All in all, World War Z is undoubtedly a ton of fun, especially if you have friends to play (and chat) with. If you're a fan of the Left 4 Dead games or Killing Floor, chances are very good you'll enjoy this game as well. If you aren't, I would recommend trying this game as a rental just to try it out before you dive in, as the entry price (for now) is rather high compared to similar games in the genre. And of course, remember to aim for the head.

While just about every ride or attraction in Classic Rides has some utility to park designers looking for that one, very specific element, overall this pack feels a little thin in comparison to some of Planet Coaster’s more robust DLC. Lack of new shops, scenery, or other design elements and the absence of any truly mind-blowing rides is a bit disappointing, but there is no doubt that Planet Coaster devotees and completionists will want to add these rides to their toolbox. Planet Coaster remains both hugely entertaining and addictive, and it’s hard to pass up even a modest addition to the game.

As it stands, Mortal Kombat 11 is violent and extremely brutal but at the same time insidiously sexy and suave. Its more grown-up take on matters enhances its cast’s appeal and that’s all the personal preference I need to keep up with often unfair gameplay.

BoxBoy! + BoxGirl! is a triumphant return for one of Nintendo’s underappreciated square-shaped heroes. The core campaign, albeit a solid iteration that newcomers will enjoy, plays a little too safely for BoxBoy! veterans. Thankfully, the new co-op and Qudy modes are the reinvigorating jolts this series needed, delivering clever and refreshing ideas to mix up the simple block-making formula. Hopefully, this Switch debut marks a bright future for the box family.

Hell is Other Demons is a satisfying little game that manages to provide a quick dose of adrenaline on the go. The bite-sized levels make the game easy to pick up and play. With the challenging bosses, great loadout system, and heavy emphasis on replayability, the game has a lot going for it. It’s a shame that the repetitive nature of the core gameplay made it hard to maintain genuine interest. Regardless, Hell is Other Demons is definitely worth picking up for its addictive progression system as well as its highly enjoyable combat.

All fine and dandy but still, I expected more. The main reason is that The Path Home is over too quickly. Most of the previous add-ons have been understandably short so that they don’t mess up the main campaign pacing too much as they take place during it. However, as a post-game content, The Path Home had no such burden. The scenery that Lara travels through is breathtaking but as it is, it’s visited all too briefly.

With a good company, God’s Trigger can still often feel more frustrating than fun but at least you have someone to share the experience instead of just slamming yourself.

Photorealistic graphics are great but there’s something really nice and comforting about the retro-inspired visual aesthetic. The portable nature of the Nintendo Switch is absolutely perfect for this kind of game. Like the title screen suggests, pull the Switch off the dock, pour yourself a drink, grab some salty pretzels, and make yourself comfortable.

Fortunately for me, I happened to be in just that frame of mind after playing through the amazing and absolutely brutal Cuphead. The last thing I wanted to do after that was play another stressful and nail-biting experience. So, HOB just so happened to scratch the opposite itch I was craving. Had I played it under a different mindset, it’s hard to tell what my reaction might have been. If you’re in that sort of mood, I think HOB might hit the spot. If not, well then, maybe HOB isn't the game for you. But if that is the case, I would encourage you to play it when you are feeling inquisitive.

It falls into the same traps that have plagued the genre for years. The game’s internal logic is hard to follow, the puzzles incorporate too much trial-and-error, and the plot is contrived and inconsistent. This is all combined with cheap-looking Flash visuals. The game isn’t a lost cause and its nostalgic playstyle may still appeal to the most hardcore graphic adventure fans. Otherwise, the crew of the Helmholtz Resonators are on to something: there are probably better things to do than solving the mystery of Woolley Mountain.

Anno 1800 is an incredible looking city builder that is packed with historical detail and graphical richness, supported by a complex and sometimes inscrutable collection of systems underneath the smokestacks and row houses. Getting everything just right is a challenge but playing in the Victorian-era sandbox is a lot of fun and the milieu is well represented in all areas of design and execution. Fans of city builders and economic sims will both find a lot to enjoy about Anno 1800, the best entry in the franchise so far.

Dick Wilde 2 is an interestingly bizarre game. It has a nice visual style, the music is catchy, and some of its elements are so bizarre that I want to love it. The problem is that the game is never more fun than it’s frustrating.

There’s also a ton of game here, with the main story missions at least leading well into 30-40 hours worth of content.

Sword & Fairy 6 felt like I had binge-watched 64 half an hour-long episodes of a Chinese fantasy drama TV series. Productions values may have been low and effects cheesy but the actors and actresses were beautiful and the story so gripping that I couldn’t stop myself.

