A Rose in the Twilight’s story and style earn it much more praise. Rose’s past drives a tale of imprisonment that is as dark as what she must do to escape. Every memory she relives becomes a ghost that haunts her and the player alike -- ultimately a much deeper, cerebral experience than other PlayStation Vita titles.

Yooka-Laylee is a fun, familiar, and nostalgic trip to a genre from the past that still holds up incredibly well in the present. It certainly proves that there is a place in the current landscape for games of this genre. If you miss the mascot platformer of yesteryear, then Yooka-Laylee will almost certainly give you your fill and make you feel warm inside.

Given that we’re now officially halfway through the season, Episode 3 of A New Frontier feels more like it is just getting started rather than reaching a big revelation or story point that feels like it will guide the remainder of the season.

Fast RMX isn’t the best looking arcade racer on the market, and it lacks the polish that other games bring to the equation. However its tight gameplay and impressive tech (for Nintendo Switch) elevates Fast RMX to something better than its individual parts. For those searching for recommendations, Fast RMX easily offers $20 worth of racing entertainment as you wait for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and is an easy buy to any fan of the genre.

Snake Pass is held back from greatness by a troublesome camera and poor textures, but it is quite charming and innovates with its snake gameplay, which still has tons of untapped potential. I can’t wait to see what Noodle and Doodle get themselves into next, as Snake Pass’s mechanics can only be fleshed out even more from here.

Thimbleweed Park shows that adventure games very much have a place in 2017 as they did in the ’80s and ’90s thanks to its loving callbacks to the genre, but also its willingness to improve upon them in many ways. As the game’s trailers have used the slogan that “a dead body is the least of your problems” in the game’s dilapidated town, Thimbleweed Park hides many more secrets and ways of enjoying it beyond its murder-mystery plot, for those willing to look just a little bit deeper.

A terrific bundle, and without a doubt the best way to experience the decade-old series. Offering not only convenience but a hearty technical upgrade, anyone looking to catch up before Kingdom Hearts III couldn’t do any better than picking up this rather affordable bundle. That said, gamers and Kingdom Hearts fanatics who have already grabbed this game on PlayStation 3 should consider their purchase a little more rigorously — without new bells or whistles, you might feel the tiniest bit swindled for buying the same remakes twice.

Old Time Hockey by and large was a disappointing experience. On paper, it had potential to be a good game. But as a finished product it is disappointingly held back by wads of jank and unpolish, and a few too many half-baked features.

To a very limited extent Bridge Constructor reveals the reality of building and maintaining bridges in today’s world. Sometimes, to some people, creating something with fewer resources is considered more valuable than something that’s safe. And in this game, that can be a fun, devious, and humbling experience. Headup Games gets that right. However, little can save the game from simply underperforming in every other regard. Frequent crashes, game-altering performance slowdown, and tutorials that leave only the most resolved standing truly hurts the final product.

Toukiden 2 shows that an already impressive series can be made even better by taking chances on new systems. The story stays in scope of the premise throughout the game even after accepting multiple side-quests, theres always clear knowledge of what to do next. Although the open world map by intimidating to some, the game offers easy quick traveling options to seamlessly get players from one place to another. After playing the game for well over 30 hours, I feel like I can continue playing for another 100 and with that I happily say, “Bring it on!”

It isn’t without its problems; the lack of almost any UI or detail on the map can be annoying, and the gameplay can be stiff and frustrating at times. Fortunately, the other parts of the game create such a undeniably enjoyable atmosphere that I even found myself relaxed and smiling in some of the more frustrating parts of the game as I made my way through this foreign world that I can’t wait to hop back into and explore again.

Despite the flaws, I really enjoyed Mass Effect Andromeda, its lovable alien buddies, its beautiful exotic planets, its story full of mysteries and surprises to uncover. The tight combat gameplay definitely adds to the package, making this a game worth playing...Perhaps Mass Effect Andromeda will serve as a wake-up call for BioWare, letting them realize that it’s time to evolve beyond the change of setting and cast. In the meanwhile, we’re still given a game that might not be the monumental fresh start that the masses expected, but is still a quite solid experience than many will enjoy.

