The Firlyn Stones

With its gorgeous black and white, hand drawn art and heavily influenced 1980s tabletop RPG stylings, The Secret of Weepstone is the kind of game I would make... if I had any idea how to make games.

Showa American Story succeeds in crafting an unforgettable, eccentric B-movie world. However, its deliberate jank and niche style mean its general polish still lags behind other modern AAA action games at this point. The sheer density of cultural parodies is impressive, but whether the game can sustain this tone over a dozens-of-hours-long campaign without exhausting players remains to be seen. Coupled with its current shortcomings in combat depth and mechanical feel, Showa American Story is shaping up to be an incredibly unique, highly flawed, yet undeniably fascinating ride.

Ridley Scott's post-apocalyptic survivor drama keeps its feelings about grieving in a triple layer of emotional bubble wrap.

Not only were my fears of the roguelite loop unfounded, but the Burnout roots baked into developer Fuse Games’s DNA was joyously evident in every moment I spent on the track with Star Wars: Galactic Racer. And the times I wasn’t going hundreds of miles per hour when I was on foot did a great job of further Star Wars-ifying my experience. I’m incredibly optimistic about what I’ve seen from this long overdue spiritual successor to Episode 1: Pod Racer, and I can’t wait to play more of it.

The true dark fantasy of The Relic: First Guardian is all of the potential it squanders; an energetic action game marred by its own shambolic state and broken in too many inexcusable ways.