Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX retains the essence of the Project DIVA series, but it's definitely its own unique thing. It may not appeal to all fans of the vocaloid songstress' previous work, and it's certainly my least favorite outing of hers in the realm of games.

Tharsis is a good way to spend 10-30 minutes to see what happens on the next journey. It's a very harsh battle against the unknown, and can be utterly soul-crushing. Perhaps too soul-crushing, actually. Players will, at times, feel so defeated and useless that playing again seems pointless. And maybe that's the point, considering the circumstances.

It's a videogame about guns that pretends to be something deeper while striving for nothing more. If you keep that in mind, and you're happy to play along, you'll get what you paid for...But you won't get anything else.

I never feel I actually earn my victories in Titanfall Assault, and that’s the reason I’m probably going to stop playing in a few short weeks. Strategies simply devolve into who can drop the most Titans and grunts on the other in the quickest succession, crushing them like a mighty Monty Python foot. I don’t think that is the intention of the developers, but it certainly is, from my experience, how most matches are won and lost.

I'm emotionally torn on Oninaki because there's so much to like here.

There's a decent multiplayer action game concept buried in here, absolutely. Some of these characters deserve to live on in future projects. At the same time, it feels like there are only so many team dynamics to experience. It's all too fleeting. Once you've hit that point of no return, there's no real motivation to continue. I'd like to pick this back up one day, but realistically, I don't see that happening...If you're even remotely interested in Bleeding Edge, play it now while the matchmaking is still lively.

Overall, Air Twister is a fine arcade title. It’s initially fun to play, and its trippy fantasy visuals do a decent job of drawing you in. However, once you’ve managed to topple the final boss and are treated to the end cutscene, there really isn’t much to keep you playing or cement the game in memory. The main story mode becomes just what you grind on to afford better butt dressings. I think the fallen swan deserved better.

If you’re looking for a serviceable racer to play on the side that’s full of old school unlocks it’s a fine option; provided you can get past a few hurdles.

If you’re the type of person who thinks that “fun” is the only relevant criteria for what makes a good game, then have at it. I sincerely think you’ll find a lot to like, and that’s rad. However, if you’re someone who yearns to see growth and advancement within the medium, then this is going to just befuddle you. I think Neowiz shows off a great deal of talent with Lies of P. I just hope what they come up with next is something actually original.

Not a terrible game, not a great game, and from my point of view, not worth $40. [Tested with Rift]

Arkham VR constantly walks the line between proof-of-concept and full game. It's legit in that it does feel like a real Arkham joint (Rocksteady was involved to boot) and not an outsourced addendum, but you can't actually move around -- instead, it feels more like an "escape the room" simulator, but if you couldn't actively walk around and investigate the environment.

I still think it's fun, but this first run at the license from Milestone doesn't come anywhere close to meeting its real potential.

If you’re looking for a jump-out action packed horror game, The Town of Light is not for you. But I urge you to open your mind and consider it a separate learning experience.

Although it has a high degree of visual charm and the controls actually work, there's something about the design of the stages that feels off and underwhelming.

Hardcore Final Fantasy nerds will be dazzled by the fan service on offer and will likely let a lot of issues slip by unnoticed, just because Kefka is in it. However, Dissidia really isn't a great game. It's a solid, if annoying, hack n' slash title that had a shedload of potential, but just isn't tight enough to truly realize the greatness it could have achieved.

Aside from the brevity, awful controls, and dull combat, the game is easily recommendable for those looking for that Silent Hill feel.

It still has a lot of baggage to unload (the 3DS and Vita ports aren't even dated yet), but most Mega Man fans will find solace in the fact that it didn't end up being a disaster. Other than the art style, of course.

Shado'O offers a solid tower defense experience, albeit one that doesn't take advantage of its unique setting and story. While mechanically sound, despite some frustrations when it comes to unit placement around the fog, it's nothing you probably haven't played before.

Gravity Rush has everything it needs to be something great, but it takes all the wrong forks in the road and ends up rather unfulfilling. It's a real shame, too, because you it's so clear how brilliant it truly could have been.

The story and characters of The Alliance Alive will stay with me far longer than anything else in the game. Yoshitaka Murayama has proven '90s-style storytelling is still as enrapturing today as it was two decades ago. His work just needs to be paired up with a better game. I respect all of the new gameplay ideas present here, but without fine-tuning, they bring down what should be one of the last great 3DS games.

