While the humor and random aspects detract from the story and premise, if you just get the basic story and skip the rest, it really is a blast to rush through.

There were a lot of enjoyable, nostalgic moments with the familiar battle systems that were strengthened by the retro aesthetics. Monster Crown is more than just capturing and leveling up the monsters you tame. There is a story to be followed and monsters to breed. Unfortunately, it isn’t easy to comprehend, and janky controls take away from the experience, but the general gameplay is familiar and straightforward to understand. With so much information and planning involved, though, Monster Crown feels like it can be a bigger game than it actually is, and perhaps one day, it can be released as something more ready and easier to learn.

Override: Mech City Brawl is a game that knows exactly what it is: its short, sweet, and all about explosions and destruction. With the unique styles and appearance of each mech you can clearly feel the care and attention the developers put into having a roster that stood out, but I can’t help but feel with a little more added to the campaign or a few skirmishes or single player touches, this could easily have been a sleeper hit. The combat is fun if a little awkward at first, and customization options are a bit limited, but all in all, this is a game that’s fun to go a few rounds with friends and knows how to entertain players in the short term.

By the end of my time with Rain World, I no longer found the Slugcat cute or endearing. He was a cruel joke, a mistake the entire world worked tirelessly to correct. A prey animal destined to melt in the jaws of a monsoon. Perhaps with time and tolerance, more dedicated gamers than me will finish this title. Some other kind souls will find the patience to guide this missing link and their kin to salvation. Make no mistake, this is a beautiful world. Just know that it is also a merciless one.

NHL 2015 truly has glimpses of being a fantastic sports title on its own merit, given the improvements in the gameplay mechanics, visuals, physics and even sound. That being said, we have been spoiled to a degree by some outstanding previous versions with all the features and now I find that the series has lost a bit of its lustre given what they cut out to get this one out the door. The omission of key modes really hurts the end product, and in a way it feels like we stepping back somewhat.

It might have been a different story if the environments had more interactivity, but they’re mostly sterile and void of any real drama. You just walk through them until you’re expected to solve a puzzle.

The content you get from this is incredibly worthwhile, and the challenge the bosses’ present feel achievable without being frustrating. If you already own Darksiders 3 you should buy this DLC and get the full experience, but the fact you NEED the DLC to feel like you have the full game is unfortunate to say the least. Had this been included in the game at launch and the much-needed QOL upgrades been implemented, Darksiders 3 would have truly been the successor of the franchise.

I was pleasantly surprised by Drug Dealer Simulator. What I thought was going to be a joke of a game turned out to be something I had a lot of fun with. The game desperately needs to be patched, as even taking a two-minute scroll through the DDS Subreddit will show just how many issues people are having, and a fleshed-out tutorial and endgame need to be added for the package to truly shine. But, give it a chance, and you could find yourself addicted.

I’ll give Painkiller props for its imaginative weapons, sharp visuals, and visceral combat. It’s a hollow and transitory experience for solo players offline, and you can see what Painkiller has to offer in very short order. As a co-op game, it fares better. Still, I can’t imagine Painkiller becoming any shooter fan’s obsession. The nuts and bolts of what could be an impressive game are there, but in its present form, there’s simply too much repetition and too few surprises.

Summer in Mara was a game I wanted to love, but its core designs around crafting and questing left me wanting. It’s a shame, as I think it could’ve been something truly magical with more time to cook and less reliance on fetch quests.

There is a lot to like in Necromunda: Underhive Wars, and there are some fresh ideas that bring a welcome change to the turn-based strategy genre. But those positives are let down by an overall lack of polish and finish. Combat drags on a bit more than it should, and the initial phase of learning the game is pretty frustrating for newcomers, without a whole lot of help from the developers. If you are a fan of the Warhammer universe, and especially if you’ve played the Necromunda tabletop game, you should definitely check it out. Otherwise, you might want to wait a bit for some updates.

Overall, the decent story, characters and narration made the game satisfactory, as did the simple controls, but the lack of gameplay, underwhelming graphics, slow movement and lag impacted the enjoyability of The Descendant greatly. I’m torn between wanting to see if the game gets better in the other four episodes, and leaving my playing time where it is.

