Jurassic World Evolution 2 is Frontier Developments’ follow-up to the park management simulator, with new game modes, dinosaurs and new ways to care for dinosaurs. It also features Chaos Theory, which lets you experience moments from the films that can change based on your decisions. Check out our review for more details.

NBA 2K23 is Visual Concepts’ latest title in the yearly basketball series, with MyCAREER, MyTEAM and MyNBA modes. It’s an improvement over the previous year, even if the monetization still leaves much to be desired. Finally, there’s Trek to Yomi, Flying Wild Hog’s side-scrolling cinematic action title, which pays tribute to Akira Kurosawa films (and is sadly not that good).

Stay tuned for more details on next month’s addition to the Premium and Extra tiers, including new Classic titles. Check out May’s offerings here in the meantime.

Inspired by the aesthetic of Akira Kurosawa’s samurai films, Trek to Yomi is about Hiroki, a swordsman who seeks to protect his town as a promise to his dying master. However, following a tragedy, he seeks to journey “behind life and death” to determine his future. Hiroki starts with a katana, with new techniques and combos learned over time. However, players also get a bow for ranged attacks.

Trek to Yomi lasts about four to six hours, but several difficulty options are available, including a One-Hit Kill Mode for those seeking a challenge. Despite its amazing presentation, it received criticism for its wonky combat, lackluster puzzles and ultimately disappointing story. Check out our official review here for more details.

Trek to Yomi has been officially announced for the Nintendo Switch, and will be launching for the platform later this month, on January 30. Check out the announce trailer below to get a glimpse of what the gorgeous black-and-white sidescroller will look like on Nintendo’s hybrid platform.

In our review of Trek to Yomi, we gave it a score of 7/10, saying, “Trek to Yomi’s outstanding visuals and presentation are quite enough to make up for its fairly straightforward and simplistic gameplay.” Read the full review through here.

Trek to Yomi is currently available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Elden Ring

Elden Ring is as perilous as any of the Souls games, but on a larger scale. Nevertheless, knowledge is power, from knowing enemy placements and patterns to weaknesses, and will ultimately tip the scales in your favor. The Full-Grown Fallingstar Beast and its asinine hitboxes can still die in a fire, though.

The Callisto Protocol

Arguably one of the more anticipated games of the year, The Callisto Protocol was talked up a fair amount by Striking Distance Studios. With talent like Dead Space co-creator Glen Schofield involved, it seemed like a slam-dunk…until we played the game. And endured its awkward combat, lacklustre enemy variety, and lame final boss, all in a span of a few hours instead of the promised 12 to 14. Worst of all, performance was atrocious on PC with severe stuttering issues and crashes. The Callisto Protocol isn’t the worst game ever, but it ranked above average, which felt even worse.

Martha is Dead

LKA’s psychological horror looked special, and the setting of a German-occupied Italy during World War 2 could have presented something unique. Sadly, things fall apart after the opening, with the middle act suffering in pacing due to lots of meandering and wandering. Some controls don’t feel great, and the camera system also feels too complex for the amount used. Also, despite the handful of gruesome scenes, the real horror is reserved for the beginning and the end. Again, great ideas and an interesting setting with disturbing material, but the mishmash of other ideas and story elements dull the experience.

Salt and Sacrifice

Look, I’m not saying I expected another Souls-like Metroidvania that built on the first game and also had a large, interconnected world. Salt and Sacrifice kind of does that, but also inserts Monster Hunter-like elements when it comes to hunting Mages. The art style is polished, and the premise is intriguing. Yet, it doesn’t come together as well as its predecessor, either due to the progression, annoying combat aspects (like getting juggled in the air) or the controls.

Somerville

When you hear the story behind developer Jumpship, founded by former Playdead co-founder Dino Patti, you want to root for Somerville. Patti’s experience includes Inside and Limbo, and despite this not being a full side-scrolling platformer, the premise and aesthetics look great. However, the plot leaves much to be desired (especially with the “ending”), and the controls are not good. Having to deal with numerous issues and bugs doesn’t help either.

Trek to Yomi

Like Ghost of Tsushima, Trek to Yomi takes heavy inspiration from Akira Kurosawa’s work, both in presentation and aesthetics. The monochrome art looks incredible, and the camera work is impeccable. The problem is the rest of the game, specifically the combat, which feels annoying and clunky. Add boring enemy variety and level design, and you have a beautiful-looking side-scroller without any heart or soul.

Rainbow Six Extraction

One didn’t expect much from Rainbow Six Extraction. After all, it had been delayed multiple times, and the prospect of taking a limited-time event and turning it into a paid game still felt scummy. However, as it turns out, Ubisoft went even lower than my lowest expectations. Terrible AI, damage-sponge bosses, awful objectives, a complete lack of tactical gameplay, bugs – the list goes on. Extraction’s biggest achievement is how it manages to be so disappointing and yet so forgettable, with many still expressing surprise that it even launched this year.

Roller Champions

When Roller Champions was first announced, it seemed stylish, even if the concept of a 3v3 Roller Derby-style multiplayer game didn’t sound so intriguing. Then it got delayed again and again. When it finally landed this year, Roller Champions was a complete dud. It wasn’t downright awful, but nothing was captivating about it. The lack of polish, mode variety, and features like stats or quick chat at launch ensured a plummet into irrelevance.

Resident Evil Village – The Winters’ Expansion

We all had hopes for The Winters’ Expansion, particularly Shadows of Rose, which took place several years after the base game. Alas, not only did it recycle environments and fail to advance the overarching story, but it was only a handful of hours long. That would be fine if the expansion were cheaper. But the Third-Person Mode for the base game felt too clunky and awkward, and the additional Mercenaries content was simply good without being worthwhile alone.