Overall an enjoyable experience that has a fantastic presentation but just lacks much depth in gameplay.

Unlike their successful big-screen debut, the narrative missteps in Tangled Up in Blue mean that players of the first episode won't immediately fall in love with this motley crew of ne'er-do-wells. Anyone that's already open to their cosmic antics will find a family that seems worth sticking with.

If it wasn’t for this perplexing progression choice made by the developers, and if the story of Deemo: The Last Recital played out at the pace it should, the game would be easy to recommend. In fact, if you love rhythm games, ignore the score below and pick it up for yourself because the music selection is outstanding overall and who knows when next we’ll get something else like it. But know the game isn’t nearly as good as it should be and you may spend far more time than you want repeating the same songs just to advance.

Hohokum may look bright and colorful, but it can feel awfully like stumbling around in a darkened room. It's a double-edged sword. Charting the unknown can feel as stressful as it is intoxicating. There's serenity to be found in the shadows, but it's just as easy to become agitated as you reach out into the black, searching for that elusive light switch.

At the end of the day, there's no justification for a game that forces two loading screens on you before it even begins.

What We Deserve is an action-packed conclusion, but I wouldn't necessarily call it satisfying. It's interesting, because this Michonne series in general hasn't been the best side project, but it's far more satisfying than say, Jurassic Park, which was a failure all around. Grab it all on a sale if you really like the first two seasons.

he games really just have not aged well at all, and the terrible up-and-down of the matches to get you to pump tokens into the game still remain, making it an incredibly frustrating fight.

If you haven't already bought the Wallace and Gromit episodes, don't start with this one -- if you have, then I'm sure you'll join me in looking forward to the next, hopefully more exciting chapter in the saga.

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.

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.

This is the kind of game you can easily give to an elder family member if they are a fan of the show, without ever having to explain how it works. It offers a couple of casual evenings worth of extra NCIS entertainment with your favorite characters, and for some fans that might be just what they want.

NCAA Football 14 is in a weird position and it shows. There are some mild performance issues -- start menus that take an extra few seconds to pop up, slowdown after a turnover, a crash or two -- that feel like the result of the waning console generation.

The combat is fun even for those who are unfamiliar with the series, but there is certainly not enough to entice new players, and many will feel alienated by a story that doesn't much care for them. I personally have no desire the see this game's story reach its conclusion.

There's an easy test to judge whether or not you should pick up The Dark Below: did you play Destiny from launch all the way up until the first expansion? If so, you'll want to get it as soon as possible. If your enthusiasm has faltered over the past few months and you never really got into the first raid, you can wait or pick up the Season Pass at a later date after more incremental improvements have been made.

Its goofy violence and goofier character design, married to its bleak aesthetic, are almost enough to keep players' interest on their own and are complimented well by tightly-designed combat. It's unfortunate that the game doesn't live up to its own potential, though -- the convoluted story wastes the potential of the rad premise, and Silva doesn't do enough to keep the combat fresh for the duration of the game.

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.

What it does differently, it squanders, like the psychological horror aspects that devolve into indifference and annoyance. Even Cthulhu is rendered an inert set piece. The game looks gorgeous. Sometimes the puzzles are great. Sometimes the atmosphere is impressive. Unfortunately, Magrunner fails to live up to the sum of its best parts.

It's definitely not for fans of what survival horror games have become, but fans of old-school, "defense-free" games in the genre or fans of ghostly horror films should give the game a shot.

The Infamy is a little bit too dependent on the assumed purchase of the other two packs. With a cliffhanger ending, and memory fragments to collect across multiple episodes, it's clear that it will be much more poignant as a complete story.

Making the density of sports management accessible and fun is no meager feat, but Konami's lackadaisical approach to the nuts and bolts of sports sims -- animation, physics, controls, collision detection, feedback -- hold Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 back.

I think right now, the most prudent thing to do is to wait for ZeniMax to iron out all of The Elder Scrolls Online's kinks (including how it handles post level 50 content to make it less grindy), and play the console version of the game. Not only will it arrive with all of the updates from the PC version in tow, but it'll also have full native controller support -- which feels more natural than a mouse and keyboard in this instance.

