For a so-called "automatic" game, Loop Hero sure presents enough questions and choices to get me invested in its missions, its accumulation of city structures, and its organic lessons about how to max out a particular loop. I haven't felt this surprised and engaged by a mix of new and familiar in a game since Slay the Spire. That description should terrify anybody who is not in need of another unique gaming obsession, because if my addiction is any indication, Loop Hero could very well burrow into your brain for the next few weeks. You've been warned. [Ars Technica Approved]

While Mega Man 11 doesn't completely eradicate the tried-and-true Mega Man formula, it isn't afraid to make changes big and small to the way a mainline franchise game looks, feels, and plays. Not all of these changes are for the better, but enough of them are worthwhile that the break from form seems worth the effort.

Randomness keeps Darkest Dungeon's signature grind in a holding pattern, but new content breathes life into the whole experience.

Torment's uneven gameplay is pulled to the finish line by its engrossing world and story. Assuming you can get over the introductory hump (and all that text), it's absolutely a story worth reading, if not always playing. Buy it.

There is absolutely fun to be had in a good Splatoon battle, but the catch here is the future tense. Splatoon reveals more than a few signs of immaturity in the online gaming space, but its worse offense sees Nintendo catching up, unfortunately, with another big gaming trend of late. This is yet another retail launch of an unfinished game. The version of Splatoon we'd like to play—different from the one people are about to spend $60 on—evidently hasn't been made yet.

This is the most complete version of Football Manager yet, offering up something new for both seasoned veterans and newcomers alike.

Despite its polish and best ideas, I wish I'd just reinstalled both Force Unleashed games, and I encourage anybody eager for a fun, Force-filled, third-person Star Wars experience this year to do the same.

Online or off, Overcooked 2 is still some of the most accessible and over-the-top cooperative fun you can have gaming with a group of friends. The structured chaos is perfectly designed to generate the kind of laughing and screaming that makes for memorable moments.

Fire Emblem Echoes is a sparkling remake without much variety or strategy to scratch beneath the surface. Try it.

So yeah, I’m pretty hooked on Darkest Dungeon 2. If it had Steam Deck support, I'd be in real trouble (it's coming in the future, Red Hook, says). Yes, there are issues, and I don’t know how far into the end game it will keep me engaged. But the combat is so good, and the roguelite elements are enticing enough, that it has entranced me in the same way the first game did.

These may seem like nitpicks for a game whose core shoot-and-loot loop is just as fun and compelling as ever. But it's these kinds of little things that are thus far getting in the way of allowing me to completely be reabsorbed by the world of Borderlands. Here's hoping they end up feeling like niggling issues more than ever-present annoyances by the time my time with the game is complete.

For now, I'm finding that FFXV is mechanically sound but fundamentally missing the point. There's no Midgar-like push of momentum anywhere in the first 10 hours. The game meanders and sputters in terms of making me care about the plot or its primary characters. Even the cheeseball JRPG plot staples of angst, love, and angsty love are in short supply. [Review-in-Progress]

Jagged Alliance 3 is a capital-P, capital-C PC game, and I think it succeeds at delivering what it promises. Some of the humor may make you groan or wince; some of the controls feel like a nuclear sub; and the story is easy to tune out of. But landing that perfect shot, whether from Mouse's silenced handgun in the bushes or Grunty's sub-machine gun on a cliff, will keep you coming back.

Origins is a triumph, of sorts. The feeling of perusing the ancient world in this fidelity is special on its own, and one of the best examples yet for a game's visual beauty alone being a stunning, inspirational experience. But, far too often that gives ground to more traditionally game-y bits that dilute Origins' best moments.

And since this is an older game being smashed into working shape on PC, that means we can rest (mostly) assured that Xbox Game Studios won't be bolting extra obnoxious systems on top, particularly microtransactions. Halo Reach now is like Halo Reach then. And that's arguably the greatest comfort of all this time around.

