Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition is another classic FF game that featured a lot of revolutionary features for its time. Unlike other re-released FF games that aged like fine wine, however, Crystal Chronicles’ antiquated controls and half-step multiplayer additions don’t nearly stand the test of time, especially when there are so many games available that do loot-based dungeon-crawling far better and far more streamlined. For many modern gamers accustomed to the faster pace and tighter controls of said games, Crystal Chronicles may feel like an old relic that requires a hefty amount of patience. There’s no lack of charm in the visuals and character designs, and getting four synchronized party members together that can effortlessly chain spells together to unleash a powered-up super spell can lead to a decent time, but it also shows that some old games can be harder to revisit due to the rapidly-evolving technology surrounding videogames.

The Ultimate Edition comes packaged with both DLCs – The Foundation and AWE – which add whole new sections to explore and much more story to uncover, as well as include a very cool crossover with Alan Wake. They do mostly stick to the same formula, sadly, with AWE throwing in a couple of new light-based elements I would have liked to have seen more of, especially in combat(!), but once again both of them managed to compel me all the way through; mostly out of sheer curiosity and love of the world and its enigmas. I would really like to see more of this universe in the future and I think Remedy could get super creative with regards to upping the ante around the action. There’s the potential for a total game changer here and, after all, there are plenty more doors to discover in the Motel *wink wink*.

Other than a few slight problems I would recommend this to any card game fans out there, it stays true to everything we love about card games while adding its own unique twist. Abrakam has done a great job accomplishing their goal for Faeria; by focussing development on its extensive single player mode, it gives me hope for developers to implement something similar in their own card games for the future increasing replayability and attracting more of a casual scene to an often competitive genre.

Gerrrms is a budget released party game that fits its price tag making it ideal for a title that can be picked up, played a while and then probably only ever brought out at family occasions. The lack of content and online play does hurt its overall longevity, since seeing everything Gerrrms has to offer is done within the first hour and its simplicity means there is nothing to learn. Still, it is fitting of its price, as Gerrrms is an enjoyable and simple game for when the family is around and they require entertainment for half an hour before moving onto the next thing. Sometimes video games can just be a stop gap to entertain for a short while and then be forgotten down the line without needing to be the deepest, complex experience.

The issues it had on release were awful, and the DLCs in a vacuum were a little underwhelming in scope; especially that first one, but the Complete Edition takes care of all of that, making it even greater than before. Remnant was just something I stumbled across and decided to take a chance on with a friend and now, over a year later, I’m still thinking about it; still excited to play some more. It’s true that it has slowly risen in popularity but I think it’s still quite underappreciated – there really isn’t anything else like this out there and I recommend giving it a shot.

The game has a solid concept that it sticks to and evolves with new ways to play with its ageing mechanics that some players will be genuinely surprised at how smart the puzzles become. But, I cannot help but feel the game is missing that final polish, that spark that puts it on the same pedestal as Celeste and a few others. There are some irritating issues with the controls, which spoil what would otherwise be a quality puzzle platformer. I can say that fans of the genre will entertain with what Ageless delivers, and anyone who enjoys a challenging game, if sometimes frustrating, will find something to like here.

Mortal Shell is not a perfect game and still requires a bit of polishing but for a game this enjoyable to be developed by such a small team I’m excited to see what they have planned for the future. The potential to make Mortal Shell into a great franchise is definitely there and I hope to see another game in the series or DLC adding diverse bosses and more items to utilise the amazing elements they have introduced with this game.

Post Void is a barrage of garish visual information parading through the interface of a first-person shooter. As either an act of mercy or a concession to humanity, modest roguelite trappings force all of Post Void’s noise and fury into manageable dosages. This leaves Post Void as a wonderful party drug, provided you can sustain the party and handle the drugs.

Over the many hours that I played Parkasaurus, I have to say that I did feel very relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed the simple yet goofy style picking out appropriate hats for all my dinosaurs. Going into this as a tycoon game you know exactly what is included but if you want an all singing all dancing experience then this game may fall a little short of your expectations. Hopefully in the future with more updates and steam workshop engagement there might be more to offer in the future and a reason to come back for more.

Can I recommend Death Stranding? Not really. I don’t think it can be directly labelled ‘good’. It’s a full price, full length, but all too frequently sluggish game. However, if you’re a Kojima fan, I don’t think you’ll want to miss out on this deranged roller coaster ride of an experience and that really elevates it for me.

Othercide manages to blend tactical RPGs and rogue-lite gameplay superbly that works to offer a compelling gameplay loop. Both elements come together to make for a energizing title, one that offers a refreshing, engrossing combat system that releases the restraints to allow more experimentation. A bold, beautiful presentation sets the tone, hampered mostly by a couple of small quality assurance issues and the lack of variety in mission design and maps. Othercide makes for another great surprise in Focus Home Interactive’s growing library, and is a game people should pay attention to.

A lot of sports games can take inspiration from some of the good things Super Mega Baseball 3 offers and I hope that Metalhead Software can steal some good ideas for the training and management side of the sport from other games for Super Mega Baseball 4. Adding franchise mode was definitely a step in the right direction and hopefully it will be a fully fleshed out experience by the time they release the next game in the series. I would also love to see their interpretation of other sports games with the same arcade style and unique mechanics in the future.

Hardcore fans who love the game will enjoy seeing it in its new beauty, while newcomers get to enjoy its engrossing farming life for many hours before it grows stale. As long as people do not go in expecting the best farming life sim on the market, then this update to an Harvest Moon classic can put a warm smile on your face, especially when enjoyed with a nice glass of freshly milked coffee milk.

