With its engaging and well-written story campaign, satisfying progression mechanics, and wealth of endgame pursuits, Forsaken does more than enough in helping Destiny 2 realize its full potential. It may be tough for some fans to forget and forgive Bungie’s earlier blunders, but if Forsaken is the studio’s way of making amends, then I’m certainly willing to give it another chance.

The Octo Expansion is a great addition to Splatoon 2, offering a lot of gameplay for its $19.99 price tag, and helping to expand Splatoon’s universe with a decent storyline. At about $0.25 per level, it’s hard to argue that Nintendo isn’t offering sufficient value for your gaming dollar. Fans of Portal or other puzzle platformers should check it out, especially since you can play this mode even when you’re out of range of your Wi-fi.

The gameplay and story holds up quite well even 10 years later, and the new content makes the experience refreshing even for the most hardcore fan. This is an important port, for the RPG community, for the Tales series, and for video games in general.

There's no question that New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is a good game, and being able to play it on the go is a huge advantage, but that portability doesn’t necessarily cancel out the lack of new content.

If you're a Civilization VI fan, adding Gathering Storm to your game isn't a hard choice. It adds depth where the game needs it and brings some fascinating new civilizations into the fold. Civ VI has charted a polarizing new course for the franchise since its original release, and there's nothing in Gathering Storm that will make you like the core game if you don't already enjoy it.

The writers know that, and refuse despair by not closing the circle of loss that started with Lee’s death. They knew that we were watching and learning as well, and refused to leave us with a message of nihilism and hopelessness that has consumed much of zombie and other horror media.

The Heist is a solid DLC that’s meant to serve up more Spider-Man goodness for fans that are craving a chance to slip back into a Spidey-suit. For what it is, it’s a great story that fleshes out old characters while adding some new flavors to the pot with a classic comic book character, but if you’re expecting The Heist to change up the formula at all you’re going to be a bit disappointed.

The plot leaves Sean and Daniel on a brutal cliffhanger, and I can’t wait to see how it resolves. Episode 4 can’t come soon enough. Nice work, Dontnod, you’ve reeled me back in. At this point, I’m reasonably sure that Season 2 will live up to Season 1. And by that, I mean that it will cause me to cry myself to sleep and feel shaken for days after.

At the very least, I’m willing to admit that nostalgia alone is a big part of why the Shenmue series has such a high amount of staying power. However, I will also happily point out that, when they first launched, both of the original Shenmue games helped in redefining what video games are capable of portraying, and it is for that reason most of all that I’m glad they’ll live on as HD remasters.

Overall, the game's solid. It's pretty, it's fun, but it's not without issues. In other words, it's worth the $20 you'll pay for it, but not much more.

Shadowkeep may have been designed for those who are already invested in Destiny 2’s world and story, but the way it augments both the game’s F2P shift and players’ never-ending desire to chase loot is also indicative of something greater. Bungie wants to prove it’s not afraid to embrace change, to take the feedback it has received these past two years and use it to build a better, more rewarding shooter experience. If Shadowkeep is the result of those efforts, I’d say Bungie has certainly succeeded in meeting those goals.

By expertly combining nostalgia, new features, and an accessible price point, Onimusha: Warlords on the Nintendo Switch is very much a must-play re-release for new and old fans alike.

I wanted to enjoy Dead Star. After all, it's a twin stick shooter that you play with others — on paper, that's pretty dope. Sadly, any potential the game may have had is lost in its execution.

If you're looking for combat, which I imagine most fans of a dystopian Nazi-killing game would be, look the other way. Likewise, if you're looking for a great co-op experience to try out with a friend, prepare yourself for disappointment. And if you do end up buying this game, for the love of all that is holy, please turn on your own music.

The more time I spent with Atlas Fallen, the more its cracks became harder to ignore. Its combat system is sorely lacking, the story is entirely uninteresting and poorly told, and the whole experience has an unpolished quality to it. Perhaps Deck13 ought to give the soulslike thing another go.

When it comes down to it, I didn’t dislike Re;Mind. I think it was actually a well put together DLC that fixes some glaring problems with KHIII. I just sort of wish that those problems weren’t there to fix in the first place.

Skully is an attractive 3D platformer, but that’s all it is. The gameplay is hit-or-miss and is severely hampered by poor controls. On top of that, the story is cliché and predictable, and none of the characters — not even the ones you’re supposed to root for — are very likable. It’s disappointing, but even if you’re looking for a throwback to old school 3D platformers, Skully is a hard pass.

