Overall, Dragon Quest VII Reimagined is a stunning rebuild of a classic PlayStation role-playing game. The stop-start aspect of the short story structure is still there, but definitely improved. However, despite its technical brilliance, it feels a little soulless at times and doesn’t hit you the way most Dragon Quest games do. So I can only really recommend this to die-hard fans of the original game, who will no doubt love it.

R-Type Delta is one of the finest shmups ever made and obviously needs to be widely available across modern hardware. I just wish this new HD Boosted version had more to it, and M2 had been hired to handle the game in the same way they made G-Darius HD.

Overall, Front Mission 3: Remake is a solid update to a classic mecha tactical role-playing game from the PlayStation era. It does feel rushed in places, and here’s hoping the game receives some patches to fix some of those issues, much like the previous remakes in the series have.

Overall, Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster is still a solid game in terms of how it plays, but it needed more time and money to really make this a proper HD remaster. As such, this feels like a lost opportunity and something that should have been treated with more care.

Yes, this is “more Starfield,” a game I liked, but I am very disappointed in the way it has barely evolved a year later, and the best thing about is Bethesda going back to a Bethesda-like zone structure. That’s good, but also feels very inauthentic to what the game was supposed to be. This is not going to convert anyone, nor may it satisfy many veterans. I did get some pretty screenshots, though.

Overally, Megaton Musashi W: Wired is a belated release of a game that didn’t really work that well back in 2021. The role-playing game framework is done well, but breaks the mecha combat by rendering it redundant through levelling. The mecha combat is also very repetitive and the camera and controls still need finetuning. The game also failed to land its sole remit; to prop up what could have been a cogent super robot series and that is the saddest part of all.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is a gorgeous game full of industry-best visuals and cast performances. It is also not terribly fun to play.

Overall, Rainbow Cotton is a very faithful HD remaster of the original Dreamcast game. That means it suffers from the same functional shortcomings that game did. So unless you are a diehard fan of the Cotton series, you can give this one a miss.

Overall, Macross Shooting Insight is a step back in quality compared to prior Macross games, of which a fair few weren’t great to begin with. While there are some moments of decent shmup action tucked away here, there are far better Macross shmups out there. Not to mention that the first Macross game to come Westward is this lackluster and that’s just sad.

Despite some clear bright spots, Suicide Squad does not justify its own existence and feels like a colossal waste of time, money and energy when any other normal, standalone superhero game from Rocksteady probably would have blown away Arkham sales records. Everyone wants live service games to print money, but when the genre makes your game unattractive at baseline, and no one sticks around, yeah, maybe you should have made that other game instead.

Overall, Custom Mech Wars is a mediocre mecha game that gets the customization somewhat right but fails on dealing with how the combat should work. While the Earth Defense Force games have their low budget infused charm, they are at least fun to play. Custom Mech Wars sadly lacks this redeeming feature and is just an arduous chore.

Overall, Grendizer is a solid game with a clear love and passion for its classic super robot source material. It’s also very much meant for fans of Grendizer, otherwise much of its appeal and charm will be lost. It also clearly needed more time for polish and general graphical optimization. That said, it still plays decently with these shortcomings and is worth a look for those that want to pilot an old school super robot.

Overall, while there are faults with the game’s multiplayer, this is still a good Sonic the Hedgehog game. If you stick with the singleplayer on your own, you will definitely have fun with it. However, I do hope the next 2D Sonic game is one that uses pixel art in the same manner as Sonic Mania.

I’m not a hardcore racing or motocross fan, which is something that should be taken into consideration by anyone reading this review. I’m a lifelong sports gamer who loves a balance between simulation and fun. MES6 isn’t a perfect title, but it feels like Milestone has taken significant steps toward delivering a well-rounded experience for hardcore and more casual fans. If the features in place are expounded upon next year, it could climb a spot in my rotation.

