There's not much going on in Maize. As a video game it fails on both the technical and interactive fronts. The gameplay is so simplistic that it may as well not even exist. Breaking the fourth-wall is cute, but never really amounts to anything other than a cheap laugh. The story is a decent experience thanks to its humor, but everything surrounding it drags it down.

Not a good game, as I have attempted to stress. It is, however, perversely amusing and would actually make for a fun party distraction. It's one of those rare games that, no matter how poorly I may score it, still comes as a recommended purchase. It's a cheap little kart racer that will, at the very least, entertain via irony and still manages to be a competent -- if broken in several ways -- racer.

Although its premise was simple and delightful at first, playing through FEIST was a trying experience and one that I would not want to repeat.

It feels like something that was left on the cutting room floor for good reason instead of a complement to the original game.

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.

Though it has some rough edges, including occasional script-related issues and town-wide events that seem to ignore changes players have enacted around the village, Gleaner Heights has enough content to make it feel like an instant cult classic.

If the eponymous Savage Planet is your Kindred explorer's residence, the space rock called DL-C1 is a timeshare. It's a decent little getaway -- probably worth the investment, a change of pace, and the vacation is over quicker than you'd like. But, despite what the name suggests, Hot Garbage is far from a dump.

All in all, Kane and Lynch is a bad game. With characters like Kane and Lynch, we should have seen more variety in the plot and gameplay -- with developers like IO Interactive, we should have seen better shooting mechanics and level design.

When you factor in Need for Speed's forgettable story, you're left with a slightly above average racing game that's not as enjoyable as past series entries. From a pure gameplay perspective, it works, but it never manages to elevate itself. If you're in the mood for a new cinematic racer though, you could do a whole lot worse.

If Opoona had a more motivating story and more enjoyable in-game tasks, it would rank as one of the best RPGs of the past five years, due in no small part to its innovative battle system and unique in-game world.

There is so much potential in a crossover between the Neptunia and Senran Kagura series that it’s a real disappointment this is the best Tamsoft, Compile Heart, and Idea Factory have to offer. What should have been a celebration of two niche franchises that have defied the odds (and critics) to succeed in this industry is instead yet another forgettable spinoff for two series that have already seen their fair share of forgettable spinoffs. Both franchises deserve better, and quite frankly, so do the fans who have done their part to keep them going.

Outside of the sheer amount of minigames and modes on offer, there isn't a whole lot to unlock in Wii Party U -- what you see is basically what you get. In terms of replay value you'd be hard pressed to be entertained for more than a week by yourself, and with two players, you may get another week or two out of it.

Darkspore isn't perfect, but it's solid, and I'm really happy to see a game in this genre that takes some risks and introduces some new mechanics.

For a game about properly communicating your emotions in order to find success, the developer did a poor job of conveying its own desires to the player. The Act is a rough relationship that woos with visual charm, connects through some fantastic, emotional moments, but leaves the player a bit high and dry, in the end. There might not be another game like it, but there are better fish in the sea out there, even for a romantic gamer.

If you don't find yourself getting excited at the prospect of L-shaped blocks or GamePad play though, you might as well just stick with Dr. Mario Online Rx. Either way, the Wii U's newest entry in the Dr. series is a nice cap on a great first Year of Luigi.

The best thing about Nekoburo: Cats Block is the art style; everything is bright, colorful and super adorable, but take that away and you're left with a generic, poorly translated puzzle game with a tilted playing field that doesn't compliment gameplay.

As you can probably tell from my time with it, Yoshi's New Island isn't a "must have," but that doesn't mean it's a bad game. It's very much by the books based on any genre standard, and there's pretty much nothing new here that you'll need to run out to experience. But even so, fans of the genre will still dig it.

The ease of play, robust upgrade system and mindless shooting should provide plenty of fun if you choose to download. But like my scuffed and worn loafers, the game is showing its age.

The Falconeer tries to be a legit dogfighting game and it plays the part to an extent; but there isn't much holding it all together. I feel like I've said this often in 2020, but I wouldn't mind seeing the developer take another crack at it, because there's a lot of good groundwork here.

Your enjoyment of Minecraft Legends will come down to three questions. 1: Are you in love with Minecraft and its extended universe? 2: Are you hankering for an RTS-style game playable on a console? 3: Do you have a minimum of three friends who are eager to play this game too? If you answered yes to at least two of those questions, you’ll have a good time with Minecraft Legends. For everyone else, Minecraft Legends offers a fairly unique experience and not much more. Just don’t expect to get any mileage out of the campaign.

Despite the time I've spent harping on Aven's issues, it's not necessarily a bad game. Mothership Entertainment has put in a lot of effort to try and create a threatening world for humanity to conquer. It certainly did the former, but the game fluctuates wildly from barely eking out an existence to being devoid of challenge. Humanity can do better on its first settlement among the stars.

Antigraviator feels great to play and has a style that will be familiar to players of F-Zero and Wipeout, but its attempts to differentiate itself like the trap mechanic don't add much to the overall package. It does, however, hit the mark where it counts. The track design is solid, the sense of speed is great, and controls are tight and feel familiar for anyone who's played a racing game.

Regardless of how you feel about the lack of challenge and the simplicity of the design, there aren’t really any noticeable cut corners. It seems to know exactly what it is. It’s a short (3-5 hours) jaunt through a lovingly created resurrection of an old franchise with a lot of untapped potential. It’s maybe not going to set your world on fire, but if you have any affection for Hebereke, then it’s a worthwhile tribute. Even if you don’t have the prior familiarity, its ease, pace, and quirks mean that it will be, at the very least, a comfortable experience...To put it more poetically, Ufouria: The Saga 2 might not be a game for your brain, but it’s one for your heart.

Despite the cliche of the angry video game reviewer who “doesn’t even like video games,” it’s not that fun tearing down the work of people who haven’t done anything catastrophically wrong. Because there is nothing about Valkyrie Elysium that is outright bad or broken. It’s just the experience as a whole is so dreadfully dull.

Powerstar Golf isn't particularly special, but it'll win over the hearts of golf fans for sure. If all you're looking to do is whack a ball down a course on a next-gen system with the occasional bit of positive reinforcement, Powerstar is your huckleberry.

For your seven bucks, you get an extra hour of content that adds a new layer of mystery to the Dead Space universe and a rather shocking ending that would've been compelling if the campaign had been long enough to build up any emotional ties.

While underwhelming from a gameplay standpoint, it's easy to see how FBC: Firebreak could become a fun experience for friend groups looking for a good time in PvE co-op.

Do yourself a favor and purchase any of the other four Fallout downloadable content packs before even contemplating getting this one.