A short, dark trip through the nightmare of youth; growing up, discovering yourself, and existing among a society that rarely understands. Sure to be a divisive title, there are those who will find The Missing overpriced and melodramatic, while others will be taken by its surrealist story of undying friendship, ironically becoming an indelible memory to those who dare to experience it.

My Memory of Us is a joy to play. It's a well-crafted game that is clearly made by a team equipped to tackle such a heavy subject matter. Even without directly showing any Nazi symbols, the story is heart-wrenching and manages to pay tribute to the sacrifice of those who fought against them.

Surf 'n' Turf is a great little expansion, perfect for Overcooked 2 fans who want to feel more challenged. I was worried it was going to be too short or too similar, but none of those fears panned out. The levels are tightly designed and genuinely satisfying to solve. This DLC is peak Overcooked.

This is the absolute premier way to play the game. Arena of Valor may have been born on mobile, but on Switch is where it feels at home.

428: Shibuya Scramble may be a ten-year-old game, but it’s such a unique experience that it feels like a slightly flawed, modern classic even today.

I have a lot of quibbles with Super Mario Party that could have drowned it, but the extras pull it up above water.

A lot of the issues are tech-related: crashes, geometry bugs, load times, and framerate can all be fixed with patches. As of now? The interesting puzzles and fantastic music are not worth suffering through the bugs, lackluster models, and mediocre combat and skills. If your interest is piqued here, wishlist it and come back at a later time; I have no doubt that this game will reach its potential, but it's just not even close right now.

It succeeds in pulling off the gargantuan task of getting people to care about Mega Man again.

Astro Bot Rescue Mission, like its titular hero, gets the job done.

Alexios is one of the most memorable protagonists in all of Assassin's Creed, even if I never once actually thought of him as an assassin. In a lesser game, he'd probably be forgettable. But Assassin's Creed Odyssey is superb in nearly every aspect. It's the most impressive Assassin's Creed, even though sometimes it feels like it's Assassin's Creed in name only. It's as broad as Atlas' shoulders and as strong as Hercules. This time, Ubisoft hit a real Homer.

Jake Hunter: Ghost of the Dusk feels like a game that could have been released in 1987 with little to no changes. Hell, even the story feels straight out of the '80s even though it takes place in our present day.

The Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle offers seven good (if repetitive) games for a great price. There's zero excuse for a 30-year-old game having terrible online in 2018, which is a huge minus here. But for those who fancy a violent trip down memory lane, especially with local buddies to watch their back, The Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle still provides simple-minded mayhem for not a lot of coin.

Its restrictive without going overboard, allowing the highs outweigh the lows. The ability to chisel away at some tough rooms with a Switch on the go helps make it even more digestible.

Wandersong is the most emotionally satisfying game I've played in 2018. It's a rollercoaster ride through the spectrum of feelings, all wrapped up in a lovingly crafted construction paper world. I didn't even know this game existed a month ago. Now, it's one I'll never forget.

The net result is that we immediately care about Life is Strange 2. There's no getting-to-know-you phase where we're slowly and steadily introduced to conflict. Nope, it's immediate and it's painful.

I can understand the appeal of wanting to put any title on Nintendo’s massively popular console, but I’m surprised publisher Paradox Interactive didn’t attempt to make an original version of Cities for the Switch. That would have been far more preferable than whatever we’ve ended up with.

Star Control: Origins was an absolute joy for me. Its story and characters were utterly charming and unique. Its combat is a ton of fun.

Forza Horizon 4 is another fantastically fun Forza Horizon game even if it's tough to pinpoint Playground's grandest ambition.

Super Dungeon Tactics poses a decent challenge, some cheery art and a fluffy storyline and straightforward campaign with a respectable variety of missions whose tedium is helped by the variety in the mechanics upon which they sit. When it’s put next to Disgaea or X-COM, it’s almost laughably simple and cheap in comparison, but cheerful enough to grant a looksee if you have exhausted any and all other similar options on the Switch.

Episode 2 also brings two strong new characters into the cast, a mysterious new friend and a dangerous antagonist, with the narrative immediately stamping the importance of both roles into the story.

The game looks fantastic and has an excellent localization, but the lackluster and repetitive combat hold it back from being anything more than run-of-the-mill.

It’s quite amazing what Gone Home was able to accomplish through minimal action and a highly believable, immersive setting. It still resonates even after all these years — and not many games have accomplished what it has in terms of a slice-of-life, heartfelt story that comes together in a realistic environment.

Lamplight City offers an intriguing set of mysteries and stands as a great throwback to titles like Monkey Island and Sierra's Gabriel Knight series. The cases aren't especially taxing, but the well-realized setting and characters add plenty of flavor and help the game feel like something more than the sum of its parts.

