Super Mario Party’s core Party mode and excellent minigames are the true Super Stars in this package. However, they’re diluted by the extra modes. While some are genuinely creative and engaging, such as the team-based Partner Party and the fully cooperative River Survival, others feel like afterthoughts. Everything included can still be hilarious fun with a good group of friends, but a sharper focus on the classic board game/minigame combo and an increased online presence would have enhanced its longevity. As it is now, Super Mario Party may not be the life of the party, but it’s a solid step in the right direction for this long-running series.

Divinity: Dragon Commander is an excellently written and polished blend of action, RPG, and strategy that delivers on each front without feeling disjointed or glaringly weak in any one area. It’s a game in which each component meshes together well as a whole package, and the end result is a fantastic genre mixing title that is both entertaining and thoughtfully constructed.

Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido is a deliciously clever approach to the match-3 genre that may satiate puzzle lovers’ tastes. The game’s meaty content and RPG mechanics are filling, but its long stretches of stagnant levels amount to a bunch of tasty appetizers as opposed to a full course feast. Altogether, it won't be the highlight of everyone's menu, as it costs almost as much as a full-priced Switch game. Nevertheless, if you crave a unique 1v1 puzzler, Sushi Striker is a delectable game backed up by a scrumptious story.

I just think the execution of the game is nowhere near as good as it could have been. The potential for this game is endless and I think Nintendo only brought us with an average gaming experience.

There’s just something exhilarating about driving a tank, dodging the artillery shells pounding the ground around you, while light tanks scout hostiles, medium and heavy tanks duel it out in the middle of the map, tank destroyers picking off targets from afar, and you find yourself backed into a corner, surrounded and outnumbered, your tracks damaged, and your only allies being your tank’s smoking cannon and high explosive rounds.

Beyond just the fact that it’s a little boring to play, there are also the weird problems to deal with, and the game’s charm is nowhere near enough to make up for them. Even when you’re playing, it does so much of taking care of itself that I started to wonder why I’m even playing this when it can so easily play itself.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with Masquerada: Songs and Shadows. Granted, it doesn't have the deepest combat system out there, and its isometric graphics aren't what anyone would call top-notch (although both those things are solid for an indie title). But what it does have is a lot of HEART. The story is intriguing and well told and the audio is just fantastic. If you're looking for a song to get lost in, Maquerada may be just what you're looking for.

As a snippet of what The New Order has to offer, I’m quite impressed with The Old Blood.

The Club was a pleasant surprise. It's a guns blazing light hearted action experience that may not be the best shooter out there but it doesn't have to be.

Best known for the revolutionary judgment ring combat system, this game continues with a well-paced story for a refreshingly different RPG.

Progressing through the levels felt way too slow, finding collectible candles frustrated me, and I wasn’t particularly fond of the camera. The story failed to grab my attention due to the bland protagonist and the boring narrative. The gameplay mechanics stay somewhat interesting throughout, but the level design, platforming, and puzzles hold it back from greatness. Candleman is a decent experience, but it’s not a game I’d recommend without a few warnings.

Even though I may have sounded a bit overly critical of Momodora:RUM over the course of this review, there is still a perfectly serviceable game here that will certainly find its audience. If you're the type of person who skips cutscenes and plays games at a decibel only a pigeon could appreciate, then I just might have the game for you. While the actual act of playing the game is a pleasure, it's kind of like building a sandcastle in the middle of a construction site; there's fun to be had, but the circumstances you find yourself in are less than ideal.

Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken was a genuine surprise. I wasn’t expecting much outside of a silly romp that pitted chickens against penguins for world supremacy. What I got was a game that had contained the plight of child soldiers, guerrilla warfare and redemption all wrapped in a near-inappropriate layer of silliness.

Somewhere, deep down in The Final Station, is a game that you can fall in love with – a rough adventure where you uncover a mystery and where every moment is filled with tension or despair. Unfortunately, the game that you actually get is too shallow and repetitive to be satisfying, and the story is so confusing that it is downright broken. The story’s failures are especially disappointing, because you can see the makings of something great around the periphery.

