“Lunar” by In Distance is an incredible album portraying the artist’s experience of grieving someone. He conveys this with the album's progression, the album’s rhetoric and lyrics, and the incredible emotional response the album provokes. Overall, Indy took a serious topic and portrayed it in all the right ways.
Despite the short runtime, Sabrina Carpenter's new album Short n’ Sweet became an instant classic pop album with its catchy songs and creative lyricism.
Bloober Team’s remake of iconic Silent Hill 2 is near a masterpiece. It might not achieve the same status as the original, but the game builds upon the foundations of what Team Silent originally designed over two decades ago, giving players, new and old, a fresh lens through which to experience the sorrowfully psychological story of James Sunderland. Any fan of the franchise should look to this game as the potential that the franchise isn’t dead—that hope may yet still reside within the town of Silent Hill.
The Fallout show stays true to the world of the games, while also carving its own path in an intriguing story. While the show has some rough spots, it positions itself well to grow out of its mistakes into another season.
Hippo Campus flaunts a new, mature sound with Flood with one of their best tracklists yet. From down-to-earth admissions of faults, to hopeful inspiration, each song has something to say, leading to one of the band’s best releases.
GUTS (Spilled) is a fantastic expansion of a fantastic album. The range of different emotions this album is able to produce leads to me coming back to it no matter the mood I’m in. It is one of the few pieces of media I consider to be nearly flawless.
The Unheard and Unaired EPs consist of a total of seven incredible songs that complement Hozier’s Unreal, Unearth album. Hozier yet again delivers poignant lyrics in combination with incredible vocals, making these EPs well worth the listen.
The Apollo trilogy has some character and story issues, but it mostly succeeds at the story it tries to tell, while looking and sounding beautiful. This trilogy is one I recommend more to already existing Ace Attorney fans, rather than newcomers to the series; however, these are all fantastic games that are worth playing.
Life is Strange: Heatwaves is a love letter to the franchise it heralds from, but fails to fully recapture the fanfare of the story it is continuing. Brittney Morris clearly respects and cares for the franchise, but caters to a constricted page count and fans who have history with the franchise.
With massive shoes to fill, Suicide Squad Kills the Justice League manages to stake it's own claim in the Arkham Universe, despite some issues cropping up here and there. With fun new gameplay mechanics and a cast of loveable, unloved unheroes, The Suicide Squad is here to stay
With a long and illustrious legacy to uphold, the re-release of Persona 3 is just as astounding as its name suggests. Adding new features and loads of content, Persona 3 Reload is just as memorable and outstanding as it always has been.
Even years later, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes returns to the dystopian world of the Hunger Games with new characters and a new story. With a revival of the themes of humanity and corruption, The Hunger Games sees a new life in a old perspective.
With a delightful level of charm and camp, Wonka is a wonderful loveletter to the original classic. Fun visuals, joyful songs, and a thick layer of cringy charm: Wonka returns in a modern masterpiece.
Returning for a second season, Loki proves it is more than a one time slice of magic. With a solid story arc, likeable new characters, and the same villainous charm, Loki secures a solid second season
Coming off an outstanding year on TikTok, Pinkpantheress returns from her debut EP 'to hell with it' with her first full album release 'Heaven Knows'. While her songwriting may have needed a bit more effort, the drum and bass beats and Y2K vibes are a quality listen through and through.
Adding to the ever growing list of rogue-like games, WORLD OF HORROR offers unique and inventive gameplay, settled into stylish pixel art and eldritch horror in equal amount. While the loop approach to the narrative can end up a bit predictable, WORLD OF HORROR is an indie title well worth time and price tag.
With a stunning new artistic direction and a plethora of inventive power-ups and abilities, Super Mario Wonder is a marvelous addition to Nintendo's 2D Mario lineup. Adding a host of new ideas, Nintendo captures the wonderful wackiness of imagination.
With innovative level design and a healthy amount of new gameplay, Sonic Superstars is a solid addition to the legacy franchise. Borrowing the better elements from past titles, the new Sonic game feels refreshing and familiar all at the same time.
Ending the rocky Cyberpunk legacy with a bang, CD Projekt Red delivers the final expansion to their would be RPG masterpiece with Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty. With loads of new content, bug fixes, and content overhauls, Cyberpunk can officially be considered a marvelous success.
With stylish game design and intense mechanics, Lies of P finds itself in a world of grim fairytales and despair. Following in the footsteps of FromSoftware's growing legacy, this Soulsborne-like masterpiece captures magic with no strings attached.
