Though there are some definite strengths throughout Past Cure, like the textural environments, the melodies and the overall world duality, it simply fails to really take advantage of the hype gained from its badass trailers.

Doomsday Vault is a charming title with a great message. I just wish there was a bit more of a narrative to help drive the player along, as I didn’t feel particularly inspired to move forward even though I knew I needed to. As a game for casual gamers or for the younger players getting into puzzlers, I would definitely recommend it. If you’re looking for a game with a deep narrative, more challenging puzzles, and question spending approximately $17.99 on a game that can be completed in a little over 2-3 hours, then you may not be as happy with this title.

If you’re looking for a proper Warriors/Musou game for a portable console, Dynasty Warriors: Origins is exactly what you need. The battles are snappy, massive in scale, and crammed with cool mechanics. It’s perfect for a quick session whenever the moment strikes you. On the other hand, the writing and the English voice acting are shockingly bad. Plus, the frame rate gets a little slippy when the battles get big enough. Personally, my heart belongs to the spin-off Musou games out there. But who knows, maybe these epic historical battles are exactly what you’re looking for.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Fame and Strategy Expansion Pack is a much needed and sorely missed breath of fresh air into what was a somewhat dull experience for all but the most avid history fans. With new features that bend the rules on re-enacting the noble history of China, Romance of the Three Kingdoms is loosening its tie and taking a moment to remember that it’s a video game, and history doesn’t have to be boring.

If you’re a fan of My Hero Academia, you’ll enjoy My Hero One’s Justice 2. It brings your favorite characters to life and gives you the opportunity to pit them against each other in a solid fighting arena experience. But for the rest of us, this is a pretty lackluster brawler that looks and plays a lot like other games we’ve seen. What it does, it does competently, but My Hero One’s Justice 2 has a long way to go before it can claim the King of Fighters title.

The game is not very impressive graphically and it has some unfortunate flaws, such as the odd freezing glitch and lengthy load times. But despite the flaws, the game is still enjoyable to play, with a great soundtrack and inspired moments from some of gaming’s biggest games.

Online play would have been nice but, still, a worthy effort.

Death end re;quest: Code Z is such a frustrating game to review. I loved the mysterious narrative, dark tone, grotesque art, and beautiful music. But I didn’t like the grid-based procedurally-generated dungeon crawling. The hub map was also a missed opportunity to create a space that would’ve made Death end re;quest: Code Z feel more like world, and less like a series of scenes and menus. I wouldn’t recommend the game to typical JRPG fans. It’d even be a tough sell for fans of roguelikes, because those elements feel so tacked-on. Visual novel fans will likely really enjoy the narrative though, and fans of dungeon crawlers might appreciate how unique the game is. I think the game needed more work in preproduction to tie the combat, roguelike elements, and hub world sections together in more meaningful ways.

In the end, I am a fan of where Weird Beluga aimed but not as much as where they landed. While the world that Clid resides in is full and realized, its characters unique, its level design excellent, and its overall tone unexpectedly great, the gameplay itself, not plague fuelled slugs, seems to be the biggest deterrent Clid needs to overcome. No matter how Weird Beluga wants to tackle this, whether it be leave it as it is or patch it, they still stand as very innovative and exciting developers. As for the gamer, if you think I’m just weak and you can do better managing the punishing level of gameplay, you should definitely pick this up. Otherwise, maybe see what they do moving forward before you dive into this strange and unique foray into gaming.

The stories being told felt sincere and deal with issues you just don’t find in games; especially the fourth patient, a trans-gendered individual in a physically abusive relationship. What hurts this experience is the actual puzzles, which make up the bulk of the gameplay. I just wish more effort was put into developing more meaningful puzzles that were designed to be more intuitive and actually fun to solve.

The creation experience is as simple or as deep as you make it, but strip away the LBP veneer and you have a rather basic karting game.

Visually, the game looks good and the music is pretty much on point for these style games. The various glitches and technical issues were disappointing and the game’s length was a big letdown.

