Despite a couple odd inclusions, there was a lot of care given to making these experiences authentic, while at the same time giving players a lot of options that allow them to ruin that authenticity in favor of having a more enjoyable experience.

Endless Ocean is an interesting experiment that could lay the groundwork for something deeper and more fleshed out in the future (I kept imagining how cool a multi-layered RPG would be set in a similarly vast ocean). As is, though, I really can’t see the average gamer (translation: everyone that isn’t me) being entertained for more than an hour of two. Not to use a bad water pun, but the experience ultimately feels shallow.

Though The Wise Monkey is not all it could have been, it's a strong second episode. Much of it, however, felt almost like filler.

Intercept is a surprisingly enjoyable experience that entwines havoc, synergy, and drama into a lovely bundle. It's a tad repetitive and light on content, though, so I certainly hope Guerrilla Games continues to support the expansion as it nears the standalone release.

If you are truly desperate for good puzzles and sumptuous art, then you could do worse than play A New Beginning, but I found it impossible to look past the many issues and really enjoy the few things it manages to do right.

Like most MMORPGs, the fate of Throne and Liberty will rely heavily on the decisions NCSoft and Amazon Games make in regard to future content. Nothing beats a solid MMORPG launch; and so far, at least the Early Access launch has been incredibly smooth. But the ability to keep meaningful and fun content coming is what keeps players logging in and overall making the MMO feel worth playing. In its current state, you’ll be hard-pressed to find an F2P MMORPG with as much content and polish as Throne and Liberty. If you’ve been looking for something that puts the MMO back into MMORPG, this could be just what you’re looking for.

Housemarque could have gone a bit farther with Matterfall, because while the general theme is on point, several elements, the protagonist design included, failed to make their mark on me. While it remains stylish throughout there were a few sections where I felt like I was just going through the motions, doing things I had done many times before, just with a nice HDR sheen to it. It's not quite Outland (which Housemarque also created), but it'll do.

There's nothing like Dementium for the DS out there, and for me personally it's always a thrill to see the first game of its kind for a portable make a debut.

So, is Prinny worth it? Perhaps if you're into this hard-to-be-hard sort of thing. You masochist. But for the rest of us, the game is going to be too much of a pain to really enjoy.

Over the four hours it takes to see the end, and additional time to complete entirely, it never overstays its welcome. The concept behind it is solid, and it has been developed well past that initial idea.

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.

Yo-Kai Watch also goes to some real crazy places that Pokémon wouldn't dare to explore.

As a standalone game, Mighty Gunvolt would feel a tad unfinished. Although all three characters are compelling enough to star in their own platformer, the distinct lack of worlds and exposition won't keep you invested very long. But as a free extra for Azure Striker Gunvolt, Mighty is a great gift to fans, and an even greater teaser to hold people over for what's to come in Mighty No. 9.

The controls are tight, the visuals and audio are simple and charming, enemy types are varied and interesting, and you get to shower opponents with an endless barrage of giant shurikens, which never gets old.

I feel like the managerial side of Arcade Paradise needs to better inform the part where you just play games endlessly and vice versa. In the beginning, having to pull yourself away from your high score to move someone’s laundry into the dryer is a fun twist, but there’s nothing similar to that in the end game. You’re just playing games, waiting for the quarters to pile up so you can buy the next upgrade. Even if Arcade Paradise instead tried to present an authentic representation of the arcade experience, I feel that would have added more value. Instead, it sits in an uncomfortable middle ground like a directionless teenager.

Before you pick up Nintendo Switch Sports, carefully weigh your options of how many people you'll have readily available to play.

It contains its fair share of flaws, not the least of which are some gameplay unbalances and curious lack of interesting unlockable content. But if you’re looking for silly, lighthearted fun to kill a few hours with friends over a few laughs, you could certainly do a lot worse than Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.

If you’ve been thirsting for a puzzle title on Xbox LIVE Arcade, you really can’t go wrong with this playful creation. There is a ton of play time, along with local and Xbox LIVE multiplayer support, as well as the promise of downloadable content. Sometimes the difficulty of Puzzle Mode will get you down, but it’s a sidebar to what the game has to offer as a whole. Spend those points.

It's frustrating to play and frustrating to recommend. I like the style, I like the parkour mechanics overall, but there's a lot of junk to contend with. The antagonistic design (minefields everywhere) is one thing, but the unforgiving checkpoints and limited lives lead to a lot of repetition.

