Ven VR Adventure is overall a solid platforming adventure that uses its many gameplay influences well. There are some nice courses to play through and a visually appealing world to unlock in around 5 hours. They’ve also improved the game from previous versions, allowing you to send Ven backward to retrace missed parts of a level. But I still wish that darn camera didn’t intrude on the fun so much; that issue and a general sameness were a letdown to what is otherwise a game with lots of positives.

Ultimately, this remake does a great job respecting the original game, but bringing the visuals and interface to a modern age.

It is undeniably a beautiful achievement that seamlessly ties together wildlife education and environmental consciousness, and the emotional attachment you will create with your animals makes for an engaging simulation unlike any other.

Even though Shadow Blade: Reload is fun to play, and the graphics are well done, there are some obvious flaws that detract from the enjoyability.

Cronos: The New Dawn has great horror elements. It has a strong story about the dangers of a pandemic. The world is visually gorgeous and interesting to explore. The problem with the game is its gameplay often gets in the way of its horror. The player aims, shoots, slowly lumbers around, searches for keys, and reads notes. It’s survival horror 101. Very basic gameplay. Cronos: The New Dawn works great as a visual horror feast. It plays mechanically solid, but can get also get so frustrating that it breaks its horror experience. All in all, Cronos: The New Dawn’s strengths, but it above the average survival horror game. Any fans of the genre looking for more should definitely give it a try. The game matches the quality of Bloober Team’s pre-Silent Hill 2 efforts, but, unfortunately, they’re still going to be looking to create a masterpiece amongst their original IPs.

That comparison between ChromaGun and Portal has come up a lot, but the game doesn’t suffer for it. In fact, this brazen admission of influence written all over the game works to its benefit.

Just like other yearly releases, Just Dance 2015 doesn’t reinvent the wheel but instead take the safe route with the “if it ain’t broke, then don’t fix” approach. We get a new slate of songs and a few new features but at its core Just Dance 2015 remains the same.

The attempt at accessibility is welcome but F1, by its very nature, isn’t really a sport for the casual fan. It is extremely technical and the learning curve of not only driving but competing during a full race weekend may frustrate players who just want to jump in.

Bubble Bobble 4 Friends is the type of game the Nintendo Switch was made for. It is a title that anyone can pick up and play and it gets progressively more challenging the deeper you get. It is fast, fun, and simple. While not exactly a long game you will enjoy every second of this charming game. Add in the ability to play with up to 4 friends locally and it makes for a great party game.

Slavish adherents to modern sensibilities may wish to look elsewhere. However, if you’re looking for a blend of fast-paced fun and familiar flaws, you can’t go wrong with this game.

The actual physical experience of the game can sometimes feel a bit aloof. Your character sort of glides along the ground, and combat lacks visceral impact.

The fact is, the gameplay in Corruption is fun, and I enjoyed playing it. There aren’t enough challenging tactical games like this (as my thousands of hours in XCOM 2 can stand as evidence of). I commend The Bearded Ladies for knowing they had a cool idea when they saw it, and for focusing on polishing a single aspect of it- in this case the gameplay. And these are games, isn’t gameplay extremely important? Ultimately, Corruption is a tight, extremely playable tactical experience.

If you haven’t looked into this new episodic take on a cult classic, you definitely should. King’s Quest is a great way to kill some time if you enjoy a more comedic point-and-click adventure like Monkey’s Island.

Ultimately, Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker is an entertaining, competitive, and addicting game that truly captures the visual style and overall feel of the source material. Its thorough character customization allows you to create your ideal ninja, both in looks and fighting style, and its competent multiplayer action lets you unleash your powers in flashy elegance. I’m still perplexed at the choice to restrict the already minimal content, but the fundamentals of the game are solid through and through. With some additional modes and quality of life changes, Shinobi Striker has the potential to assert itself as one of the strongest, and most unique Naruto games to date.

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam is a delightful game with all the love and charm you’d expect from Nintendo poster boys…only now with a dash of poster boy made from poster board. Fun, laughs, and a generally good time are all to be had if you pick this up for your 3DS.

