Dragon’s Crown Pro remains an outstanding brawler/action RPG hybrid even five years after its initial release. It’s got satisfying gameplay, an enjoyable storyline with some twists and turns, and gorgeous graphics.

God of War has a far grander scale than either Horizon Zero Dawn or The Last of Us and tugs on different emotional heartstrings while still making you care about the cast. This is the best incarnation of Kratos yet and one of the finest experiences on the PlayStation 4.

Yakuza 6 is a strong entry in the series (although it takes a back seat to Yakuza 0), and a very fitting wrap up to Kazuma Kiryu’s storyline. All in all, this is a smaller, more refined game than we are used to with a few missing pieces (likely a result of the new game engine that is still being perfected). It manages to deliver almost as much fun and insanity as its predecessors in a smaller amount of real estate.

Far Cry 5 is a breathe of fresh air for the Far Cry franchise. Ubisoft’s open-world design continues to evolve in mostly positive ways, granting players more freedom than ever before while presenting more engrossing story and side missions with memorable NPCs to help keep the gameplay loop from getting repetitive. If you’re a fan of Far Cry or first-person shooters in general, Far Cry 5 is an easy recommendation.

Once more Milestone delivers an adequate driving experience marred by mediocre presentation, A.I., and a lack of a strong career mode.

I eventually stopped playing after about 30 hours because the game was just too mind-numbingly boring to continue. I was also shocked that I had only played for 30 hours. It felt like at least twice that long.

Overall, Burnout Paradise Remastered is the best way to experience the game. While it does have some rough edges caused by time moving forward and work not being done to better-modernize it, the game is still a riot. It’s a must-own for anyone who likes fast racing action, and hopefully leads to more Burnout games getting re-released on modern platforms so more players can enjoy them.

Overall, Gravel is Milestone’s finest game to date. It combines a surprisingly high amount of racing types together and does an exceptional job with all of them. The handling is far better than most of their prior work, and the level of on-screen excitement is at its highest point yet as well. There are some rough edges when it comes to the overall presentation, and the FMV-laden story mode of sorts is somewhat of a groaner, but it doesn’t take away from how fun the core racing action is. It uses rumble better than most games on the market today as well – at least for Xbox One controller users, and is a solid pickup for anyone craving some off-road racing.

When you cut right down to it, Secret of Mana has one serious issue: it isn’t fun (or as fun as one may remember). Whatever seemed like so much fun back in 1993 now seems like a chore in this version, and Square Enix wasn’t really of a mind to make it any better or, at the very least, prevent it from crashing before release (let’s hope this is patched quickly). What is likely going to happen with this release is that it is going to cause a lot of controversy amongst the fanbase, and the internet flame wars will rage on and on as to whether Square Enix really fouled up this remake or if the original was not as good as we remember it. Whatever camp you find yourself in, you probably already know if this title is worth $30 of your hard earned money, or if you will be perfectly fine leaving this game back in the SNES days where your younger self loved it so much.

Is Civilization XX worth $59.99? Note that I use XX to illustrate a random Civilization series entry, and not, dear God, Civilization 20. Except for the hardcore Civ folks (and there are a lot of them), the question often seems to result in the answer, no, keep playing Civilization XX-1 and wait for the price to drop, and in this case, as a $29.99 expansion pack, I feel that Rise and Fall does too little to merit going full price. It won’t drag me away from Civ V, but for people who liked VI, Rise and Fall does succeed in prolonging the sweet middle game competition between the early it takes me 20 turns to create a settler and I own the world and just need to wait to finish conquering everything.

Fe is a well-crafted game from beginning to end. The adventure isn’t the longest in the world, but is rewarding and fun while it lasts. The platforming is mostly great, with a couple of nagging issues holding it back, while the larger-scale world-usage gives the adventure a greater sense of scope than most platformers. Its neon-soaked graphics and atmospheric soundtrack makes it a joy for both the eyes and the ears, and anyone with a thirst for a new platforming adventure should give it a shot.

You should take my opinion on this with a grain of salt, if you weren’t doing that already. This has never exactly been my franchise, and I picked up Monster Hunter: World after hearing from a number of people that this was supposed to be a good jumping-on point. It is, but only by comparison to the games that came before it. If you’ve already put in the time with previous Monster Hunter titles, and especially if you have a crew to run with, Monster Hunter: World is going to be everything you’ve ever wanted. If you don’t have that experience, though, this game is a slog, and I’m having a hard time finding the fun here. Call it a 70% or so from me, but a fan of the franchise is gonna still be playing this a year from now.

I probably enjoyed Railway Empire more than I should have. I liked laying down tracks and adding switches and figuring out how to move a multitude of trains around without them causing traffic jams and blockages. But the game is a little on the casual side to suit me completely, it only includes early trains in the United States, and it has enough interface and gameplay problems right now that I’m only giving it a minor recommendation. Railway Empire is best suited to people who like trains and simulations, or who played Railroad Tycoon back in the day and have been wishing for it to make a comeback.

