The whole package is so bland, boring, and unremarkable (and tedious - moving those guys around so you feel like you have a team that can win!) that it's similar to PB&J on white bread. Bad analogy? Well, it's just as imaginative as Blue Dragon Plus, so it fits.

Given how much repetition is in the game, one would think it was much longer than its six to eight hour length. The lack of any kind of multiplayer hurts it further. And the final stake to the heart is the appallingly abrupt and inconclusive ending.

Really, with the Wii controller and nunchuck the game becomes even more tedious.

Despite the hype, Legend of Dragoon is a soulless creature, a subpar game held aloft by deceptive marketing. Don't trust it.

Its moments of thrilling gameplay and competition-rich multiplayer are sideswiped by bad performance, the poor implementation of Slam, and frequent glitches. The series might have once had potential to be revived, but Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 makes sure that all signs of life have been squeezed out of it.

Sadly, we instead have a game that is largely built around wasting the player’s time, with half-baked RPG mechanics doing little to enhance the experience, ultimately hindering the better parts and drawing attention to the lost potential.

The bottom line is that I play games to have fun. While I found the handling and tracks fun, I have no desire to play a game whose difficulty curve turns it into a second job because it demands near-perfection from the outset. Chances are, if this game is for you, you've already bought it.

In short, this game is entirely underwhelming. The storyline tries to be interesting, but just appears a muddled mess of stereotypes; the characters themselves look alright, but set pieces are empty and boring and littered with invisible walls pointing in only a few directions for exploration; and the battle system isn’t much for “battling” at all, even against the “tough” boss characters.

This concept behind Storm does have potential, but until it feels more controlled and less like an irritating crapshoot, I'm going to have to pass. The presentation is all well and good, but only when there's a game that's wrapped in that little blanket am I interested. Storm looks like a comfy blanket… until them damn wildfires start up and slowly spread across my controller.

Add new ships, new weapons, new maps, new enemies and a few more colors, and this thing goes from less than ho-hum to slightly above average. As it stands now, Pulstar is not a game I can easily recommend.

I wish I could feel like Boss! meant something other than a cheap throwaway downloadable, but sometimes video games we love become the story all on their own. I couldn’t find that in Boss! though you may have an excuse to download a handful of PSN games this holiday season.

Double Cross is an up and down ride, but I can’t shake the feeling that there’s another dimension out there.

Unless you're an aquatic dinosaur fanatic who has a thing for submarines and listening to facts about dinosaurs, you're probably not going to enjoy this. Your time would be better spent at a local museum; at least they have the cool dinosaurs there and not just the underwater ones. [Tested both Vive and Rift]

When I started Earth Defense Force 2017 Portable, I was looking forward to a charming, if uninspired, shooter for on-the-go action. What I found was just the uninspired part. Fans of the series will certainly find a lot to love, but the uninitiated should steer clear. As playable games go, Sandlot and D3 have packed plenty of gameplay in, but the charm quickly fades and all your left with is more invading ants.

Not even the basic shooting of Moss Destruction can hang, even in the best case scenario. And when the core is a bit rotten, that’s not a good sign.

Knack may be built on the blocks of charm and difficulty, but by the fourth level, those blocks topple over into a pile of excess tedium.

Rather than spend time with this frustrating game, do yourself a favor and just import Gundam Breaker 3.

If you're a racing fanatic, I probably can't save you from spending your money on this one, but anyone with a sense of the value inherent in $30 needs to direct their attention to one of the many other PlayStation Vita launch titles priced at the same level.

All in all, Just Dance 2016 is the same Just Dance that millions of party people in varying levels of enthusiasm and sobriety have enjoyed for seven iterations now (not counting the multitude of spin-offs). Nothing's really changed there. What has changed, though, is how badly Ubisoft wants to get in your phone, your living room, and your wallet.

If ever a game was made to put (mostly) buxom girls in bikinis and have them fight, this is the culmination of that.

I love the gooey center of every cyborg PMC out there, but Revengeance fights the player every step of the way. What's more, reducing the difficulty ultimately boils down the combat to a button masher, leaving the experience hollow and draining all the same. Fans and masochists alike might find a lot to love, but even I can't stand the crunchy outside of a bug for the sweet gooey insides.

With high-quality puzzle games like The Talos Principle available, I don't understand why anybody would pay to play Attractio. Its numerous flaws and bad design decisions aren't something that can be patched at a later date.

Silent Hill: Downpour upsets me not because it's a bad game (it is), but becaue there's the kernel of a good game in it, with some excellent set pieces that are undone by its muddy, bloated open world, technical glitches, and last-gen presentation. It's a game that I desperately want to like for what it does well, but I can't responsibly overlook its failings, which makes it all the more frustrating.