If the thought of having a steering wheel in your living room isn’t one you’d ever entertain, Project CARS probably isn’t the game for you. But if you’re the kind of person who keeps their shopping cart on the racing line at grocery time, you’re in for a treat.

But this many years later, it would've been nice for this new package to include some older Zelda games, much like how the Wii classic Super Mario Galaxy came in a $60 Switch package last year, original visuals similarly intact, with Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine in tow. If pandemic-related development issues are to blame for this week's uneven "HD" package, a few classic-gaming bonuses would've gone a long way for a project whose ambition didn't quite reach the clouds.

Cleverly designed, and brimming with charm—the cast of characters includes an anthropomorphic cardboard box and a paraplegic racoon—Overcooked is a game that I've been coming back to again and again over the past few weeks, and one that joins the likes of Towerfall Ascension and Rayman Legends on my small but steadily growing list of great couch co-op games. Just make sure your relationship is strong enough to withstand the inevitable fallout.

There's $60 of content here, undoubtedly, but I'd happily pay Ubisoft for a slimmed-down non-interactive version with the unfunny game portions trimmed out. I loved how well Obsidian nailed the balancing act of "make it funny and make it interesting to play" last time. Ubisoft deserves credit for trying something new but not for how badly they stumbled.

Dishonored: Death of the Outsider frees itself from the franchise's usual restrictions, while putting its usual tools to satisfying use. Buy it.

A must-play if you already subscribe to PlayStation Plus. A hearty party-game recommendation if you can convince online friends to join in. A tough sell for loners or couch co-op players.

A love letter to die-hard DQ fans. See if you like Dragon Quest VIII when it comes to the 3DS—if you do, circle back around for this one.

GW2 has a lot of value as an online video game to play with kids and kids-at-heart. But it might be even more valuable in a different way: as an anthropological document of what happens to a great studio like Popcap after a $1.3 billion buyout. As a result, GW2 is probably a lot more fascinating than anybody at EA ever intended it to be.

By incorporating the UK's political landscape, Football Manger 2017 becomes the deepest, most inspiring take on the beautiful game yet.

Try it if you’re OK breezing through the stealth-action gameplay while enjoying a competent story.

The Evil Within 2 is a mechanical step up from the first game in nearly every way, even if the narrative is just as disposable as ever. Buy it if that balance doesn't bother you.

Try it if you want to see Atlus' latest experiments in dungeon crawling and combat, but not if you're solely in it for Fire Emblem.

I do think Sword and Shield are good entries for anyone who got into Pokémon through Go and Let’s Go and is looking for something a bit more difficult and larger in scale. Seasoned players can still enjoy the new monsters and appreciate the game’s story mode while it lasts (I cleared the main story in around 35 hours). It’s just too bad that, for longtime players, what’s missing is probably going to overshadow everything that’s here.

If you like flying in space (especially with complicated HOTAS rigs) and you're a fan of the original 1984 Elite, this is an insta-buy. If you've never played an Elite game but you love the genre—like, if your game shelf has a bunch of Wing Commander and Freespace and Lucasarts' X-Wing and TIE Fighter boxes on it—then you should definitely give this game a shot. If you're in the market for a game that's mostly EVE but from a cockpit perspective,wait for EVE: Valkyrie instead.

First-time players should try Let's Go instead, but even without the full Pokédex this is a worthwhile entry for monster-catching veterans.

Your Crash bias will be reinforced, either way, by this mostly top-notch return to the originals.

Gravity Rush 2’s personality and unique, physics-bending gameplay make it so unlike any other open-world game that it gets my whole-hearted recommendation, despite a few faults.

I do think Sword and Shield are good entries for anyone who got into Pokémon through Go and Let’s Go and is looking for something a bit more difficult and larger in scale. Seasoned players can still enjoy the new monsters and appreciate the game’s story mode while it lasts (I cleared the main story in around 35 hours). It’s just too bad that, for longtime players, what’s missing is probably going to overshadow everything that’s here.

