With its massive number of creatively designed set pieces, StarDrone VR proved itself to be more fun than I initially gave it credit. The virtual reality element adds a nice sensation of depth to the visual aesthetic, but I never felt the headset was necessary nor the definitive means to play. Replete with puzzles of varying difficulty and scope, StarDrone VR is a fun, pick up and play activity that won’t upset even the most sensitive of VR owners.

Gunhouse is truly something else. It’s an unorthodox genre crossover with an equally unconventional puzzle mechanic. It takes a while to learn, but the payoff is worth it. It’s unfortunate that the game is fairly expensive on the Nintendo Switch compared to its much more competitively priced mobile version. Nonetheless, those looking for a different puzzle experience may feel welcome in the Gunhouse.

Perhaps I would have enjoyed 2064: Read Only Memories more if I hadn’t been spoiled by The Red Strings Club, another cyberpunk adventure I reviewed beforehand. It dealt pretty much with the same themes as 2064: Read Only Memories. But in comparison, it was tight, smart, emotional and really involving with its moral choices. There’s an attempt at social commentary here too, mostly regarding human rights (hybrids are the big debate in Neo-San Francisco), but most of the acute agenda is buried under tons of preaching, failing to connect emotionally. In the end, 2064: Read Only Memories plays its hand perhaps too safe. It should provoke when it preaches, and affect when it lectures. Read Only Memories… Indeed! Play With Memories would have been more involving.

ChromaGun is a fine enough puzzler, though it feels like it's missing things you might want from games of the same ilk. The puzzles don't particularly evolve much and neither does the looks, making the game feel rather static and simple most of the way through. Despite some odd difficulty spikes, the game is something you can mostly breeze through without too much issues. If you're looking for a quick puzzle fix something in the vein of Portal, it's gonna scratch that itch decently enough.

Brawl’s two aces are its price and, in this case, its platform. The game is a cheap buy on a system that makes local multiplayer easier and more practical than anything else on the market. Even on the dinky little Joy-Cons, it’s very accessible and easy to pick up on. Yes, lackluster singleplayer and the lack of online harm the game, but not as much as they would have in more typical circumstances. The multiplayer is genuinely fun, with a surprising longevity thanks to its more unique modes. If you’re looking for a solid party game and don’t mind dropping ten bucks and a bucket of blood, the Emporium is a good place to be.

With its feet firmly planted in Assassin’s Creed Origins’ new open world direction, The Hidden Ones should satiate those in need of traversing more geographically interesting locations, completing quests, looting tombs, hunting down bandits, and going after those bloody Romans. More of the same all around, so your mileage of enjoyment may vary.

Everything about this game seems to flow perfectly together. It's light, yet heavy. It's fun, yet serious. It has the style and feel of Guilty Gear, the craziness and fluidity of Marvel vs. Capcom, and the familiarity of Dragon Ball. All of these things blend together very nicely in order to create a game that can truly be enjoyed by everyone. I can play FighterZ any time with anyone and have an absolute blast with it. Whether you're a hardcore fan of the genre or not, this really is the fighting game you've been looking for.

The Red Strings Club is provocative but not preachy, smart but not smug, and poignant but not pretentious. And it’s just that extra bit self-assertive like all the great stories need to be. Most of all, if you play the game true to your own conscious, it gives us hope. The Red Strings Club makes perfect use of its medium as an interactive thriller, challenging you inside out. Maybe I’m getting old, but when a game makes me cry at the end, it must be something special.

While new players can jump into Monster Hunter World without fear of being overwhelmed by its complexity, the reality is that at some point, all players will need to take a deep dive into the game's weapon, upgrade and combat systems. Most important, players must be willing to accept and learn to enjoy the game's very specific style and rhythm, both markedly different from most action RPGs. Whether playing solo or with a group, Monster Hunter World is a rich and rewarding experience.

