I can’t say much more about this little gem without running the risk of spoiling something, and since there’s absolutely no fat on these bones, giving even a little away would be a crime. However, what I can say is that this small, unassuming indie is a masterclass in tight, focused design and it delivers a wonderfully layered experience. Funny, scary, clever, and eerie in equal measure, The Count Lucanor is an absolute delight… Whether Hans finds his happily ever after nor not, this modern fairy tale is one that’s worth experiencing.

Having put Poi down for a while to collect my thoughts for this review, I find myself looking back fondly on it, as I would with Banjo Kazooie or Gex, but I’m not sure it will make a lasting impression. Players who own a Switch and want something besides a a chubby Italian plumber on their screen can’t go wrong with Poi, but it’s hard to see it in that massive shadow.

VA-11 HALL-A is a game best enjoyed in short bursts, when a player wants to relax with a title that makes few demands and offers pleasant company. Though it lacks the dramatic heft to propel it into the upper tiers of videogame storytelling, it doesn’t really aspire for such lofty goals and avoids the pretension that such titles occasionally evince. Much like a comfy bar in real life, it’s a good place to visit, but no one needs to stay for long.

Pankapu is bitterly, unfairly hard to the degree that it’s almost unpleasant to play. There’s an audience out there for this sort of experience, but I’m not in it.

While I still enjoy Etrian Odyssey in general and would recommend the series as a top-shelf dungeon crawler, I find it difficult to recommend Beyond The Myth to anyone who hasn’t already gone through the other games first. Between the watching-paint-dry speed of character growth and the lack of innovation in its overall design, this one feels like it’s going through the motions with no inspiration behind it. I fully admit that the Etrian team has continuously set higher and higher bars for themselves over the years and they’re still in a class of their own, but this feels like they’re just coasting. With so many fantastic games already under their belts, there’s little reason to play this one.

In the end, FIFA 18 isn’t a tremendous, leaps-and-bounds improvement over FIFA 17, but EA Canada did fix what matters most — the on-field gameplay. While the other modes either stay the course or take a melodramatic dip downward, ultimately FIFA 18 shows that EA Sports is aware of the competition breathing down its neck, and is willing to make the necessary changes to regain the throne.

Small issues aside, Hand of Fate 2 is finely crafted and beautiful. The challenges can be difficult thanks to the element of chance, but never overly harsh. If something presents too much of a problem, a different deck can be created to solve it. There’s nothing quite like it out there, and while the campaign might run a little too long, I still enjoyed every minute.

Frankly, it’s nearly unplayable with the Move controllers. Even with that one huge flaw, DOOM VFR is still an incredible experience. It perfectly captures the raw, brutal thrills of DOOM, and enhances them beyond what I’d imagined was possible. Actually blasting an Imp with a shotgun from five feet away is the kind of experience I’ve wanted a videogame to offer for more than twenty years, and DOOM VFR‘s depiction is even better than my dreams. Even with its small number of levels, visual downgrade and the lack of a chainsaw, this is the purest DOOM experience I’ve ever had, and I can’t wait to see what Bethesda has in store next.

Dead Rising 4 is a blissfully stupid good time, and as Dan stated in his review, it’s an incredibly focused experience with clear ideas about what it wants to accomplish. While this iteration removes one of the big things that made Dead Rising what it was (to me, anyway) the team at Capcom Vancouver make up for it by delivering satisfying zombie slaughter couched in a dopey, humorous world that fits the series’ core ideals. For newcomers or those who waited for it to hit PS4, Frank’s Big Package represents a fantastic opportunity to jump in and experience everything Dead Rising 4 has to offer, making the extra year of waiting well worthwhile.

Despite the problems, Freaky Awesome has potential. It’s unusual to make players rethink their combat strategy and even movement methods every few, hectic minutes, and the concepts are solid. Sadly, the depth of the procedural generation is sorely lacking and the mutation options aren’t as broad as they need to be. Overall, it feels like it’s only halfway to what its proper final state needs to be — hopefully the devs will pump some more mutagen into it and let it develop.

Manifest 99’s mechanics showcase how effective VR can be at eliciting emotional responses in a player. Although the title is very short, it’s dense and wastes little time in building to its conclusion. When all was said and done, I found myself thinking about my time on the train and reflecting on how I actually felt, rather than about the story and characters I was shown. That might sound like a bad thing, but I can only imagine that this result in an experiment like Manifest 99 means it was a successful one.

