If craving a punishing retro-style brawler, Slave Zero X has what it takes to test your patience - in more ways than one. While it nails the tone and equal parts stylish and grotesque aesthetic of ‘90s anime action, behind its cool look, strong atmosphere and neat ideas lies a failed attempt at channelling the spirit of a Devil May Cry or Bayonetta; one so weighed down by frustration, imbalance and sloppy execution that its brilliance struggles to shine through.

Rio is fun while it lasts, and takes a more considered approach to its subject matter than thrusting it into a standard platformer template. Unfortunately, it's let down by a lack of content, only offering a few hours of play when all is said and done, and rather poor instructions and narration do not help.

A good tactical game makes you feel dumb when loosing, Banner of the Maid makes you feel cheated, as it's less about forming a plan, and more about retrying missions to discover which exact "route" to follow. Add to this a heavy lack of balance, some annoying friendly AI, and a needlessly long length, and this makes this Chinese-born SRPG hard to recommend. Its flawless pixel art style, and sexy anime look are really the only things of any worth here.

Iron Man is your classic film tie-in; it reeks of under-development and simply isn't worth your time or money.

Grimshade is a love letter to the JRPGs of the '90s. Trouble is it's one that wasn't as eloquently written as it should. The weak-to-decent presentation cannot be fixed, of course, but there's some hope for this, if the developer ever heavily rebalance the tactical battles.

Few games in the realm of naughty/lewd/ecchi/hentai can really be considered classics, but that doesn't mean that there aren't some that are a bit more entertaining than expected, offering fun gameplay along with some titillation. Slime Girl Smoothies sadly isn't that. It's a boring and repetitive experience that lacks the addicting, and most of all, the casual-friendly, pick-up-and-play nature of many puzzlers. Unless with a fetish for sexy slime girls, stay away.

Whilst moderately addictive at first, Gogo's Crazy Bones does not reach the same level of addictiveness as Angry Birds, with not as much variety included for the higher price. The concept works in principle, but sadly some of the allure of the mobile phone-based title it sources is lost in this DS version of the theme.

Graphically impressive and different from the norm, Lila's Sky Ark is a charming title to look at. The music balances with the presentation splendidly. When it comes to game mechanics, however, there tends to be a lot lacking. With only the ability to hurl stonework and other quirky items, major boss fights almost feel silly. The main story remains a mystery if not actively exploring and may cause some players to feel lost or question the purpose of gameplay. This may be a benefit for those seeking a more thought-provoking game, yet it takes too much time to get there.

3D Classics: Excitebike may be vaguely fun in very short play sessions, but with the advances in technology and a superior WiiWare version available, it simply feels dated. The 3D visuals are fantastic and the added save functionality is an improvement, but those alone are not enough to keep every player hooked.

The flashy, “loud” and repetitive visuals hinder battlefield readability, while standard, unremarkable shmup gameplay fails in helping Shinorubi stand out in any way. Floaty controls, forgettable bosses, and weak scoring systems leave behind an experience that is dull. Bad? No. Just painfully average.

There is clearly an audience for Ling: A Road Alone. It's the kind of gamer who does Final Fantasy runs with level one characters, or who plays Dark Souls with a Dance Dance Revolution gamepad. That is to say, Ling: A Road Alone is absurdly difficult for the sake of being absurdly difficult. If that's your kind of thing, the kind that is often unfair or sadistic in its difficulty, then Ling: A Road Alone is a must play. Otherwise, there's not much here that can be recommended.

If you desperately need handheld versions of the classic Sonic titles, you have no alternative than to buy Sonic Classic Collection. However, the true greatness of the games on offer here does not get to shine through properly as there are a number of a issues, from glitchiness and slowdown to removed features.

It is decent at its core, but that's it.

If you've got three enthusiastic mates, preferably each willing to chip in for the game, then there's a lot of fun to be had here. But, for most people, it would probably be cheaper and easier to stick with plain ol' Pictionary.