Falcon Age is built on a great concept that doesn’t go very far. There isn’t enough meat on its bones to satiate an appetite for bird-based adventure gaming. VR is nonessential and if you really do want to play the game, I’d advise leaving the headset tucked away. I liked having the bird around as a partner and changing how it looks with a fun assortment of bandannas, hats, and toys. It’s also fun to watch it lift robots off the ground and giving me the opening needed to bash their heads in with my baton. The thrill wears out quickly, though, and the lack of depth made Ara’s home a place I struggled to care about. And that feels wrong.

Katana Zero is a short but sweet experience that captures the stylistic flair of Hotline Miami mixed with a cyberpunk theme, while making a name for itself with its polished gameplay but without feeling tedious or overstaying its welcome. It’s a title that left me satisfied, but not amazed. Despite a slight lack of challenge and nuance, the game provided a fun, fast-paced experience that kept me hooked from beginning to end.

Where The Bees Make Honey has some interesting ideas with presentation and puzzles. However, the persistent high level of frustration I felt with trying to navigate the majority of the adventure because of issues out of my control completely overshadowed any of the good stuff.

Fans of old-school, first-person dungeon crawlers will enjoy Vaporum for its homage to the older mechanics and restrictions that technical limits once placed on games. For the rest of us, Vaporum can feel like a cool concept and visual style straightjacketed by outmoded gameplay. Freed from the grid and with more standard camera and movement, Vaporum might seem more like a copycat game, but would be much more fun to play.

The featured gameplay is too samey and numbing to hold excitement through longer spells of playing. Even in shorter sessions, you can’t help but wonder if you’re just wasting your time. The thing is, everything in the game, from visuals to the gameplay, is definitely B-grade stuff - except for the price tag.

Outward is a game of disappointments and intriguing potential. While its dated-looking graphics and unsatisfying combat are off-putting, it stands alone as an RPG of particularly human scale. We may not need to be reminded that humans are frail and fragile creatures in a scary world, but Outward takes a conceptual chance and sees it through to the end.

Maybe due to its irreverent tone, Tropico has never been taken entirely seriously as a legit economic sim and city builder. That’s a shame, because puttering around the islands has always been both fun and satisfying. Tropico 6 pulls some mechanics from prior entries and introduces some new ones while giving fans of the franchise the best-looking, most feature-packed and entertaining installment to date.

The nostalgia is strong in Generation Zero, both in and outside, and Avalanche Studios has more or less successfully bet on it. It worked for me even though I know it won’t necessarily work for everyone. Still, if you’re looking for something that does considerably less than most of those shiny games out there but at the same time has more integrity while doing so, Generation Zero might just be up your alley, although it’s a true niche title if there ever was one. To sum the game up, it’s like an 80’s Volvo; boxy but good.

Despite the general low budget feel and repetitive gameplay, I enjoyed my time with Fate/Extella Link. The game provides a solid, streamlined experience worth playing for fans of the series, but beyond that, it’s hard to recommend. Though the game provides a slew of playable characters, there was little substantial variation between them. The shallow gameplay and subpar story leave much to be desired, but in the end, the game is still an enjoyable and satisfying hack and slash experience.

Unravel Two is a game with many layers. On the surface lies a cooperative puzzle-platformer about two adorable yarn creatures. Underneath are meaningful narratives about escaping to safety and working together to form a brighter future. Even deeper are bittersweet and heartfelt messages about companionship, love, and the ties that bind. Coldwood’s little game about two tiny Yarnies on a grand adventure has an astounding depth that is fun to unravel.

Warparty is clearly derivative, both of older RTS games and mechanics and unit types — zombies and dino-warriors — but there is enough entertainment value to make it worth exploring, especially for fans of the genre with a soft spot for the classics. On console, controls will frustrate but not enough to entirely kill the experience. The timeless quality of RTS games still comes through, and Warparty manages to catch at least a bit of that magic.

Operencia: The Stolen Sun should appeal to a range of gamers: fans of well made, turn-based RPGs and anyone looking for a budget title that hasn’t compromised graphics or mechanics will also appreciate it. The game doesn’t take a lot of chances but there is plenty of depth and replayability in its character leveling and crafting systems and while it may seem easy in the first few hours, combat difficulty increases and the puzzles become challenging as the game progresses.