My biggest issue is that DLC is so blatantly being held back from the game that it's annoying. The base board that you play on has the artwork for the two factions from the Invaders from Afar expansion and it's like they aren't even trying to hide the fact that there is still more money left to be spent. I understand the need to charge for expansions but at least try to hide it next time.

Like all Labo experiences the Vehicle Kit was fun to build, but once that's done and you've saturated the software, you're done.

Operation Warcade isn't a terribly innovative game, but it's fun enough if you're just looking for a very basic arcade shooter. Just don't expect a definitive VR experience from it.

The game's variety of tools and obstacles keep it interesting all the way through... Just don't expect anything particularly special from its story.

Torna didn't need to re-invent the wheel beyond its swap conceit. Monolith Soft is already perfectly capable of crafting giant worlds worth exploring and characters worth listening to or getting invested in.

Senran Kagura Reflexions is really nothing more than a proof of concept. Honey∞Parade Games set out to make a game where you touch Asuka all over until she’s been satisfied and in that respect, it succeeds. Just a damn shame the developer couldn't turn all that touching into something worth playing.

All of the gating is unnecessary, but if you're willing to dig into Seal the Deal there's a decent amount there.

Ultimately, despite being the fourth game in its series, Valkyria Chronicles 4 really is the sequel Valkyria Chronicles needed, and I have to say that I'm pleased that war has never looked more pleasant.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a perfectly good game, but it feels as though it never figures out a way to address the most compelling aspect of this arc: Lara's personal growth.

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner - Mars may have flown under the radar in 2003 but it now has the chance to shine again 15 years later.

Though SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy is not the Gals Fighters 2 we may have been hoping for, it is a daft, fast and fun brawler. There is a serious question of longevity to be considered, and veteran players should consider the game's shallow simplicity before purchase. But in a group setting, especially among newcomers, SNK's sisterhood of sluggers will get the job done, looking fabulous while doing so.

If this review reads like a roller coaster of emotions, that's because Destiny 2: Forsaken, like all things post-2010 Bungie, is lopsided.

I think less time in the clubhouse and more time on the course would do HB Studios some good.

Whilst that lack of tech-depth may prevent Blade Strangers from holding the attention of the pros, or blowing up on the competitive circuit, it's sure to be a hit at any good-natured rumble with friends, battling for pride within your own four walls.

Spider-Man isn't just a great superhero game, it's a proof of concept for Insomniac as a company.

Hopalong: The Badlands is a fun and intuitive arcade shooter that lasts just long enough for you to feel like you've truly mastered its controls, but not too long to overstay its welcome.

Donut County is as charming and funny as it is inventive and beautiful. It excels at what it sets out to do --there's never been a better hole simulator in video game history.

By taking a genre that thrives on its deep mechanics and attempting to streamline it into something anyone can pick up and play, we’re left with an experience that doesn’t wholly appeal to anybody.

Fire Pro Wrestling World is the best wrestling game on the market...FPW's simplistic visuals and learning curve may discourage some, who demand more flash for their cash, but those who take the time to unlock its potential may find it hard to step in the ring with another wrestling title ever again.

The Messenger is without a doubt one of the best indies available on the Switch right now. It has a lot of competition with the sudden sea of metroidvania games available, but its stunning look, fantastic soundtrack, and clever writing coupled with the amazing gameplay put it a step above the rest. When I walk away from a game every night only wanting to play more, there's little to complain about.

Frozen Dawn is engaging as a micro story mission even in solo play, and one of the most impressive zombie offerings to date.

Enix, and by proxy Square, have found myriad ways to repackage the journey of Dragon Quest and Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age proves that they haven't run out of ideas yet.

This HD remaster is mainly here to provide fans with a new way to play some of their favorite games. I can’t fault Sega too much for wanting to stick true to the original vision of Shenmue. If you were worried about compatibility issues or crashing, then you can rest easy. These ports are fine.

Death's Gambit resonates as a flawed gem, one I'm happy to have played. It's an uneven experience bogged down by technical woes and stilted combat, but if you can enjoy less-than-pristine games in spite of rough spots, it's worth taking a chance on. Just hold out for a few patches first.

There's a cute little story about rewriting the past at the heart of Tyler: Model 005. It's a shame those robots can't revise history and trim this game's excess so that it can focus on what's important.

Maybe certain aspects could have been tweaked to be more faithful to the source material, but the worst thing that could happen is you end up wanting to play the original to see the changes firsthand. That isn't such a terrible outcome.

Little Dragons Café is the type of game I walk away from feeling more hopeful in the world. Each chapter ends on such an earnest note that it raises my spirits. Sure, it doesn’t have the deepest mechanics, and it’s not the most polished title I’ll play this year. But it has a soul and a kind heart that uplifts the basic gameplay to a place that makes Little Dragons Café an easy recommendation to anyone looking for a soupcon of positivity in their life.

