IGN

• SWITCH
• 7 / 10
• États-Unis

Disney Illusion Island’s platforming may be extremely polished but it’s not particularly inventive, and nor is it likely to appeal to anyone who favours a more combat-oriented Metroidvania experience – its enemies are strictly for dodging rather than destroying, and its small assortment of boss fights are mostly anticlimactic. Where it excels, though, is in providing a wholesome co-operative journey through a charismatic cartoon world that’s well-suited to pairings of parents and their children, or perhaps older and younger siblings. It effectively gives every member of the party the means to happily bound along on the ride without ever being made to feel like a burden. If you’re after a frictionless, family-friendly platforming adventure that’s heavy on charm and light on challenge, then Disney Illusion Island fits the bill better than a muzzle on Donald Duck.

• PC
• SWITCH
• PS4
• XONE
• XSX/S
• PS5
• 7 / 10
• États-Unis

It is very easy to have a good time playing a few runs of Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons roguelike gauntlet of four levels and bosses. Jumping in and learning its satisfyingly punchy combat and long list of fun and unique playable characters that you can tag in for combos turns a somewhat shallow pond of an early game experience into an impressive lake of collaborative combat options. But things got a little too repetitive and frustrating before I even got my first clear thanks to the shallow enemy pool, few game-changing upgrades, a brutal difficulty spike if you choose to save the wrong boss for last, and lack of worthwhile unlockables to chase outside of new fighters.

• PC
• PS4
• PS5
• XONE
• XSX/S
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

F1 Manager 2023 proves that Frontier isn’t one and done; it’s a championship contender. Race Replay is an absolute show stealer, and there’s nothing better than solving the strategic puzzle laid out for you in a single go. F1 Manager 2023 is as enjoyable to listen to at normal speed as it is to play, and although you can rush at 16x speed for an entire season in an afternoon if you want, it’s far more relaxing to treat it like an actual race and just chill out and watch. F1 Manager 2023 is a deep sports management experience that understands that racing can be a sport everyone can enjoy and, if you enjoy any type of management game at all, you should consider adding this to your collection.

• PC
• PS5
• XSX/S
• 7 / 10
• États-Unis

The Expanse: A Telltale Series is a solid entry in the studio’s long-running series of narrative-driven games. The episodes look great, and Cara Gee’s performance as the main character is excellent, helping to recreate the feel of the television series even when the most of the regular characters from the show are absent. The game struggles to find engaging mechanics outside of its dialogue scenes, relying too heavily on quicktime events and mediocre movement challenges. But the story and choices you make work well enough that these are minor faults.

• PC
• PS5
• XSX/S
• 9 / 10
• États-Unis

It’s astounding to think that if I were to create a list of my favorite soulslikes, my favorite looter shooters, and my favorite procedurally generated games, Remnant 2 would appear on all of those lists. This is a triumphant sequel that doesn’t just reimagine the soulslike genre as a co-op looter-shooter, but absolutely nails that concept in nearly every way – including many that the original did not. With completely engrossing combat, challenging and memorable boss fights, ultra-dense buildcrafting options, incredibly cool procedurally generated levels, and a clever multiversal concept that allows for a ton of different adventures in one package, it’s very likely going to become one of my most-played games this year. No matter which part of the multiverse you find yourself in, you should do yourself a favor and play this gem.

• PC
• 4 / 10
• États-Unis

With the exception of the rich environmental detail to be found in its sinister underworld setting, Unholy otherwise offers precious little to praise. It’s not scary enough to succeed as a horror story, its controls are too clumsy to provide a satisfying stealth experience, and its enemy and puzzle variety are too limited to make any part of the journey feel truly distinct. What begins as an intriguing incursion into a cult-ruled realm soon unravels into a repetitive slog stuck in the shoes of an unlikeable lead character. Unholy is never quite unplayable, but it’s certainly uninspired, unwieldy, and unlikely to hold your interest all the way to its completion.

• PC
• PS4
• PS5
• XONE
• XSX/S
• 9 / 10
• États-Unis

Jagged Alliance 3 is a smartly-built, action-packed throwback tactical extravaganza that I enjoyed the whole way through. Its madcap sense of humor is very hit or miss – for me, it's usually miss. But for the most part, that doesn't hurt its ability to tell a story with just enough intrigue to keep you guessing, while not overcomplicating things too much. The huge variety of distinct characters, hand-built tactical maps, and objectives assure that a long campaign never goes stale, with limited but meaningful merc progression that let me build my dream squad and play almost exactly how I wanted to, with the added tension of trying to keep them alive through each combat encounter. If you know your way around a squad management game you may want to turn the campaign difficulty up a notch for your first playthrough, but even when you're rolling in cash, this lead-slinging blow-out is a hell of a good time.

• PC
• PS4
• PS5
• SWITCH
• 7 / 10
• États-Unis

While the similarities with its predecessor can make Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals feel too familiar, highlighting a few missed opportunities for expansion of its puzzle mechanics and for fresh worldbuilding, it still creates an intimate but epic adventure. The world is built out just enough to feel fresh and to lead you to some unexpected and surprising places. However, its real strengths are its characters. Riley’s story is a standout, but she and Jacob come together to form a bond that carries you through to the (possibly) bitter end. The choice is yours.

• PS4
• PC
• SWITCH
• PS5
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie is one of the best games in this almost 20-year-old franchise and a great RPG. While its overall story is a bit of a retread, its amazing pacing, and in-depth battle system, make it a satisfying conclusion to the Crossbell and Cold Steel arcs. It also makes good use of its admittedly way-too-large cast of playable characters. That said, newcomers who are unfamiliar with the series will certainly be lost without having played the previous games. However, it's well worth doing so in order to experience one of the best RPG universes ever crafted.