Overwhelm takes the action platformer genre to extremes. Despite its borderline unfair camera, players willing to accept the challenge have quite a tense journey ahead of them. It’s a game that controls exceptionally well in order to incentivize skilled play, while leaving enemy placement up to random number generation resulting in a compromise between the two. Due to the more unforgiving aspects, Overwhelm certainly appeals to the very niche audience that values challenge above all else.

I really enjoyed the level design of all the main parts of the mission - the crypt, the village and the tomb – as they were refreshingly different from most of the sights and tombs featured in the previous add-ons and more importantly, put Lara’s traversal abilities to a real test. I also liked how the side mission took place post-game, giving a meaningful challenge to tackle when the main adventure has been seen through. One more DLC to go and Lara’s trip through Shadow of the Tomb Raider is over. I can only hope that Eidos Montreal has something extraordinary in store to finish off the Tomb Raider trilogy in style.

Nier: Automata is a really compelling piece of science fiction. It builds on the thematic foundation of sentient robots and takes into a bold and heart-wrenching direction. The emotionally rich saga is further bolstered by an intensely memorable soundtrack that add so much flavor and extra dimension to the multiform narrative.

I feel like as an ending for the franchise, as an end to Clementine’s story, we’ve gone out as well as it could have. This is The Walking Dead, after all, so any hope we are left with is automatically tempered against the death and despair of the world, and the fact that we are, as we always have been, the true walkers in a dead world. But for an ending, I think one will do.

A creative arts-and-crafts artstyle synergizes with innovative mechanics to produce the game’s impressive interactive diorama courses. There’s a little something for everyone, from a mellow mode for casual gamers as well as completionist challenges for the hardcore. It’s style over substance, however, and a harder base difficulty would have vastly improved the adventure. Also, the heavily advertised flip side mode didn’t quite meet its potential. Regardless, the uniquely designed set pieces are engaging to uncover. Yoshi’s Crafted World may not make waves, but it’s a solid choice for younger players and fans of the lovable green dinosaur.

This is a game where the grind itself is the context for enjoyment, and while that’s not a bad thing, when that grind runs its course, there’s going to be nothing left to hang your hat on. Thankfully though, the foundation is just that good, and I don’t regret the hours I have poured into The Division 2. If only other loot shooters, released earlier in the year, had learned and applied the lessons Ubisoft did.

Beat Cop meets its quota by providing a few laughs and a fun experience that doesn’t overstay its welcome. The appropriate attention and care was given to the most important elements, but it doesn’t offer much else. The end result is a game with few lows, but similarly few standout moments to make it truly memorable.

Although it adds nothing unique and makes some visual concessions to fit the platform, Darksiders Warmastered Edition is a great way to revisit what is now considered a minor classic of the action-RPG genre. With fluid combat and a dramatic, if skeletal story, Darksiders has retained most of the fun-factor that made the game stand out way back in 2010. Playing the game on a big screen in 4K might be optimal, but Darksiders on the Switch is a decent alternative.

In the end, if you are just looking for a no-thrills platforming game, Awesome Pea may just be for you. Granted, it’s pretty short, but the price point is right and the controls and difficulty are on par. It also doesn't hurt that there are plenty of trophies to earn along the way! If that sounds awesome to you, this Pea is worth a shot.

During my play, I encountered a few dips in frame rate here and there. Aside from that, the game runs pretty well on the Switch, both docked and in a hand-held mode. The game also has extremely rough edges with PS1-era AI and uninspired level designs, which casual players will not easily forgive. When all is said and done, Aragami is a serviceable stealth game overall. Stealth/puzzle combo has its own merit and will appeal to hardcore stealth game fans for sure.

Sekiro is From Software’s purest distillation of a game design philosophy that values skill-based combat and isn’t afraid to challenge the player at nearly every moment.

In a serious need of additional development, bug-fixes and testing, as well as ditching the misguided fixed camera, Eternity: The Last Unicorn plays like a medley of solid action-RPG mechanics and ideas without much depth or polish. The setting, characters and story are its saving grace but their charms are overshadowed by the game’s repetitive and sluggish combat and the annoying camera. Calling a game’s mechanics “classic” is no excuse for gameplay that is simply not very satisfying or fun.

As far as free-to-play games go, Hades’ Star is familiar territory, mechanically speaking. It makes little demand for your time and you’re free to spend money to speed things up if you want, no harm, no foul. Other than that, the game is solidly built, the soundtrack is a bit boring, but there’s really nothing overly offensive about it. The question is whether or not you’re willing to put in the time. I’m concerned with how little there is for you to do during those sessions where you’re doing nothing more than trying to earn money but at the end of the day, it’s a nice way to take a break from computer work and video editing like I did during the making of this review.

