Vampyr would’ve been far better as Jonathan Reid’s Point and Click Tale of Moral Adversity than what we got, which was essentially Jonathan Reid’s Mashy Exercise in Combat Frustration Sparsely Sprinkled With Plot. Games do not need combat sequences if those sequences do not serve the game’s themes and story.

You have to commend Severed for using the Vita's touchscreen heavily for its gameplay. And while that use of the system works and is mostly enjoyable, it's not always entertaining.

Pokken Tournament is a solid game for Poké-fanatics and a decent enough game for casual fighting game fans. I’d recommend it if you need a Poké-fix before Pokémon Sun and Moon come out, but if you are looking for a new fighting game, stick to Street Fighter V.

Dangerous Golf is a fun game best played in short bursts and with friends.

Although the game boils down to a walking sim with a puzzle component, the unique setting and mechanics make it worth a playthrough.

Super Chibi Knight is a fun, bite-sized adventure that has a little bit of challenge but always remains welcoming enough that anyone can enjoy it.

Brawlhalla is a fun game that everyone should try at least once. It’s just not necessarily a game that everyone will want invest a lot of time or money on.

Madden NFL 21 is the clearest example yet of how unwieldy the series has become, so your en-joyment will vary depending on which modes best suit your play style. For me, that comes from seeing my virtual 49ers hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season, so anything else on top of that is just a bonus.

Is NBA Live 19 worth the money? Yes, indeed. There is a lot to do and no matter the skill level, there’s fun to be had. The upgrade to the WNBA and character creation is a giant step forward in widening EA’s audience and The One is strong enough to warrant its own title. With enough practice, anyone can be the baller they want.

Portal Knights feels like a natural evolution of the procedural block building and exploration genre. It packs in lots of RPG elements, exciting adventure, and addictive multiplayer that layers on top of the existing world creation mechanics popularized by Minecraft.

One of the harder-to-obtain Resident Evil titles is finally widely available. If you like Resident Evil it's worth playing, but don't expect something on par with the series' other older titles.

Octogeddon doesn’t have the same charm or polish as Plants VS Zombies, but it’s a refreshing new take on the bullet hell genre. The concept is zany and feels like a thin veil laid over simplistic game mechanics in the vein of Divekick, but the excellent animated cutscenes bring coherence to it all. Ultimately, Octogeddon is a good time-waster, but not much more.

While Color Guardians could've used more zest in its character personality – and a few more easygoing levels to keep rookie players in check – it's still a better game than expected, thanks to its interesting gameplay and crazy challenges. If you're a fan of running or rhythm, be sure to try on this Color.

Super Meat Boy Forever is a fun little distraction. Though it fails to live up to the legacy of its predecessor, it’s entertaining for a few playthroughs. If you loved Super Meat Boy, you might just get a kick out of Forever… or you may not.

Aeon is a VR shooter that will appeal to gamers who enjoy a serious challenge. It's much less casual-friendly than similar VR titles and will cause frustration for some, but for the right kind of player they'll find hours of enjoyment to be had.

Mario Tennis Aces doesn’t quite excel in all of the ways that it could have, but the core mechanics and multiplayer action are so good, it’s still worth diving in for some quality Mario Tennis action.

Despite my frustrations with its shortcomings, I want to see where The Council leads me, and if it manages to deliver a narrative payoff in spite of itself.

So, even though the gameplay loop can be a lot of fun, I worry about the longevity of this game's lifespan. With only three maps (that are all kind of similar) and the possibility of not getting much new content due to licensing issues between all of the other films in the franchise, the game might not be around for a long time. Let’s hope that isn’t the case.

Borderlands 3 is more Borderlands and not much else. It doesn’t innovate. It doesn’t push the looter shooter genre forward. It doesn’t say anything profound with its plot. It plays it 100% safe by nearly copying its predecessors. That might be enough for some people, but it’s not enough to stand out against other contemporary looter shooters.

At the end of the day, Rune Factory 3 Special is a fine game, and its only crime is how closely it sits to games that use it as a stepping stone. If you love the “cozy” genre and are looking for some farming action, but only have the budget for one game, it’s hard to recommend this. But if you’re more of a fan of Story of Seasons and/or Rune Factory as a series, there’s absolutely room for Rune Factory 3 Special on the shelf.

A lot of Silent Hope’s problems stem from under the hood tuning, and I can see another swing at this idea landing a much cleaner hit.

The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare reboot is certainly not the first game that has disappointed me at launch, and hopefully it will join the list of games I was initially disappointed with but grew to love thanks to their respective developers’ continued devotion and care. I know it’s not the safest of bets given the Call of Duty franchise’s annualized rollout, but I honestly want to see Modern Warfare continue to flourish as much as I’m sure the folks at Infinity Ward do.

Earthfall is a valiant effort at trying to capture the lightning in a bottle once again that was Left 4 Dead. On paper it does a lot of things right, but in practice it lacks the soul and fire of what made Valve’s iconic zombie games so effective almost a decade ago.

Sea of Thieves has glimmers of promise and is gorgeous to look at, but single player play is virtually worthless, and the repetitive nature of the quests and empty world leave the game feeling incomplete and overpriced as of now.

Little Nightmares II is just a worse game than the original. Everything they added to the system feels clunky at best and unfair at worst. It’s a shame because this same story, with its same environments, same levels, same enemies, and same music and sound would have been infinitely better if they kept the mechanics from the original.

Mercenaries 5 needed six more months of testing and refinement before seeing the light of day. The game’s mech combat is great for enthusiasts of the genre, but the lack of polish may leave newcomers cold. I recommend it for hardcore fans, but casual players may want to wait for the bugs to be ironed out.

Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour doesn't enhance the titular protagonist's classic FPS ride in any massive ways. That said, it's a whole lot of fun, and it's perfect for people who want to revisit the game and for those who are fans of old school shooters.

In the end, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is just OK, and that’s about the saddest thing you can say about a franchise that used to be the king of first-person shooters.