Having introduced the revolutionary story-driven basketball title last year, Sony unfortunately takes a few steps back with an unpolished gameplay and severely dated visuals for its sequel.

Delightfully wicked concept debuts in this fighting game, that manages to impress with its decent fighting engine.

In the end, The Suicide of Rachel Foster feels like the quintessential first draft of a horror/drama flick latched to a graceless gameplay template. The excitement and deliberate pacing early on suggest learning from the industry’s best exemplars. Ominous warnings suggest ghosts are roaming The Timberline’s halls. As it progresses, however, uncoordinated game design and tonally-tangled storytelling turns that engagement frozen stiff. Like walking through a grand hotel with years of decay, you can’t help but wonder how it could fare under new management.

Simply put, #killallzombies feels like half of a game.

Spider-Man 3 is a game that has all the workings of being a great comic book video game, but the final product is deeply flawed and in need of some serious re-tooling.

Sadly SOCOM Confrontation is a disappointment given the fact that it feels like an unfinished and rushed game. The gameplay is generally solid, but also unchanged from previous installments, but server issues have held it back from being playable for the most part.

There are definite issues with timing between the gorgeous soundtrack and powerful art direction, but they’re still worth playing despite this. The levels are on the shorter side and don’t demand perfection, making them palatable in addition to being complementary to the story. M.I.R.A.I. has a decent enough story that was worth going through. But sometimes it can be just a single piece that defines the full experience. In this case, Lost in Harmony became a recommendable title thanks to a touching tale between a boy and a girl.

Fortunately, there was a lot of promise here with Skully. A nice and endearing story with platforming mechanics that make for interesting utility makes the game seem exciting, but it just doesn't execute its plan well. In a way I feel like the game has a bit of an identity crisis; while it could focus on being an excellent marble physics platformer, it has all of these other great ideas that ultimately end up hurting the whole product. With a bigger focus on one thing and improvement to level design, I could see a game like this working pretty well, but unfortunately, Skully is not that game.

If you are looking for a cheap way to spend a few hours with some friends, and want something light enough to tear through and easy enough to put down when you’ve had your fill, you might find some enjoyment here. Otherwise, I’d look elsewhere.

Third time's usually a charm, but Pac-Man's adventures on the consoles doesn't capture the magic of its arcade-origins, ends up just an average platformer.

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.

All I can say for sure is that the game evokes a strong one more match before I quit mentality. The gameplay and the rules work like an oiled machine keeping a steam engine rolling. Of course, the play can get a bit repetitive and there could be more variety, but then again, it wouldn’t be the same game anymore.

If you can justify the four dollars and don’t mind the short play time, you should enjoy episode one of Missing: An Interactive Thriller.

BAFL is flawed, strangely in ways that could’ve been easily patched up. What’s there at its foundation is strong, though, with a good palette of gameplay choices. You'll be done with your hour-or-more sessions in an afternoon, but it's priced with this in mind. Beyond that, the time trials give it what I’m going to call intermittent longevity; it’s the type of game that sits on your menu, playable in less than a minute, just begging you to improve upon your last score. Some additional options and visual tweaks would’ve served it immensely, but all the same, BAFL is worth a look.

Frustrating controls and just a mediocre performance as a whole.

The remaster’s asking price is high for what it offers, but hardcore fans who want to experience a new coat of paint may still want to check this out. Although the original game was a better package for its time, the remaster is still a fair way to enjoy this classic action-RPG.

Cargo Commander does a lot of things right. When the risk of getting cargo mixes with the need to return to your home cube it’s an exciting feeling. It requires you to think of how you’re going to get through the more difficult cubes in order to get the big cargo reward. Unfortunately, the game’s repetition and unchanging structure keep it from capitalizing on its strong foundation.

The story was interesting with captivating settings and gorgeous areas to explore. The game also featured a great audio design, with some voice acting accenting the strong background music. The puzzles were difficult but fair, and the sense of accomplishment created true highs. But between glitches and faulty control schemes, I found the game impossible to complete, and that makes it hard to recommend.

Aside from some minor visual glitches and pop-in and some finnicky platforming, A Knight’s Quest is not at a bad time but it’s not an experience that will stick with you, either. Its focus on humor instead of drama or pathos will be a selling point for players weary of self-important heroes and dark themes but on the flip side, humor is very subjective. From its title to its overall mechanics, A Knight’s Tale seems like a safely familiar variation on a popular but over-played theme, appealing for its recognizable form but less satisfying for its lack of creative ambition.

Although Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light is a classic in the Fire Emblem series, it's hard to recommend for modern audiences. The bare bones of what makes Fire Emblem great is here, but it's bogged down by outdated systems and the limitations of the original Famicom system. Although I appreciate that Nintendo wanted to preserve the original experience, I feel that they should have added more quality of life improvements to the game before releasing it. This game has already been remade for the DS as Shadow Dragon. I feel like it would have been better for Nintendo to have released that in a bundle with this original port. I can really only recommend this for hardcore Fire Emblem fans and those who have a great deal of patience for classic game mechanics.

Exile’s End is a game full of ideas that have already been done before. From a narrative standpoint this leaves the game feeling predictable, shallow and uninspired. While from a gameplay standpoint, it captures the feeling of a classic 2D action side scroller that is a blast to play. If your entering this game for a thought provoking story with interesting twist and turns, you will be disappointed. If you go into expecting a classic gameplay style that feels great to return to, then you will be pleased.

The fumbling of the flashback, and the phoning in of the puzzle content, leaves the second chapter feeling sour in comparison.

If the concept of Salary Man Escape’s brand of slider puzzles sounds like it scratches an itch, and you don’t mind suffering from genuinely difficult setups, you’ll likely learn to look past the faults in favor of sticking it to your virtual corporate masters.

The Order: 1886 is such a great looking game, and it’s sad that the gameplay couldn’t be just as impressive. The game falls victim to the old cliche “All flash, no substance”. The cinematic experience is overshadowed by the boring gameplay leading to a visually stunning game but unimaginative, monotonous overall experience.

Suda51 is nothing if not subtle. His games always feel outrageous and over-the-top in ways that can be difficult to hold onto some measure of appeal. I love his stuff solely because I can never expect what he’s going to do. Travis Strikes Again was a huge disappointment because it doesn’t have the same high energy or memorable experiences of its predecessors. I do like all of the weird mixed media stuff going on but if you strip the presentation away, there isn’t anything left worth sticking around for.

The focus on the player rather than the game seems like a brilliant idea, if not for the repetitive story and visual glitches along the way.

It’s hard to imagine RPG fans used to God of War or Outer Worlds finding Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition anything but nearly unplayable. Graphics aren’t everything, but dated appearance married to a frustrating UI and even some missing features are asking a lot to be forgiven. Extremely tolerant gamers willing to overlook these flaws and seek the under-the-surface quality will find it, but playing a true remake or graphically made-over game would be a more inviting prospect than the disappointing port that we actually have.

Arizona Sunshine is a just OK zombie game that, with the exception of being a PlayStation VR title, doesn’t really differentiate itself from other, better shooters. The Move wands add immersion to the action at the expense of comfortable and sensible movement (I’d kill for the option to move backward). For those who feel that graphics matter, the game is not especially pretty. Frequent texture popping and load-in ruins already bland and uninteresting environments occupied by 3D models that range in quality. At its worst, it looks like a middle- to late-stage game for the PlayStation 2. Take away the novelty of VR and free aiming, and you’ll find there is nothing to differentiate Arizona Sunshine from any other run-of-the-mill first person shooter. Wait for a sale or, if the urge to play a VR shooter compels you, consider Farpoint instead.