Trails of Cold Steel gears up as the story progresses and ends up in such a cliffhanger that you just want the next part out already. The game remains as strong as it has been and comes strongly recommended for any JRPG enthusiast looking for a cracking yarn to spend time with.

The Serpent’s Heart is the usual fare with a new ability for Lara (loot more money from felled enemies), a new weapon (yea, that will be the God’s slayer!) and a new outfit.

Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarn is a well-crafted sidescroller that gamers of all ages can enjoy. The 3DS port patches in a new difficulty and a novel take on traditional Kirby power-ups. They’re not as seamlessly stitched as they could have been, but they reveal the developer’s efforts in threading an ideal experience that improves upon the source material. With utterly charming visuals, memorable levels, and lighthearted platforming, Kirby’s spin-off knits together a worthy farewell to one of Nintendo’s longest-lasting handhelds.

The five new levels are excellent additions to the game’s collection of puzzle box dioramas, although they do nothing to change the formula. The remaining 13 challenges aren’t as worthwhile, and it wasn’t very fulfilling to trek back to remixed levels just to hunt Boos and collect crown shards. The inexpensive DLC is fairly priced, at least, even if you’re only interested in the novel areas. Just don’t go looking for a substantially game-changing experience, but rather a solid expansion of what made the original so great.

Devil May Cry 5 has its best moments when it lets its new and unheard voice roar free and wild but I think that too much time is spent on treading familiar ground of the series. Of course, the game looks more amazing than anything before it, but the tried-and-tested gameplay is only elevated by its pompous overdoses. However, the ending was a saving grace as it wasn’t entirely something I had expected. It left me in high spirits, all invigorated and happy that I saw the story through, although the journey to the conciliatory climax lacked excitement when it needed it most.

>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.

Golf Peaks is a great use of the idea of golf, with rule modifications that make it less a score-conscious sports simulation and instead an amazing puzzle game. I had a great time with it for the few hours that it took to get through all the puzzles, enjoying the challenge and calming ambience of it all. It’s an excellent idea, executed well, and it was a joy to play it on the go while sitting at a bar or something. You don’t have to be a golf fan to enjoy Golf Peaks, and the puzzles are engaging up through the end.

I really liked the way Trüberbrook looks, and although that isn’t enough to carry even a short game, Trüberbrook had enough interesting story beats and characters to keep me engaged. Mechanical issues and slow pace would have killed a longer or more complex adventure but the game’s imperfections were a tolerable price to pay, given the rewards of experiencing its hand-crafted world.

The Wizards sounds awesome on paper and is a great idea but the unpredictable controls were more distracting and frustrating than I liked.

Queen’s Quest 2 is a perfect game for adventure games newbies. It’s colorful to look at and there are lots of neat details in its numerous pretty screens that effectively depict the game’s derivative fantasy kingdom. After completing the main adventure, a bonus chapter is unlocked that offers a brief run of same leisurely gaming. Amidst all demon hunting, zombie fending, bloody revenges, averting terrorist threats or whatever most games these days like to present, Artifex Mundi casual adventures always have a place as a welcome diversion for any gamer out there. Queen’s Quest 2 fills that bill nicely enough.

The unique blend of genres works pretty well both in single player and multiplayer modes, and Hell Warders offers a decent campaign and a deeper strategy experience than some generic tower defense games. Some of the controls are awkward and placement of units have some restrictions (like degrees of facing), but there aren’t a lot of tower defense games rooted in that dark fantasy aesthetic, and the addition of action-RPG elements deepens the gameplay.

I will say that the Console Edition of Stellaris is bound to come out to some consternation. Merely because it’s based on a PC game released in 2016, you’re bound to have some complaints from computer players. The control scheme is an obvious one, but the lack of mods on consoles is another one. Still, I had a blast with the game and can easily see fans of the genre racking up hundreds of hours into it on their consoles, regardless. If 4X games are your thing and you’re looking for one to play on your console, Stellaris should be right up your alley!

Despite its duller moments and shaky controls, The Textorcist: The Story of Ray Bibbia is a unique game that provides a solid challenge for those open to the idea of a type ‘em-up bullet hell experience.

Japanese video games are often equal to anime and manga, it doesn’t matter in what format you’re enjoying the stories. The Caligula Effect: Overdose, too, makes you forget you’re playing a game but rather, experiencing a piece of Japanese popular culture.

