Despite the wait time to get the games going with real players, if you've never had the pleasure of playing a MOBA, then let Guardians of Middle-earth be your first. It has all the fast-paced insanity that comes with the genre, a wealthy amount of options for loadouts, and a nice dash of Lord of the Rings personalities and species to boot.

The Nintendo Switch version of L.A. Noire maintains everything good about the original release, while adding a few new tricks to the mix to make the game a little bit more interesting, including ‘touch’. Beyond the Switch tricks, L.A. Noire is still a game I enjoy playing, especially in a portable form. It’s like a violent Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego mixed with the open world structure of a Grand Theft Auto, both intelligent and dumb fun.

Driveclub delivers driving fun on gorgeous and expansive maps, offers a variety of ways to race and a bevy of cars to choose from. It won’t satisfy your need for a Gran Turismo-esque experience, but it will certainly bring enjoyment to your racing lives.

CoD: WWII's The Resistance DLC is a strong start to the DLC packs for WW2. While the highlight is certainly The Darkest Shore zombie map, the other four map additions are certainly welcome, and offer some much needed variety to the multiplayer mode.

Conan Exiles is a game where you make your own experience. Much like Minecraft, Exiles will have you exploring, creating, and building, while also providing a fully immersive game set in the world of Conan the Barbarian. Most of the time that will equal out to fun.

Played on the Vita or the PS4, Damascus Gear offers simple, enjoyable mech combat with a good story and lots of customization at a great price.

Tandem: A Tale of Shadows from Monochrome is a cleverly designed game that puzzle-loving gamers will enjoy. The range of difficulty helps to sell this, as does the level design and characters you confront in the game. If you don’t like puzzle games, then this probably won’t bring you into the genre.

Kinitsu-Gami: Path of The Goddess yet again shows a Capcom willing to take risks. Who would of thought a niche hybrid of action, strategy, and tower defense would translate into a Japanese mold like this? While the game suffers from familiar genre tropes like a sluggish pace and busy menus, players won’t deny the clever, tense implementation of building an impeccable line of defense. From fighting dinosaurs from the future to dancing away evil spirits, I’m excited to see what new experiment Capcom brings us next.

Designing a multiplayer game with inherent asymmetry is quite ambitious. To make it a white knuckle action title geared towards seriously competitive players could be considered lunacy. Yet, this is what Turtle Rock attempted, and, for the most part, made work.

Overall, Madden NFL 20 updates and adds some interesting attributes to its football structure. It polishes up the story mode and gives it focus while maintaining the entertainment value of the series steadily. It needed a bit more with regard to content, but what it has is still good.

Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan is a good entry into the RPG and 2.5D platforming genres that will give newer and younger players a taste of what similar games of this genre should look like. Its charm, simplicity, and accessibility can become overshadowed by the amount of conversation, but those who love reading will have a good time with this game. It’s beautifully charming, and it was clearly made with love. Just be sure to temper your expectations.

Alan Wake's American Nightmare is Alan Wake with the benefit of proper editing and revision.

Overall, this collection is accurate to a fault, packed with some additional goodies and reminds us how absolutely insane we all must have been when we played these games the first time around. Bravo to Digital Eclipse and Capcom for taking a chance on some classics.

Wipeout persists as a utopian phantom consumed with aesthetic elegance and driven to exhibit a vivid sensation of speed. The nature of this package’s identity—Wipeout Omega Collection is three different but very similar experiences—may nudge against a wall of homogeneity, but it’s easy to overlook when you’re going too fast to focus on anything in the periphery.

Souldiers is a kind of comfort food. There are players who will actively seek out a game like this, one that is inspired by the best kinds of interactive nostalgia. While developer Retro Forge is keen on piquing the interest of classic key genres, Souldiers stands surprisingly well on its own qualities. This is a beautiful game that can be absurdly difficult but it’s more than a large, interconnected map and a twist on punishing combat. The name might be a little too clever for its own good but keep in mind that Souldiers is unique in its own right.