Between the soft focus visuals and the heavy-lidded soundtrack, this doesn’t feel like a typical skateboarding game. Instead, you’re encouraged to meditate through boards and wheels, a few minutes at a time, for a little while. The game feels entirely too short, but only in the sense that you’re left wanting more once you’re done. If you’re so inclined, you can pick away at the many challenges for hours on end. Even then, the nature of these tests feels geared to a string of shorter play sessions. Like an idle game or a farming sim, something you come back to continuously until the task is done. Beyond the actual gameplay, Skate City has some serious merit as an introduction to the world of lo-fi hip hop. These tracks will haunt you in the kindest fashion possible, quiet and blissful beats that bounce around your subconsciousness for weeks afterwards. If you’re looking for a more soft-focus, laid-back skateboarding game, Skate City is not to be missed.

Déraciné is an engaging VR adventure with a tinge of darkness to it that other such games often shy away from. There is a frisson of tension in this story that drives you forward through the conservative VR gameplay mechanics to find out if FromSoftware’s reputation for dark material will eventually surface.

Despite how peculiar it all may seem, all of the elements of Soft Body come together and make perfect sense while you are playing it.

Project Songbird is a haunting journey through the dark and twisted mind of its protagonist. Each act offers fresh ideas, creating a wonderfully paced adventure brimming with creativity and innovation. The art direction, sound, and impeccable voice acting elevate the experience, helping Dakota’s tale resonate. Although the combat and stealth segments lack the intensity that enshrouds other aspects, adding frustration rather than fear, this thrilling psychological exploration remains a memorable and imaginative horror experience.

This game feels like an action movie. Yet I hesitate to shout down from the mountaintops about it. Maybe I’m just too badly burned by the Bionic Cop stage. Maybe I wanted more from the gun shop. If nothing else, I’m going to dump many more hours into Tango Fiesta until I successfully finish the damn thing. The game is just too fun from moment to moment for anything less.

In Tanta We Trust is conceptually a bit odd. While it can be played as a stand alone game, it wouldn’t make sense to do so. On the other hand, players who have beaten Forspoken may not appreciate the pared down mechanics and small scope. There is a way to access the new content from the main game’s campaign, which probably makes the most sense, making it feel almost like a robust side mission. In any case, In Tanta We Trust is neither significantly better or worse than Forspoken, but very much of a piece with it.

Overall, Star Wars Pinball: Solo Pack is a decent but not great collection of pinball tables for Pinball FX3. The tables mostly have cool visuals, their level designs don’t usually get in the way of the pinball fun, and the sound design certainly makes this table pack feel like Star Wars. However, with a $10 price, Star Wars and pinball game fans alike should probably wait until this table pack goes on sale before picking it up.

It’s not hard to recommend Shinsekai: Into The Depths as a very good Metroidvania. And anybody looking for a unique one, will certainly find success in choosing it. However, there are a plethora of amazing Metroidvania titles available, and if you’re new to the genre, I can think of at least twenty others that would be a better place to start.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III is an enjoyable, challenging and rewarding RTS experience. Not everyone will be enamoured with its MOBA-flavoured gameplay, but there is no denying it makes for some frenetic and action-packed battle goodness much of the time. Just as with the game, fans will be divided into “factions” – players who like attack-oriented strategy will be completely in their element – while a minority (like me) who enjoy slower, defensive play will find that this game is more of an acquired taste.

Anomaly 2 takes the tower defense model, flips it, adds some bells and whistles and makes one hell of a fun time out of it. While not having the most extensive story and somewhat repetitive gameplay, Anomaly 2 makes up for it by throwing in enough in game variations to keep you interested as well as having quite challenging difficulty curves to keep you coming back.

Centum is a game for fans of psychological horror and mind-bending puzzles. If you enjoy a challenge that leaves you with more questions than answers, this is for you. The eerie atmosphere and complex puzzles will keep you engaged. Even if the constant confusion can sometimes make you feel lost. Recommended for those who love a mystery and don’t mind the occasional headache.

MADiSON is a solid, polished indie horror game. It struggles with pacing because of the mechanics involved with the puzzles. For collectors and completionists, you may find some replay value as you can collect camera skins and special photos.

Destroy All Humans! 2 Reprobed is not hard to recommend for gamers who missed it the first time around, or remember it fondly and want to play it again. It looks, sounds and controls like a current title, and most of the jokes hold up just fine. Not all the gameplay mechanics and mission designs feel that fresh anymore, and it can feel simplistic and repetitive against the backdrop of recent action games. Like the remake of the original Destroy All Humans!, it’s hard not to wish that Black Forest had gone further into actual reboot territory, because the narrative bones, characters, and style could be something special in a more open-world, contemporary game.