Crossfire: Legion is an exercise in nostalgia, bringing to mind real time strategy games back when the genre was at its most popular. Its mechanics are comfortably familiar, but that might also be a disappointment to gamers looking for innovation or depth. Skirmishes limited to online-only play, some bugs left over from early access and a forgettable campaign weigh against Crossfire: Legion’s basically engaging RTS gameplay and graphics. Diehard fans of the genre will absolutely appreciate the game’s classic feel, but will be left wanting more.

It’s a game with a striking presentation, but suffers from problems that no amount of sheen can cover up.

Fans of simulation games will probably quite enjoy this title. While it isn’t as in-depth or fleshed out as The Sims, Youtuber’s Life is addictive and fun in a more condensed form. Not to mention being able to watch your stats and view rates climb with each video certainly has some merit. Unfortunately, with the confusing deck-building mechanics, boring social events and repetitive nature does somewhat kind of tarnish the overall goodness to the game.

Is it perfect? No. The choice system needs a rethink, the pacing could use tightening, and the life-sim tasks sometimes cross the line from immersive to plain tedious. But for those willing to put in the hours, Varlet rewards you with a world worth exploring and characters worth caring about.

The lack of a story as well lack of quality music and sound are glaring issues and although the gameplay is decent it is far from perfect.

Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain is light on narrative and heavy on fast paced action. The soundtrack keeps your heart pounding and the variety of weapons and abilities unlocked through your armor really let you play your own unique style. The character creation is a bit lacking – especially from a studio which has made so many WWE games – and the cast is mostly forgettable but the intense combat and overwhelming number of enemies really makes you feel like the underdog in a story about fighting for survival against alien forces.

The single greatest oversight in this game, aside from the controls, is the inability to interact with your bird. You can inject it with mutagens to power it up but you can’t pet it? If I had been given the opportunity to interact with my warbird, customize its gear and coloration, and build a real bond with it, I would have enjoyed this game much more than I did. As is, I found The Falconeer to be a compelling but frustrating experience.

Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend brings the joy of classic JRPGs back into our lives. It stays true to the retro experience by allowing players to utilize their handheld Switch as if it were a touchscreen Game Boy. It may not be the most polished adventure, but it is a faithful port bringing so many of us back to our childhood days. Overall, this collection successfully maintains the nostalgic feeling of gaming in the early 90s while creatively blending today’s technology to enhance the overall experience.

The Evil Within should have been the best next generation horror game we have seen to date. Shinji Mikami has the pedigree, credentials and budget to make it happen. Unfortunately The Evil Within falls short and doesn’t come close to living up to its billing.

Another big turnoff is a buy-to-own piece of DLC that is a credit multiplier. Memories of loot boxes in other games spring to mind where players willing to cough up money get an unfair advantage over those who do not. Credits are needed to upgrade bikes, etc.

Lovers of city-building will be left unsatisfied because it plays a more minor (and less interesting) role in the game than one would hope, but I would recommend Port Royale 4 to fans who have played the series before or for those who love a mix between resource management and strategy. For anyone else who falls somewhere in between, I may recommend that you wait for a price-drop.

The Outer Worlds: Murder on Eridanos gives us an interesting and inspired tale to jump into with that loveable band of misfits you call a crew. It pays great homage to classic sci-fi and vintage serials when it comes to the main quest, but it doesn’t feel like it leans enough into that aspect for the rest of the DLC to make it stand out from its predecessor. The writing is absolutely on point and a true delight every step of the way, but the technical issues with dropped textures and exhaustively long load times kill the atmosphere the main quest is trying to set. If this could have leaned harder into the narrative it would easily stand tall over Peril on Gorgon, but instead, we are getting more of the same. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as The Outer Worlds is a sleeper hit, but this should have been something greater.

Journey of a Roach is ideal for someone who wants a change of pace in a puzzle game. It is for someone who does not want a complex story line and is looking for an affordable puzzle game for your PC.

The Low Road tells a wonderful story in a really clumsy way. Its point-and-click controls are very much lost in translation between the PC and the Switch. Touch controls would have solved the problem in a big way and tell that story more easily. Alas no such controls exist, and the game suffers as a result. It’s not all bad though, as there are some interesting puzzles and story twists that kept me engaged. Only the most patient players should take the long haul down The Low Road. If nothing else this game might start the argument for keyboard/mouse support on Switch…nah, maybe not.

