The Long Journey Home is an interesting exploration game that succeeds in a lot of ways, but never really seems to shine.

In spite of the occasional glitch or physics hiccup, nothing in Friday the 13th: The Game is enough of a knock against the package to keep me from preventing it. This is some of the most fun multiplayer I’ve touched in quite a while, and definitely the most fun I’ve ever had with an asymmetric multiplayer title.

Even with clever puzzles and funny physics, I found little enjoyment in Human: Fall Flat.

Injustice is back and good lord is it ever a blast.

RiME is the rare game that balances its spectacle and whimsy with a dose of quiet humanity.

It might sound strange to call an anniversary repackaging of a decades-old title a “must own” for a new system, but Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers is just that well produced. If you own a Switch and love Street Fighter II, then you quite simply need to have this in your library.

Don't be fooled by its unassuming facade: Rakuen is a one-of-a-kind adventure that brings tears and smiles in equal measure.

Portal Knights feels like a barebones experience. While the foundation Keen Games created is solid, there is so much more that could be expanded on and fleshed out to create an even better experience for its players. Portal Knights may not have hooked me in, but I believe that with a dedicated fan base, the game can grow into something bigger and more elaborate. In its current state, however, Portal Knights lacks depth, especially when it comes to its RPG classes and skills.

While a standalone game that also offered “Extinction” (the short-lived alien variant) would be even better, Zombies Chronicles gets the job done and hits most of the high-notes the subseries has given us over the years. It’s going to be a little awkward if you sold your copy of Black Ops III, but otherwise, it’s worth booting up with some friends.

By today’s standards, The Silver Case is not a great game. It’s a chore to navigate, the pacing is dreadfully slow at times, and the visual presentation, while unique, begins to grate on the eyes after a while. However, when this came out in 1999, it was unlike anything else available at the time, and allowed Suda51 to begin his career as one of the most original developers in the industry. The story is bizarre but cool, the setting is fun, and the style bounces all over the place (in a good way). Not the best game when looked at in a 2017 context, but for an HD re-release of a genre-bending convention breaker, it does its job.

If you’re in the niche group that is both a fan of Rick and Morty and owns an expensive VR headset, then you’ve got to pick up this game as it features of the best fanservice out there. That said, at $30 the price tag is a bit steep for a game that can be completed in a couple hours—but by this point, you’re probably used to the ‘VR tax’. Completionists will probably get a lot more time out of the game finding all the secret Easter eggs and references to the show that are available, as you can continue playing after finishing the story.

Akiba’s Beat is both a stellar role-playing experience and a heartfelt yarn with bite. One of 2017’s best RPGs so far, and a new personal favourite.

Intelligent Systems has done an excellent job of bringing a classic title forward into the modern age.

While I doubt I’ll play much more of Cooking Mama: Sweet Shop in the future, I can’t say it’s because the game is bad.

The Surge is an admirable riff on the Souls formula, with its novel setting and new mechanics making its mechanical and narrative blemishes easier to swallow.

Syberia 3’s ample potential for greatness is squandered by an awkward translation, poor design, and a heaping helping of technical issues.

On paper, it doesn't look particularly impressive, but you really need to strap in and feel the stress of solving one of its many puzzle boxes.

Slippery movement and some unreliable mechanics make Super Rude Bear Resurrection a bit harder than it ought to be for new players, but overall offers good challenge and creative level design.

There are far superior alternatives to this game even within the same publisher’s 2017 catalogue, for crying out loud! The few glimmers of creativity beneath The Caligula Effect‘s vapid surface simply aren’t worth the time or effort they take to uncover.

Prey is a game that is a patchwork of other titles with no swatches of originality added to the mix.

STRAFE wants to be a shooter from the 1990s, but has worse mechanics than any of the games it hoped to imitate.

Expedition: Viking is a fun slightly strategic RPG that utilizes an interesting theme to great effect. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take enough chances to really be memorable.

At $10, Kero Blaster is pushing it in terms of justifying its price point, but there's no denying that it's a silly, well-crafted little game that feels good and oozes charisma.

The Jackbox Party Pack 3 is an excellent collection of games perfect for parties, made even better now that you can conveniently take that party anywhere with the Switch.