• PS5
• 6 / 10
• États-Unis

“Unrealized potential” feels like the story of AEW: Fight Forever as a whole. So much of it feels like a very good start, going full gear with bouncy animations, the quick pace of the action, and fun and effective character design. But almost all of its good ideas are hampered by bugs and opaque or outright useless systems. Its big single-player mode is poorly written and, though it's a relative breeze to complete and full of branching options, it’s all out of good ways to point you to them. There’s a strong foundation to bet double or nothing on in a sequel down the road, and I think there's still fun to be had here with like-minded friends who are content with casually beating each other up, but this is no wrestling game revolution.

• PC
• SWITCH
• 9 / 10
• États-Unis

Dave The Diver is a tremendous and unforgettable RPG adventure that I can’t put down. The story and characters are full of heart and charm, the underwater exploration and restaurant management are easy to lose time to, and the sheer number of weird minigames and other surprises that are packed in the 30-hour adventure ensure things never grow stale. Even with wimpy bosses, simple puzzles, and a fair number of bugs, Dave The Diver has so many other interesting and intriguing things going on that it’s easily one of the best games I’ve played this year so far.

• PS5
• 9 / 10
• États-Unis

Final Fantasy 16 will very likely be looked back upon as a turning point for mainline Final Fantasy games, taking its combat fully in the direction of an action game, but I hope that conversation doesn’t overshadow its dark and captivating tale, memorable characters, and the innovative ways in which it helps you keep track of it all. The Active Time Lore feature is incredible, and should be standard for all story-driven games going forward, and while the combat may not live up to the sky high standards as some of the best games in the character action genre, among other action RPGs, it’s near the top of the heap. Pair all of that with one of the best soundtracks of the year, incredible performances from top to bottom, and drop dead gorgeous visuals, and you’ve got a game worthy of an orchestral Final Fantasy victory fanfare.

• SWITCH
• PC
• PS5
• XSX/S
• 6 / 10
• États-Unis

As someone who loved the original Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life as a child, I find its 2023 remake difficult to recommend over other farming sims with more expansive worlds, more interesting stories, and more satisfying progression. Marvelous has admirably updated the graphics and gameplay to cater to a more modern audience, but those improvements only do so much when the heart of it feels as dated as it does. Its standout feature is still the way the town and NPCs impressively adapt and age over the course of its potentially 30-year campaign, but there aren’t enough noteworthy characters or rewards to make me want to stick around that long, either. Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life doesn’t offend, but it sure doesn’t impress either.

• PC
• PS4
• XONE
• PS5
• XSX/S
• 7 / 10
• États-Unis

If not for the technical issues, this would be easily one of the best Aliens games ever. And it still probably is. Borrowing from some of the greatest squad-based tactics games and adding its own twists, I don't think I've played anything that really gets what was so cool about Aliens, the film, since Monolith's Aliens Versus Predator 2 way back in 2001. And many have tried! It's the sort of game that makes me wish I could look the other way and praise it even higher, but on balance, I just can't. With a few weeks in the med bay for a bit of extra technical polish, it could shine up nicely into something amazing. As-is, it's still an intriguing, inspired, imaginative survival RTS that I can enthusiastically recommend, but only with some caveats.

• PC
• PS5
• XSX/S
• 5 / 10
• États-Unis

Park Beyond does a great job tapping into the childhood whimsy that theme parks can elicit. There's a great sense of wonder to be had by impossifying rides, and the simple interface makes it easy to do. Incrementally unlocking new rides and increasing park capacity is rewarding, and creating something utterly ludicrous can be a blast. But that joy dissipates quickly when parks become unmanageable, as the attendees get stuck, staff ignores pressing needs, and financial ruin springs seemingly out of nowhere, while bugs and crashes make a late-campaign difficulty spike a miserable slog. Like riding an unfinished roller coaster, there’s fun to be had until the eventual crash, but it feels like this park just isn’t ready to be opened.

• PC
• XSX/S
• PS5
• 6 / 10
• États-Unis

Layers of Fear serves up a series of atmospheric and often surreal trips through the shattered psyches of some seriously tortured artists. It’s made all the more eye-catching thanks to Unreal Engine 5, and the addition of the flashlight provides some interesting new ways to both interact with your surroundings and mitigate the frustration of the stalker encounters previously suffered in the original games. However, its sleight of hand scare tactics are still all too clearly telegraphed and this predictable formula grew stale long before I reached the end of each of its main story threads. Ultimately Layers of Fear comes across as a largely scare-free 13-hour crawl through a string of mildly creepy hallways as opposed to a truly terrifying trek into darkness.

• PS4
• PC
• PS5
• XONE
• XSX/S
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

F1 23 is a far heartier package than F1 22, with 26 tracks, the enjoyable next chapter of the Braking Point story mode that began in F1 2021, and – for players who love to recline back into the couch and race – the best gamepad handling in the series, ever. The racing-focused secondary career mode F1 World is also likely to be a step in the right direction after last year’s F1 Life for some, although it's equally probable its arcade-inspired, loot-based upgrade system will be divisive amongst traditionalists.

• PC
• 3 / 10
• États-Unis

Greyhill Incident is a fitting name for this awful horror game, because that’s how I’ll refer to the traumatic time I spent playing it. The fact that it so wholly mangles so many of the things it tries to pull off, from its story to its stealth, certainly feels like a conspiracy – and one I wish the government would have done a better job of covering up. I still can’t decide if the idea was to be ironic or scary, but Greyhill Incident fails in either scenario, resulting in a tedious but mercifully short jaunt through cornfields and backwater abodes that’s about as fun as actually being probed by aliens.