Blood & Truth is a savvy and seasoned virtual reality thriller confident in its suave posture and meticulous operation. It is simultaneously a bonkers riff on outrageous action cinema where it’s just as easy to imagine its main character as narrowly sentient tank treads with gun-hands born to decimate cloned hordes of bungling bald men. Blood & Truth works even as its internal truth is a grinning mystery.

Disney Magical World 2: Enchanted Edition is a magical experience for all casual Disney lovers and feels like you are on a digital Disney World vacation without paying the Disney price and fees! With so many things to do like customizing yourself, cafe, and house the amount of time you will be spending in this game is more than you think. Exploring worlds based on Lilo and Stitch, Winnie the Pooh, Aladdin, and getting to battle, fish, and collect materials kept me very busy! Although there are a couple issues with visual glitches and there aren’t too many challenges, this game is still worth playing if you’re just a Disney fan looking for an Animal Crossing and or Harvest Moon Disney type game! It’s definitely worth trying out!

It’s safe to say that if the gods of gaming are indeed good, then we should expect to see further installments in this longstanding staple of action/platforming entertainment.

Silt flawlessly executes a style that permeates its entire construction. The hand-drawn visuals evoke the deadly, alien mysteries that lie at the bottom of whatever foreign ocean it takes place in. Its swirling, environmental storytelling sets a high bar that is only let down by its short runtime. By placing a number of engaging puzzles between the end goal and the player, enough joy can be seeped out of this strange, fascinating game to make it worth the cost. Silt may not feel entirely unique for some, yet its setting and aesthetic have few rivals.

Directive 8020 is not without a handful of recognizable flaws and quirks that have been present in Supermassive Games’ horror titles for a decade. But the shift into science fiction is one of the many necessary changes to the formula. By toying with player expectations, this involved, character-driven horror fest emerges as one of the strongest entries in the Dark Pictures Anthology, laying the ground for a potentially enthralling Season Two.

Them’s Fightin’ Herds from Mane6 creates a beautiful and unique fighting experience through their fun characters, simplistic mechanics, and gorgeous environments. While the game does run slow in the scheme of fighting, the rest of it makes for a fun time.

The Jackbox Party Starter is a great way to dive into the Jackbox series if you have never explored it. This pack includes three great games Quiplash 3, Trivia Murder Party 2, and the almighty Tee K.O. tee shirt game. The inclusion of more detailed features such as moderation and content filter, and the addition of more localized voice acting helps push this towards a potential new generation of Jackbox lovers. For those of us who are members since the 90s, this isn’t something that is made for us.

The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited makes its console debut in quite a functionally good fashion. The additional content, improved stability and expansive adventure makes for a great game.

I like what Sony is trying to do with the first release of the their 'Best of PlayStation Network' on the PlayStation 3. These are four really solid titles at a cheaper price than what you would get them for on PSN (if you're a PlayStation Plus member then the pricing is about the same). They don't include DLC, or cross-buy capabilities, but what can you do? This is still a good bargain.

Kingdom Come Deliverance is a great game that can appeal to many people. A true RPG fan will love this game. KCD is a truly immersive experience where you will lose yourself for hours on end. The open-ended gameplay allows for you to accomplish your goal in a multitude of ways. Combat is not straightforward, and it is hard all while being the best it can be. Players will be able to mold Henry into the medieval character they want to be.

Into the Stars is a fun adventure with a bit of everything (strategy, action, adventure). It would be just a bit better with improved UI, though. Regardless, it's certainly worth a look.

Zombie Driver: Immortal Edition was an odd game for me personally. Overall, the game feels very arcadey and over-the-top in some ways. The narrative is very shallow and you aren’t given that much depth into the world. The top-down driving is a classic for every race fan or just as a throwback to your favorite arcade games. Running around taking down the undead, racing through the streets, and mowing down creatures is honestly all you could ask.

Without a doubt, The Surge 2 builds upon the structure of what came before. Making already fun combat systems even more enjoyable is not an easy task, but Deck13 achieved it. The dedication to building Jericho City into a viable arena for death and exploration comes across in its intricate paths and hidden bits. But I do think just a bit more time and polish could have not only made the game a bit prettier but also resulted in a handful of additional bosses that really put players through the ringer. But The Surge 2 still rewards those looking for a hardcore game in a new setting. And who knows where a third game might go.

