Bartlow’s Dread Machine has a great set of bones. The concept and the core mechanics of being on rails are a great starting point, and the story (which I have not spoiled here) was surprisingly effective. However, the key phrase here is “starting point”. Despite its appeal, there’s a lot of polish that needs to happen before I would be able to recommend this one to shooter fans.

Overall, Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix is generic, yet serviceable. Nick fans like me will get a big kick from all of the characters and references that were stuffed into the package, while younger kids and those new to kart racers will enjoy the accessibility of play. It may lack the features or amount of content that I would have liked, but I can safely say that I still managed to get some enjoyable mileage out of this kart racer.

It’s the best successor to Pikmin’s legacy that I’ve ever encountered. It’s got a great story, endlessly inventive gameplay, and a charming visual style. Yes, it’s gruesome, and yes, it can be a little upsetting at times, but Ray’s The Dead manages to be more than an assemblage of comedic ’80s references and borrowed mechanics — it rises above its inspirations and becomes a truly special experience.

While some may think New Super Lucky’s Tale is too easy, I appreciate its accessible approach to 3D platforming, and I found it to be a great way to kick back and unwind as everything here is scientifically designed to make me smile — there are loads of charming touches like the looks on Lucky’s face, or when enemies danced along to the music during one boss fight. While nothing here is mindblowing and it doesn’t push the genre forward, NSLT absolutely manages to maintain a sense of joy and wonder lost in most modern games.

Despite all of its faults, Yupitergrad skates by on how perfectly it nails the feeling of essentially being Spider-Man in VR. There’s room to improve the formula with stronger writing and more varied environments, and perhaps someday Yupitergrad will feel outdated. For now, though, it provides a very specific kind of fix, and one that I imagine nearly every owner of a VR headset is itching for.

Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?! is a tough one to recommend, especially after having a superior experience with the previous installment. The difficulty settings need more work, the radical change in theme goes underused and there aren’t enough twists in the gameplay formula to keep things feeling fresh. At the end of this meal, the tiramisu has been skipped and we’ve been served a bitter coffee instead.

Mini Motor Racing X runs smoothly, and for the first couple of hours it was enjoyable enough. However, the novelty wears off quickly and the whole thing soon becomes a slog — the career mode could be cut in half and the experience would be better for it. As it stands, there’s too much padding and not enough substance to keep me coming back for more.

Overall, Tamarin is an admirable attempt to bring back a type of game not widely popular in modern times. However, despite my love of old-school experiences, this sticks too close to its roots in the worst possible ways — this adorable monkey can’t save shoddy, outdated game design.

While the anime story grated on me, Tsubasa‘s gameplay kept me hooked since the animations are smooth and flashy, and it’s easy to pick up and play. Those who want a sim may not get the same joy out of this arcade-style soccer interpretation, but for me, it scratched a very specific itch that I didn’t realize needed to be scratched.

Whimsical and cute despite the sinister subject matter, Lovingly Evil is a short but endearing experience. A full playthrough of the story will take around an hour and a half (depending on the player’s reading speed) but with five romance options and 12 endings, there are plenty of reasons to return for repeat players. As for me? I finished it twice, and I’m considering going back and finding out what’s up with Satan.

There’s simply no getting around the fact that Moero Crystal H is ethically questionable and hugely exploitative, but at the same time, it’s a light, frequently sweet dungeon-crawling RPG that’s fairly charming. Players looking for well-drawn art of monster girls in their underwear need look no further, but those who want a classically designed experience with a ton of heart should consider checking it out as well. Assuming, of course, that the groping isn’t a deal-breaker.

In the end, I found Minoria to be a muddled experience. Without the beautiful pixel art to paint over its flaws, this new work has lost much of its charm — and worse, it’s made me reassess my enjoyment of its predecessors.

While I appreciated the stylish, neon-soaked city and the fantastic soundtrack, No Straight Roads switches between brawler, platformer, and rhythm concepts, but fails to deliver a memorable experience overall.

It has great art direction, well-crafted early stages, and exciting boss battles. Sadly, all of this great work is upended by the introduction of these terrible water levels, and their inclusion makes Spinch just another retro platformer that misses the mark.

