The organic integration of puzzle elements makes for one of the best detective games around.

Where the Water Tastes Like Wine is an excellent exploration of stories and the meanings we place upon them. It's a road trip game through the American landscape that's punctuated by astounding writing and entertaining encounters. There's nothing quite like it, and it's doubtful that there ever will be.

Florence is an imaginative, breathtaking, heartbreaking tale of two artists trying a love they’re not quite ready for. It’s as honest a look at the subject matter as you’ll find in a game -- or so I've been told by others who've been writing about it incessantly since its release. But as much as Florence focuses on love, I’m not quite sure it’s a fan of it.

This could easily be a flagship series for PlayStation VR.

Flaming Fowl Studios has the opportunity to transform Fable Fortune into something more in the future. For now, it's derivative, flawed, and unfinished.

With more ideas, more obstacles, more varied goals, or just the ability to pet the dogs without screwing up one of my solutions-in-progress, I could easily see this as best in show. Instead, Puzzle Puppers wouldn't even place.

Immortal Redneck's loop is dead simple: play some, upgrade, play more, buy the item that lets you skip past the mid-boss, play some, upgrade, then confront the final boss. But you know what -- it's a blast, and I never really thought of any of the above as work.

For anyone looking to scratch that nagging Okami itch, even if it never quite reaches the same heights, you’re going to have a good time here. It may feel a tad familiar, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes, it’s just great to lose yourself in a goofy world for a bit.

Despite the rough edges, Dimps' work is easy to like if you're a Sword Art Online fan hungry for something new to advance the franchise with. Though ultimately held back by the jank, it's definitely worth checking out, if for nothing else than a welcome change of pace and setting.

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.

Metal Gear Survive should have been a free-to-play game just like Grasshopper's Let it Die or an actual Metal Gear release. It doesn't accomplish either aim.

Despite my high expectations, Orwell continues to be a solid thriller and a very different gaming experience.

If you played and loved the first game, you’ll still find something to love here, but it’s so buried under obtuse puzzles, terrible voice acting, and pointless combat sections that it’s really difficult to recommend this. The story is still pretty solid, but getting to it is a total pain in the ass.

Bugs aside, what Square Enix has here is the perfect mold for its mobile games. Whether original titles or abbreviated retellings like this, the future of Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest or the Mana series is bright for smartphones if it chooses to follow this formula. I love what Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition represents for the future of mobile gaming, I just don’t very much care for the actual game.

Warhorse Studios took a big risk with this game and hopefully in the long run the technical issues can be addressed, because as of right now, they prevent Deliverance from reaching greatness. If you can climb over the mountain of jank and poor optimization then you'll be in for an incredibly authentic experience, that when it works, truly puts role-playing front and center in a fabulous way.

Pinstripe isn't perfect, but it feels as if it nearly perfectly accomplishes what it sets out to do. It tells an emotional story with its own peculiar and disturbing flair. Like Dante seeking out Beatrice, Ted will walk through hell for Bo. That's something we can all empathize with on some level. That's what's worth fighting for.

For those who are willing to put the time in and stick with it, Rust provides both a social sandbox and a deep, functioning crafting system. At times, it feels like anything is possible in Rust; like witnessing players double-crossing one another or stumbling upon a small sheet metal city in the desert.

The Definitive Edition has a way about it that just feels right, to the point where I had to do a double-take and watch a video of the original just to see if I was going crazy. No, the 1997 edition never looked this good, and the remaster doesn't douse its legacy in any way.

You may as well just play the SNES version, even if it's the first time you're ever picking up a Mana game: the original spritework is able to pick up the slack of a few of its inherent shortcomings, which are only exasperated by the swap to 3D. Secret of Mana is a fighter -- it's going to take more than a few flaws to take it down.

I still think it's fun, but this first run at the license from Milestone doesn't come anywhere close to meeting its real potential.

For a game that leans so hard into the feeling of discovery, Fe has shockingly little to say about anything. It has no clear goals or worthwhile revelations. The idea of mystery is more alluring than any of the actual mysteries in this forest. It's certainly pretty, and the platforming and light puzzle-solving are adequate enough. But Fe very obviously aims to evoke a certain emotional response, and it fails to evoke much of anything at all. That's nothing short of disappointing. Sometimes the trees are just trees.

The core of Bayonetta remains as solid and frustrating as it was when it first released. It lacks the polish, semi-coherent story, and rich color palette of its superior sequel, sure, but it’s so masterfully designed and brazen in its direction that it’s still a must play for every action game fanatic. While the Switch port may lack the exhaustive resolution and graphics options of the PC version, it’s an absolute knock-out as a portable action game and further proof there seems to be very little the Switch is incapable of doing.

If you're into the idea of playing an open world game where its arcadey elements are entwined with therapeutic but sometimes dry exploration, give it a shot.

Mutant Football League is fast, dirty fun, and definitely one of my favorite sports games in recent years.

If the price were a bit cheaper, or if even online multiplayer were included, I’d readily recommend this port without a problem. As it stands, while Space Invaders Extreme on PC is solid and certainly looks and sounds the best out of any available version, the lack of such an awesome mode just sours my opinion on it.

Despite some minor issues, a fair bit of grinding, and while still nowhere near the production values or quality of the Persona series -- Hacker's Memory is another solid turn-based RPG and a damn good Digimon game that you shouldn't miss if you played the original.

Break Arts II feels like a great mecha customization system in search of game. Whether or not it has legs will depend on players' willingness to put up with the racing to build their robots.

There's a tease of depth in the fights, and I even managed to have quite a bit of fun when things fell into place. Too often, however, it felt like accidental fun. Like I wanted to enjoy what I was playing so much, I stumbled into a good time.