Attack of the Earthlings checks off a few boxes that don’t often get checked. It’s a stealthy turn-based game with a sense of humor and flipping the role of humans to enemy is a welcome change. It’s a bit slow and the highs it hits aren’t stratospheric but fans of the genre who need a strategy fix should check it out.

If you don’t mind a rather extreme challenge, I can’t recommend Ape Out enough, a perfect marriage of style and execution that’s difficult as hell while also managing to be an exciting power fantasy. Every step of the way is exciting and fun, and even when you’re running up against a wall, it has that “one more run!” power that gets you to keep trying, and then whoops, hours are gone. Ape Out is definitely worth checking out and returning to for a quick and excellent experience.

RPGs so rarely explore gameplay approaches that don’t feature two-handed greatswords, grinding for better armor, and violence-filled encounters. There’s nothing wrong with any of that, of course, but happily there are games like Eastshade that provide satisfying and intriguing hours of exploration and story where the conclusion is not a battlefield littered with the dead. At the same time, Eastshade is not a one-note, feel-good game and there is emotional range in its story and characters. Some visual glitches and minor bugs aside, Eastshade is a worthy follow-up to the brief, proof-of-concept Leaving Lyndow.

Mystic Vale desperately needs a step-by-step, Hearthstone-level tutorial that assumes no prior knowledge of either the game or the genre, because a very attractive and interesting game is hidden behind a pretty steep wall. Additional modes and cards are coming but for now, Mystic Vale will be most attractive to fans of the physical game, who will find it faithful to the original and a lot of fun, especially with human opponents.

Dead or Alive 6 has its place in the today’s gaming. It’s a fast, flashy and content-rich fighting game. I’m happy that Dead or Alive is back and is relevant again, and it’s always a pleasure to play as the game’s pretty cast. I also love NiCO, she’s such a bad-ass intellectual and the best new character in fighting games in ages (she wins over Tekken 7’s Lucky Chloe for being smart instead of a fluffy teen idol).

Yo-kai Watch 3 is the ultimate edition of the series thus far. It may not have evolved much from 1 and 2, but its new Tactics Board combat system and novel American-inspired setting keep the game fresh. With two separate protagonists and storylines to tell, the game takes a massive 40+ hours to complete, not including the plethora of sidequests and full-fledged minigames. Unfortunately, the story drags for much of the first half, and the two towns may be too big for their own good. All things considered, this latest entry revived my fandom for Level-5’s hit series, and I wait with bated breath for what the Nintendo Switch’s Yo-kai Watch 4 has in store.

When it comes to nostalgia, there’s a fine line between “loving homage” and “trying desperately recapture former glory.” Fortunately, ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove is a fantastic and faithful attempt to bring a nearly thirty-year old game into relevancy. It’s more than just a flashy reboot of the original title, adding in new elements as well as those adopted from its sequel, Panic on Funkotron, to make something that feels fresh, new, and stand shoulder to shoulder with the kind of roguelikes available today. A blast from the past that never feels forced or at odds with itself, ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove is a delight from start to finish.

X Morph: Defense is a solid, fun title that is more akin to a time sink than a classic/must play title. It doesn’t do anything inherently bad, and provides a large amount of content even before you realize there is DLC available. Yet even with few major faults, it doesn’t do enough to elevate it into the next stratosphere of gaming. If you’re in the market for a fun game just to pass the time, X Morph Defense is definitely a title that I would recommend.

It’s just such a shame that the game is such a shame to play, then. I even wound up looking up a video of a puzzle solution because I thought the game was broken, and it was a guy playing the PC version and I was so envious about how it looked. Frame rates! Smooth camera control! Foliage that isn’t popping in and out at random! It was lovely, I mean, seriously, I’ve already harped on it but if you can play another version of Q.U.B.E. 2, then go play that instead. It’s a great puzzle game, it just needs to play better.

In the end, RemiLore is a collection of nice programming routines – smooth scrolling, nifty animation and neatly moving objects from monsters to projectiles – but they alone don’t make a very good game when everything else is mostly lacking. Manga girls don’t always equal great entertainment. Lesson learned!

Trials Rising is an enjoyable blend of adrenaline motorbike racing and physics-based puzzle-platforming. Although leveling up is a grind, there is plenty of content with numerous tracks to complete, challenges to achieve, and items to collect. Also, online multiplayer and custom-made tracks indefinitely increase the replay value. The Switch version’s shortcomings limit the potential, but the ability to play quick tracks on the go may be enough incentive for new racers to take on the game’s trials.