Mafia: Definitive Edition takes an old title and adds polish in the places where it counts most — story and character — while delivering a solid experience in most other aspects. The driving isn’t great and there are a few bugs that need to be squashed, but diving into this wonderfully tragic tale is an offer that no one should refuse.

It feels strange to say, but Space Crew is the rare example of a sequel that feels like a step backwards. I appreciate that it’s less punishing, but with fewer elements to manage and less variety in the missions, it could pass for a prototype of the game Runner Duck made two years ago. Too much of the formula has been stripped away and this overly-simplified experience suffers for it.

Players who can put up with the clunky action/RPG elements will find that Deathtrap offers a great tower defense experience. The enemies are fascinatingly grotesque, the maps are well-designed and the art evokes are steampunk gothic horror aesthetic that’s a pleasure to behold. It’s almost a great tower defense game, but in this case, less would have been more.

Overall, Jump Force feels less like a celebration of beloved anime franchises and more like a half-assed attempt to cash in with the widest fanbase possible. With other great crossover fighters like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Injustice 2 out there, it’s hard not to think that these iconic characters deserved better.

Ring of Pain is noteworthy in that it brings a genuinely new flavor to the roguelike genre – I’ve played almost all of them, and this one stands out. That in itself is worthy of praise, and genre devotees will want to give it a try. On the other hand, it’s a brutal ride that seems in need of a rebalance. With no reliable permanence to boost a player’s odds of success over time, winning a run seems like one big dice roll that will remind players that it this clever indie is an aptly-named experience.

With one foot in classical RTS storytelling and the other in squad-based tactical strategy, Iron Harvest offers a take on the genre that doesn’t quite live up to Jakub Różalski’s evocative artwork. While the developers have already laid out a roadmap of updates that could potentially tighten up many issues with unit behavior and balance, the opportunity for a better future may already have passed.

While Banner of the Maid nails the core mechanics and captures the essence of the genre, it’s hard to ignore the lackluster story and lack of modern features that are found in much of the competition. Its tactical RPG side shines and remains a solid choice for fans of the genre who appreciate the classic formula, but a little more polish wouldn’t hurt.

Serious Sam 4 is, without question, the series’ high point. It provides all of the wanton violence the brand promises, adds a story worth investing in, and still has the time to try out bizarre experiments like the open-world areas, kaiju battles and an extremely retro game-within-a-game. Serious Sam has never been better than this, and the sequel hinted in the game’s ending had better arrive faster than the nine-year-gap since the last one.

Going Under is one of the most important games I’ve played in 2020 and one I’ll keep playing for months on end, thanks to the meaningful writing and enjoyable dungeon crawling. For those looking for an accessible starting point in roguelikes, or those who just need some delightful takedowns of late-stage capitalism, this is it.

In the end, When the Past was Around is just… okay? It’s a short experience that never goes for big moments, instead remaining quiet and subtle throughout. Sadly, the short length and simple play don’t lend itself to more than one playthrough and, after the credits rolled I found myself shrugging instead of brooding.

In short, NBA 2K21 is a solid entry for the franchise, and is arguably the smoothest on-court performer of this console generation. However, its value will largely depend on how tolerant users are of a corny, repetitive story mode and mostly the same options as in previous editions. According to most of the web, 2K Games is building the next-gen versions of NBA 2K21 from the ground up to match the improved technology. Here’s to hoping they upgrade more than the graphics, while keeping the on-court play intact.

It is massively disappointing that a title with literary aspirations falls so flat when it comes to delivering an engaging experience in all regards. I appreciate that the developers must be huge fans of Kafka, but they’ve seemed to miss that the art in literature is found not only in the quality of each individual page, but also in how they create the accompanying theme.

Darkestville Castle’s campaign takes only a few hours to finish, but it’s worth experiencing for the laughs. The Flash-esque animation actually looks wonderful in motion, and the characters sport unique styles that inject personality into the campaign. Sure, it might be a pain to try and use that cursor, but the writing is delightful enough to make it worth the headache. For those wanting to learn a little about how things might look from a villain’s perspective, Darkestville Castle might be just the thing.

Street Power Football is a good start at recreating an arcadey style of sports that hasn’t been common for a while, but this package needs further polish and a little more depth.

The difficulty of Double Kick Heroes can be offputting and the story, while amusing, was no great shakes. That said, there was just something about it that made me want to rock on. Whether it’s worth a purchase is a matter of taste, but anyone with Game Pass should give it a try.

