Our favorite games of February 2023

Blanc

8.7

0 Want

ShortLocal MultiplayerCasualOnline Co-Op

Come on, just look at this screenshot. Blanc looks absolutely stunning, providing a master class in how to make a game gorgeous without needing to use super-detailed assets. This game feels like playing inside of the black-and-white sketchbook of an absurdly talented artist.

Brotato Test Global

9.1

0 Want

Fast-pacedRogueliteShoot 'Em Up

Brotato is fun as hell. This is really the key to “horde games” or “bullet heavens” or whatever else you want to call this new genre. Dodging around legions of alien scum while your potato auto-blasts at their extraterrestrial faces feels great. It just captures that indefinable sensation of how a game should play.

Kerbal Space Program 2

7.2

0 Want

ScienceSandboxSci-fiDifficult

Kerbal Space Program 2 is a remarkably powerful but still approachable space exploration simulation. It adds a series of friendly tutorials that cover the basics of rocket design, maneuvering, and orbital transfer so new players can start cobbling their own spacecraft together right away.

Loop

9.0

0 Want

CasualAdventureArcadePuzzle

Loop does a tremendously great job of making its puzzles gradually more difficult I wasn’t thrown into a level that I had to spend five to ten minutes trying to figure out because it was way too hard. Loop introduced me to different mechanics and puzzles over time, but each level still felt challenging.

Myst Mobile

9.0

0 Want

AdventurePuzzle

Myst is one of the most beloved adventure games of all time, and developer Cyan has given it the care it deserves in this latest mobile port. It’s based around last year’s Unreal engine remake of the 1993 original. The new engine means two things: full 3D traversal and visuals that are absolutely gorgeous.

OCTOPATH TRAVELER II

8.0

0 Want

Pixel GraphicsStrategyTurn-basedJRPG

Octopath Traveler II is a fantastic game in its own right, but it’s also a reminder of why I fell in love with RPGs in the first place. Whether I was triumphing over a boss or seeing a Game Over screen for the umpteenth time, I was always thinking about what I wanted to do next. Perhaps I’d finish a sidequest or visit an unexplored region of the map. Maybe I’d investigate a deserted village or search for theater tickets. Once the game got its hooks in me, it dominated my thoughts, even when I wasn’t playing.

Sons Of The Forest

9.5

0 Want

SandboxSurvivalActionFirst-Person

I’d even go so far as to say that gamers who don’t normally enjoy survival games should give Sons of the Forest a chance. This follow-up to 2018’s much-loved The Forest makes some brilliant strides toward taking some of the tedium out of the survival genre, which allows for more time to focus on the exploration and tinges of horror that the original did so well.

THEATRHYTHM FINAL BAR LINE

8.6

0 Want

If music makes the people come together, it’s nowhere more apparent than in Theatrhythm Final Bar Line. After all, where else could you see a whole squad of Final Fantasy heroes like Squall, Cloud, Rikku, and Vivi come together in song?! This title takes the best music across the entire history of Square Enix’s epic RPG series and packages it together in an incredibly nostalgic and fun way. Combined with cool extras like multiplayer and collectibles, I found myself locked to the screen saying, “Just one more song.”

Ultra Blade

8.2

0 Want

ActionRoguelikeRPGPixel

Ultra Blade is a lovely mix of Vampire Survivors-style action with much stronger RPG and roguelike elements. The results is a very compelling experience that I don’t expect to drop from my phone any time soon.

WILD HEARTS™

9.6

0 Want

DragonsActionHuntingCreature Collector

I feel like I could go on for ages about the tons of little ways that Wild Hearts smartly tweaks the Monster Hunter formula—the ease of crafting and the general amount of materials received from each hunt; the size of the four massive zones (plus the bonus post-game zone that opens up after finishing the story); the exploration options available in these zones and the way you can build permanent shortcuts to slowly turn them into places you can run across in minutes; the small but useful AI-controlled Tsukomo who will help out in fights when you’re playing solo; and so on and so on and so on. Mostly, though, I’m just surprised at how every one of these elements has come together so seamlessly in a first game of this type.