I really wanted this game to be good. The E3 trailer looked like the ridiculous Fast & Furious title people have wanted for a decade, and I specifically asked for this review opportunity. In my mind, I was totally down for what this game was promising and in the mood for a good Need For Speed, but this just isn’t it. There are certainly worse racing games out there, but few can match Payback’s blandness. It’s a listless, lifeless, soulless product that perfectly exemplifies the current state of Electronic Arts. Maybe next time.

Even with this one shortcoming, Skyrim VR is a triumph. While I’m nowhere near completing the campaign, I haven’t found a single quest, threat, or objective that’s more difficult to deal with in VR than it was in the old Skyrim. It was already a wonderfully deep world to inhabit before players could freely explore it from within, and the developers have proven that a fully-featured action RPG can work just as well (or frequently better) in VR than it ever did on a flat screen.

There are lessons to be learned in Attentat 1942. Whether on social media or on the streets, there’s something to be said for taking a stand in the world. It might be hard to see it now, but we can only hope that in fifty years we’ll we be proud that we were talking about #YesAllWomen and #BlackLivesMatter and #LoveIsLove because we changed the times… or perhaps the times will change us? Attentat 1942 is a welcome wake-up call showing that it’s impossible to look into the future, but we can recall our past, and when doing so, good people are going to wish they had something better to say for themselves than “I didn’t know what to do.”

Aside from the technical issues, The Invisible Hours is a masterpiece. It takes the best elements of live theater and videogames, and melds them into a mystery experience like no other. Halfway through my time with it, I found myself wishing every mystery could be told in such a dense and thorough manner. This isn’t just a successful narrative experience, it serves as a proof of concept that any number of stories could be told using this same format. The Invisible Hours is a must-play for mystery fans, a must-play for VR players wanting an entirely new experience, and a must-play for anyone interested in getting in on the ground floor of a bold new concept in visual storytelling.

School Girl/Zombie Hunter does almost everything right. I could pretend to be annoyed that the story never gets around to explaining who the villain was or what he was doing, but the writing does such a good job of making the heroines’ emotional journeys resonate that the fact that their story doesn’t make sense is a minor quibble at best. It’s a game about teenagers with assault rifles shooting technicolor zombies – how much sense does it need to make? The missions are well designed, the dialogue is witty, and the combat mechanics are solid. The low-budget look and grindhouse premise make me feel like I should be apologizing for loving this game, but I’m not — this is one of the most delightful things I’ve played all year.

The worst thing about Star Wars Battlefront II is that it could have been great. Without the terrible leveling system designed to milk money from players, the multiplayer would be a blast. If the story was expanded and focused on Versio, it could have been worth discussing. Instead, the final product is so cynical and wrongheaded that it’s added fuel to a larger discussion about lootboxes and gambling that’s starting to grab the attention of lawmakers outside the industry.

I don’t like to be hyperbolic, but Larian’s semi-rebooted Divinity series really does make every other RPG in existence look like child’s play. And while Original Sin II has in no way been dumbed down, it’s a slower enough drip that I’d easily recommend this to first-timers over its predecessor. Its scope and depth may be intimidating, but however many months it may take the average gamer to complete Original Sin II, it’s worth every second.

Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back is a mess. Bad controls, uninspired enemy and level design, and a total lack of motivation to keep playing. I want to find something nice to say about it, but even the three boss fights are tedious, confusing slogs. The game ends with a promise that Bubsy will return in another installment, but it feels more like a threat.

Factotum 90’s brevity and evenly-paced momentum ensure that Noel and Barbara do not wear out their welcome, though part of me wishes they would have stayed longer. Just as I was beginning to warm up, Factotum 90 ends and there’s little reason to crabwalk through the ship again the campaign ends. I suppose desiring more of a game can (and should) be read as a compliment, but for a title that takes place in a futuristic ship adrift in the vastness of space, opportunities seem missed. Factotum 90 joyously breezes by, but leaves little to chew on.

Overall, Yakuza Kiwami isn’t a bad game despite several issues that drag it down. No, its real problem is that Yakuza Zero is a significantly superior product in every way that matters. Fans of the original release will likely dig the modernization, but for any newcomers thinking of jumping in, I’d recommend starting with the infinitely better prequel.

With its simple gameplay and great style, Boss 101 would have been a perfectly serviceable ‘light’ bullet hell shooter. The fact that it has endlessly diverse bosses and a huge wealth of bonus content is just gravy. I’m always happy to see developers attempting to revitalize genres and bring them to new audiences, and this is a perfect example of devs going above and beyond to deliver far more game than they needed to, aimed at a larger audience than I would have thought possible.