The definitive way to experience one of the best adventure games of the past 15 years. On the PS2, it came off like a game that was too ambitious for the hardware. The PS3 version was hamstrung by being too close to the PS2 original for authenticity, while the remake takes the core game’s concept and shows you how it can be done with modern-day hardware. The experience is incredible on both PS4 and PS4 Pro hardware and a must-buy for anyone who always wanted to play the game but didn’t have either the hardware to do it or the time to play it before.

Overall, EA Sports UFC 3 is the best entry in the franchise yet – but falls a bit short of being the best MMA game ever. The roster is lean on legends, which hurts the ability to do dream matches compared to games like UFC Undisputed 3. The career mode is a huge improvement over past games and the revamped bobbing and weaving system makes combat more enjoyable and intuitive. Anyone who has enjoyed past entries can safely pick up this incarnation and jump right in, while newcomers would be best served trying out prior versions to avoid being in over their head.

Lost Sphear is an outstanding game, taking most of what made I Am Setsuna memorable and topping it. Lost Sphear doesn’t fare quite as well when it comes to the soundtrack, but its battle system is vastly superior and one of the most enjoyable battle systems I’ve played in a JRPG in years. It keeps the turn-based system that many have used before and puts new twists on it to keep it fresh – so while the plot itself goes with a lot of tried and true turns, the battles feel much newer. It isn’t a perfect game, but does a better job of merging the genre’s past tropes with modern-day gaming conventions than Tokyo RPG Factory’s debut effort and is a must for any fan of JRPGs.

The writing is good enough, and the dialogue is acted well enough (especially by Rhianna DeVries as Chloe), that Before the Storm is a worthwhile experience. As an adult male, I’m probably about as far away from the game’s target demographic as one can get, and yet I still enjoyed it more than I didn’t. So if you were a fan of the first game and you want to learn more about its world and its characters, then you should definitely check out Before the Storm. But if you haven’t played Life is Strange yet, then I’d recommend you try that game first and then proceed from there.

However, as an overall product, A Hat in Time is a must-buy for any 3D platforming fan. The pacing is superb in every stage, and there’s far more variety here than in any 3D platformer released in the past decade. The game definitely has some rough edges – but they’re a bit like eating a fine meal on a cracked plate. The overall experience is so great that you don’t remember the small nagging issues very much. The camera could definitely use some work, and the soundtrack may not be the most memorable ever – but it’s genuinely great, as is the voice work. It’s clear that this was a passion project, and it’s one of the finest crowd-funded projects ever made.

In short, The Sims 4 on consoles is designed to appeal to fans of the series that may not already have a copy on their PC or don’t have a new enough PC to run it. That leaves a limited audience for this game to those who are not hardcore enough to own it on PC, but interested enough to buy on consoles. Add in the fact that EA made very little effort toward making the execution of the game cater to the console audience (and left a considerable amount of bugs un-patched), one begins to wonder how many copies they actually plan on selling. If you can run this game on your PC, save yourself the headache and enjoy it there. If the console version is your only option and you can overlook the multitude of technical issues, the rest of the game does deliver the Sims goodness for which you laid out your precious simoleons.

Overall, Okami HD on modern hardware is the best way to play this classic title. The increase in resolution and graphical fidelity goes a long way towards ensuring that this is the definitive edition of the game for the foreseeable future. The core game is so good that even with over a decade passing since its original release, it’s still an excellent experience overall – despite a few rough edges with the presentation. Okami has never been a perfect game, and the flaws are part of its charm at times. Anyone who hasn’t had a chance to enjoy it should do so now, while veterans will definitely appreciate the visual boost here.

Beyond the somewhat short, very linear, and probably not replayable single player campaign, most people coming to Battlefront 2 are going to be interested in the multiplayer. This has proven to be very difficult to review, because there have been so many game updates to multiplayer since the release that I feel like I’m trying to review a moving target, though the core of multiplayer has not changed all that much through the updates. Long story short, the multiplayer gaming is staggeringly unbalanced because of the way the whole game is structured, and I doubt even another dozen updates is going to change that.

I can almost picture the early pitch sessions for Call of Duty: WWII in which they conceived of a game that has something for everyone. But if everyone gets something, no one gets everything. If I were in charge, I would have scrapped the no doubt very expensive but entirely lackluster single player campaign entirely and focused on the core multiplayer, making more maps and expanding on the War concept, which works quite well. The co-op works reasonably well, and pleasantly scratches that itch for people who prefer to work as a team against AI rather than people. So Call of Duty: WWII is a pleasantly rounded package which lands it solidly in the middle of the everything pack.

I’ve been lukewarm about most of Telltale’s games lately, but I really liked Guardians of the Galaxy. It handles the transition between jokes and drama well, your decisions are tougher and more meaningful than you usually see, the writing and voice acting are excellent, and the action sequences are simple and infrequent enough that they don’t derail the game. So if you haven’t played a Telltale game in a while, Guardians of the Galaxy is certainly one to check out.

Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds is an outstanding expansion that not only tells its own story, but makes the main game better and more rewarding to play as well. Lapsed fans should make sure they’re at a solid level of at least 25 or so if they want a good challenge, and going back into the world of Horizon Zero Dawn is a blast. Aloy’s new abilities greatly expand her riding skills and the new cast of characters provides another set of people for Aloy to interact with and continue a bit of her journey. It controls wonderfully, looks gorgeous and has some top-notch acting as well. At $20, it provides a hefty amount of content and never feels like a cash grab – it’s a rare piece of DLC that makes the core game better.

I’m torn between calling Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus brave or merely unexpected. The core of The New Colossus remains as good as, and largely unchanged from, the earlier game. It’s great, explosive, and violent. The other half, so to speak, the heavy emphasis on story doesn’t drive the FPS experience so much as shift your focus into directions that FPS games don’t normally go. That’s not to say that FPS games don’t tell a story or even a complex story (Bioshock told an incredibly involved story and even explored the extrapolation of a Randian economics as a political movement), but they rarely (AFAIK never) attempt to tell a story so full of sadness and self-examination. The two parts sometimes fit well, sometimes less than well, and I think individual gamers will react very differently to the result.

Need For Speed Payback isn’t perfect – but it’s a nice step up from prior entries. Outside of Rivals, the series has really struggled over the past five or so years to really find its own way. The FMV-filled reboot wasn’t the right answer, and going for an action movie-styled variant is great for an ad campaign – but doesn’t make for a great campaign itself. Fortunately, the racing action and cop chases that litter the campaign make it worth playing. It looks great in motion, even if the action doesn’t hold up very well. The cop chases are exciting and the point-to-point races bring a level of arcade-style thrill that the series definitely benefits from.

From one of the minds that brought us the Resident Evil series, The Evil Within 2 serves as a survival horror delight. It’s a jolting, excellent tale of horror and mystery with a strong story and a driving narrative, plus a multitude of side quests and sub-plots to keep even the most seasoned players engaged and thrilled. It is not a perfectly executed game by any means, but, like the original game, the flaws tend to get buried under the bloody heap of viscera and terror players will experience should they decide to pick up a copy.

Super Mario Odyssey has a few flaws, but the end result is Mario’s grandest and best 3D adventure to date. There is so much to do and enjoy that this game should give players years of fun, even if they aren’t out to complete every single quest and grab every moon.

Overall, Dungeons 3 was a mixed bag for me, mostly because I found the campaign to be sort of a chore. It took me 30 hours to finish its 20 missions, and while the humor was great, the lack of challenge took away any sense of tension or excitement, and I knew at the start of every mission that I was going to win after about 90 minutes. I was also sort of surprised that the focus of the game is way more on the surface (where everything interesting happens) rather than the dungeons (which all look about the same), when it should have been the opposite. So while Dungeons 3 isn’t a terrible game or anything, it’s certainly a title where I’d recommend that you wait for a sale before purchasing it.

I’m enjoying Middle-earth: Shadow of War for the most part, even as it claims more than 5% of my available hard drive space. Monolith did for the most part choose the safe route by taking what Shadow of Mordor gave us and simply giving us more, some pieces blatantly lifted from other games, but the multiplayer component adds some fresh newness. I’d like to see the boss pursuit gameplay get a tune up, but we can’t have everything.

Forza Motorsport 7 provides the best mainline experience yet on the Xbox One. Forza 4 may still be the greatest overall entry thanks to its overly-generous nature of giving out cars and the in-game auction house, but Forza 7 comes very close to topping it. The car selection is outstanding and the core gameplay is better now than ever before – with immersion also topping out here thanks to the massive increases in graphical quality and overall sound design.

This is a decent expansion to Dishonored 2 and sets up a new, potentially interesting status quo for the series, but it takes out so much of what Dishonored 2 had under the hood that it feels a bit slight by comparison, and the few brand-new additions are heavily limited. I don’t regret playing it, but it’s hard to say more about it than that it’s a stripped-down pseudo-sequel.

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite succeeds in some major ways. The gameplay is faster and more intense than ever before, even with a smaller roster. Aside from that, the story mode does what it needs to and manages to both tie events together while teaching players, in a fairly organic way, how to properly play the game. The graphics are definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, but deliver more that works where it counts even if some animation and character model work would have helped the overall presentation a bit. The soundtrack is probably the best in the series – it may not be as outwardly catchy, but it’s far better for the actual game and makes each battle seem important.

Project Cars 2 is a worthy successor to the original game and fixes some of its issues. It still isn’t the most user-friendly game for newcomers, but in time you can get used to its quirks. The game definitely has a learning curve to it, so anyone looking to just jump in and dominate will be humbled quickly. You have to play with a nuanced style and can’t rely on assists to do the hard work of the race for you. It’s a challenging but rewarding experience and the dramatic increase in vehicle types and tracks, alongside new weather setups makes the experience one to remember. Project Cars 2 isn’t for everyone, but anyone who likes a good challenge and loves a finely-tuned racing game will enjoy it.