I still recommend Inmost for having a clear and heartfelt thesis, for trusting players to go along for the ride, and for providing plenty of eye- and ear-candy to keep them enthralled along the way. As disorienting and alien as Hidden Layer’s world feels, I imagine most players will be surprised by how strongly they relate to its characters by the time the credits roll.

Despite so many good roguelikes already out or due soon, Undermine is still one that’s worth spending time with — this is a stellar debut from its developers.

Despite how anxious I am for the devs to continue the mainline Senran Kagura story, I can’t deny that they’ve put out an exceptional title here. The racing is thrilling, the characters are wonderful, and the story has charm to spare.

Putting the issue of tedious battles aside, Immortal Realms is still an enticing product, especially on consoles where there’s not much else like it. For console fans waiting for something substantial, yet less labyrinthian than some of Kalypso’s other offerings, spending time draining blood from the countryside is a great way to go.

Hellpoint has plenty to recommend it like interesting enemies, great combat, and frequently stunning settings. On the other hand, it doesn’t do enough different to stand out in the soulslike genre. It has clever moments and the option to play the campaign in co-op (local or online) is nice, but the devs might have done better by breaking further away from the Souls formula. There’s no reason the quests couldn’t be clear or that a map couldn’t exist — it seems they’ve made such choices because that’s what soulslikes do and not because it makes their work better for it.

I was initially excited for Hyper Scape thanks to its sleek style and movement. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t do much to stand out from other offerings on the market. Hopefully Ubisoft will find some way to inject more personality and consistency into this online shooter.

Hypnospace Outlaw is a fascinating experience that I wholeheartedly recommend. It is well-written and authentic, and while the early going may feel like completing chores, it soon tests the player’s detective skills. With cases that are satisfying to solve and a story that also applies to the internet as we know it today, it’s a must-play.

For players accustomed to modern affordances and styles of play, Moon may be a challenge to get into. Its graphics, a mix of Claymation-esque renders and spritework, have not been updated, and neither have the more tedious aspects of its gameplay. Even so, there’s something moving about inhabiting this world, loving the weird denizens, and bringing them what happiness we can. And isn’t that the way it should be? If goodness and love win, shouldn’t they win with goodness and love?

In spite of sporadic issues with the controls and the monetization model, UFC 4 is a great fighter, even if one bases it solely on the expansive career mode. As I currently celebrate my first championship title and defending it, I wholeheartedly recommend this one, not only to fans of the sport, but to anyone looking for their next fighting game fix.

While I enjoyed my time with Wasteland 3 and recommend it to those looking for some quality post-apocalyptic adventure, my hope is that inXile will knuckle down and iron out the bugs sooner rather than later — there’s a lot of great adventuring to be found within already, but it’ll be even better once the game is working properly.

While there were many aspects of Mortal Shell that I didn’t care for, the bits that worked for me really worked. The final product is far from perfect and I’m not sure that I’d even recommend it to anyone except the hardest of soulslike hardcores, but beneath the underdeveloped ideas and questionable design choices is a pool of talent bound for bigger and better things — Cold Symmetry’s work shined brightest when it veered away from standard Souls, and I’m interested to see them take it further.

Meowing aside, what I enjoyed most about Giraffe and Annika was the story, and this came as a big surprise. There’s an underlying mystery about why Annika has woken on Spica Island with no memories, and how Giraffe knows her. I found the resolution to be surprisingly affecting, and it manages to be so without betraying the positive tone found in the rest of the game. At last, I’ve reviewed a good title that bucks my trend of negative reviews. I’m glad that I spent time with something I normally wouldn’t look twice at, and it was an enjoyable experience despite being aimed at kids. It’s got a few issues, but the easy-going style, bright visuals and surprisingly resonant story means that I’m going to call this one a win.

The sublime power of Manifold Garden’s visuals is never matched by its puzzles. Rather, the puzzles skitter across the surface of every new idea, dipping into each one just enough to suggest fascinating interactions and then move on at a brisk pace. Manifold Garden never dives into its concepts, or, perhaps, it only dives far enough to end up back where it started.