The real problem will be the expectations that millions of Gran Turismo fans bring. The vast majority who are going to buy this game aren’t the kind who’ll be reading this cautionary review, nor any other gaming publication for that matter. I imagine there’ll be a great deal of people strolling through a Wal-Mart, they’ll see a new Gran Turismo on the shelf, take it home, and then be completely dumbfounded by this barebones, obtuse, restrictive package. Those people are going to be profoundly disappointed by Sport, and I’m guessing so will most of the others who buy it thanks to the level of commitment necessary to get the most out of it. The people who go all-in will adore it, but the rest will be left in the dust.

While Megaton Rainfall doesn’t have the most impressive graphics, it still manages to impress with the sheer audaciousness of its scope, and at its best, it feels more like a true superhero experience than any game I’ve ever played. Two of its nine missions may be frustrating slogs, but that isn’t such a bad ratio when the other seven are stellar simulations.

Skipper certainly made me think outside the box. I usually feel confident in my puzzle-solving skills, but I was gnashing my teeth in frustration, not that the difficulty took anything away from my enjoyment. The learning curve is steep but rewarding, and while the devs don’t hand out medals for the effort, the relief of finally solving a situation is enough. It’s certainly a game that begs for one more minute, and I found myself going back often, especially as friends got involved over my shoulder. We’d collectively groan at each other’s mistakes, or share high fives when we’d snagged the answer. Playing together gave the game an extra layer of joy, but it kept my focus when playing solo as well. Skipper is a pleasant — if short lived — minimalistic puzzler.

As much as I loved all the activities that Wilds provided on the side, Thunder’s Drum continued to call my name. Centering the world around the mountain provides compelling motivation to keep pushing through the main quest. I was equal parts interested in advancing the central storyline and in exploring all the side content that Wilds had to offer. That’s a rare, and joyful, feat for an open world game to achieve. Wilds pulls it off.

Rogue Trooper is strange in that it stars a character too large and interesting for the game he’s the center of. The devs were clearly pushing the limits of the hardware back then, and this property and its ideas deserve a bigger and better canvas than a simple Redux can deliver.

In the end, NASCAR Heat 2 offers up plenty of racing for fans to enjoy. The driving is tight, and it feels genuinely good to win. However, when it comes right down to it, I suspect my problem with the game may actually be a problem with NASCAR itself — all of the excitement and exhilaration is buried beneath race after boring race, lap after boring lap.

Doom is an inferior experience on Switch in virtually every way, with the major exception that it can now be taken anywhere. And should major publishers continue making concessions on triple-A titles to release them on this platform, that’s the tradeoff that’ll be hanging over consumers’ heads. Whichever direction people swing, I’m glad that Bethesda is giving us the choice, and that the wonderful Doom survived the transition to handheld mostly intact.

Ultimately, by neglecting to tell the stories about these games, Namco Museum on Switch leaves its selections in the unenviable position of selling their legacies to contemporary players on gameplay alone. Namco Museum would have prospective players believe that these selections are valuable, timeless experiences, but the reality is that no game is timeless — every one exists in its own moment, a photograph with its horizons safely tucked away in the background. For players that have the memories, maybe a faithful recreation is enough. But the rest? They’ll be left wondering what all the fuss was about.

It took me an hour to make my way through The Depths, but I’d imagine more clever players could manage it in a little more than half that. While this isn’t an especially robust or full-featured expansion, it fits perfectly within the world of the main game. Anyone charmed or chilled by Little Nightmares will find more to love here, as well as some images sure to keep them up at night.

Middle-Earth: Shadow of War is a massive game that feels a lot like its predecessor, but now it’s filled with even more things to collect and more missions to finish. But when does a game contain too much? As I reached the end of the campaign, the good times I had turned into a series of chores. Luckily, players can avoid most of the busywork by not worrying about the online conquests or the endgame, but for those that do? Be prepared to grind for it.

Aside from those issues and a cooperative mode that seems to exist purely to give a spectator something to do, I had a great time with Odyssey. It doesn’t feel like the massive leap forward that some of Mario’s earlier 3D outings have been, but its polish and spirit make it another must-play in the ever-increasingly impressive Switch library. Leave it to Nintendo to deliver us some blissful escapism in a year when a lot of us really need it.

Glo treats its one unique feature – navigating a darkened world as a square capable of producing light – with equal parts playfulness and disinterest. At times, I controlled Glo through a battalion of boxes that exploded in a dazzling display of fireworks. Using the light created, I planned my next move as I descended downward into unknown depths. Other times – far too often – a mistimed jump sent me back to the beginning of a stage that I had grown too familiar with to enjoy any longer. While some players may enjoy the steep difficulty, little else makes Glo stand out.

I can only recommend Deadcore to speed-runners or the most dedicated of players, but those that get through the initial challenge will find a deep title that successfully translates many hardcore 2D elements into the third dimension. Everyone not in those two categories? Avoid.

