Raul Ochoa

“Dark Auction is a great mystery adventure game just short of being amazing. The story is captivating and explores trauma with a compelling cast of characters and a story full of intrigue and deception. The soundtrack by composers Yuko Komiyama and Tsukasa Masuko is ear-pleasing, and the illustrations by Kohske are expressive and beautiful. The game's inexpressive character models and uncanny images clash with the overall presentation, but there's still a lot of good going for this game.”

“Bubble Bobble Sugar Dungeons carries the tried-and-true Bubble Bobble gameplay that fans are familiar with, but the lackluster dungeons and repetitive nature of the game will certainly turn players off. The game lacks a compelling hook with its progression system, and by the time you get to the post-game, you'll likely be exhausted. At the very least, the pack-in Bubble Symphony game is nostalgic and offers a fun arcade experience that lessens the blow of the brutally repetitive main game.”

“Old School Rally is a great arcade-style racing game that has a pleasing PlayStation 1-era aesthetic and fun, addicting gameplay that's easy to pick up and play. The game pays homage to the sport of rally with several unlicensed cars that closely resemble their real-life counterparts, ensuring players aren't missing out on car variety. Although it's not innovative, Old School Rally is a joy to play for racing game fans.”

“Solo Leveling: ARISE OVERDRIVE is an action-packed, character-driven RPG that tells the story of Sung Jinwoo as he evolves into a legendary hunter. There are many improvements across the board, including major gameplay tweaks and additions, a more immersive story mode structure, and the removal of gacha mechanics. Fans who have been waiting for a single-player Solo Leveling game finally got it with Solo Leveling: ARISE OVERDRIVE, despite some of the quality-related flaws that came with the original ARISE.”

“Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O World Stage upgrades Virtua Fighter 5's single-player offers with the fun and rewarding World Stage mode and implements cross-play to keep players engaged in one large player pool. Despite some matchmaking issues, Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O World Stage brings a compelling suite of online features, including Ranked matches, to keep players engaged with another avenue of fighting game content.”

“Disgaea 7 Complete is a jam-packed version of Disgaea 7 with all previously released DLC, new story content, new features, and gameplay tweaks that make it the definitive edition of the strategy RPG. Although Disgaea 7 Complete doesn't revamp the game in a major way, it offers a lot of fun and engaging content with a easy pick-up-and-play combat system that will make the hours fly by before you know it. There are dozens of hours to be spent in Disgaea 7 Complete, all of which look crisp and optimized for Nintendo Switch 2.”

“DRAGON BALL GEKISHIN SQUADRA is a fun and addictive free-to-play 4v4 team battle game that combines the rich history of Dragon Ball with MOBA elements. Players can take advantage of a respectable roster of characters from across the Dragon Ball universe to battle it out online, and there are also plenty of features that let friends play each other with a variety of options and features at their disposal. Despite some of the roster omissions at launch, there's a solid foundation for a game that could keep Dragon Ball fans entertained for years to come.”

“Game of Thrones: Kingsroad is a promising free-to-play open-world action RPG that still needs more work before its potential is fully realized. The game has a fun and satisfying combat system and an interesting story, but Game of Thrones: Kingsroad's monetization practices and progression-slowing Momentum walls hold back what could be one of 2025's hidden gems.”

“Fitness Boxing feat. Hatsune Miku is an excellent rhythm and exercise game that keeps players coming back for more. Despite a lack of variety in its modes, the game still offers compelling content and rewards that will motivate you to keep moving every day. It's a very polished title on Nintendo Switch with very responsive Joy-Con controls and vivid visuals as well.”

“Affogato combines elements of visual novels, popular Japanese RPGs, and anime to create a compelling title. The beautifully drawn illustrations and superb Japanese voice cast make Affogato feel like a high-quality anime or visual novel production. Affogato's Persona-inspired life management systems also allow players to dive deeper into the game's colorful cast of characters as well.”

“The Chaos;Head Noah / Chaos;Child Double Pack provides many hours of thrilling stories and unnerving twists. Although the English release of Chaos;Head Noah is not ideal, it's worth experiencing for fans of visual novels such as Steins;Gate. Chaos;Child is another great entry for the Switch and a worthy sequel with investigation elements. The games would greatly benefit from patches and fixes.”