Don’t bother with Gauntlet: Slayer Edition if playing solo, and expect the end game to be little more than a massive grind for gold.

Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is a clunky, sometimes beautiful mess, navigating between some exciting highs and many disappointing lows to fall short of its promise.

Despite its frustrations and some half-measure design, Boneworks is still a game that is easy to recommend for VR fans. There's a lot about its immersion that other VR games could learn from, and hopefully build an overall better game around.

Princess Peach: Showtime has a lot going for it, but it sometimes comes across as a concept demo for a larger game that will be much better. Peach shouldn't have to wait another 19 years for her next solo outing, but hopefully her next game takes the time to give the Mushroom Kingdom's princess a proper, full-scale adventure.

Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is an easy recommendation for Borderlands and D&D fans, but those who have had their fill of the franchise may get tired of the repetitive combat and constantly looting useless items. The technical problems are the biggest issue, so hopefully, Gearbox Software releases new Tiny Tina's Wonderlands updates to address them soon.

For a game that only exists because a die-hard group of fans demanded it, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst should have been better. Unfortunately, it’s a mediocre follow-up at best.

It’s certainly more finely polished than free alternatives online, and does a decent job of challenging Plague Inc. and Pandemic in the sparse market for strategy disease-based games – though it’s not the greatest cure for boredom out there.

Warsaw is a solid foundation, but the balancing issues may make it difficult for players to love.

Unfortunately, those looking for a game with a deep and innovative stock simulator system will not find it in The Invisible Hand. What players do find is an entertaining experience for a few hours, driven by a desire to be a better stockbroker than their coworkers. Power Struggle Games should be proud of the release of The Invisible Hand, letting players live out the fantasy of being a big-time stock trader, all the while warning them of the greater consequences of capitalism's, and Wall Street’s, "invisible hands."

NBA 2K21 feels like a bit of an off-step, but it is still a solid basketball experience.

Wrestling Empire is repetitive and its lack of online multiplayer is disappointing. However, it has one of the deepest rosters in the history of wrestling games, and despite modeling itself after a game that's over 20 years old, still manages to perform better than some modern day wrestling games that have much bigger budgets. If nothing else, it's something to keep pro wrestling fans busy while they wait for the next WWE 2K or the upcoming AEW video game.

We wouldn’t say that the game overstays its welcome, but by the midway point getting through the levels starts to become a chore.

Ultimately, one's enjoyment of Immortality is going to depend entirely on two things: if they like art house films and if they have the patience to sift through over 200 clips of mostly-boring footage to get the story's full picture. The story itself is interesting enough that players will find themselves compelled to keep returning to the game to look for more clues, even if they're otherwise bored, but gameplay-wise, it doesn't have much to offer beyond its one genius trick. Immortality is something that everyone should at least try through Xbox Game Pass, but they should go in understanding that the game is going to demand a lot from them and not always offer much in return.

Those looking for definitive Mario sport experiences are best to stick to dedicated games.

The sequel to Ubisoft’s Grow Home is a charming follow up that gives gamers more to explore and collect, but ultimately fails to capitalize with further innovations.

While some players may love some of the things Kaiserpunk does with the genre, many may find it is a mostly fine take on the concept. If the publisher's past games are anything to go by, there is a chance that the game will expand with more content to help build out the experience further. But, as of now, players will have to wait and see.

Long load screens and a very cookie cutter narrative hold SGW3 back from greatness, but there’s no denying that this installment in the shooter franchise has brought the series forward quite a few steps.

Overall, Once Upon a Puppet is a fine game. Its presentation is a standout feature, with its graphics, character animations, environments, and audio design all going to great lengths to make the most of the game's unique premise. But those elements aren't enough to elevate the overarching experience. The fine platforming, fine puzzles, and fine story are the strings that hold Once Upon a Puppet back from greatness, and some unfortunate technical issues can inject a layer of unnecessary frustration into an otherwise very satisfactory performance from a promising new indie studio.

With time, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's technical issues will be ironed out and the game will undoubtedly get a ton of new content. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Season 1 alone is promising new maps, modes, playable characters, and even some content for Warzone. But at launch, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is disappointing, and so fans may want to give the developers some time to smooth things over before picking it up.

Overall, there's a lot here that fans of Vampire: The Masquerade are likely to love, and the wide expanse of skills and choices to make should add a fair amount of replayability to the story. However, newcomers to the franchise would do well to read up on the way the series works as a whole before getting started, especially if they lack experience with tabletop games and the way that experience is rewarded and utilized.

So much of the design of Forspoken takes a starting template and duplicates it ad nauseum to the point the biggest incentive to do anything is to flesh out the magic. By the time the credits rolled after 15 hours of story (and a decent amount of side activities), there weren’t any compelling reasons to keep going and cross items off the checklist. Instead, it felt better to appreciate the things that were enjoyable about Forspoken and leave it at that.

At its core, Zombie Army 4 feels uninspired and fails to capture anything unique. With the plethora of zombie video game content out, it seems safe to say that there is plenty out there that have done it better.

Playing with friends, coming up with battle strategies, and catching Pokemon are the most entertaining activities in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Unfortunately, the bland open world and technical problems weigh down what could have otherwise been another exceptional main series Pokemon game experience. The bones are here to build something special, so hopefully future Pokemon games do the concept of an open-world Pokemon game justice.

Melatonin works smoothly without any bugs and the controls feel crisp. The visuals are dreamlike, and the color palette is conducive to making people sleepy. With all the music to discover, it's kind of like an interactive album. Towards the end, it felt like just automatically pressing the space bar to the beat from level to level wanting to hear the next song.

Playing with friends, coming up with battle strategies, and catching Pokemon are the most entertaining activities in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Unfortunately, the bland open world and technical problems weigh down what could have otherwise been another exceptional main series Pokemon game experience. The bones are here to build something special, so hopefully future Pokemon games do the concept of an open-world Pokemon game justice.

Ultimately, players' enjoyment of Pumpkin Jack will crux on how nostalgic they are for the 3D action platformers of yesteryear. The makings of a great game are definitely here, with witty dialogue, a wonderful selection of fun mini-games, and some serviceable platforming. But, outside of its clear homages and lofty inspirations, Pumpkin Jack feels like it has nothing new to say and no modern insights to add. It ultimately winds up a jack of all trades but a master of none, offering plenty of ideas rife with potential but never honing in on one long enough to make it stand out.

Ultimately, Crossfire: Legion is a competent if generic Command and Conquer style game. It will appeal to those who enjoy the nostalgia of C&C, but given its largely forgettable campaign, limited map choice, few buildings, and small unit roster, it likely won’t have the same long-term appeal as other RTS games.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream's gameplay isn't meaty enough, and it's disappointing that there are some features missing that were present in the 3DS version, like the Concert Hall. But the game is undeniably bursting with charm and is a decent distraction for a little while. Playing it in short bursts is the ideal experience, and while I don't feel the same kind of pull to never stop playing like I do with more well-rounded cozy games, I still plan on checking in on my Miis from time to time. $60 is too steep of an asking price for what's on offer, though.