Well crafted and presents a huge adventure for you to lose yourself in. With everything from solid dungeons to exciting battles and sidequests, the game has a ton to offer for your buck and stands as a worthwhile entry in the genre. If you're looking to have a groundbreaking new RPG experience it probably isn't the game for you, but otherwise I think it'd be a great addition to any collection.

There's so much about Mafia II that feels like a relic of a bygone era. Video game design has long surpassed and evolved beyond this approach to storytelling. Still, I find myself oddly charmed by it. I've played Mafia II twice now, once in 2010 and once in 2020. Its foibles that irritated me a decade ago seem more forgivable now. Maybe it's because I knew to expect a flawed experience, maybe it's because I'm getting more lenient in my old age. Whatever it is, I relished blowing through a thrilling mobster drama over the course of a weekend, knowing I wouldn't have to dedicated the better part of the next month to finish it. In a lot of respects, Mafia II hasn't aged all that well; strangely, that's why I think it's a better game than it was 10 years ago.

If you walked away from Avatar wishing a world like Pandora actually existed out there, here you go. This is that world. Seeing Pandora is one thing, but being able to scale its massive treetops, soar high above its floating mountains on an Ikran, and traverse its wide open plains on the back of a Direhorse is really something special. This is the best version of Avatar yet.

I really like Pid, despite its faults. It routinely makes me feel smart and suave, and it manages its tone pitch-perfectly: sad without being maudlin, effectively capturing childhood without being mawkish or explicit. It's plagued somewhat by a misunderstanding of its strengths, but when the design -- of its levels, its characters, its aesthetics -- comes together, it's a beautiful little gem.

It was so hard to acclimate to the changes and suffocating AAA mentality after the original was near perfect, but I think once people get over that initial shock, they'll come to adore it in spite of that.

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

I can really get lost in the world of Let it Die, and I think I'll be playing it off and on for the next several weeks at the very least. It begs you to come back, and given the platform in which it's been distributed, it's something that can easily evolve into a better game in the future.

If Beyond Blue didn't try its best to tell a personal narrative with a cast of characters, I still would've enjoyed it despite its simplicity as a game. Even though the aquatic simulation feels too surface-level at times, I can't deny the game's beautiful imagery, education-minded ambition, or tranquil appeal.

One of my favorite RPGs in recent memory just got easier to replay. That's a win.

About the only desire it does not quite satisfy is the one for a heavy, involved plot.

It's an okay-at-best tower defense title that treads familiar ground. Coming off the original, that's a huge downgrade.

Rain is not quite the model of refinement that some of its PlayStation Network peers have been, but it's an overwhelmingly amiable, effectively cultivated little adventure. Calming and scary, amusing and sorrowful, Rain is a game that jogs calmly through a gamut of emotions, rather than sprints headlong into mood whiplash, and it's incredibly difficult to ever dislike it, even during its twitchier moments. Rain is, above all, a most balmy experience.

I actually found myself enjoying it slightly. Granted, not enough to play it for a very long stretch, but it's certainly eye-opening when compared to everything else available, and a title worth playing at least once just to see what everyone was going on about when the game debuted in 1996.

I couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised with Max: The Curse of Brotherhood. It’s a game full of wonder and magical moments, that while light on actual narrative, still delivers a world that is hard to forget.

While the bland nature of the dungeon designs and ease of the adventure make it difficult to recommend to hardened DRPG players, those looking to get into dungeon crawlers may find the simplicity of the title a poor representation of what it usually found in the genre.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, despite its issues, is still an improvement over the original Xenoverse, although minimally.

A forgetful story, performance issues, and an unexplained tower defense element hold Van Helsing back from living up to its true potential, and what's left meanders the line between standard and boring.

Alone With You truly is special. The unassuming nature of its visuals didn’t prepare me for how impactful the narrative was going to be. It may not be the most involved of games, but it latches onto your heart and doesn’t let go. The game sticks with you well after the credits.

If you go into Gato Roboto with the only expectation being “Metroid but with a cat protagonist,” you won’t likely be disappointed. But if you hope for anything beyond that, you’ll likely wind up entertained but unsatisfied.

In terms of balance, it’s brilliant.

Once you get past the slightly budget look of the UI and occasional control jank, there is a solid core of a pretty damn good stealth game here. Give him a chance, and Styx might just steal your heart (only to pawn it at a fraction of its value, the little bastard).