Destiny 2 is a near-perfect sequel and fixes the few things that were problematic with the original. It is one of Bungie’s finest games yet and a fantastic FPS that offers a nice learning curve that makes it more accessible than most shooters on the market. The story has a surprisingly high amount of depth to it and adds life to the in-game world in a way that the original simply couldn’t. Anyone who enjoyed the first game should pick this up, and those who missed out can safely jump in thanks to the story structure recapping the broad strokes of what happened before and letting you know things fairly quickly. It’s a gorgeous game that sounds epic and controls like a dream too.

If you are one of those people who played XCOM2 to absolute distraction, over and over and over again, by all means War of the Chosen is no doubt for you. For people like me, who enjoyed XCOM2, but wandered away from it once the plot was done, I’m not sure this is enough to bring you back to full throttle. There’s no question that I’m enjoying War of the Chosen, but the oh-my-God let me just play one more turn, complete one more mission, wait until this room or that research project is finished, is greatly diminished.

All in all, Kiwami is an easy game to recommend to fans of the series and those who have already played Yakuza 0 and loved it. The remakes of the older titles are Sega’s way of ushering in a new generation of fans and, now that the series has proven to do well in the west, bring all of the series’ experiences to a wider audience. Yakuza Kiwami is just as fun, weird, disturbing, hilarious and provocative as the rest of the series’ titles, and is well worth the twenty-five hours of gameplay and thirty dollar price of admission.

The newly added depth to not only your offensive attacks, but also your defensive options allows battles to feel fresh and rewarding.

A must-own for any Switch owner and is worth buying the console for on its own. It combines two franchises together wonderfully and gives Mario fans seeking another console-centric RPG-style game more thrills. Everything about the concept gels together surprisingly well, with the only weakness in the whole package being the story.

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy offers up a lot of thrills even with its different cast. It’s a testament to the franchise’s character strength that two side characters can carry the tale. It doesn’t change the formula up much, but the revamped combat helps things from feeling too repetitive. The story takes players to new locales , but the cast of characters just doesn’t gel together as well as past games, on both the sides of good and evil. It’s a very good game, but one that casual fans of the series can wait on. Series die-hards will definitely enjoy another exploration and combat-filled romp through the world as we get a large glimpse into the post-Nate era of the franchise.

Overall, Sonic Mania is a remarkable game and the best Sonic game released in over a decade. When looking at the game as a whole, it’s hard to find fault with it. Some may wish all of the stages were all-new, but the existing stages have all been revamped – so it’s less a retread and more of a remix blended with a lot of new content. It’s clearly a passion project and one that should result in Sega revisiting the idea of more 2D Sonics, hopefully with a focus on taking what makes this game so good and expanding it into future 3D entries. Sonic Mania is a must-buy for anyone who has ever loved Sonic the Hedgehog games – it will remind you of why the character had such a huge peak, and is a great buy for either the Switch or PS4.

Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 may not be the best bang for the buck in the history of the franchise, but it does still offer up the definitive way to play Mega Man 7, 9, and 10 – with the PS1 version of 8 being replicated better here than in prior compilations. Extras like an art gallery and the OSTs being available for all of the games are nice perks, and offer up more out of game value than prior collections to be fair. The controls are spot-on as are the graphics, with audio emulation being perfect. It’s a great buy for anyone who loved the series before – or might have missed out on the latter-day classic entries.

Aven Colony isn’t a bad game. It was just sort of meh for me. Luckily, the developer is staying involved with the game. They’ve already released multiple patches even though the game has only been out for a week, and they’ve promised to add new content eventually — and for free — so maybe things will get better over time. But for now, Aven Colony isn’t really a game I’d recommend. It’s only for you if you really like city-builders and you’re not too choosy, or if you haven’t played many city-builders before.

The latest incarnation of the Namco Museum does a great job of replicating every game in it – it’s just a shame there aren’t more games included. What’s here is largely good, with games like Splatterhouse and the Rolling Thunder games getting a showcase that they haven’t had in quite some time. If you already have existing collections, then the regulars like Galaga, Pac-Man, and Dig Dug won’t sell you on it, but if you’re missing out on the lesser-seen games, this is a great way to get them at a solid price point.

Overall, God Wars: Future Past is a well-crafted strategy RPG that manages to be both fun for veterans of the genre and newcomers. Its robust job system allows you to experiment freely with different character types and makes what would otherwise be trial and error into a fun task. It’s a solid-looking game overall, but definitely has some visual shortcoming when it comes to the character models. The sound design as a whole is strong though, and the game itself is perfect for anyone looking to get into SRPGs, or for lapsed fans of the genre.

