IGN

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

Earth Defense Force 6 is yet another riotous entry in one of the most ridiculous and corny series ever to make very poor use of our fancy gaming hardware. It looks at least a decade out of date, is absolutely dripping with plot holes and awful voice acting, and has some of the silliest combat I’ve seen in a long time – but all of that only works to its credit, coming together as a game I’ve happily lost dozens of hours of my life to while giggling like an idiot. Not all of its rough edges add to its charm, though, and an overly long campaign filled with repetitive levels and some irritating design choices definitely work against it. But those things are pretty easy to forgive when you accidentally blow your friends up with a rocket launcher that sends giant ants sailing into the air and skyscrapers crumbling into rubble.

• PS5
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

F1 Manager 2024 doesn't completely escape the pitfalls that come with being an annual series, though evolutionary changes make this a welcome third outing. New features like creating your own team offer strong customization options, and securing victories with a tailor-made squad feels even sweeter than building upon an existing one. The mechanical faults and expanded sponsorship systems add welcome strategic depth, too. Several flaws like the tedious contracts system and sprint format, could use further work, and some lingering issues like collision damage haven’t been solved, but this is still Frontier's best take on a Formula 1 management sim yet.

• SWITCH
• 7 / 10
• États-Unis

Like NES Remix and WarioWare before it, Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition offers a good way to revisit challenging moments from a selection of classic NES games. The small library has more winners than losers – the shorter and more instantly repeatable the better – and even the silliest of tasks (like refilling Kid Icarus’s life by wallowing in a hot spring) can be goofy fun. Challenging yourself to improve or competing with your friends has some lasting appeal, but the weekly cycle of the online events artificially limits the fun. With its lovingly portrayed and accurate pixel art, music, and gameplay, these sample-sized portions of chopped up ROMs can serve as a good entrypoint for discovering and understanding their appeal for the first time.

• PS5
• 7 / 10
• États-Unis

While the early hours are a bit rough, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is one of those soulslikes that only gets better as you get further in, unlocking more of the interesting skills that allow you to fully take advantage of its attack chains and XP multipliers. However, you’ll need to want to head off the beaten path to tackle sidequests, find optional fights, or interact with various NPCs to earn weapons and upgrades in order to get the most out of it. Thankfully, Flintlock respects your time while doing so with its use of shortcuts, fast travel, and other ways of making exploring fun and easy. It may have an abridged run time compared to other RPGs, but it makes good use of that time with interesting sidequests and an excellent minigame. Unfortunately, Flintlock’s story meanders a bit towards the middle and wastes a few opportunities that could have let its main characters shine, but this adventure did leave me interested to find out where Nor and Enki will go next.

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

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is an exciting action-strategy hybrid that left me yearning to know more about its inspirations and intricacies. The satisfying day-night structure of its stages evoked that overwhelming “just one more thing” feeling that easily had me losing track of time – and while it could occasionally be tainted by busy work base management deeper in, the overall experience was a delightfully unique one. It’s not the most challenging action game around, but the strategy it demands is still satisfying, and its wide range of interesting enemy designs and quiet but effective storytelling are something I’ll remember for a long while. It’s an odd thought, but I’m glad a game as enigmatic as Kunitsu-Gami exists.

• PS5
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak is an exciting new start for the series. With a fresh cast of characters joined by a handful of familiar faces, it’s a welcoming point for potential new fans to jump in while also rewarding veteran players for returning. Daybreak’s updated hybrid battle system still has a few kinks to work out with its real-time elements, but enhanced movement options and other impressive tweaks make the turn-based aspects better than ever. Wrap that up in an engaging story full of political drama and a compelling new setting, and Daybreak is exactly what the Trails series needed to reach new heights.