It’s a great game to fill a contemplative afternoon.

Enjoy this with a willing friend (or three) if you like the idea of RTS games but suck at them. Jump right into online matchmaking if you're a pro. Test it out if you're RTS-shy.

I call it a portable, comfort-food quest suited perfectly for my get-in, have-fun, get-out tastes (along with, honestly, my affinity for a range of colorful, oddball monsters). Anybody who's tired of the games' ancient Kanto region may struggle to feel the same jolt I did, and that's fair.

When it comes to capturing the core Mario Party formula established over two decades ago, Superstars is as pure a distillation as you'll find. Taking the best bits from a large collection of uneven games has resulted in a pretty satisfying collection.

With a cleverly reinvented guitar and whole music video channel of songs backing it up, Guitar Hero Live is the rhythm game for the people who got bored of rhythm games.

Describing The Division, much like playing it, feels a lot like compiling and checking off a series of lists. There’s a lot of stuff on those lists, for sure, but very little to actually do. What you do, overwhelmingly, is shoot things. Sometimes you’re shooting at napalm canisters, sometimes at rioters armed with baseball bats and hoodies. Sometimes you find them, and sometimes they come to you while defending whatever it was you activated by holding the X button. As a reward, your numbers — armor, DPS, ability power, etc. — go up in order to help you shoot things even better next time...It’s an old formula, and often a good one, but one that still feels strange in the context of a shooter (even in this post-Destiny world).

Don't expect the intense theorycrafting of a more complex game here; there's no deep interplay between cards, trinkets, consumables, and other mechanics like you'd see in Slay the Spire. But Dicey Dungeons does what it sets out to do: provides an approachable roguelike strategy game—certainly a much smoother on-ramp than many of its genre compatriots...Most importantly, it's very fun.

Buy it for a family-friendly casual romp through a fun, colorful world. Skip if you're looking for a deep, involved RPG experience.

It’s been hard to be overly critical of a game that has all but forced me to log off and talk to friends for a couple hours each week. The downsides of Sunderfolk have mostly been the same as those of playing any tabletop game with humans: waiting, expertise imbalance, distraction, and someone’s dog needing attention...Beyond that, I think Sunderfolk is a success at what it set out to do: Put the cardboard, cards, and dice on the screen and make it easier for everyone to show up. It won’t replace the traditional game night, but it might bring more people into it and remind people like me why it’s so good.

Before I go sending the developers my wish list for additional features, however, I should probably wait for them to finish the game (at least on the PC version). As a straightforward, reasonably priced arcade blaster with some unique flair, Squadrons has its charm—and is easier for me to recommend, especially to families, than Battlefront 2 ever was (not the highest of praise, but still). I'm just hopeful it gets closer to a recommended state of polish and bug squashing. [Impressions]

After years of overexposure, a few years of absence for this style of rhythm game has gone a long way to making my heart grow fonder for Rock Band. Now that some time has passed, Rock Band 4 is as good an excuse as any to remind yourself why the genre became a fad in the first place and to rediscover the joy to be found in plastic instruments that may still have some life in them yet.

Most important of all is that Oculus had a full year of lead-up time to nail Wilson's Heart... and the company didn't.

Until Dawn is entertaining in all the ways it needs to be, even if it isn’t perfect in all the ways I’d like it to be. Try it, or wait for a discount.

Still, after 15 hours snapping thousands of photos of hundreds of distinct Pokémon, I feel like there are plenty of secrets left to be uncovered in New Pokémon Snap's varied environments. What's more, I'm eager to uncover them in quick, five or 10-minute safaris whenever I happen to have a Switch handy.

I call it a portable, comfort-food quest suited perfectly for my get-in, have-fun, get-out tastes (along with, honestly, my affinity for a range of colorful, oddball monsters). Anybody who's tired of the games' ancient Kanto region may struggle to feel the same jolt I did, and that's fair.

