As a whole, Sanctum 2 feels confused. It isn't quite as much tower defense as fans of the first game would probably hope for, since more of the emphasis this time around is placed on the first-person shooting element. It also hides way too much information from the player, leading to a lot of guess-and-check strategies. The game remains a refreshing hybrid of genres, however, and many of the frustrations temporarily wash away as you lay witness to the last enemy in the last wave die, proving that your strategic planning and accurate shooting have paid off.

Ultimate Showdown is a great release, if one of mixed intent. Seemingly for each of its advancements, there is a odd retraction. The new visuals are great, but the customization is weak. The lobby and online options are absolutely superb, but there’s very little here for offline engagement. The product leans heavily on PvP gameplay, but re-uses decade-old netcode. Thankfully, despite these mismatched visions, the quality of Virtua Fighter 5 as a fighting game shines through brilliantly, while the budget price/PlayStation Plus angle makes the title’s negatives far easier to parry.

That’s all you need to know: it’s a PlayStation-era Square RPG. Can you still stand to play Final Fantasy IX and Parasite Eve? Then Chrono Cross is worth your time, and here’s an okay way to play it. Is that era too antiquated for you? Then this remaster has no chance of changing your mind. Regardless of what you think of the game or genre, it’s not a very loving or respectful port, and Chrono Cross deserves better.

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.

Tchia might very well be the most ambitious indie game we see in 2023. This open-air and open-sea adventure takes some of the best gameplay elements from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey and combines them into an adventure that’s filled with heart, humor, and compassion across a breathtaking archipelago. If you enjoy games with exceptionally designed worlds that are meant to be explored with a fine-tooth comb, I can’t see any reason why you wouldn’t love what’s on offer in Tchia.

It may look like a silly anime girl brawler, but the underlying complex fighting system can provide a challenge to even the most seasoned fighting game fan.

It’s not every day that we get an extreme sports game, particularly one on this scale.

This game is amazing, and I would gladly pay forty bucks for it. It almost seems wrong to enjoy a $15 title this much. Quantum Conundrum has more polish and charm than most full-price retail releases, and it plays just as well. It took me about eight hours to get through the story once, and I could easily spend another eight with it.

Every time Moon would lose me with its constant waiting around or head-scratching puzzle solutions, it would win me back with its humor, characters, writing, and music. This is a game that exudes joy, and while I wasn't always having fun playing it, I am grateful that I at least got the chance to experience it.

The deciding factor on whether or not Chronos is worth the $50 asking price is probably how much you love Zelda games or how hard up you are for something that feels like a fully-realized game for the Oculus Rift. Even with satisfying combat, an art style reminiscent of Guillermo del Toro, and virtual reality, I can't help but feel $50 is a smidgen too expensive. I guess that is the price you pay as an early adopter of VR. [Tested with Oculus Rift]

It's certainly an enjoyable game, and it's one that dungeon crawler fans and Etrian Odyssey followers will instantly be drawn to, but everyone else needs to know that this is a game that puts a focus on planning, pre-battle equipment choices, and character strategies over action. I'd call it a thinker's dungeon crawler.

As a pseudo NES-era throwback, it nails the careful balance between cruel and inviting. As a tribute to the Nerd, it does a decent job covering his entire career, although repetitive dialog lessens the humorous impact on repeated playthroughs. As an authentic Nerd "experience"... well... your mileage may vary, but I'd like to think it is.

I'm just glad that the gameplay is so solid and feels so new that the sound of a less-than-desirable song is still something worth playing.

It’s a complimentary piece to Backbone, which can stand before or beside it but shouldn’t be set apart from it. However, in context, it’s a terrific addition to the series. While it isn’t as compelling or fully featured as the first act of Backbone, it is a much more solid experience. The series, as it is currently, is a lot stronger with the inclusion of Tails: The Backbone Preludes. It’s a great collection of fiction. But without Backbone, it completely lacks the ability to stand on its own.

Not every aspect of the game is perfect, but that beautifully mirrors how complex love can be.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare does just enough to stay above the curve and somewhat make up for the appropriately soulless Ghosts. The zombies team did an incredible job with Spaceland, and the multiplayer still ticks all of the right boxes with an ample locomotion system that has since been surpassed by Titanfall. But if you were expecting anything totally new, including the non-inventive space campaign, look elsewhere.

There's a staggering wealth of content, but it can be tiring in its repetition. Battles are frantic and fun, but can be exhaustingly annoying if you choose the wrong friends. Very much like the game's Lacrima system, however, many of the sacrifices one must make to enjoy the game are negligible in the long run, and there's nothing that should stop one having a damn good laugh and getting utterly hooked on an adventure that really can be played until the Vita's batteries run dry.

It’s a beautiful story about caring and being there for the people who matter most. It’s also really gosh darn funny, and I love it.

While not all of the wild departures fire on all cylinders, XCOM: Chimera Squad's open-ended difficulty settings allow everyone to bend the strong combat groundwork to their will.

Good. Replayable, fun, but nothing innovative or amazing. The game potentially has large flaws that, while they don't make the game bad, prevent it from being as good as it could be.

Crimson Desert features a fantastic, content-rich open world where player freedom is the number one priority. There's so much to do and so many places to go to that it's easy to get lost among its ancient ruins, mystical forests, and snowy mountains. A lack of polish breeds frustration, but nothing can shake up the firm foundations of this incredible title.

It's a must for anyone looking to experience the genre for the first time; it's very newcomer friendly, but old hats might find it a bit wanting. Its longevity may also be increased by the multiplayer mode, but I personally don't have the patience for all these people who take far too long to take their turn. On the whole, it's more than worthy of your interest.

What Ails You is the best episode of The Enemy Within since the season opener. After setting the player up with brutal, cathartic violence, the story trims away some (but not all) of its fat to focus on Bruce, his friends, enemies, and the pesky troublemakers who can't seem to rest on either side. There's nothing here that'll change the opinions of Telltale naysayers, but Episode Four at least succeeds in preparing the stage for what could prove an exciting, shocking, perhaps even regret-filled climax.

World of Horror seems to hit all its goals. While its approach to horror is rather derivative of Junji Ito, it’s applied in a creative way and with a vision of its own. I can’t say I was blown away because it really is exactly the game that it claims to be. However, I was immensely satisfied. It’s a wonderfully modular experience, but if you’re deathly afraid of numbers, then that’s where you’ll find the real horror.

No hyperbole, Kathy Rain is yet another milestone in this resurgence of old-school point-and-click adventures.

Boiled down to its essence it's a game about dodging obstacles, which isn't exactly an amazing concept. But it takes that concept and runs with it, doing its dodging thing well.

Sniper Elite 4 comes across as a fully-realized result of the shifts Rebellion set in motion with the previous game, and proves itself an ably constructed, often gorgeous, and thoroughly engrossing stealth-action shooter.

The planes feel right, and the combat, while not exactly in-depth, provides for some fun moments. This game may not be the best of its class, or put forth any noteworthy new concepts, but it shouldn't be allowed to slip into obscurity, either.