So utterly disappointing and flawed in every possible way… The first few hours, most of it can be ignored, and occasionally the flaws can be forgotten, but only briefly before they come storming back to the forefront. An awful, boring, empty, pointless experience. There is, however, a glimmer of hope. It's worth mentioning that there has already been a Bethesda title that was equally as unimpressive: The Elder Scrolls Online - but looking at it now, it has transformed into one of the best MMOs out there. There's always the hope the Fallout 76 develops the same way and becomes something special, but for now, that seems impossible. It's a world away from that.

Even the most hardcore Swery fans will be put off by how sloppy and tedious The Missing is. Much of the appeal of past Swery games was interacting with interesting and colourful personalities. The Missing has none, unless reading text messages counts, and even then the writing is the same movie-referencing material from past games from this director, and its interrupting of the flow of action. The Nintendo Switch has so many better options for puzzle-platformer adventure games - Limbo, Inside, Flashback or Another World, to name a few. The mediocrity of The Missing might have been a bit more tolerable if it weren't such a janky and busted mess.

Aside from a couple of relatively small issues, this is both one of the finest independent games of 2018, and one of the most unique puzzle/action/platforming titles of the year. A visceral experience, which relies almost purely on the satisfaction of clearing a tough challenge, Flat Heroes provides ample opportunities for players to test their mettle against a continually escalating series of challenges. Whether breaking through thanks to careful dissection of the puzzle, pure technical skill, or even just a bit of luck, each new stage presents a new opportunity to earn what should be a very satisfying victory.

Refreshingly unique and lots of fun, Steel Vampire is well worth checking out. Its inspired take on rank control makes for a shmup that can be approached in a number of ways. The RPG elements are also quite interesting. Finding the right build can lend all sorts of advantages to the player's ship. There are even rare and legendary drops, which is an amusing novelty. Best of all, this game's usage of high speed bullet spreads and strong weaponry create an aura of ferocity not often seen in the genre. The impact of crushing legions of enemies before they can shoot is oh-so-satisfying.

Pikuniku's minimalistic visuals, wacky humour, overall happy vibe, light collect-athon mindset, and simple gameplay mechanics, make it a good pick for those who just want to kill an evening or two with something that's fun, but not that demanding. Sadly, there's a severe lack of content at hand, which is surprising given the length of it all.

ZeroRanger is, by all accounts, just plain incredible. Even someone who has played hundreds of shmups might not be adequately prepared for this one. It really does have an identity all its own, and that's an exceedingly rare feat. There are so many fresh ideas here, and they are all cleverly implemented. Nothing ever feels out of place. This creativity also doesn't come at the expense of the game itself. There is enough depth to satisfy players of all skill levels. All in all, this is something quite new and amazing, so be sure to check it out.

Game Tengoku CrusinMix Special is best thought of as an experience. There are a lot of scenes where the main characters chat with each other and goof off - not to mention the multiple songs with vocals, commentary tracks, and even an interactive karaoke performance. This creates an atmosphere not often seen in such a tradition-focused genre. None of this comes at the expense of the game itself, which is a solidly enjoyable trip down memory lane. The scoring mechanics are well-realized, while the stages are cluttered with things to see and destroy. Ideally, all of the clutter could have been stretched out to create a more consistent and fully-realized shmup, but what's there is perfectly all right.

Although Episode 4: Thicker Than Water once again deprives players of all agency, it's actually handled relatively well in-universe, making for a second-to-last episode that actively marches towards the finale. Characters are finally reaching a point where they feel fully developed, the story has found a suitable emotional centre, and the stakes have been raised high enough where Javi and Clem will naturally find themselves challenged in Episode 5. It isn't as strong as it could have been - in large part due to A New Frontier's overall structure - but Thicker Than Water stands out as the strongest chapter in season three thus far.

More a refinement of the formula than a fresh take, Art of Balance graces a new platform and offers the same addictive puzzle action it always has. The host hardware greatly benefits both the quickplay nature of the game and its multiplayer features, making for a solid choice to new fans of the genre.

Light input lag and lengthy load times aside, Aces of the Luftwaffe: Squadron is an excellent party style shmup the likes of which are very rarely seen. In fact, no other shmup quite like it, in how multiplayer-centric it is, comes to mind. It may look rather simplistic, but it proves to be top notch in its game design, apart from the fact that the game is not quite as enjoyable in solo as it is in multiplayer.

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.

Is this the worst game on the Switch? It is very close. Ark: Survival Evolved is easily the most poorly converted game on the system, which makes it feel like it could be the worst. If things worked and it didn't look like computer generated vomit, it might have been an average survival game at best. Nothing would distinguish itself. It is unfortunate that the one aspect it has that makes it stand out is just how much of a porting disaster it has proven to be.

Some cruelly missing display modes, and a clear oversight in the infinite mode's design do hold back this compilation to a certain degree on all platforms that it was released on, but, naturally, the Switch will be the only one that can be undocked and taken on the go, giving it a slight edge.

A love letter to all things videogame, Guacamelee! is a fantastic blend of homage and originality, resulting in a wildly memorable, if a bit short, Metroidvania. From the title's tight platforming-heavy level design, to its skill based combat, there is never a dull moment in Juan's quest to save El Presidente's daughter. Although the script does rely on out of place humour perhaps too often, and the general difficulty does take a hit near the end, this makes for a fantastic experience from start to finish, with plenty to love and admire.

Repetitive, dry, and inexplicably uninteresting, Travis Strikes Again is a massive misstep for a series with an otherwise solid track record. It's not so much the near complete abandonment of what made No More Heroes so appealing that plagues the hack n' slash, but the all-around drop in quality from the original duology.