A bit more emphasis on story or perhaps more variety in the combat situations would be welcome shots in the arm.

Although maybe not as deep of an experience as you could find on the PC, if you are looking for The Sims on a console this is a great option.

Shift DX takes one premise and remarkably makes it last for 200+ levels. Its healthy mix of spatial reasoning and platforming obstacles effectively tests your mind and reflexes. I’m convinced that this game stimulates a part of your brain that you rarely use, and it feels great. If you are even a casual fan of puzzle platformers, Shift DX will turn your world upside-down.

All in all if you are looking for a fun strategy sports themed game with a multiplayer focus, this one might be worth taking a look at.

I’m still surprised with how well the drama is acted and how the script effortlessly transports you into a Medieval Europe frame of mind without too many anachronisms to ruin the flow. You don’t see very many video games like this and even though there’s still more game to play, I find the whole thing very cool. Kingdom Come: Deliverance requires a whole lot of patience, reading, studying, and analyzing how things work. Beyond these hurdles lies a fine piece of interactive historical fiction.

Ghost Recon: Wildlands is by no means a terrible, or even bad, game: it provides moments of intense fun, particularly with friends, when you're trying to clear out a base without being detected. Yet, it has some serious issues. The A.I. coding is just not good; the huge draw distances causes stutter and screen-tearing on consoles; and even though there is undeniably a lot of content in the form of missions and things to collect, it does become repetitive and dull—just how quickly it becomes a drag depends on your tolerance for walking around and collecting things, I suppose. But if you don't have friends to play with, and you have to rely on boneheaded teammate A.I. to help you fight questionable and irrational enemy A.I., then the game's problems are amplified.

Shadowrun Returns is enjoyable while it lasts, thanks in large part to its great writing and enthralling murder mystery.

It never completely captures the intensity or fun of previous Starfox titles and the strategy elements don’t offer enough depth to completely make up for it.

The game is greatly hindered in two key areas. First its story is nothing short of terrible. Second, and I think far more detrimental, is that it sticks dangerously close to the two games before it. From a pure technical standpoint, the game is sublime. It plays beautifully and is still an incredibly enjoyable game. But the lingering feeling like you’ve done all of this before never left me throughout my time with the game. And for a game that’s supposed to take place over 10,000 years ago that’s a problem.

It may sound like I'm nitpicking a lot, but the issues I've highlighted are relatively minor when looking at The Evil Within 2 as a whole. This game is just plain fun. I don't remember the last time when I had completed a game's campaign and immediately wanted to start a new game and play it all over again. The Evil Within 2 had that effect on me. The constant shifting between the visceral gunplay and tense stealth sections provided hours of entertainment. The Evil Within 2 wears its inspirations unabashedly. The crafting and resource gathering feel like they were ripped straight out of The Last of Us. The gunplay and stealth feels similar to Resident Evil 4 or even Uncharted. The juxtaposition between open world areas and linear corridors has a Silent Hill: Downpour vibe. However, the folks over at Tango Gameworks have taken these inspirations and molded them into a mad scientist amalgamation of ideas that feel like its own beautiful, yet horrific, beast.

Alan Wake is at its best when it is tense yet manageable. Those moments when you know you have little ammo but can strategically take out a group of baddies with the right timing are absolutely incredible. Sadly those moments don't pop up often in American Nightmare and the story dies out pretty quickly which was the original game's saving grace. I can't speak for every fan of Alan Wake but it was the story and atmosphere that pulled me in like darkness did to Wake, without those being exciting the gun-play does little to hold my interest.

Unless you are a diehard Spider-Man fan I would say there are better games to sink your time into this fall.

I must say that I went with my gut instinct and although Day of Reckoning 2 is a solid game I just felt like there was something that was needed in this game, maybe a better story mode that would take this game to the top.