Defying classic RPG storytelling , Anthem‘s missions and campaign lack the variety, momentum and character-building that define the best games in the genre, and especially the best games from BioWare itself. That said, the voice acting is often great, the environments are incredibly beautiful and the action can be fantastic but eventually Anthem feels like all that colorful combat, sound and fury are in the service of nothing very interesting or innovative.

Even though DiRT Rally 2.0 has such a realism on the surface and under the hood, it still goes with the video gaming first. Tuning the car has a clear cause and effect relationship, as one can expect from a game, and career races have five restarts to resort to in a case of complete disaster. Indeed, DiRT Rally 2.0 might be closest thing to driving a real rally car, but at the same time it’s not like driving a real rally car, no matter how brutally authentic it can at times feel. After all, you don’t need a driver’s license (or a death wish, judging by some of the tracks!) to be able to play and appreciate it and the game is fully content with that.

In the end, the path to The Sixth Seal was more exciting than the tomb itself. It takes two hours at the most to see The Price of Survival through and get a new pistol and an outfit for Lara as rewards. Still, at its best moments, the mission typifies the gameplay what I thought made Shadow of the Tomb Raider such a great experience. To get most of out the DLC content, they must be seen more as parts of the game that expand it rather than as separate add-ons. While I was disappointed that the actual tomb was too brief, The Price of Survival has an important job of showing a softer side of the villain.

I’m betting The Raven flew under a lot of people’s radars, even adventure game fans, so yeah, I’d recommend checking it out if you get a chance. It’s maybe eight-hours long total, but it twists complicates its narrative, and gives a greater depth than expected in a lot of ways. It’s just a good crime story with competent gameplay and a great narrative – and you’re bound to get some joy out of it.

For those looking for a challenging yet accessible platformer with deep mechanics and plenty of personality, there are few games that rival OlliOlli: Switch Stance. Whether you're a skateboarding junkie or haven't scaled a half-pipe in your life, Switch Stance is worth a place in your growing Switch library.

Kingdom Hearts III is an amazing yet flawed game made for the most die-hard fans of the series. While newcomers can still enjoy the quick-paced gameplay, the extremely complicated story will surely leave them bewildered. Even if you understand so little of it, prepare to embrace the wacky and bizarre nature of Kingdom Hearts III with an open-mind and it will be a fun ride.

Thea: The Awakening isn’t a bad game, but it’s hard to recommend. Those looking for a tough survival game could do better, yet they could find some enjoyment in it. The highs, though few and far between, did provide a sense of accomplishment when there was actual difficulty behind them. However, the anger and lack of joy found in the defeat, with restarting being almost the only option, is enough to turn off a lot of people.

In the end, Crackdown 3 isn’t a bad game. It’s just... fine. It’s largely inoffensive, the combat is generally OK, the driving is harmlessly average. Graphically, the game looks alright and retains the finely cel-shaded look adopted by the 2005 game. It’s a fun enough to spend a couple hours with at any given time, be it hunting orbs or taking down Terra Nova facilities. I imagine it’d be even better with friends, being one of those games that’s fun to meet up and just goof around for a little bit. The thing is, though, Crackdown 3 feels stuck in 2005. Hero-based open world games, like Spider-Man, Just Cause, hell, even Skyrim and Grand Theft Auto, have either pushed the genre further in their own ways or made playing around in sandboxes fun, fast, and thrilling. Crackdown 3 isn’t bad, it just drives aggressively down the middle of the road.

Far Cry New Dawn may be a smaller game with a shorter shelf life by the series’ standards, but that still amounts to a meaty 20+ hour campaign. Much of that time is spent grinding for resources, but in spite of that, it’s engaging to make progress, upgrade the home base, and craft better gear. Although the game is technically a standalone expansion, newcomers will want to play Far Cry 5 first for a more fulfilling experience that properly introduces Hope County. In a similar vein, this direct sequel may not appeal to those who want to see something novel from the series. But for fans of the predecessor who were left wanting more resolution, a new dawn awaits you back in Hope County.

Not having played any of the previous God Eater games, I can’t speak to how the franchise has progressed. As a stand alone product, God Eater 3 has generally engaging combat, some depth and complexity in terms of weapon and skill development and a story and character that are not actively bad, just generic and not very creative. Fans of Monster Hunter and games in the genre will enjoy the shorter encounters and faster, more fluid combat.

