Nice at first glance, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing suffers from some really annoying shortcomings that demote it from "nice" to "average".

The Night of the Rabbit looks like a kid oriented game, but the puzzles point it towards the hardcore audience. One may clear them with a little research, but it's clear Daedalic didn't really master its difficulty curve. But in terms of production values and story, it's really good.

If EA had any ambition with Fuse to get a new yearly incremental shooter, it needs to think again: Fuse has everything it needs... to make it an average and unmemorable TPS. There's nothing setting it aside of the mass of generic games from this genre.

There's no denying it: The Last of Us hits almost every nail on the head. Its storytelling, its gameplay, its characters, and their journey in this bleak but almost sadly beautiful world that saw the downfall of the human civilization doesn't ever really try to shortcut its way to genuine emotions, opting, on the contrary, for the hard but humanely faithful path. The ambivalence of the human soul, the spot on portrayal of conflicting morals and the tragedy of impossible choices are all beautifully written and played. Plus, the multiplayer is far from being a gimmick; quite the contrary, in fact. It's very much a coherent and enticing experience on its own, with a brilliant meta-game idea, and a unique, multiplayer take on survival.

There's a lot of revelations in this episode of Cognition. I've been caught off guard and enticed right up until the end of it. It's enough to overlook the still weak production values, and the easy gameplay. Can't wait for the conclusion of this story!

The devs from Cardboard Games confirm their narrative talent with this second chapter.

New Leaf isn't just about adding more activities and items in a green fashion, it's about empowering the player with the ability to model the town through its aspirations. And with the wider opening provided by the possibility to visit other cities through dreams, there are even more reasons to express ones creativity and discover the richness of Animal Crossing.

The story of Nilin lasts maybe 10 hours, but will endure past the end credits. There are some shortcomings in terms of gameplay, indeed, but its storytelling, brilliant art direction, and impeccable, yet frightening vision of the future will most definitely remain branded in your memory for years to come.

GRID 2 offers an excellent feeling of speed within all its furious races. It is visually stunning, the gameplay is both accessible and subtle, the career and multiplayer modes are long and interesting... In short, despite the lack of cockpit view and tuning options, what we have here is a great racing game, with an almost perfect arcade/simulation compromise.

Cryptic uses Star Trek Online success to fuel its Neverwinter, a D&D Free to Play MMO that is as comprehensive as it is nice to play. But its balancing issues make it far to easy! With some corrections in that regard, and some additional Dungeon Master tools in their content creation system, Cryptic could produce one of the most interesting free-to-play games; let's hope they do.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity will not be the one to up the series. This first episode of Mystery Dungeon running on the 3DS simplified its gameplay so much that it's become even duller than previous episodes, making it the weakest of an already not-so-great saga.

Just as the name says, Stick Tennis perfectly sticks to its motto "easy to play, hard to master". Hence the gameplay is cleverly adapted to the touch interface, but its depth is limited by the lack of control over the movement.

Family Tennis 3D lacks polishing and too many core features to be worthy of its models, but it's been inspired just enough to offer a gameplay full of fun, carried by a cute design.

Behind its low end graphics, this indie game proves to be one of the most realistic tennis simulation ever created. The seemingly simple gameplay offers an astonishing amount of depth, combined with a very elaborate AI and a complete career mode. With the compelling online tournaments and its huge modding options, a virtual tennis life is really awaiting.

Reus might be seen as a god-game if you consider accounting management specialists are gods. Pretty, poetic, green, even slightly educative, Reus hides a super complex puzzle game behind its planetary beauty. You'll try to help humans to grow civilizations, but as one learns from real life, they will most certainly bring chaos in all your planing ; and this is what's the game is all about.

Quotation forthcoming.

Gunslinger wipes away the disappointment of the previous Call of Juarez. The affordable price of this shooter makes up for its short adventure and its shortcomings: mainly a poor AI and the lack of multiplayer. Its overall good storytelling, and the fitting cel shading of its visuals make up for those as well.

Paved with good intentions, this new FPS from 4A Games comes up short in terms of gameplay (mostly because of a poor AI). That's too bad because its atmosphere and story are rich and interesting. It's a good experience if you're able to pace yourself like the game needs you to in order to shine; to help you there, it's also a shame that the "Ranger" difficulty mode has to be purchased as a DLC.

Rooted in good intentions, but poorly executed.

Stardrive boasts a no-compromise approach to 4X strategy that is interesting enough. Its relatively simple in terms of management mechanics, but still requires the player to pay attention, since every element has a major impact on his game. On the contrary, the deep customization system of the ships needs to be studied meticulously to be handled with efficiency, on a per-case basis, because the economy doesn't really allow massive aramadas. All these make for a solid basis of a game but a lot still requires refinement (AI, interface, graphics optimisation...).

A very well executed translation of the Persona world in the versus fighting genre. Arc System Works delivers a rich and beautiful game, all the while staying as true as possible to Atlus' franchise.

Fez may not be as polished as its pairs, the Limbos and the Braids, but it's the indie gem we were expecting it to be. It's an ode to 8bit clichés for sure, but also a puzzler that will appeal to all the thinkers and explorers alike, filled with cuteness, an awesome soundtrack and atmosphere, and quite a load of secrets to uncover.

Zeno Clash II is really a twin brother to the first one: same peculiar art direction, same slightly below average production values, same gameplay ideas. Its unique world remains its strongest asset, by far, but its bugs and gameplay shortcomings will quickly get on the nerves of those who aren't mesmerized by its universe.

I really thought that Blood Dragon would quickly become too much, but I'm surprised that it was able to make me laugh all the way through this heavily deformed and 80's enriched Far Cry 3. It goes in all directions, and at great length, to charm all over-the top, punchline riddled, references fans. A smart and refreshing stand-alone take.

Soul Sacrifice is not a kind of chimera born simply from Monster Hunter and Demon's Souls influences, because Keiji Inafune breathed a real soul into it by integrating the concept of sacrifice with the narrative, the gameplay system and the multiplayer philosophy.

Mars War Logs isn't free of shortcomings, and not all of them can be explained by the low budget of the studio. Some are design mistakes, or skewed ideas. But its basics are pretty solid, and this RPG, as well as its universe, are ambitious and realistic. Its shortcomings should really be overlooked, for a sequel with more means would probably be even more enjoyable.

Don't Starve is brilliantly titled. This rich and smart rogue-like defies you to explore and survive an equally cruel and alluring randomly generated world, but I suspect that the "Don't Starve" advice isn't for your character but for yourself: the game is so enticing and brilliant that those playing it will soon find themselves skipping the real life meals to continue playing.

Quotation forthcoming.