Nine characters and a story scenario of a couple of hours for twenty quid isn't bad by fighting game standards. As such, this may be well worth the price for anyone still heavily invested in BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle. The previous DLC pack features 22 new fighters for £6 less, though, and the extra story episode just doesn't make up for it. Unless a fan of more than a couple of the combatants joining with Ver. 2.0, it would be wise to wait for a discount.

Minus a couple hiccoughs here and there, ACA NeoGeo: World Heroes Perfect is a flawless, and 100% faithful version of the original arcade effort. However, this cannot change the fact that World Heroes Perfect was, and still is, nothing more than a generic fighter that pales in comparison to the strong competition in the genre, and even compared to SNK's more famous The King of Fighters line. In other words: this is nothing more than a collector's item product.

It will be hard to remain interested in Smoke and Sacrifice for more than a handful of hours. By then most will realise that what started as an emotive journey, ends up being an endless series of unbalanced crafting, unexciting exploration, and controller-breaking, clunky fighting.

The current price tag is insanely high for what's on offer. The new levels can be smashed through in a few hours, and the low difficulty means there's little replayability in aiming for high-scores and rankings on each stage. Nostalgia and an 8-bit classic simply aren't worth the price of admission. That being said, it's fun. Somewhat. If it had included some others from Bubble Bobble history like Rainbow Islands, it would have been more appetizing.

InnerSpace is beautiful... and that's all there is to say about it, because, as much as exploration games go, there are far better alternatives out there - with none of them feeling as disorienting as this one.

Bit Dungeon+ is a dungeon crawler playing on nostalgia to a fault. It has completely neglected the modern touches to the genre that gave birth to its renaissance. Each run feels painfully similar, and towards the end it is possible to run several levels without receiving any upgrades at all. Thankfully, it has multiplayer, which can be entertaining in the right company. That is not enough to make it more than just another dungeon crawler, though.

The Starship Damrey is a solid little adventure title, marred by a limited scope thanks to its origins as part of a three-in-one retail package that never came to light, a low budget, poor control choices and a story that shows potential but is not fleshed out enough to make players really care about the final outcome.

The developers have done their best to offer Queen fans an unmissable experience, but it does mean that if Queen isn't a personal goldmine of song bliss, then it is advisable to steer well clear of this game. It's a serviceable karaoke experience but with the complexity and high notes of Queen this is definitely a hard one to recommend. If Queen are like personal idols, then pick this up without hesitation, otherwise there are more varied and interesting karaoke games out there.

Endless grind, very slow progression, and an abysmal battle system, are the major knocks against what would otherwise be an average experience. The story itself is unique, but hardly goes into depth instead relying far more on shock-value of events occurring rather than actual meaning. Unfortunate, really, as the plot serves up a huge potential for some interesting questions, or dialogue - things that are completely missing.

Creeping Terror's best quality is by far its impeccable production quality and graphics. Generic and uninteresting stalkers aside, the art direction and overall look of the game are incredible for a downloadable 3DS release. The very 'by the numbers' adventure gameplay is serviceable, and really the main event should have been the stalkers, but they are completely undermined by a lack of challenge and pushover difficulty. It is regretful because Creeping Terror could have been the definitive horror 3DS game since all the working pieces are present but are, ultimately, horribly implemented.

Appreciating the narrow focus on the game they sought to deliver was one of the better points of the experience. By stripping away a lot of excess systems it allowed a better core experience. The issues are bad optimization that leads to heavy lag and frequent crashes. Additionally the gameplay is too fast for the 'art' style of attacking to truly be effective resulting in a major loss of what was the initial draw of the game to begin with.

It looks good (mostly), and has all the qualities that seem like it would make a great game. Not only does it fail to come together coherently, yet it also it lacks a sense of magic or "heart" that the art style would suggest it possesses. While nothing is largely technically wrong with Indivisible, it fails to be engaging as a RPG, its platforming fails to recommend it on this front, and the story never goes anywhere significant to offer this up either. This isn't bad, but it just isn't that good either.