Speed Dating for Ghosts is a gem. It’s a perfect mix of discussions on mortality and love with wit and humor. While some of the stories would have benefited from more length and some room to breathe, it still comes highly recommended for anyone who’s looking for something charming from the other side.

Superliminal truly feels like a whimsical dream – it might base itself in mundane reality at first, but it doesn’t take long before that goes out the window and fantastic elements start to flourish, and I already wish I could experience it again for the first time.

As a triple-A holiday blockbuster from a renowned studio and a major publisher released after years of build-up, it doesn’t feel like a product that has justified this much anticipation. Furthermore, as yet another live-service title expecting players to sink who knows how many hours into its ecosystem, it completely fails to convince me that anybody will be playing in a year without a great deal of work needed to elevate it out of mediocrity.

At the moment, Skater XL feels more like a skateboarding and lifestyle simulator rather than a fully fleshed-out game. There’s plenty to try and the difficulty level will keep enthusiasts glued to their screens in hopes of nailing those elusive combos, but as a gaming experience, it comes up short.

Though its battles are bland, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim still stands as possibly the best game Vanillaware’s made, and a must-play for anyone missing the dense, meaty science fiction of mecha fiction’s glory days.

A more serious issue is the way Faeria handles losing connection to its servers. It was fine on an excellent connection, but on a weaker service I lost connection almost once per game. In some cases it recovered and I was able to return to play, but there were multiple times when my controls stopped working and I was only able to forfeit the match. This is a technical stumbling block that needs to be addressed. Those issues aside, Faeria is a complete package likely to please both casuals and more serious deckbuilders alike. However, Faeria as an online service isn’t stable without an excellent connection, so buyers approaching it from that angle should beware.

I’ve enjoyed many roguelikes over the years, and yet that label always makes me wary. Repetition may be a core component of the genre, but too many developers seem to believe that this excuses them from having to consistently find new ways to engage players before the credits roll. Hades, in contrast, feels like the apex of what run-based, procedurally-generated games are capable of. It’s a staggering effort and the best title to date from an already decorated studio.

The manager’s commentary during and after every stage is poorly performed, to say nothing of the terrible and repetitive victory ceremony featuring around three static commentaries, making it a must-skip. All of the aforementioned issues are especially notable considering TDF 2020 is dedicated to providing a realistic 3D race. The other modes, which include a professional career mode and other races, are hardly worth the time and effort. Tour de France 2020 is therefore greatly outclassed by Pro Cycling Manager 2020 in terms of content, and hardly makes up any ground with a better presentation.

CrossCode is an ambitious title, has a strong style that fans of this type of RPG will appreciate, and the combat is great. Unfortunately, the lack of a compelling narrative and loads of filler made it an experience that didn’t convince me to play to the end.

Welcome to Elk is a fascinating experiment in game creation that succeeds on multiple levels, and players interested in storytelling, small-town life, or the intricacies of working with meta-elements would do well to check it out.

The empowerment and novelty of toppling gods made me look past the fact that Neon Abyss might be a bit too easy for vets familiar with this style of play. On the other hand, this makes it a great starting point for those craving a more forgiving difficulty curve, or newcomers wanting to begin their exploration of the Roguelike genre.

Sure, at its core, Battle Through Time is a retelling of the TV series with some deviations, but it absolutely nails what makes Samurai Jack a modern animated masterpiece, and it was a delightful surprise to play through.

On my list of “most pleasant and unexpected surprises” this year, Struggling is near the top. The sad, blobby heads are endearing, it offers a significant test of skills, and it has a sense of humor that I found absolutely delightful. I sometimes wanted to pull my hair out and I had to walk away from my Switch and cool off a few times, but I always came back to it and I’m glad that I did.

Given the sheer depth of the title, this Madden NFL 21 review could theoretically go on for another 1,000 words but there’s a good chance most readers already know whether or not they plan to invest in another season of tried and true NFL gameplay. Make no mistake, Madden NFL 21 is the best rendition of football this generation, and is A solid experience for anyone who takes the plunge — it just comes down to whether or not the new features warrant another purchase for regular fans.

Sometimes it’s best to let things rest, and that is definitely the case with Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered. It was a game that is mostly remembered for its ties to one of Nintendo’s many hardware gimmicks, and without that, we are left with a rather mundane game that hasn’t done enough to correctly update itself. As a game to be purchased and played in 2020, it’s just not worth returning to — it needed a remake (or, better yet, a sequel), not a remaster.