• IOS
• ANDROID
• PC
• PS5
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

By leaning into early 2000s nostalgia and then blending it with a stylish vision for the future, Zenless Zone Zero crafts an inimitable world that is easy to get invested in. Exploring New Eridu and getting to know this charming cast both in and out of combat was a thrilling ride I was keen to keep at for hours on end. It’s not necessarily as deep as many of its gameplay inspirations, and momentum-killing hacking puzzles can sometimes sour the mood slightly – but with exhilarating, approachable combat and so many extracurricular activities to take care of, it was always easy to turn a corner and get swept back up in the captivating culture of Zenless Zone Zero.

• SWITCH
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

With its substantially enhanced graphics and more flexible twin-stick control setup, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is undoubtedly the definitive version of Luigi’s second apparition-filled adventure. If you’re a newcomer to the series – or perhaps you only came onboard with Luigi’s Mansion 3 and are working your way backwards – then there’s plenty of ghostbusting and puzzle-solving fun for you to find in Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD’s five haunted houses. However, if you’re a fan of the original Nintendo 3DS version and you were hoping for more dramatic gameplay changes or additions, then you may well be a touch disappointed. What’s more, playing this remaster in the wake of the third game may put its limitations in an unfavourable light. All told, though, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is a great installment in Nintendo’s spectre-snaring series, even if it’s not the best one you can play on the Switch.

• PC
• 10 / 10
• États-Unis

FromSoftware says Shadow of the Erdtree is the only expansion Elden Ring will get, so it’s fortunate that it’s hard to imagine a better DLC than this – as long as you’re not hoping for it to do anything radically outside the box. Everything I loved about the original has been condensed into an incredibly tight package – one that’s the size of many standalone games all on its own, and can only be considered “small” in comparison to the absolutely massive world of Elden Ring itself. Erdtree’s absolutely jam-packed with secrets, valuable treasures, challenging boss battles, and horrific monstrosities to face off against, as well as cool new weapons, spells, Ashes of War, Spirit Ashes, talismans, and more to play around with and use to find even more novel ways to tackle its memorably brutal battles. Add on some very interesting lore revelations, not to mention the same spectacular visual design and stellar music that accompanies its larger-than-life bosses, and you’ve got what is certainly one of the best DLC expansions I’ve ever played.

• PC
• 6 / 10
• États-Unis

I want to give Still Wakes the Deep all the credit it deserves for its fantastic art, dialogue, voiceover work, and setting. But it's frustrating to play with its nearly on-rails structure that actively scoffs at the idea of exploration. And as much as I wanted to be freaked out by it, I almost never was, trying as I might to set the mood as best as possible. It's the kind of game where I think watching someone else play through it and playing it yourself would be nearly identical experiences, and that doesn't make it easy for me to recommend.

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

I was more than happy to revisit Shin Megami Tensei V, one of my favorite games of 2021, through this definitive version. Vengeance doesn't necessarily make drastic improvements per se, but I enjoyed the new twists, content, and quality of life upgrades it does bring all the same. And while the storyline and route exclusive to Vengeance are a bit better than the original, their appeal as a returning player is really just in how they shake things up at certain points. Don’t get it twisted, though – there’s never been a better time to play this hard-nosed RPG, if not for its satisfying turn-based combat, then for its masterful execution of a uniquely demonic world. There’s a certain attitude that comes through vividly in its art style, character design, and music that you just don’t get in other games. So, if you're simply looking for more SMT or have yet to experience Atlus’ devilish RPG series, Vengeance is absolutely worth seeing through.

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

Destiny 2’s potential was clear from the first time I blasted my way through The Red War seven years ago, but Bungie never actually realized much of that potential until The Final Shape. This finale expansion’s story largely succeeds at delivering a satisfying ending, the raid is brutal and epic, the Prismatic subclasses breathe fresh life into combat, and the new enemy faction adds some much-needed variety to the things you’ll spend hours shooting in the face. None of that makes Destiny’s avalanche of confusing RPG systems, currencies, and storylines any easier to digest – but for the first time in a long while, I can wholeheartedly recommend pushing through that darkness, because there’s now a bright and beaming light at the end of the tunnel.