Building LEGO-like vehicles, and having them explore a vast world, do quests, and shoot at other, similar tanks or planes, might sound like a fine idea for a construction sandbox, but TerraTech isn't really that good at what it does, for the simple reason that this just isn't fun to play, especially since the transition to the Nintendo Switch has you doing all that building and rebuilding with controls that feel out of place.

Shadowkeep impressed me much less than Forsaken. I hoped that after parting ways with Activision Blizzard Bungie will be more ambitious than to mostly recycle the content we already know. [12/2019, p.76]

The Quarry is a good piece of cinematography and storytelling, lost in its medium of choice. The gameplay elements aren't particularly fun, nor worthwhile replaying. The cutscenes are good the first time around, but are certainly get a bit grating the longer the game goes on. Standout performances from the actors certainly carry The Quarry, and it is worthwhile playing through the story at least once, but the second time around feels too much of a chore. The Quarry is the definition of a weekend rental.

Mario's Cement Factory is certainly the best of the three DSiWare Game & Watch titles so far, offering high intensity reaction-based fun, yet, as with the other two releases, it still lacks that special ingredient to keep gamers coming back time and time again, even if it does only cost 200 Points.

Gunbrella is a dark, atmospheric tale that ends too soon, and never really manages to be as immersive or enjoyable as it could be. While not bad, the writing really struggles with making you feel the pain of the main hero, and the desperation of a dying world. As for the titular weapon, it is criminally underused, despite it being the most exciting thing about Doinksoft's creation.

Nightmare Boy is a fun experience for a few hours, and a lot of the glaring design choices around the gameplay can be overlooked or ignored for the most part. While Billy may feel heavy to control, he does almost always make it to the platforms, while the fighting systems are quite basic, but it allows for the focus to be on the exploration side of things instead. In terms of the aesthetic of the various areas as well, The Vanir Project has done a terrific job in stylising the different sections and making every area feel fresh and new, without getting bogged down with repetitive enemies. While the platforming-based abilities work well, the combat-based abilities leave a lot to be desired, as they lack any flexibility within the combat arena, and even when those abilities are fired off, they do little damage to be worth its while compared to the base attacks. While this can be replayed, there's very little incentive to do so.

Irritatingly, this game does so little wrong apart from being average and run of the mill. The biggest irk is the lack of anything from the Spore franchise that made it stand out.

Now that Marvel's Avengers is dirt cheap, it might be worth a play for the impressive action sequences and impressive visuals. Maybe with enough people picking it up at a much more agreeable price, it might inject the tedious co-op modes. It certainly did not deserve the utter disdain it received, and was at best just a corporate, tone-deaf project that nobody wanted. It is rotten with executive sleaze for sure, and the game can feel like work a lot of the time due to the grind, but there is an ok experience in this somewhere. It is buried beneath all the obnoxious writing, grinding, and generic design.

Picklock has the foundation of a good experience. There are brief moments of actual fun spread throughout, but these are in spite of the game's quirks, not because of it. The awkward controls remove any possible precision, and the sloppy, typo-ridden presentation makes these flaws hard to overlook. With a bit more polish, Picklock could have been a very good stealth title, but as it exists now, players are better off picking a different lock.

With City of the Shroud, the premise is far better than the execution. The five different sides of the story is by far one of the best parts but is buried far too often in meaningless fetch quests and mediocre writing. The combat system would be better served if it was turn-based and deeper, as spamming is simply far more effective and not particularly fun.

Lucid is one of the most... mediocre, and forgettable Match-3 games ever, which really does say so much about it, as the vast majority of Match-3 puzzlers are already quite mediocre, and forgettable.

It's hard being hard on 60 Parsecs! because it's far from one of those thousands of unoriginal, and badly made indies that plague the industry nowadays. Robot Gentleman's "sequel" to 60 Seconds!, has tons of charm, with its tongue-in-cheek humour, neat Atomic Age vibe, and cartoony visuals - it's just that it fails both as a strategy title, as well as a create-your-own-adventure experience, because it turns out that, no matter how well you get at it, Lady Luck will be in charge of this space ride, not you.

