Reviewed on: PC
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Switch, PC
Publisher: Binary Haze Interactive
Developer: Live Wire
Release: January 22, 2025

Although it doesn’t reinvent the Metroidvania wheel, Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist successfully builds upon its predecessor, Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights, to create a potent follow-up. The action packs more punch, the customization allows for deeper strategy, and the world is arguably better looking. While it lacks some quality-of-life innovations from more recent contemporaries, series fans and genre enthusiasts have another solid option to scratch the action platformer itch.

Set long after the events of Ender Lilies, Ender Magnolia differentiates itself by blending a cool industrial aesthetic with its magical fantasy. As Lilac, a gifted and amnesiac boy, you’ll partner with homunculi (artificial lifeforms) to fight your way up a collapsed kingdom, from its slums to the top of its societal hierarchy. Ender Magnolia’s lore is more intriguing than its plot. I enjoyed soaking in contextual notes and chatting with my homunculi partners – including a mysterious masked swordswoman and former aristocrat trapped in the body of a spider – more than the story itself. While the quest to regain your memories while sparing the world from a magical affliction is serviceable, it doesn’t help that seeing its true ending (after you’ll likely first encounter the false “bad” conclusion) requires completing an involved and annoying vague series of steps.  

As with Lily in the last game, Lilac doesn’t get his hands dirty in battle (he is a child, after all). Instead, he lets his homunculi party handle the fighting for him. My favorites include fellow amnesiac, Nola, who executes slick melee attacks, and a shy masked warrior who pummels foes with his giant mechanical fist. Some homunculi attack autonomously, like a throne-bound little girl who pulsates damaging shockwaves wherever she’s placed. Other homunculi bestow exploration skills such as climbing walls and shooting a web line to zip up designated perches. Though I used some homunculi more than others, this was usually by preference. They’re all useful in their unique ways, and trying different combinations yields fun synergies.  

Homunculi also have two or three attack variants. For example, Nola can wield a sword, scythe, or axe, and each weapon behaves differently and has unique stats. Luka’s fiery punch can knock back foes in a straight line, but I also like his jumping downward punch that encases targets in ice, especially those below me. This freeform approach to combat extends to how you assign up to four homunculi to a dedicated button; the most ergonomic layout means comfortably executing multiple attacks at once. Mapping a gun-toting homunculi’s ranged pistol attack to a shoulder button kept a face button free to unleash melee attacks simultaneously; I enjoyed optimizing this multitasking. Tack on the aforementioned auto-attacking homunculi, and the combat sings when I unleash the full brunt of my party to shatter enemy defenses and finish them off.  

 

Equipping Lilac with a limited number of stat-buffing relics, clothing, and accessories means you can create many specialized builds. You can focus on passively regaining HP, maximize the amount of currency/upgrade resources, or build around inflicting punishment through status effects. I never settled into a comfort zone with my loadout; whenever I hit a tough enemy, of which there are many, a trip to a save room to reconfigure my loadout usually solved the problem. 

Ender Magnolia’s massive, sprawling map begins feeling tiresome towards the back half. It also isn’t always clear where the main objective lies. You can deeply traverse multiple areas from the start, making it easy to lose the thread on the task at hand. This became frustrating when I wanted to focus on the critical path because I wasn’t always sure I was going the right way. I’m also disappointed the map only includes barebones markers that look the same, so you still have to remember what you’re denoting. Considering some tasks require you to revisit certain characters, some of which move around, keeping everything straight feels more troublesome than necessary (especially after Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown’s fantastic screenshot feature). At least the sights along the way look like a video game art book come to life, boasting beautiful 2D visuals and striking locales like an underground laboratory, an enchanting crimson forest, and an opulent magic academy. 

Ender Magnolia is a solid sophomore effort for this series, and while the exploration is protracted and occasionally confusing, the combat steps up its game in a big way. While not a gigantic leap forward, chalk up another good outing in this hidden gem of a Metroidvania series. 

This 2025 review reflects our thoughts on the game’s current state at publishing. As such, post-launch updates were factored into the final score.

Score: 8.25

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Reviewed on: Switch
Platform: Switch
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Retro Studios, Forever Entertainment
Release: January 16, 2025

Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Wii is one of the best 2D platformers of the past 20 years. It’s a hyperbolic statement I would typically avoid in a review, but revisiting the game on Switch and years of reflection have given me the confidence to commit. The Switch transition does have some downsides making it a somewhat underwhelming port of a fantastic game, but it doesn’t change the fact that Returns is a classic and I am glad I no longer have to break out a Wii Remote and Nunchuck or my 3DS to revisit it.