There are isolated moments of the funny and interesting, like one of the 26 fighters being a small dog (I think it's a chihuahua, but I'm not entirely sure). It makes me feel like a bad person, but kicking a possessed dog is mildly amusing… the first time. Then it becomes another cheap and frustrating match with the AI.

This was a poor attempt at reviving the franchise, and Front Mission deserves better.

Sometimes my job is to play bad games so you don't have to. Homefront: The Revolution is one of those games.

In short, I didn't like it and I deeply thought about displaying a picture of it in my trashcan to express my disfavor. But I'm not going to waste any more time on it. I'd rather spend it playing something else to wash the taste of Test Drive Ferrari Racing Legends out of my mouth.

Unfortunately, while its developer can roll out a patch to improve its performance, it can’t roll out a patch that will increase its player-count. With that being said it is impossible to recommend Rekoil, a game which is swiftly heading towards stagnation before it ever had a chance to prove itself.

It’s envious of better games like Dark Souls and Devil May Cry, lustful of the relevance those titles have, sloth-like in its combat, and too proud to delay itself in order to fix its glut of technical shortcomings. A better game is hidden somewhere within its depths, beneath its glaring issues that beg for more development time. But as it stands, it’s a hobbled, confused mess of a game that’s a victim of a lot of the sins it proclaims to be against.

It’s odd that Capcom has done so little to the hibernating series and let this beloved game wither away under the harsh sands of time.

Senran Kagura: Peach Ball is briefly enjoyable, but is bogged down by a lack of things to do aside from skipping through tedious dialogue. Senran fans may find themselves content with the ways you can, ahem, interact with its cast, but for the rest of us this is a passably decent pinball game and little else.

If Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs-Force intends to be the resurgence of the franchise here in the West, it could not start on a more wrong foot. This game is not a primer; it is only for the Gundam devout.

It’s as if someone played Mark of the Ninja and thought “we can make a worse version of this.” Just take away the depth of combat, the freedom of choice, and any semblance of longevity, and voila. That’ll be $15.

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy Plus will definitely appeal to aviation aficionados who happen to game as well, but not to many other gamers. Either way, the “Plus” feels like a misnomer—the title doesn't offer enough new or entertaining features to justify a full-price purchase point for a four-year-old marginally average game.

Linear takes on roguelikes often feature lots of variety and plenty of unique hooks. The world of Sparklite feels drab in comparison. It feels like you’ve been here a hundred times before in a hundred other games.

Hardcore amiibo addicts and Animal Crossing die-hards may even pass up on this, but if you've got a wide range of gamers who want a family-style night, then you may get some enjoyment out of it.

Perhaps some day, Ready at Dawn could develop a sequel that's gorgeous and fun, and lives up to the promises of The Order: 1886, fingers crossed. But today is not that day.

Beyond Light is the first note in a dirge for Destiny 2, and major steps need to be taken by Bungie to fix the issues caused by sunsetting and content vaulting. But regardless of what Bungie’s next steps are at this point, it’s difficult to feel excitement for any future expansions given the direction Destiny 2 is headed in.

There just isn’t anything of note really in Fairy Fencer F. It looks outdated, feels “meh” at best and “Seriously, really?” at worst.

Rampaging through the French countryside is entertaining enough for a quick rental. Otherwise, it doesn't have much else going for it and squanders its fantastical setup with a lackluster plot, limited online options, restricted strategic choices, and neutered dragons.

I have a hard time recommending Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds to anyone. If you're obsessed with 2D brawlers and love Japanese animé, I strongly recommend you give the demo a try before shelling out any cash. The redundant and dated gameplay, coupled with weak production values, make this a forgettable experience that won't keep you entertained for very long.

Defiance is full of good ideas and a bevy of solid MMORPG systems, but it's all buried under a messy-looking, shoddily designed shooter that you'd never enjoy on its own merits.

The best quality of Jeremy McGrath's Offroad is that it's functional. It may even be slightly enjoyable for a few hours if you're not picky about downloadable games. Otherwise, I recommend spending a little more than $10 and catching DiRT 3 on sale.

If you're being generous and don't care about the missing creation features, then WWE 2K15 is about as strong as WWE 2K14, except that it asks for premium price. In fact, that this current-gen WWE 2K15 could have been better as DLC for WWE 2K14.

It can be entertaining as a series of curious tech demos, but not for any longer than a few hours.

Shelter 2 isn't all bad, though, as the unusual watercolor-style visuals help to create a uniquely attractive view of nature.