What Remains of Edith Finch required me to carry out acts knowing full well how they’d play out. The game isn’t gruesome by any stretch, but it’s not a story of happy endings. It’s a story of sad retellings and painful memories, but ones that a family is desperate to preserve. And despite the painful things I saw unfold in the Finches’ home, I’m glad they preserved those memories for me to find.

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 is a mess of a game. It’s a glitchy, ugly, poorly acted, and terribly written game, while clearly wishing it was something else. There are moments of fun to be had, but they’re too far apart to really be worth it, especially when you can just play a game that it’s emulating.

Late Shift is okay as far as FMV games go. The production value is decent, the acting isn’t terrible, and the story is interesting for the first playthrough. However, the lack of real choice and the ability to skip scenes is its biggest weaknesses. If you’re really hankering for a “choose your own adventure” FMV game with actual consequences I suggest you find a copy of Return to House on Haunted Hill on DVD or Blu-ray. While it is a subpar horror film, it at least had the guts to let characters die early on.

With just a handful of puzzles it'll also be over in no time, so it's best if you just take your time and take in all of the sights and sounds while you can.

While Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King does skew a little too close to its inspirations in places and it can be a bit too easy, it still gives players a delightful, lively world filled with secrets and silly characters.

The dialogue might be the most atrocious I’ve seen to date in any game I’ve ever played.

Personally, I see myself revisiting this game down the line just to replay and enjoy it because it is that good. Seriously, I think this may be my new favourite horror game, beating out the classic Silent Hill 2. If you buy one horror game this year, make it Little Nightmares. You won’t regret it.

A quiz variant that does some interesting things, but doesn't provide enough content to keep the party going.

Puyo Puyo Tetris is a beautiful, wonderful, joyful game with loads of content that any Switch owner should pick up immediately. One of the very best puzzle games ever made.

Outlast 2 builds on what the original did well, crafting terrifying chase sequences with care.

While Lords of the Fallen isn’t a terrible game, it’s far too pedestrian to justify the asking price, especially when there are identical games that are free-to-play. If you’re genuinely looking to spend the money on a mobile game just get Mario Run, there’s at least $13 worth of fun in there.

Surely, the Inquisitor’s eye will be ever scrutinizing of this one, but I think the franchise has been spared the order of Exterminatus for now.

By the end, I was just making whatever contradicting choices I could, mostly in a bid to cause drama because I care so little for the characters and the events of their story (with the exception of Clementine of course). Everything feels so rushed (I actually timed it this time, it takes one solid hour to clear this episode), each episode ends in disappointing abruption rather than an intriguing cliffhanger and none of it feels genuine. By this point, I honestly don’t think episode four or five will redeem this season for me.

Forts is a fun 2-D RTS with some interesting new mechanics thrown in. It suffers from a few bugs and an unnecessary story, but is generally an entertaining experience.

Dragon Quest Heroes II is arguably the best thing Omega Force has ever put out, and the best spin-off to come out of Dragon Quest since Dragon Quest Monster: Joker.

As much as I wanted to enjoy Everything, it’s an empty experience trying to be deeper than it really is. It’s even more frustrating when it becomes clear that Everything is nothing more that streamer fodder to get views from an audience that will probably never actually buy the game anyway. Still, as a one time playthrough, Everything can be interesting, even good for a chuckle or two, but once it’s over, there’s no need to ever get back to it.

The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ is a perfect fit for the Switch, and barring some framerate problems in local multiplayer, is arguably the best way to play this modern classic.

Hacknet: Labyrinths does everything the base game only better and harder. There are new tools and more story to look forward too, but it ends up just being more Hacknet, not that that’s a bad thing.

Still one of the best games in the genre, Cities: Skylines - Xbox One Edition, is the best city sim on consoles.

Mario Kart 8 remains one of the highlights of the franchise and while it would have been nice for The Switch to get a new title rather than a Deluxe repackage, this thing plays like a dream and is overflowing with content.

Thimbleweed Park is an excellent experience made by masters of their craft. Every speck of it drips with quality and care.

Mr. Shifty is like Nightcrawler from X-men starred in a boring Hotline Miami ripoff.

Full Throttle hasn’t aged particularly well, and it’s made more unenjoyable by a remaster that actively sucks the life out of the game’s personality.

Flinthook is wonderful game that you will hate and hate until you get good at it.