I am not here to necessarily re-review Donkey Kong Country Returns (we gave it a deserved 9.5 upon release), but it is worth calling out what makes it wonderful and that game fully exists here. Controlling Donkey Kong feels great and every level is meticulously designed with exciting moments and unique elements. The soundtrack, which primarily reimagines the music of the original SNES game, is incredible and nostalgic. The Country feels alive, full of color and energy, and your interaction with it feels tangible and meaningful.

Expanding your moveset by playing successfully and keeping Diddy Kong at your side is brilliantly implemented. When you lose him, it completely changes how you approach challenges, and when you get him back it is a worthwhile reward. I appreciate the focused nature of just having Donkey and Diddy Kong in Returns. The sequel, Tropical Freeze, is also a fantastic game, but it spreads itself a little thinner comparatively by having a larger suite of secondary characters. Since Diddy is your sole partner, each level is designed to make the best of his suite of abilities.

Returns is not for the faint of heart and remains challenging. One of the benefits of the Switch port is the option for a slightly easier version of the game. The platforming is not adjusted in any way, but you can choose to have more hearts, which especially helps with the difficult boss fights. I replayed the game on this mode and found it hit a good balance of remaining difficult without veering into the unfair.

 

This version of the game also allows you to not use motion controls. Everyone’s mileage on that mechanic varies. I enjoyed the tactility of shaking the remotes to make Donkey Kong pound the ground in the past, but there is an undeniable and welcome convenience to just being able to use buttons and keep your arms still.

This port comes up short in the visuals and performance. The game looks great in high-definition, but it doesn’t feel like quite enough in 2025, especially compared to the port of Tropical Freeze, a game that had stronger visuals even on Wii U. The framerate also hits some inconsistent stutters occasionally, which is especially noticeable in a precise platformer like this. It is never game-breaking. Rather, it is an occasional annoying distraction, but considering this is a port of a game from two console generations ago, the hiccups are surprising and disappointing.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a fantastic reminder that the franchise that began on the Super Nintendo in 1994 is a real competitor for Nintendo’s best 2D platforming series, an extremely competitive landscape. Retro took the baton in 2010 and nailed it and even though this version of the game isn’t necessarily Returns at its strongest, it is still an excellent way to recover all of Donkey Kong’s bananas – a worthwhile pursuit especially if you missed it in 2010.

This 2025 review reflects our thoughts on the game’s current state at publishing. As such, post-launch updates were factored into the final score.

Score: 8.75

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Reviewed on: Xbox Series X/S
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Developer: Machine Games
Release: December 8, 2024 (Xbox Series X/S, PC), April 17, 2025 (PlayStation 5)

For as much as Indiana Jones has influenced video games, the franchise doesn’t have many standout games to its name. Wolfenstein: The New Order developer Machine Games rectifies this by not only giving Indy the video game he’s long deserved but in many ways the film sequel fans have wanted since The Last Crusade. The Great Circle is an authentic, yet fresh adventure for the famed archeologist that makes a real case for belonging in a museum. 

Set between the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, Indy embarks on a globe-trotting chase to recover a stolen museum artifact tied to an ancient mystery. It’s great to watch an in-game likeness of a young Harrison Ford, but hearing famed voice actor Troy Baker’s fantastic performance faithfully brings him to life. Baker sounds near-indistinguishable from a prime Ford to the point that if I didn’t know it was him I might’ve assumed AI trickery. From capturing Indy’s grumpy charm to his near-crippling fear of snakes, Baker’s portrayal makes the adventure feel even more like a long-lost sequel from the franchise’s golden era.

Indy’s journey, from the hallowed halls of the Vatican to the sweltering sands of Giza and beyond, is filled with great story moments. Like the films, The Great Circle balances zany popcorn action (including an incredible setpiece sequence in the Himalayas mid-adventure) with lighthearted comedy. Some of my favorite exchanges occur between Indy and his fun new companion Gina, a charismatic and strong-willed journalist. She’s a welcomed presence that’s easily Jones’ best sidekick/vague love interest since Marian. Gina fits right at home in the series, to the point that I’m bummed we’ll likely never see her portrayed in a proper film. The same praise can be sung for the big bad, Emmerich Voss, a genuinely despicable and unhinged threat that serves as a great foil. 

