Rusty Rabbit has some interesting ideas, but they’re buried under tedious and somewhat undercooked gameplay.

Atari Flashback Classics offers a vast look back into the history of an important time in games, but may offer little of interest to those without nostalgic feelings for it.

Yakuza Kiwami is a serviceable port of a solid remake that finally gives Nintendo audiences a taste of the Japanese beat-em-up favourite.

While it isn’t the worst, I wouldn’t suggest that anyone plays Fate/Extella unless they’re starving for more time with the Fate universe.

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead while intriguing on paper, is too inconsistent when it comes to pacing, difficulty and world building to really make an impact.

Bayonetta Origins is a sub-par experience marred by sloppy combat and only somewhat redeemed by an incredible visual style.

Skyhill is a decent way to kill a few hours.

Dropping a cliff into a steep pillow line is an entirely different feeling to snapping off a groomed park feature, yet in Steep, it all blends into the same thing.

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.

Smoke And Sacrifice is by no means terrible, but while its asking price may be lower than other known RPGs and its story is at its core interesting, its gameplay can at times also be just as fundamentally lacking.

The Queen and The Crone is a disappointing DLC that adds little to Total War: Warhammer II.

Somewhere underneath the broken gameplay and terrible camera controls lies a lot of potential for a great game.

Certainly, the game’s writing and combat are mediocre. That said, there’s still nothing exactly like Lost Dimension on the market. If you want a dash of intrigue in your dungeon crawler, you may want to see this one through to The End .

Dadrector’s Cut gives a little bit more spotlight to what Dream Daddy does well but doesn’t undo what the game has never been able to get right.

Hellpoint borrows the elements found in Fromsoft titles that make a compelling action RPG game but ultimately stumbles due to technical issues and an overall lack of polish.

If you can look past a plethora of bugs, backtracking and glitches, there’s an interesting game hidden here.

.J-Stars is another case of a Japanese game that preaches convincingly to its chosen choir.

Phantaruk is a first-time survival horror romp that, sadly, tells better than it shows.

Championship Edition 2's drastic changes to the classic Pac-Man feels like a misstep. You can touch the ghosts without dying and the speed and danger of the original are missing because of this.

Grave Keeper fits well with a free-to-play model but adds nothing to justify its new cost.

Die-hard Atari fans probably already have the third volume of this compilation but for everyone else, they’re probably better off sticking to some of the earlier releases, which feature more familiar titles for the less initiated or casual player.

We Gotta Go is a fun idea that has a lot of potential, but in its current state, feels a little too loose and runny to encourage repeat visits for solo players or friend groups.

While Summer in Mara is a game with a lot of heart; its gameplay is a bit too monotonous to be enjoyable for even diehard fans of games like Harvest Moon.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City is a game where the effort is clear, yet as a whole, the game doesn't come together in a way that turtles should when fighting crime in VR.

In its current state, The Last of Us on PC should only be played by those who do not have access to a PlayStation 5 or can brute force the game with capable hardware.

Lost Sphear's classically-styled RPG bones can scarcely bear the weight of its uninspired narrative.

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.

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage - Tape 2 not only fails to conclude its story in a meaningful way, it highlights all the ways the entire story’s structure doesn’t really work.

REVEIL is fine as a mildly spooky walking sim, but it commits so many sins of horror games that it ends up boring at best and frustrating at worst.

Mega Man Legacy Collection is solid, and Digital Eclipse has done a commendable job of making these NES titles playable on modern hardware, but as a modern collection, it’s woefully incomplete no matter how you slice it.

Despite its many flaws, starting with the ladder climbing and descending and ending with the worst jumping mechanic of any Souls title, Archangel Studios is constantly updating and improving the title so that fans can have a smoother experience when diving into the Omnistructure. However, if you have never played a Souls title before, this should not be your first. The Omnistructure is a maze of paths that feel far too similar, and this can turn players away from the genre entirely. All in all, Bleak Faith: Forsaken is a solid title and a must-try for the Souls faithful.

Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel delivers a great story and innovative concept, but poor combat, cumbersome inventory, and gameplay holds it back from being a great indie horror entry.

Moto GP 24 caters to an audience of motorcycle enthusiasts and not much else, a game that can be skipped for people not into motorbikes.

Baby Steps, no pun intended, seems like a step backwards for Bennett Foddy and team. Losing the battle between fun and frustrating, frustrating and annoying, always wins when it comes to Baby Steps.

WWE 2K17 is fun. But much like a loved one who has a substance abuse problem, I know it could be better, and I want it to be better, but it keeps messing up.