The Legendary Edition is the most efficient way to consume the Mass Effect trilogy. Everything is presented in a nice little package, and with a little bow on top that is the original DLC. The series really benefits from being able to play the games right after each other in their natural order. Importing your saved character into the sequel gives you the full experience and allows your character’s actions to, seemingly, have more weight since you see the outcomes immediately. The bond that Commander Shepard cultivates with their allies is magical. I wish I could erase my memory of this series just to be able to play this collection as it was intended. Any newcomer to the series who is on the fence should absolutely jump on it, and returning fans will certainly be happy that it was treated with tender loving care.

Flock from developer Hollow Ponds is a unique, relaxing, and fun adventure that doesn’t require too much effort to enjoy. The game is slanted towards discovery and environmental positivity through simplistic controls that allow the player to focus on finding and identifying animals while traversing a large landscape. The only bump in the road is the occasional feeling of a lack of content.

The Thaumaturge is a compellingly unique game. It brims with magical realism, intricate writing, and a gripping mystery set in a rarely visited place in history. With clever ideas and a memorable turn-based combat system, players should be able to look past a few shortcomings that would otherwise trip up a less fascinating RPG.

I believe FromSoftware could do this forever, and I doubt I would ever get tired of it. If Dark Souls is my Madden or Call of Duty, so be it. It would make me happy. As a tidy finale or a signal marking a hiatus, The Ringed City is pure Dark Souls. I will always want more, but this is satisfying.

Madden NFL 26 from developer EA Tiburon is on the right track thanks to some nearly perfect controls that make for a more immersive experience. On the mode side, there is still some work that needs to be done to improve some aspects of Superstar, as well as balancing out MUT a bit more.

Hue presents an accessible, familiar, yet unique-enough experience that is absolutely worth checking out if you're a fan of this genre. I would even suggest that if you got burned out by similar games that got too hard too fast to give Hue a chance.

An awesome conglomerate of modes and playlists for local and Xbox LIVE play meet the regularly astute aesthetics in resplendent fashion. If this is an annual purchase for you, no reason not to spend the $60 yet again.

Virtual Rick-ality celebrates the existential comedy and breathless sociopathy of Rick and Morty. Like Job Simulator, it excels at creating natural space and filling it eccentric objectives and impulsive mischief. As a Rick and Morty product and a true second-generation VR title, Virtual Rick-ality is a comfortable calamity.

It has taken me longer than I would have imagined to come to this conclusion, but hear me out: The Bear & The Admiral is a diamond in the rough. I was pleasantly surprised by Jack Boylan’s hand-drawn labor of love, as it managed to capture my attention and keep me hooked until the VERY END of the game. Barring the graphical noise on some levels and some level design quirks, this indie platformer is incredibly fun and charming. Once you get the hang of the levels and powerups, you will assuredly lose track of time clearing each level. Give this game a chance, you won’t regret it.

Outside of Defiance Remastered‘s improvements and additions, this is still very much a game of the early-2000s, warts and all. Crystal Dynamics had an engaging combat system and a complex narrative. But there’s still a tendency for fights to become repetitive, especially when Kain and Raziel aren’t vastly different from each other mechanically. The story might still bounce around in frustrating or confusing ways. Levels may go on for longer than you wish. But it is still very much a piece of gaming history that many hope will eventually see a resurgence.

While Puzzle & Dragons Z + Super Mario Bros. Edition might seem like another tile-based puzzle game that doesn’t go beyond what’s on the surface, it’s far deeper than what you would expect. It has RPG elements and a bevy of options to engage and motivate the addiction it creates.

Dying Light: The Beast Restored Land continues Techland’s tradition of meaningful post-launch content and support for its games. Here, players can tackle Castor Woods with a new hardcore, solo survival mode along with a slew of updates for the base game. Taking advantage of Dying Light‘s signature parkour movement and crunchy combat, Restored Land is a fantastic vehicle to dive into Dying Light: The Beast no matter your experience with the franchise.