• PC
• IOS
• ANDROID
• 7 / 10
• États-Unis

Wuthering Waves combo-heavy action, mobility, and monster taming enhance combat and exploration enough to respectably distinguish it from competitors. Its combat is polished and sophisticated, rewarding reactivity and pushing me to carefully consider my builds and teams. On top of that, the Echo equipment system ties your character progression into the environment in a way that encourages exploration, which can be satisfying despite the repetitive process of fighting overworld mobs. Unfortunately, the story is a bland, exposition-heavy slog, with dull writing and voice acting that rarely kept me interested. But while the quests may not be what’s pulling me along, I’m still looking forward to checking back in with the next major update to see how Wuthering Waves evolves.

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

In isolation, F1 24 remains a slick, deep, and marvellous motorsports experience. If you’re a racing gamer who’s just getting into F1 (or an F1 fan who’s just getting into gaming) it’s terrific stuff, packed with options, assists, and various other tweakable toggles to make it hugely approachable to F1 fans of all skill levels. However, if you’re a returning player of F1 23, and F1 22, and so on, it’s hard to deem F1 24 essential. Despite its refurbished career mode and handling overhaul, it’s basically a neck and neck finish with the last few years’ versions. And when you have a head start, that’s kind of a loss.

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

Killer Klowns From Outer Space: The Game is as silly and entertaining as the movie that spawned it, and that makes for a surprisingly compelling asymmetrical multiplayer game to boot. The back-and-forth between the wacky, murderous Klowns and the whiny teens is a blast no matter which side of the equation you find yourself on, and unlockable classes and abilities add some much needed variety… for a little bit, at least. After a handful of hours, once you’ve tried out all the human and Klown options and learned the layouts of the small number of maps, that competitive loop can get pretty stale. Here’s hoping developer Illfonic has some tricks up their baggy, checkered sleeves and can deliver updates to keep the clown car chugging along beyond that, but for now Killer Klowns makes for at least a dozen hours of really enjoyable hijinks.

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

XDefiant joins the free-to-play shooter crowd as a respectable competitive FPS built around various Ubisoft franchises, but little makes it really stand out. Its shooting mechanics generally feel great, and even dying doesn’t kill the momentum since you're dropped right back into the action within a few seconds. Some of its issues, like weapon balance, are relatively minor elements that we can expect Ubisoft to adjust over time. Tougher to solve, however, is the clash between its main ideas: fast time-to-kill makes a lot of its class abilities feel difficult to make the most of because you’re usually dead before you can use them. It’s also lacking a defining mode, leaning on samey point-capture ideas and tried-and-true but tired concepts like Payload and Kill Confirmed. On the other hand, excellent maps keep things interesting longer than they otherwise would be, so hopefully it’ll have the time it needs to carve out its own niche.

• XSX/S
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II delivers a spellbinding adventure packed with cinematic spectacle and story surprises that maintains a surging sense of forward momentum and never wastes a second of its slender run time. Its combat manages to feel consistently intimidating and immediate despite its mechanical simplicity, and its perspective-based puzzles regularly scratch cerebral itches even though they largely rehash or rework concepts from Senua’s previous story. A journey as brutal as it is beautiful delivered with hardware-pushing visuals and persistently absorbing audio, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II is another Viking-worthy feast for the senses that meets the high bar set by its predecessor, even if it never really manages to clear it.

• SWITCH
• 9 / 10
• États-Unis

Paper Mario has finally returned to its RPG roots with an amazingly loyal and visually dazzling remake of The Thousand-Year Door. Everything fans have been begging Nintendo to bring back is here, including a delightfully varied turn-based battle system with satisfying real-time elements and unique, lovable party members who are essential to both the story and gameplay. Rogueport and its surrounding areas are bursting with personality thanks to writing that’s just as sharp and funny today as it was in 2004. It also introduces a host of modern improvements that streamline (but don’t eliminate) the original’s backtracking issues, easily making this the best way to experience Mario’s quest to gather the Crystal Stars. There’s a reason The Thousand-Year Door has been considered one of the greatest Nintendo games for the last 20 years, and this brilliant remake ensures it will maintain that reputation for at least a thousand more.