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.

Tex Murphy might be alive in 2014 but he'll need to learn a few more tricks if he's to stay around for another adventure.

I can't help but feel that Gromit's disbelieving stare projects past Wallace and into the offices at Telltale, while the poor clay dog shakes his head in dismay.

As much as I feel like this series is stuck in the shadow of Until Dawn for a large part of the audience, collectively, The Dark Pictures Anthology is becoming something memorable in its own right. I'll keep enjoying these games as long as I can, House of Ashes included.

Ninja Karakuri Den is too short and suffers from a dearth of content, yet it's enjoyable and cheap enough to just barely, barely, squeak by with a recommendation.

It hit me how superficial a lot of the mechanics in Best Friend Forever are. I had thought that, similar to a typical dating sim, you’d have to train specific stats to score points with your lover, but it’s more segregated and mechanical than that. The dog lends a layer of brightness to the game, so it’s not entirely wasted, but from a gameplay standpoint, it’s pointless. From a purely visual novel standpoint, the game is entertaining and well-written, but it fails to make use of the one thing that makes it unique. It has the love it needs, but it will need more training before it can truly be called a "good boy."

What is good here is really good, but what is bad detracts enough that the entire package is a bit of a disappointment. A great piece of science fiction may ask a lot of hard questions and make the audience think. Halfway is not a great piece of science fiction, but it is a good strategy game for those willing to put some effort into it.

Aesthetics, however, can only carry a game so far, and Hell Yeah! doesn't get far before it slides into drowsiness. It's a solid little platformer in many regards, but those playing need to be aware that they run the risk of growing bored and agitated by the recapitulated ideas and unsavory controls.

Rounds out the collection found in the original Kinect Sports with a competent batch of games without a really bad one in the bunch. It can be a good time for families and folks who like to party and ideal in small doses. At the same time, it struggles to be compelling for more than the most casual of encounters and the limitations of the simple games don't really hold up for repeated playing.

It's simply a shame that this full-priced retail title based on a bonus mini-game still feels like, well, a bonus mini-game. The Mercenaries 3D almost feels like a project Capcom used to test the 3DS waters for what's sure to be next year's more complete Resident Evil experience.

I am nothing but conflicted regarding The First Descendant. It’s a Modern Prometheus of parts and ideas that looks and plays wonderfully when it works. However, the Dr. Frankenstein who assembled it is clearly profit-driven and has a bit of a reputation for its microtransactions. Throw in the equivalent of a Dell Dimension 8400 for a server and things look grim. I don’t expect The First Descendant to get a lot of support in the time it’s around, and I’ll enjoy it for what it is, but I won’t make the mistake of believing it will hold much attention outside of a small, dedicated player base.

It's hard to say what it actually is, but I think Ubisoft has managed to distill the formula down to the most basic level possible, and created an AC arcade game that's even more muted than the recent Chronicles offerings. Only those who haven't tired of the setup need apply.

My favorite part of The Medium ended up being its "semi-fixed cameras," which blend old and new design philosophies in a way that seems genuinely palatable in 2021.

Ironically, Atomega's fatal flaw is that it never grew to its full potential. It's a mostly-unique multiplayer game that's good until it's too familiar. Once it's too familiar, it's too small and simple for its own good. Call it growing pains.

If you enjoy crazy stories that constantly top themselves and deep action-RPG conventions that others find frustrating, you'll enjoy The Witch and the Hundred Knight. But with a lot of small adjustments, it really could have been a great gateway into the world of complicated isometric titles.

Beyond that feeling of individuality, I'm just not sold on what Niantic has created here. There are small, annoying issues with storage, access to necessary potion ingredients, and the wild inconsistency of how well it rates my spell tracing, but the far bigger problem with Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is its inability to utilize the IP and the technology in a way that is not only engaging but also distinct from Niantic's other games. I have no doubt in my mind there is a great Harry Potter AR game out there. This just isn't it.

Bejeweled Stars is a fantastic example of what the developer is capable of, and it is only held back by its insistence to monetize users at every turn.

A nice presentation helps make things a little more interesting, but there's still no escaping the fact that Sacred Citadel fails to inspire much passion. It's an okay game, a solid arcade throwback, but it's a mere face in a crowd and doesn't stand out very much.

