Nerve is certainly a rollercoaster of an experience, more so than most titles. It is genuinely exhilarating when you fully master a level and move at top speed from the beginning to the end. However, the lengthy memorization process and saturation of visual effects made the lows exceedingly difficult to bear. The narrow focus on exclusively being a hardcore experience left me divided as I found it difficult to play for extended periods of time without getting overburdened by the fast flashing lights and unsatisfying, tedious practice phases. I can only recommend the game to those that are absolutely in love with the idea of a punishing, fast paced title with some of highest highs and lowest lows within the medium.

The final verdict on Parappa the Rapper for the PSP is that it is still a very good game just far too short and far too basic.

Voltron VR Chronicles is a small and sweet love letter to a great cartoon series. It also makes great wish fulfillment—on par with Star Wars Battlefront’s VR Mission—for those whose childhoods were enriched by the series back in the day. If there’s a specific thing to call out against the game, I was a little bummed that there were no interactive bits involving Voltron itself. Then again, as the giant robot’s right leg, what is there to do except kick furiously? With a nice balance between in-engine cinematics and simple, yet solid gameplay, this is one of those VR games I plan to keep on my PlayStation 4 to show others the immersive capabilities of the PSVR and to keep me satiated until the next season of the show debuts on Netflix.

The Town of Light features a harrowing, historically-accurate story of mental illness and society's failure to understand it. Unfortunately, its steadily-worsening gameplay ultimately obscures the impact and importance of this tale, rendering even one playthrough far from worth it. I will grant that it made me want to read about 20th-century mental asylums on my own time, but I suppose that says it all; just read about these asylums and you'll spare yourself a lot of pain.

Train Simulator 2012 has its audience that will appreciate everything the game has to offer. Train enthusiasts will be able to look past the graphics and solely focus on the fact that this game offers an unrivaled simulation. However, every other player that either casually likes trains or is unenthused by locomotives will find Train Simulator 2012 to be an interesting concept that is easy to get into, but is often too complicated and dry to offer up more than a few hours of meaningful gameplay.

At the end of the day, Marvel’s Avengers is two very different experiences. The campaign is great, and Kamala is an absolute superstar that I can’t wait to see get recognized for more outside of the comics. The multiplayer end game, on the other hand, is bereft of purpose and content, serving only as a poor conduit towards a loot grind that feels meaningless beyond “making this number bigger.” There is promise here, and maybe in a year, Avengers will be a great game. But if you don’t feel like waiting a year, if you need to know if you should buy this now, don’t bother. There needs to come a point where we stop paying full price now for the promise of a good game later. Let this be it.

March comes early on the 360 with EA's first efforts on the console. It has some nice touches and gameplay tweaks, but nothing too impressive.

EA has gotten much better over the years at making expansions that are worth the cost of entry but Pirates and Nobles doesn't fit the build.

Parkouring dinosaurs, sub-horror moments of Velociraptor terror, and picking up a human as a Pteranodon and dropping them to their death are just a few reasons I love the concept and execution of Primal Carnage. It's just too bad that there's not more here to flesh out the more positive qualities and suppress the negative ones from seeping through.

Constant C are is a game that is too difficult for its own good. It has little to no room for error, especially near the end. Lacking a tutorial system forces the player to figure everything out on his or her own. It started off very fun with just the right level of challenge. As more is introduced it quickly became overwhelming.

I enjoyed my time with Shiness but it’s not hard to see the faults in the game’s façade. I’m not sure I’ll ever go back to the game but the dozen or so hours I spent with it were enjoyable in a Saturday cartoon kind of way. Shiness is a serviceable action-RPG with a distinct look that will probably make any fan of the manga or PS2 action-RPGs smile.

It seems a little silly to gush about a video game that simulates housework but given the added amount of stress and anxiety that has crept into my life lately, House Flipper is a wonderful way to shut out the noise of the world for a little bit.

In the end, Shining Resonance Refrain is a solid addition to any JRPG fan's lineup, but honestly, I'd recommend it to hardcore JRPG fans looking for something new. For as many things as Shining Resonance gets right, it stumbles with as well which leads to a very generic RPG in the end (retreading areas and reusing enemies over and over really make this title seem like it was made on a budget). If you can live with all of that and can't wait another minute to dig into another adventure, you're definitely in luck with this localization!