Silent Hope is many things, and none of these manage to be combined into a great experience. From the exploration and combat, to the customization of your seven heroes, and the whole crafting business, this just never manages to be any fun. There's no challenge or incentive to keep on playing. You just do whatever is needed to be done, so you can go deeper into the labyrinth. That's. It. A chore, rather than a game.

Terror of Hemasaurus could not only be the next be the next Rampage, but a much better version of it. This city-demolishing simulator offers exciting and cathartic destruction, plus the welcome introduction of mechanics that Rampage and other likeminded games (all three of them) were missing… but these aren't really enough to help the fun last for more than two or three hours.

There are some rough spots with the UI, a bit of repetition with some overworld aspects, but nitpicks aside Trials of Fire was actually highly enjoyable both as a strategy game, and a deck builder. The fact the game has some strong Heroes of Might and Magic vibes going on is icing on the cake. The problem comes through that a single play (~2-4 hours) is about all it takes to get most out of the game. After that players likely won't be back.

Saints Row IV: Re-Elected might be the developer's attempt trying to do something new while doing it under the guise of a popular brand name. The emphasis on super-powers that renders the tacked-on driving and shooting redundant is likely an intentional message from the team, that this just is not Saints Row anymore. The result is a weird and confusing action title with tons of features, which has a huge well of jokes that fly by really fast. The only aspect that makes Saints Row IV truly worthwhile, is the comedic, over the top spectacle and characters. It's not the mind-numbing gameplay.

This is a very rough and slapped together product and if bought at the introductory lower price, it is at least fair.

Despite starting stronger than the previous DLC, getting right into the puzzling and platforming action, The Pillar doesn't really feel like a Challenge Tomb. It's more like a challenge leading up to a tomb, which is followed by some minor combat areas. Perhaps these additional missions really are going to be much smaller than many would have anticipated.

There is some fun to be had with Coffin Dodgers, at least for a short period of time, but don't expect to put more than a couple of hours into the game without running out of things to do. There are better kart racers on Nintendo Switch, namely Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and for the price-tag it doesn't really offer much value.

Made out to be something bigger than it is, The Nightmare fails to deliver once again in what is a recurring theme for Shadow of the Tomb Raider's download content. The Croft Manor sequence could and should have been something much more than it was, and the tomb is another short and simple challenge. There are always signs of something good in each of these DLCs, but none have added up to anything great yet.

This is a difficult one, the missions look and play extremely well so this should score highly, but due to the sheer lack of substance outside of those missions means you'll struggle to build an emotional attachment to the game and without a solid scenarios to drive you onto the next level you'll put it down as quickly as you pick it up.

Co-op alien-blasting shooter, Earthfall, is a decent clone of Left 4 Dead... and that's the problem with it, as it should be much, much more than that. Simply put, the foundation is great, but the structure on top of it is not worth the rent.

Disappointing is the best word to describe GreedFall. The 17th-century-esque fantasy tale of imperialism-versus-nature told here is ripe with potential, but the world/character-building, and story-telling soon runs out of "fuel;" the role-playing element starts great, giving you the chance to choose amongst many a path, only to become way too simplistic and limiting; the combat is fun, but it gets monotonous before hitting the 10-hour mark; and, finally, doing quests quickly gets rid of its "do it your way" mind-set, for an endless marathon that has the player running back and forth between quest markers. Disappointing…

An interesting idea marred by a subpar execution, Lake is more tedious than it is relaxing and immersive. The atmosphere is neat, and the whole process of taking it easy and just enjoying the simple act of delivering the mail is surprisingly cathartic, but it's not enough to keep you here for more than an hour. There is some talking to be done with a number of characters as well, but this is sadly the least exciting thing here. The townsfolk are so boring that driving the empty roads and simply delivering the mail is more preferable.