Scores points for its moments of genuine cleverness and tight, logical design, but the majority of the experience is a lukewarm and superficial one. It tries to merge three types of gameplay together, and while the intention is admirable, the effort made is far from total.

Like the Dissidia series, Jump Force is something I'm going to be coming back to for random bits of fun throughout the years.

Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid suffers from dated visuals, poor presentation, and a serious lack of content, unable to hide its low-budget shortcomings. At its core is something of a slick and wholly-accessible fighting game. Yet without the visual pizazz of the brand, a full, varied roster of characters, or a glut of exciting content to dive into, Battle for the Grid ultimately feels like the unfinished prototype of what could have been a very special release.

Knuckle Sandwich is at its best when it goes off-script. It’s just that when it finally has to go back on-script, we find that the script is a rather tedious one. I spent 15 hours to see the ending in hopes that all the boredom I experienced was building to some sort of pay-off. That there would be some tremendous punchline at the end that brings reason to all my suffering. There was none. Just a fading bruise.

The foundation for a great game is built here, but the gameplay ranges from passable to dull.

Thanks to its pathetically short campaign, dodgy co-op setup and broken multiplayer matchmaking, F.E.A.R. 3 is one of the best shooters I've played presented in the worst possible way. It pains me to have to be so harsh, but there's simply no justification for how this game's excellence has been squandered and ultimately ruined.

I really hope Indigo Disk brings it, because at present, the current incarnation of the season pass is tough to recommend.

As is the case with any free-to-play game, you really have nothing to lose but time by trying out Destiny of Spirits. It helps if you're a hardcore Sony fan and strive for some of the more unique characters, but otherwise the pace is far too slow, and the rewards are far too little for the amount of time you need to invest in it.

There are still great things to be found in the Temple of Osiris, and those who care less about scoring points or who have some good partners to team up with can still find some fun in it. For me, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is a lot like Horus's staff: it is a treasure that can do great things, but it is cursed.

Various Daylife is easily the most niche game on a service that's generally targeting the casual audience. It can be cumbersome, it lacks polish in areas, and it feels underdeveloped. But, it can also find ways to squeeze out a small amount of enjoyment from time to time and as the world opens up, it finds a decent balance between adventuring into the field and the mindless work menus.

A fun, entertaining, but unfortunately disappointing entry in the Sam and Max series. It retains the great writing of the other episodes, but its considerable lack of difficulty and completely lackluster ending make this episode the worst in the series thus far.

Dollar Dash is a serviceable game, even if it doesn't aim very high. If you're bored of constant deathmatches in Spelunky's multiplayer versus mode, or you've saturated every last round of Bomberman and the many clones it spawned over the years, Dollar Dash will give you a few evenings of enjoyment.

While I had issues with Neo Cab, I will admit that it’s worth the fare. It perhaps didn’t set my world on fire, nor do I think it’s going to climb atop anyone’s list of favorite games this year, but it’s at least a nice ride while it lasts.

If you never got the chance to strap on a mask and make some dirty money, The Big Score might still be worth checking out. If you're a seasoned criminal wondering if it's time to get back into the life, you won't find much to pull you back in.

For as much as I enjoyed Fate/Extella, I must admit that there simply isn't enough to keep most people interested in it. This is definitely one for the fans.

After giving it some thought, I actually can see how Onslaught could be someone's game of the year, but only if that someone was very young, and/or has never played a online FPS before.

Nuka-World is big and impressive and flashy, but just like any theme park, it’s all a facade. Peek behind the curtain and you can see the struts and wires that animate the mascots. In Nuka-World’s case, that’s a scaffolding made of bones and spent magazines. It’s up to you if that’s a park you feel like visiting.

It's not an exceptional entry into the genre but a decent play. Fans of arcade-style top-down shooters will likely have fun, particularly if they have an itching to prove themselves on the leaderboards, but most others can probably find better ways to slate their lust for undead slaughter.

Constant C is a solid puzzle platformer that takes a few familiar ideas and mashes them together to create something partially new. The difficulty of the puzzles ranges from trivial to diabolical, with most falling somewhere in between. Its greatest sin is the repetition of certain puzzles, but if that is the worst aspect of Constant C, then it should still please fans of the genre.

