Uncanny Valley has strong presentation and an interesting story to tell but it’s held back by bad execution and cumbersome controls.

Once in a while, Safe House successfully pulls me into the allure of mindless task managing, but the gameplay drags down the strong elements of the story through its repetition, and despite the multiple endings, its replay value is low. Safe House delivers enough of a good time but never quite follows through with its promises, falling short of something that I’d recommend to friends.

The PC port just isn’t able to capture everything that made the original special, even if the core game is still intact. Little King’s Story feels more like a quick pick-up and put-down instead of a polished and complete product.

Music notwithstanding, Riskers lacks the character of its peers. There’s a big city in which I can steal cars and shoot bystanders, but there’s not much else. The narrative may have helped the game standout, but there’s not enough there to have an impact.

I wanted to love Doctor Who: The Edge of Time, but I was left feeling let down. The periodic injection of obligatory “cheeky quips” from the disembodied voice of Whittaker’s Doctor just felt like another superficial distraction from the fact that, at its core, this is just an ok VR puzzler that wastes its legendary source material. If you’ve always wanted to take the TARDIS for a spin, by all means check it out — but beyond that, temper your expectations.

I’d still recommend this game if good world-building, easter-egg hunting and puzzles are what you are looking for in survival horror titles because those elements are fantastic. But beware, as clunky mechanics and repetitive design definitely drag things down, Still, Daymare 1998 is an ambitious first game from the young Invader Studios that showcases their immense potential, and I wish them nothing but the best for what’s to come.

As the first in an episodic series, Dead Synchronicity ends quite abruptly, which is very disappointing after putting the time into the story.

I was ecstatic to see Enclave HD coming back. I have such fond memories of playing it twenty years ago, and I knew I was going into it with rose-tinted glasses; the characters, the levels, the gear, everything. We didn’t need Enclave HD to be a full-blown remaster, but with a little more love it could be something truly great. An homage to classic fantasy and adventure games. I enjoyed my time playing Enclave only because I already knew the game. I don’t feel like enough improvements have been made to hold a modern audience, regardless of how fun it used to be.

There are the foundations of a fun game here. But the balance is off, and the game isn’t fun for long. What you are left with is yawning while your fake, dehumanizing enterprise runs itself without you.

Despite its moderate size I explored everything Feather had to offer within about 20 minutes and if anything I felt more like taking a nap than being calm. On a technical level, the game is solid, but from a standpoint of having fun? This bird could have used a little more time to roost.

The gameplay is fun for a time, but once you see what Curious Expedition 2 has to offer, you will start to look beneath the surface. If you do that and you still like what you see, maybe you’ll have a new indie favorite. Or maybe you’ll find that your curiosity is quickly sated, and you’ll move on to the next thing.

With how much of the game is centered around combat, I expected it to have more impact but found a lot of my hits not registering and when the hits do land, it doesn’t feel as fluid as it should. It plays more like a PS2 title than a current-gen experience. Much of the game takes place in hollow arenas or narrow corridors and running through the empty rooms gets repetitive. As a fan of anime, I can appreciate the storyline and the art panels that fall page by page during certain segments but as a gamer, I see a lot of flaws in the overall experience.

If you can look past all of the issues plaguing Arkham Horror: Mother’s Embrace, there are certainly worse games to spend a weekend with. Especially if you’re a fan of Lovecraftian horror, but steer clear of it if you’re somebody that asks of your 2021 gaming experiences to at least feel like you’re playing something made in the past fifteen years. Granted, I’ll be curious to see if this receives a sequel, as I do believe this series could become a sleeper hit. Stay tuned.

Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity fell flat. With repetitive combat and a lackluster story line, Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity didn’t deliver the experience I was hoping for. There are moments of pure joy and the game finishes much stronger than it starts, yet at the end of the day this is a game best left for hardcore fans of the franchise.

