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.