For me, Aftershock has simply proven that I’m not going to enjoy Ion Fury no matter how hard I try. My main issues with the game are hard to nail down, but the reality is that it’s just about everything. It’s a game of highs and lows, which just makes an aggravatingly coarse surface. That feeling carries over to the Aftershock expansion. The Build Engine just isn’t enough for me to completely overlook its flaws.

If Callisto Protocol was able to get out of its own way (and was less glitchy at launch), it probably would have been an even bigger hit.

For all its themes of rule-breaking anarchy, Watch Dogs: Legion toes the line as a formulaic, though ambitious, open-world adventure. While it boasts one of the most visually exciting and stunningly authentic locales in the genre's history, Watch Dogs: Legion's gameplay is mechanical, over-familiar, and repetitive, struggling to capture the exciting promise of a fist-pumping, system-smashing revolution.

There's an unshakable sense that almost everything is less finely-tuned than it should be. Still, this could be one of my favorite flawed games of 2020. It could be the one asymmetrical multiplayer title I keep up with for more than a few weeks. (Sorry, Resident Evil Resistance. I tried!). Granted, I'll need IllFonic to get in the weeds and fight the urge to over-balance, and I'll need my fellow mid-level players to stick with it so the rest of us aren't carved up by diehard Predator fans.

Multiplayer is the saving grace of Ironfall: Invasion. Although it doesn't offer anything new, it should scratch that itch for arena shooter fans who are looking for something to play online long term on 3DS.

With some tweaks to the pacing, it could have reconciled its warm, frank look at humanity and been something special.

Aside from the self-contained story arc in a new land, Minecraft: Story Mode: Order Up! serves up exactly what is expected.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare was an acceptable ride from start to finish, but that just isn't enough. It didn't hit the same lows as Ghosts, but it really exposed how long in the tooth Infinity Ward is getting. If Sledgehammer's WWII has a strong debut, they'll without question be the weakest of the three, and Retribution hasn't really helped their case.

I really do feel that there are some great ideas and potential here, though. I enjoyed running around the beautifully serene landscapes as a majestic deer, so if that's all you really expect from The Deer God, then you'll likely get some enjoyment out of it.

When everything is accounted for, Overlord: Raising Hell is an occasionally fun game that is rarely engaging, but always funny.

When the dust settles, Grid 2 serves as a solid enough racing game with generally strong opponent AI. What it does not serve as is a worthy successor to the first game -- instead offering a stripped-down version of itself that is filled with lazy design, unfair AI opponents, special ESPN 'live' broadcasts that no one really asked for, and to top it all off, its bizarrely irritating narrator and loudly drunk or completely apathetic fans.

It offers up a simple combat system that can easily be enjoyed in spurts, a captivating world, and a cheesy veneer that will have you laughing constantly at your ridiculous face in-game. But with the online requirement and microtransactions on top of the existing issues and premium price, it's a bit hard to recommend.

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.

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.

The cheap fan service of Tig (one of my favorites) drew me in, and the idea of slowly working your way into the Sons of Anarchy is fun enough.

It has a lot of good ideas, but none of them are fully fleshed out and turned into truly great gameplay additions. The story is forgettable, the equipment and level ups may as well not even be there, and everything just feels half-finished.

If you can get a group of people together you know to play with, I really do think this game is worth the $25 they're selling it for. It's not perfect, but the first commercial game from an indie developer rarely is. Isotx has shown a ton of promise, and is definitely a company to be looking out for in the future.

It's hard to overlook the shoddy boss battles and the lack of online co-op, but if you've got a PC set up that allows for couch co-op, you could do a lot worse than taking Fist Puncher for a spin.

From a distance, Windbound is a gorgeous oceanic adventure with a fun sailing system that isn't afraid to push back, but up close, the cracks start to show. The game makes a great first impression that ultimately wears thin by the time you've mastered its repetitive resource-gathering roguelike loop.

Twin Mirror is the rare game where I love the world, premise, and characters, but can't actually professionally recommend it. The foundation was laid, but a good story needs more than just the building blocks. In hindsight, following Life is Strange's episodic model might've worked wonders here, as it would've bought Dontnod extra development time along the way. All throughout Twin Mirror, people complain that Higgs abandoned Basswood and won't spend any time there. As it turns out, we need to spend more time in Basswood too.