For those unaware, Wasteland 2 was a kickstarted game that amassed nearly $3 million in donations back in 2012. The developer inXile Entertainment clearly spent their time and resources to make a fantastic experience that has an identity to stand on its own despite being clearly inspired by other games in its genre. I’m truly grateful that I gave Wasteland 2 another chance, and I recommend you to do the same as well. If you want a stylish, character-driven adventure in the pits of despair, Wasteland 2 is here to scratch that itch!

Garden Warfare on the Xbox One is visually impressive and PopCap did a great job translating the color palette and aesthetics of the mobile game to this third person shooter.

When it comes to the writing of its protagonist and furthering the story, Smoke and Mirrors is a definite step forward, especially after a three-month drought of interactive storytelling.

With a solid storyline and pretty good gameplay mechanics, we are given a game that really does help strengthen the PS2's RPG market.

It’s not the longest game, but it tells a decent yarn and has a pretty good hook to the combat. Sure, there’s a chance that you, too, might spend five (FIVE!) hours searching for a stupid item, but aside from that and some niggly presentational bits, it’s definitely an enjoyable game.

It’s nice to see games continuing to try and push forward narrative in the side-scrolling platformer, and Klaus is a very strong entry into this genre.

All in all, New Super Lucky's Tale isn't a bad 3D romp at all, although veterans of the genre (or really gaming in general) are just going to tear through it with ease. This definitely puts the game into the for younger audiences crowd, for better or worse. Still, if you really dig these types of games and don't mind the low challenge and short run-time, the game may just be for you. Just make sure you've fully explored the genre first!

Take those Legends of Wrestlemania or other attempts at wrestling nostalgia and throw them away because WWE 13 is all you need "and that's the bottom line cause Stone Cold said so."

With the DS rapidly gaining more following, PSP finally gets some break with this re-invented classic. A perfect fit for fun mobile gaming.

For a game without a single living thing in its world, it has a lot of heart.

Overall, getting a 100% completion in the DLC clocked me in at around four hours, with the story taking about two-to-three to work through. Given the quality of both the story and the side content, picking it up and its follow-ups too should be a no-brainer. Or at least it was for me. But then, I’m the sick fool currently playing through a new game plus on Ultimate difficulty. I’ll let you know how that goes when we check in on our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man next time.

If Operencia: The Stolen Sun was really a 28-years old game, I probably wouldn’t bother with it anymore. As much as I love old games, sometimes modern comforts are just nice to have. Operencia plays with old-school expectations but turns them into a meaningful experience where a modest budget is mostly turned into the game’s favor. Some further playtesting would have perhaps solved sudden difficulty spikes more efficiently than constantly loading a save until you succeed. However, if you are interested in dungeon crawlers in the first place, you are probably prepared to take in some extra punches along the way.

In Red Orchestra, there are so many variables to take into consideration before pulling the trigger, which makes nabbing a kill against another human player infinitely more rewarding than any other shooter on the market.

If you add in the Motorhead or Fractured Worlds expansions, and the ability to play all of the content alone or co-op and in any sequence, Victor Vran: Overkill Edition is an extremely generous package that will take dozens of entertaining hours to complete. With each mission having multiple objectives, there are plenty of reasons to revisit areas several times. Not everything about Victor Vran is new and different, of course, but its solid mechanics and strong personality go a long way towards creating a satisfying play experience.

More often than not, the game is an exercise in frustration, which unfortunately characterizes The Flame in the Flood most accurately: a promising, interesting survival game that is ultimately left to drown in the waters of mediocrity by its own core mechanics.

I wish I could sit here and call Surviving Mars an excellent game, because once you get past the eight-ish hours of unnecessary enigmas, it approaches that. It’s rich, intelligent, and deeply moving, succeeding as an entertaining simulation time sink and a profound, uplifting window into the future. And as headache-inducing as it could be, I was always having enough fun to figure it out, and I suppose that says it all. Surviving Mars is flawed, but nonetheless great.

Aliens Infestation, while it may be a late entry into the DS library is one of the best games to ever grace the system. While it may seem like a title to get fans ready for next year's Colonial Marines, this game is no slouch. Infestation is some of the most fun you can have on a Nintendo DS. If you are looking for some great 2D action Aliens Infestation is definitely right up your alley.

Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War offers a familiar package: a too-short campaign developed by a reputable studio and multiplayer that provides lots of activities to score points, earn weapon unlocks, and shoot other players. Despite the length, the campaign is a fun departure from the Tom Clancy-esque tone of mainline games. It leans heavily into the aesthetic of the 1980s, from fashion to real-world advertisements. Yeah, it’s kind of gross that Doritos earned prominent placement but at least Raven had the foresight to include vintage brand designs.

Serious Sam’s Bogus Detour is a seriously fun game bogged down by a couple of serious problems. If you’re a big Serious Sam fan, have online friends to play with, or you’re just looking for a challenging twin stick shooter, then this game is worth its $15 price tag. Just be aware that the multiplayer is pretty much dead, some of the game design needs a bit of polish, and there’s not much content outside of workshop maps.

10tons has truly mastered their unique concept of top-down shooters. The more they make them, the more addictive they get. I’m truly impressed by how simple yet genius the game structure and gameplay mechanics in JYDGE are. Nothing superfluous, just beautifully honed bare-bones concept of fun. Just like in the old times. Re-playability is built into the game as a key factor and the customization options are eventually exhausting. You can pretty much decide how you play the game and even exploit it to some degree by creatively combining certain upgrades. As big Arnie slurred in Terminator 3, the jydgement day is inevitable, so you might just as well jump in there right away.

Kuju's strategy title steps up to fill the void left by Zelda, thrilling GameCube owners with a truly superb RTS - the way it's meant to be played.

Sick of the MLB? Let the legendary plumber take your troubles away with this challenging baseball title, complete with the good-old Nintendo charm.

Whether by choice or due to the small size of the development team, Mortal Shell is highly concentrated action, focused on giving players that uniquely Souls-like experience of challenge, mystery and eventual mastery.

If you have a Wii and are looking for a simple fun game to keep you entertained go out and rent Order Up! but for someone looking to buy this one won’t keep you busy for long.

If you’re a fan of either franchise and own a Wii U, you owe it to yourself to at least give Hyrule Warriors a try.

The biggest disappointment about ShootMania is how confused the game is, and the lack of direction will almost assuredly be the death of it.

Stick it to The Man is a short adventure but one worth playing. The fun puzzles, beautiful environments, and peculiar characters makes Rae Doewood’s insane journey an extremely enjoyable and intensely hilarious experience.

If you’re a fan of Ubisoft’s open-world design, then you’ll enjoy this game to an extent, but there’s little done here that Watch Dogs 2 didn’t do as well or more so in 2016. It’s a fun stealth-action open-world hacking game, but it’s one that falls under its own weight in many ways. So please, do not play the Xbox One S version. Like the first Watch Dogs, it over promises, under preforms, and this soon-to-be previous-generation version will be forgotten quickly.

While still a good game, it remains overshadowed by those previous entries. Rocksteady got right all the little things that WB Montreal seemed to miss.

But what it is good at doing is staying interesting and scary throughout the game.

In the end, Singstar Amped is a good solid music title, that for many will offer up a great music experience especially for those into some nice rock and roll tunes.

Suikoden has always been one of the underrated console RPG, and it really shines here with an engaging plot, solid combat system and stylish visuals.

Although I cannot say that Sports Champions is a perfect game, it is a great first step into the Playstation Move and motion gaming. Sure I would not have chosen the same sports as what Sony put on the disc, but even with what is offered Sports Champions proves to be a great experience.

One of those games that I would just call just plain fun.

This game plays with your mind, it makes you wonder and it makes you laugh.

Unfortunately with reviewing this game I have to think of it in terms of should someone spend their hard earned money on this game and that hurts Dear Esther in a regrettable way. It tells a very interesting story in a mysterious and ambitious way and stands out as a risky decision on the developers but manages to be at least a little entertaining for how shallow the gameplay is. At a ten dollar price range I feel like I may have over paid a little and would have felt more comfortable with a price half that.

What could be more satisfying than decapitating people and eating their brains? Stubbs sure knows how to have fun in this B-movie style zombie actioner.

