It’s not to say that Port Royale 4 is a bad game. It’s just unambitious. It fails to distinguish itself in any way. It’s a good distraction for a few hours, but not a title many will find themselves returning to in the long run.

Kena: Bridge of Spirit’s exceptional visuals clash with its unexceptional gameplay to create a gorgeous experience that would be forgettable if not for its technical prowess. Its combat, puzzles, and platforming are enjoyable but fail to set the world alight, though the adventure is elevated by the beauty of its open world and its highly animated characters.

Before that though, What We Deserve is a solid finale as a standalone Walking Dead adventure. I loved getting to spend more time with Michonne and the supporting cast left an impression too. The art style and gameplay mechanics fit nicely into the Telltale world.

It spends a great deal of its energy trying to impress the audience with unparalleled scope. The result is an experience that succeeds in its mission of being a grand experience, but commonly missteps when it comes to fundamentals such as combat, leveling systems, and user interface design.

Lost Lords carries the torch from Iron from Ice—no more, no less.

Morningstar doesn’t only appreciate your time, but it’s easy on the senses too. There are only a few cut-scenes, but all animations and scenes are nicely done, even though clean, abandoned environments have been done to death.

If you’re down with tough puzzlers and the retro vibe, give it a shot. Be warned, you’ll be using your keyboard here the whole time.

Despite the improvements in graphical fidelity and presentation, which are sure to be even more amazing on Xbox One and PlayStation 4, FIFA 14 is essentially the same game from last year.

This year’s installment of Need For Speed isn’t the end-all-be-all, but it has proven there are still great things to be offered to the genre.

Despite some quite good late-in-the-story character beats, Quantum Break is still just another cautionary tale about time travel. It seems the one thing that never gets an alternate universe path is the notion that time is something that we should never mess with, which is kind of obvious by now. Perhaps this story could have bucked that trend. What saves Quantum Break, though, is the abundance of content and its integration of time-based abilities in combat. I might not have like the live-action episodes, but someone might especially when compared to narratives in other games.

Fast RMX is one of the best Switch titles out right now. Given how Shin’en is supporting the game with free updates, with the first adding time trials, it’s a great time to pick it up and play this $20 game.

Polytron has crafted an exceedingly gorgeous world, full of surprises, temples, and eye-melting cuteness. Switching perspectives holds up as a gameplay mechanic, deftly avoiding gimicky traps along the way...Still, technical missteps and a confusing, unintuitive map system, confusing branches and game crashes remind us that Fez isn't the indie hero we need right now, but the one we deserve.

Wrath of the Druids has a lot of the same shortcomings as the main game. The story is too concerned with political intrigue that isn’t that intriguing, the landscape is mostly barren greenery that’s unexciting to traverse, and the overall game hardly hovers above the average baseline it rests upon, just to name a few of the overlapping problems. But Wrath of the Druids does leapfrog the base experience because of its relative focus that organically slices off the astounding amount of bloat inherent to a game that large. It doesn’t magically make Assassin’s Creed Valhalla a better game, but it does show that sometimes, a smaller serving can make a huge difference.

This game stands as a proof of concept, a testament that there’s still life in the arcade racing genre. The road ahead is pretty rocky, but the spirit is as alive as ever. Here’s hoping that there’s plenty more Dangerous Driving in the future.

Despite commendable frills, the point of this collection is games, and the truth is that these games are just old. Some are fun, others are less-so, but ultimately what you’re getting is average to good platforming across the entire package with a heady shot of nostalgia, if that applies to your age bracket.

Mafia 3 seems to be a great game that was rushed to meet deadlines...Sadly, it's paid the price for its rush to market with a noticeable lack of polish across gameplay and presentation.

The core combat system is satisfying and would shine if the game had more unique content to push the player forward. As it is, there’s very little hook and most players will likely find themselves getting bored around the halfway mark.

So at the end of the day, I'm going to say what I expected to say when I saw this game in the past, and what you probably expected me to say as well: FFXIII-2 is a lot like FFXIII, and will elicit the same kind of divided response within the gaming community. It is slightly better, all things considered, with a few appreciated improvements, but it certainly isn't anything that's going to sway someone who didn't like FFXIII to begin with.

Lots of gamers will probably want more time to arrange their towers perfectly or even help a few citizens out in side quests. As Dillon's objectives multiply, it can knock the delicate balance you've got between attacking and defending out of whack. Reigning it back in, fending off a difficult wave, and deftly manipulating the stylus feels rewarding. Even the stoically grim-faced Dillon would crack a smile at his own game's best moments.

Schrodinger's Cat and the Raiders of the Last Quark uses clever game mechanics and thought-provoking humor to create a fun platformer with an unusual twist.

The charm that covers nearly every inch of this game is also infectious, especially as this medium can better actualize its main characters’ imagination into something playable. Sometimes those playable aspects can get in the way but it’s still easy to saddle up on this bike even if that bike sometimes slams on the brakes.

Even with the story's odd consistency and dialog was translated by an all-work-no-play intern, the mechanics make up the difference and make this a fun time-waster.

This excessive padding and theoretically noble attempt to dive into deeper subjects also negatively impacts the gameplay, too, as even its ace combat mechanics can’t quite stay fresh and exciting when repeated that often over the span of 30 hours. What’s left is a Bloater that’s forsaken enough of its soul to only just barely still be recognizable in its current form, shuffling around and proving that, unlike Ellie, it is not immune to devolving into a lesser form of itself.

It was a giant step forward at the time, but it just doesn’t hold up under scrutiny anymore, compared to advances in contemporary RPG gameplay.

Despite some minor issues that hold it back from being the ultimate Yu-Gi-Oh! game, this is a fantastic reminder of how enjoyable the card game is and why players fell in love with it in the first place.

I’m impressed with how the concept was fleshed out. Like other unique experiences, I hope other developers learn from its brushes with ingenuity. I’m also excited about some of the ethical discussions it could spark. It’s definitely worth a spin in zero-gravity to check this one out.

Minor gripes aside, Worms W.M.D is a great addition to the long-running series! Combining new features like vehicles and crafting with the original 2D design is a great way to update the series while still keeping the old-school flavor. As a result, Worms WMD is sure to satisfy fans of the series and hopefully lure in a new generation of players.

While Syndicate's campaign lacks emphasis, playing the cooperative mode more than satisfies anyone's needs for challenging squad-based gameplay.