Ravenbound’s limited successes do not come from an abundance of new ideas, but combining or juxtaposing old ones. If Ravenbound was a full-price, triple-A game I’d be a lot less forgiving of its flaws. No matter the price, it’s still derivative, janky and in serious need of optimization and bug fixes. But at less than 30 bucks, it’s maybe worth a gamble for fans of open world RPGs and action roguelikes. Provided, that is, that they temper their expectations and can overlook the game’s sometimes messy mechanics and other shortcomings.

The Innsmouth Case is a beautifully written, delightfully dark, and truly excellent experience on a rainy day. The writers at RobotPumpkin Games are clearly fans of Lovecraft’s work and they capture the soul of his writing with their own humorous twist. Fans of Lovecraft or Tim Burton will adore the narrative and the visual style of the game, no doubt getting lost in trying to uncover each of the curious endings. This is, however, a game made to appeal more to the hardcore fans than a general audience. The lack of voice acting and the minimal on-screen animations can make for a dull experience if you aren’t committed to playing a game entirely comprised of reading, but it is a fantastic little story to get lost in when you need a break between car chases and gunfights.

It’s evident MXGP3 is not an AAA racing game. With 22 people on small dirt tracks, the races are often fast-paced and exciting and the bike physics add a surprisingly realistic touch. Unfortunately, with its so-so graphics and lackluster game modes, the rest of the experience feels somewhat rushed and unpolished.

The voice acting is quite good. Although there weren’t any standout characters, from the NPCs to the random voice recordings you find, I always felt involved with the world and its story. Additionally, there is a personal fort you can decorate and craft to your liking. There is quite a variety of options for decoration things purely cosmetic to useful things, like the Lucktree, which you could feed loot to grow larger, granting you better luck within dungeons. However, these little successes don’t fully make up for the game’s shallowness that probably will get you bored in a few hours. Torchlight 3 is not a bad game by any means, I just don’t see a point in playing it over the original or two.

The soft reboot of Sakura Wars leaves much to be desired but it is an adequate experience that accomplishes what it ultimately set out to do. It's a decent blend of multiple genres but does not particularly excel at any of them. The setting and backstory are interesting, but unfortunately, Sakura Wars did not fully utilize them to their advantage.

Where Blood Bowl 3 fumbles is in its lackluster forward motion from the previous game. Its offline play is pretty limited, and too much has been recycled from Blood Bowl 2. It’s very rough around the edges for a game so long in the oven. All that aside, Blood Bowl 3 can be amusing, tactically engaging, and still great fan service for tabletop players and the Warhammer faithful.

This game would definitely benefit from some further polish, but I found a fairly addictive adventure/RPG game beneath its imperfections.

I do have say though that the game can be repetitive and there is not a lot of incentive to play once your done; however, given the affordable price of 800 MS Points, Kinect owners may just want to take a serious look at this downloadable title.

Sense of humor is personal and what you respond to is none of my business. Rustler might very well be your comedy jam, mixing GTA with wannabe Monty Python and firing the joke cannon at every opportunity in the hopes that the humor will hit with someone. What we can agree on is that mechanics and gameplay are at least as important as the setting and story, and this is where Rustler fails to deliver a consistently fun experience.

Assetto Corsa does a lot right, and a lot wrong. It does; however, get the gameplay right which is far and away the most important aspect in racers, even if it fails to deliver a compelling career mode. In its Special Events mode the game shows off its best side while the career mode is average at best. Not to mention the antiquated look cannot be ignored. That being said, Assetto Corsa has a unique tone and feel that differentiates it enough from the competition.

This is not to say Resident Evil: Revelations is bad game, it is just not an exceptional one and has a little too much of that “been there and done that” feeling to it.

Demon Turf is a strange and peculiar game. At times, it nails its intention, delivering solid platforming sections, packed with ingenuity. However, you’ll often be let down by technical issues and odd design decisions that will ultimately hinder your experience. Although the game, doesn’t manage to stick the landing, it certainly has some memorable moments that will resonate with fans of classic 3D platformers.

Even though the core gameplay is solid, most game modes are riddled with micro-transactions that prioritizes grinding and monetization over enjoyment.

Darkestville Castle is a nostalgic game for sure. But play at your own risk as rose-colored glasses are not included.