If Digital Eclipse addresses even half of my nitpicks in a future patch, that would take this collection past its current state of "good enough" to "easily recommended" territory. In the meantime, weigh your own particular nostalgic appetite before reaching in for a slice of the Cowabunga Collection—or order a tastier pie from the competition with Shredder's Revenge.

Those technical problems aside, I was surprised at how well this zippy, capsule-size take on the Elden Ring formula worked in practice. Nightreign might not be the full-fledged, epic Elden Ring sequel that long-time "Soulsborne" fans are looking for, but it's still a compelling, action-packed twist on the popular adventure gameplay.

It's not impossible to look at by any means (as you can see in the above gallery) and everything is still perfectly readable from a gameplay perspective. The fact that a small, relatively cheap portable system like the Switch is capable of running a passable version of a recent high-end release like Doom is an achievement in and of itself. Just don't go in expecting the Switch version to be competitive with larger, more-powerful hardware designed for the TV (or a PC monitor).

Halo Wars 2's campaign is an exciting enough ride with a very plain final drop. Thankfully, there will be plenty of multiplayer modes to run with what the campaign teaches. Try it.

A game at war with itself. The continuity from mission to mission encourages you to play in the most boring fashion possible, while the game's challenge and length never makes doing so necessary.

You won't find more pure whimsy in a 2019 game...Puzzles strike a delightful balance between tricky and fair, all while letting players reset and retry in a "Super Meat Boy meets point-and-click puzzlers" way; we've really never seen anything like it. [Ars Technica Approved]

Firaxis still hasn't built a truly great Civilization to stand the test of time here, but it does feel like history is marching in the right direction. Remember Civilization V's first expansion didn't quite get it there either, but the second did. I remain hopeful that I'll still be diving into Civilization VI a few years from now.

This is a step backward for the series—and not just chronologically. Skip it.

Shadow Warrior 2 applies subtle, modern tweaks to a known formula, adds entirely new systems to good effect, and polishes the whole thing to a blinding shine.

Creating a coherent branching narrative of this scope would be exceedingly difficult for even the most experienced and accomplished Hollywood scriptwriter. It proves to be utterly impossible for the writer behind Detroit.

This isn't Nintendo at the height of its powers, but it's hard not to be smitten with Yoshi's Woolly World's wonderful visuals and throughly entertaining platforming.

The slight story also makes going back to the game that much easier. Without much overt plot to get in the way, there's less to chug through in the search of collectibles. These extras are mostly hidden behind optional side paths and puzzles. If you just want to play Unravel without worrying about the story, it's probably worth making the return trip. By the end, I was certainly engaged enough with the game to make that return trip.

Sonic Origins' issues may have been excusable at a lower price point. But this little content at $40, plus a gouging-by-DLC headache, moves our call from "maybe" to "nope."

While it's not new for indie and experimental games take on ambitious, emotional concepts and existential crises, never has one come along that has been so frank, so nakedly autobiographical, and so imbued with its creators' spiritual identities.

After all these years, the game maintains a sense of humor that lands somewhere between Flaming Lips psychedelia and Ren & Stimpy gross-out humor. As such the 3DS then leaves not with a bang or a whimper... but a really loud fart.

Codemasters provided preview code for DiRT 4’s PC version, but we were asked not to review it. The dev promised further graphical optimizations, both in visuals and performance, in a day-one PC patch. We’ll post an update here once we’ve put this PC update to the test. For what it’s worth, DiRT 4’s “unfinished” code got up to 60 FPS performance on our 4K machine (i7-4770k, 1080 Ti, 16GB RAM) with all settings maxed and driving in a rainy, particle-loaded course. [Review in Progress]

Keep an eye on Milestone's patch and update plans. If the company moves forward with customer-friendly moves, HWU may be a must-buy for arcade-racing fans. Until then, wait and see—unless the sales pitch of "Trackmania but prettier and more arcade-y" makes you want to immediately purchase. In which case, you'll have a good time.