It’s difficult to fault a game for dreaming big as it still enjoyable to hunt for secrets under Stonehenge. However, that might be because these types of forward-thinking gameplay ideas are almost always alluring. We need to see games with a sense of humanity in its characters and games that can teach the socially awkward in the same way that action games teach reflexes. Perhaps that’s too much to put on a small scale first-person experience. And perhaps it is not, but given how The Bradwell Conspiracy executed its ideas, it might actually be too much to ask for in this case.

Mugen Souls Z relies heavily on underboob, sideboob, and boob windows to get the job done, but this is not the full extent of the overt sexism, fetishism, or hypersexualization.

The little issues stack up so high that it’s hard to really recommend playing this over any other game in the genre. Especially on Switch, where the portable mode is beyond broken. If you were hoping to have a fun time on the go with some Nazi tactics, I just have one phrase for you: Next time Charlie. Next time.

Klang’s good ideas are upstaged by their own poor execution. Neither the rhythm or the platforming are good enough to stand on their own, with the sum of their parts still failing to add up to a complete experience. I wanted to like Klang, but this hybrid is less of a chimera and more of an abomination. At least the music was good.

DBZ Kinect is a novelty wrapped in repetition. A small child in your household might have a lot of fun, if he or she can properly use the Kinect. While many of Namco's Dragon Ball games feature ever expanding rosters, knock-down, drag-out fights, and really pretty, animé-inspired graphics, DBZ Kinect is a totally passable affair, even for (lapsed or otherwise) diehard fans.

It's the grinding that honestly made this game more of a chore for me than an enjoyment. If you need that old-school fix, there are better ways to do it on both PSN and XBLA, and you can just download and listen to the songs through your iPod or something if you really need the flashback. I just can't recommend it beyond the die-hard Double Dragon folks… if any of you are still out there.

It would have been fine to integrate the storytelling in the play—of which there is absolutely none—and had a “meh” battle system, because that would bring this up a few notches. But instead, it’s little more than an interactive manga with some battles tossed into some of the most boring environments this side of Dragonball Evolution.

Above all, Heat feels like subscription filler, another driving game to add value to EA’s Access bundles.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII will be lauded in the short term for its fun battle system, but remembered in the long term for its bad story and atrocious ending.

Gungnir looks nice, but it's underwhelming. Getting into the fights was easy enough when I decided to ignore the game's extra tactics, and the combat turned out to be engaging enough. But those characters… I've never actually watched paint dry before but it sounds more interesting than actually reading through these characters' plight. Let me summon the demon, let me slay some bad guys, and let me be engaged in a story… don't make me feel like I'm sitting on the sidelines.

Speaking Simulator is a fun idea that remained best on paper. It’s another “simulation” game that takes a joke and wears it thin, leaving not much room for enjoyment past the initial chuckle.

Konami, I know you've been making games for years. We all really enjoyed the arcade games you've graced us with through the decades. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will live in our hearts forever. You had X-Men, Dance Dance Revolution, ESPN NFL Primetime, and of course your golden egg, the Metal Gear Solid series. But please, can we say NeverDead never happened, never alive? Chalk this one up, call it a tax write-off, and get back on the horse of awesomeness.

Unfortunately, a recipe is only as good as its ingredients. Narcosis’ voice acting and writing might hold water but the outdated visuals, laughable horror, and poor gameplay weigh the game down and cause it to sink faster than a corpse with cinder block shoes.

I like games that are fun to play, not that remind me that I could be playing something else so, so much better.

It offers a challenge and requires careful planning, but it's missing mechanical depth.

The developers of OmniBus decided to put humor over fun and created a game that might do well for a couple of Twitch streamers or YouTubers, as I can imagine it might be fun to watch. But it sure isn't fun to play.

Windforge has set sail without an adequate pilot, but I’m sad to say that this promising game has crashed and burned.

The awful bugs, lack of polish, boring story, and repetitive gameplay are gross enough. I suggest watching The Omen. There are less bugs, and it’s significantly shorter.

After a few months, the price is bound to drop well below current asking price and make its way to the $10 and lower bin.

Keep in mind, though, that you'll be able to buy it separately for less within a few weeks, and for people who just want a decent lightgun game, that'll be a better deal in my opinion. That said, neither game is good enough to spend money on unless you're a diehard Resident Evil fan. Even then, there are better ways to blow $30 bucks in the name of fandom, like buying as many of the Resident Evil films on DVD as you can.

The Caligula Effect is full of promising ideas that are bogged down by poor execution and lackluster presentation. The game tries too hard to do too many things all at once, resulting in obvious compromise.