This is an excellent representation of what made these games so beloved and enjoyed, not to mention frustrating for gamers.

While there’s nothing here that will cure Telltale fatigue, Guardians of the Galaxy also manages to stumble in its writing and visual style where the studio typically succeeds.

While unpolished, Old Time Hockey offers a lot for fans looking for an experience outside of NHL.

This is the Police is simple but highly addictive if you have the time to dedicate becoming more invested in Jack Boyd and his personal chaotic life.

The core problem Trove suffers from is that Minecraft doesn’t work as an MMO. Minecraft is an open world survival game that inspires its players to create huge structures and towns. It was never the gameplay that got people hooked, it was the stories about what they created. Trove limits this ability severely, leaving players with a shallow and characterless MMO that quickly becomes boring after just a few hours. Even if players were to invest money into the game, Trove still has nothing of substance to offer except cosmetics and progress fasteners. Stay away from this greedy cash cow, MMO players deserve better.

I’m not really surprised that Bayonetta holds up, but I am surprised that it holds up this damn well, and handily one-ups most games that are coming out these days. To me, this is still one of the gaming’s landmark achievements, and now, it’s better than ever.

Has-Been Heroes, best enjoyed in short bursts, is a clever take on roguelikes and a strong argument for the Switch’s easy portability.

It is a quality experience through and through with some excellent writing and inventive design that I can’t say I’ve ever seen implemented so well in a game before. It dares to be different and does so with style. I loved every minute of it.

88 Heroes is a game that puts referential humor over bland platforming and little else.

Beat Cop is a quiet little indie game and punches way above its weight in terms of presentation, theme, and fun.

Amid an overcrowded season full of newly launched triple-A titles, Shards of Darkness, at its very best, works as an inconsistent but serviceable stealth experience.

A sheer work of art with some archaic design choices, Banner Saga still dazzles now as much as it did during its release.

Duke Nukem is a surprisingly snug fit in a game he wasn’t intended for.

The Ringed City is a fantastically punishing finale for the Dark Souls saga, but is held back by linear level design and an underwhelming story.

A digital version of a classic board game that is fun though it doesn't change much.

Snake Pass is a colourful snake 'em-up platformer with hard to learn controls, but is original enough to be worth more than a passing glance.

Yooka-Laylee is both a joyful ode to Rare’s heyday and a polished platformer that stands head and shoulders above what few contemporaries exist in the genre.

It’s an easier experience with a story that’s markedly simpler than past entries, but Persona 5 is still operating on a whole different level than its peers. A simplistic yet ultimately winning JRPG with loads of content.

Atelier Firis: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Journey is a dull, flat story filled with insipid characters, delivered through thoroughly monotonous gameplay and dragged out over the course of an interminable amount of time. Steer clear of this trope-ridden snoozefest.

A hacking simulator that's actually not silly, and makes good use of VR.

Bullet Soul is a solid bit of enthralling bullet hell action, complete with arresting visuals and a stellar score, that makes a compelling offer at its low price point.

Episode Gladiolus is worth checking out for its rugged action and blood-pumping music, though its plot points really should've been part of Final Fantasy XV in the first place.

If ‘They Shall Not Pass’ is any indication of DICE’s long-term plans for Battlefield 1, fans have got a great season ahead of them.

The dynamic lighting, stadium details, and player designs are astounding. The gameplay can be punishingly realistic or a cartoony home run derby depending on how you customize your experience.

A surprisingly strong contender in the Nintendo Switch launch library, VOEZ is well worth its modest asking price for rhythm fans who need to scratch that IIDX itch.

Think Limbo, but more haunting and with better controls, and you'll have a basic idea of what Rain World is about.

While a little unpolished, Vikings – Wolves of Midgard is over-the-top fun.

None of the sport simulations are spectacular, but none of them are broken either. The fact that you get all five sports in one package and can play them all through online and local multiplayer is what makes Mario Sports Superstars worthwhile. Any one of these mini games in isolations would feel rather lacking for a full priced 3DS game—sure there are trophies and collectables to earn, but that’s not worth discussing beyond mentioning the option. Taken together in a very smoothly animated and pleasingly designed package that looks pretty in 3D, this makes for a perfectly amusing little mini-game compendium for Nintendo nuts. There’s plenty of content in Mario Sports Superstars, which all adds up to more than the sum of its mediocre parts. Should anyone rush out to buy this title? Not really, but in a slow release season this will scratch an itch for 3DS players desperate for new content.

