Ultimately, this makeshift Han Solo simulator isn’t as fun as it initially felt like. Graphics are superb, the music is just to die for and Juno is the kind of rough and raw heroine the gaming world really needs more – overall, Rebel Galaxy Outlaw is a game I would like to love more. In the long run, though, the effort needed to pull off the revenge feels more tedious than it should.

While I wish the extra modes were better and that the levels were more consistent, Mini Motor Racing X has earned an ongoing spot on my Switch. Even its longer levels only take a few minutes, making it an ideal game to jump in and out of for just a few minutes. The core racing feels great, I truly can’t remember the last time I enjoyed an overhead arcade racer so much. There are a lot of good racing games on the Switch, but none of them scratches quite the same itch that this one does. As long as you go into it knowing what to expect, I think you’ll have a great time.

Even though the port has extremely clunky controls and horrendously optimized graphics, The Long Dark’s survival and challenge modes offer hours of unhinged fun trying to cope and survive in the harsh Canadian wilderness. The campaign, while unfinished and episodic, offers a wholly divergent approach from typical post-apocalyptic genre norms. Unfortunately, if you are the type of player who is looking for a completely fleshed out campaign, this is not the game for you. Even with its misfortunes, Hinterland Games’ The Long Dark provides Nintendo Switch owners a breath of fresh air as it is the first somewhat enjoyable, open-world, survival game on the console.

Crusader Kings III is utterly engrossing, full to the brim with interesting stories and tough decisions for the player to make. It succeeds as both a strategy game and a captivating RPG. And this is all before the player even thinks about touching multiplayer or what will undoubtedly be an incredibly active modding community. More than anything, it is an immensely dynamic platform where players can voyeuristically partake in medieval stories of war and politics for years to come.

The first game feels like an early build of the second game, with a lot of quality-of-life improvements added to SEF 2. One weakness of the first game is that the bosses have way too much health. Boss battles are endurance tests, great for a challenge but too tedious to be fun. The developers recognized this and greatly reduced the bosses' health in the second game. SEF 2 also added health and shield pickups that occasionally spawn in the level. This is a traditional shmup element that makes a welcome return.

The second Space Elite Force is the superior gameplay experience, but if you get a lot out of it, then the first one may also be worth your time. I love seeing more games experimenting with adding elements from other genres. Space Elite Force 2 is a great example of a game taking risks that pay off. If you want something just a little bit different in your next shmup, it's worth a look.

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.

While this game didn’t quite get me into my ideal flow state, it came close and I appreciate the risks they took with the gameplay. The graphics and gameplay fit the feel and heart of Aviici’s music, which, in the end, may be the most important thing. If you like Aviici’s style of music and rhythm games are your jam, then Invector will probably be worth your time.

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.

Sands of Salzaar could be considered an unfashionable game because it’s not permadeath roguelike Souls-like with survival and crafting elements. Despite its looks, it’s not a loot-a-thlon either. Instead it’s a fast-paced and personally involving action-RPG that is fresh as a bubbling oasis in middle of the desert that isn’t just a mirage! Mod support and separate multiplayer campaign add to the already addictive experience. All this comes at the price tag of only 13 dollars for some amazing value for money. One could even say that Sands of Salzaar puts many of the bigger titles to shame with its creativity and energy. It may not re-invent computer role-playing games but it shows that there is still kick in the old genre and all it needed was bringing it out to the sun.

Overall, this game feels like a watered-down Story of Seasons experience in the end, one that has traded gameplay and variety away for story and themes. Still, it's undeniable that the game is very unique, as it focuses on the Doraemon story and characters. This fact alone has changed the formula in a number of ways, for better or worse. Personally, I'd rather have a more robust and in-depth farming experience, but I can easily see how Doraemon fans would enjoy this title.

There’s occasionally some fun to be had but in the long run, the gameplay is so rigid and repetitive that despite seemingly big amount of content to play, the game’s appeal wears thin pretty quickly. Even the multiplayer lacks further enthusiasm for the very same reason and micro transactions that are practically force-fed are the last straw. Given the game’s rather modest production values, it feels like it should have benefited from being a free-to-play title and then paying for more content would have been completely plausible. As it is now, WWE 2K Battlegrounds simply lacks lasting fun, challenge and creativity to fill the void of not having a main entry in the WWE 2K series this year.

If the Final Fantasy franchise has appeared intimidating in its more modern form, then Crystal Chronicles Remastered might be a decent entryway. The game is clearly its own beast. Again, I’m all for trying something new and if a lot of the things I found particularly annoying about the gameplay loop of Crystal Chronicles were overhauled, it could actually be pretty fun. The return to a sword and sorcery fantasy setting since Final Fantasy IX is in itself refreshing but that’s pretty much the only kudos I can muster right now. A product of a different time, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered is a game that makes a hard case for itself to solo players.

Though it’s a little rough around the edges, Minoria delivers an experience that is mechanically satisfying, yet thematically depressing. The combat has its flaws but was engaging enough to keep me going throughout. Clocking in at around five hours, Minoria is a game that’s short and sweet. The story is a solemn and sad affair that takes a harsh look into the problems of religious overreach. Overall, I’d recommend Minoria to Metroidvania fans willing to overlook the occasional blemish.