Overall, Valkyria Revolution does many things differently than Valkyria Chronicles and will be quite divisive. As a fan of Chronicles, I found that game to be better overall and yet the faster pace of Revolution makes this more fun to play – the story just doesn’t hold up as well and the graphics are less impressive here than Chronicles. The action RPG shift works at keeping things interesting on the battlefield at all times and keeps you on your toes too. It does suffer from some iffy textures, but the game is greater as a whole than the sum of its parts. It’s a fantastic gateway game for the franchise for newcomers and offers veterans a completely new gameplay experience in many ways while also keeping some elements similar enough to make for a smooth transition.

DiRT 4 isn’t the greatest entry in the series, but it is still quite good. It lacks the feeling of life that prior games had and trades that in for a more sterile feeling. It’s a shame too because the festival setting injected a lot of fun into things, while the casual atmosphere let you go at your own pace through your career. Now, things are more rigid and while the core game is still fun, it feels like you have to do well as opposed to simply having fun being its own reward and better play resulted in faster progress. The core mechanics are excellent, though, and anyone looking for a high-quality rally racer will find one here. Series veterans who have become lapsed fans may not be won over by it, but should at least give it a rental while newcomers should give it a whirl as a rental and then give it a buy if they fall in love with it.

The Wipeout Omega Collection is a must for anyone who has either loved the Wipeout franchise or heard about it, but never had a chance to see what the fuss was about. With three games included, there’s a lot of content here and all of it is fantastic. It’s a bit of a shame there isn’t content here beyond the games – like a museum or jukebox area, but it’s no big deal. Everything that needed to be put in here was, and small improvements in theory – like the driving assist – really do make it a more fun experience. It plays wonderfully, looks gorgeous, and sounds incredible. Anyone hoping for a return for the franchise should pick it up.

Modern game production being what it is, I’m sure some or all of this will be remedied in time, and whatever Game of the Year edition comes out in six to twelve months will feel like a more complete product. Right now, off the shelf, Tekken 7 is a 90%-ish game when you’re playing with friends or turning your favorite character into a bright orange devil clown, but everything else about this home release is weak to the point where it would have almost been better to not do it at all. Other franchises can almost get away with releases like this, but in Tekken, it’s a massive step backward.

Still, when RiME is good, it’s very good. I’m consistently impressed, as I play it, with how much thought must have gone into it. It suggests paths without forcing you down them; it teaches you how to play it so subtly that you might not notice it’s doing it; and it’s got a strong, consistent sense of design. RiME isn’t long, but it’ll stick with you for a while.

Since Telltale’s games don’t have much to rely on other than the story, a “filler” script like the one A New Frontier has just kills the game. There isn’t anything to get excited about, you can probably spot most of the twists and plot elements coming a mile away, and your control over what happens is minimal at best. Really, instead of buying the game, you could just watch posted videos of the episodes and get the same experience. So it’s safe to skip A New Frontier unless you’re a dedicated fan of the franchise, and even then you should wait for a sale (which seems to happen to Telltale’s games with regularity). Hopefully Telltale can get their act together in time for Season 4, which has already been announced.

Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers delivers a lot of fun, even if the overall package could stand to have some room for improvement. The Way of the Hado mode is mere filler, but the core game is an absolute blast. Using either the original or revamped art works well, and you can alternate between each style along with changing the music from the original to remixes before a full gameplay session. Controlling it with the regular JoyCon setup on either the tablet or the grip works shockingly well – even though the split d-pad is far from ideal. Using the left stick feels natural, and you don’t need to rush out and buy a Pro controller to enjoy the full experience.

Injustice 2 tells one of the best stories ever featured in a fighting game, and the folks at NetherRealm have once again shown that it’s something they truly excel at. As a core fighter, it’s really more of the same with the Injustice engine, and if you were to imagine that game rebuilt with much higher-quality character models, a new story, and an updated roster, you’d have this in a nutshell. That’s not really a bad thing; it’s just a sign that this is exactly what someone would imagine a sequel to that game being for better or worse. For anyone who loved that game, you should get this as soon as possible. If you didn’t play that one, then you’re better off starting there – if you dig it, then buy this too. The two games fit together perfectly like puzzle pieces, and are a lot of fun to play.

Syberia 3 is a game to avoid. It has no redeeming qualities — whether you’re a fan of the series or not — and it’s not worth anything close to its bloated retail price. Just stay away, please, so Microids doesn’t get any ideas about subjecting us to a Syberia 4 (or maybe IV, since they seem to be alternating their numbering scheme).

I’m having trouble remembering when I’ve had this much fun with a FPS in the dozens I’ve played over the years. The first Half-Life for sure, and BioShock. Dishonored probably. Prey is better than the recent Wolfenstein revival, as good as that was. Deus Ex? Solid, but IMHO not as good. So, anyway, bottom line, I’m giving Prey what I believe is the highest score I’ve ever given. It’s that good.