Shiny is an average platforming title that despite its various issues, can result in a fair bit of fun.

So I turned off my Switch and booted up my PC. I started a new game of Battle Brothers on that. And you know what? It’s as good as it ever was. A truly superlative strategy game made better with mods. I could not recommend Battle Brothers enough, but do yourself a favor and avoid the Nintendo Switch version. You’ll avoid one tragic end to meet a much more satisfactory one.

Ultimately, WRC Powerslide is the perfect example of an average game and it’s hard to recommend when there are better arcade racers on the market.

Lightfield is a solid futuristic racer that definitely has some cool aspects to it. Lots of color, electronic music, and solid racing will pull you in for a time but the experience lacks depth and, for a $19.99US price tag, the variety could be greater. If you are really a fan of the genre, give Lightfield a try, but otherwise, stick to classics like WipeOut HD.

Listen, aside from having to deal with hardware limitations, The Hong Kong Massacre on the Switch is plenty serviceable. If you’re a fan of the bang-your-head-against-the-wall experience that these games offer, look no further. But I can’t recommend this on the Switch over any other system. And then, at that point, you might as well play something better. If ever a game garnered the title of mediocre, The Hong Kong Massacre is it.

How We Soar feels like a mixed bag. It’s a visual treat and features a great soundtrack, but the monotonous gameplay and boring objectives hold the game back.

I was expecting to like The Signifier VR more than I did. On paper, it’s got a really cool premise that seemed to offer similarities to Heavy Rain or even the best aspects of Cyberpunk 2077. But the move to VR doesn’t seem to have added much other than slightly downgraded visuals. If you enjoy walking simulators and point and click adventures, then this might be your jam. But otherwise, wait for The Signifier VR to go on sale.

While the audience that Anarchy Reigns is trying to reach is surely a broad one, the number of gamers who will actually latch on to and continue to play the game is surely a small one. High skill and extreme patience are two qualities needed to succeed here.

If you’re a fan of Monster Jam or have younger gamers who enjoy simple racing games than this might be a worth-while purchase. However, if you’re a gamer looking for a deep racing simulation style game, or even a really good arcade style racing game, you’ll find better options elsewhere.

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Final Cut is a game I really wanted to like, but ultimately just made me wish I was playing Diablo or Torchlight instead. At it’s core, it’s technically sound, but the handful of interesting mechanics are lost in a sea of terrible ones, and does an injustice to the titular vampire-hunting doctor.

Ultimate Tekken Bowl is exactly what the name suggests: Tekken 7 characters bowling with nothing more. It is the basic of basics that doesn’t offer anything new or exciting to set it apart from the likes of other bowling games. Even if you’re a fan of the Tekken 7 cast, you’ll be rather disappointed that all the animations, greetings, and ending animations are copy and pasted right into the Ultimate Tekken Bowl giving the feeling that it’s a cheap regurgitation of the main game, just in a bowling setting.

Witching Tower has an interesting setup, but sadly misses the opportunity to expand its story and magical world. The focus here is on action and puzzle-solving, but neither of work well enough to carry the entire experience. Clocking in at a length of two hours, even that felt too long, as it’s clear the game runs out of steam. With an extra coat of polish and more time in development, Witching Tower might have shaped into a unique title. But as it stands, this is a dungeon crawler you can afford to miss.

Hover: Revolt of Gamers is definitely not a game that I enjoyed at all. It was boring, uninspired and often times way too frustrating. With that said, I could see it being a game that could potentially appeal to others. I felt the multiplayer aspect didn’t add anything special to the game, the visuals were bland and the music was awful (the music will definitely have an audience that loves it – it’s just not something I enjoy listening to). The missions were way too repetitive and usually varied between boring and frustrating with very few hitting that sweet spot where I was having fun.

It’s a very contradictory product that grossed me out as much as I was impressed. It’s a strange game that I recommend dabbling around in, but one that also ends up being its own worst enemy.