Though The Inpatient shines in a few areas, it falls short of what made Until Dawn one of finest horror games of this generation.

South Park: Snow Day by no means lives up to its predecessors. Still, it manages to be worthwhile for those invested in the franchise. After all, it’ll only set you back thirty bucks. Just be aware it’s not a game that will hold your attention for hours on end. Fans of the turn-based combat found in previous titles may find it jarring that Snow Day flips that formula on its head in favor of an action-oriented gameplay loop. It’s also disappointing that said action ends up being as shallow as a kiddie pool. Yet, I still enjoyed my time with these characters, even if it was over in the blink of an eye.

Although the gameplay is fun, what prevents this game from being better is that there is no end. You’re playing purely for high score.

More time to polish would have done a lot of good for Warden: Melody of the Undergrowth. More art, maybe another spirit friend, and better combat could have pushed this game much closer to a “must buy” category. As it is, you’re better off waiting for a sale unless you really dig the art and premise.

I know it isn’t fair to judge a game by what isn’t there, but I was really hoping for a deeper crafting system. Arelite Core’s aesthetic didn’t hit the mark for me, but if you like what you see and hear, check it out. Flaws aside, there’s a heart to this game.

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.

Being that it has it's own story, own objectives, and that it is a platform game, it is a whole different experience then the version you play on your TV. Even with some of the technical issues I noted, and a lack of any co-op multiplayer, Skylanders fans with a 3DS can do little wrong by picking this up as there is fun to be had here.

Unfortunately the repetitiveness and dragging narrative holds it down from being much more than a mediocre title at best. The story and acting holds up, even if it’s monotonous to plod through, so when you inevitably find this in your local bargain bin it’s still worth a play through.

It’s fun for awhile but the thrills soon peter out as the scope of combat feels so locked down and restrained compared to what you can do in other games. The inherent limitations of the overall game concept really stand out and the one trick pony nature of a Road Rash game just doesn’t fly today.

The voice acting is top-notch, the graphics are sharp and clear, and the artwork and character designs are pretty cool. The challenge of the battles feel fair and keep you coming back for more, as does the story. The 3D positional audio is fantastic and the music done by Halo and Destiny composer, Martin O’Donnell, heightens the emotional spectrum of the game from the battles to the quiet introspective beats. If you want to play something with a slower pace and dig fantasy coming of age stories, there’s enough here to make mastering the control scheme worth it.

Playing through Empathy: Path of Whispers didn’t take me much time, yet I found myself wishing it were shorter.

Perhaps the high tension cooldown/charge loop will be enough to compensate for a somewhat threadbare presentation elsewhere. There’s an entire crafting/shopping/customization system I failed to mention. Like the battles and the story, it grows slowly, developing over dozens of hours into something tangible and potent. If my description of the core gameplay loop has you curious, check it out! But if a quick glance at the trailers and the streams has you wondering what you’re missing, maybe save this adventure for another doomed warrior.

A charming little indie action platformer with a distinct retro feel. While the difficulty is greatly reduced this time around, the game remains as punishing and rage inducing as ever.

Realistically, patches that are coming for the game may continue to make The Last of Us on PC even better. If the patches can improve the playability then the port will become akin to its console predecessors and contemporaries. However, for now, the crashes, visual bugs, texture glitches, and stuttering is not something that can be ignored. Until then, if you’re a first-time The Last of Us player and you’re looking for a seamless and non-buggy experience on PC, it may be better to wait for patches to truly get the best out of this incredible story and game.

When it comes down to it, I don’t really understand who this game is for because I can’t tell fans they’d love it and I can’t tell the uninitiated to pick it up because the story is baffling, and the gameplay isn’t great. So, even though there are aspects of the game that are solid, this one gets a hard pass from me. Hopefully, I have fewer nightmares about this game than I did about the Skeksis for pretty much my entire childhood.

Under this pretty coat of paint lies one mediocre game that is ultimately disappointing.