Fun puzzles, inventive murders, and new crime-solving features help make up for a morality system that needed far more fleshing out to be effective.

It may be hard for some to fully appreciate the three games that make up Sega Vintage Collection: Monster World, but for those who can, you'll find a wonderful world of retro adventure awaiting.

Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit sits somewhere between a hardcore classic and a shameless parody, and luckily, I happen to be a fan of both. It's not perfect, but like Vincent Vega once said, "personality goes a long way."

Though the games themselves may be a little too obscure or esoteric for some fighting-game fanatics, Capcom’s under-appreciated Darkstalkers series has been brought back in fantastic fashion in Darkstalkers Resurrection.

Furi excels in some areas, serving as an audio/visual treat as you work your way through the game’s world. Its narrative and gameplay could use more depth, but both provide more than enough value to make this a worthwhile experience if you love action or boss rush games.

Sadly, Dragon Quest Builders isn’t quite the Dragon Quest meets Minecraft mash-up that I was really hoping for. What it does, however, is offer an engrossing adventure that proves giving a world-building engine some storyline, characters, and proper combat goes a long way.

All That Remains is a fine way to kick off the second season of The Walking Dead. Telltale made some interesting design decisions putting players in the role of Clementine, and most of their choices—but not all—work out nicely.

ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove is a literal return-to-form for the series, and longtime fans should be happy about that. While it might not be a hardcore roguelike or fully integrate its more modern design choices, it does exactly what it sets out to do: give players a true sequel to the original Genesis classic. It’s hard to say how far this formula could have come in 28 years if the series hadn’t taken detours into other genres, but for now I’m just happy that it’s gone back to its roots.

Hitman: Absolution features plenty of smart new features and tweaks that modernize the franchise without abandoning the essence of what made it great-but the new save system is awful enough to undo a lot of that good.

Though its graphics are a bit dated and it’s not going to revolutionize the genre any time soon, Tales of Zestiria is a solid, anime-inspired RPG with a new twist on battling, a fun story, and a great central idea that pushes the Tales franchise forward.

A weird, niche, visually out-of-date little game from a Japanese team you’ve probably never heard of became one of the best horror games to be released in America in years back in 2013. Now, it’s being given new life on the 3DS, and the changes it’s received make for a better experience—mostly.

At times, the HD upgrade looks fantastic. At other times, the HD upgrade looks terrible. But underneath it all, the game is still Twilight Princess, and that means that it’s a great game.

As Dusk Falls is exciting, beautiful, and heavy-handed. Its more streamlined approach to narrative gameplay and its less traditional art style create an immersive experience that engages with the player’s imagination. That it can work both as a morally challenging single-player story and a party game for multiple players speaks to the confidence that its developers have. But its second half of the story undercuts some of the tension that its excellent first half builds, and a terrible cliffhanger might leave you feeling betrayed.

The gameplay feels caught in a weird void between optimizing the experience for single-player and multiplayer, but this is as close to a trip to the old-school arcades of the late ’80s as you’re going to get on home consoles.

Between its compelling art direction, surprisingly complex strategic decisions, and inventive weaponry, there’s a lot much to love in Void Bastards. Unfortunately, its overall structure and narrative will leave you feeling empty by the end. That’s not to say you shouldn’t let yourself enjoy all that this charming, stressful game has to offer. Just don’t expect to feel totally satisfied once you escape to the right nebula.

The best Spider-Man adventure in years isn't quite what it should've been. Developer Beenox actually crams too much into the package, cluttering what could've been a landmark tale for Marvel's wall-crawler.

Street Fighter V paves the way for the future of Capcom’s legendary fighting game series—but it’s also a release that’s relying on near-future updates in order to feel like a finished product. Once they come, however, this should really be something special.

It was always a long shot that a new take on Resident Evil 3 was going to be able to live up to the expectations set by 2019’s Resident Evil 2 remake, and that’s exactly the case here. Still, beyond a few examples of missed potential, this is another stellar attempt by Capcom to bring its survival horror series into the modern era and retains a sense of individuality and personality that make it stand out from its peers.

By eliminating class and level systems, the game allows players to take a more free-form approach to character development, effectively allowing a single character to fulfill multiple roles, depending on what the situation calls for. Add in a deep story, diverse quest structure, and some amazingly dark and horrific environs, and the end result is one of the biggest surprises in recent years. Once Funcom squashes all of the bugs-and assuming they continue to support it with new content-The Secret World could become the hit it deserves to be.

With impressive storytelling, tight controls, and a sense of purpose, The Taken King is not just an expansion, but a noteworthy improvement to the Destiny series as a whole.

Cult of the Lamb is two games in one. Part roguelike, part management sim, neither of the halves feel totally fleshed out on their own, and provide little challenge. Still, the synergy between the two halves is undeniably compelling, and the art style is infectiously adorable, giving you enough reason to play through one more in-game day, and then one more, until you’ve been awake for an entire out-of-game day, feeling totally brainwashed.

Until Dawn doesn’t always live up to the potential Supermassive Games envisioned for its ambitious PS4 project, but the game succeeds in enough ways to make it a fascinating and engrossing twist on the horror genre.

Vampyr walks a fine line between narrative storytelling and action-oriented combat, trying to appeal to fans of both genres and mostly succeeding. Though the game lacks polish in many areas, it stars a clever morality system that entices players towards both good and evil deeds, a well-rounded web of background NPCs, and an intriguing overall narrative of an undead doctor investigating the spread of the Spanish Influenza, making Vampyr a treat for any vampire fan.

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster brings back one of the most celebrated and beloved entries from the Megami Tensei franchise nearly 20 years after its original debut. The original Nocturne was a heck of a JRPG in its time, and Atlus has now upgraded it with higher-resolution widescreen visuals, richer vocal tracks, and some much-appreciated quality of life upgrades. Unfortunately, it also misses some areas of the game that equally needed touching up (such as the controls and camera), and it’s hard not to feel like the game deserved a full remake rather than just a remaster.

Making a spin-off to a beloved niche series that then drops its most popular character seemed like a crazy idea at first, but Judgment is a success beyond what I could have expected. Though it never quite escapes the shadow of its older siblings, this tale of a fallen lawyer and his refusal to let go of the truth provides an experience that has a lot to offer both Yakuza fans and newcomers alike.

Like a mashup of Star Fox and No Man’s Sky, Starlink: Battle for Atlas features space combat, exploration, and a solid story to scratch your deep space itch. While presented as a toys-to-life game, the toys are entirely optional. Instead, opt for the digital version, which will get you additional content and greater convenience for about the cost of a physical Starter Pack. It’s definitely the best way to play.

Psychonauts 2 recaptures the humor, heart, and much of the creative magic of the original game, with modern refinements that make it more pleasant to play. While the combat still feels a bit clunky and outdated compared to the rest of the game, fans of the original will no doubt delight in revisiting old friends and making new ones in this charming adventure.

While it gets bogged down by story and character elements that I found to be the opposite of fun far too often, 7th Dragon III Code: VFD offers up a stellar RPG experience that’s stuffed full of enjoyable gameplay mechanics and ideas.