Dusk's core gameplay is just what you'd expect: a zippy shoot and strafe loop with minimal story and lots of little secrets to find. Lots of games have tried this before, but Dusk realizes that the appeal of those early 90s shooters was largely in the level design and environmental details. They made the worlds seem more real than you might imagine, given their primitive processing. Although it isn't quite yet a complete package (additional chapters are coming later), Dusk comes eerily close to feeling like an undiscovered sibling of the classic shooters.

Azkend 2: The World Beneath has an interesting concept but executes it in a way that causes more stress than fun. Still, its a unique take on the match-3 genre, with a clever story mode and rich presentation helping it stand out among the pack. It’s worth a try for puzzle fans, but not every adventurer will appreciate this journey.

If you’re playing singleplayer - which, until the update, you most often will be - then that’s how to best enjoy Hammerwatch; short bursts. It’s nice to sit down every now and then and just relax with something charming and humble. Yes, it will take weeks to complete its two six-hour campaigns this way, but every time you come back, you’re a little stronger, maybe a little faster, and definitely richer. In singleplayer, it’s a good game. In multiplayer, it’s something more. Keeping in mind that the PC version already has online multiplayer, I am confident that Crackshell are being honest about the forthcoming update. So if you're on the fence, at least keep an eye on this one.

Rebuilt for a new generation, Bluepoint has created a stunning tribute to one of the best video game experiences on the PlayStation. I haven’t seen a quality remake of a game like this since Capcom’s Resident Evil REmake. And now that the visuals finally match Shadow of the Colossus’ grandeur and scope, there’s no better time to play it for the first time--or third, fourth, or fifth.

Out of Ammo offers a nice blend of RTS and FPS mechanics that's pretty fun. The ability to take possession of friendly units and fight alongside AI soldiers is a cool trick that puts you in the middle of action. It's unfortunate that known technical issues with the PlayStation VR don't allow for the level of precision I came to rely on during the heat of combat. It's also a little dry, content wise, as Survival maps differ only in terrain and setting--you'll always fight the same units no matter which map you choose. I look forward to what version 2.0 and 3.0 might look like down the line.

Though the idea of flying inside a spherical globe is cool, I’ve come to appreciate just how valuable a horizon is for collecting my navigational bearings (maps can sometimes be very confusing to look at). The lack of clear and defined objectives combined with a novel, yet disorienting, sense of place does make the adventure a little more confusing than it needs to be at times. When the flight controls, camera issues, and framerate drops become a problem (and they will), they are loudly disruptive to the meditative experience InnerSpace tries to cultivate.

SteamWorld Heist is a phenomenal addition to the Switch library. Its story might not be the most gripping of tales, but its deep and varied combat ensures that players will come back to it time and time again to test their wits and take on more challenging difficulties. Clocking in at around 15 hours, there's also quite a lot of bang for your buck to go around. It might be a spinoff and a port, but for those interested in a deep yet accessible SRPG that you can take on the go, SteamWorld Heist deserves to be on your radar.

Mom Hid my Game! is short, sweet, and delightful - a fun game to enjoy on little breaks between other games. It's quick to fire up and get into, and the puzzles are pretty fun, if not the most challenging things in the world. Even your failures are quick to bounce back from. It loses out a bit by repeating some of its challenges and at times not being sensible, but it's otherwise a fun and unusual puzzle game you owe it to yourself to try.

Pleasing aesthetics aside, Zwei hasn’t aged all that well in parts that matter the most. The game lacks the wit and charm of its sequel, the gameplay is unwieldy and the progress amounts often to guesswork. Everything The Arges Adventure does, the superior sequel The Ilvard Insurrection refines further - and beyond, as any good sequel should. There’s no guesswork in which one of the Zwei games I recommend to fill the need for a funny and smooth Japanese action RPG. In the end, The Arges Adventure is not a bad show, it’s just has passed its shelf life.