Zero Escape: The Nonary Games is a perfect addition to any visual novel fan’s collection. Both games are truly a work of art that combine mystery and horror to tell a story that is so gripping that it’s almost impossible to put down. The only thing missing is the inclusion of the third entry of the series, Zero Time Dilemma.

By adding in an interesting story and supporting cast the game proves it can stand on its own compared to some of the all time best in the genre. Touhou Genso Wanderer is a frustrating and wonderful dungeon crawler that fits perfectly into the doujin Touhou universe.

Blaster Master Zero does everything right in terms of rebooting an old franchise. The game retains all the quirks and cues fans of the series adore and presents them in a way that a new generation of gamers can enjoy. The pacing and difficulty is set just right to keep gamers entertained for hours. In short, this is now the definitive way to play a game from my childhood that I’ve held so close to heart.

For people such as myself who fall in the middle, the title acts as a nice distraction to pick up and play everyone once in awhile. The racing element is bogged down with all the minutiae and it’s hard to get really into everything without becoming frustrated. Too much detail in the wrong area can cause even the nicest ride to become bumpy and unpleasant.

I admire Gust for delivering a product outside of their comfort zone. However, even though the open world is the most exciting new addition, it also tends to bring the most problems with it. Atelier Firis will surly impress fans of the franchise, but could feel dated to modern RPG fans.

While the game’s fairly high skill ceiling and emphasis on micro-transactions might be off-putting to some players, For Honor is an experience that’s truly fit for those that are warriors at heart.

How Night in the Woods manages to capture the anxieties of being stuck in the gap between adult and childhood, how it tackles serious topics like depression, and how it brilliantly understands and recreates the hardships of rural America, is worthy of admiration. Put more simply, Night in the Woods is a unique breath of fresh air, and an experience I’m likely to not forget for a long time.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is no mere Zelda game — it is a return to form for the decades-old series, showing that Nintendo still very much understands how to handle their property. Breath of the Wild may not only be the best Zelda game ever produced, but it rivals Super Mario 64 and Halo: Combat Evolved for the best launch game ever shipped with any console. With no exception, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a masterclass in game design and creativity, unprecedented from even Nintendo.

It’s a fantastic and well balanced mix between sleek PlatinumGames action and JRPG gameplay, resulting bigger than the sum of its parts. It brings forth an absolutely fascinating setting, and charming, likable and memorable characters that will both make you smile and tug at your heart strings.

The game removes the stress of time limits and boss battles and instead presents itself as an easy going simulator that can be played at the pace of the player. I am happy to say that Trio of Towns is a game that I plan to continue to return to over time and become the best farmer I can be.

An absolutely fantastic game. It’s very polished, and comes with a compelling story, relatable characters, an absolutely fascinating setting, and top-notch gameplay. On top of that, its visuals will make you wonder if Santa secretly sneaked into your room to replace your PS4 with a gaming PC while you were asleep. It simply looks that good.

I appreciate what DotEmu has done with the console port of Ys Origin. A story localized this good deserves to be easily accessed by gamers on as many ports as possible.

Berserk and the Band of the Hawk's gameplay would definitely stand toe-to-toe with other licensed musou games like One Piece: Pirate Warriors and Dynasty Warriors: Gundam, but maybe this game could have strayed further away from the typical musou formula like what fans saw with Attack on Titan. Instead, it seems Omega Force played it a little too safe.

Halo Wars 2 is still a highly recommendable title — in fact, likely one of the best RTS games that can be found on the current generation. However, accessibility on consoles came with a price to both controls and gameplay in both campaign and multiplayer modes.

There is a good game buried underneath all the usual tiny developer fodder: unfunny in-jokes, unneeded cameos, the ultra-hard mode(s), the obsession with 80s and 90s gaming and pop culture, the detailed sprites. More energy should’ve been put into making more memorable environments and bosses, a more well thought-out leveling system, and a stronger story that used NPCs more than once, and fleshing out the already engaging ‘gunseed’ mechanic.

Throughout my 35 hours of playing Digimon World: Next Order I began to feel like I did the first time a discovered the series. Every Digimon that joined my team made an impact on me and I wanted them all to be the best they can be. The game can be frustrating, but in the end there’s nothing like raising two healthy Digimon. The old mechanics of the Digimon World franchise prove to stand the test of time and can now be experienced by a new generation of gamers to discover and immerse themselves for hours in the digital world.