It's a Team Ninja action game first, and an oddball isekai story second. It's also one of the weirdest games I've reviewed in a while because it speaks to me in a lot of ways, but it wears its flaws on its sleeve.

The actual gameplay feels quite disparate from the story and Quico's journey, unfortunately. The jumping, climbing and head-scratching never seem tied to the greater challenge of dealing with the addiction of a loved one. Though they are disconnected, the actual puzzles are still inventive and add to the experience, but the platforming elements can be weak.

Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds is a simple game that anyone can pick up and play, but belies a deeper feel for combos like a traditional fighting game would, while adding a minimal skill tree for damage and speed boosts like an RPG. It's deep without being too deep, which makes it just the right amount of fun.

Dreadnought is off to a good start. Whether Yager's pretty, engaging space battler has long-term legs will depend on how it grows the ship roster, and on how many people, overall, are willing to commit.

It’s a really f.cking stupid game, and that’s what I loved about it. It seems like it’s almost doomed to be overlooked, but this is a classic case of the pros outweighing the cons. Super Daryl Deluxe has cult classic written all over it.

A quaint game and a splendid diversion from the rest of the Apple Arcade lineup. It's not the type of game people are going to subscribe to the service just to play, but it is a wonderful supplement to the more time-consuming titles available.

It has a few games I’m already well acquainted with, alongside a few other obscure titles that I might not have tried on their own. It gives me the comfort of familiarity and the thrill of exploration. Sure, some of the games aren’t very good, but they’re at least bad in an almost impressive way. It’s a lot like Taito and Hamster put together a mix tape specifically for me and left it in my locker.

Yooka-Replaylee is clearly better in a lot of places than the game it was based on, and Playtonic have finally delivered a masterclass in the buddy-duo collectathon series. My only hope is it doesn't take another 10 years to get a new game in the franchise. If the developer takes the lessons it has learned from this game and expands upon it further, it's only a matter of time until we see a Yooka-Laylee 3D sequel down the line, or at least something new for retro nostalgia fans.

If you want to be told a vexingly bizarre story presented with a real sense of style, The Chinese Room may have exactly what you want. If you're a massive survival horror fan who wants to be made to scream, however, you probably want to stick your snout in someone else's offal.

Ultimately, South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play! is a disappointment. It's not exactly a bad game -- the Tower Defense gameplay is competent enough -- but it fails to do anything that makes it worth being considered anything more than simply "alright." There are ultimately far more charming and addictive Tower Defense games out there for your money, ones that are guaranteed to entertain more than this one does.

Yurukill: The Calumniation Games is greater than the sum of its parts. The bullet hell sections are fun and challenging if a bit drab in design and variety while the escape room sections have good character interactions but are far too simple and tame for what you might expect in a game about an amusement park where people can be murdered with the push of a button. Tear them apart and you get two substandard games that likely wouldn’t be worth anybody’s time. Keep them together, however, and you’ve got a one-of-a-kind experience that’s worth checking out.

My lack of enthusiasm for the multiplayer is mirrored by my experience with the rest of the game. Unity does take a few extra strides towards advancing the series, but in many ways it feels like a step back from Black Flag.

Perhaps the game could have benefited from more enemies, events, discoveries, or more unique items. The neon charm was always a pleasure to play through, but overall I felt Heavy Bullets wore thin over time. If you’re a huge fan of rogue-like dungeon crawlers it’s worth a shot, but not six bullets.

Despite some lingering issues with the formula as a whole, Borderlands 3: Guns, Love, and Tentacles has a little more heart in it than the first DLC.

Ten years after it debuted on a handheld a fifth the size of a PS4, Patapon remains an utterly unique experience. For the life of me I couldn't tell you what lessons it could hold for future games, but I'm glad it's in a position for more folks to enjoy all over again.

It's a one-trick pony, but it's a good trick indeed.

The deciding factor for Hammerwatch depends on if you’re planning on playing it cooperatively. If you've got a buddy or two who would play through the game with you and you enjoy some mindless hacking and/or slashing, then it will not disappoint.

Ultimately, Zombies II doesn't quite have the controls to make it stand up against some of the other, better iPhone shooters on the market, nor does it add to the franchise enough to feel like a worthy sequel.

Destiny: Rise of Iron is a weird cookie. Bungie clearly put its live team in charge on this one, as there's nowhere near the amount of completely new-feeling stuff packed in as there was in Taken King -- and with so many people getting winded, a step that big was really needed. Yet, if I assess Destiny right now as a total package, with four expansions under its belt and hundreds of [good] tweaks and patches, it's easier to recommend.

Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is a remarkable experience. It takes the classic farming formula and gives it a purpose beyond just seeing how many S-ranked tomatoes you can grow. With its focus on family, legacy, and living a good life, this is a farming sim where what you do away from the fields is as important as what you do when you’re tilling that land. It’s a game that encourages a healthy work-life balance, and there is no better lesson we need in our modern era than that.

I really wanted to love this game and there are elements about Directive 8020 that I thoroughly adored. It could have been up there with the greats, sitting alongside House of Ashes for best Dark Picture. Sadly, Directive 8020 fails from a narrative and gameplay standpoint, and while it does redeem itself from an overbearing saggy middle, it doesn't do enough for me to ignore its glaring flaws. If you don't mind the repetitive gameplay that flatlines any built momentum and tension, then Directive 8020 may hit like Until Dawn did back in 2015. It had huge potential, but may have needed more time in cryosleep.

It's a title that packs a ton of content and gameplay onto a single disc, and its import options for songs from previous titles will pad your song selections nicely. But it's also an experience that feels remarkably similar to last year's offering, and that's unfortunate.

For 10 bucks, you're getting a personality-driven rhythm romp with the hindsight of a decade plus of genre experience.

With better co-op, this could have been a truly great experience, but it's still highly enjoyable, and you can't demand much more than that.

If you are a fan of mindless, old-school action games you really owe it to yourself to give Blood on the Sand a try. I promise you will be thoroughly entertained. The minute things start to feel repetitive, the game throws in a random driving level or a ludicrous cutscene that you only wish could be rewound and watched again.

The emphasis on freedom is undermined by the game being a series of challenges. The allure of exploration is undone by the ability to teleport anywhere. The loose and wacky physics system belies the real-world setting. These are all disconnects that Steep can't reconcile, and it's a stranger and more off-putting experience because of it.

Even if it isn’t everything it could be, Space Dave! is still a damn fun shooter and the exact type of game I want to pick up when I only have a few free minutes of downtime available. It’s fast, frantic, and frequently calling me back to beat my high score. The arcade scene may be deader than the Ouya, but Dave is doing his darndest to keep the spirit of its golden age alive and relevant in this modern era of gaming.

Despite the fact that it's depth is mostly an illusion, Double Dragon for iOS is a well produced, fun little beat 'em up that might not give you the classic retro experience you remember, but does present some kickass brawling action. With multiple characters and Achievements to unlock, there's plenty of action to keep dedicated gamers interested.

It may not hook me the way a standard entry in the series does – or even that wonderful home makeover spin-off – but it absolutely feels right as a free-to-play game on my phone.

I didn't expect the game to grip me in the way it did, and I certainly couldn't have predicted how excited I would become at the prospect of getting people to their jobs in time. Cities in Motion 2 takes a mundane and, frankly, boring subject matter, and makes it genuinely compelling. It has made my dreary real-life bus journeys a tiny bit more interesting.

Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise is a passionate retelling of one of history's most violent, bare-bones, and overwhelmingly macho tales. In that capacity, it does a great job. But it's not quite the masterpiece it could have been, let down by repetition, unlock grinds, and a lack of polish in narrative and mechanics.

Though slightly wanting when compared with its Souls contemporaries, Steelrising still offers up challenging combat, inventive enemies, and an attractive and atmospheric take.

It sounds like a cash-in of the highest caliber, but the folks over at Supermassive managed to balance their IP and show restraint in a way that very few developers are capable of.

FTG may be a bit rough to get into at first, but with a little dedication and the right type of niche desires this may be a little slice of heaven for you. If you aren't interested in the subject matter I'd suggest finding another tactical strategy game to enjoy.

It has been a long time since I've played a game so self-aware of its own flaws, yet so proud to embrace, even celebrate them.

A sluggish camera, some bad gadgetry, inadequate fighting mechanics, poorly utilized stealth system and really sh.tty rhythm segments really injure what could have been a complete package.

Oh, and the "physics" are absolutely fine, you whiny bastards.

Say what you will about the camera or the silly story, but the combat in Sigma Plus is unmatched. There's a fantastic action game under all of the name changes and feature additions that have been tacked on over the years. Aside from the non-optional rear-tap Ninpo addition, the new Vita features aren't even worth messing with.