Mafia Definitive Edition is a lovely redressing of a game I carry fond memories for and to experience it again in a comfortably playable fashion was a joy.

Ultimately, Serious Sam 4 has a bit of an identity problem. It hews pretty closely to the standout features that made the series great — immense battles, weird enemies, crude humor and frantic action. It also steals from the playbooks of recent shooters and has more story, a cast of characters and slightly more measured pacing. Over time, the wave-based battles become more fatiguing than fun because they’re often so similar, but Serious Sam 4 is overall true to the singular series and its fans should be happy to join their hero once again.

Iron Harvest shines the brightest when it focuses on its imaginative alternative history milieu, incredibly well-designed robots, and even its story, which is much more engaging than simply being a premise to get the mechs on the battlefield. One could complain that it doesn’t go far enough in changing the mechanics of the genre, but it isn’t like gamers are inundated with Company of Heroes-like titles. Expansive and worth looking at for its setting and robots alone, Iron Harvest is, if not an instant classic, a welcome reminder of just how fun small-scale RTS games can be.

I enjoyed my time with Paradise Killer quite a bit as I do love the mystery/visual novel genre of games quite a bit. The game has a fresh look and a killer soundtrack, as well as a fairly good story with plenty to look into. As good as that might sound, I would still recommend any of the Danganronpa or Phoenix Wright titles over Paradise Killer, as the unpopulated world gets tiring to explore and back-loading all of the trials makes for some poor game pacing overall. Still, if you love the genre and are looking for your next fix, Paradise is waiting for you with open arms.

I wish I had better news to share but Tennis World Tour 2, like its predecessor, is a very rough game of tennis that unless heavily patched feels like yet another tennis game to skip while we eagerly await a true spiritual successor to the Top Spin franchise.

All too often in the world of sports games, the same titles are offered year after year with only a new number slapped to the suffix. WRC 9 is a gratifying exception to this rule. The improvements compared to the past versions might not be big, but they are just in the right places. While the game still has some issues that need to be catered for in the future versions, it offers a great alternative reality to the full rally season with its huge amount of content and quality racing. And now, excuse me, I have the next rally to drive.

Necromunda: Underhive Wars is a lot like many other Warhammer video game adaptations. It has rugged charisma to it and I got really immersed in its customization tools, atmosphere, and mechanics but once again, the game lacks that final polish. Alongside the uneven implementation of gameplay ideas and dodgy AI, I experienced crashes and loads locking up, so the game is in a severe need of patching (luckily, exiting, and re-booting the game takes back to the latest autosave). If only one day we got a big-budget Warhammer game with appropriate finishing touches. Meanwhile, anyone seeking for a grittier and more personal and transparent XCOM-type could do a lot worse than give Necromunda: Underhive Wars a shot. It has many genre-firsts that should be applauded for.

At times, these remakes are faithful to a fault, but the pure joy of finally nailing that combo you were going for, executing that trick you had failed five times in a row, completing that goal that you just couldn't manage, it’s all here and it holds up better than game design from two decades ago has any right to do. If you once loved this series, you owe it to yourself to experience these games again in all their remastered glory and if you're new to them, you'll find a game that is easy to pick up, hard to put down, and addicting in all the best ways.

Cinders ultimately provides players a truly enchanting, wholly unique, modern re-telling of Cinderella, that undoes all the classic tales' faults and awes its audience with a compelling cast of distinctive, engaging characters.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is not a replacement for annual soccer sims in the market as it’s entirely a different beast. Instead it’s a fun and decent arcade soccer game that successfully scores its goal.

If Moon sounds like an innovative, ahead-of-its-time game, well, it is. I can honestly say I’ve never played a game quite like Moon. You can definitely see the influences to Undertale in the lack of a battle system, the skewering of RPG tropes, and emphasis on non-violence. I would recommend that classic RPG fans check it out, if only to see what the fuss is about. For everyone else, I think that the oddity of the gameplay and the old school mechanics might make this one a tough sell, but it’s worth your time if you are looking for something different.

While Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon doesn’t introduce many new features to the game, it does offer more than enough for fans who are looking to venture back into this beautifully crafted world. The story leaves more to be desired, but still provides a solid and enjoyable experience that will certainly be a worth your time if you even remotely enjoyed the base game.

At the end of the day, NBA 2K21 is still an insanely good game of basketball that feels and plays like a game that hit its stride a couple of years ago and is now coming to the end of the generation. I still am amazed at how good the moment to moment action is in this game. And although I would have loved to see them really go for it in the MyCareer mode and revamp the microtransactions more than they did, this is still a game that I adore and continue to be impressed by. I have no idea what to expect from the PS5/XSX versions of this game but if its roots are still planted in the foundation of the last couple of years, we could have a very exciting game of basketball to look forward to.

The combination of an energetic heroine exploring a vibrant world showed enough promise to make me eager for its debut. It’s both sad and frustrating to see the final product because I know it can be so much better. Travel is tedious, with environments so large as if to inspire awe but are a real slog to cross. Half-baked ideas, poor performance, and low reliability prevent it from reaching any heights and unless there’s some serious patchwork to be done, I can easily see this game being forgotten by the end of the year, if not sooner. Ary and the Secret of Seasons has its heart in the right place and displays flashes of greatness but nothing short of a major overhaul can fix its numerous and significant flaws.