When faced with challenges of a certain magnitude, many people seek escape through emotional-altering substances, mindless activities, destructive relationships or even by escaping physically to someplace remote and isolating. Eventually, they come to realize — perhaps suggested in Firewatch — the ultimate futility of trying to escape that which they carry with them all the time and they begin to accept and understand themselves a little more clearly.

Planet Diver is an unexpectedly ambitious title. A lesser developer would have been content with the simple concept of dodging rocks while hurtling along at nearly unmanageable speeds, but the team at Fabraz have expanded from that baseline admirably.

On one hand I believe it’s a truly brilliant game and an experience that everyone should play. On the other though this is one of the toughest games to play and I can’t say I “enjoyed” any of it. At the end of the day I think it’s a game that everyone should play.

As a gussied-up artifact of another gaming era, it fares conserably better and anyone who loves the series, is a franchise completionist, or missed it on either Gamecube or Wii, should check it out.

Jackbox Party Pack 2 suffers a bit from a lack of novelty when compared with similar mobile games, but it still manages to hold its own with a few fun sequels and a handful of decent, if not riotous, new additions.

Not A Hero is pretty upfront about what it intends to deliver. There are no heroes here, just as there aren’t any deep mechanics or unexpected twists in the gameplay. What the game does have is an incredibly memorable cast of villains, most of whom you’ll be controlling throughout, and a solid core mechanic that unfortunately gets stretched a little too thin.

Dragon’s Dogma Dark Arisen should be played by every fan of action RPGs.

If you weren’t won over by AC Chronicles: China, AC Chronicles: India probably won’t change your mind. But if you want a game with some solid stealth gameplay and a sizeable smattering of timed, platforming bits, you probably won’t be too disappointed (the low price of admission also helps).

Clocking in at a little under 6 hours, there was no part of Unravel that I found wanting. Great visuals, excellent mechanics, and a satisfyingly sweet, personal narrative background make this a complete no-brainer in my book. I adore this game, and if you have any kind of a heart beating inside of you, I have no doubt that you will too.

It winds up having a look and bothering to introduce an idea, but doesn’t pay it off or give a reason to come back for the next episode.

In a nutshell, Punch Club acted like a stamina-fueled boxer and wore me down. Over time I found myself loathing the training process I originally felt happy progressing in. What started as a fun progression from nobody to star became a tedious task of increasing numbers that may or may not affect the outcome of a fight.

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.

All things considered, an interesting premise and good storytelling can’t make up for bad game design.

Life is Feudal - like many of its peers in the genre - is not enough fun or rewarding in the short term, and the long game is only for true devotees.

That leaves the package, as a whole, as entirely worth it, and another set of great additions to Zen’s ever growing library.

As an action game, it’s streamlined and not terribly deep, but the labyrinthine tower itself is an inspired setting and the premise of the game and its excellent execution are fresh enough to fill in the gaps when the combat starts to disappoint.

Steamworld Heist is a ton of fun, and developer Image and Form are doing a great job of trying new things following the surprise success of Steamworld Dig.

If you aren’t a big fan of turn-based combat, then Hard West is probably not a game for you. If, however, you have played through the XCOM series, Wasteland 2, or even the Shadowrun reboot RPGs, then Hard West will provide something a little different if you are still looking for more turn-based combat.

It is impossible not to admire and be impressed by Xenoblade Chronicles X, to not have many hours of fun with it, but it’s a hard game to love.

Episode 3 wound up being a lot closer to what I feel is the ideal for an episode in this series – a fun, high-stakes adventure that throws in interesting elements of the license to create cool moments.

So if you have a very powerful gaming rig, and you’re craving a train simulator, would I recommend Train Simulator 2016? No. No, I do not. It’s too light on content for a $45 game, and I don’t support the developer’s ludicrous paid DLC scheme. Which is a real shame, because the physics are great and, if you can run it in high or ultra high graphics, it can look quite beautiful.

Whether you’re coming back to the game for a second time or you’re a new player, this is a game that has something to offer for everyone.

Leo’s Fortune has all the components for fun, but it’s length and familiarity are its undoing.

This looks, sounds, and plays like a student project attached to a Unity water physics tech demo.

Including additional equipment — like the Liebherr RL1300, for all you tall crane enthusiasts! — and several new DLC missions/jobs, the Gold Edition provides many hours of content for the patient player to invest some serious time in learning the systems.

Episode 1 definitely sets things up well, and while the characters are a little weak so far, the quest itself is interesting enough I can’t wait to see what the next episode holds.

Marred only by a relative lack of content, Fast Racing Neo more than ably fills a void left by other futuristic racers and just looks and sounds incredible as well.

Age of Decadence is a thinking person’s RPG, and rewards patience and attention to detail. It doesn’t waste your time with meaningless tasks or busywork, though ultimately, pouring time into crafting or alchemy or weaponsmithing and combat are just as viable as developing persuasion or talking your way out of conflict.