While the story about the fate of humanity and the mystery surrounding the unseen alien race was ultimately a disappointment, I still find myself thinking about the most memorable moments from The Solus Project, such as encountering my first raging storm or wading waist-deep through that subterranean pool. At its best (and in VR) it evokes the strange and wonderful sensation of exploring a truly unknown environment. At its worst, it’s a slog that undercuts its unique qualities with finicky survival elements and an inconsistent, sometimes-buggy experience.

Earth Atlantis remains a beautiful, enjoyable shoot-’em-up under the sea, and I highly recommend taking the dive.

Peach Beach Splash isn’t as much of a departure from the series as Bon Apetit was, but it’s still somewhat inconsequential compared to a mainline entry like Estival Versus. Blasting bikini ninja with water is cute, the gameplay is mostly solid, and it does a serviceable job of increasing the threat of Shin to set up the next game, but Senran Kagura risks sacrificing the momentum of the series overall with too many ancillary games.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a remarkable title, the best Wolfenstein game yet, and one of the finest singleplayer FPS titles ever created. With so much recent chatter about the death of the triple-A single player game, here comes BJ Blazkowicz with two middle fingers pointed directly at that idea. And with such a lengthy campaign, the lack of multiplayer isn’t even missed. The thrilling action, tight controls, incredible variety of tactics, and a surprisingly emotional, thought provoking, hysterical story make this one not to miss — the fact that it brings timely commentary on undesirable aspects of American society is even more icing on this Nazi-stomping cake.

Despite papering over some of the cracks that threatened its original incarnation, Warzone doesn’t quite fix the problems of EVE Valkyrie, and its value as a space game will, in some ways, depend on a player’s available hardware. Players who own VR headsets will find the definitive edition of one of the medium’s most accomplished titles, while players without VR will find a competent, fast-paced space shooter that (at least on PlayStation) doesn’t have much in the way of strong competition.

I never got a sense that I knew what A Hat in Time was about either as a story or as a game. Its various worlds don’t cohere, its plot doesn’t exist, and its systems never really play off each other in an interesting way. No single aspect of the experience is terrible, but the good bits never build to anything. Consequently, A Hat in Time is a cute, breezy little thing that rolls off the mind as soon as it’s completed.

Assassin’s Creed: Origins breathes new life into this ten-year old series, culling the parts which didn’t work while branching out and growing beyond what it once was. It successfully maintains the heart of the franchise and smartly dumps unnecessary baggage while opening it up to more kinds of players. Technical issues keep it from being a masterpiece at the moment, but there’s no doubt that patches are incoming. Overall, if this is the future of Assassin’s Creed, it’s a bright one.

Even with frustrating oversights, The Mummy Demastered is a fantastic example of its genre. There’s great creature and boss design, perfectly designed platforming sequences, and a wide enough variety in environments that it can offer unique visuals all the way to the end. As a tight, confident action title, The Mummy Demastered succeeds not just as a love letter to movie-inspired cash-ins from the ’90s, but also as a legitimately great action game in its own right. And, if that wasn’t enough to recommend it, it’s also a rare tie-in that ended up far better than the movie it was adapted from.

While I can’t discuss story details, Danganronpa V3 shines by highlighting the memorable cast while twisting the story around in surprising ways. The structure doesn’t change much from the prior two entries and it doesn’t need the minigame padding, but that doesn’t stop this from being a fantastic experience. Fans of the series owe it to themselves to play V3, as it was clearly created with them in mind and holds up perfectly alongside Trigger Happy Havoc and Goodbye Despair.

Elex is the best game Piranha Bytes has ever made. They’ve taken all the lessons learned on plotting, worldbuilding and character development from their work on Risen and Gothic and applied it something far more ambitious. The result is a truly great action-RPG, full of interesting characters, memorable quests, and amazing environments. While Elex‘s story comes to a satisfying conclusion and all the questions Jax starts with are definitively answered, it ends with the suggestion that there’s a much bigger story on the way, and I can’t wait for it to arrive.

After circling the world’s skies and visiting the final shrine, I had a wonderful time with Aer: Memories of Old. The visuals are perfect, it’s deliciously compact, and there really is something quite wonderful about being able to take to the skies and fly without a care. After seeing it so long ago and holding onto hope that Forgotten Key would deliver, I can honestly say that it was worth the wait.

The Evil Within 2 offers a few solid scares, some glimpses into a more promising game, and a lot of unexciting bloat. In such a crowded release season, it’s gonna take more than that to earn a recommendation from me. But hey, at least they got rid of the letterboxing. That’s a step in the right direction.

