to the titular Metal Slug tanks themselves feel exactly like the original series translated to 3D. The isometric battlegrounds are littered with varied terrain, buildings, foliage, and other scenic elements that feel right at home, and bosses are exactly the kind of over-engineered machinery you would expect.