Perhaps rather than think of it as a horror adventure, it would be better to think of it as an interactive horror movie, possibly a mildly interactive horror movie. Explore a little – stay within the velvet ropes at all times, please – then run for your life a little – keep in mind there is only one way out and all others lead to death. I would have preferred a more open world experience, but that horror game doesn’t seem to exist yet. In the meantime, I am for the most part happy with the popular resurgence of horror, and think Red Barrel is doing a better job than most.

For me, Full Throttle was one of my least favorite of the LucasArts adventures, being about half the length you’d expect from an adventure and using a setting that I didn’t really care about. So I’m mixed in my feelings here. If you’ve never played the original version of the game, then it’s worthwhile to try out the remastered version — just to see some adventure game history if for no other reason. But if you’ve played Full Throttle before, then the remastered version is more of an iffy proposition. There is some new stuff to see (and hear) but it’s basically just the same game, and you’ll have to decide if that’s worth $15 to you.

Overall, Puyo Puyo Tetris is the best puzzle game package available on the market today. You get full Tetris and Puyo Puyo experiences in it, plus the amalgamation modes that bring both franchises together. The long-time kinds of puzzle gaming have come together and are giving Tetris its biggest retail release since Tetris DS – and this is easily the biggest Puyo Puyo game ever made. It’s a must-buy for anyone who enjoys either franchise, and a perfect gateway game given its many extensive tutorials. Hardcore and casual puzzle fans will find a lot to enjoy here, and it will give you years of fun no matter which console you purchase it on.

As with Telltale’s other recent titles, Guardians of the Galaxy is basically an interactive movie where your choices make a minimal difference. There is only one “sort of” puzzle in the game, where you have to figure out how to open a door. Everything else happens linearly, and you only have one way to do it. Luckily, the writing is good, and the opening episode raises enough questions that I’m interested in seeing what happens next — which is certainly an improvement over Telltale’s recent Batman and Minecraft games. So everything looks good for Guardians of the Galaxy so far. Hopefully, Telltale can maintain the momentum.

An outstanding remake – and one of the best examples of a full-on remake that we’ve seen in quite some time. It’s an early example of an open-ended platformer, and its minor mixture of RPG and platforming works nicely. It’s definitely a game that has aged, and the core game may not have aged as well as something like the original Sonic or Super Mario Bros. games, but it is still very well crafted.

It has a unique look and premise, and while some of its gameplay mechanics are a little shallow, everything works well enough together to make it a worthwhile purchase, especially at its $20 price tag. So put on a mask and prepare to go gambling, but beware of talking fish. They have evil hearts.

All in all, though, for sheer violent, messy, often immature fun, Bulletstorm was probably my favorite shooter for the last console generation, and six years later, it still puts a big smile on my face. Even in as stacked a year as 2017 is turning out to be, it deserves a second look.

Has-Been Heroes doesn’t excel at anything and remains a game that had a lot of potential in theory, but punishes players too much in odd ways to be much fun, and isn’t a recommended purchase at full price. It is a game that will probably do quite well in a Humble Bundle down the line, but on its own it is a very hard game to recommend.

Fixes were made for things that needed it, like the camera, while the graphical upgrades are going to be huge for fans going from the PS2-era games to these – they won’t dazzle anyone who already enjoyed them on the PS3. If you missed that generation, but love the series, then you should absolutely get this alongside 2.8 and experience the entire story from the beginning until Kingdom Hearts 3 comes out. If you own them on the PS3, then re-buying is tougher to recommend – although the slight bump up in graphical fidelity, as well as better optimization for modern 4K TVs, means that it might be worth buying again if you have a 4K TV and want to see the series look its absolute best.

It’s a fantastic game overall, and owners of any platform should have fun with it – although Xbox One owners may want to stick with that version since that would then be the ultimate way to play all the B-K and B-K-style games on one device.

It’s funny, it’s challenging, and it brings back lots of good memories from a bygone era. Better yet, if you weren’t alive 30 years ago, and if you don’t know anything about LucasArts or their adventuring heyday, then Thimbleweed Park works as an introduction to that era without even requiring you to go through DOS. Thimbleweed Park is the best adventure I’ve played in years, and it’s easily worth its $20 price.

I think my largest criticism of Mass Effect: Andromeda is how safe Bioware played it. They wrote a new, sprawling plotline with a vast number of side quests and in doing so discarded Shepard as the main character, and added an open world sandbox element, but left so many of the core game mechanics, even some of the truly awful ones, unchanged that Andromeda feels more like a gigantic DLC than anything else. Note that this isn’t necessarily a bad thing; it’s been five years since the last Mass Effect, and I do for the most part like the gameplay, and I’m not particularly adverse to more of the same (a quote so good, it should definitely be on the game box somewhere), but a part of me was hoping for something less familiar, something less Mass Effect 4. I can’t help but feel that I didn’t get it.