My initial skepticism of placing players behind the eyes of Indy in first-person evaporated the moment I socked a nazi in the face. Melee combat packs a nice wallop, and incorporating blocks, counters, and grabs adds a satisfying flow to brawling. Using memorable sound effects from the films is an effective cherry on top. Machine Games also creates a multitude of opportunities to take out foes in hilarious fashion, such as grabbing nearly any object to smash over their skulls. Taking on foes in cluttered rooms made me feel as much Jackie Chan as Indiana Jones, and I love taking out opponents with the wackiest things I can find. Sneaking up behind oblivious fascists to push them off cliffs or down tomb shafts never failed to make me chuckle.

Indy also has a pistol, but I rarely used guns outside of required shooting sequences, such as an on-rails boat chase. The gunplay is adequate, but I appreciate that so much of The Great Circle can be played without firing a single shot; I’ve always associated Jones with daring fisticuffs rather than intense shootouts. Of course, Indy’s signature whip is put to good use, whether it’s yanking targets toward him, whipping weapons out of hands, or even scaring hostile hounds into submission. 

Enemies are rather dumb, but this winds up being fun since it manages to play into the series’ (and Machine Games’) penchant for portraying fascists and nazis as boneheads. I once cleared an enemy outpost by scaling a watch tower, waited for enemies to climb one at a time on the single ladder to reach my platform, and then whipped them off the ladder, causing them to fall to their deaths. Despite the growing pile of bodies, another soldier would try his luck on the ladder instead of just shooting me from below. Stealth is very forgiving; sneaking up on soldiers is easy since peripheral vision is the biggest myth in this game. A fully alert camp will forget your existence just by laying low for a few minutes and I prefer this. Indiana Jones films are generally check-your-brain-at-the-door popcorn flicks, and I was happy to approach this adventure with the same mindset.  

While it’s easy to take liberties in combat, an array of largely clever puzzle-solving offers meatier tests of your wits. Some are dressed-up, well-executed iterations of typical exercises like bouncing light off aligned mirrors, but others are more creative, like deciphering tricky nazi cipher codes or directing human pawns atop an ancient board game. More impressively, the substantial and entertaining story-driven sidequests include bespoke riddles as elaborate and inventive as the campaign puzzles. Indy is a scholar at heart, and I’m glad Machine Games understood this important trait by designing so many enjoyable brain teasers that genuinely made me feel smart when I solved them. 

Traveling the world brings players to large open hubs filled with things to do. Everything looks fantastic, from immaculately detailed sights such as a jaw-dropping recreation of the famed Sistine Chapel ceiling to the myriad eerie temples and tombs. In addition to sidequests, I enjoyed unearthing ancient artifacts, eavesdropping on citizens to fulfill smaller requests, competing in underground fighting rings, and more. You can spend as much or as little time engaging with this optional content as you’d like (and, thankfully, you can revisit previous destinations to finish incomplete tasks), but the story pacing takes a hit in the early hours due to the lengthy time spent exploring the first big section, the Vatican. I enjoyed the narrative overall, but its momentum dips and rises in ways that can feel jarring at points. Fortunately, it concludes on one hell of a high note that feels like the perfect final act to an Indiana Jones film. 

 

Indiana Jones and The Great Circle doesn’t reinvent the action-adventure wheel. In a weird backward way, it’s more or less a first-person version of an Uncharted or Tomb Raider game – franchises that probably wouldn’t exist without Indiana Jones in the first place. The excursion is familiar but well-crafted and succeeds because it absolutely nails its license. I walked away feeling more excited about Indiana Jones than I did leaving the theater for the last two films. The Great Circle reminds me of why I fell in love with Indy in the first place and should be a template for how to craft new interactive stories in this legendary series. 

This 2025 review reflects our thoughts on the game’s current state at publishing. As such, post-launch updates were factored into the final score.

Score: 9

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Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher: NetEase Games
Developer: NetEase Games
Release: December 5, 2024
Rating: Teen

Like a masked superhero, there is more to Marvel Rivals than meets the eye. "Overwatch with Marvel characters" is a formula that sounds so lucrative on paper that I initially doubted its quality, fearing it was nothing more than a cash grab. After playing a few dozen hours and removing the game's metaphorical mask, I can see the mild-mannered, hardworking hero at its core. Marvel Rivals executes a simple concept with immense skill and finesse. With a huge roster of free playable characters at launch, a satisfying gameplay loop, and the fastest matchmaking system I've ever experienced, the game's first few months have established a sturdy foundation to build off of for years to come.