Star Wars Battlefront fails to match the ambitions of its visuals with equally as impressive gunplay, leaving it in the awkward position of looking amazing while also being rather boring.

The game makes such a point to establish itself as a tangential side story to the franchise that I have trouble recommending it to even the most avid of Persona collectors.

Earthlock is a good game, locked behind a lack of polish.

Crime O'Clock is best served for those looking to play a fancier rendition of Where's Waldo? as the gameplay loop doesn't do well outside of those mechanics and it really shines in its point-and-click, hidden object approach.

Another Lost Phone: Laura’s Story is the very essence of a visual novel. There isn’t a great deal of gameplay to be had, but the story and the way it tells it goes above and beyond to make it a worthwhile experience.

Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections is another derivate ink stroke on the never-ending ninja scroll that makes up the Ultimate Ninja Storm series.

RemiLore gets the mechanics for a fun dungeon crawler down, but does little to hold a player’s attention.

Moroi has a genuinely unique aesthetic and a distinct sense of atmosphere, but little else going for it.

The Nintendo Labo Robot Kit is disappointing. While I absolutely adored the in-depth build and the creativity behind the Toy-Con Garage, the actual gameplay included in this $100 package simply isn’t worth the price of admission.

Alien Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition is a tepid but well-written downgrade over its otherwise atmospheric VR release, sporting minimal graphical upgrades over its 2024 counterpart.

Eldegarde has an interesting idea with its MMORPG styled Extraction game, but is a bit too mundane to stay with for too long.

Marvel's Iron Man VR is a decent game, but one that will only likely appeal to a younger audience or die-hard fans of the property.

Catherine: Full Body has more interesting things to say about relationships that are dragged down by a story too cynical to let it shine.

The Dark Eye: Book of Heroes is a game that in many ways, takes the essence of a good table-top game and directly translates it into a competent, online dungeon-crawling RPG.

Trash Goblin has the foundation for a genuine cozy game, but implements half-hearted sim elements for an experience that never feels as satisfying as it could.

Guardians Frontline might drown in a sea of generic sci-fi games and desperately needs more development, but cleverly uses VR to blend real time strategy with fun boots-on-the-ground action.

Unfortunately, the scariest thing about MADiSON on the Nintendo Switch is its poor performance which mars an otherwise adequate port of a solid horror title.

Warriors: Abyss can provide a fun experience for the Warriors die-hards, but could be skipped by everyone else.

Yono and the Celestial Elephants is an adorable Zelda-like about a woke elephant doing his best to help people, zombies, and robots co-exist.

Dragons: Legends of the Nine Realms isn’t much to write home about, but it offers young fans a slightly more substantial experience than most of its mobile peers without overwhelming them.

A.I.L.A told a predictable yet relevant story, but flew a little too close to the sun by implementing too many good features versus narrowing on making a few outstanding moments.

Killer Klowns From Outer Space: The Game takes a good premise from a bad movie and makes it into a mediocre game.

Layers of Fear 2 is striking in its unsettling places, but is a looser experience than its predecessor, losing the player with busywork puzzles and winding corridors.

Samurai Warriors 4-II isn’t a horrible game by any means, but the game just doesn’t quite entice the gamers of today to venture through its trials.

Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny has some promise with its stacked cast of characters but never pulls the idea off. Middling gameplay, poor visuals, and mediocre writing really hold it back.

While Strikers Edge has interesting ideas, it fails to expand on many of them making for a bare-bones experience.

None of this stops Dead by Daylight from being enjoyable at times—or even tense—but a horror experience it is not. Nor is it particularly well fleshed out, well documented, or even well executed.

Agony is a game I really wanted to love and visually, the game looks rather impressive, even some of the early gameplay moments feel well crafted and fresh, yet, as a whole, Agony just doesn’t hold up against other games of the genre — at best, Agony feels like a lovechild between Red Barrel’s Outlast series and id Software’s 2016 Doom reboot, and at its worst, Agony feels like a game that probably needed a few more months in the crucible before inviting us all to join it down in Hell.

We Happy Few is a game that deserves some more time to improve. As it stands, it offers some truly interesting characters in a well realized and intricate story, that unfortunately have been hampered by an overall unpolished feel.

Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered is a history trip to a dark, odd time in Lara's history, covered in the same thin base coat of modern paint.

This is the best game based on the popular anime series Attack on Titan, but with repetitive combat, it gets dull fast.

I Hate This Place has some interesting ideas inspired by its comic-book origins, but its moment-to-moment gameplay is dull at the best of times and deeply frustrating at the worst.