While South Park: The Fractured But Whole builds upon the mechanical groundwork laid by The Stick of Truth, it doesn’t have the same impact its predecessor had. Nothing is as shocking as Stick‘s sights, too much of the same ground is covered again, and while the combat is improved, it’s nothing to write home about. South Park: The Fractured But Whole is still entertaining and I enjoyed my time with it, but I couldn’t help but feel like I was watching a rerun.

Despite featuring a gorgeous and carefully-designed world, Obduction fails to execute on its central identity as a puzzle game. And, when three quarters of the experience consists of walking from one point to another and sitting through loading screens, it’s difficult to imagine that Cyan Worlds respects the time of Obduction’s players. Returning the favor, I ended up having very little respect for their game.

Even with no major changes and some minor issues, Picross S is a satisfactory, affordable puzzle game. Not much else needs to be said.

Controls are just too important to overlook in a game, and Astral Traveler’s result in frustrating play. Add in questionable level designs that slow down the ship too often, and the result is that any potential enjoyment is sucked away. My younger self would have been disappointed, but would have kept playing. My adult self knows better, and has moved on to more enjoyable endeavors.

While the last boss is unnecessarily cheap (come on, we all saw that coming) and the graphics are nothing to write home about, I was happy to find that there were plenty of nuances to the fighting, and there was clearly much thought given to its design. Senko no Ronde 2 is an oddball title that’s not for everyone and the story mode is a complete waste, but for those who find themselves in the Venn diagram intersection of fighting games, anime, giant robots, and shmups, there’s nothing else on the market like it.

I’m sure a patch will fix the crashes soon, but otherwise, Battle Chasers: Nightwar is one of the few RPGs I’ve played recently that respects the player’s time and rewards them with story beats, smart dungeon designs and great characters. It may not be perfect, but when it comes to RPGs, it’s a step in the right direction.

I can’t praise Valkyria Revolution‘s story enough. It’s a clear-eyed meditation on the horrors of war – even, perhaps especially, justified war. If the developers had found a way to make the dreary, repetitive combat as worthwhile as the story that frames it, this would have been an incredible game.

Although Echo fizzles out instead of building to a crescendo, I still loved it. I mean, we’re talking instant entry into the Top 5 games I’ve played this year. It’s just a shame that Ultra Ultra didn’t keep layering in mechanics and that the story lost focus. However, despite these issues, Echo remains an incredibly strong debut from a developer I’ll be keeping my eye on in the future.

Mages of Mystralia is a pretty, polished experience bolstered by an excellent spin on combat. The world is bright and cheerful, the exploration of the land is rewarding, and the spell system is great. Chalk up another success story for the Canadian Media Fund and one for Borealys Games.

It truly bothers me that I had to spend half this review talking about loot crates and in-game economics. I would’ve much rather spent this space talking about the fantastic driving experience, the way the game can be tailored to any desired skill level with the bevy of options, the incredible car customization (when applicable), the beautiful graphics, the astounding attention to detail in the car models, and the sheer, unrelenting car-porn that Forza 7 provides. On the other hand, anyone who’s paid attention to this series already knows this — not much has changed, and the stuff that has changed like the VIP support, currency manipulation and the homologated career mode will leave longtime fans perplexed why this route was taken. Forza 7 is a fantastic driving title that can’t stop tripping over itself, and its majestic driving experience is overshadowed by a lack of new ideas and suspicious economic decisions.

While I actually felt sympathy for the monster even though I didn’t doubt the girl’s condemnation of it, Lydia still manages to land a heavy emotional blow with admirable economy thanks to its expressive art and skillful storytelling. It’s a strong, sharp jab of a game, and well worth it for anyone willing to take the punch in the gut.

With a better upgrade/weapons system and slightly nerfed bosses, Let Them Come would be a fine experience — the kind of quick diversion players could drop into for a few minutes of alien slaughter here and there. Unfortunately, at some point in development the decision was made to prioritize challenge and droning repetition over playability, and the result is a title that can only be enjoyed by players who like spending time with games that hate them.

Dragon’s Dogma isn’t just a fantastic time, full of superb adventuring and uncharacteristically accomplished combat. It’s also one that’s stood up incredibly well over the years, feeling every bit as fresh and unique as when it debuted in the previous generation. It really says something that after hundreds of hours and dozens of completions later, I was more than willing to drop everything and get stuck back in to this remaster. It may have aged a little visually, but its combat and reward-heavy exploration have proven themselves evergreen, standing out from the competition even now.