I spent much of the past 48 hours trying to figure out why I’m not drawn to play game after game in any of the modes available. I thought: the game is visually appealing and it plays a decent enough game of virtual football, what’s the core issue? I believe the problem is that the gameplay, at its core, just isn’t addictive. Can I have fun with Madden? Yes, and I probably will have some solid moments with the game this year, but not enough to make it elite.

I believe the problem is that the gameplay, at its core, just isn’t addictive. Can I have fun with Madden? Yes, and I probably will have some solid moments with the game this year, but not enough to make it elite.

Overall, this is still a solid collection and there are some genuine gems tucked away here. I just feel that this collection could have been so much more and picked a better array of games to show off what used to make Taito such an arcade gaming powerhouse.

Overall, this is an accurate and faithful remake of the original The House of the Dead but lacks the bespoke light gun controls to really make it work. While games like Virtual On have had their TwinStick peripherals over the years, it’s a shame to see The House of the Dead denied a proper light gun.

There is something to be said for simplicity in video games. Many are overly complicated, and there is also room for forgiveness for a feature set of a game that isn’t full price. However, a sports game with no online capabilities and a very limited single-player experience is a tough one to enjoy for any length of time. BRBCC is unfortunately more limited than it is simplistic, and that causes a problem with overall enjoyment.

Overall, the Famicom Detective Club games are interesting gaming curiosities from an older era of gaming. If you are more of a Nintendo historian, then you will find these games fascinating. For everyone else though, they are an acquired taste.

Overall, the Famicom Detective Club games are interesting gaming curiosities from an older era of gaming. If you are more of a Nintendo historian, then you will find these games fascinating. For everyone else though, they are an acquired taste.

MLB The Show 21 is still loads of fun to play. Franchise is slightly improved, Diamond Dynasty continues to be strong, and Stadium Creator is even better than expected. However, there are areas of the game that don’t feel like an actual next-gen experience, and we’re still missing features that other sports games have had for years.

I cannot recommend this game at full price. Again, as part of a free subscription it might be worth checking out and getting a few hours of slashy combat in. But I wouldn’t touch it unless the $70 asking price comes down by at least half, and even then, there are a half dozen other better games out this fall alone. I wanted to like Godfall. I never want to see games in this genre fail. But fail it does, and in a worse way than anything I have seen in a long while.

TWT2 feels unfinished, underdeveloped and somewhat soulless in some aspects. The swing mechanic might be a good idea conceptually, but it falls short of supplying that satisfaction that is transferred from simply hitting the ball in a tennis video game. Couple that with the malnourished feature set and you have one of the most disappointing tennis video games in a long while.

Aside from the polarizing shooting concept, a new look to the Neighborhood and a completely revamped MyTeam mode, there isn’t much difference in this and NBA 2K20. If you’re not a hardcore MyTeam player, I’m not sure this is a must-have for you–especially if you’re buying it on next-gen...Also, were this a half-priced or free-to-play expansion to NBA 2K20, I would have evaluated it through a different lense. As it is, there are some strong components, but it doesn’t feel like a completely new game in as many aspects as usual.

While the gameplay is in as good of a spot as it’s been for a while, Madden 21 is dragged down but neglected features, stagnant and/or underdeveloped concepts. Hopefully, this inconsistent effort is a product of the development team packing tons into the next-gen version. If not, all things considered, from a reception standpoint, this could be one of the worst years in franchise history.

From a pure gameplay standpoint, PGA Tour 2K21 delivers a strong enough experience to satisfy fans, and the course designer is fantastic. However, the game falls more toward the average because of its bland career mode, modest list of licensed golfers, and out-dated graphics.

It feels as if this was a rebuilding year for the WWE 2K franchise. While a few of the legacy strengths such as the creation suite are still strong, the most important part, the gameplay is in a bad place. The previous years’ version of a game shouldn’t play significantly better than the new title, but that’s the case with WWE 2K20.

NH4 is still fun to play, but there just isn't enough newness here to make upgrading to this version a necessity. If you own, love and still play NH3, I'm not sure you'll find NH4 a must-have for your collection.

