Unravel Two is a clever and endearing take on the original’s formula, but doesn’t come through on its cooperative premise.

Songbringer is a randomly generated top-down Zelda-like that has a surprisingly cohesive story and may be worth a play if you can snag it on sale.

Romancing SaGa 2 is an alluring blend of esoteric and impenetrable that is as vexing as it is fascinating.

Bendy and the Dark Revival drowns in its own basic black and white design for survival horror, but manages to amaze players with a more confident sequel to a unique nightmarish satire on all things Disney.

Sucker for Love: Date to Die For was short, a little broken, but ultimately engaging and relatable. Just like my love life.

Short but challenging, Timelie is an inventive take on the stealth puzzle genre which lets players literally take their time in finding solutions.

Carrion is a very cool concept held back by frustrating map design and repetitive combat.

Party Animals is a chaotic online game with adorable furry animals punching and wielding weapons to compete in challenges but suffers from being repetitive and maps dragging on.

I enjoyed playing Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash but I wouldn’t recommend it over any of the more traditional entries in the series. The game does well as a first attempt at a new genre but it takes away too much of what makes each of the characters unique in anyway aside from voiced lines. The forced grinding can also be a drag for a lot of people, especially if you’re hoping to stand a chance online. Despite this, its quick paced gameplay is fun in short bursts and if you’re familiar with the characters, Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash is essentially an excuse to literally see more of them.

Luigi’s Mansion remains the classic it always was, but it’s little more than 3DS life-support.

Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties is a good remake marred by unsavoury and baffling decisions by the studio, making it a hard game to recommend despite its technical competence.

Ruiner is a dizzying affair in combat, offering tons of things for players to consider as music pounds their senses. However, a lack of weapon impact, fights that often feel too similar, and a lifeless world takes away from its appeal.

A painfully bland story and dull characters don’t stop Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE from being a novel and fun role-playing experience for fans of the genre.

Capes is a good enough game, but lacks the necessary distinction to go up, up and away.

The No More Heroes games make for light action fun, but they feel like they could be so much more if they only focused on what they did best without so much filler.

Company of Heroes 3 on PS5 is not an ideal way to play this fantastic series. While it manages to keep the gusto of the series alive, fighting with the controls just makes the overall experience a pain.

The No More Heroes games make for light action fun, but they feel like they could be so much more if they only focused on what they did best without so much filler.

If you can get past the childish and highly repetitive English dialogue, Earth Defense Force: World Brothers 2 is a great option for players looking to mindlessly blast giant insects, aliens and Kaiju to bits with their friends, either online or with a local buddy.

Laika: Aged Through Blood is a fairly remarkable game, even if it got on my nerves something fierce due to its predilection for unnecessary mechanics.

There was a lot of replayability factors in Floodland I loved, and a strong political message. If you love micromanagement games, this had a treasure-trove worth of content.

White Day: A Labyrinth Named School offers some chilling ghostly encounters, provides seemingly endless terrors and new ways to be frightened.

Mirror’s Edge Catalyst represents a compromised vision. It’s one part exhilarating first-person platformer, one part bland open-world title. In a year crowded with great releases, not to mention last year’s Dying Light representing a much better open-world parkour experience, that’s a vision many people won’t want to put their money on the line for.

Despite a clumsy jump to console, The Mortuary Assistant remains an incredibly effective horror game.

The Fall is a sci-fi adventure game that harkens back to the days of classic adventure titles and in some instances, brings with it both the good and bad aspects of the classic genre.

A charming, albeit somewhat flawed experience that ends far sooner than it begins.

In Sink is a fun and stylish puzzle game to play with your friend online, but suffers from some puzzles dragging out for too long and sometimes the hint function does the opposite of its purpose.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 offers predictable but fun multiplayer, interesting additions to its zombies mode, but a single-player/co-op campaign that’s tedious and too goofy by far.

Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise may not reach the highs of the Yakuza series that it is so clearly based on, but it’s got more than enough spark to make the journey worthwhile for fans craving something new.

Alien: Rogue Incursion successfully transports players to the terrifying world of the Aliens Franchise in a VR experience that doesn't overstay its welcome.

Overall, Ad Infinitum does great outside of its first two hours. There is a gripping story with some incredibly well designed monsters in store for you if you can get yourself past the introduction section of its first monster.

While Aragami 2 suffers some of the same flaws as its predecessor, it’s an excellent stealth game that’s sure to please most Ninjas.

Though Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood piqued my interest because of its familiar characters and areas, and though they were exciting for a short time, I never found myself excited to push on in this chapter.