Like so many Piranha Bytes games, it's easy to feel some affection for the sheer ambition and quirky execution of the premise. Even some of the messy, so-bad-it's-good acting has a bit of hokey charm. The reality is that Elex is several significant patches away from any greatness and even then, some fundamental mechanics are too hardwired into the game to be patched away. As I played Elex, I kept wishing that a triple-A developer could get its hands on the story, setting, and concept. Then again, maybe the appeal of Elex lies in it being messy, broken, and ambitious, and not the product of a bland corporate insecurity.

It would be really hard for me to recommend Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd you steal our garbage?!! for anyone who wasn't a fan of the show, even at its discounted price of $30. As a game it's solid, neither particularly good or bad. Still, if you like Adventure Time and want to experience more of it, this is a pretty good way to do that.

I have to be honest, after only a few hours of playing the game, I got bored and lost motivation to keep playing.

Although there are a few environments in the game that feel fully realized, and sections of story and dialogue that hint at a much more satisfying gameplay experience, Call of Cthulhu only sporadically engages with the imagination of Lovecraft and too often seems like a sketch that needs to be more completely filled in, shaped and polished. Once again, the particular genius of Lovecraft has eluded us in the video game form.

While it may have some video issues Code Veronica is still a great time and worth looking into.

With its surprising level of complexity and depth, Mini-Mech Mayhem is a game that could have a wider appeal were it not crippled by its PSVR exclusivity.

Dreamfall Chapters isn’t for everybody, but it’s a must for anyone who’s played the previous games, specifically Dreamfall. The story picks up where that left off, while concluding the tale The Longest Journey began decades ago. Ironically, though the plot itself is about balance, the game has difficulties balancing its gameplay style. Although modern third-person adventuring and old-school logic puzzles are both implemented, neither is particularly impressive. Luckily, the overall plot is exciting and deep enough to warrant its 25+ hour runtime. As long as you’re okay with jumping into a story in progress, it’s a worthy journey to take and a compelling dream to fall into.

If you’re only after the latest technological breaks or think that gun oil smells better than a flower field in spring, Shenmue III really isn’t for you. On the other hand, in a world where the climate change is real yet stubborn and ignorant powers that be refuse to believe it and where narrow-minded right-wing populism gains a foothold and tries to hinder the progress towards equality in all things, we need a game that advocates the values we need to survive as species. Still, Shenmue III takes a certain state of mind because it’s unmistakably what Shenmue used to be, and not how it’s supposed to be now. I hope that there will be Shenmue IV to give closure to the story and like this, it will stay true to what it is.

The outside looks good, but the moment you get close enough to interact with anything, it never ceases to reveal just how shallow it is. The missions, the few that actually exist, end the same way and are quite frequently unimpressive, the wasteland looks great but is boring to traverse and explore, and the few things that are good, like the combat, are mired with systems that are either a hassle to get access to or a hassle to deal with. It’s been a while since I have been genuinely disappointed with a game in almost every way. I don’t like this feeling. And neither will you.

A decent spin-off. The hack-and-slash gets tiresome, but it works in small bursts and is a fine fit for the Switch's handheld mode. The graphical genre shifts and peppered-in minigames provide good variety, thematically feeding into Travis’ love for games. The game is not a visually exciting entry, but it may still be worth it for fans of the series to indulge in Travis’ latest adventure. The insane story beats and off-the-wall humor are still here, alongside satisfying teases. It may not be No More Heroes 3, but Travis Strikes Again stands as a fine stepping stone for Suda51’s otaku assassin.

If you're dying to play something on you 3DS you could do worse than Code of Princess, but you could do a lot better too. It's a decent diversion with a fair amount of content, but at $40 and with so many cool and promising games coming out for the system in the near future, I have to recommend that you hold on to your money until then.

With exceptions, even fans may find these tales of woe and terror far to easy to put down, and never pick up again.

As much as I wanted to get into DCUO there was nothing about it that made want to continue to throw down the monthly fees after the initial 30 day trial. There is some obvious potential in this game but at the time of this review there is not enough here to warrant the price of entry.

The sublime Xbox tennis game looks set for a turn on the PS2, but becomes almost unplayable due to its obscenely long loading times and visual glitches.

And in the end, that’s really what it all comes down to. Counterspy succeeds because it takes a concept that everyone is familiar with, and delivers something a bit unexpected in its ability to capitalize on those familiar aspects.