Moving out of the subterranean world of the first two Metro games, Exodus preserves the tense, stealth shooter vibe while opening up into a vastly more varied and interesting series of environments. Even on its normal difficulty setting, Metro Exodus is a challenging and often unforgiving shooter, requiring careful planning and situational awareness. Although it would benefit from a ruthless editor’s pen and fewer wooden characters, Metro Exodus has found a great balance between linear and more open-world game play.

Like Icaros, The King’s Bird has too much self-confidence and flies too close to the sun. There simply isn’t enough going on for the game to make its wax wings withstand the heat. For a far superior experience in the same genre, go for Celeste. In fact, why haven’t you already? It’s hard but it constantly rewards your efforts.

This is a game with a ton of content, but too much time is spent in less rewarding downtime or grinding for materials in environments that simply aren’t that fun. It’s obvious that My Time at Portia would love to be both a dream game for the building/crafting fans as well as offer a substantial narrative. The slow pace of the former undercuts the momentum of the latter but My Time at Portia does offer a legitimately different variation on what has become a pretty formulaic genre.

Odallus may look like an NES game, but it plays and handles progression like contemporary titles, respecting the player’s time and offering numerous secrets in an exploration-based 2D world. I went into Odallus: The Dark Call looking for Castlevania and left with an engaging experience that pays tribute to both classic 8-bit titles and modern Metroidvania games.

There’s fun to be had and things to like in Unruly Heroes, though there are moments I felt the gameplay and mechanics had an annoying habit of getting in the way.

Jon Shafer’s At the Gates is not a mass-market game. It decries the populist and dumbed down direction in which the Civilization franchise has moved, replacing it with a strategy title for the patient player that tolerates a measured pace, likes the challenge of long-range planning, can overlook some bugs, and finds satisfaction in a cerebral, hard-fought victory. For the average strategy fan, At the Gates may frustrate but the rewards of pushing through to comprehension are significant.

When I gave The World Ends With You Final Mix a perfect score, I did so because it reflected not a flawless game, but one that overcame its blemishes and left you feeling positive. That’s why I’m once again granting a perfect score. The end result of playing Atelier Arland trilogy is equivalent to finishing a strong book series. The individual pieces are engaging on their own, but together they craft an experience that is of S quality.

When old and new conventions meet this flawlessly, RE2 is a true celebration of sincere video gaming, an art that sometimes is lost among Western triple-A developers and their plodding and misshapen movie wannabes where the gameplay is secondary. If only all video games could be reverted back to this, a pureblood gaming pleasure but still look as amazing as Resident Evil 2. Capcom, how about the same gorgeous treatment for Resident Evil 3 next?

By its nature, a game trivializes its subject matter to some degree, no matter how seriously the subject is presented. One could argue that making any kind of game relating to the Holocaust is bad mojo, but on the other hand, it might engender some awareness of history and My Memory of Us —made by a Polish developer—obviously comes from a sincere place and not crass commercialism. Philosophy and aesthetic arguments aside, where My Memory of Us both occasionally succeeds but equally often stumbles is in its puzzles and gameplay and mechanics.

In the end, if you enjoy quirky RPG’s, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr's Journey should definitely be on your radar. The story is funny, the battle system is fun and engaging and just every part of the game is solid. I’m thoroughly convinced that any RPG fan would enjoy Bowser’s Inside Story and this remake is the way to do it!

Games that hybridize several genres often suffer from a confused identity, but Medieval Kingdom Wars succeeds in fusing the grand and real-time strategy genres in a way that makes sense. The problem is, both modes lack the kind of sophistication that a single genre game might be expected to have. I wish it had a more compelling narrative and varied campaign and that each battle didn’t replay the same basic beats, but Medieval Kingdom Wars is both a reasonably successful proof of concept and should be of at least passing interest to both RTS fans and grand strategy gamers.

The climax is one of the better actions scenes that The Walking Dead has put forward, and it delivers for the most part. I was a bit upset at the end, as there is at least one senseless death that seemed thrown in just to remind you that any choice you make has consequences, but there were also some really great moments, including one that calls back to Lily’s father Larry, and his incredible death during the first season. For the first time that I can recall as well, you are given the option to knock out the Raiders instead of simply ending their life, and I wonder how that will play into the overall narrative as this train comes to the end of its track.

The game works within its microverse but it has a tendency to get locked up in its gameplay loop. When nothing is happening apart from routinely harvesting ore, it takes persistence to keep the expedition going on. I can imagine a real space travel Genesis Alpha One portrays in its video game terms being rather uneventful. Heck, you wouldn’t even want anything unexpected happening but being safe and sound even at the risk of getting bored. So, as odd as it may sound, uneventfulness is the game’s biggest virtue. Otherwise, you’d be desperately running and gunning around corridors until you run out of ammunition and crew members and start your trek all over again.

