Sylvio: Black Waters might be the most under-the-radar third entry in a series I or perhaps even GameSpot has ever reviewed. The ghost-hunting series has been a deeply hidden gem in my mind for many years now, and Black Waters continues its winning streak. It keeps intact the best parts of the previous games while adding some new wrinkles and reviving some mechanics it had previously left behind. Not all of that works in its favor, but its strengths are so notable that it remains one of the year's best horror games.

In Sylvio: Black Waters, you play Juliette, a ghost hunter. In the previous two games, she spent her time in creepy fairgrounds and haunted houses, recording staticky electronic voice phenomena (EVP), and in the sequel, even capturing ghostly images, too. Black Waters makes that the focus once again, although this time, it does so in a setting so peculiar and unpredictable that it gives the game an element of science fiction.

At first, I thought the strange, Mars-like dreamworld, where everything is rust-colored and decorated as though some unseen landscaper is practicing a stream-of-consciousness exercise, would be difficult to get into. It was almost too alien, unlike the more earthly and relatable locales I explored in the earlier games. In those cases, it felt like a place I could in which I could find myself. Black Waters' setting doesn't have that trait, but it doesn't take long for it to reveal its own alluring creepiness.

The moment all of your uncles have been anticipating for over a decade has arrived: EA Sports College Football 25 is finally here. With it comes a wave of nostalgia for anyone who played NCAA Football 14 or any of its previous installments, and an air of curiosity for those who have only experienced Madden. After you've played a decent amount of games and that initial rush is over, does EA Sports College Football 25 live up to the hype?

To my surprise, the answer was yes. At first, I was simply expecting a one-to-one Madden reskin. Yet as soon as the first game started, the presentation and pageantry on display were quick indications that this was a brand-new ball game. EA Sports College Football 25 perfectly encapsulates what attending a college football game is like. Vibrant and viciously loud crowds, hundreds of university-specific walkouts and traditions, and uniquely designed stadiums make each school's ambiance give off its own air of distinct excitement.

That production isn't just for pre-rendered cutscenes, as EA Sports College Football 25 also looks impressive during its moment-to-moment gameplay. You can just about see every pore and bead of sweat running down players' skin as they bounce off each other, and movement and AI reactivity are much more realistic than what we've seen in Madden thus far.

The First Descendant is a bad video game that's occasionally fun. These fleeting moments of joy speak to the potential of the game's bedrock, where snappy combat ekes out glimpses of delight amidst a torrent of disappointment and frustration. Everything surrounding the game's fast-paced shooting is painfully dull, tedious, and egregiously predatory. The First Descendant is a free-to-play, third-person looter shooter that feels like it was designed to please shareholders rather than the people playing it. It's derivative and soulless, bereft of new ideas outside of the myriad ways it attempts to extract money from its player base. It's a foul example of a game designed around monetization, even in a market saturated with freemium looter shooters.

It doesn't start on good footing, either. The First Descendant's story is convoluted and sterile, but the basic premise places you as one of the titular Descendants--a group of humans with unique abilities passed down to them from their fallen ancestors. You're tasked with fighting for the survival of humanity against an invading alien threat known as the Vulgus, who traveled to the colonized planet of Ingris in search of an infinite energy source.

These interdimensional invaders come in all shapes and sizes, with very little in common regarding their visual design. Some look like gray-skinned humans; others are grotesque creatures with large glowing claws. There are sleek and smooth-edged robots, but also clunky ones, too. Some are made to resemble humanoid lizards, while others are floating orbs that shoot lightning. There's no cohesion or unifying theme to the Vulgus. Even their names range from Greg to something more alien, like Alzaroke.

At first glance, Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddess feels like the spinning plates metaphor made manifest. Each stage requires you to purge supernatural rot, rescue villagers, build traps, and fight off waves of hideous demons, all with the goal of aiding a divine maiden in her quest to rid Mt. Kafuku of a plague. The gameplay mechanics required to achieve all of those tasks, however, bundle together to create one of the more distinct experiences in video games this year.

On a moment-to-moment basis, Kunitsu-Gami tests your fighting skills, as well as your wits and your ability to think on your feet, lest the maiden in your care succumb to the rot. There are elements where the fun of its sword-swinging, demon-slaying action is supplanted by menial tasks, but those hiccups aren't enough to derail the whole experience. Kunitsu-Gami is a refreshing new addition to Capcom's stable of IP and a solid execution of an engaging gameplay loop.

This new adventure puts you in control of Soh, a samurai warrior who is sworn to protect Yoshiro, the aforementioned divine maiden. Their home, Mt. Kafuku, has been invaded by the Seethe, a demonic force of otherworldly entities who have spread a hideous plague of "defilement" throughout the land. Soh must lead Yoshiro through each town and village on the mountain, protecting her at all costs as she purges the defilement once and for all.

As more metroidvania games come out, we're seeing fewer of them resemble the originators of the subgenre--Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night--and more that clearly take inspiration from those that came after. Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is one such example, with tons of clear parallels to Hollow Knight in terms of both gameplay and narrative. In a few ways, this works extremely well for Path of the Teal Lotus--if you're going to take inspiration from a game, do it using one where there's a lot of good stuff to build on. However, Path of the Teal Lotus pales in comparison to its inspirations by making mechanics and features that were already problems in Hollow Knight, like an unclear map and frustrating platforming gauntlets, worse. It makes for an altogether decent-enough game if based solely on its own merits, but one that doesn't stand out at all when held up against its juggernaut contemporaries.

In Path of the Teal Lotus, you play as the titular Bō, a celestial blossom charged with fulfilling an ancient prophecy and defeating a terrifyingly large monstrosity after falling from the heavens. Armed with a bō staff, Bō must traverse and fight their way through picturesque locales, meeting characters and fighting monsters inspired by Japanese folklore. It's an incredible narrative tee-up, but one that comes after hours of coy character dialogue and not much in the way of direction beyond "go get this ability to get to the next area." Path of the Teal Lotus' story takes a long time to get going, leaving the first half of the game feeling directionless. And once a story does start falling into place, the game is already heading toward its conclusion, culminating in an overall narrative tempo that initially feels far too slow before becoming rushed and difficult to follow.

And I wanted to get lost in this game's world. Path of the Teal Lotus is a beautiful game, featuring a colorful, hand-drawn 2.5D style that incorporates vibrant greens, electric blues, somber purples, and shining reds. Character and enemy designs are varied and pop against the backdrop, with details helping to highlight NPCs you want to talk to and enemy weak points you want to bash. The world relies on the tried-and-true method of associating a specific color with each location and then relying on said color to depict the same location on the map, reinforcing each distinct locale and the unique challenges you'll encounter there, whether it's the icy blue of a snow-covered mountaintop or soft pink of a sakura-filled forest.