Marvel Rivals is a third-person hero shooter, a genre of multiplayer games defined by a lineup of unique playable characters with distinct sets of combat abilities. Developer NetEase launched the game last December with a generous roster of 33 comic book icons and has pledged to add more every season for free. Playable heroes are incredibly diverse, both in terms of their playstyles and where they fit within the Marvel canon; for every A-list Avenger like Iron Man and Thor, the game also includes newer, more obscure characters like Luna Snow or Squirrel Girl.

Regardless of what mode you're playing, it's always thrilling to see these classic characters put their skills on display. Spider-Man can swing in to get a KO, only to be quickly shut down by the Hulk, who comes hurtling in from the other side of the battlefield to protect his healers. After Storm summons a deadly tornado, Doctor Strange can spin up a portal to bring his team back to the objective right after they respawn, and Invisible Woman provides a massive shield to ensure everyone gets there safely. Marvel's characters and their powers are represented well, and it's fun to watch even if you don't know all the specifics of what's going on.

I spent most of my time in Quick Play or Competitive playlists, and each shuffles randomly through the same three game modes: Domination, Convoy, and Convergence. Each mode faces two teams of six against each other to either capture an area, escort a vehicle, or some combination of the two. If you're intimidated by PvP, Practice vs. AI allows you to play these same playlists against a computer-controlled enemy team, and achievements made there still count towards daily missions and season pass progression. It's a great way to try out new characters if you need to get a feel for Iron Man's repulsors or Star-Lord's twin element guns.

There are other modes as well, like Conquest, Doom Match, and the occasional seasonal mode, but the game's heroes are so specifically designed for team game modes with large maps that these other destinations don't feel as fun. You can play as whoever you want in Quick Play and find moderate success, but that's not the case in the frenzy of a Conquest map. This is a shame because the diversity of characters is a big selling point of this superpowered shooter.

Hero shooters live and die by the strength of their rosters, so it's notable this is one of the aspects that makes Marvel Rivals thrive. Each comic book combatant is unique and fun to play, and while a few characters might feel slightly under or overpowered each season, it's a remarkably balanced cast. There are ranged heroes, melee heroes, and even some like Cloak & Dagger or Scarlet Witch with auto-targeting abilities for players who haven’t spent hundreds of hours honing their shooting skills. You're encouraged to switch around, as well. For example, if an opponent chooses a character that counters my favorite (like Wolverine while I'm playing Groot), I can swap to someone that counters that counter-pick. The frustration is short-lived because there are so many viable characters to choose.

Marvel Rivals' most unique element in the game is the Team-Up system, which unlocks abilities and passive buffs when playing certain characters on the same team. Venom gives Spider-Man a symbiote attack, Hela can revive Thor or Loki by getting kills after they die, and Rocket can drop an ammo beacon for Punisher and Winter Soldier. It adds another level of complexity to team compositions and encourages players to try new characters, which keeps matches diverse and interesting.

The one glaring issue of the hero lineup is the distribution of roles. Characters in Marvel Rivals fall into one of three camps: Vanguard, Duelist, or Strategist. Vanguard characters have large health pools and defensive abilities, Duelists are fast damage-dealers, and Strategists have crafty kits that allow them to heal and buff their teammates. Each role is equally valuable on a team, but most characters – 20 out of 37 at the time of writing – are Duelists, outnumbering both other roles combined. Because it's the largest category and a role that feels the most like a traditional shooter, many games begin with players scrambling to pick their favorite Duelist instead of playing one of the supporting roles, leaving slower teammates either stuck playing Vanguard/Strategist or locking in as Duelist and starting the game with an unbalanced team. This problem is not at all unique to Marvel Rivals, and many players new to the hero shooter genre likely prefer to play a character that feels more familiar, but it's more than player tendency; by making so many characters fit in that Duelist category, the game's design exacerbates the problem. 

 

Though the hero roster is massive at launch, the pool of maps veers in the opposite direction. Thankfully, this can be corrected through future updates; NetEase already added Midtown to kick off Season One, then Central Park six weeks later. If the studio keeps up with this cadence, this complaint will be quickly outdated.

This is also, without a doubt, the smoothest online multiplayer experience of my life. Most of the time, games are found almost instantly, and I've only been in a queue for more than 5 seconds a handful of times. Toxic players are easily reported and often reprimanded within the day. Lag is virtually nonexistent, even when observing other players, and on PS5 I've never encountered performance issues. Maps also look beautiful, chock-full of details and Marvel easter eggs for the players who look for them.

