Ghost Trick is a game I had heard much about, but couldn't play for a long time since getting your hands on a copy of the game was difficult. It was directed and written by Shu Takumi, the same author responsible for the original trilogy of the Ace Attorney series, and the games have many similarities in terms of themes, mechanics and tone. Unlike in Ace Attorney, the whole game essentially plays out like one really big case with a ton of moving parts, making it quite engaging to solve. In that sense I found it even more impressive than Ace Attorney, because writing this one case must have been rather "tricky". There were a number of times I thought I saw plot holes in the story, but by the end they somehow managed to wrap it all up in a brilliant fashion.

The other difference is that in Ghost Trick, you're not just some investigator showing up at the crime scene after the dramatic events took place and trying to make sure they catch the right guy. Here you are a part of the mystery yourself, using your ghost powers to change the course of the events. I would say this adds tension, but the manner in which you change history is so absurd that it also serves as a kind of comic relief.

It took some time for me to get on board with the game's ridiculous premise, but after I finished the first chapter I was completely locked in. This is a 10/10 game for sure, and definitely worth playing for any Ace Attorney fan, or if you just want to see how much Shu Takumi loves his Pomeranian.

Pipistrello describes itself as a "Yoyovania", but the isometric adventuring and puzzle-filled dungeons bring to mind the classic 2D Zelda games, only instead of a sword and hookshot you rely on yoyo tricks to get around. It's designed to look and play like a GBA game, and just in case you missed it, the intro even shows the game as a cartridge being inserted into a GBA-looking device followed by a startup jingle.

Pipistrello's open levels give you plenty of freedom to choose what order to tackle its challenges, and the combat and puzzles are quite stimulating even from the earliest stages. I often found myself setting aside puzzles for later, to revisit them upon having some revelation about a possible solution. Rewards come in the form of Paper Mario-like badges, badge points and max health, providing the ideal motivation to check every nook and cranny.

The writing, too, reminds me of Paper Mario in a good way, and I often laughed at the banter between the game's characters. All in all it is an extremely solid game, flawlessly executed, and possibly the most underrated title of the year, having been overshadowed by Deltarune releasing in the same week. This is a must-play for any Zelda fan.

DELTARUNE is the sidequel to Toby's previous game, Undertale, featuring many characters like those we've grown to love from that game - but they are not the same characters, which you quickly notice as they have no memory of the events from Undertale and the two games often contradict each other in an uncanny manner. Toby's writing remains as sharp as ever, sending you on a rollercoaster of emotions as you progress through the chapters.

This game is an evolution of Undertale in many ways, grander and more ambitious in scope. You play not one but three lovingly animated characters with their own abilities and varied decisions to make during battle. There are also a lot more bosses to fight overall, many of which are significantly more challenging than those you would find in a normal Undertale playthrough. You'll have to carefully consider what items to bring for them in order to improve your chances.

DELTARUNE is being released in an episodic format, with four chapters currently released and three more planned in the future. It looks like we will probably get another chapter per year until the game is done, but I would say it's already well worth your time and money if you don't mind the suspense of being kept in the dark on how all this is going to end. Like watching a TV show, you can have fun coming up with ridiculous theories to try and tie all the lore together while we wait for the story to reach its final ACT.

Blue Prince is a strange combination of puzzle game and tile-placement board game. Each day, you start at the entrance and try to place rooms in the house so that they both open paths deeper into the house and trigger useful effects. Ultimately the goal is to reach "Room 46", but this will likely require many attempts, wiping the board and putting you back in the entrance hall after every one.

The peculiar nature of the game also seems to be a source of much controversy. At a glance it is an austere tile-laying game about picking up keys and unlocking doors. I could see many gamers bouncing off it before it really clicks for them. I would say that you shouldn't go into this expecting instant gratification. It's a game that rewards you proportionally to your investment, where the deeper you delve and the more carefully you pay attention to it, the more enjoyable it becomes.

Perhaps Blue Prince is a callback to an earlier era of games for players with much patience and time. I have heard it compared to Myst, and though I have not played it myself I see the resemblance. But despite the many mysteries buried in and around the manor it is not overly punishing and you can still complete the game without solving most of the puzzles. Even now that the credits have rolled, I still feel like I've only scratched the surface and will probably return to it many times over the coming months. If I ever manage to get to the bottom of it all I will probably revisit the review and give a more fully informed take. But if you enjoy puzzles and board games then I definitely think you should enter the house and see what you find.

Returnal is probably the only triple-A roguelike that currently exists (until Housemarque themselves release a sequel to it) and boy is it a good one. The aptly named Adrenaline builds up as you defeat enemies and grants powerful bonuses, but if you get hit even once you lose everything. Returnal is a punishing game that nonetheless feels fair. Enemy attacks are telegraphed well in advance, and dashing to dodge has incredibly generous invincibility frames. You will surely get hit anyway, but it's going to be your own fault.