Scorn

Announced in 2014, Scorn has been in development for a long time, but the disgusting art style, inspired by H. R. Giger and Zdzisław Beksiński, made it stand out in the sea of graphically beautiful titles. Unfortunately, its annoying combat and checkpoints, not to mention the frustrating puzzles, hamper it tremendously. It feels like a conflict between the art design and gameplay, resulting in an underwhelming – and short – experience.

Marvel’s Midnight Suns

Weird as it sounds, I always felt there was something off about Marvel’s Midnight Suns. This is even after all the gameplay streams showcased the myriad of tactics available. On release, it revealed some pretty terrible writing, not to mention an excessive amount of padding and grinding for something as simple as card rerolls. The combat was still decent, but performance issues and shabby visual quality held it back.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

The first-ever seamless open-world title for Pokemon. Three paths to follow with the freedom to choose. The start of the ninth generation. All these promises and more were made for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, and the results were…iffy. While the stories and gameplay felt good, the sheer range of technical and performance issues, shoddy presentation, and illusion of free choice made it feel like a severe downgrade from Pokemon Legends: Arceus and even Sword and Shield.

Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin

When rumors of a Final Fantasy Souls-like action RPG from Team Ninja, including the minds behind Nioh, first circulated, I was stoked. There’s no way Square Enix could mess this up, right? Unfortunately, they did, with a weird combat system, horribly optimized visuals, and some of the worst writing either company has put out (which is saying something). Subsequent updates and DLC improved it, but this is still a major disappointment considering what could have been.

FIFA 23

Since it’s the last title as part of EA Sports’ collaboration with FIFA, you would think FIFA 23 would be a worthwhile end to a long-running, mostly-controversial series. It’s not. New mechanics like the PowerShot, Active Touch and World Cup modes were nice additions. But it’s still microtransaction-heavy, as evidenced by the changes to chemistry in Squad-Building Challenges. The PC version still has several issues, and the Nintendo Switch version continues to be a joke. For those who enjoyed FIFA, it’s more FIFA and still sells millions, but it’s still lacklustre.

Rune Factory 5

Ever since the delay to its Western release, I had some decent hopes for Rune Factory 5. It’s fully 3D with a more impressive presentation and combat. Unfortunately, it also feels overtly grindy, while the premise and overall gameplay aren’t a big enough step up over its predecessor. The performance of Nintendo Switch left much to be desired (with the PC version faring better). Long story short, it’s not a terrible game but could have done much more. Those looking to discover what makes the series great are better off sticking to Rune Factory 4 Special.

Gotham Knights

Believe it or not, there were some expectations on Gotham Knights. Even for those who knew it was more of an action RPG than a brand-new Batman: Arkham, there was that promise of exploring Gotham City and beating up bad guys. Gotham Knights bungled this with bad dialogue, annoying combat mechanics (counters? What are those?), clunky stealth, and grinding for things that should be available by default. Worst of all? It completely wastes the Court of Owls as antagonists.

Mass Effect Andromeda

Mass Effect Andromeda tried to do a lot. It tried to tell a new story with a brand new cast, with the team behind Mass Effect 3’s stellar multiplayer in charge. It also opted for much larger play spaces and more build diversity. However, from the very outset, there were issues, whether it was the plan to have randomly generated planets, Frostbite being a mess, high-level departures, etc. Despite being decent in several ways, Andromeda flopped hard enough that publisher EA reportedly cancelled DLC and put the franchise on ice for a few years.

Diablo Immortal

The day it was announced, nearly everyone expected Diablo Immortal to be a pay-to-win shitshow. The final product somehow exceeded their wildest expectations with a battle pass, premium battle pass, empowered battle pass, materials, bundles, cosmetics – anything and everything was for sale. Let’s not even get into entire endgame mechanics – like Awakening – only accessible by spending money. The real tragedy is that even if that was all stripped away, you’re left with a middling, dumbed-down clone of Diablo 3 with a terrible UI and loot.

Horizon Forbidden West

In many ways, Horizon Forbidden West is more of what made Horizon Zero Dawn so good, just enriched further. The increased fidelity fits well with the wider variety of environments, like San Francisco’s coast and the dilapidated Golden Gate Bridge. But even when traversing the deserts and forests, everything looks so crisp and detailed, from sand particle effects to the foliage and skyboxes. Of course, the animation work also deserves a nod for how much it’s expanded and enhanced, particularly in cutscenes and interactions. It helps bring every encounter to life.

Black Myth: Wukong

Developer Game Science’s upcoming Black Myth: Wukong is based upon the classic Chinese novel Journey to The West. Players assume the role of a hero who traverses through fantastical lands and fights off vicious beasts while engaging in a high-stakes and fast-paced combat system that’s heavily inspired by FromSoftware’s Souls games. The game looks absolutely gorgeous on both a visual and technical level, courtesy of Epic’s Unreal Engine 5. Black Myth: Wukong releases for PC and consoles sometime in 2023.

Presented in black-and-white, the trailer sees a lone swordsman fighting off of an armed group. It’s all appropriately old-school, right down to the framing of stabs. As for the game’s story, it’s about a young warrior Hiroki who wants to fulfill his master’s dying wish and protect those he loves. Unfortunately, once tragedy strikes, he must venture beyond life and death to determine his “path forward.”

Trek to Yomi isn’t an awfully time-consuming experience, lasting about five hours overall. There are multiple difficulty modes though, including an unlockable One-Hit Kill Mode, and different endings. For more details, check out our interview with the developer here.