It seems crazy to say this, but Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands is a little too big for its own good. It’s hard not to admire the time and effort that went into crafting this truly massive and beautiful open world, but there’s simply too much copy and paste going on when it comes to the content within; the side missions especially, but also the story scenarios. While the initial hours of Wildlands are thrilling, repetition ultimately seeps in and as such you’re enjoyment of the game may depend on whether you have a friend or three to play through the campaign with. Ubisoft has done a tremendous job supporting a pair of other recent Tom Clancy titles post-launch – Rainbow Six: Siege and The Division – so even if you’re not sold on Wildlands as it stands, I highly recommend keeping your sights trained on the game as the developers tweak the experience and eventually add the competitive multiplayer suite.

It’s one of the most consistently, thematically dark games of this console generation. This isn’t something you plug in to cheer up at the end of a long day. Yoko Taro is the closest thing that video games have to an Ingmar Bergman, and you should only jump on this ride if you’re in a mood to grapple with some heavy questions about life, death, sacrifice, and humanity.

Super Bomberman R finds itself in a bad spot. It’s a fine game in some ways, but is far too lean on content to be worth a full-priced purchase as it stands. The mode selection offline and online is sparse, and the online play is absolutely dreadful. There’s no good reason a game in 2017 should have online play as laggy as this is, and what’s worse is that the 2007 Xbox 360 and PS3 entries wind up eclipsing it in terms of quantity and quality of content. Super Bomberman R is a fine rental for die-hard fans but for newcomers, you’re far better off going with either Bomberman Ultra on the PS3 or Bomberman Live on the 360 – you’ll get far more bang for your buck.

Fast RMX doesn’t reinvent the series, but it does bring anti-gravity racing to a Nintendo console at launch for the first time in many years. It is a perfect pick-up for fans of the genre that grew up on F-Zero and wanted something to follow in its footsteps. It controls like a dream using the JoyCon grip and feels as natural as using a more traditional controller. It’s also one of the best-looking games on the system and takes what was already an incredible experience on the Wii U and improves it with more content. The online setup is flawed, but what little is there is executed well. Fast RMX is an outstanding game and one of the Switch’s best launch titles.

I failed to get into it. I skipped lightly along the plot, confronted by moral and ethical choices I for the most part either didn’t understand the implications of or didn’t care enough about. Interviews I have read with the designers indicated they wanted players to consider the question “What does one life matter.” This game didn’t make me consider that. It did make me consider what a dozen or so hours of my life are worth, and this wasn’t it.

Sniper Elite 4 doesn’t always hit its mark, but I still recommend it to virtual sharpshooters who prefer a more methodical approach to their shooters. The campaign is perfectly enjoyable solo, but adding a friend heightens the overall experience, as does raising the difficulty level to increase the intensity and really capture the essence of being a marksman. Sniper Elite 4 may be a “wait for sale” kind of title, but if you’re a fan of tactical shooters, you’ll want to keep this one in your sights. - See more at: http://www.game-over.com/content/2017/02/sniper-elite-4/#sthash.wpJqyL7D.dpuf

Horizon Zero Dawn is Guerrilla Games’ best effort, one of the PS4’s greatest games, and the best game ever crafted from the ground up for the platform. It combines a gripping narrative with intense action that blends both fast-paced combat with slower-paced, tense stealth sections perfectly. Everything about their vision for this game clicks into place and is accentuated by a stellar presentation. The game features top-shelf graphical work, a unique and enjoyable soundtrack, alongside a fantastic cast to make an unforgettable experience.

Overall, Urban Empire is a game that gets just about everything wrong. Your city isn’t a lot of fun to build or watch, and there isn’t a lot for you to do. The replayability is also poor, since there is very little difference between playing two different cities. Urban Empire just needs more things included, they need to work better, and they need to be explained better. Maybe that will happen with future patches, but I sort of doubt it, so Urban Empire is definitely a game to skip.

Resident Evil 7 is definitely worth your time, but unless you’re looking to go all in, it’s probably best as a rental. It’s a strong start for Capcom’s year, and it’s proof that there’s still a lot of life left in both this franchise and in the company. With a little more care shown towards its endgame and a few extra modes for longevity, another game like this one could be an all-time classic.

Probably the first true competitive sports game in virtual reality. It has its flaws, sure, but it offers an entertaining experience sports fans will definitely enjoy.

Yakuza 0 is everything fans of the series want it to be. It contains its trademark style, enhanced graphics, smooth framerate and an excellent story. By design, it is also a throwback to older gameplay styles and tropes and is not only proud of the fact, it’s downright smug about it. It is a game to be enjoyed, savored and explored, warts and all, for as many hours as possible. While not perfect, it is definitely an instant classic and worthy of your time and money (which you can always earn back by stomping on street toughs in Kamurocho).

This is a robust collection that allows series completionists to enjoy the entire franchise in just a few compilations – which will become only two when the PS4 version of the 1.5 and 2.5 Remix comes out in March.