Both in terms of storytelling, as well as gameplay, Tower of Time sits right there in the middle of the quality scale. A handful of interesting ideas do exist, and, as a whole, this isn't bad or broken, but, from the first to the fortieth hour, nothing in this dungeon crawling RPG will turn out to be exciting, either.

Put the neat PS1-era retro visuals, its strong atmosphere, and the meaty and fits-like-a-glove OST aside, and what's left is a first-person photography sim that's charming, but not fun. Exploration should be engrossing and challenging, but is just boring and unpolished, and taking photos, basically the core of whole thing, is an unimaginative chore that doesn't put your skills to the test - it just puts you to sleep. It's hard to hate this, though, as it's an obvious labour of love that simply didn't manage to be as entertaining as it could be.

Pick My Heart Chapter 2 continues a story that wasn't really in need of continuing, as the characters weren't exactly that memorable, and the "plot" of the original was romantic Visual Novel 101, with just a little bit of fantasy thrown in. As such, try it only if you were really in love with the first part.

Suicide Guy is a game where the purpose is to kill yourself, and while this could actually offer a disturbingly entertaining time, the end result is nothing but a simplistic physics puzzler of no importance.

Not the best, not the worst. Its most interesting point is the bizarre world and the way the game approaches the management system. The colour matching battling is a bit too simple, and overbearingly frustrating at times. Despite some downsides, the game has fun moments but is hampered by a lack of focus. It offers a little incentive to play through again with the various factors of the daughter's growing statistics and has some properly endearing characters that help the ride go smoothly. In conclusion, take Ciel Fledge with a pinch of salt, as it's a love it or loathe it kind of deal.

Some aspects of NASCAR Heat 3 are well done. The challenge mode is absorbing and addictive, thanks to its quick-burst nature and the interesting context of the scenarios. The career mode, too, has been improved somewhat from last year's offering, although it's nothing out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, these elements don't make up for the rest of it.

Sonic Forces is far from perfect, with frustrating controls, brevity, poor level design, and a lack of challenge. The visuals, soundtrack, and the occasional moment of flair leave the game with some redeemable qualities, but it ultimately disappoints even the most forgiving Sonic sympathiser.

At its best, Victor Vran is an addictive action RPG with a great sense of progression and a strong visual identity of its own. At its worst, Overkill Edition muddies up a solid foundation with poor sound mixing, an unintuitive UI, and a choppy frame-rate, coupled with slowdown. While the base game is strong enough to overcome its inherent flaws, the Switch port's faults ultimately make all of Victor Vran's worst aspects come off all the harsher. Overkill Edition is a fine enough ARPG when separated from its technical faults, but it's perhaps best bought anywhere other than on Nintendo Switch.

Difficulty should always work in unison with the fun factor of game, and not overshadow it, which is exactly what happens in Jump King, where trying to "guess" how much power you need to apply to your jumps is combined with a level design that doesn't tolerate failure, with the end result being constant aggravation. The smoking hot babe at the top isn't worth the trouble.

Epitasis is not an adventure game, but a collection of painfully similar puzzles that require minimum effort to solve. On the bright side, the main goal of Lucas Govatos' creation was to provide some simple, casual, relaxing fun, and it achieves that, looking pretty good while at it. Just make sure to grab it when it gets a lot cheaper.

It's difficult to recommend Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2 since it's so wildly inconsistent in its quality. What is essentially being offered is one game that's decent (albeit unmemorable), one that's sometimes great, and then two that are complete trainwrecks. That said, Mega Man X5 and Mega Man X8 are worth playing through as they're still fairly enjoyable in their own right. Otherwise, though, there's not much reason to check this out.

At best, this is just a very gimmicky adventure game. Each level having its own thing is a bit refreshing from always having to pixel-hunt for objects, tying simplistic stats into the mix adds some planning, and the way this title forces players to commit to their actions is nice. Sadly, as the journey reaches its half-way point, the story unravels in a very unsatisfying manner. Characters are built up and don't get the proper pay-off, while some disappear entirely.