If you're looking for a quirky old-school RPG, Romancing SaGa 2 is right up your alley. There's perhaps a reason it never got a release in the west until now; it's far from being a player-friendly. Many of the quirks that make Romancing SaGa 2 so special are things that many modern players aren't most likely to enjoy, so you must be sure what you're signing up for before you lead the Kingdom of Avalon to the glory.

Pinball FX3 is a well-constructed platform for the old pastime. I appreciate Zen Studio’s take on pinball, favoring video game logic over a realistic one, while keeping consistent physics intact. Its online infrastructure and single-player progression are what keep me coming back and craving more, and this system can only continue to improve its appeal as more tables launch. But even as it is now, Pinball FX3 should be enough to make pinball wizards flip out.

Just when I think Telltale has run out of places to go, and that I’ve finally figured out the hook to their plans with John Doe and his eventual transformation into full-fledged Joker-dom, they pull Crazy Ivan and give me a gift like Episode 4. Titled What Ails You, this episode is less a set-up of the finale then a stack of C4 primed to take out every story thread that’s been built up so far. Telltale continues to tell one of the best Batman stories out there right now. If you are at all interested in comics, or characters related to the Dark Knight, this is 100% not optional. Honestly, no one else should be sleeping on this either.

As a VR game, I would say that League of War: VR Arena an interesting concept that was rushed in design and was poorly executed. There's little reason to play the game for more than fifteen minutes, and I honestly can't recommend it to anyone. It's definitely a cool idea, especially if you like strategy games. However, I would wait for a better game to be released in the future that can hopefully stimulate the palette of any seasoned strategy veteran, while also providing an immersive virtual reality experience. League of War: VR Arena simply fails to make itself as thought-provoking as a strategy game should be. It's just not fun to play.

World to the West features an ambitious concept, incorporating multiple unique characters into a Zelda-like top-down adventure game. However, the game unnecessarily pads the playtime, requiring you to individually move each of the four characters. Still, each party member’s completely diverse playstyle almost makes up for it, shaping up the game’s strengths of core exploration and puzzle design. It’s not a perfect journey, but fans of the genre may want to consider taking a trip westward.

In its current form, I simply cannot recommend Hello Neighbor to anyone until all of the problems are fixed. Again, I am shocked and disappointed that publisher tinyBuild would charge $30 for a product that clearly needs a lot more work. It really sucks because this game has a few things that work well, like its unique mechanics, a great art style, and good, measured horror. There’s a glimmer of something neat but right now, it's best to treat this as Hello Neighbor Game Preview Edition.

With Sparkle Unleashed, what you see is what you get. This is the sort of video game that is a nice way to spend a moment or two waiting for the bus or taking a break from another game. Taken in small doses, the game has a lot of charm that’s bolstered by lovely, colorful graphics and a better than average soundtrack. It’s an uncomplicated piece of software that doubles down on simple and addictive gameplay.

Yooka-Laylee doesn’t branch too far from its obvious Banjo-Kazooie roots. It simply takes a bigger is better approach that doesn’t always work in its favor. Despite the flaws, it's a joy to explore the worlds and collect every goody. Yooka-Laylee may not be the most polished platformer around, but Playtonic Games has created an enjoyable love letter to 90's collectathon platforming. Hardcore fans of the genre will want to set their googly eyes on this one.

Life Is Strange: Before The Storm has its moments but on the whole, it just didn’t do enough to capture my attention the way Life Is Strange did. Though easily a tumultuous period in her life, Chloe wasn’t as interesting as she was in the original game. The whole back talk mechanic isn’t an adequate replacement for Max’s time travel ability because I feel the consequences weren’t nearly as substantial.

Overall, while I really did enjoy the non-standard setting and story engine that drove Seven's gameplay, in the end it felt a little like a collection of promising elements, many of which were just a trifle undercooked. Setting aside the bugs, a poorly considered fast travel system (which spawns players in sometimes dangerous locations) and fairly tepid combat, what I most missed in Seven was any sense of personal identification or relationship with the main character. To me, this is at the heart of any successful RPG...the role-playing part, something almost entirely absent from Seven.