Inside Line is another solid offering from Eutechnyx. The good foundation laid with 2011 translates to this title, and the same great core gameplay mechanics are back. Improvements to the Career mode are the biggest contribution to the series, and helps make this a decent step forward.

This is a nice DLC pack to finish out this standout game from over a year ago. If you didn't like the game to begin with, nothing in this DLC will change that. On the same token, if you enjoy Borderlands, this game may feel a bit too familiar, but it's enjoyable nevertheless.

Jazzpunk projects exactly what its eccentric name implies; a hilarious adventure with an unwieldy rhythm and paradoxically predictable narrative-uncertainty, all of which draws fuel from a seemingly endless source of energy.

Atlas Reactor is an impressive turn-based tactical game that has ground work built on fast action and a steep learning curve.

Ironically, The Old Hunters gives Bloodborne players more of what they want by obscuring its own nature. It's attractive because it still delivers a feverish unknown to a ravenous base.

The Namco Legendary Pack for Atari 50 brings some great insight, good videos, and wonderful video game reviews from the past about NAMCO titles on Atari systems. While the DLC doesn’t feature a bevy of NAMCO games that players would find on a NAMCO Museum release, nor does it bring too many arcade experiences in comparison to other Atari 50 releases, it does bring a variety of NAMCO games on various Atari systems. Some of those translations might not be gems, especially Pac-Man on the 2600, but they’re worth experiencing.

Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Ultimate, like many beat ’em ups, is not rife with complexity or plot. But it possesses an undeniable spirit in its chaotic joy, begging to be played by a group of friends wanting to churn through groups of enemies and watch the screen shake with fury. It’s an homage not entirely to the past but to the simple thrill of fun.

It's not perfect, it's not from a big budget studio, isn't 100+ hours, and it doesn't say Scrolls, Age, or Souls on the box, but any fan of the genre should give it a legit shot -- I think they'll be pleasantly surprised as I was.

If you like that in-depth type of football/soccer gameplay, then you're going to find a lot of fun with Pro Evolution Soccer 2014. Just excuse its outer wrapper, which needs some major work.

It has a flawed story. There’s a convoluted system of choices and morality. It even looks kind of gross at times. Yet with every flaw or complexity Biomutant throws at the player, there’s another redeeming quality. It’s a wholly unique world that might seem to copy and paste from the past decade or so of gaming but it’s blended in such a unique way that I haven’t seen anywhere else. Perhaps enough players will find the diamond in the rough so that a second, more focused go round will happen down the line. Biomutant is digestible, weird, off-putting, entertaining, baffling, engaging, and a million other variables. But, thankfully, it is never bad.

Déraciné subverts Japanese horror tropes as easily as it conceals the limitations of virtual reality. By casting the player in an active and passive role in its narrative, it juxtaposes agency with accountability as it creates a tranquil, sinister story. Déraciné is a return to FromSoftware practicing their talent inside of darkness, but mercifully away from Souls.

I, Robot from developer Llamasoft and publisher Atari reignites a forgotten Atari arcade classic from the 80s. While the visuals have been refined a little, the core gameplay from the original arcade title is still intact, which includes its chaotic style and psychedelic personality. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s a fun, nostalgia-driven arcade adventure nonetheless.

On its own, Yakuza 0 is a great, albeit dated, entry in the overarching Yakuza franchise. Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut might not feature enough content that Yakuza fans may enjoy, but it’s an excellent port for a Nintendo Switch 2 owner and an even better entry into the Yakuza series for those who have not yet played a game from Ryu Ga Gotoku.

It's too easy to see where Anarchy Reigns could have been better. Games are made within a budget and Anarchy Reigns' surely wasn't much, but you have to admire the purity of its intentions. In a perfect world it would have a Call of Duty 2-like impact and birthed refined successors, but as it stands Anarchy Reigns is an enjoyable oddity pleading for an elegant sequel.

Despite some tedious gameplay aggravations, it’s a work well worth your $40.

PGA Tour 2K21 is a good game that delivers a spot-on golfing experience. It brings a variety of courses, great mechanics, and plenty of reasons to keep playing. If the presentation could have been improved it would have been the perfect golfing package. As it stands, if you’re looking for a good golfing experience than you got it.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare succeeds in most aspects of a solid sci-fi shooter. However, a lackluster and rushed story takes away from what could have been a full and complete campaign mode. Luckily where the story lacks, the gameplay and solid mechanics Call of Duty deliver.