Toys for Bob comes up with one of their most ambitious plays yet, the ability to create Skylanders from scratch.

Telltale has definitely gotten so comfortable that their latest zombie game lacks any teeth.

Telltale has definitely gotten so comfortable that their latest zombie game lacks any teeth.

If you're hankering for a Metroidvania on the Nintendo Switch, Blaster Master Zero is it for the time being. Luckily, it is one of the better ones.

I wish I could be more kind to this game, considering it’s an indie title with big ambition, but considering Horizon: Zero Dawn and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild came out only a few weeks ago, and how similar Troll and I is trying to be to those games, there’s really no excusing it.

I quite enjoyed my short time with Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight, even if it is quite short and simplistic.

Toukiden 2 isn’t a bad game but there are enough flaws to stop it from being what could’ve been a great. I believe fans of the hunting style action RPG will easily get the most out of this, enjoying what they already love about the genre as they’re introduced to Toukiden 2's new ideas. If you’re not already a fan of this type of game however, it’s unlikely that this title will be the one to change your mind.

I am Setsuna lends itself perfectly to on the go gaming, making the Switch the ideal console to experience this unique RPG.

At times, Mass Effect: Andromeda can feel like an expansion and not a true follow-up. A lot of strides have been made to improve the already dazzling combat system (which is leaps and bounds more exciting than your average cover shooter), but so much of it feels like a regression. That slip still puts it a cut above a lot of others in the same space, but the failure to iterate after the divisive conclusion of the original trilogy isn't going to do BioWare any favours.

It sounds like blasphemy, but if F-Zero is truly dead and buried by Nintendo, I hope they consider just giving Shin'en Multimedia the reigns. No interference, just some minor IP oversight, and let them do their own thing. They clearly know what they're doing, and have jammed a fully-fledged racer into a tiny eShop pricepoint.

It’s never been easier to play the Zero Escape titles than it is now, and for the money, any fan of heady narratives and fun puzzles is in for several hours of quality entertainment.

You won’t build all that much in the initial hours of LEGO Worlds.

If Shovel Knight is Mega Man X, then Specter Knight is Zero; his expertly-crafted new campaign is a perfect complement to one of the best 2D platformers ever made.

Snipperclips feels right home in Nintendo's colorful and loveable library. The characters are cute, the music is memorable, the gameplay is easy to pick up with the right amount of challenge, and the amount of content is perfect for the budget price of admission. If you've got a Nintendo Switch and a friend or three, you'd be a fool to pass on this gem up.

If you have a longing for another game similar to Descent and Forsaken, Sublevel Zero Redux is it.

Full of elaborate puzzles and mysteries, Danganronpa 1.2 Reload brings two excellent visual novels to PlayStation 4 for a great price.

Despite the similarities, Ride 2 is not as user friendly as Microsoft’s annual racing games. This means players are going to have to really work to ride with the best, and that’s an uphill battle they may not want to fight on your recreational time.

Super Bomberman R is a surprise winner in the Switch launch line-up, and well worth considering for old-school players, multiplayer enthusiasts and lovers of cute things.

NieR: Automata is the rare gaming experience in which narrative, aesthetics, and gameplay all complement each other to form a perfect storm of master class game design. A truly exemplary example of what video games are capable of as an art form, and a new personal favorite.

Despite the generic setting, and an over-abundance of Ubisoft-style menus, levels, and statistics, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands is a fun, tactical, engaging shooter with plenty of depth and good AI. The freedom and nature of the open-world mission approach, while familiar to Far Cry and Phantom Pain fans, allows for some truly creative tactical experiences and enjoyable gameplay moments. Stable matchmaking and the random nature of human players make the co-op a blast as well.

In what can only be described as a "chill adventure," Heaven Forest is basically a VR wandering simulator.

While exploring the many intricacies can be downright frustrating, and the political game can get difficult, Urban Empire is a game unlike any other in its genre. I’ve never played a sim that actually follows the rules of the democracy we have today. That alone makes it a unique enough title to at least try out. I just wish there was a little extra polish or at least a more thorough explanation on how the smaller intricacies in the game work.