There's enough thumb-centric entertainment crammed into Tesla vs Lovecraft to keep even the most devoted twin-stick aficionado occupied until the Shoggoths come home. 10tons has lovingly crafted (pun intended) a dangerously addictive time sink of a game that intrigues with its oddball setting and overwhelms with its vast, attacking waves of horrors, while simultaneously offering a raft of levelling-up options that ensures those willing to take the fight to Cthulhu are locked in for the long haul.

The developers will likely not appreciate the comparison, but this is like a stylish drum and bass-centric Flappy Bird. That alone should establish just who the audience is. It's a frustrating, maddening experience that will find a niche audience that just loves punishment, but is certainly not for everyone - or even for many.

Little Dragons Café is an extremely tedious exercise in repetition. There's kind of an initial thrill to the idea of managing a café and picking out the recipes that it'll use, but eventually you realize that you don't do much to help out other than providing the basic ingredients and occasionally bussing tables. The only real reward for slogging it out day-to-day is a handful of character focused cutscenes that don't really feel like a meaningful accomplishment. Add in some truly awful field controls and a constantly skipping framerate, and you've got a true recipe for disaster.

Episode 3: Ripples provides the most harrowing story yet, as it greatly lifts the stakes in terms of life and death. While this started off as a meeting amongst political world leaders, it is clearly becoming apparent that there is a lot more in play than what it seems, and Louis does not know who he should trust, or even who is telling the truth. Unfortunately, the episode is plagued with glitches - one that can't be solved except for reloading the game - coupled with the choppy graphics and popping audio portions of the game that ruins what is otherwise the best story-driven episode of The Council yet.

Titles like this are very rare, and are becoming less and less likely to be made with every passing year, as publishers are opting for more homogeneously designed releases. When Clover was around, it strove for interesting and eclectic action games, like God Hand and Viewtiful Joe. The team lives on in the form of Platinum Games, but even now it is a developer that plays it much safer than it used to. As far as conversions go, Okami HD is solid. Some aspects should be better when considering today's standards for remasters, but when the core experience is still able to hold up for over 10 years, it's hard to complain.

Earth Defense Force 5 is a blast through and through. Blowing away insects and spaceships with a shotgun or energy blaster never gets old, and the various classes are diverse and worth trying out to see which one best fits your play style. Admittedly, 110 missions of non-stop shooting does get a bit tiresome, but just when you think you've seen it all, the game introduces a new enemy type or throws in a big set-piece level to shake things up. Even with the added improvements and changes, though, this is still a typical Earth Defense Force. Besides, who needs plot when you have giant mechs fighting giant monsters?

The Last Remnant Remastered is not for the risk averse. It features a lot of design decisions, and punishes anyone who dares to ignore them. There's also a massive learning curve to account for, as the intricacies of battle will require serious effort to master. Even this critic, who has logged almost 200 hours between all three versions, still has a lot to learn. Regardless, the various gameplay systems are all satisfying to understand, and the results of a well built team that employs sound tactics are immeasurably fun to experience. What else is there to say about this game? It's a classic.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is an FPS that makes a ton of good to great decisions, but also a handful of poor ones. Tightly crafted gameplay is marred by adherence to genre conventions, and the narrative gets off to a slow start as the game decides what it wants to be. However, neither of those are enough to drag this down too much, as it is simply too well put together and has more than enough personality and fun to poke through the layer of seriousness draped over the first parts of the campaign. What is left is a game that can stand as a very fine example of its genre, if not quite a groundbreaking one.

The title features an impressive range of different types of bike but, unfortunately, it's still difficult to discern any handling differences between bikes within the same class. It's a bit disappointing that Ride 3 doesn't step things up more in this department, but it's still a much better-tuned instalment. With not a lot of competition in sight, Ride 3 is something of a Forza-equivalent for bike racing enthusiasts, but there's still plenty of room for improvement.

It's a relaxing, satisfying experience with lovable characters and a lot of depth to its gameplay. It'd be nice if the game took a little more time to detail some of its more convoluted mechanics, and also if some of the busywork around the crafting had been streamlined a little bit. The world can be a little empty at times, and some of the areas, especially the mines, lack charm and detail. Ultimately, it's the excellent cast of characters and their depth of voice work that'll have players coming back for more.

In spite of a fairly interesting and unique set piece, JCB Pioneer: Mars never quite manages to take advantage of its Martian background. Detrimentally slow pacing, performance issues, and a shallow gameplay loop, all work to break down what should be a memorable survival title into just another piece of shovelware coasting by on a solid premise. Worst of all, it is incomplete as of its release, still being sold as an Early Access title on Steam. It's not impossible that it will have its (very) rough edges softened with time, but the possibility of playing a complete and well made game eventually hardly justifies a purchase.

The core of the gameplay is basically fetch quests occasionally broken up with uninspired combat sections on the seas. It's all quite dull and repetitive. It's trying to thrive on its charming style and the usual addictive nature of survival games, but even that isn't enough. In addition, there are two to three hours of gameplay here to fully complete the game. It's hardly fun for even that briefest of time.

The Wizards is generally a good VR action-adventure title. Using some imaginative and intuitive controls to cast spells, it does an excellent job of making the player feel like they are indeed controlling a powerful wizard. The narrator is brilliant, and there are some really special effects and sights to see. However, things are let down slightly by the overall length of the game, which can be polished off in just a few hours. Additionally, many of the landscapes and levels have the habit of merging together due to how similar in style they look to one another, with only small bits of variety. It isn't the cheapest adventure on the market, but certainly one to pick up if a fan of this genre.