Pokémon Quest is, from top to bottom, a mobile game. I’m not sure why it released on Switch first, but it doesn’t feel at home on the platform at all. With an odd art style, intrusive mobile game trappings, and boring gameplay, it’s hard to recommend this watered down spin-off even to the most dedicated Pokémon fans.

It’s buggy and it’s a far cry from what Blizzard teased us with back in 2018.

Drawn to Death is one of the most disappointing games I’ve played in recent memory. The premise is fantastic and there is a heap of potential buried beneath the surface. Unfortunately, even after you dig past that rough outer shell, the inside is almost entire empty and devoid of engaging content.

In the four hours it took me to get through Gryphon Knight Epic, all I could think about was how I wanted it to end so I could move on and play something better.

Mighty No. 9 is a forgettable attempt at cashing in on people's nostalgia and love of Mega Man.

A lacking port across the board, and a terrible multiplayer experience for all involved. Any decent content it possesses is buried under a pile of rubbish-based visuals, poor hit detection and missing content. If you must get medieval, be patient and wait for Ubisoft's For Honor. You'll have a far better time – and get a better quality game to boot.

Blood Alloy: Reborn could have been something special, but it's a clear victim of limited funding and hurried development.

Rodea the Sky Soldier has to be one of the biggest letdowns of the year. It's missing quite a bit, including comprehensive gameplay, solid visuals and any sort of option to play like the original Wii version does. It's sad to say that this high-flying adventure falls flat before it stands a chance to get started.

One of the worst games to come down the PC pike in some time, Bombshell isn't a return to form for 3D Realms, but a reminder why the publisher was in so much trouble to begin with. A great idea is wasted off of horrible game design, bad graphic errors and a worthless audio experience. Where's Duke Nukem to kick ass when you need him?

Considering the appeal of the franchise, MX vs. ATV Supercross Encore had all the potential in the world when it came to its arrival on new consoles. Unfortunately, it squanders it with a myriad of problems, including sloppy gameplay, a lacking presentation and a lack of a genuine career mode to make you feel like you're getting anywhere. As a result, the ride just isn't the same. Here's hoping that, for its next game, Rainbow Studios goes back to basics and skips this Encore route.

This is one of the few times where a re-master would have sufficed in place of a new title.

Probably one of the most disappointing games to rear its ugly head this year, Overlord: Fellowship of Evil takes everything that worked so well in previous games and smashes it into a billion pieces in favor of a Diablo-based formula that simply doesn't work. Here's hoping this villain gets back to his dastardly ways soon, instead of following a blueprint that just isn't his style.

Perhaps the most disappointing thing about The Quiet Man is that it presents a world I want to know more about. I like the idea of a deaf vigilante-esque antihero doing his best to find the good in a world of darkness and violence, even if it means having to become a force of darkness and violence himself. However, in the case of The Quiet Man, that strong premise is squandered by lazy development decisions and incredibly odd artistic choices.

Overruled feels like something that would have been on the first Xbox at the same price. The gameplay has its place in the systems' library, but there is a lot of room for improvement here.

A very niche title, and disappointing even at just $2.

You'll have fun playing Psychocat: The Answer until you realize that it's a mobile game on the PC, then you'll wish you had it on your iOS or Android device instead.

Perhaps if Whiskey Jack Games can add more quests and clean up the performance issues, Crudelis might be a solid title. As it stands right after launch, however, it's hard to recommend.

With a simple, easy-to-understand gameplay premise and a progression system that was pretty much designed to support microtransactions, I can see why ZKILLER would be an appealing mobile game. As a fully fledged PC title though, even its current $6.99 listing is too big a price to pay for a game that offers little in the way of substance and nothing in the way of compelling gameplay.

Street could have really lived up to the Forza name, but instead we basically get Microsoft’s attempt at the Asphalt series. Folks looking for a time-killing mobile game with real cars will find Street amusing. Forza fans looking for a skill-based mobile racing game will have to keep waiting.

After playing through Shenmue III proper, my expectations for what the game’s DLC would entail were admittedly not very high. Still, it’s disheartening to see that, whether because of limited resources or a limited inclination, the best Ys Net could produce for the very first Shenmue DLC ever was a cobbled-together and underbaked side distraction which relies almost entirely on recycled game assets. [Impressions]