While Race Arcade does a good job of recreating the arcade racing style of old, with the top-down fixed camera and basic vehicle and track set-ups, as well as featuring time trials and local multiplayer, it is otherwise an uninspiring experience.

Overall, it's a bit lacking, but this is a nice original game that could feasibly keep the family entertained for part of a rainy day.

Xenon Valkyrie+ is by no means a bad game, just one that needed a little bit more time in development to better polish the gameplay. The individual elements are interesting, but when put together, things don't gel right. The level design doesn't take advantage of the characters' skills; instead, it puts them through similar-looking cave and industrial levels littered with easily destructible scenery.

While there's one more chapter left to play, Episode 4: Burning Bridges puts the final nail in The Council's coffin by bringing along the same mistakes, plus some new ones, and with the quality of the storytelling taking a big, sad plunge.

Third time's not the charm in the case of Darksiders III, which is a - mostly - mediocre third entry in a line of games that weren't really that great to begin with. The quality of the Switch port doesn't help either, not so much because of its downgraded visuals, but because of its severe frame rate dips, and long load times, something that plagued the original versions as well. At least Fury looks cool…

It doesn't do much wrong: it controls well, the music is nice enough, the visuals, while not impressive, do look clean. It gets the action going, yet it fails to capture the attention because it's too repetitive and not engaging enough.

None of this is to say Shantae and the Seven Sirens is a bad game. In fact, it's a decent game for the younger audience, newcomers, and anyone that isn't expecting Shantae to evolve. Strictly from the perspective of someone that has played many games in the series and is eager for something different, though, this disappoints on many fronts. Uninspiring and rarely ever surprising, with little to make the player feel like they've earned anything, what is left is a generic Shantae game that is like any other before it, crying out for change and originality.

Energy Invasion shows some interesting and bold design choices that challenge some core aspects of one perhaps the most static genres that is still relevant today. However, these changes are badly implemented, only adding too much unnecessary clutter that is sometimes annoyingly hard to spot due to the small size. It is easy to want to like Energy Invasion as it adds more action to a genre in which some people desire more action and there is a desire to see more like this, but the drawbacks and flaws slowly creep up on the player. All that can be done is to hope that a sequel or spiritual sequel to the game get made that fixes some of the annoying things and decrease clutter to make it a more enjoyable experience as there clearly is a lot of untapped potential.

To be clear, this is actually really fun and interesting, but at this point it was not ready for release. There are far too many literal game-breaking bugs and errors that freeze RogueBook solid. The second level alone took over 10 reloads to beat. With some patches and balances though, this game could easy be a recommended to CCG or strategy players.

InnerSpace falls more than a bit short of the heights it aspires to. The levels feel hard to navigate and they aren't helped by the laggy controls and constant motion of the Cartographer. It feels poorly optimised for Nintendo Switch, with frequent camera stutters and choppy frame-rates. It's overall a very unsatisfying experience, which is made all the more frustrating by the sheer potential InnerSpace has. The beautiful environments and quietly haunting atmosphere are still enchanting, but everything else just feels empty.

For the Monster Truck fanatics in attendance, those that know the difference between "Hook Up" and "Hooking Clay" or between a "Slap Wheelie" and a "Sky Wheelie", there's going to be something to enjoy in Monster Hunt Championship. But, while there's some fun to be had, the game just feels lacking. The experience is more fitting with arcade-style mechanics compared to the sim-style elements, and by delivering these sim elements it makes the game feel as slow and clunky as the vehicles.

It's a middle of the road standard game for children, with little imagination but reasonably solid gameplay. If you like that sort of thing, leap on in.

Charon’s Staircase unfortunately feels like it is caught between strong ideas and weak execution. Its thematic ambition, atmospheric sound design, and willingness to explore uncomfortable subject matter make it stand out, and it feels pretty memorable even if it isn’t great. At the same time, a variety of technical shortcomings, repetitive gameplay, and puzzles that tend to vary between mindlessly boring and frustratingly esoteric hold the overall game back. Horror is a crowded genre and this feels like one most people can skip without missing out on much. For players drawn to slow, narrative-driven psychological horror, there is some value to be found. For most others, the only thing frightening about this is how much money they’ll waste.