When conditions are favorable, there’s so much to like about Windbound. The combat was a blast when the character had enough energy, and I had a fantastic time taking a grass canoe and transforming it into a six-hulled behemoth that sped me across the waves. It’s just unfortunate that every moment of joy has to be sifted out from a pile of annoyances and frustrations — the developers had a beautiful exploration experience within their grasp, and they diluted it with some of the harshest survival mechanics I’ve seen in ages. These are all simple balance issues that I’m sure could be patched out, but for now, Windbound just isn’t the game it deserves to be.

While I greatly enjoyed Control and The Foundation was solid, it feels like Remedy didn’t have any gas left in the tank for AWE. It’s visually boring, it’s irritating to play, and the connections to Alan Wake are laughably thin — the entirety of it could have been summed up in 90-second cinematic trailer. If this content had been available when I was going through Control the first time, I probably wouldn’t have objected. But now, a year later? It’s far too little, far too late.

Though there’s nothing in the puzzles of Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town that offends, there’s also nothing that surprises or delights. The story and visuals equally lacked anything to seize my attention. Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town is a passable few hours of adventure gaming, but its design would have been below-average in the ’90s and is well behind the curve of what’s available today.

A Short Hike is a simple, small, straightforward experience that delivers a truckload of charm via the simple pleasure of exploring a mountainside without punishment or negative consequence. It does what it does well, and the experience ends exactly the way it should, exactly when it should. Well done!

A thin plot is only a minor issue in the larger context of what the game gets right. With an innovative main mechanic and great balance of complexity within each stage, Peaky Blinders: Mastermind is a nice, tight experience capable of making any puzzle player raise a triumphant fist after an intense sequence.

I can’t stress enough what a bleak experience Death end Re;Quest 2 is. There are bright moments and the gameplay is tight, but players will always have the sinking feeling that wrenching emotional agony is just around the corner.

I don’t know whether it’s a testament to the design or just my stubbornness, but while I didn’t enjoy Panzer Paladin much the first time through, I do want to go back and master it in the future… just not right away.

This Switch version was my first time playing Crysis. I think as a piece of gaming history, and it’s interesting to see what the standards for visuals and design were back in 2007. That said, it feels dated and the campaign struggled to keep my attention due to the weak storytelling, problematic controls and drawn-out firefights. Still, for those who are interested in visiting (or revisiting) this landmark title, this Switch port might be their best bet.

I understand that much of WWI was fought in the mud and it probably didn’t look like a Hollywood blockbuster, but I can best describe my time with Tannenberg by saying that it never felt like I was in the middle of a war — instead, I was more often wandering through an empty battlefield trying desperately to not quit in the middle of a round. But at least I learned some history!

Overall, Fast & Furious: Crossroads is a fabulous celebration of the sloppy, sometimes-inexplicable dumbness, sometimes-inspired madness of the films it shares a name with, and I loved every minute of it.

Never Breakup is a good idea wrapped in a bright, colorful package that is ultimately let down almost completely by the controls and the device it’s on.

Having beat Neko Navy: Daydream Edition, I’m still coming back for more, Yes, I’m still not exactly sure what is going on – who’s attacking and why are these cats called in for defense? But honestly, there’s no need for a coherent story when everything else is done so well.

As a way to quickly level up a new character’s combat abilities while working towards weapons to help them with the main campaign, Hellraid is successful enough. Unfortunately, there’s no real depth to it, and after a few times through I felt like I’d seen everything it had to offer. There are worse ways to spend a few hours, but this content is probably best enjoyed by die-hards looking for an excuse to boot up Dying Light one more time before the sequel drops.

In the end, my gripes are small and Necrobarista is a fascinating experience that I was both sad (and glad!) to see through to its end. It might seem strange to be happy when something great is done with, but many philosophies, from Zen Buddhism to the aboriginal beliefs held in Necrobarista‘s native Australia, acknowledge that transience and eventual passing is a key part of life itself. Everything moves on, most especially our physical selves. The insistence of staying past one’s time, be it as a spirit living on borrowed time or a game trying to become a part of an overstuffed daily routine, can feel toxic. It’s refreshing to play something that doesn’t want me to stay with it forever, and that’s the kind of passing I raise a nice cuppa to.

