Fate of Atlantis by comparison actually feels like a premium creation while forging its own identity.

Shakedown: Hawaii might play similarly to Retro City Rampage, but it takes place in a markedly different world.

It so effortlessly executes its central premise that thinking up any negatives would mostly be nitpicking.

A Hat in Time: Nyakuza Metro is an instant recommendation.

Although I had my share of frustrations with Spark 2 during my first playthrough, I'm sure repetition and better knowledge of level layouts would make for a much smoother second playthrough. Die-hard fans of the Sonic Adventure games are absolutely gonna have a blast looking for the fastest routes possible and it's still a solid experience overall. But, I just can't help feeling like it's a less polished experience compared to its 2D predecessor.

It's great to see Ubisoft fully embrace the wilder, more mythic side of the series.

The non-horde levels are all well-crafted. To exceed, you're going to need to have a solid grasp on strategically throwing food, flipping switches to rearrange the kitchen layout during key moments, and being efficient with when and where you move your pots, pans, and bowls. Both in scope and challenge, Night of the Hangry Horde is exactly where I want Overcooked 2 DLC to land. I wasn't keeping precise track of time, but it took us three decently lengthy sessions to finish all 20 levels.

The combo of real-time lanes and card-based abilities allows Teppen to feel more intense than most of the other card games on the market.

Assassin's Creed Odyssey: Fate of Atlantis has been one of the more consistent DLC storylines in the history of the series.

I urge you to pick The Messenger back up and give Picnic Panic a shot: if only for more sassy shopkeeper dialogue.

So unless you're in the mood to ruin your day and possibly take a few years off of your life, do yourself a favor and skip Turok: Escape from Lost Valley. Whatever the core concept was, it has not turned out well.

I'm just not as smitten with Electronic Super Joy 2 as I was with the first. The free price tag makes this a lot more palatable, but I do believe more could have been done here. It's a little disappointing, but still a fun time that fans of the first are sure to get something out of. Just don't go in expecting anything dramatically different.

Metro Exodus: The Two Colonels is light on action and heavy on narrative, but will please dedicated Metro fans with its gripping, even unnerving, lore. While its smart story succeeds in engaging the player dramatically, the lack of extended gameplay sequences may leave some feeling like they're watching an interactive movie, rather than playing a new chapter of an action-adventure title. A short journey, yes, but still a trip worth taking.

This is a Shantae fan's Shantae game, and just as it gets going, it abruptly ends. (Part I review)

Exit the Gungeon is an interesting experiment and a clever way to keep the series going without copying what's already been done; but along the path to mobile, some crucial elements of the DNA of the franchise were lost. I'll still be following it through its post-launch journey, however, and Gungeon fanatics will find plenty of references to smile at.

Spidersaurs is only worth a short afternoon as part of the Apple Arcade's festivities, but I actually wouldn't mind seeing this crew again in the slightest. With tighter control on the engine and more refined mechanics, this could end up being one of the stronger Contra sendups in recent memory, alongside of Blazing Chrome.

Agent Intercept feels like a free-to-play game with timers without the option to turn them off. I hope this isn't a sign of what's to come for the Apple Arcade, because I'd love to be able to play arcade-like jaunts such as Agent Intercept unencumbered.

I can handle a world full of chaos, where my actions create ripple effects and I have to figure out ways to get around the messes I cause. I can even handle inconsistent hazard movements and the not-quite-frequent-but-certainly-not-occasional feeble hit detection. But what I can't handle is character movement that feels as though the game is flipping a coin to see whether or not Frogger will end up where I want him to. And while that may not have stopped me from seeing Frogger in Toy Town through to the end, it certainly kept me from enjoying it.

Sneaky Sasquatch was a pleasant surprise. It's not a game-changer by any means and I wish it was expanded upon a bit (maybe for a full console release), but it's a great family experience. Come into it with an open mind.

Despite my disappointment with the first DLC (and possibly the structure of the entire season pass going forward if this model is replicated), Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 has a bright future ahead of it.

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.

Manifold Garden has a lot going for it, but above all else, it's simply pleasant.

I want to like Battle Operation 2, I really do. I like the flow of matches, the gameplay is great, and I adore the large roster of mobile suits. However, every system surrounding that solid foundation seems to undermine it at every step. Maybe future updates can salvage Battle Operation 2's myriad problems. But, they've all these issues have probably been present since the game launched in Japan over a year ago; that doesn't bode well for anything getting fixed. As is, the state of Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation 2 is inexcusable, especially for a sequel.

Having an extended campaign with some really out-there storylines would have been a fantastic use of paid DLC, but for now you're stuck just doing the same errands over and over or restarting once again.

There are many more baffling design decisions or ideas hampered by poor execution I could cover, but honestly, this is way too long a review already and I'm only going to get more upset the further I dig. I wish there was some redeeming value to Silver Falls: 3 Down Stars or it ended up in a "so bad it's good" situation, but it's just a bland survival-horror game that's light on scares and heavy on aggravation. When I wrote about it back in 2018, I had hope it would end up as one of the great final games for my beloved Nintendo 3DS. But after a month of struggling to get through it, that hope is dead.

The Bad Seed is a natural extension of everything that made Dead Cells so tireless and long-lasting. The new levels don't feel arbitrarily tacked-on (even though they essentially are), and you don't need to be a masterful player to conquer them. I could go for a few more DLC packs with this exact structure, easily.

It took Team Ninja over eight months to get to this point, but we finally have a post-launch DLC that's worth picking up.

Like many expansive online projects, the opportunity is there to really get sucked into a new and exciting world.