By Perception’s conclusion, I’d witnessed several generations of families who’d lived in this mysterious estate, how they meshed together and found Cassie’s link to them. Some were more interesting than others, but Perception ends up dragging on for too long with too little intrigue to carry it through. Had it been half as long and experimented more with the applications of Cassie’s blindness, Perception could’ve been a fascinating experience. What I actually got was the chance to stumble around in the dark for six hours, which is about as enjoyable as it sounds.

Playing Cuphead on the easier difficulty reveals that the game’s challenge level is the only trick up its sleeve. Take that away, and all we’re left with is an uninspired and monotonous run-and-gun that just happens to be the most visually-striking release of 2017. Yes, Cuphead’s presentation is magnificent — it’s just a shame that StudioMDHR couldn’t come up with an interesting game to pair with it.

As an exploration title the environments are dull, and navigating them is a chore. As a puzzle game, it’s a cakewalk. As a narrative, the framework of a solid concept is spoiled by poor presentation and pacing. As a horror game, it’s not scary. What Andreasyan was able to create here all by himself couldn’t have been simple or easy, but tell that to the person who has thousands of Steam games to choose from and a finite amount of time and money to spend on them.

Putting the lack of new content aside, Axiom Verge is just as good now as it was in 2015, and it also pulls off the rare feat of being incredibly imaginative while also paying obvious homage to its inspiration. Thomas Happ clearly loves Metroid a whole lot, but his outstanding art design and musical talents keep the game he spent five years of his life on from feeling like a knockoff. Anyone with a Switch who hasn’t played Axiom Verge yet will find a polished adventure that would be a great addition to their library — just don’t leave it in the backlog pile.

This feeling of style over substance largely describes Ruiner in total — the aesthetics are on point, but style alone can’t carry a game. It’s a shame that it fizzles out so soon after starting, but I’m left with the sense that this studio will be turning out great things in the future… they’re just not quite there yet. If their next project manages to bring gameplay as rich as their visuals, it’ll be a real crackerjack.

JYDGE isn’t very long, but it’s incredibly wide, and its winking embrace of ’80s-style ultraviolence should charm both devotees of the franchises that inspired it and anyone who can appreciate a clever shooter.

SteamWorld Dig 2 is adorable, polished, smart, and basically nails everything that counts. It’s a joy to spend time with work like this, and all I can say to Image & Form is…. Well done!

Does Hob serve itself by obfuscating its path and story as much as it does? I don’t think the experience is better for these choices. Forcing the player to bang their head repeatedly against the walls of the world undercuts, rather than strengthens, the game’s considerable charm. The inability to clearly communicate also interferes with the intended emotion of the finale, giving a supposedly solemn choice a silly prelude that doesn’t lay out the stakes in any intelligible way.

Blue Reflection is incredibly upfront about what it’s trying to accomplish here — it’s explicitly about the real dangers to life and limb that can be caused by depression and negative emotional states, and it’s also about the importance of reaching out to those who are suffering and trying to make their lives better. I can’t say that I’ve seen many games with the same goal, but I enjoyed making the world a better place. The experience is sweet, funny, intense, and one of the most fundamentally good-hearted titles I’ve seen in ages.

Though NHL 18 is a solid, enjoyable title that will likely appeal to old and new hockey game fans alike, there’s little innovation on display — the developers only deliver minor improvements and necessary tweaks. In order to make the series relevant again, EA needs to find a way to revolutionize the gameplay. It pains me to say, but it’s not 1994 anymore and expectations have changed. As much as I enjoyed my time with NHL 18, I would rather see the series get benched for a few years and come back with something truly new rather than another installment of more-of-the-same.

The most impressive thing about Freedom Planet is just how good it feels. It feels great to find the correct sequence of actions to send Lilac rocketing through a level at warp speed. It feels great hearing each song on the excellent soundtrack for the first time. It feels great to nail the perfect spin dash on an enemy and absolutely shred it. That type of exhilaration is rare and worthy of praise. There’s no shortage of retro-style games that will charm one’s socks off with beautiful sprites and catchy tunes, but to combine all of that with such a deep mechanical understanding of those old Genesis platformers is a remarkable feat. GalaxyTrail, please take a bow.

While it requires a fair time investment to get sunk in and the AI could definitely stand to have its fangs pulled out, Culdcept Revolt offers a wonderfully rich tabletop experience that would be impossible to replicate on a tabletop. It’s unlike almost anything else available today.

Auto Age is a fascinating misfire, making one weird mistake after another. This talented group of developers generate a wonderful setting and engineer great control mechanics for exploring a world, and then cram it all into the most ill-fitting genre possible for the foundation they’ve laid. I don’t know what convinced them to aim so low with their concept, but Auto Age: Standoff is an experience that’s only a shadow of what the intro and tutorial suggest it should be.