Ultimately, Marvel Rivals is not a revolution in game design, but a culmination of the successful shooters that came before it. Its gameplay is tight and balanced, its characters are satisfying to use, and I'm coming back to play more every night. I have gripes with the distribution of hero roles, but it doesn't spoil the game as a whole. Marvel Rivals isn't finding success because it's a cash grab, it's finding success because it's earned it.

This 2025 review reflects our thoughts on the game’s current state at publishing. As such, post-launch updates were factored into the final score.

Score: 8.5

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Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Publisher: Digital Eclipse
Developer: Digital Eclipse
Release: December 10, 2024

As a child raised in the ‘90s, few TV shows brought me and my friends together for playground hijinks more than Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Assuming the roles of our favorite Rangers (often contentiously) and poorly imitating martial arts moves was a blast. The franchise’s many co-op beat ‘em up games captured a similar joy at home. Rita’s Rewind is the latest brawler that, while not an all-time standout, replicates the fun of playing with friends as Angel Grove’s favorite teenagers with attitude. 

One to five players (local and online) can suit up as Jason, Zack, Kimberly, Billy, and Trini to punch through an abridged version of the original show’s stories. From the teens’ first transformation to the evil Green Ranger saga, it’s a fun and succinct trip down memory lane with a time-travel twist. A robotic version of Rita Repulsa hailing from the future teams up with her past self to try and create the timeline where she finally prevails. The nostalgia is strong; I had a great time reacquainting my fists with staple threats like Goldar and the Putty Patrol while slapping my forehead at deep-cut episodic villains I’d long forgotten. 

Combat can essentially be boiled down to “Have you played a beat ‘em up? It’s that,” but the simple action is bolstered by satisfying feedback accompanying every punch and kick. It’s mindlessly enjoyable as brawlers tend to be, with a dodging flip adding a touch of thoughtful nimbleness. It’s a bummer you can’t wield weapons; not only are they a genre staple that spice up the action, but the Rangers have signature weapons that would have been fun to play with. Landing offense fills a meter unleashing a screen-filling special attack, with each Ranger having a unique variation. Trying out each Ranger is annoyingly hamstrung by only being able to switch characters between missions at the Angel Grove Community Center, a shallow hub with a few bland minigames. I wish I could swap during stages after falling in battle as in most brawlers. 

Stages aren’t particularly notable beyond a few recognizable locations but are laden with easter eggs and secret collectibles, such as finding familiar faces like Ernie and Principal Caplan. In a unique touch, the Rangers must occasionally destroy a soon-to-explode time crystal. Failing to do so quickly causes it to blow up and rewind time many seconds backward, forcing players to replay that brief segment. This creates a small but neat element of urgency that plays into the game’s time-manipulation theme. 

 

Between the basic beat ‘em up stages, Rita’s magic wand makes her monsters grow, letting you sit in the cockpit of the Dinozords in first-person on-rail shooter sequences. I like the old-school polygonal look of these segments, and the action offers a welcome change of pace. Beat ‘em ups can get old quickly, and these arcade-style shooting sequences offer nice breaks from the monotony. 

I’m less hot on the Punch-Out-esque one-on-one Megazord battles. Though I appreciate how the first-person perspective makes it feel like I’m piloting the Rangers’ ultimate weapon (and taking damage has the great touch of showing the Rangers getting rocked inside the head), these lengthy bouts can grow tedious and occasionally cheap due to the delayed input reaction. Dodging incoming projectiles can be a pain, and constantly sprinting forward to reach foes that continually leap backward is annoying. Failing these sequences means replaying the entire segment from the beginning, and while decent, they’re still not fun enough to mitigate the frustration. 

Since its launch, Rita’s Rewind has received neat free updates including an optional Ranger leveling system to create character variety, and gameplay modifiers such as adjusting game speed and even gravity. These changes freshen things up and add more agency to how players tailor their adventures. As it stands now, Rita’s Rewind doesn’t shatter the genre’s mold. The action is a step above many contemporaries, but still falls prey to the genre’s inherent monotony and the Zord segments can be irritating at worst. But if you’re a ‘90s kid itching to pull out your Morpher one more time, Rita’s Rewind is the Rangers’ best cooperative outing to date. 

This 2025 review reflects our thoughts on the game’s current state at publishing. As such, post-launch updates were factored into the final score.

Score: 7.75

About Game Informer's review system