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).