With so much potential under their belt after their last successful release, Supermassive dropped the ball with The Devil in Me, leaving players with crappy graphics, crappier mechanics and the crappiest of characters.

The retro vibe and attempt at nostalgia can’t save The Rumble Fish 2 from itself. Poor design, hit boxes, input delay and lack of direction see it suffer a K.O. by its own hand.

Amazing graphics and talented voice acting isn’t enough to save The Callisto Protocol from the beast that is bad game mechanics. The game is its own worst enemy.

Unfortunately, the tediousness of the game’s mechanics erases some of the magic of seeing your dinosaur park come to life.

Knack 2’s fun combat sparkles in its precision and the simple satisfaction of watching and hearing enemies (and yourself) crumble to pieces, though it falters somewhat if you don’t bring a friend along. Its story is beyond laughably bad. If you and a pal go make yourself a snack every time two characters open your mouths, you’ll adore Knack 2 and find it a refreshing improvement on its predecessor.

Much like No Man’s Sky, Sea of Thieves has the foundation for a game that could be incredible. Unfortunately, it’s current state is more akin to something that should be a $20 Early Access title. The game is also most optimally played with friends, as randoms are typically hit or miss. Solo players probably shouldn’t even bother.

Though it touches on some interesting ideas, Hey! Pikmin never ventures outside of the comfort and safety of a standard Nintendo handheld platformer. Still, its relaxing, low-stakes gameplay may prove enjoyable for many, particularly those looking for a respite in an otherwise fast-paced genre.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 can be a lot of fun— if you have people to play it with. Most of the events are simple to jump into. Party games with motion controls make local play all the more fun. The inability to play certain games with more than two people and the omission of certain characters from all events can take away from the variety, but it’s a solid game at its core.

State of Decay 2‘s survival mechanics and combat are enjoyable at first, but quickly grow stale after repeating the same actions over and over. It has a few shining moments, but its execution is ultimately rather lackluster and shallow. The only true horror in this zombie survival game is its numerous technical issues.

I’ve played many difficult platformers in my time but this isn’t the way to go about. Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection does everything you’d expect out of a game from this famous franchise but painful controls and lifeless graphics make me question why something as advanced as the RE2 Engine needed to be busted out when this game looks like it was done completely in Flash.

The Walking Dead: The Final Season episode 2 does well enough outside of its circumstance, but without the certainty of obtaining proper closure I cannot, in good consciousness, recommend supporting this episode as Clementine’s final chapter.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red/Blue Rescue Team was an amazing game, stuffed full of content to keep the player going for hundreds of hours that kept many kids entertained for many a car trip. With Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, Nintendo throws a fresh coat of paint on it and streamlines some of the menu searching. Nintendo was able to put a great title on the Nintendo Switch and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX helps bring longtime fans, who had felt isolated and betrayed by previous Pokemon titles to hit the Switch thus far, back to the console. Hopefully the Pokemon Company can keep moving in this right direction.

Lost Sphear tries so hard to be like RPGs of the past that it forgets to build on those or establish its own identity.

NBA 2K21 remains a top-tier basketball simulation game, although one that has seemingly maxed out its potential on current-gen systems. Things like the shooting difficulty can and will be adjusted with patches over time. If you put in the time and work, you’ll probably learn to love the new skill gap it provides, but it’s definitely not for everyone. And that’s where NBA 2K21 misses its mark; it feels geared more towards the hardcore competitive community, leaving casual players and fans feeling lost and overwhelmed.

Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed had the potential to be a rockin’ asymmetrical game with references to the movies we love. However, redundancy, cross-play issues and lack of content make it a mediocre installment.

Unlimited World Red shines when it puts forth an effort such as in the combat or original characters. Unfortunately, those bits are found too sporadically to make up for the game’s glaring flaws.

The environments are gorgeous and the game runs smoothly across all platforms, but uninspiring gameplay and a lackluster story leave much to be desired in this entirely mediocre action-adventure platformer.

A graphic adventure title cannot coast on its cast; the story must remain a gripping journey through its narrative design and storytelling. Guardians of the Galaxy episode 5 fails to deliver on both accounts, presenting a mishmash of conflicting ideals and tension-killing slowdown right on the verge of the story’s climax.

Frantics is a novelty by virtue of Sony’s continued exploration of how phones can be used as controllers on a console, and I was impressed with how well that tech worked, but that’s mostly where my interest ended. Frustrating tutorials and a lack of options made a small set of already middling minigames a chore to get through, even with friends involved.

Misplaced hype? Nostalgia done poorly? A shinier clone of Banjo-Kazooie? Yooka-Laylee is a prime example of all of these things, serving up fifteen passable hours of entertainment yet not managing to surprise at any point along the way. But while those looking to revisit their youth will likely find the game enjoyable enough, Yooka-Laylee is also a testament to why the book should stay closed on the lessons gaming has already learned.

The Company Man is a serviceable platformer that shows a lot of promise with innovative ideas and clever premises. But it fails to live up to expectations and feels like a missed opportunity to be something more. If you’re looking for a Mega Man clone with some solid workplace puns then this has you covered for about three hours.

Rocket Arena is a fun game that offers a lot of features that players ask for all of the time in other games. You’ll have to ask yourself if you like this style of gameplay and the art style, but the game is well designed and a blast to play. If it goes free to play eventually, I think it can have sustained success.

Genital Jousting is fun for a time–good for some laughs, good for a silly time with friends, and good for a long, hard think about how we represent masculinity and male genitalia. Its deserted online play and short story aren’t markers of something with long-lasting appeal.

Just Cause 4 has more of the same destruction and mayhem the series is known for, but the game has a litany of technical issues and empty mechanics that make it impossible to recommend.

I laughed along with Human: Fall Flat much more than I’ve done so with a game for a very long time. By putting a little more finesse and care into building the parameters of its goofy concept, it’s far more enjoyable than your average “Gabe Newell Physician Simulator 5000” found on the daily sales page of Steam, making this purchase well worth its slightly steeper asking price.

Wonder Boy returns except it’s actually Monster World and you’re a girl. This is the least confusing part of this mess of a remake featuring Dreamcast era graphics, poor translations, and lazy settings and textures that create a situation that is less of a history lesson on Wonder Boy and more an essay on why some things should just be left to history.

Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed is even more fun than the first remake with improved and colorful visuals, smooth gameplay and the same amazing sounds that we know and love. Some games don’t need to be improved but we sure are glad this one was.

MediEvil is a colorful trip down memory lane filled with gorgeous, updated graphics, the same amazing OST and improved (yet still retro) gameplay mechanics. This will make you feel like a kid again.