In a sea of mediocre, mobile-born, turn-based tactical RPGs, it's easy to find something even more lifeless than Dread Nautical, but that doesn't say much. Zen Studios' creation lacks the depth usually expected from the genre, is way too repetitive, and even seems uncertain of what kind of atmosphere it wants to have. The only dread players will feel here is from the lengthy loading times.

Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians is not a bad game, just a boring one.

Syberia Remastered is an uneven revival. Its redesigned environments successfully capture the spirit and atmosphere of the original, but a couple of issues (visual and otherwise) prevent it from becoming the definitive version. For the uninitiated it’s a mostly accessible entry point into a classic story; for long-time fans, it’s an…okay reinterpretation. It's sadly one more reminder that preserving magic is sometimes harder than creating it in the first place.

On first glance, All-Star Karate looks like it might be right at home on the shelves between Cruis'n and Ninjabread Man. For those willing to persist, however, the game rewards players with fun gameplay and exercise potential, if falling short in areas of presentation and MotionPlus usage.

A substantial lack of instructions and in game help, coupled with a poor story, makes Tamagotchi Plaza's value for money and enjoyment level on the low side. It has the potential to be quite innovative if it expands on the game's premise and uses all of the Nintendo Switch’s technology capabilities. Overall, Tamagotchi Plaza fails on a basic level that casts a large shadow on any future instalments. It is extremely different to the original egg-shaped Tamagotchi, and needs more substance to be worth more than a cursory glance considering the physical and digital price tag.

Some gamers enjoy experiences that gamify mundane work activities. The fun is how accurately it can capture the experience of the profession. The Mortuary Assistant: Definitive Edition not only cheapens the effort put into making cadavers presentable for funerals, but it also turns into a major hassle with Paimon constantly pestering Rebecca, thinking it’s amusing to remind her of her past heroin use. This could have worked if more thought had been put into the embalming process and if the presentation had been more polished.

In many ways, it's not Checkmate's fault that it's not that enjoyable. The blame certainly goes to the previous chapters of The Council, which failed in being engrossing enough for anyone to care for what happens next. That being said, this doesn't get a free pass, as it doesn't fix any of its problems.

A flawed port that struggles to overcome mediocrity in its implementation, and that suffers from a lack of multiplayer, leads to a less than stellar experience. Star Wars Jedi Outcast is purely saved by its solid level design, and fan service. There are probably better options if you want a good TV experience, but nothing can beat this port's portable experience, which is in all honestly its saving grace. Recommended for fans looking to take it on holiday, and a near miss for fans looking for a Star Wars title worthy of being played in the big screen.

oOo: Ascension is enjoyable enough for what it is. It sometimes has a bit of an identity crisis trying to figure out what it wants to accomplish with its design, but when it manages to intertwine its puzzle and precision elements, you will find some satisfying stages. These don't come that often, however, and the fact that there's no online leaderboard or any challenging optional objectives means there's barely any replay value, either.

There are better rhythm games out there, but people who like the genre are going to find a solid title here; people who like Avicii’s work are going to find a solid title here; and people who like to see a lot of colours, lights and sounds while cruising a spaceship to music—at breakneck speed or as casually as they want—will want to check this one out, too.

Anyone who has played a game or two from the Pretty Girls series is aware that expectations must be kept kind of low, as most games are somewhat simple, and the only incentive, besides the fun factor, is the fact that players can unlock more anime girls and costumes. Pretty Girls Klondike Solitaire is one of the least meaty in this, already low-fat, franchise, as the actual game is just Solitaire, with no additional bells and whistles, or addictive scoring mechanics, and the roster of girls is very small, and with a disappointing amount of outfits per girl to unlock - usually just one. Buy it if you must, but you are advised to wait for a discount.

