Although Dynasty Warriors 9's hack-and-slash fighting is fun for a while, and it contains a deep roster of characters, a sprawling story and an even larger landmass to explore, it's hard not to conclude that the franchise is in need of a more radical re-imagining than this installment provides. While there is challenge to be had in the boss fights and the carnage of the large-scale battles, Dynasty Warriors 9 feels awfully familiar.

That’s Dynasty Warriors 8, a mish-mash of fun, brokenness and low production values that in many ways feels like the video game equivalent of a b-movie. It’s a cheap, tacky, mostly easy game that won’t tax your fingers or your mind.

As a whole, Yooka-Laylee is an old-school platformer both marred and bolstered by what it introduces. Tedious distractions abound, but the addition of cute and thought-provoking abilities is impossible not to appreciate. Other tweaks lend a greater sense of adventure than the collect-a-thons of old, but again, there are new problems - like that awful camera - that constantly butt their way in. Ultimately, Yooka-Laylee isn't really a categorical improvement or downgrade from its predecessors in the genre; it's just different. If Playtonic Games can produce a sequel that eliminates the problems and expands upon the strengths, we may yet get a true masterpiece. What we have for now is, at the end of the day, a good game.

FIFA Street is a solid street soccer experience that feels very familiar to FIFA 12 and yet still feels like its own game. The game has an incredible first impression but I didn't feel like the game had the staying power that would make me want to come back to it weeks or months down the road. There is no denying I had a lot of fun with FIFA Street sadly the fun curve starts dwindling faster than the developers were hoping for.

The one part of Blinx I disliked the most is how repetitive and downright boring the game got.

EA tries to make soccer more edgy again, with an improved controls and fast-paced action. But surprisingly still no online play here.

This arcade-style golf title gets the gameplay down to a 'tee', but lacks the much-needed colorful characters and online play, which would have made it a must-buy DS title.

I tried my best to like Toy Odyssey more than I did as there’s much to love about it. The idea and the execution are mostly fine but unfortunately some game design decisions made playing the game more laborious than entertaining. Toy Odyssey deserves to be more fun and exciting. Dull routines should be for parents, not for brave toy soldiers!

All in all FaceBreaker K.O Party is a decent Wii boxing game. Its definitely not up to standards with the Fight Night series, but it also doesn’t strive to be.

Just like I said in my review of the Xbox 360 version of Stranglehold, I truly believe this is a game that is worth checking out, it doesn't take itself to seriously and makes for a good experience.

The simple combat system works really well for the game and the storyline for me was really interesting. I would have liked more diversity in the single player mode, but the online mode really helped out its cause.

Forced delivers this kind of pure enjoyment in spades, a feat not every developer can boast of having mastered. Give it a try and see if you can’t convince a couple of friends to as well, I guarantee you won’t regret it.

Including all unavoidable failures and retries, it only takes two hours to play Stela through. In that sense, the asking price of twenty bucks is a bit too steep. However, the game is well done and the gameplay focuses only on the essential as there’s nothing extra to distract you. There are plenty of similar games out here (Limbo, Inside and Little Nightmares to name a few) and despite somewhat unfortunately hollow emotional response, fans of the genre will find a competent puzzle-platformer in Stela. As of writing, no one has clocked the achievement for zero deaths during a playthrough so the game is a perfect challenge for die-hard completionists out there.

Not only does the game look gorgeous but the control system has been enhanced for the Dual Sense with haptic feedbacks and life-like rumble effects as you tear across the pavement. Newcomers to motorcycle racing (or people just wanting a new game for their new PS5) are going to face an uphill climb as they acclimate themselves to the unique complexities of Ride 4’s gameplay demands. There are systems in place to make the experience a bit easier but I would have liked to see a stronger emphasis on the fundamentals of controlling a high-speed bike - and the initial license exam would have been the perfect opportunity for that. As it stands, there might be some substantial hurdles for the player to overcome before they get to a point where they feel like they’ve got a proper handle on Ride 4’s deep approach to simulated racing.

For shmup aficionados and lovers of Japanese anime culture, Mamorukun Curse is a worthwhile play because it contains all the trappings of the genre with a few interesting twists.

If you like fighting games and are looking for a very light-hearted not overly dramatic fighting experience, then you should check out Samurai Shodown V because it offers just that.

I wanted to love Reckoning. I really did. And don't get me wrong, it's a good game; I did enjoy it. But I also got really tired of playing it.

It probably isn’t fair to classify Beat Blasters III as a “music game”, but rather a quality action game that thrives on music. If this sounds like something that you would like to experience, then you owe it to yourself to give it a try.

When it is all said and done LOTR: Conquest is a good game that fans of the series will enjoy.

Even after multiple playthroughs and making all possible decisions, it’s difficult to say with certainty what Epanalepsis is all about. Like all good science fiction, it invites multiple interpretations, but in this case may not add up to anything of substance. Despite that, the journey itself and the thoughts it inspires are worth recommending.

The series moves from the light-gun to the overly saturated FPS genre, offering decent if unspectacular gameplay.

The addition of mini-games and online mode are welcome, but the absence of upgrades to the gameplay and the lack of a career mode are huge downsides to the game.

Gods Will Fall is a beautiful mess of ideas that sometimes innovate and surprise and sometimes fall face first into the abyss. The gambling mechanic of entering a dungeon and hoping you rolled an easier area to be better prepared for harder areas later is frankly, awful. As much as I loved almost every other aspect of this game, this one issue brought down an otherwise standout game by at least a full point for me. I may sound a little harsh on this game, but ultimately, I would still encourage people to give this game a shot. There are so many good ideas in here that, despite my hangups, I would still wholeheartedly recommend this to people looking for a fresh take on the roguelike genre.

The story and setting were interesting, but the scope of the gameplay was fairly narrow and the experience was not really repeatable.

It’s a fun stealth-action open-world hacking game, but it’s one that falls under its own weight in many ways. With the technical problems of the Xbox One version smoothed out and enhancements to the visuals and performance across the board, I can much more easily recommend the Xbox Series X version but that doesn’t fix the core design problems. Watch Dogs: Legion is incredibly impressive, but only insomuch as it is flawed. Thankfully, there is still a competent third-person open-world game at its core.

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.

“Atlas Mugged” is a disappointing stumble to what started out as an amazing burst out of the gate and I’m left hoping the next episode can make the rebound.

Unless you are a die hard fan, consider other cheaper, and most of all, better alternatives.