It’s a razor-thin wire to walk in making this feel rewarding. Too far on one side, and it’s masochistic; too far on the other, and it’s not enough of a challenge. Somehow, Sloclap strikes dead center. Sifu is a challenge worth taking on and overcoming. It’s a story of vengeance with a little heart at the end, and though it might not land perfectly, it’s got a lot of style and action to back it up.

From top to bottom, Saros exudes triple-A excellence with stunning visuals, expert sound design, and some of the most tightly-crafted third-person action gameplay in recent memory.

Slayin' is one of the best games I've played on iOS in some time. I'm really glad that it keeps In-App-Purchasing down to a minimum, and delivers enough thrills (retro or otherwise) to justify the meager price tag. If you're a fan of retro games and prefer gaming in small chunks, give this a shot immediately.

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.

Far Cry 4 could have all of the multiplayer elements stripped away and it would still be a very strong game. If you enjoyed its predecessor and didn't grow tired of Ubisoft Montreal's open world formula, you'll have a blast living the experience again.

This is a VR game that will inspire others to make their own VR games. It's a high-quality product that makes me upset it's an Oculus exclusive. I still think that VR games have a long way to go, but Wilson's Heart is a strong foot forward towards realizing the true impact virtual reality can have. It doesn't rely on jump-scares to freak out the player but instead opts to make them uneasy and uncomfortable with its environment and brilliant setpieces. If you have the capacity to play Wilson's Heart, do it. Then send me a PM so we can talk about all the super cool spoilery moments that are unmatched in the medium and genre.

Mario Kart World is the latest and potentially greatest in the long-running arcade racer franchise, brought to the next level with the Nintendo Switch 2's hardware and an expansive roster of racers, tracks, and endless fun to be had.

This is not only a great example of a professional and credible free-to-play game, but it's also one of the best first-person shooters I've played.

Deathloop combines a classic Arkane stealthy-shooty foundation with a genuinely interesting and fun premise.

Gratifying predatory battles, a unique visual exhibition, and a variety of engrossing game modes makes Conviction an absolutely solid experience that nobody should feel disappointed in.

This is some of the most fun I've had with a game so far this year, and it will go down as one of the best side-scrolling shooters of all time.

The brief respites from the unrelenting horror of the situation -- being Batman to Duck's Robin, telling stories of better times to Clementine as she falls asleep on your lap -- merely exist to make the sequences which follow all the more painful.

A few minor technical flaws keep me from giving it a perfect score, but Observer is one of my favorite games in a year that has much to offer.

Even though Golf Story isn't quite what I expected it would be, it is an absolute delight. It's more than just a golf game with RPG mechanics, but it's not quite a full RPG with golf mechanics either. It lies in a sweet spot in the middle, where people who care about one but not the other can still get into it.

An incredibly deep videogame that will have gamers enthralled well into 2009. It looks solid, plays superbly, and is a truly refined simulation of golf that obscures its few flaws very well. EA Tiburon has set the bar so high for itself that I can’t envision many ways in which Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2010 can be a better game.

The Bug Butcher gets chaotic, but rarely is it frustrating. Even when the screen is packed with enemies, you still have this overall awareness of where you should be standing, and when. The difficulty curve is spot on. It does a stellar job of making you feel mostly in control -- and, at times, over-powered -- without letting you sleepwalk to victory. You'll have to work for those high scores.

D4 has me intrigued, mostly because I felt a genuine attachment to the characters. I want to see this journey through to the end, and the classic Swery wackiness kept me interested throughout the relatively familiar adventure genre gameplay.

This is legit, folks. A 10-12 hour Half-Life might finally be enough for you to spring for a VR headset. We can only hope it similarly reinvigorated Valve.

If we’re setting off to new horizons and, eventually, a new Mass Effect, then Mass Effect Legendary Edition serves as a solid collection of this trilogy. This is everything these three games were, and still are to many fans, preserved for time. Just like the capsule Liara makes during Mass Effect 3, this is what can hopefully stand the test of time and carry what this trilogy is—its characters, its worlds, and its stories—forward for ages to come.

If you're looking for a puzzle game that will make you both laugh and jump, I can easily recommend Please, Don't Touch Anything, even if you've played the original. For $15, you get hours of gameplay in a polished experience, which is a steal compared to most of the other expensive titles on the Oculus Store. [Tested with Oculus Rift]

Date Everything! is a clever, creative, and charming masterpiece in the dating sim genre. It’s innovative and addictive, with A+ voice acting, stellar character design, and genuinely hilarious gameplay. It’s the best dating sim I’ve ever played.

Castlevania Advance Collection really showcases a side of Konami we don't see very often anymore.

It's as simple as this: if you want to have fun with friends in a rhythm game, buy Rock Band 3, but if you want to learn guitar, buy Rocksmith. It works, it's fun, and no strange man with a handlebar mustache will force you to play Soul Asylum here.

All in all, the game is must-play for anyone studying game design and/or fans of high-pressure gameplay. Bit.Trip Beat feels like a an intentional deconstruction of videogames as a whole, with all forms of complexity stripped away in favor of delivering a simple, concentrated experience. This lack of pretense isn't totally new; WarioWare and Shadow of the Colossus both went for it in their own ways, but never to this extreme.

If you had to pick out a single Overcooked 2 DLC, Campfire Cook Off would be my recommendation without hesitation. It adds depth to the usual proceedings without going overboard on complexity, and the clever new backpack mechanic encourages even deeper teamwork. You can't go wrong.

Above all, I like the way that Boomerang X sprinkles in combat abilities and just-fussy-enough enemy types. It’s all layered on without needlessly complicating the whole thing. This game starts fun, and it ends fun. There’s no time for your mind to wander, or get twisted up trying to remember the controls, or feel too stressed out. It’s a great flow.

Inti Creates could've done "more of the same" and called it a day, but the new characters lend Curse of the Moon 2 a ton of flexibility, the co-op support is commendable, and the subtle refinements can be found far and wide if you go back to play the original game after spending a weekend with the sequel. Curse of the Moon isn't just some quaint offshoot of Bloodstained. It's leading the charge.

The game oozes quality from every pore and provides a stern answer to people who think writing in videogames can't be mature or deep.