I was drawn to Othercide not only because I’m a fan of turn-based tactical combat and compelling aesthetics, but because of its mysterious premise. That said, the repetitive gameplay and lack of variety made me eventually lose interest. The themes of death, struggle, and rebirth are interesting, but they weren’t enough to override the repetition and and unconventional design choices.

The writing is strong, the choices all feel important, engagement in both the short and long term is strong, and the overall design is brilliant – it’s a masterclass in elegance since it does exactly what it needs to do and lasts exactly as long as it needs to last, and there isn’t an ounce of fat on its bones. I can’t wait to see what Brave At Night comes up with next.

What we can learn from Into A Dream is that ideas alone are not enough to carry a game to greatness. I can truly feel the passion put into the narrative and I do acknowledge that the story, in isolation, hits its mark. Sadly, everything about how the game is built fails to meet the same standard and severely undercuts the power of the script.

Röki’s castle segment isn’t catastrophic, but it delivered far less in narrative impact and far more in adventure-game twitchiness than the forest, which was almost perfect. In the woods, Röki is a delight, blending whimsy and sorrow into a splendid modern adventure. In the castle, it is simply ordinary, and as a result of these two unbalanced halves, Röki never quite delivers on its early promise.

It’s an excellent racing experience held together with numerous player-friendly gameplay options and superb controls, but anyone who played NASCAR Heat 4 will likely get a feeling of déjà vu.

Volta-X can’t be played without an active online connection. Forget about taking it on the bus or anywhere that the Switch can’t stay connected. Even putting it in rest mode for a minute or two will drop the connection, and along with this comes increased battery usage — my playtime between charges was notably reduced. This laundry list of issues breaks my heart, because Volta-X has a great concept and could have easily been a killer eight-to-ten-hour adventure filled with lasers, rocket-powered fists and awesome explosions. Instead, the experience is brought down by stretching it into the sort of neverending online game-as-service that it isn’t suited for. Time to take this ‘bot offline and reboot.

Rogue Summoner advertises itself as a roguelike strategy title, but it feels more like a puzzle game that I had to brute-force until I found the one correct solution to each challenge. It’s currently still in development with regular updates coming, but I can’t help but feel that it’s misrepresenting the kind of experience that it is, and I’m not sure that patches are going to change that.

While I won’t say that Necronator has turned me around on deckbuilders, it speaks highly of the developers’ skill at accessible design that it managed to pull me in as quickly and effectively as it did. With cute art, speedy gameplay and a surprising amount of depth, I found it easy to keep jumping back into another campaign whenever I made a crucial error — which is the best state of mind this type of game can put a player in.

As a diehard Dark Souls fan I’ve played nearly every soulslike, and none have done it as well as Mortal Shell. Not only has Cold Symmetry nailed the fundamentals, but they’ve added their own spin to the formula without being coy about their influences. Mortal Shell is the only copycat that can stand toe-to-toe with FromSoft’s own work, and although it’s considerably shorter than their offerings, it’s no less beautiful, haunting and rewarding.

I did manage to beat Elden, and I’m still not entirely sure what was going on. There was a forest, a desert, a mountain, and then some caves. I killed the same handful of monsters over and over again, then got stunlocked to oblivion by bosses that shoot immobilizing gloop. If it was longer than it is, I probably wouldn’t have bothered finishing and I can’t say what I played was worth it — whether it was a crutch or an intentional choice, the whole thing wraps up just as bafflingly as it began.

There’s some joy in experiencing the landscapes of Paws and Soul, but that’s about all that can be said for it — it’s a dull, sluggish effort in service of two boring and awkwardly-conveyed stories that don’t connect with each other. Not all purgatory games feel like purgatory, but this one sure did.

As appropriate as it would be to knock Tsushima for being the same sort of boilerplate open-worlder that Ubisoft tosses out every few months, the truth is that I still got some entertainment out of roaming the pretty landscape and engaging in repetitive tasks at my own pace. That said, every time Tsushima subjected me to its dreadful story and the tedious critical path missions, my patience wore thin. Ghost of Tsushima is positioned as PlayStation 4’s last hurrah, and while it’s an underwhelming note to end on, perhaps a game that pushes technological boundaries while taking zero creative risks is a fitting bookend for this generation.