Carrion is remarkably successful in so far that its visuals, sound design and interaction come together to create something truly horrifying, beautiful and engrossing, but its novelty wanes, and what you are left with is surprisingly superficial. It smoothly passes through your system the same way its goopy anti-protagonist passes through corridors, and if its sole intent was to let you play the monster in an otherwise familiar scenario, with little effort required to slither across the finish line, I am honestly unsure of what its lasting appeal was supposed to be.

Destroy All Humans! was never trying to be a masterpiece back on PS2 and it still isn’t one now, however it is a fantastic remake and if you are a fan of the old game I don’t see why you wouldn’t love this. People have begged for a return to this franchise but I’m not sure a remake was the way to do it; I truly hope they reboot this franchise for newer consoles.

I’ve found it hard to recommend deck builders recently because I’ve either thought they were clones of other games, not all that exciting or they have too much going on, however, in Monster Train they have managed to balance replayability and creativity. If you’re a fan of deck builders or are new to the genre, I feel comfortable saying you will love Shiny Shoe’s unique take. It brought back my love for deck builders, has a soundtrack that you will be humming daily, and a creative art style. It’s definitely, in my opinion, well deserving of the overwhelmingly positive review scores it has received on Steam.

M2 has done a solid job bringing this collection together with great emulation across the titles available. It is a real shame that no extras were thrown in to celebrate the history of Darius – a lack of of a gallery is truly shocking. There is also the argument to be made with it missing some games in this collection. Still, what is here is a nice, if expensive, collection of good shmups made for replayability for a niche selection of fans, the curious newcomers or people wanting a trip down memory lane of their childhood video game playing.

I would recommend Timelie to anyone who might find this type of experimental time-manipulation gameplay interesting but certainly not for its storytelling.

While it might not be the best racing simulation on the market, there is no other place to get the full experience of Formula 1 as one of the ten teams or as a fresh newcomer on the block. If this is the final game for the current generation of consoles, then this is a lovely way to end that cycle. If Codemasters keep this up going into next generation, then expect the series to only get better, because right now, F1 2020 is a worthwhile investment for F1 fans and fans of realistic style racing games.

SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE is superb. The core of it is even better than its predecessor, in fact, by virtue of identifying how to expand on it in a way that truly makes sense. The new abilities not only slot in beautifully; there’s a sense that they bring out more of what is inherently part of the design.

Dungeon Defenders: Awakening has had a buggy start, but the foundations here show signs of greatness, and right now it still makes for a bloody good time with a lot of difficulty to get through, which should only get better as the bugs are ironed out and the content increases.

It’s a shame. Put into a different, more traditional action game structure, West of Dead would be a satisfying RPG flavoured shooter with a truly inspired combination of gameplay mechanics. What’s here offers plenty of great, timing driven moments, but when saddled with conventions of the genre it has chosen to adopt, it quickly becomes an exercise in frustration and simply doesn’t hold up to the scrutiny.

It’s fair to say Battle for Bikini Bottom was hardly a revelation back in 2003 and it’s definitely not one now, even with the cult popularity the original has gained due to the speedrunning community. What it is, however, is a fun time that nobody can knock, no matter how simple it may be. The boss battles may be poor, the jokes may often fall flat, and the ending may be completely anticlimactic, but any faults here are actually faults of the original that this new version has masterfully remade. Rehydrated is a total success in bringing the original back to life and it somehow looks truly beautiful, especially considering the obviously juvenile nature of the source material. It’s not something I would outwardly recommend to everyone but it did make me reconsider my pipeline of games and if I might not just want to throw in a couple of mindless simple ones, in order to relax between the giants.

There are parts of Neversong that hit the right notes, if you will, but they are too few and far between for the unique visuals and music to carry one’s enjoyment, and patience, through to the end.

SnowRunner is certainly not for everyone. Its slow pace, punishing resets and the ask of an methodical approach from the player is one that will not fit everyone’s personality, and the cooperative element is missing some key communication features. But, if you are one of those people that gets turned on by dirty mud deformation and enjoys an element of puzzle solving to their driving, then SnowRunner offers some impressive physics and environmental challenges to overcome, which makes for a thoroughly stimulating and rewarding drive.

Maneater starts as an enjoyable, silly concept, making it fun for a couple of hours. It is a title that reminds me of the show, the Deadliest Catch, but as the game goes on, the missions start to become repetitive, and the underwater colour palette makes me wish I had shark vision. One thing for sure, though, is Maneater could have had potential to be bloody great time if given the change to expand on its potential to be the Jaws of the gaming world, but sadly, it falls short of that. Still, one thing it does good is that it puts a top to my desire to go swimming in the sea for a while.

Speaking from my heart, I maintain that this is, in a number of ways, a compromised version of Saints Row: The Third that the new coat of paint doesn’t really make up for. However, if you were fortunate enough to play the game back when it first came out, especially when it was working fully, this is a very pretty way to look back at it.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 includes plenty of content, a lot of similar content where enjoyment is based on how well people gel with the mindlessly over the top, flashy, fun, combo system that is enhanced through the vast unique character move sets, skill selection and Power Rush mechanics. There are some genuine nice additions to the Warriors combat that gets to shine when characters are levelled up, and I hope these get carried to other entries and built upon. As it stands, this is the best Pirate Warriors to date, once it gets going, but it suffers from the repetitive issues and performance that this series is known for, while taking small, incremental steps to improve with each release.