It just misses the balance, leaning too heavily on the side of frustration, with too little to show for all the hard work a player could put in.

Not once during my playthrough of Guacamelee 2 did I feel bored or look at the clock.

I'm the most intrigued I've been to date with World of Warcraft's storyline. The enemy isn't clear yet, and the breadcrumbs spread throughout the two campaigns are set. Battle for Azeroth isn't my favorite expansion but it's definitely up there.

I had legitimately enjoyed playing it. This has somehow become one of my favorite games, and I couldn't be happier about that.

If you believe you’re ready to take the plunge on a journey that just might end you, La-Mulana 2 is highly recommended. Just be sure to look out for false tablets…and don’t stand still too often…oh, definitely listen when the game tells you to stop reading.

Done Running is mostly a matter of getting to know the new cast of characters we are about to spend several hours with, getting clued up on their thoughts, attitudes, talents and backstories. Most of the action is pretty poor, but things ramp up hard for a great, genuinely shocking finale. It is already apparent that The Walking Dead: The Final Season will just be more of the same, but that's hardly likely to disappoint anyone who has gotten four whole seasons into this adventure.

By choosing the fastidious "micro-management" path, We Happy Few distracts far too much from its true potential as a dystopian gaming classic. And that's the biggest downer of all.

Despite my complaints with the game, it’s still a hugely enjoyable time.

If you enjoyed the original or skipped it purely because you needed online multiplayer support, Overcooked 2 should be a no-brainer. While the sequel runs the risk of being slightly too familiar and lacks any big surprises, it's still a winning formula. Co-op gaming doesn't get much better than this.

State of Anarchy: Master of Mayhem is a decent twin-stick shooter that more or less works in function and fun, but has many setbacks that prevent it from being anything other than a middling affair. It's certainly not a bad way to get some light arcade action, but you'll hardly feel like you've mastered any mayhem by the end.

My main concern with WarioWare Gold, exacerbated by the lack of download play and only one real multiplayer gametype at that, is that it doesn't really have legs.

When I finally finished my first full run my heart was pounding. Then it's time to repeat the process again, experimenting with a wild newfound power that's unlocked after completion and items I've never used before. I'll probably be doing that for longer than any roguelike in recent memory.

As someone who has been playing fighters for nearly three decades, I can get on board with Fighting EX Layer's lack of pageantry. What I can't accept quite as earnestly is its issue with roster playstyle diversity. The foundation is there, it just needs to be built up further.

After the awful showing of Episode 2, I had absolutely no expectations going into this one. But hey, I came away relatively pleased and somewhat looking forward to what is to come next. The underlying issues that have plagued every episode thus far still persist here, but at least The Council is finally utilizing its strengths in the best way possible, despite its flaws.

Might be appealing to a younger audience that wants an RPG without too many advance systems to over-complicate things, but if you're looking for a deep role-playing game set within the land of Ooo, you'll be sorely disappointed. On top of that, all of the performance issues with the Switch version make it incredibly difficult to recommend.

A neat little package. It knows what it wants to do and it does most of it well enough, but it might not excite people who don't share the same nostalgia for the specific childhood experience described within it.

Alas, main characters sometimes receiving a single line of dialogue to describe their end, if anything at all, is what makes The Banner Saga so unique.

Chasm was worth the wait regardless of its shortcomings. It's gorgeous, it sounds wondrous, and even though I'm not quite at the point where I can call it a "classic," it honors the genre. I hope the follow-up doesn't take nearly as long.

Though not all of the 50+ characters are worth maxing out, the eight heroes of the campaign and the unlockable bosses are an absolute joy to play, learn, and master. With so many modes and so many quests, this is yet another quality Switch title ready to suck up dozens of hours of your life.

This is not a game for the faint of heart. It’s offensive, perverted, and subtly violent at times during its opening moments. It’s also adorable, funny, and heartwarming in equal measure. It’s a complicated beast that rewards those who persevere. While far from perfect, it lays the foundation for one of the most epic sci-fi stories ever told. There is nothing else like it.

If you're looking for an epic sprawling all-star experience this isn't it, but I hope this fun brawl-focused base eventually leads to that and continues to improve over time with the promised upcoming support.

For those who have any love for the series, and appreciation for the era of the arcade, you absolutely can't go wrong with this one. I prolonged this review longer than necessary because I just wasn't done playing it – and I'm still not. It's a winner.

I love the design, the puzzles are challenging but not mind-breaking, and the controls are tight and easy to pick up. I only wish there was a bit more content here.

X8 gets unfairly lumped in with X7, but as a result of this collection (and the previous X collection on PS2 and GameCube) it can make its mark on history again.