GRIME II from developer Clover Bite and publisher Kwalee is a massive Metroidvania that is driven by its creativity and storytelling, backed up by amazing visuals and soundtrack, and does everything on the gameplay side that you would expect from the genre it lives within. It’s not perfect by any means, but it’s worthy of your time.

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga isn’t a game made for me. I’m a 28-year-old who grew up watching and loving the prequels and was obsessed with the original Lego games. I came into this review thinking it was something that was going to blow my mind and change Lego games forever; when it’s a game that’s sole intent is to give the younger generation something to love. Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is a great game in the right circumstances, and I still loved my time reliving some of my favorite Star Wars moments through a Lego lens. It also gave me an appreciation for the past that I wasn’t expecting.

Once again, Sniper Elite proves to be a really fun and engaging game, despite its numerous bugs at launch.

Grapple Dog is an excellent proof of concept for a 2D action platformer that requires you to swing through levels and traverse through the air as an adorable pup. While I did enjoy the gameplay despite the quirky movement, I couldn’t help but wish there was more, as Medallion Games are onto something fun, charming, groovy, and unique with Pablo. I hope to see this game optimized and updated for the Switch, as the gameplay issues I encountered slightly detracted from this short but sweet indie platforming gem. Need I remind you to pet Pablo every time you complete a level? Please give him all the pets; he deserves it.

DragonBall Z: Kakarot isn’t necessarily trying to reinvent the wheel, but it doesn’t have to. After years of adding more and more “new” lore to the canon, it’s nice to take a trip down memory lane and re-experience the characters and story that makes DragonBall so special. While the open world isn’t necessarily the most engaging aspect of the game, the combat is epic and the characters are always entertaining. Simply put DragonBall Z: Kakarot is fun and is sure to please new and old fans alike.

Spies in Disguise: Agents on the Run is entertaining for short bursts, manages to be a bit more than a cash grab in comparison to other rail games of its type, and genuinely feels like something you could dig into for the long term. It’s definitely worth checking out, especially if you need more than just Subway Surfers.

Dead Rising 4 won’t win any awards nor is it the best of the series, that for me is still the Dead Rising 1, however, it’s a strong entry and worthy of your time. I mean putting comedy heads on zombies will never, repeat never, get old!

Built from pieces thought too inscrutable to survive 2019, Daemon X Machina is sincere in its appreciation for a bygone era of mech action games. It understands the charm of assembling giant robots, the appeal of blasting exotic weapons, and the fantasy of combining both together in dozens of pleasing arrangements. Daemon X Machina revels in its esoteric reverie.

Smile for Me from developer LimboLane is an unsettling adventure that puts you to the test with its puzzles. The point-and-click backbone will keep the difficulty coming, but the reward for your patience and perseverance will be worth the cognitive trouble you endure.

Pixel Ripped 1978 from ARVORE Immersive Experiences and Atari is a good VR experience that is led by a competent narrative and nostalgia. How VR is used within the game is entertaining and engaging, if not outright clever. While not all of the game is gold, it still manages to turn old game schemes and concepts into something new and engaging within a virtual reality environment.

Borderlands 2 VR is a game that is nearly perfectly translated into virtual reality. It contains everything you want from your Borderlands 2 experience, plus a bit more to make you feel like you’re a part of the game. Gearbox and 2K didn’t simply offer up a small piece of the pie, they offered up the whole pie. Just remember, too much of a good thing can make you sick.

Superliminal is a lesson about perspective on life. You can look at a situation and try the same solution over and over again. But if you take a different look at the situation at hand, you may find a new perspective. In that new perspective, you can find a new solution that can create a more favorable outcome. As a metaphor for transforming inane frustration into gratifying solutions, Superliminal was a profound experience. One of its particular moments stuck with me. It tells the player, “The problem is not that the problems we face can’t be solved: the problem is that we become so afraid of failure that we refuse to see our problems from a new perspective.” 2020 has been far from normal, but as Superliminal suggests, you could look at it from a different perspective.

