Chris Penwell
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Date Everything is an impressive dating sim as it expands the number of characters you can date to 100. Each character has a unique personality, and while having 100 of them does sound like a great thing, it can become a repetitive task towards the endgame. You'll need to raise your stats (S.P.E.C.S) by completing stories with each of the objects that come to life with your Dateviator glasses.
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 2 drops you straight into the story with next to no recap on what has happened before. It has been months since the first part, so you may have forgotten major parts of the storyline. It would have been great to get a cutscene of the band's past adventures, like each Life is Strange episode did back in the day. Once you get further into the plot, however, you'll begin to remember major elements of the narrative. This is obviously not going to be an issue for those who play both parts simultaneously from now on.
The PS1 generation of retro 3D platformers is a delight, with many heroes like Crash, Spyro and Rayman making their way into the mainstream. One character that's also on that list is Croc, a mascot from Argonaut Games that spun off from a Yoshi platformer pitch to Nintendo. Croc Legend of the Gobbos is worth bringing back as it has stellar 3D platforming, but has hang-ups due to its age.
Koira is an enchanting adventure that takes players on an emotional journey between the protagonist and their dog. Studio Tolima's hand-drawn visuals truly pull you in, while the mixture of reds, blacks and whites often makes for a dramatic picture. You can see the emotion of each character prominently through the animations, making you feel for the protagonist without a spoken word. Additionally, the musical elements with notes being uttered instead of words is a nice touch, bringing you back to the days of Ico.
WWE 2K25 is one of the biggest leaps in the series so far. While the Island is disappointing, the sheer amount of content in this game is unmatched. You have over 300 wrestlers with more DLC on the way, plenty of fun modes like the highly improved MyGM and the story-focused MyRise, and gameplay that still feels satisfying to pull off, even if the animations can be weird at points. It’s just the microtransactions that really pull this game down.
Yu-Gi-Oh has been a staple in many people's lives for years now, and it's back again, but this time leaning on some of those earlier years with a collection of some of the first games. For better or for worse, the Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection mostly leaves the games untouched. This means that you'll need to draw each card automatically to your hand in earlier entries and deal with some unattractive UI decisions that can leave some scratching their heads. For example, the Game Boy titles in this collection irritate my brain as you can't set your monsters into defense mode and have to leave them facing up and then switch them to defensive mode.
Two Point Museum is one of those games that will suck up your entire day and you have no idea where it went. The loop of getting new displays to show guests, raking in the money and customizing how your museum looks is exciting, especially for simulation fans. Unfortunately, there are roadblocks on your path to museum dominance. Repetition does set in after a while, some of the money management can be confusing and a few goals that are asked of you can be difficult to overcome. Do these stumbling blocks spoil the overall enjoyment of Two Point Museum, though?
After a lengthy delay, Dontnod fans can finally check out Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, a new narrative adventure from the original Life is Strange developer's Montreal division. It's had some disappointing releases, like Tell Me Why and Twin Mirror, so many have hoped that the developer can return to its roots with a prolific narrative experience, especially after the tepid reception of Life is Strange: Double Exposure from Square Enix and Deck Nine. Does this new game deliver?
Marvel Rivals is a stellar multiplayer game that has plenty of potential in the years ahead. It sounds like it has a great content plan, as the game just added the Invisible Woman and Mr. Fantastic into the game a month into the game's launch. When you keep that in mind alongside the stellar gameplay and team-based mechanics, Marvel Rivals is likely to stay for many years ahead.
Overall, Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is a delight to play. Purple Lamp did a fantastic job of remaking the game from scratch with grand visuals and the addition of a double jump makes the game more playable than its Wii incarnation. The paint and thinner mechanics are a true highlight of this Disney adventure, and the overall atmosphere of the game is both creepy and upbeat. It would be a real treat to see if Purple Lamp could make an Epic Mickey 3 in the future, as this game shows the Vienna-studio's talent of making the Wasteland come to life.