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.

Overall, Battlezone is an excellent reboot for this long-suffering franchise. No modernization of the original concept has worked nearly as well as this does, and it is a perfect showcase for VR technology.

This entry doesn’t make major waves, but is always enjoyable and a good pickup for longtime fans.

WWE 2K17 is an excellent wrestling game with a lot of superficial trappings to it that bog it down. The flow of matches is better than ever outside of triple threats and fatal four ways, which are now a stop and go affair. Career mode remains fairly aimless even with it being given something resembling goals now. Universe mode is improved, but a bit more time-consuming than ever before thanks to the presentation.

Forza Horizon 3 doesn’t reinvent the wheel in any way – but it does perfect it. Everything that worked about past games is better here. There’s more terrain to traverse, more variety, and the inclusion of off-road racing alone expands the game’s already-expansive replay value. If you have always wanted to enjoy a Forza game, but don’t like the idea of sim racers, the Horizon series makes for a great gateway.

I played for about 10 hours total, and it was a chore. The game doesn’t look good, nothing interesting happens while you’re playing, and the strategic elements are minimal.

It combines some of the best elements of Metroid and Mega Man and blends them together seamlessly. Other than camera problems and occasionally excessive load times, ReCore is an exciting experience and one of the Xbox One’s best action games.

MoO scratched a very specific itch for me that no other 4X game has. This iteration of MoO:CtS doesn’t do it for me. I get that a lot of people are looking for a more involved, more detailed 4X experience, and my problem is not that I’m overwhelmed by all the activity in MoO. It’s just that if I’m looking for this kind of thing I have the excellent Civ V to turn to. It’s not that it’s bad, but except for a narrow slice of nostalgia, I don’t see what the new MoO:CtS brings to the table that the plentitude of other 4X games don’t.

It’s painfully easy and the story falls apart under scrutiny, but it still hits a lot of the buttons that make a Deus Ex game what it is.

Years from now, No Man’s Sky will be on the books as the game that shifted the paradigm of console gaming as a whole, but only on a technical level. It is not too late for that to change, however, as Hello Games has a lot of opportunities to improve what they have created, should they choose to continue to develop it.

And so Batman: The Telltale Series is looking like a mixed bag at the moment. The first episode is all set-up, so there isn’t any way to tell if the series is going to be interesting or not, or even what the series is going to be about.