Alienation is one of the best-feeling twin-stick shooters I've played, so I can't be too bummed. It wasn't long before I had that realization, and now that I'm 20 hours and several character save files in, I'm even more convinced. Housemarque could stand to flesh out the endgame content and also add support for local co-op, but even if it doesn't, I love what's here.

I couldn't shake the feeling that I was playing the unholy union of Hotline Miami and Mirror's Edge that I didn't know I was missing in my life.

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.

Mighty Switch Force is the best Mighty installment yet, even if it still feels like a tease. It's a game of cops and robbers, the sexy future edition, that blends light running-and-gunning with crazy platform manipulation. Once again, WayForward proves that it knows what its doing when it comes to downloadable titles on a Nintendo service.

Dungeon Encounters is one of the best games I’ve played this year. I get that may be kind of hard to believe given its stripped-down presentation. After all, this isn’t exactly the type of game we expect to come from Square Enix, a developer that is no stranger to extravagant graphics and battle systems. But if you’re judging it on looks alone, you’re really not going to be able to see the rewarding dungeon crawler found within. Give it a shot, and once you get into it, you might see it the way I do: as a gripping, strategic adventure that is not only a game but a celebration of one of the great innovations of the turn-based RPG genre.

The Real Texas is an incredibly smart game, particularly in how it deals with large metaphysical ideas and conveys them to the player. The dialogue is well written and the humor is one of game's brightest aspects. Although not all of the ideas work out perfectly, this is certainly an experience that is hard to find anywhere else and is certainly worth trying out.

If you’re looking for an enjoyable RPG with some novel ideas and strong presentation behind it, Voice of Cards can easily eat up a weekend or two. It’s sweet and doesn’t overstay its welcome, even when I wished it would. While those factors aren’t enough for it to match up against the best-in-class competitors, there are many worse ways to spend a cozy fall evening than curled up with Voice of Cards.

A great game.

Pushmo is not remarkable enough to justify a 3DS purchase on its own, but it is certainly another in a growing group to chip away at apathetic feelings toward the system.

Go into No More Heroes 3 with an open mind and enjoy the ride.

Outside of hating action RPGs or not having $20, I can't think of another reason to pass on this game.

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.

Although it doesn't necessarily justify the HD treatment at every turn, the core game is worth playing whether you're a fan of the franchise, or just enjoy challenging tactical action. If Square keeps highlighting and pushing quality experiences like this, it will prove to more people it hasn't lost its touch.

Man, I really wish the game could have been called Gears of Warcraft: Wii Edition. I'd bet dollars to donuts that with that name, it could have sold a trillion copies.

A fantastic way to spend an evening, and it improves and builds on the strengths of the original in iterative but meaningful ways. Whatever happens next, I’m fully invested in this series. The price is more than fair, and it’s a unique passion project that’s so dang wholesome and smile-inducing. It’ll montage dance its way into your heart and prove that ground pies, picked up and cleaned off, can still be delicious, perfectly sanitary sources of nourishment.

It's hard not to recommend Retribution. You're getting a standalone experience with an exceptionally large amount of replayability, depending on how into Warhammer 40,000 you are. And even if you ultimately only touch one of the campaigns, try out the multiplayer for a bit, and dabble in The Last Stand, it's worth picking up.

It wasn’t until the last act of the game that the fires of my enthusiasm met with a damp log. It wasn’t enough to put me out entirely, but it did take down the heat. Starstruck sets itself up for a homerun and winds up just making it to fourth base. It filled out the paperwork correctly, but forgot to sign and date the bottom. Uh, what I’m saying is that with a bit more time dedicated to its storytelling, it could have been the complete package. As it stands, you might be impressed by its personality, but you won’t necessarily be starstruck.

A lot of my driving fantasies were realized in this game. I found myself grinning the whole time, gripping the hell out of the controller, leaning into turns with my body, gritting my teeth as I mashed on the nitro button to boost past rivals. If you've ever found yourself daydreaming about whipping past slow cars on the highway, passing on the sidewalk, or bashing police cars off the road, you're going to love this game.

Persona 5 Strikers suffers from some of the same faults as other Musou games, but this collaboration highly benefits from the strength of the source material. Even if you have no interest in the genre, if you enjoy Persona in any fashion, this is worth picking up at some point as you patiently wait for the next big entry.

Kingdom Battle may have proven that a Mario and Rabbids crossover can work, and work well. But Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope has cemented this as a franchise in my eyes, one that is worth playing if you’ve got any interest in lighthearted tactics with a Mario and Rabbid twist.

Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore is such an unjudgmental love letter to Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon. It’s a reminder that whether or not a game is good or bad isn’t the whole store. It’s more complex than that. The internet found legitimate entertainment in the CD-i Zelda games, and rather than write them off as ridiculous, Seedy Eye dug in and asked why. It found what was so compelling about those astounding failures and applied those lessons in a thoughtful and deliberate way. The result transcends its influences and takes on a life of its own.

If you are at all a fan of puzzle games, play Tumblestone. Its intelligent spin on a simple mechanic forces players to plan ahead and think about the consequences of their actions. There is a veritable ton of single-player content, which unfortunately must be completed in order to unlock the rule-changing modifiers for use in the game’s arcade mode. It truly shines when playing with friends in the same room as you all shout expletives while simultaneously thinking that the winner must be a complete genius.

For a game made by one guy in his bedroom over the summer, Beat Hazard Ultra is an interesting treat. The controls are tight, the weapons are unique and varied, and the novelty of using your own songs gives you an endless library of levels and enemy variety.

Easily one of the most intriguing games I've played in quite some time. It’s as if Persona and Phoenix Wright got together and had a little demon spawn that I didn't want to put down -- no matter how disturbing it can be at times.

Chronicles of Mystara is worth the purchase for any fans of beautiful sprite-based artwork or classic beat 'em ups. It's only flaws come from the technical limitations of its time and the design decisions that defined the arcade era. Gauntlet, Golden Axe, and Cadash all suffer from similar issues. Thankfully, Shadow Over Mystara trounces them all. It's the king of D&D-themed arcade action games, and should be respected as such.

Warriors Orochi 3 is quite possibly my favorite Warriors game of the series. It's stuffed to the gills with content, featuring enough characters, stages, and unlockables to keep the hardcore fan enthralled for months.

STASIS is one of the most memorable experiences I've had from gaming in quite a while. Some puzzles can be frustratingly obtuse, but the majority are a pleasure to solve.

Had Vanillaware crafted a title where the story and the action wove into one another flawlessly, we'd be looking at the greatest game the developer has ever made, without question. Unfortunately, that's not what this game is, and while what is here is great, it's crushing to see just how close 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim came to perfection.