Like all games that stress art and atmosphere above all else, appraising Vane is difficult. Some will fall in love with it from the first scene, simply because they appreciate its visual style and engaging music. For me, it’s the game equivalent of tuning in to the fireplace channel on Christmas day. It’s oddly pleasant in its own way, but there’s little substance to it. Vane simply has too many faults and not enough strengths to carry a recommendation. Even in the absence of technical mishaps, it’s simply not engaging or interesting.

The combat is fine enough, but the puzzles are the things I thought were the best parts of the game and the ones that really stand out as something I’d like to go back to. They were fun and engaging and by far the best part and if there was more focus on them, I’d be singing praises. But uninteresting lore and shrug-worthy combat separated those bits, and just left me longing for a version of this game I could enjoy more.

Even during the game’s most frustrating and devious puzzles, I really enjoyed my time with Transpose. It looks great, with its dream-like atmosphere and abstract art skyboxes. And for as potentially confusing as the gameplay can sound like on paper, it’s easy to settle into a rhythm and really get into creating multiple copies of yourself running through different routines and movement patterns. Transpose is an attractive and creative PSVR puzzler that’s easily recommended.

Challenge is once again nice and the visuals are consistently sumptuous with a bright sunlight highlighting magnificent features of the valley of the Monkey Gods. It’s a shame that for such an endearing endeavor the tomb is, it takes only some 1,5 hours to see the whole DLC through. I would have liked the challenge tomb twice of its current size and I have a feeling that more could have been made out Lara’s personal nightmare, too, despite its effective use of cutscenes. As it stands, it was bit of a rush and unlike the advertising led to believe, the Croft manor plays only a bit part and Lara’s now-dead acquaintances don’t exactly walk and greet her as they’re reduced to silent background elements.

Nagging control issues aside, A Fisherman’s Tale is a charming PlayStation VR game that I found to be a total joy to experience - the same joy I felt playing Astro Bot: Rescue Mission. As far as first-person virtual reality experiences go, this makes the medium so worthwhile. Shooting zombies and exploring derelict space stations is fun in VR but could easily be reproduced and playable as a regular console title. I couldn’t fathom playing A Fisherman’s Tale without VR and experiencing the same feeling of wonder and delight. Consider this an essential addition to your PSVR library next to Beat Saber, Moss, and Astrobot: Rescue Mission.

In many ways, Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal presents a win-win situation; it’s undoubtedly the best game in the franchise and as it happens, also an excellent introduction to the wacky world of sexy shinobi girls. However, if you object sexualization for any reason, the game is not for you. For everyone else, Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal is pure video game entertainment that is satisfying on many levels, in and out!

I was annoyed by the writing and combat and a pervasive and unwarranted “too cool for school” attitude that began with the character creation screen and never really went away. Streamline the dialogue and expository overkill, re-tool the combat and YIIK: A Postmodern RPG would be closer to those classic games from which it draws inspiration.

In spite of its uneven difficulty, Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition is an easy recommendation for fans of JRPGs. Its world is large, combat is varied, and solid pacing makes it an easy game to digest – especially from the comfort of the Switch's handheld mode. The writing could be better, as could voice acting during most of the game's more important scenes. However, Vesperia still holds up surprisingly well, even after all these years. If you're in need of a game to tide you over until the next big modern JRPG, or if you missed out on Tales of Vesperia the first time around, Definitive Edition makes a compelling case for your hard-earned cash.

The Eternal Castle is a neat experience that prides itself on its unique aesthetic and interesting environments. Unfortunately, gameplay felt a bit dated, though, and left me with conflicted feelings. Overall, The Eternal Castle is undoubtedly a title that is definitely style over substance.

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is a fantastic return to form that benefits from modern console hardware, making a more dynamic air combat experience. The story, told from different perspectives on both sides of the war, has a tendency to be too serious and overwrought to the point of hilarity but I always give it a pass because it’s so endearing.

There is probably a reason that chess has withstood fundamental changes over the centuries, and that reason might be its near-perfect balance of offensive and defensive strategies and how it appeals to gamers at all levels of expertise. Still, there is an intimidation factor and a perception that beyond the basics, winning requires a lot of memorization and the ability to think many moves ahead. Super X Chess removes that particular barrier and although the Super X rules are not going to permanently revolutionize the game, they do serve to sweep the cobwebs off the dusty shelf of rote, memorized and uninspired play.