Rainbow Gate is a good survival horror adventure that combines all the right elements of different horror games from the past. It brings a familiar story while sporting familiar gameplay elements that players might have seen before, but it is nonetheless fun to revisit and experience.

Overall, Nepenthe is a solid indie game. It’s a fun, complicated RPG that has brilliant moments backed up by unique art and music presentation. It does have some bugs to fix, but nothing yet that isn’t manageable or gameplay disruptive.

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture's take on interactive fiction is admirable, even in its struggle to manage personal discovery alongside narrative composition. I love its calamitous tranquility, I identify with the plights of its characters, and I'm enamored with its confident storytelling, but its reluctance to disclose its disposition adversely affects its capability.

Young Souls is a good and unique 2D dungeon brawler/beat-em-up, don’t get me wrong. The gameplay loop is varied enough to not be a linear affair, the characters have a meaningful purpose, and combat is mostly fun. You’ll definitely find yourself experimenting with how to incorporate new weapons and armor into enemy encounters, but…you may find yourself frustrated with the inconsistent difficulty spikes and some of the monotony associated with a tried-and-true gameplay pattern of button mashing just to defeat an annoying boss. I want more from 1P2P, and I hope that they expand the world, and abilities, of Jenn and Tristan.

The Nintendo Switch release of Stray from BlueTwelve Studio features the same great gameplay and challenging puzzles that were featured on prior console releases. While the Switch certainly takes a hit with its graphical limitations and far from comfortable controls, it is still a blast to play Stray at the end of the day.

Hopefully, Codemasters are well underway with 2019’s development and I look forward to eating humble pie when they announce a raft of new features and updates. Until then F1 2018 is worthy of a spot in your library and takes on the mantel of the best ever official F1 to date.

I appreciate that Angry Birds VR sets out to do one basic thing and it does it well. The price point, presentation, gameplay, and fun factor are all on par. The experience is a little bit short, and at least for me it does not offer any replay value. But for a simple, familiar concept and for the price, it’s hard to knock the experience that much for it. If you’re a fan of the franchise, or even a newcomer like me that wants to try it out, you can’t really go wrong here.

With Dark Souls' formidable reputation undisputed, other characteristics slip into transparency. Humor, long rumbling under the surface, receives a more stable focus in Ashes of Ariandel. Expectations are bent, defied, and destroyed in ways that are designed to simultaneously humiliate and impress series veterans. After five games and six pieces of downloadable content, it's hard to imagine a more suitable approach.

Darksiders Warmastered Edition is a fantastic game that maintains all of what made it great in 2010. Its visual upgrades and smoother gameplay experience makes for a fun time at a very reasonable asking price. Maybe this will prompt a sequel? One could only hope. Until then, enjoy the hell out of this one.

Delta Force from developer Team Jade is a wonderful free-to-play tactical shooter. It is driven by a massive 64-player online mode featuring gigantic and towering maps, while also containing some reprieve in its Operations mode that is more personal and linear. The game needs a bit more balance in its player selection at the moment, and a controller option, but as of right now it looks to be on the right track.

Sega Genesis Classics delivers modern convenience options and passable emulation across its fifty-three titles. No Genesis collection can be definitive without support from third-parties, but new additions like Gunstar Heroes and Alien Soldier help curtain the perpetual void in Sega's compilations. At $30, Sega Genesis Classics is an easy and accessible way to appreciate a selection of the Genesis' best work.

Rory McIlroy PGA Tour may not win any awards for visuals, but it’s a solid experience in the gameplay department with flexible controls, entertaining modes and enough depth to keep you going for awhile.

Long review short, Steep: Road to the Olympics is worth the money and provides you with some solid expansion to an already entertaining title.

MLB The Show 21 might not excel in vastly improving its overall package, but the smaller upgrades you do get make this game just as entertaining as it was last year. Next year will have higher expectations to meet.

Space Chef from developer Blue Goo Games and publisher Kwalee Ltd is an enjoyable, user-led cozy game that requires your exploratory efforts to make it a fun experience. While not perfect, it offers a deep and rich gameplay experience that is different than the usual cozy game.