A high-water mark in the "interactive narrative" genre. If that sounds good to you, buy it.

Far Cry 5 just isn’t very polished. When the supporting cast does speak, it’s often the same three lines repeated ad nauseum, sometimes layered over someone else’s words in an incomprehensible cacophony. But the most ridiculous moments come when AI allies scream and moan on the ground—dead-still in a messy rag doll pose—then jerkily jump straight into one of their oft-repeated lines after a two-second revival animation...Skip it.

Abzû is a beautiful audio-visual treat that's light on challenge but big on wonder.

Before the Storm is at its best when it focuses on the untold elements of Life Is Strange. So far, those moments capture the spirit of the original, but I’m anxious to see if it can hold up as the timelines converge.

Spend this game's five-hour runtime catching up on a better story game you might have missed.

All VR headset owners should own at least one Owlchemy Labs game, and this is the company's best yet.

The game's 16 thoughtfully designed fighters are all unlocked and ready to trade blows the moment you boot it up. Their combat takes place within a smooth fighting engine worth recommending, too. The trouble is nearly every single thing currently surrounding that engine should be covered in those tacky, animated "under construction" GIFs.

I got tired of the game after 20 hours for the reasons stated above. There's beautiful, inventive fun within DL2, but Techland doesn't do paying customers favors with the game's dialogue, pacing, and execution. Wait for a sale.

Onrush, at its best, absolutely sings as a tight, responsive, bright, and beautiful love letter to the likes of Road Rash 2 and Burnout 3: Takedown. I'd settle for Steam Workshop's wildest dreamers finishing what Codemasters Evo started.

Quantum Break’s story and visual prowess are reason enough to recommend this game to anyone looking for a rote shooter with a more-than-usual focus on compelling narrative. The best I can say about the action sequences is that they’re tolerable en route to uncovering the game’s core of science-fueled existential crises. So while I feel comfortable recommending this ultimately uneven adventure, in a gaming world where we’ve already played so many super-charged, inFamous-styled action games, I feel pretty disappointed by “just good enough" for QB's action portions.

It's easy to deride games that lack originality and favour existing ideas. But refining proven designs is just as important as creating them in the first place. This is where World of Final Fantasy shines, and if you're looking for a simple, accessible roleplaying game that stirs up memories past, then you could do much worse.

As it stands, Donut County makes for a light, airy snack of a game—it's a tight circle of satisfying, empty calories. But like a real donut, finishing one often just means you want another.

Don't let the saccharine looks fool you: Arms is deep, challenging, and an essential purchase for the Nintendo Switch.

Infinite Warfare takes the series to its logical conclusion, delivering one of the best single-player campaigns in ages. But the trademark multiplayer modes need a serious overhaul.

It'd be easy to glance at Avowed and see just another all-too-familiar take on a well-trodden fantasy RPG space. But that would be a mistake. The game's zippy controls, tough but not overwhelming combat, and morally ambiguous perspective make for a memorable journey that sets itself apart from the crowd.

The basic gameplay pattern of hunt, trap, and fight is wonderfully unique among games of this sort. The shell surrounding that single thread, however—the matchmaking options, the balance across different modes, the personality of the environment and characters—feels under-thought...None of this helps assuage the fear that Evolve is a great gimmick and little else: something we'll play for a month or two, and not much longer. With more time and attention from the developers, maybe it could be something more long-lasting. Either way, there are worse things for a game to be than fun for a short time.

Grey Goo is definitely a throwback, albeit one with some compelling innovations. Those who remember the heyday of the RTS genre should get a kick out of it, while the unprepared may be scared away.

Compared to other always-online games meant to draw users back time and again, Hitman is something quite novel: a game meant to be replayed and eventually exhausted. Sooner or later you'll run out of challenges, optional targets, and nooks and crannies to explore. More are on the way, sure, but eventually those too will dry up. It's a nice, alternate school of thought to games that build a continued connection on semi-random drops and repeated actions, rather than execution. How novel.