By no means is Funk of Titans a bad game, but it's not the kind of game that will be remembered for much beyond its absurd story and ridiculous mini-game.

While Pathfinder Adventures is largely a faithful reproduction of the board game, in many cases this is not enough. A single player romp through a card game designed to be played in real life leaves much to be desired. There is nothing majorly wrong with the game, but Pathfinder Adventures is entirely average as the gameplay quickly devolves into endlessly clicking dice and cards without meaning.

The story and presentation are very unique and deserve high praise; the narrative keeps the experience going whenever the platforming starts to get boring and fall flat. Too often, MO:Astray amounts to cheap deaths and pixel-perfect jumps, which severely detracts from what would have been a completely outstanding sci-fi exploration game. Simply put, flopping around as a blob eventually gets old.

This DLC does not change anything fundamental to in the base of The Escapists 2, so the good and the bad still exist; Big Top Breakout is merely a new map, nothing more or less. It is an interesting romp through some new terrain, but those looking for any new mechanisms to the main action may want to pass.

Tour de France 2020 is an improvement over its 2019 counterpart, thanks to the improved loading screen times, and reduced crashes that may take place. However, by and large it is still pretty much the same game otherwise, with minimal changes or quality-of-life features to make the experience more engaging. For those who love the sport of cycling, then this may fill in the time until the real-life racing starts up again - however for those with no interest in the sport, then it may be a tough task for Tour de France 2020 to latch newcomers into the title. The ingredients for a really engaging micro-managed cycling-simulator is here, but it is let down by the AI.

Quad Fighter K is a, somewhat simplistic, co-op-focused vertical shooter, with humdrum, NES-like retro visuals (with actual retro visuals being much better). It's one of those typical games whose main selling point seems to be the nostalgia factor, and nothing more than that.

Early glimpses of the puzzles and dungeons showed just how great Ary and the Secret of Seasons could be, and while those are realised here, it's just not enough to make up for the numerous issues and missteps. Many players won't be able to even see those best moments unless they have the considerable patience needed to be able to get over halfway through. A true disappointment; there is an awful lot to like here, but ultimately it's hard to recommend this. Strangely, considering how many times it's been delayed, this just feels unfinished, like a preview build.

Even Mario Party die-hards will struggle to find much to enjoy in this rudimentary compilation. There are occasional glimmers of nostalgic genius, but they are few and far between when compared to the plainness of the side modes, brevity of the single-player campaign, and length of the list of dud mini-games on offer. It's a fun distraction for a couple of hours, but Mario Party: The Top 100 lacks the replayability of a mainline Mario Party title, making it a hard sell in the face of its more complete-feeling siblings.

Vesta is the perfect... average game. There's nothing objectively wrong with it, but there's also nothing special here, either. It's a simple action-puzzler, with simple tests of wit, and simple mechanics to deal with them.

More like a - fun and charming - alpha build, rather than a fully realised game, 3D platfomer/puzzler Wings of Glass isn't really a big recommendation. The controls need some work, there's not enough gameplay depth, and it all ends too soon. Its dark and dreamy atmosphere is its saving grace, and it's a shame the developer couldn't find a bigger budget (and more time) to work on the concept at hand, and provide something meatier.

Cool Boarders is a finnicky racer that limits its own appeal by lacking in multiplayer options. A large degree of skill is required to get the most out of it, but the small selection of stages with just the challenge of beating your own top records means there is only so much satisfaction that can be extracted before it is quickly moved on with. Nostalgia will play a big part in whether Cool Boarders sticks the landing.

Feathery Ears is the less flawed, but also less attractive sister of Wings of Glass. Mechanically it's a better polished product, but it lacks that special... "something" of its spiritual predecessor, and the gameplay is a bit more straightforward, and, honestly, boring. Most importantly, like Sayuri Artsy's previous creation, this is more like a proof-of-concept, Early Access title, than a completed game that's worthy of a purchase.