Dragon Quest Builders 2 is a good game but not a great one. Its main mistake is trying to do too much and reducing the effectiveness of the player in combat and building. My only hope is that the eventual third game returns to a more focused approach, as I really feel that with the Dragon Quest Builders series, these games benefit from the mantra that less is more.

DMC 5 is beautifully rendered and the action is fun. However, the weak story and less-than-compelling character development and audio presentation remove the game's heart. Instead of being a masterful and complete action game, it's instead far more shallow than it could have been.

Anthem may thrive. Anthem may fail. It has the bones to be something great but I am tired of saying that about so many games in this genre and five years after Destiny 1, I can’t believe we’re here yet again. Get it right the first time, because everyone is losing patience.

DOA 6 is a capable fighting game that will probably entertain hardcore fans of the series. However, it's hard to imagine it adding to its fanbase as it offers nothing that broadens horizons, and fails to provide the sort of depth expected. DOA 6 can be fun in spurts but doesn't have the staying power of some of the elite fighting titles.

This experience isn’t ruined by other players trolling or harassing me or breaking immersion, it’s ruined by the mere concept of being on a live server itself, and the fact that this was rushed out before any engaging story elements were able to be crafted to populate this map. This is a huge, rare, total miss by Bethesda, and even if it’s improved in time, I can only judge it by the hours I’ve lost to it so far.

The standard game is an excellent high-definition remaster and is the best version of the game to date. The VR mode ruins that impressive achievement and is wholly unnecessary. In short, play this for the high definition remaster and give the VR mode a very wide berth.

While NBA Live 19 is a definite improvement over NBA Live 18, it still has a lot of the same issues that have bogged down the series in the past. On the bright side, Live has risen to a respectable level, and it can be a fun game, with flaws that hurt the realism. On a whole, it is too inconsistent to be considered elite. This was a year where the franchise expected to make a huge leap from doormat to contender, but it still falls short of the postseason.

The gameplay isn't horrible, but it's also not spectacular. The visuals are solid, but not groundbreaking. The customization is stellar, but that's still not enough to save this game from mediocrity.

It is larger but less grand, more detailed but more opaque, deeper on one level but far more ponderous on another. It is successful neither as a Battlefield-style online shooter nor as an approachable arcade experience. That your time with this game is defined by a byzantine and oppressive progression system does not help, nor does the ever-present specter of microtransactions sure to return soon. But this would not be a successful game even if these problems were solved.

One one hand, NFSP feels a lot like a film from a major movie studio with b-level actors, a bad script and talented cinematographers who were perhaps uninspired. On the other side, there is some fun, but simplistic quality to the gameplay. However, it is predominantly a game that is trying to do too many things at once. Unfortunately, it fails to stand out in any one area. Had it ditched the open-world concept for a more challenge and stage-based experience, the story would have been easier to follow and perhaps more engaging. Also, the game might have been able to focus more on its best attribute, which is pure, dumb racing.

GTS lacks overall depth, but it is saved from being a complete failure by its stellar visuals, fun and realistic driving experience. I know how much work goes into producing a major-budget title like GTS, so I would never use the word lazy when describing the effort of the development team...However, this game comes off as an underdeveloped title that is being made to look more legitimate by the history of the series.

From a pure fun factor, NASCAR Heat 2 delivers. Driving is a blast, even though it's not all that realistic. Some will embrace the more arcade feel and others will scoff at the more simplistic racing concepts. However, no one should dismiss the depth that has been added to the modes and the massive leap the franchise has taken in just one year. The future could be bright for this series.

NBA Live 18 has a lower price point than most major sports video games, and that's a good thing because it simply doesn't offer all of the features that other sports titles do. There are some promising base features in place from a gameplay, conceptual and presentation standpoint, but it's still not where it needs to be.

Agents of Mayhem is a strange game. I did enjoy much of my time with it, but I kept wishing it was a fully-fledged Saints Row sequel, not some alternate universe spin-off with less content. I didn’t expect all that much going in, but by the end, I wanted more than I got.