I do love this series and I certainly didn’t have a bad time playing it, but this entry is lacking in the pizzazz that the earlier entries had. The Golf Island overworld adds nothing to the experience, and the amount of grinding to unlock new things is downright ridiculous. That said, the core golfing is still highly enjoyable, it’s nicely priced nicely at $40, and frankly, there’s no competition on the market. As such, Everybody’s Golf is everybody’s golf by default — newcomers will find it solid, but longtime fans like me might wish for days gone by.

As surprising as it is given how unappealing the package initially looks, Marvel vs Capcom Infinite is a decent brawler when all’s said and done. It may look borderline repulsive in spots, have a subpar soundtrack and be sporting a less interesting roster than previous iterations (and no, there’s still no sign of Sheva Alomar or Regina from Dino Crisis) but the fights are enjoyably high-octane affairs with solid mechanics, and as cliché as it might sound, that’s really what it’s all about at the end of the day.

While the fourth chapter disappoints with superfluous wrapup and temporal confusion, the three other chapters of The Lion’s Song offer engaging tales of creative struggle and triumph. In their best moments, they convey the sense of being in a city enjoying the full bloom of artistic and intellectual development, where new sciences and new approaches to art might connect and transform each other, and that’s a kind of excitement games rarely capture.

In its current state, it’s about 15 minutes’ worth of gameplay stretched out into a bland, lifeless four hours, and it faux-finishes with a blank stare when the content runs out. I hate to see something so promising get rushed out the door when it is so clearly not ready for prime time, but it is what it is. And it’s a shame.

While X-Morph: Defense may not reinvent its wheel, nearly every decision it makes is a smart and correct one, and this out-of-nowhere project with a dull-sounding title really hums. It’s fast and furious, yet this wonderfully-crafted tower defense/shmup hybrid does everything it can to be a welcoming, player-positive experience that doesn’t sacrifice the quality of its strategy or the intensity of moment-to-moment play. X-Morph: Defense might need to spend a little more on PR, but don’t let the lack of buzz disguise the fact that it is absolutely worth the of the price of admission.

I would have rated Don’t Knock Twice a little higher if the weird dwarf bug hadn’t forced me to switch to a television, but even setting that flaw aside, there’s not much special here. As a haunted house simulator it delivers a few high-quality scares, but never really challenges the player with its mysteries or makes them feel involved in the story. It’s creepy enough for anyone looking to be unnerved as Halloween season creeps closer, but that’s all it has to offer.

Darkest Dungeon: Crimson Edition is a great version of a great game for those who haven’t already experienced it, and fortunately, specific elements of the DLC can be turned on or off to allow new players to ease their way into the new material of the added DLC after becoming familiar with the base game. For those who enjoy a challenge, Darkest Dungeon delivers.

On one level, it’s incredibly satisfying just to see popular characters from various franchises hanging out with one another. Especially when the franchises are as incredibly different as these – what could William from Nioh possibly have to say to Ayane from Ninja Gaiden? A lot more than one would think, apparently. Beyond the fan-friendly concept, the developers have put together one of the strongest and most playable musou titles, ever, and is a beautiful thing that will satisfy both genre fans and newcomers alike.

As the game progressed, the boss battles I enjoyed turned into chores, and while it’s possible to replay levels to earn resources and improve the ship, this type of grinding isn’t something I want in a shmup. Ultimately Defenders of Ekron just didn’t do enough to keep me interested despite great artistic direction and strong beats early on. My desire to defend Ekron ended well before the republic could be saved.

Fallen Legion‘s combat is fast without being overwhelming, and the timed choices added an emotional depth to the decisions I made. While I wanted control over the story in places where I didn’t have any and I wasn’t quite sold on some of the twists, that’s only because I was so fond of the character — it’s more a weakness of overambition than an actual failure. I enjoyed my time in Fenumia, and would enjoy some more.

The concept is great, I love the aesthetics, and the goal of streamlining the RTS genre and making it more approachable is one that I can get behind. And in truth, Pocketwatch has been largely successful! However, I’d recommend it only on the strength of the multiplayer. The campaign’s lack of in-game information, AI with too much advantage, and spiking difficulty curve make it tough to embrace. Perhaps RTS vets will disagree with me, but as a mostly-console player coming to this project, it’s got to go a little further to meet me halfway.

In the end, Windjammers is a mechanically interesting experience that still feels fresh 23 years after its release, but this PS4 edition doesn’t include much to enhance the original. As it stands, Windjammers is enjoyable for an afternoon with friends, but it doesn’t offer much to hook players for the long term.