A compilation of four of the greatest platformers of all time, and in the case of the original that kicked off the entire X universe, possibly the greatest.

I had a hell of a time with Horizon Chase Turbo. Of all of the retro revival games that have come out over the past few years, it is near the top of my personal list of favourites. I can’t get enough of it.

I would have to nitpick to come up with anything else. I suppose The Lion’s Song isn’t what you’d traditionally call a “game,” but it works as an engrossing experience that you’re bound to relate to in one way or another.

Tanzia's disparate parts are held together with the chewed gum of love put into the project which manages to do just enough to keep it all from falling apart.

Everything about Captain Toad is overwhelmingly charming.

While this DLC has the kind of silliness I'd like to see the Far Cry series confidently embrace and it mostly sounds good on paper, the end result is bare-bones. Lost on Mars feels like a middle-of-the-road effort when it could've been so much more substantial and imaginative. The premise deserves better.

There are some odd and annoying design decisions, and it can feel frustrating to rarely get to really let loose with the gun creations, but damn if I don't keep coming back to go through a few ships and see what destruction I can cause.

Danger Zone 2 isn’t a bad game, but it falls apart under the weight of its technical issues. If there wasn’t already a better version of this game by the same devs (disregarding the Burnout series), I might be more forgiving of some of these flaws. I simply can’t ignore the shortcomings, though.

Octopath Traveler is a small triumph in that it mostly delivers on its promise to give us eight stories worth seeing through.

Bomb Chicken kind of came out of nowhere, and I completely lost track of time after my first session with it.

If this were on mobile I'd have deleted it after my first trip to Avocado Roller. As it's a PS4 game, I was holding to hope there'd be something, anything, I could grasp on to here that would signify it as a quality kart racer for the platform. There isn't.

It’s a beautiful game, but that beauty can’t hide the fact Pocket Rumble still needs a bit of work. When playing with friends locally the game is an absolute blast. That's when it's at its best.

For five bucks as a digital upgrade all of these Sonic Mania Plus additions are a no-brainer. Sure, encore and maybe the multiplayer updates would have been added as free DLC in some circles, but the new characters and the package as a whole props up one of the best platformers of 2017 for a more than reasonable price.

The Spectrum Retreat has a tragic story about a family cast aside by the American health care system. That much becomes apparent early on, but the finer details are hidden behind too many consecutive puzzles. There's a narrative worth hearing here, but the cadence at which it's told is just a little bit off. That, mixed with the good-but-not-outstanding puzzle design, keeps The Spectrum Retreat from being a truly great stay.

The combination of the roguelike and card genre seems like a match made in heaven and Slay the Spire uses that match to craft something amazing even while in Early Access. I do wonder why it took so long for someone to bring these two genres together in such a well-done manner but that matters not because it's here now and roguelike and card game fans are better off for it. [Early Access]

Hopefully, some patches bring this remaster up to par, because it would be unforgivable to have Guerrilla fail a second time due to a rushed port.

I called dibs on Grab the Bottle because it looked kind of silly, and figured at worst it'd be a fun little distraction. It definitely hit those points, but wound up being something I legitimately enjoyed for some quick, on-the-go puzzle solving. And with a story that wound up having minimalist heft to it, I think this is a nice little excursion from your typical gaming experience well worth hitting the sauce for.

As long as more companies like Panic Button figure out the secret sauce of how to distill 44.55GB (PS4) files into 21.8 GB (Switch) while keeping the gameplay intact, the Switch has a bright future ahead of it.

I think the developers made the right call by branching out with planes and boats and going for a more approachable play-what-you-like format.

On many other occasions they'll simply augment the existing experience, and your mileage may vary depending on how strong the core is.

Lumines didn’t need to reinvent the wheel for its remaster as it already had its base down pat.

Mario Tennis Aces has a chance at being a great game down the road. Right now, it's simply good. The gameplay is as addictive as ever and the Adventure Mode is a great way to educate people on the ins and outs of Mario Tennis. It's just missing features that, while small, make a world of difference when it comes to the longevity of the game. I want to play Aces for the rest of the Switch lifecycle, but right now it's not giving me much of a reason to keep booting it up.

The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit functionally serves as a playable teaser for the sequel to Life is Strange. Because of this, we never get real resolution to Chris' story. It ends on a gratuitous cliffhanger, and that's so predictably frustrating. But Captain Spirit uses its two hours well to craft a narrative that leaves us wanting more. That was the whole point. Chris may be a superhero but he's also an underdog. Everyone loves a good underdog story.

Unworthy falls just a bit short. Not much can be done about the level design, but a few key tweaks to item management and difficulty balancing could lead to this becoming a hidden gem. If nothing else, it scratches the itch for more Souls that From has left.