It's simple, yet challenging, and although it seems low-tech, it actually gives you some rather high-tech contraptions to overcome. It's not just one of the best AR games available, but one of the most fun, challenging, and satisfying puzzle titles on the Vita in general.

Overall, it hits its niche. It lands on the edges of the sweet spot for modern simulators. It manages to be fun and atmospheric. It’s a hard day’s work, but someone has to do it.

Quantum: Recharged didn’t set my world on fire, nor do I think it was really expected to. It’s a revival of an old formula intended to sit alongside the rest of the Recharged series. If you’ve already been following the series, you probably already know you’ll enjoy it. Otherwise, you can skip over it and not really miss much, but it’s definitely worth trying out. You might find yourself getting sucked in, at least for a little while.

Ultimately, Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls just didn't click for me the same way previous games did.

The Mage's Tale represents an early experiment for VR RPGs -- a minor milestone. There's still a long way to go until people are "jacked-in" for hours at a time a la Sword Art Online, but with projects like this leading the way we'll get there sooner than later.

It's deja vu all over again.

And now, this episode's defining choice - one that actually does promise to reverberate through the next two episodes - pits doing the right thing against doing right by the people I care for. And who's not to say that the latter isn't the "right thing" in its own way?

The Making of Karateka feels like it was told by someone who really loves video games, whereas Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story feels more like it was told by someone who loves Jeff Minter. It’s more interested in showing the man and less about telling his story. Instead, Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story just feels like an organized box of stuff. It’s a pretty great box of stuff, but it should have been more than that.

While there's only so much you can do with a dancing game concept, after playing so much Dance Central over the years, the ancillary modes all seem pretty rote. There's a loose campaign (that's not really engaging enough to follow through with), free play, and a bare-bones weight loss mode. "Dance Machine" attempts to try something new, randomizing routines under the guise of helping aliens refuel their ship, but I found myself just gravitating back toward freeplay after a few rounds.

République is a competent stealth game that leaves plenty of room for improvement. While it weaves a number of intriguing plot threads into an interesting story full of socio-political motifs, it's ultimately an uneven ride that could have done a better job conveying its ideas.

Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars threatens to be a classic, an interesting, and frequently clever third-person platformer that oozes character. With a bit more polish and direction, it could have been one of the best Wii games of 2008, especially for gamers looking for classic third-person action gaming in an original universe. Regrettably, monotonous combat and occasionally baffling goals keep it from greatness.

Technically, it should get a higher score than its Wii counterpart since its graphics are better, it has more content, and its online is more robust. However, I can't say that any of this actually makes the game any better, it just makes for more of it. More of an 8.5 is still an 8.5.

The 3D effects and dual-screen interface simply aren't enough to warrant a full $20 upgrade, but the fact remains that the game is as classic as ever and worth playing. If you're a shoot-'em-up junkie you likely won't feel the sting of the price tag, but everyone else will want to wait for a sale.

Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni reminds me a lot of Senran Kagura Burst in that it feels like a rough draft of greater things to come. The combat is there, and the game looks amazing, but with an overabundance of uninteresting plot and a lack of original or compelling personalities, I found myself skipping over more of the game than I should have in order to keep myself entertained.

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.

Competent is definitely not the worst descriptor a game can attain, but I’d be happier if Dread Templar had found a way to truly distinguish itself. When I find myself with that retro-shooter itch, I can’t see myself coming back to this one. It takes more than good gunplay to make an experience memorable, but there isn’t much more to Dread Templar than that.

It's a shame that a good game is held back by incredibly boring design decisions. I think Greedfall is on the verge of greatness but falls short in too many areas to really go down as a must-play. It's absolutely an enjoyable romp, just one plagued by the thought of what could have been.

Army of Two has many good ideas but ultimately falls flat on its promise. It's got some fun moments of cooperativity, some clever mechanics, and an unusually badass multiplayer mode, but its horrible controls and vanilla campaign mode prevent Army of Two from being even an above-average game.

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is sterile on the surface, but a functional as hell fighter. I'm fine with that. Are you?

A solid point-and-click adventure with a fresh twist, though it stumbles into many of the standard pitfalls for the genre. The story is largely respectable and interesting, while not at the top of the pile. If you’re a big fan of the genre or an old fan of Larry who wants to check in on him, you should absolutely give this game a go as close to release as you can. For everyone else, a fun time lies in wait, provided you can tolerate the infuriating puzzles.