For all its individually familiar mechanics, the holistic experience of Dawn of War 3 is as different from its predecessors as the second game was from the first. It doesn't feel like either older game as a whole. Instead, approach this as its own self-contained vessel: an RTS with a better-than-average campaign and an approach to multiplayer that has a lot of potential if it can find a community of players that hasn't already dedicated itself to one of the two styles of play it emulates. If, however, you're a longtime fan simply looking for a second lap around for either of the first two games, you'll be sadly disappointed.

It's a structure that can feel punishing, unforgiving, tedious, and enraging in turns. But it's also a structure that leads to moments of the most genuinely satisfying sense of achievement I can remember having in modern gaming...It's about a miles-long journey starting with a single, halting step. It's about putting one foot in front of the other until you can't anymore. It's about climbing the mountain because it's there. It's about falling down 1,000 times and getting up 1,001 times.

Life is Strange: Before the Storm doesn’t have that arc. Its strengths remain strong; its weaknesses stay weak. So, if the first episode doesn’t grab you, it’s safe enough to bail and jump into the more complete and energetic original.

The disparate gaggle of stories apparently set in the same universe might feel like required reading to some obsessive fans. As someone who just wants to know what’s up with King Mickey (and still kind of likes that theme song), this is an unnecessary, dissatisfying distraction.

It's not a perfect collection. Still, I'll take a re-release that's doggedly old-school over the microtransaction alternative. DrillLand is exactly the kind of unique, satisfying, and cutesy puzzle-action game I want right now.

While The Old Blood does manage to achieve greatness, it doesn’t quite have the scope to do so consistently enough.

In very good news, all of that time in the oven did nothing to stymie or complicate the basic, satisfying thrust of the original game. Instead, Back in the Groove is boosted by even more roguelike weirdness and multiplayer support.

Potential meta-joking aside, The Beginner's Guide plays out like a diary, wholly and shamelessly. While there's an argument to be had over whether or not a straight-up diary counts as art worth celebrating, a video game trying to do the same thing, without meaningful interactive options or epiphanies, and without giving us as players the space to come to our own conclusions, doesn't respect the viewer or create interesting opportunities for either empathy or outrage.

Syndicate is a step in the right direction for the series. It’s not as innovative as it could be, but it’s an entertaining adventure worthy of the name Assassin’s Creed. Buy it.

There's little to complain about on a technical level, but Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam Bros quickly becomes a repetitive slog.

Far Cry Primal is video game aspirin — numbing, and nondescript, but basically pleasant.

Super Mario Run never amounts to much more than a conveyor belt coin hunt, without the kind of exploration-based depth that characterizes the best of the Mario series.

A certain party-playing crowd will overcome the awkward bits and have a blast. Most won't. Rent, don't buy.

After a half-dozen hours with Atomic Heart, I’m eager to see where it takes me. I’m currently exploring the college town around a mag-lev train station, looking for a dead comrade with a ticket on them. The game’s promotional screenshots suggest far more varied environments than the underground tunnels I’ve been through and a wider mix of malfunctioning worker bots...Atomic Heart is loaded with little loving details, and its combat is notably more fluid and involved than the somewhat plain shooting typically associated with its sub-genre. I suspect the answer to what went wrong with the grand robo-workers’ utopia is going to involve some well-worn sci-fi tropes, but I’m fine with it. It’s a fun, ambitious shooter with a distinct style and worth the occasional kick in the head. [Impressions]

For a game that takes place in such a wide-open wilderness, the actual story is almost claustrophobic in its quick pace and clipped storylines—a short story rather than a great American novel of rugged adventure in the remote mountain west. It's a shame, too, because by the time the game ended I was finally starting to be able to feel my way around Firewatch's unique landmarks and winding paths without relying on that map overly much.