Not A Hero: Super Snazzy Edition is a collection of interesting ideas that, while refreshing, deserved to be used more ambitiously.

Tiny & Big is not an altogether bad game. It's certainly not broken, it has a lot going for it, and on paper it would sound great. But it also serves as a good example as to why publishers can be a good thing. I think that with additional play testing and someone higher up to reign in the focus a little, Tiny & Big could have been another entry into the growing list of awesome "indie" games. As is, it's a game with solid base but one that fails to do anything with it.

At the end of the day, Infinite Minigolf is one of those games you’d play once or twice before putting it aside, occasionally bringing it out when friends and family come over. Passing the controller around for each hole would be a lot more fun that blitzing through the courses by yourself. The included level editor will surely attract the kind of person that loves to spend hours crafting elaborate stages in games like LittleBigPlanet and ModNation Racers. With the limited content provided by Zen Studios, I do feel as if they are relying on the community to keep the game alive. It’d be nice to see Zen support it with additional content. As the only minigolf game available for the PlayStation 4, Infinite Minigolf isn't perfect, but it manages to get the job done.

While the sameness of the factions began to bother me after a time, and will keep me from revisiting this one as much as I have the previous games, Thrones of Britannia does a fine job of shaking things up a bit. Not every change was welcome, but certain things, like army recruitment and siege battles, clearly came out better because of it. While my eyes are firmly set on the DLC releases to TW:W2, which are coming out at a steady pace, I did enjoy this diversion to the British Isles, and look forward to more Sagas when Creative Assembly wants to shake the tree up a bit.

Overall, if you enjoy classic point-and-click adventure games then you just can’t go wrong here. The game even has a sequence where you are reduced to a truly classic adventure game. It can get pretty wild at times. If you’re like me and find point-and-click adventures rather frustrating, there is still a lot of enjoyment to be had. The focus on humor and some clever scenarios can really go a long way into making a genre more tolerable.

With the majority of changes being positive, the only thing that should give someone pause over taking the plunge is whether or not you want more Borderlands.

Fast unarmed combat system and lush visuals complete the package.

Overall SteamWorld Dig has a lot of potential for some fun. Unfortunately, due to the tedium of going to and from the town to make money just isn’t for me. It’s a very well built game though, so if you like grinding, or if it doesn’t bother you, you like can’t go wrong with SteamWorld Dig. However, if you’re like me and tedious tasks tend to gnaw at your attention very quickly maybe give this one a pass and try Spelunky instead.

THQ presents the perfect game for younger gamers this holiday season, with refined platforming mechanics and co-op gameplay to further strengthen the Tak franchise.

At times, Code Vein can be stressing as you can’t cut much slack until you have gained not only level-ups to strengthen your character but also personal confidence to challenge everything the game throws at you. While it sometimes too obediently follows conventions of Souls-likes, its generous framework and character-centric exposition bring the game its own kind of unique personality.

Beneath what I had originally found so interesting I found a game frustratingly vague, that held for me no wonder, nothing that drove me to want to explore or survive.

A season pass promises new characters and campaign missions. I can only hope they also bring along much needed variety to the gameplay.

Medal of Honor Airborne for the Playstation 3 is one of those games that is just a great deal of fun, but the final verdict can't be as high as I think the developers were anticipating.

The hockey season's here again, and the "old" console can still offer something for the fans, albeit with just an updated roster and slightly tweaked controls.

Dragon's Dogma is a game of missteps. It tries to be open world, but doesn't fill it with much to do. It tries to be a co-op style adventure game, but doesn't actually have co-op. It tries to tell an epic tale, but fills it with boring tasks. It has a lot going for it thanks to its intense combat and amazing ending.

Unfortunately for it, Paper Mario: Sticker Star has to deal with being a “pretty good” entry in a series that is usually considered amongst the best games on their respective consoles. While I did have fun with it, there were times when I felt like I was just going through the motions, and very little of the innovation or character of previous entries shone through.

