IGN

• PS5
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy is an awesome sequel that keeps the good times rolling for one of the best co-op puzzle-platformer series out there. This set of puzzles are some of the strongest they’ve ever been, and boss fights are creative and original – even if those highlights are occasionally cut short with snooze-inducing combat sections and a predictable story. It may not do much to innovate beyond what we’ve done four times before, but Trine 5 plays to its strengths extremely well and makes some important tweaks here and there that definitely make it worthy of a playthrough or two.

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

Sea of Stars is an excellent tribute RPG that channels the best parts of its ‘90s-era forebears like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 6, and even Star Ocean: The Second Story. Because of that, it’s fair to say that its world, graphical style, and mechanics aren’t wholly original, but there are enough interesting twists in its 30-hour story to make for a rich and enjoyable experience of its own merit. This isn’t just nostalgia fodder. That said, its twitchy combat can be difficult to get a handle on, and once you do, it only stays interesting for so long before its limited customization options make it start to feel just a little repetitive. That’s made up for by a strong soundtrack, an approachable and endearing story, and a wide number of fun zones and boss fights that make this a trip worth taking.

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

Before playing The Making of Karateka, I had no interest in Karateka beyond it being a historical stepping stone to Prince of Persia. But I get it now. I I see its many parts: The animation that was hand drawn from Jordan Mechner’’s snapshots of his family’s karate instructor; the music that began as a fatherly lesson in Wagner’s leitmotifs; and the cinematic framing of a story that cuts between scenes in a far more complicated way than, say, the “They Meet” cutscene in Ms. Pac-Man. Karateka is significant, but the story behind it is remarkable, and The Making of Karateka tells that story in the coolest way possible.

• PC
• SWITCH
• PS5
• XSX/S
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

Blasphemous 2 is an excellent Metroidvania and a marked improvement over the original, even if it did occasionally make me cancel my lunch plans with its grotesqueries. What it lacks in originality with its design it more than makes up for with its bizarre world, appalling story, and inspired look and sound. The new weapons and focus on platforming definitely helped sustain my enjoyment for the campaign’s sizable duration, even when underwhelming enemy variety and unchallenging bosses leave something to be desired. Its stomach-churning religious torture porn might be as far as you can get from the adorable world of Hollow Knight, but you’d be hard-pressed to find something better to play while you continue your interminable wait for Silksong.

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

Armored Core 6 doesn’t look to reinvent the bipedal legs of the mech action genre, but it does update, refine, and polish them to an aggressive shine. Every sortie is a satisfying combat puzzle to solve thanks to fantastic mission design, intense boss encounters, an extremely wide assortment of weapons and parts that can dramatically affect how your mech plays, and excellent, explosive combat that manages to take very complex systems and mechanics and make them easy to understand and execute. Its interesting premise is stifled by bland storytelling told through mission briefings and radio chatter, but this is still nonetheless a welcome return of a classic mecha series.

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

Immortals of Aveum is an impressively confident first-person shooter that successfully trades muzzles and magazines for mages and magic. Its fast-paced, spellcasting combat is both satisfying to master and spectacular to look at, and it features a lengthy and hearty campaign packed with secrets to keep us going well after the story has wrapped. As someone who desperately hopes that unapologetically single-player shooters will live forever, these Immortals have done a great job of making sure they’re definitely not dead yet.

• PC
• 10 / 10
• États-Unis

I don't want to say every CRPG going forward should aspire to be like Baldur's Gate 3. Not everything needs to be nearly this big and ambitious, or even this dense. But it is a landmark moment in the genre, and if I had to point to one paragon that I would like everyone else making these to take inspiration from, this is absolutely it. I waited 14 years for the stars to align again so that we could get the ideal mix of crunchy, tactical, old-school RPG combat, an epic and well-written story with complex characters and lots of meaningful choices, and a level of polish and cinematic presentation that let me see the sweat and the sorrow on characters' faces in their darkest hours. Plenty of other games have partially completed that list, but the last time they all came together was Dragon Age: Origins in 2009. And I can finally say that game, and its Infinity Engine predecessors, have a worthy successor that’s not just matched their RPG greatness, but surpassed it. Baldur’s Gate 3 is just about everything I could have asked for.

• PC
• PS5
• XSX/S
• 4 / 10
• États-Unis

Any way you look at it, whether it’s an RPG, a real-time strategy game, or a colony sim, Gord is as miserable as its downtrodden villagers. Other games are bad because they aim too high, attempt too much, and fall down on their own merits. They are at the very least hoisted on their own petard, doing us the favor of digging their own grave or being entertaining in their failures. Gord does not; it simply falls flat and rots where it lies, surrounded by monotonous micromanagement, a poor interface, and by-the-numbers combat. I am content to leave it there, but you may bury it if you like.

• SWITCH
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

Moving Out 2 is an extremely colourful and calamitous co-op sequel that’s as challenging as it is charming, serving up an enjoyably distinct set of crazy cargo collections that task you with bending at the knees while consistently splitting your sides. Spreading its preposterous brand of pass the parcel across multiple dimensions has empowered the developers to get really creative with the setup of each stage, although that added ambition has meant that some smaller corners have seemingly been cut. Still, the addition of online multiplayer should mean that more players will be able to rope in a moving buddy whether they share the same couch or not, which will hopefully go a long way towards making up for its lingering deficiencies as a single-player experience. If you’re up for another hectic house party with friends, Moving Out 2 hits harder than a thrown fridge.

• XONE
• XSX/S
• PS5
• PC
• PS4
• 6 / 10
• États-Unis

I have little doubt that in a year or two, when they’ve added more scenarios and maps, fixed the most pressing technical issues, and maybe thought up a better way for newcomers to learn how to play, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre will become a staple in my growing asymmetrical horror games library. For now, however, my recommendation comes with a lot of caveats. While the less lopsided take on the asymmetrical horror format definitely works, the shallow number of samey maps can get monotonous pretty quickly, and even with a fair number of playable characters and a solid progression system, I found myself way too comfortable with the three scenarios after just a few hours. Still, the potential behind this format and the reverence for the beloved horror classic it’s based on is clear, even when it does feel a tad half-baked coming out the gates.

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

Atlas Fallen is a solid open-world action RPG with plenty of platforming and large monsters to fight. Putting aside its weak story and the console versions’ gritty graphics there’s a hidden gem of excellent combat, robust exploration, and surprisingly deep customization to uncover in the sinking sands of its arid wilderness. It’s slightly disappointing that co-op is online-only with no cross-play, but thanks to solid technical performance, it sticks in my mind as one of the better worlds I’ve explored with a friend lately.

• 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.