SteamWorld Heist 2 marks the seventh game in the SteamWorld franchise, which has built itself more as an anthology than a series. The name is a playground for different ideas, loosely connected around a cartoon-robot aesthetic, rather than a connected universe of familiar gameplay structures and stories. Heist 2 marks only the second direct sequel, after SteamWorld Dig 2. Since Dig was SteamWorld's breakthrough, it seems significant that the second true sequel is going to the more-modest cult-hit SteamWorld Heist. But the proof is in the pudding, as SteamWorld Heist 2 is a massive leap over the first game, expanding on virtually all of its systems without overcomplicating them or compromising its charm.

Like the first game, SteamWorld Heist 2 defies easy categorization, as it really only plays like itself. You and your band of Steambots go on missions to tightly enclosed indoor spaces, and take part in turn-based tactical combat. While there is cover and abilities with cooldowns like you might find in a typical XCOM-like, the 2D perspective shifts more than just your point-of-view--in comparison to its genre contemporaries, Heist 2 plays extremely differently. Rather than flanking around enemies, there's a huge emphasis on verticality, as well as lining up trick-shots using laser sight-like aimlines to bounce your projectiles off the walls or objects to hit an enemy ducking behind cover. And like the first game, you can pick up bags of optional loot, typically including one especially well-hidden or well-guarded piece of epic loot, and then head for the evacuation point to end the mission. How long you stay to grab every last piece of loot is often pressed by an escalating alarm system, creating a nice tension between risk and reward.

Where SteamWorld Heist 2 builds on the first game's structure is through a variety of new systems, each of which feels full-fledged in itself and complements the existing loop. Primary among these is a new job-class system, which is defined by your weaponry. Any Steambot can equip any job by simply switching their primary weapon during the mission loadout, and the requisite experience points they earn in that mission will go toward the equipped job. Each job has five levels to unlock, with a sequence of powerful abilities becoming available throughout.

I didn't expect I'd review two games about pied-pipering friendly and fantastical animals around a beautiful world in the span of just a few weeks, but following the recent release of Flock, a somewhat similar game has arrived. Creatures of Ava, however, is a much bigger and more ambitious game, and usually reaches the surprisingly high benchmarks it sets for itself. From a pair of relatively unknown studios, this open-world creature-saving game is touching, gorgeous, and ultimately serves as one of the best family games of the year.

Creatures of Ava stars Vic, a researcher who arrives on the planet Ava to help complete an ark project that intends to rescue the world's animals from the withering, a planet-wide infection that is slowly corrupting life itself. Even before I knew what kind of game Creatures of Ava would be, I was taken aback by how pretty it is. It's one of the best-looking games I've played in 2024, with a vibrant color palette of bright oranges, pinks, blues, and more that is immediately striking.

Additionally, the game's way of carrying players through a story that involves four distinct open-world sections, each with its own biomes and aesthetics, means new surprises and sights are regularly debuting. I was genuinely excited to conclude each chapter just so I could see what remarkable vistas the game would unveil next.

Your first task in Thank Goodness You're Here! is to answer the question, "A'tha from Tarn?" Depending on your response, the game's menus and subtitles will either display in English or the local dialect, changing words like "Options" to "Faff" and "Continue game" to "Keep gu'in." If this rather odd choice hasn't already given it away, Thank Goodness You're Here! is possibly the most quintessentially British game ever made--specifically, northern England and the town of Barnsworth, a fictional town right near the very real town of Barnsley. Developed by Coal Supper--a two-person team who grew up in the post-industrial town--this absurdist comedy "slapformer" is a genuinely hilarious romp. It won't appeal to everyone and can be finished over a few cups of tea, but there aren't many games that have managed to plaster such a huge smile on my face.

The game's mouthful of a title is uttered by a few of the game's characters, including a young fan of Barnsworth's local football club. "Thank Goodness You're Here!" he exclaims as you leap through an open window and into a kitchen adorned with red and white scarves and framed pictures of the team's players. Sitting at the dining table with a cup of dark tea, he pleads with you to procure him some milk. He'd go himself, but he's terribly "milk shy." So off you pop to the local farm, where Bessie the cow requires a bag of chips--wrapped in newspaper, of course--to perk her up before she can produce any milky goodness. The local chip shop, Marge's Chippo, is the place to go, but after recently fixing the deep fat fryer, the queue is far too long and you don't have time to wait. This leads to another trek across town, with more whimsical hijinks abound before you eventually get your hands on that precious, precious milk.

This is the general gist of Thank Goodness You're Here! If it sounds like you're simply running around performing a series of fetch quests, it's actually much more involved than that. You play as a tiny traveling salesman who's arrived in town for a meeting with the mayor. Instead of sitting in the waiting room until they're ready to see you, you decide to venture out into town where the locals are all too eager to give you a series of increasingly odd jobs. As you explore the streets of Barnsworth and help out its wacky denizens, your antics leave an indelible mark on the place, opening up new areas to probe as you're given more and more zany tasks to complete.

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.