For me I really enjoyed Sega Rally Revo, but it was one of those games that would be great as a rental but in terms of seeing this as a game I would come back to in a long time and want to get back into it.

But by far the most exciting portion of NHL 2005 has to be the dynasty mode which is something EA Sports is getting very good at creating. There are just so many different customization options that you can choose from that any hockey enthusiast who is bored to tears with the lack of hockey this season could really spend hours in this mode.

I enjoyed my time playing Beholder. Everything comes together well, and the initial experience is fun. It is missing that hook to keep me interested in playing for an extended period. That is the only complaint I have about Beholder. It will give you an enjoyable experience, even if it is for a short time. If you’re looking for a game that you can play for a couple days, Beholder fits that bill.

A game like Flipping Death could easily outstay its welcome but Zoink seems to understand the limits of the genre. Aside from some frustrating controls - which might irk both super-precise and platformer-challenged gamers - Flipping Death has enough humor, cheeky irreverence and visual audacity to carry it through the tough spots. Played for the characters, story, puzzles and imaginative setting, Flipping Death is a good time.

>observer_ offers a glimpse in a terrifying cyberpunk future that is far more frightening than any pursuing monsters of unreasonable size. The stealth action moments of the game failed to make an impact and I usually greeted them with a “let’s get this over with” attitude. No, the game is at its best when you’re exploring the claustrophobic corridors of an old world building appropriated by corporate interests, lazily retrofitted with invasive technology that is much more of a hindrance than any sort of benefit to mankind.

NBA Live 09 is the real deal when it comes to a great video game basketball experience.

Hohokum is a pleasantly strange break from reality. It’s filled with color, personality and charm, and if you can overlook the lack of game-like structure to find your own way in the game’s psychedelic world, you’ll find a satisfying meditative experience backed by precise controls.

This isn't a brand new experience but it is one that continues to impress and entertain for hours on end.

Killing hasn’t been this fun since Blood Money. Despite the technical issues, Hitman is off to a promising start to the “season”. The smooth controls, beautiful visuals, and incredibly detailed level design does a solid job in bringing the world’s deadliest assassin to current generation consoles.

If you have tried the series and haven't enjoyed it in the past, my guess is this title is not going to change your mind.

The horror sequel continues the story in a much larger setting. Still retains the dark outlook of the original, but doesn't add much to the gameplay.

10tons Ltd has managed to find extraordinary margins within the genre as restricted as top-down shooters. When they travel the road further, who knows what they can come up with? Meanwhile, Tesla vs Lovecraft is a juicy slice of blasting fun.

The Call of the Sea is one of the better Lovecraftian games in recent memory, thanks to its art, writing, acting and subtle defiance of some well-worn mystery conventions. In general, its puzzles are accessible yet challenging and the story is well told and set in a refreshingly unfamiliar environment. Less passive than a typical walking simulator but still not an action game, The Call of the Sea should appeal to gamers that appreciate beautiful art and an engrossing mystery.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is a fairly brief but exceptionally well-crafted stealth experience that’s well worth the time of any fan – or anybody looking for a great action game, for that matter.

EA works its charm down on college baseball, further perfecting the previous installment with deeper frachise mode and refined controls.

Hero Academy on PC might not be totally necessary, but it remains a great bit of asynchronous warfare. What it boils down to is the best of strategy gaming- a title that's light and welcoming for players who want a quick tactical fix, and also an involved, sometimes hellishly meticulous war of wits and attrition.

Overall, Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures I & II Deluxe is a great time. It is also one of the few “difficult” games I have ever 100% completed (obtaining all the pointless collectibles, etc). While it is disappointing that a lot of the funny content and nods to the Nerd’s past was cut, it doesn’t overall negatively impact the game. These are still fun games, and I highly recommend them to any 2D platformer fan. Even if you have no idea who the Angry Video Game Nerd is, there is still a lot of fun to be had here based on pure gameplay alone.

Medal of Honor is a very competent FPS, but you get the feeling that was never meant to be the end all result. Medal of Honor is a game with some obvious ambitions to be great, however the overall experience is still a step or two away from reaching that level.