An artistic platformer of sorts that's best played in a relaxed state.

Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia is a game made almost exclusively for fans of the original, but JRPG fans who put strategy above all else may be able find something to love about this if they put in the time.

I’m sure these games are great for anyone who grew up with them, but I honestly don’t get why.

John Carpenter's Toxic Commando is a decent zombie horde shooter made better with friends, but one that, despite its short run time, can feel overly repetitive and uninspired.

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers had such interesting promise, only to lose itself to building a game on frustration rather than learning and fun.

Battlezone forgot to include a reason to keep playing with it, leaving players with a hollow and repetitive package from a developer capable of much more.

Yooka-Replayee does make some improvements to the 2017 original, but fails to fix the fundamental flaws its predecessor so divisive.

This anime-styled fighter goes plus ultra for fans of the My Hero Academia franchise, but its lackluster single-player content feels phoned in.

Mafia: The Old Country is the textbook definition of fine, which is a shame because the first game was such a stark contrast to anything that had come out at the time and had so many unique ideas. For this sequel to come out and do little else than push the boundaries of visual hardware is genuinely disappointing. Like I said, the story is definitely worth experiencing, but the game isn’t going to be remembered.

The Hundred Line - Last Defence Academy is a pretty solid turn-based strategy game buried under an avalanche of terrible anime tropes and mediocre storytelling.

Star Trek: Bridge Crew is a fantasy come to life for Star Trek fans.

Dark Alliance lacks compelling narrative and gameplay variety, despite being steeped in lore from its source material.

Gotham Knights tries hard to escape Batman's shadow and still delivers a compelling full-length brawler, but feels assembled by basic action-adventure with pieces that feel all too dated.

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.

Gran Turismo Sport returns the Gran Turismo series to the Playstation 4, with fantastic graphics that push the boundaries for realistic driving simulation. However, this game feels thinner than its predecessors, with less of a focus on solo driving and campaign simulation. The gameplay is crisp and smooth, the menus are well built for the most part, but the lack of a polished campaign mode like what was found in prior releases reduces overall enjoyment for the player who isn’t intent on playing online in the official races each day.

Rage 2 takes Doom-like gunplay and puts in just another dull open world game that doesn’t do anything particularly memorable.

Gears of War 5 bravely adds new mechanics to an aging series, but ends up being worse because of them.

Ember offers a fun RPG experience from a rising indie developer reminiscent of classical games of the genre. Technical flaws and over-simplified mechanics mar an otherwise quality experience.

Derivative, clumsily executed, but hauntingly beautiful. Crank the music and bathe in the scenery before you start talking to people.

Farming Simulator 15 can provide a tranquil, educational and interesting virtual farming experience. However, at $50 for a hamstrung version compared to its PC sibling, the bugs and narrow gameplay make it difficult to easily recommend.

After The Fall stays alive with top-notch VR zombie shooting, but gameplay isn't enough to make up for a lack of variety and shockingly light content at launch. [OQ2]

What the Fog is a fun game that is a draw for Dead By Daylight completionists with the characters and the fact that it is free for Behaviour Interactive account holders. Sadly, its lack of depth and promise of no further content will leave those who have to buy the game questioning whether to spend the money, no matter how little money it is.

The Callisto Protocol is a competent survival horror game but a poor man's Dead Space, making it only worth it for those diehard fans of the genre.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is a sequel in name only. A flawed but fascinating action-adventure that might satisfy World of Darkness devotees, but few others.

There is a good game somewhere here in RENNSPORT, but there is far too much that needs work to redeem it at this point in time.

If there was more of a challenge like deadlines, random events having more of an effect, and generally broadening the range of difficulty through different aspects to give it more of a challenge, it could be a spud-tacular game.

Harmony: The Fall of Reverie comes through as a mixed bag for several reasons, but the art style isn’t enough to make up for the way choices work.

Dead Island: Definitive Collection is a symbol of the franchise’s great ideas, hampered by what is merely an okay execution.

Ground Zero is a bit of a weird one. On some levels, it works incredibly well, mostly in the nostalgic feel and wearing its inspirations on its sleeves. On the other hand, it sticks to them too much and doesn’t do anything interesting enough to stand out.

Although seemingly marketed towards the casual gamer, behind the cozy pixel art style and soothing soundtrack of Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story lies a complicated and grindy crafting RPG best enjoyed only by the most devout fans of the genre and/or the parent title.

Shadow of the Beast has impressive production values and combat mechanics that improve over the original, but weak platforming and poor design decisions greatly hamper the experience.