As I was playing The Little Acre, I kept thinking that I should be liking it more than I was. It seems like it’s well-intentioned, but I found it more dull than charming, and more by-the-numbers than thought-provoking. Really, it’s like a shorter, less polished version of Anna’s Quest, and I didn’t even like Anna’s Quest that much. But on the brighter side, The Little Acre is cheap, and it might work well with children, and so for some people it might be worthwhile.

While this incarnation of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 doesn’t add any major content, it does result in the definitive version of one of the best fighting games of the modern-era. Despite time passing, it remains an outstanding game and an absolute must-buy for those who love the series and want to enjoy it on modern-day hardware.

About the only nice thing I can say about Batman is that it’s short. It only took me about eight hours to complete the game’s five episodes, and I was happy when it was over. So obviously, I don’t recommend this game to anyone for any reason, unless you’re an obstinate fan of the Dark Knight.

Tyranny is no Pillars of Eternity – let me say that straight out – but the story has some compelling moments.

Graphically gorgeous, audibly impressive (except in a few places where the music and sound design decisions are absolutely confounding) and totally immersive sums up Final Fantasy XV in one sentence. Is it a perfect entry into the series? Hell no. There’s some serious downtime and the car mechanics needed a lot more time to bake, but all in all the entire experience is worthy of its place and, most of all, worthy of your time and money.

Pinball FX2 VR is sure to please existing fans of the series – but newcomers may want to just stick with the mainline game for now. The cost-to-value ratio on this game isn’t quite as high due to the comparative lack of content, but what’s here is very good. The table themes for the in-game world are outstanding, and do somewhat offset the lack of content.

Luckily, while I didn’t enjoy Yesterday Origins for most of the time that I played it, the ending was clever and worked pretty well, and that saved the game for me. Still, I can’t overlook ten bad hours for one good one. The story is dull and does little to establish an emotional connection, I didn’t like any of the characters involved, and the puzzles are at best workmanlike. If you were a fan of Yesterday, then Yesterday Origins might be a worthwhile purchase for you, but otherwise you’re better off looking elsewhere.

Dead Rising 4 is, above all else, surprisingly bland, and that’s not something I ever thought I’d be able to say about a game that’s largely about running over zombies in a tractor. It doesn’t feel like an entry in its series, but like some kind of Dead Rising-themed expansion for a different franchise altogether.

This is one of those sequels that feels like a mission pack for the original. There’s a distinct feeling, as you go through Dishonored 2, that we’ve been here before, which even the characters themselves remark upon from time to time. That doesn’t make it a bad game, but it’s a slight sour note in what’s otherwise just as dense, manipulable, and customizable an experience as the original Dishonored.

Overall, I’m a lot more positive on Watch Dogs 2 than I expected to be. It doesn’t feel like it’s entirely finished (the multiplayer’s still pretty broken, for one thing), but it’s a huge step forward compared to the first game.

Even if you’ve already spent hundreds of hours wandering Skyrim’s countryside, the mods available at launch provide new ways to play, new loot to acquire, new locations to explore, and much more. Skyrim Special Edition is the best version of one of the all-time great fantasy role-playing games, even if it has begun to show its age.

All in all, BlazBlue Central Fiction feels like a fitting end to the long-running franchise. With sameness seeping in, it was a good time to end things while you could still be left wanting more – and smart to end things before it got too formulaic. Central Fiction keeps everything that made prior games in the series work and adds a lot more layers to the storyline and overall plot for those that care for it. For players that don’t, you still get an outstanding fighting game worthy of your time and an experience that you’ll go back to for years to come.

By speeding up wall-running and slightly upping the pace, everything feels snappier and more responsive. Combat still feels weighty and gunfire has some oomph to it – especially if you have a solid audio setup.

BF1 isn’t exactly forgettable, but it adds little that’s new to the genre. I could probably, literally dig up my review of the very first Call of Duty, and 90% of it would apply to this game as well.

Titanfall 2 fixes the content-lean issues that plagued the original game while delivering an even more action-packed experience. The addition of a full campaign allows players to finally invest themselves in the Frontier vs. IMC war while new game modes make multiplayer more fun than before. It’s a tougher game with a bit more strategic thinking required than the first, but remains a top-shelf shooter that is a must buy for any fan of the genre.

Gears of War 4 is a return to form for the franchise. The campaign plays it pretty safe, but a near-perfect pacing and outstanding variety of gameplay make for an entertaining experience that is best enjoyed with a friend.

There is so much new and complicated stuff going on in this iteration of the series. To be blunt, I’m not sure how I feel about Civilization VI which, and I’m sure some will disagree with this assessment, is less approachable than others in the past.

Story issues aside, EVE: Valkyrie is an excellent game and the most-polished of the bunch for the PlayStation VR’s launch lineup.

The revamped battle system is a lot of fun and strikes a balance that is good for fans seeking a return to turn-based combat while also finding a way to appease those seeking faster action.