In any case, this Namco Museum release on the Switch is as good as its precursors and brilliantly accentuated with the local multiplayer focused Pac-Man Vs. but it is currently overpriced and I hope this is not a new trend when it comes to future retro gaming releases on the Switch.

Visually the game is great and can be switched between the original arcade graphics and the newer higher resolution versions. The same is true for the audio but I prefer the newer sounds, especially as hearing Norio Wakamoto voice M. Bison never gets old. So if you want arguably one of the best iterations in the Street Fighter series on the Switch, then Ultra Street Fighter II is definitely worth getting but bear in mind that it is definitely overpriced.

While there are some real qualities in OTH, the deficiencies in gameplay and relatively low replay value make it a hard sell even for the virtual hockey fan who is looking for a knock-down, drag-out, arcade hockey title.

Berserk and the Band of the Hawk is a decent Dynasty Warriors spin-off that fits the world of Berserk well enough. However, the one-on-one boss fights show up the simplicity of the combat system and missions get repetitive pretty quickly. It’s also not a visually impressive game but it is an eminently playable one.

The implementation of realistic snake physics is commendable, and may even be what snagged Snake Pass a green light in the first place, but it’s also what drags down what could have otherwise been a phenomenal platforming experience.

Disc Jam is a great and interesting concept that leaves you wanting more. Just as quickly as you gain an affinity for the game, you can also get bored with it once you realized there just isn't a lot to offer. Even with the obvious shallowness, Disc Jam is worth your time.

While the team’s modest size is betrayed by the game’s myriad technical issues, what they’ve attempted here is, quite honestly, laudable. Maybe they’d do well to view this as a functional blueprint for a future project that builds on the good work that’s been accomplished—I know I’ll be waiting for what’s next. Here’s hoping the bugs get patched out and that we eventually get a Troll and I sequel, one that focuses on cleaner controls and a more emotionally engaging story.

This is still a good game in terms of its offline content and local multiplayer. However, the online community is pretty quiet and incredibly experienced. While it’s nice and convenient to have Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 available on modern consoles and at a very reasonable price, it does feel like a stopgap until Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite comes along next year.

A brief but eminently enjoyable Mario game stretched out in all sorts of less than successful ways. A perfect port of Mario gameplay to a new platform but a deeply problematic port of mobile structure onto classic Mario.

The entertaining racing delivers a good foundation for the series, but there’s just not enough depth in this package to consider this a complete experience.

It’s not a terrible game, it’s simply not a very engaging one. In the end, it’s just boring—a monotonous and dreary affair with pretty visuals and the promise of something more just over the horizon.

Mighty No. 9 then is definitely a missed opportunity, not only in terms of crowdfunded gaming but also as a homage to what made the Mega Man games so great in the first place.

It’s a somewhat amusing game, but DG feels and plays like a high-level mobile game, only it isn’t.

In totality, this game feels like a shell that has a decent foundation with its gameplay. Unfortunately, it lacks variety, flair and depth.

It’s also not any competition for MLB The Show 16. Then again, it doesn’t set out to be either of those things. The aim was to create a baseball game that had a pick-up-and-play quality with a splash of real-life MLB style. While it accomplishes those goals in some areas, the game just isn’t all that fun to play—at least not as a console title.

While CPL16 does some things right, there’s just not enough here to satisfy any sports gamer who isn’t simply thirsty for a lacrosse game. Because of the solid gameplay, the foundation has been established for a complete product in the future. Unfortunately, we just aren’t there yet.

While I really love this game, I have to dock points for performance issues. At release, a game shouldn’t have this many glitches, crashes, and other problems. Points also docked for the pacing misses and the difficulty spike at the beginning. Finally, points docked for the shoddy multiplayer, though I don’t weight this very high in my overall scoring of the game.

If you’re looking to capture that feeling of playing in a beautifully-realized Star Wars sandbox, albeit one lacking variety and depth, EA DICE nails it. If you’re looking for a shooter stacked with substance, engrossing character progression, and endlessly addictive gameplay to sink your teeth into for the months ahead, Star Wars Battlefront misses the mark.