Call it refined nostalgia. Call it a love letter to Metroid Fusion and other Game Boy Advance metroidvanias. Call it what you want. 9 Years of Shadows is a good, short, yet approachable metroidvania. While it doesn’t quite hit the depth of combat complexity and story beats of its GBA predecessors, it overdelivers via gorgeous pixel art and an orchestrated soundtrack. Its Nintendo Switch port is not the best in its current state, but it’s worth playing if you’re wanting a metroidvania to play on a lazy Sunday.

Tribes of Midgard is far from a perfect survival game. While it maintains a steady loop for players to engage with, the process of scavenging, crafting, and building can be pretty boring during the first few days and relentless as deadly winter encroaches upon the player’s safe haven. Yet despite its flaws and lack of meaningful post-run progression, it’s hard to deny that when a full lobby of ten Vikings are working together, the game is at its strongest. Though there might be something for those players who prefer to be a bit lonely, the game’s large worlds may prove to be far too much to tackle when the difficulty ramps up.

The Medium on PlayStation 5 feels like the best version of the game and one worth trying if you have yet to experience it elsewhere. While its unique dual-reality perspective lifted the game up, players expecting an outrageously different spin on psychological horror may have seen these scares before. But it’s hard to deny that Blooper Team aimed for the fences with The Medium and payed homage to the classics while crafting a new universe that they may wish to refine further down the line.

Mario Golf: World Tour is hardly progressive and rarely creative on the level of its predecessors—and in some ways, it actually feels somewhat regressive. However, the core appeal of the series is still alive and well nonetheless, and with the added extensibility of online play and tournaments—as well as downloadable courses—it’s hard to deny its appeal if you ever enjoyed what the series had to offer from the start.

Madden 21 is a great game that old and new players would be excited to play. New modes and updated features like Superstar X-Factor and The Yard have put youth into a veteran series. The way the players acted and how the games sound makes it feel like a real NFL game and in 2020 that is needed. While it still has flaws, it may be one of the best Madden games yet.

Laika: Aged Through Blood from developer Brainwash Gang is a wonderful and refreshing Nintendo Switch experience. It lends a brutal narrative that leads gameplay filled with strategy and challenges. While not everyone will take to the controls, which are an important part of the experience, the challenges and strategy will keep the frustration at bay.

The Eternal Castle is obsessed with the idea of feeling like a game pulled from either the late 80’s or early 90’s. It compiles successful hallmarks of that time in gaming and culture and rewrites them as an ode to a highly specific time and place in the minds of its creators. It’s more fun romanticize history than perfectly recall history, which is a method of operation that only really works in entertainment. The Eternal Castle is a remaster of everything and also nothing, and it’s immensely successful from either perspective.

At the end of the day, $7.99 for this game is an absolute steal! There's a tremendous amount of upside to it with little to dislike.

Ultimately, while it's a great game nonetheless, its failure to innovate keeps it from true excellence.

Overall, Oh…Sir!! The Insult Simulator is a dumb-fun experience for the cost of nearly nothing. Its wittiness and sizable options for insulting, as well as its online/offline modes, will keep you entertained for a while, but in short stints.

Crown of the Old Iron King is a showcase of Dark Souls II's aggressive enemy encounter design. It folds a few other cards in favor of its ace, but such is the endearing nature and defining risk of inspired post-game content. Applied to Dark Souls II, Iron King stands as a thoughtful one-off that fits neatly alongside Sunken King.

Gatling Gears is simple, fun and visually appealing. It's not perfect or incredibly deep, but it serves its intended purpose of frivolous, non-stop action.

Eternal Strands has the DNA from familiar and critically acclaimed games of the last few decades. But, more importantly, it works tirelessly to differentiate itself from the pack. This game is the kind of sandbox players enjoy diving into, one both forgiving and fun. Yet it’s the brilliant narrative and character work that give Yellow Brick Games’ debut an edge, making you come back run after run.

Skylanders Battlecast is probably one of the more entertaining turn-based card games that I’ve played. It's quick, addictive and strategic fun.