Wide Ocean, Big Jacket is a brief experience, perhaps 90 minutes including extra scenes recently added via patch, but it’s just the right length for delivering a richly-colored snapshot into the lives of its subjects, and as a memento of this brief camping trip where four people connect, it’s just perfect.

Fall Guys takes a bit of skill, a lot of dumb luck and a truckload of frustration, mixes it all together and produces one of the most imaginative multiplayer experiences around. Sure, I still might suck at online games but it’s never felt this good to be so bad.

Overall, Rocket Arena is a solid multiplayer title that could be the beginning of an interesting new IP. It may seem bleak for this little shooter at the moment, but I’d urge those looking for a fresh take on competitive games to check it out.

Much of the experience is visually striking, and without spoilers, I can say that I enjoyed the suitably macabre story too. However, as a survival horror game it fails since any fear I experienced was quickly replaced with frustration — the broken central mechanic terrified me in all the wrong ways.

When it works and the quests follow a natural flow, Summer in Mara can be wonderful. At its best moments, I found it to be relaxing and effortlessly charming. Sadly, the horrendous backtracking, time-wasting filler content and frustrating resource management make it less of a vacation and more of a job.

I want to be charitable towards DreamBack since it’s clear that a lot of work went into building these detailed environments, but Come Over Gaming didn’t populate them with anything of substance, and the resulting product feels like an old-school Resident Evil game with everything removed except the key-hunting. A flat version of this title would be the dullest thing imaginable, and the VR format only slightly elevates it.

While the experience was a little short at about five hours, the time spent with Urban Trial Tricky was well worth it — even with a few small bumps in the road, I enjoyed the ride from start to finish.

In a way, the shallow nature of play, the points system and the short run time make me think Monster Prom XXL would be better suited as a hyper-casual board game brought out on a Friday night, but in its current incarnation, this finned, furry student falls far short of a passing grade.

With F1 2020, the franchise expands on what it does best — realistically simulated F1 experiences with a low barrier for entry and high quality of execution. It also shakes up a lot with the team career mode, but at this stage the thing I really want to see from 2021’s installment would be addressing the persistent, longstanding issues to improve the quality of the experience overall.

The gameplay is tightly-constructed, the narrative elements add a layer not often seen in deckbuilders, and both halves are wrapped in a fantastic, semi-abstract art style that recalls elements of cyberpunk, collapsed civilizations and Indian theming with bright strokes, chunky colors and bold lines. Visually, conceptually, and in its gameplay, Nowhere Prophet is gorgeous.

While M2’s emulation work is spectacular as always, the Darius Cozmic Collection suffers from a failure of imagination. It envisions the history of this eclectic, evocative franchise as a commodity to be fastidiously repackaged and sold as’ content’ rather than taking the opportunity to explore and appreciate one of the strangest sagas in gaming. It’s a frustratingly narrow view that leaves the Darius story untold, and Taito has ensured that these collections will blend in with countless others on a shelf, struggling to be found in the crowded marketplace.

While M2’s emulation work is spectacular as always, the Darius Cozmic Collection suffers from a failure of imagination. It envisions the history of this eclectic, evocative franchise as a commodity to be fastidiously repackaged and sold as’ content’ rather than taking the opportunity to explore and appreciate one of the strangest sagas in gaming. It’s a frustratingly narrow view that leaves the Darius story untold, and Taito has ensured that these collections will blend in with countless others on a shelf, struggling to be found in the crowded marketplace.

Overall, the Namco Museum Archives collection offers a bunch of great games in versions that some players might not have seen before, but the whole package is missing some personality. Sure, that doesn’t detract from the titles themselves, but it’s shame to see these historical artifacts treated in such a slapdash way.

Overall, the Namco Museum Archives collection offers a bunch of great games in versions that some players might not have seen before, but the whole package is missing some personality. Sure, that doesn’t detract from the titles themselves, but it’s shame to see these historical artifacts treated in such a slapdash way.

The eye candy is appealing, it’s LGBTQ-conscious, the writing is on point and the gameplay is just engaging enough to keep a player’s clicking finger busy on the quest to reclaim their fortune. Spending time on the spicier side was exactly the change of pace I needed, and I’m 100% on board with whatever these developers cook up next.