Trust me when I say you'll have more fun testing a phaser set to stun on yourself.

There's no way I could recommend buying this wallet draining mutant. While the heart of the character is here, the brain is not.

Dated in almost every way.

Dated in almost every way.

Dated in almost every way.

Strangely enough, Boogie works well on that extremely low level, EA has nailed the humor and charm with this musical cartoon. The actual game sucks if you’re expecting anything beyond a colorful puppet show.

At best, Swashbucklers might garner your attention on a beer-and-pretzels level. Its presentation leaves a lot to be desired, but even with the current swell of pirate media, there still aren’t so many games catering to the pirate-jonesing.

The games suck. Not in a grand 'broken beyond redemption' sense, but in a more mediocre, 'nothing to see here, people' kind of way. Go spend your money on a good game. You'll be happier for it.

Better suited as a free online Flash game than something sold at retail. It fails to live up to its odd premise and relies too heavily on being offbeat, ultimately turning into more of a cute diversion than a full-fledged game.

While playing offense is very easy, playing defense will have you mashing your cleats into the turf out of frustration.

The winding dungeon crawl the franchise defined long ago has been replaced with a lifeless linear action game's dash, one which will hopefully get back on the track its forefathers fought so hard to gain.

Playing Sydney 2000 is going through rote finger tapping or timing exercises that will quickly get boring.

Also, about the ultra-long credits that you can’t skip: please. It’s like watching the dirt get shoveled onto my open grave as I wait for the ordeal to end.

A terrible football game with some good ideas surrounding it, and a marked tendency to make me wish I wasn’t playing it. If you enjoy football games, stick to Madden; Blitz is not a serious competitor, unless you enjoy getting a bit squeamish.

A test of patience. Camera and optimization troubles coupled with the loss of some cool features bring this once-proud warrior to its knees.

All in all, I cannot figure out why anyone would buy this game instead of purchasing one of Jamie's cookbooks. It's just as useful, has a larger "screen", probably has more recipes, and won't short out if when you spill wine on it.

Monster Hunter: Freedom tries to capture the odd, free-form gameplay that made its console counterpart so quirky, but its load problems, aggravating combat, lame AI and lack of online play dulls its blade immeasurably.

A frustrating platformer with broken combat, repetitive missions and a totally misused second screen.

Alright, so it's not entirely broken, and you can get better at using the board with enough practice. But that's the problem: You can only get better, you can't actually get good. You know, where you can reliably go where you want to and pull off the trick you want to, like you can in every other Tony Hawk game.

This formulaic title just has very little to offer. It’s certainly a pale copy of whatever the movie has going for it, minus the star power, plot, humor and soul.

As it stands now, you'd probably have more fun being on To Catch a Predator than playing Aliens Vs. Predator.

This formulaic title just has very little to offer. It's certainly a pale copy of whatever the movie has going for it, minus the star power, plot, humor and soul.

Other than a couple isolated bits HP and the SS is a mess. And I didn’t play crap like this when I was a kid, at least not for long. I played Sonic. So there ya have it: Harry Potter is better than a Vomit flavored bean, but a little worse than Grass, and on a level with Booger.

Maybe instead of trying to make it work with the Wii-mote, they should’ve gone with the guitar and drums. Maybe they could’ve touched up the corners on their animations, so they didn’t look so blocky.

You want gamers to really hate your game? Here's how to do it. Make the gameplay repetitive and uninteresting, then let them complete 99% of a level only to have the character die inexplicably and restart the level all over again. Body Harvest fits the preceding bill to a "T". This game has neither the innovation, the depth, nor a halfway interesting story to keep you playing for any extended period of time.

So the story and gameplay fall flat, but part of what made the Seven Samurai film so incredible was its revolutionary cinematography. Does Seven Samurai 20XX at least excel in its look? Nope - the streak continues.

Unfortunately, the poorly designed mini-games and boring gameplay takes most of the joy out of creation, effectively dropping this fantasy land into the shallow end of the kiddie pool.

While not a spectacular failure, Delta Force: Black Hawk Down is just another ho-hum first-person shooter, offering a big multiplayer canvas but little else. I wouldn't call it as unattractive as a live grenade, but I wouldn't go jumping on it, either.

Rather than complement the film with some sort of stand alone side story, it opts for arcade gameplay sans interesting plot, depth, or really anything beyond just blasting and whacking.

But most mystifying of all is the absence of any kind of multiplayer. There’s no Xbox live support and no two-player mode. Believe it or not, the only way to play with someone else is to have two consoles, two copies of the game, two TV’s and the Xbox link cable.

Half-assed game.