Despite Last Day of June‘s slightly boring mid-game errands, its breathtaking art style and narrative payoff left a lasting impression on me. If it were streamlined a tiny bit more and had some fat trimmed, it would be a truly remarkable work. Although I do recommend it, there’s some room for improvement here.

Overcooked! is an essential purchase for anyone looking for an unforgiving but fair, exasperating but enlivening party game for friends that hopefully won’t end the night as enemies. It is a thing as close to perfect as I have played in a long time.

With just an hour of main game content and no online leaderboards to encourage replaying levels, Sneaky Bears is more of a minor diversion than anything else. It’s cute and funny, and just a little upsetting when stuffed bears start threatening each other with brutal murder. That throwing mechanic, though – I spent five minutes in the level select screen just enjoying the simple act of knocking things over with my tossed guns. The goal of VR is to make fantastic spaces feel more natural, and by solving this problem, the developers at WarDucks have taken the medium one step closer.

Overall, Graceful Explosion Machine is an amusing rainbow of geometric bombast, suffering slightly from repetitive gameplay. However, it hits the spot for those who want to turn off their brains, enjoy some colorful chaos and rack up a huge combo, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that.

Although it offers a simple premise and equally simple mechanics, Infinite Minigolf actually ends up being one of the PSVR’s more promising titles. The tournament content is engaging despite having to play through each difficulty, but the real future of Infinite Minigolf depends on an engaged community of creators. The tools are here, but the devs will have to come up with a method of purging the servers of one-slab, featureless courses if they want people to continue to build on the infinite amount of content suggested in the title.

It’s heartening to see Behold’s latest effort result in an improvement on their unique strengths. Galaxy of Pen & Paper feels like a worthy indicator of their rise, even if its less savory quirks keep it – and by extension, Behold – from shaking the weight of their other weaknesses.

If nothing else, Night Trap: 25th Anniversary Edition understands that it’s more of an oddity than a classic. A set of bonus materials offer insight into how the game happened and what the public reaction was to it at the time. It’s probably more interesting than playing, which is just as fundamentally ill-planned now as it was back in 1992. Without any changes made to improve the experience, Night Trap is more of a nostalgic conversation piece than an experience capable of entertaining and engaging players.

With solid JRPG gameplay and surprisingly accessible mechanics, I was shocked by how much I got out of my time with Digimon World: Next Order. I will say, however, that the game will probably be most appreciated by those with a strong affection for whimsical nonsense — two of the game’s main characters are a dignified kung-fu cat and a tiny caveman whose hair completely obscures his features, and the most bizarre transformation involved a spike-shelled walrus evolving into an axe-wielding Frankenstein. This is a solid game, but more than that, it’s a strange one, and that strangeness has to be played to be believed.

Distrust is pretty top-notch stuff. It’s the sign of intelligent and well-considered mechanics that something as inherently repetitive as Distrust never once felt tedious to me. Russian publisher Alawar previously gave us last year’s Beholder, a similarly high-concept little gem from their home country. This makes them two-for-two on Steam releases, and I can’t wait to see what other fascinating indies they bring us from their side of the world.

Dream Daddy‘s dads are likable and charming, and the storylines that play out are engaging. But for me, DD succeeded not because of its deft handling of romantic love, but on the strength of its portrayal of a healthy relationship between parent and child. And, Internetty as it is, DD represents the best of the Internet — its existence is a gentle, implicit reproach of Trump and those like him who would seek to ‘other’ the vulnerable of our society and stoke the flames of the culture wars. In contrast, DD imagines a world where being queer isn’t even a topic of conversation — its queer characters just are.

I did eventually find my bearings, and the entire game took me less than five hours to complete, after which I was told in no uncertain terms to go back and continue training with other players – this is obviously meant to be the true hook of the game. Unfortunately, the co-op functionality isn’t working properly at this time. While Sloclap will probably get the servers stable eventually, the fact remains that Absolver’s core combat feels so awkward and unsatisfying that I can’t imagine it ever taking off. I certainly can’t recommend it now, and I doubt that’ll ever change.

Pixel Heroes has playful writing and art, but there isn’t enough here to warrant sticking around for more than a few hours of retro-themed dalliance.

I can’t begin to describe how happy it makes me to report that not only is Sonic Mania the triumphant return-to-form that fans have been waiting for over the past twenty years, but Christian Whitehead and his team have made the definitive Sonic game. Of course, this may be a tad hyperbolic coming from a longtime Sonic fan like me, but when I have children, this is the Sonic game i’m going to give them. This is a required purchase for anyone who loves this series, and that dope from the playground, wherever he is, can go launch himself into the sun.