Was it worth the effort? That ultimately depends on how much fun you had in performing these basic, repetitious open-world activities.

If you’re looking for something a little different in the mobile space, I can’t recommend this game enough. Just be warned: The puzzle difficulty is designed to mess with your mind and push you to think outside of the box…or boot up YouTube to watch someone else solve it.

With the assistance of Sumo Digital and Ninja Theory, the racing and combat are vastly improved. A strong emphasis is placed on variety; hopefully signaling an end to scenarios like seemingly endless waves of frost giants.

Ultra Despair Girls would be easier to bear if it were just an incidental side story that fans could ignore. Unfortunately, it is important to understanding the world of Danganronpa, but the gameplay and dialogue make you suffer every step of the way.

New and old players alike should feel no hesitation about seeing this as the definitive way to play the opening story of the Gears epic. The new edition doesn’t remake the cog, but it certainly makes it shiny again.

Changing Madden's modes isn't the priority this year, but you shouldn't skip this year's game. After years of fitful progress, Madden 16 finally puts its gameplay pieces together and delivers a truly dynamic on-the-field experience.

Madden 16's gameplay is a great step forward for the series, but the progress of the game modes is less definitive.

The script kept me entertained and feeling like my decisions mattered throughout my 10-hour playthrough. Thanks to some good twists, a few fake-outs, and limitless jump scares, Until Dawn would make a solid horror film. As a piece of interactive fiction, however, it's a remarkable experience that horror fans shouldn't miss.

A series can’t survive this long without evolving, and The Phantom Pain is a testament to the importance of taking risks. An open world, a customizable base, a variable mission structure – these are not traditional aspects of Metal Gear, but they are what makes The Phantom Pain such an exceptional game.

With true stealth games a rare breed today, Volume stands as a declaration that the formula can still work.

The Chinese Room has crafted another unique experiment that proudly stands out from the gaming norm, now with the improved graphical horsepower of the PS4. Despite the prettier locales and solid attempt to break out of the linear mold, Rapture simply doesn't feel rewarding when straying from the glowing golden path.

The most striking thing about N++ is how little has changed, even while so much content has been added. There is little flash or grandeur to Metanet’s definitive and supposedly final N game, but for devoted and patient players, there’s a tremendous amount of value here, along with a gameplay formula that has been refined into its current form over more than a decade.

In spite of these frustrations, Galak-Z has the heart of a truly compelling shooter. I wish 17-Bit had taken its elements and laid them out in a game with a more natural progression, or added a greater level of variety to Galak-Z's extensive randomness. However, even when the game feels unfair, I couldn't resist returning to these pinpoint-accurate flight controls and tense dogfights.

The package is impressive, and a lot of care and attention was clearly directed toward Rare Replay to make it a worthy anthology of the studio’s work.

That being said, after numerous Etrian Odyssey entries, the formula hasn't changed much. It's still fun, but without any large leaps, Etrian is starting to get stale. I feel playing one entry is like playing them all.

While Gortys is a fun new addition to the cast, most of the episode feels stale. The action continues to shove annoying quicktime events down your throat, with more chase and combat sequences with no consequences – in fact, at this point I don't I feel like I've made a single significant choice in the series.

The Road to Gehenna is not a game for newcomers, but this compelling set of tests is bound to please those who delighted in the original The Talos Principle.

Life is Strange has remained unpredictable, to its benefit. I can't tell where this is going, but I hope the conclusion takes a step back from the more horrifying things we see in Episode 4.

So far, King's Quest is remarkable in its ability to call back to the classic design of '90s point-and-click adventures without succumbing to as many pitfalls.

If you’re looking for a bite-sized dungeon crawl, Guild of Dungeoneering delivers – but don’t expect a lofty foray into the realms of exploration, customization, or strategy.

They say an elephant never forgets, but that doesn’t mean you can’t forget an elephant. Tembo the Badass Elephant is charming and fun while it lasts, but its by-the-numbers gameplay makes me doubt that it will leave a lasting impression on anyone.

If you’re a new player looking to learn Magic: The Gathering, Magic Duels is the best place to start. If you’re a seasoned veteran, the way the game uses rarity restrictions to create a unique environment make it an attractive alternative for some duels.

As it stands, there's more than enough incentive to give PlanetSide 2 a try; the gunplay is solid, player progression moves along at a rewarding clip, and the intercontinental war is like no other in gaming – even if it lacks a point.

Once again, Codemasters has created an F1 game that's true to the studio's driving pedigree, but fails on other fronts. It looks nice and drives well, but unless you're so caught up in the F1 season that you absolutely have to sate your cravings with a video game, you may have already played this game and put it down.

If you judge a game solely by its complex battle systems, intricate puzzles, or branching upgrade systems, Journey is likely a disappointment. If you’re open to that often nebulous realm of how a game might elicit emotion and the artistic potential of interactive narrative, Journey is an absolute must-play.

After four successful episodes, Nest of Vipers is a borderline disaster. It feels rushed and sloppy compared to the ebb and flow of the previous episodes.

Perhaps developer Natsume Atari intended to replicate the experience of wearing a Godzilla costume while filming a movie, but no gamer should ever have to endure gameplay this cumbersome and poorly designed.

Once I fully connected with Rocket League’s controls, my car felt like an extension of me. It’s a sensation that’s all too rare in games, which makes it all the more satisfying when something like it comes along.