While Foul Play’s art style is amazing, the gameplay is not. Foul Play feels fresh for a few acts, but quickly gets old after that. It feels like so much more could have been done with this title.

If you love tower defense and can ignore some of the game’s quirks, Hero Defense is worth picking up, but there are not enough unique features to recommend this to the broader PC player base.

Bladed Fury looks like an action game you’d want to play, but I’d recommend action fans do something else with their money, as there are other 2D games in this vein that do satisfy on the gameplay. If you’re really in a pinch, you won’t hate it. Bladed Fury is short, affordable, and a very cool art show with questionable fan service. As for me, I’ll be polishing my fighting skills elsewhere.

All in all, Arslan: The Warriors of Legend seems to be a pretty good anime that got turned into an okay Dynasty Warriors-style game.

The initial weapon selection is refreshing, yes. I also love the color palette used throughout the game. But beyond that, this is a bog standard roguelite. Random assortments of enemies attack with increasing ferocity. The bosses require practice and experimentation to master. Your success is determined by repetition and fortuitous reward drops at the end of every stage. Honestly, the short runtime might be an upside, depending on what you’re looking for. Roguelite players may find Lone Ruin rather disappointing. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a short, arcade-style experience, maybe give this game a shot.

It has some positive notes, such as the ability to play single player, couch co-op and online co-op (even going as far as offering unique levels depending on whether you played co-op or alone). The characters have some fun animations and some of the platforming was well-designed – you always get a bit of a rush when you nail a great throw of your partner. Unfortunately, the game also has a number of issues too, such as the numerous glitches and steep difficulty curve (particularly in co-op). If you’re looking for a decent co-op puzzle-platformer, then Shift Happens should be able to fill that void.

Saint Seiya: Soldiers’ Soul is a title that fans of the franchise will enjoy a lot, but unless this is a series you know, or one that you have have been thinking of checking out, you may just be better reading the serializations instead.

Astro Boy: Edge of Time is a fun and functional CCG, it just doesn’t do a whole lot to stand out from the many other like it.

2 Ton Studios have succeeded in creating their vision of a challenging 2D adventure game, however, it’s the uncompromising goal that hampers the enjoyment. With sluggish gameplay, a purposely slow, meandering pace, Unto The End fails to live up to its grand visuals and sound design.

Double Dragon Revive isn’t the rebirth fans were hoping for. Its combat impresses with a variety of defensive and environmental mechanics that add real depth to each fight, but other elements drag the experience down. Sudden difficulty spikes create frustration, and the light platforming sections feel underdeveloped. The presentation also needs an overhaul as its uninspired visuals and soundtrack fail to capture the energy and attitude that once defined the franchise. There’s a solid foundation here, but it’ll take more than nostalgia and new mechanics to truly bring Double Dragon back to life.

Earth Defense Force 5, like previous Earth Defense Force games, clearly have a following – and if you’ve enjoyed the games before, you’ll enjoy this one just as much. If you’re new to the franchise, you’re not going to get much depth, but under the right circumstances and with the right mindset, you might be able to squeeze out a fun time.

If you’ve enjoyed previous Artifex Mundi games, then you know exactly what you’re getting into and more than likely you’ll enjoy this one too.

Fortified is compelling enough to get through, in its simple but gratifying gameplay, but it doesn’t offer enough to pull me in.

Suggestions that the collection was rushed to the shelves is also evident by the fact that nine games are not in the Rare Replay files, instead, they’re Xbox 360 games ported over through the backward compatibility emulator on the Xbox One. As a result, instead of booting up instantly like every other game in this collection, it takes you out of Rare Replay, starts the Xbox 360 game you selected, waits for the 360 logo to play, and then begins the game.

Not a Hero is a game that will immediately grab your attention within the first few moments of playing it. By the time you make your way to the middle of the game’s story, some of the charm will probably wear off as you start to see some of the game’s more glaring issues including a ramped up difficulty, no checkpoint system, no auto-reload or missing a piece of cover to be killed by enemies once again.

Disney Interactive’s latest game isn’t a substitute for Tron 3, but it sure is fun while it lasts.