This game is formerly PS5 exclusive, so two things are worth keeping in mind. The system requirements are pretty demanding, so make sure your computer is up to the task. Also, even if you're playing the game on PC, a PS5 controller comes highly recommended. Returnal makes extensive use of that controller's special features, including the haptic feedback, adaptive triggers and speaker. And considering how much the game stresses avoiding damage, accurate movement is usually more important than aim anyway.

There is some permanent progression in the game, but most of it is gated behind making actual progress. You can't stick around and collect everything in the first area; important upgrades are unlocked by defeating bosses. As they say, you will have to Get Good. But if you're good enough, the whole game can be beaten in a single sitting. Two thumbs up from me, this is absolutely worth the money.

Mossmouth done did it. They made a pack of 50 full games in a trenchcoat and are now selling it to you for twenty bucks. It's the most ridiculous deal since the Orange Box. Currently at 35 hours of playtime, I have only finished five of these, so anything I say here will seem inadequate - but already I got my money's worth, so I figured I'd put my review in.

The concept of UFO 50 is a fictional console and company from an alternate timeline of the 80s. Each of the games for this console comes with a fake release year for when it was supposedly made and is credited to imaginary developers like Gerry Smolski and Benedict Chun. They span all kinds of genres, from action games to adventures, puzzles, horror, a 4X strategy game, a deckbuilder, an idle game (?) among others. They're all really well made, and really hard. Trying to complete all of these would be the true test of gamers as you'd have to be good at every kind of video game. But since there are so many, if you're struggling or something doesn't click with you, you can just drop it and try another game. A love letter to bygone days, I would recommend this to anyone, but especially people who enjoy retro games.

Astrea is a difficult game to wrap your head around, but the way its mechanics all play into each other creates myriad possibilities for every roll and reroll of the dice. The double-purpose system of purification and corruption is brilliant, allowing you to use one die in multiple ways and mitigating the luck element that might otherwise have spoiled the experience. When you realize that even corruption can be used to your benefit by triggering virtues and blessings, your journey to mastery is only beginning. And the dice themselves can be modified to your liking by forging them to change their sides. If you are a deckbuilding veteran this is one game you don't want to miss. The learning curve is daunting but completely worth it.

They Are Billions is made for a specific kind of person, and that person is me: it's an RTS where turtling is not only encouraged but essential, where mistakes are severely punished and your base can be destroyed in the blink of an eye. And perhaps most importantly, this game lets you pause. There is no element of dexterity here, you can take as much time as you need to issue orders to your troops and micromanage every aspect of your play. If you lose despite this advantage, you have only yourself to blame... They Are Billions is not for the faint of heart. The title is accurate and you will be shocked by how many zombies that can spawn at once, and if even one of them gets into your residential district the infection will spread out of control. The stakes are higher than ever but that only makes victory all the more sweet when it is finally achieved. Two thumbs up from me, this is a game I will gladly revisit time and again.

Yep, this is me still playing this game 270 hours later and with no sign of stopping any time soon. Underrail was already a massive game, and the Expedition DLC feels like it took all that content and doubled it. To start off, there are lots of new gameplay features: weapons for all archetypes including new melee and ranged weapon types as well as a new school of psionics for mage characters. There's a bunch of new feats and specializations for high-level characters as well. But most importantly, they added jet skis. Have you ever played an RPG with jet skis before? Underrail: Expedition convinced me that video games do not have nearly enough of these things.

The title of the DLC refers to a group of northerners who recently arrived in the Core City docks on a mission to explore the infamous Black Sea. They are looking for armed help, and if you are similarly infamous, they'll take you along. The little island where they proceed to set up their camp is immediately under attack from the natives who don't seem too happy about having visitors. You will have to actively defend the camp from boats full of screaming savages while also doing your best to achieve the expedition's goals. They are investigating the abandoned facilities of a now-defunct supercorporation that met with an unknown and likely gruesome fate.

The expansion zone has a distinct flavor from the rest of the game. There's a lot more water and jet skis, more interesting factions, and ever-present, palpable tension. It's quite possible for the expedition to fail should it be overrun by its enemies. If you're playing a character of alternative morality, you can even orchestrate its destruction yourself and claim the bounty of the Black Sea for your own.

Even outside of the Sea proper, there's new content everywhere. You can finally explore the waterways connecting existing locations like SGS and the Junkyard instead of paying for a ferry. There's a new quest that unlocks a fast travel mechanic in the most hilarious fashion. All things considered, the expansion is a must-purchase.

Terraria has probably the most brutal learning curve of any game I have encountered, and I've played a lot of hard games. It has a willful obscurity bordering on the malicious and is nearly unplayable without external info, whether that's from youtube guides, wiki pages or being taught how to play by a friend. But once you get past all of that, you will absolutely be hooked. It seems as if there is no limit to what you can do in Terraria, it's a rabbit hole of a game that just keeps going and I can see myself playing it for many hundreds of hours.