GRID Legends is a racing game that provides some cool elements to the formula but doesn’t do enough to stand out in a saturated market. The amazing graphics and solid controls are a plus, but if players aren’t racing game fans, they could skip this one, especially with the large price tag.

Wall Town Wonders VR successfully relocates its mixed-reality experience into a more traditional feeling VR game that manages to keep the essence of the original release for a new player base to get lost in.

An action RPG for all ages to enjoy that unfortunately gets muddled down by a mediocre soundtrack and lack of enemy variety.

It’s still a halfway entertaining game and one of the better uses of the license.

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.

For a paltry $6, Penal Colony includes about two hours of single player story and a horde of zombie-filled hours in the numerous Raid levels, complete with multiple characters to build and upgrade.

While Rubble Without A Case is still a good time, it lacks the variety and excellent pacing of King’s Quest’s first chapter.

If you’ve got a Vita and you’re jonesing for a Final Fantasy Tactics clone that is not too deep, and incredibly silly, this is the game for you.

Beneath Battle Worlds: Kronos' archaic veneer is a strangely satisfying strategy game. Just make sure you’re the right candidate for the job before buying in.

Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain offers players with a nice change of pace from the hyper-connected and competitive nature of contemporary gaming, with a game that actually feels like a game.

My Singing Monsters Playground is here to compete with the Mario Party franchise. Though the game features great ways to include the whole family, the game is still quite small, meaning it may not be viable long term.

It takes a game that could’ve been a truly exhilarating action game, to one that just ends up feeling brainless. And while I’ll be the first to say there’s nothing wrong with a bit of brainless fun, it feels strange that a game based on a show that started for kids, and ended for adults wouldn’t have a bit more depth.

This is such a different kind of game from most of the stuff we've seen lately, however, that it feels distinct.

Like your Grandpa’s rusty old Blackjack, Mechwarrior 5 is a great machine that could use a lot of polish.

Longtime Sonic fans should scoop up the physical edition of Sonic Origins Plus if they missed out last year, but the new content may not be worth a paid upgrade for existing owners.

Rebirth of Souls is fairly standard fare for an anime game, but it will be welcome for content-starved Bleach fans.

As a game, Xenoblade is still one of the best JRPGs available in years, and on that front, any fan of the genre who’s never played it should buy it immediately if there’s a new 3DS in the house. As a port, however, it’s a less than stellar job, and people spoiled on improved remasters of old games are in for an unpleasant surprise.

Donkey Kong Bananza’s DK Island + Emerald Rush DLC is a decent enough expansion that is NOWHERE near worth the asking price.

INAYAH - Life After Gods has an interesting look but lacks the depth needed for challenging combat, and the incentive to explore its world to make for an interesting Metroid-like.

Super Stardust Ultra VR brings a luke warm side dish that was nuked in the microwave to the table.

I can’t help but feel this game would be better off in arcade form, with a properly greased joystick adding a more tactile experience than a gamepad or keyboard.

While it's a fine little nostalgia trip, unlike the titular character, the Felix the Cat collection is a bag lacking a lot of tricks.

Collider 2 really isn’t content with provided any surprises—it knows what it is, and for the most part, it does that job well.

Minecraft Legends is a perfectly serviceable strategy title, especially for those who love the setting, but the lack of pacing and unit management like you'd find elsewhere in the genre brings it down a peg or two.

Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss has some interesting ideas, but it hides them behind poorly explained puzzles and deceptively linear design.

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage - Tape 1 tells a beautiful coming-of-age story, but takes far too long building up something that never pays off.

Koei doesn’t seem very interested in appealing to new customers because DW8 Empires assumes that you’re thoroughly familiar with not just the DW franchise, but the Empires spin-off.

A passable port for a videogame that is best played elsewhere.

Heartopia has some interesting ideas, but ends up feeling pretty shallow and largely forgettable.

Dangerous Golf, despite its constant penchant for flames, is not going to set the world on fire. It's a fun distraction for all you latent destroyers out there, and that's all it really needs to be.

Lawbreakers is Cliff Bleszinski's new hardcore competitive shooter that doesn't do enough to stand out from the competition and has a steep learning curve.

One of the oddest VR experiences on the market that blends platforming with bouncy castle aesthetics.

Days Gone is an above average open-world game that is brought down by a weak first act, poor shooting, and a lot of technical issues.

King Arthur: Knight’s Tale is not a badly made game; it’s just boring, and that might be worse.

ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove just feels like more of the original game sprinkled with some modern-day trimmings (rogue-lite progression, for example) that feel like an afterthought.

A tedious, time-consuming playing card mechanic, frustrating bug crashes and a repetitive, near-endless onslaught of Ridden enemies led by an uninspired AI Director, collectively drags this spiritual sequel to Left 4 Dead down from the heights it could have reached.

Climax Games brings the extreme sports genre to the water with a beautiful, enjoyable, rage inducing game, Surf World Series. Grab your boards, sunscreen and curse the waves.

Seven: The Days Long Gone does a few things very well, but none of them involve the mechanics or gameplay at all.

Chains of Freedom is too caught up in its own macho army aesthetic to really have a connection with the player. Otherwise, it’s a half-decent tactics game.

If you’re already into puzzle-heavy VR titles and can overlook a few technical frustrations, there’s definitely fun to be had with House of Da Vinci VR. It’s not quite on the level of The Room VR or I Expect You To Die, but it’s close enough to be worth checking out, especially for that hands-on, mechanical puzzle feel that this series does so well.

Hey! Pikmin forces the series into something it’s not, resulting in a barebones platformer with Pikmin on the cover.

The platforming elements are completely tied into its puzzle system, so to appreciate the game, you’ll have to really love this one element of the game’s mechanics.

There’s enough tongue-in-cheek dialogue to remind you of how campy and fun the Power Rangers are, but it’s often undercut by the game’s insistence on being silly.

For what it is, Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension is a decent enough post-game content update that will give fans of the game even more reason to keep playing.

Session: Skate Sim is an unforgiving skate simulator that can provide rewarding feelings, but with a massive difficulty curve that can isolate players not willing to devote hours of playtime, a skippable entry for fans of Tony Hawk.

If you’re not a gigantic fan of the genre, I can’t really recommend The Technomancer.

Despite its flaws, the unsettling atmosphere and experimental narrative make Among Ashes a fascinating experience for horror fans.

Pokémon Unite's potential is undermined by its balancing, and might not have enough to offer either of its target audiences.

Kokurase is a text-heavy, visually sparse little adventure with some frustrating issues, yet some people will undoubtedly find something to love here.

While deep and captivating on their own, Digimon World Next Order’s bloated mechanics step all over each other and make progressing through the game as a whole a stressful chore.

“Under Pressure” redeems one character, but raises questions about whether some of the series’ problems are too well ingrained to be fixed in further episodes.

Concord has a few interesting ideas, but its live service trappings, lacklustre game design and mediocre level design keep it from being truly great.

NHL 25 is a good game when it focuses on hockey, it’s when microtransactions come into play that things become tacky.

If you’re a dedicated fan of all things One Piece, including its previous videogame incarnations, this game will likely satisfy your itch.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl often feels hollow and commercial; however, at its core, it remains fun and engaging enough to warrant its $40 price tag.

Let's School has some interesting ideas, but fails to execute them in a satisfying way and is particularly unwieldy on the Switch.

Little Dragons Cafe is like ordering a delicious meal, and then finding a hair in it.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising is the Action-RPG equivalent of a solution without a problem -- an almost completely skippable prequel that fails to share any true gameplay DNA with next year’s Hundred Heroes, nor builds any excitement for it.

Shadow Labyrinth has a few interesting ideas, but this dark interpretation of PAC-MAN fails to deliver on the fundamentals of a Metroid-like experience.

If you liked Nidhogg, Nidhogg 2 is more of the same—which is probably enough for most people. A few new weapons, a shallow character creator, cool stage backgrounds and online play are the biggest changes you’re paying for here. I just wish there were more substantial editions aside from those.

While indisputably overflowing with cartoonish charm, the more tedious aspects of The Swords of Ditto's design prevented me from fully engaging with everything it has to offer.

Superdimension Neptune VS Sega Hard Girls is a serviceable port of an already somewhat dated and niche title.

Call of Duty Infinite Warfare is the most disappointing multiplayer shooter I’ve played in recent memory because it has too many poorly balanced mechanics and systems to create an enjoyable arcade shooter experience.

Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars is a fun yet formulaic anime beat-em-up. However it blurs the lines of both franchises, and might not offer enough of either franchise’s core experience to please their fans.

Battleborn left me feeling like it was not bad or good, it just is, and that's not a good thing.

If you aren’t a BattleTech fan, mech fan or a gamer prepared to put in the additional study time required in order to learn how to master it, MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is a game that is either best left avoided (unless you’re taking it for a non-committal test drive on Xbox Game Pass).