The core idea of a balancing a strategy game with limited player control is intriguing, but I found the execution of that idea, and the representations it used, unsatisfying. Arcen has made an ongoing and admirable effort to keep tweaking the game (although some patches have rolled out insufficiently tested), but I'm just not sure that anything they can do will address the essential dullness of its opening and closing phases.

Here at the end, as The Council reveals all of its cards, it becomes clear that the developers clearly and fundamentally understood the importance of player impact on interactive movies. While the skeleton of the game is rigid – certain characters will always make it to the final chapter, and others are clearly less vital to the proceedings – the interactions with them are satisfying and consequential. Whatever ending players end up earning, The Council always makes it easy for players to feel like part of the story, and more importantly, it had a good story to tell them.

While Seeker disappointed me, it finds some purchase in that it appeals to a different kind of player than myself, one who is interested in testing their skills in numerous battles.

Despite the mild annoyances and missed opportunities for further narrative development, Lost At Sea mostly hits its themes on-target and serves its message and philosophical questions confidently. With strong core elements in place, Lost At Sea is a recommended title to anyone who might want to explore this side of life in an interactive way.

Caustic Reality is a one-man studio, and I applaud the creator for the game he made — I enjoyed Infliction and discovering Gary’s truth. It might not be a groundbreaking title in the horror genre and its antagonist might need a bit of rehab, but this psychological adventure is still one worth taking.

Accel World and Sword Art Online fulfills its function as an action-RPG, but suffers from repetitive combat, confusing controls, and lackluster story. After my time with it, I have no intention of ever going back to it, and I question whether fans of either series would glean much enjoyment out of this mishmash.

But Van Helsing's missions are all means to an end, which is to rehash the film's plot in a videogame.

Although I can genuinely say that I have great affection for the Disgaea characters and I had a blast going through the game once, the drive to unlock every ending evaporated almost immediately. Watching a game made of cut-scenes isn't bad if they make you laugh and bring a smile to your face, but watching the same scenes over and over and over and over and over because you can't figure out how to get to the new ones isn't an appealing proposition.

Party Hard is not a game that rewards players who take chances or attempt to learn the layout of levels, since the developers randomize the stages after each failure. Trap elements, items, and victim gathering points change every time. There's no value in practicing techniques when there's no guarantee players will have a chance to use them.

Firebreak is a new direction in expanding Remedy’s connected universe, but the art direction and aesthetics can only do so much of the heavy lifting when the other aspects aren’t bringing as much to the table. The end result doesn’t stack up to the source material that inspired it, and to this Remedy fan, it could and should be so much better.

There’s an apparent tension in what Parcel Corps wants to be and what it actually is. The moments where it shines – the early, flexible stages and the later, hyper focused boss battles – are tactile, engaging and nearly worth the price of entry alone. Unfortunately, the current version hosting repetitive and frustrating design, never lives up to that potential. While it’s clear that Billy Goat Entertainment weren’t able to fully execute their vision of Parcel Corps, based on the parts that do work, I sincerely hope that someday they get to.

I’m sure Cultist Simulator makes perfect sense to the people who created it, but they don’t seem particularly interested in letting anyone else in – it’s an intensely insular experience that almost demands someone track down a wiki to find a way in, and there’s little incentive to invest that much time and effort on a title that gives newcomers nothing but an indifferent shrug.

Heck, if this game had been released in 1996, it would have been a classic. But it was about eight years too late, and ends up only being good enough not to be a complete wash up.

I’d much rather have a meaty and engaging adventure that’s happy to embrace its videogame origins over a lavishly budgeted and beautiful ‘experience’ littered with dull introspective and endless navel gazing. Darksiders III gleefully provides the former while completely shunning the latter, and I’m all for it.

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.

Shadow Labyrinth is equal parts magnificent and frustrating. The action is stellar, the setting – largely made up of deep-cut references to Namco’s arcade history – is uniquely fascinating, and the retro Pac-Man gameplay is perhaps the best the franchise has ever offered. At the same time, it makes exploration such a chore that I swore off finishing it and stepped away from it more than a few times. I always came back, though, which goes to show just what an incredible job the developers have done here. Even when I hated what I was doing, it was always a pleasure to engage with, and there aren’t a lot of games I can say the same about.

Murder on Eridanos is an interesting way to put a bow on The Outer Worlds. Instead of a balls-to-the-wall action finale, it offers up a slower-paced mystery that showcases what Obsidian is best at – writing and acting. Although it makes some missteps and the pacing could be better, I enjoyed uncovering the mystery. Regardless of all else, Obsidian is nearly in a league of their own when it comes to writing. And experiencing more of their work is always enjoyable.

At its best, Storm is a curiously relaxing, tranquil, and almost meditative experience. At its worst, it's an irritating and cumbersome exercise in physics-based frustration which only gets less enjoyable as the puzzles ramp up in difficulty. It may have a fresh, vibrant aesthetic, but the actual gameplay doesn't match up to the potential it clearly has.

Removing the harsh consequences for simple mistakes tears down a wall of inaccessibility that can alienate people from the genre and makes Nail'd the perfect point-of-entry for anyone interested in racing games in general, and the off-road subgenre specifically. I just wish the game had been polished enough that this innovation wouldn't have been such a major part of the experience.

Between the tedious levels, incoherent story and offputting gigolo missions, I found very little to appreciate about Killer is Dead. I grew quite tired of the shallow game design and weak attempts to distract me from its vacuous lack of substance, and put the game down before rolling credits.

Rainbow Skies is hampered by its weak narrative, overly tight economy, and sub-optimally tuned combat. What really kills it, however, is the vast amount of time it sucks up by forcing both the story and the combat to move at a snail’s pace. Rainbow Skies demands a ton of time from the player, but offers nothing of equal value to reward that investment.

The Witch and the Hundred Knight isn’t a good game by any means. It has an impenetrable equipment system, lackluster combat with no other gameplay mechanics, and a story that only gets good if players consult an FAQ.

To see a series falter so badly after years of doing everything right is distressing.

Hood: Outlaws & Legends tries too hard to mesh different game types into one unified multiplayer experience, and its lofty ambitions get buried under clashing elements. What could have been an exciting co-op title ended up a frustrating slog, and in a heist — whether it’s a movie or a game — if the main caper ain’t good, the rest doesn’t matter.

Overall, This Is The Police is a somewhat enjoyable strategy/time management title, although the story felt like wasted time since I never grew connected to the characters or the plot, and it had no real bearing on play. With more weight given to the plot and better integration into the game overall, this sad tale of a man slowly sinking to the bottom would have come together into something fascinating. As it stands, the strategic parts can’t save the experience overall and the end result is a title that feels only half-done. Ultimately, This is the Police ended up being a game to kill time with, not one to lose time on.

Playing solo can still be entertaining, but the moments of loneliness hang over the player like a cloud while they’re traveling from point A to point B. In the end, it comes down to personal preference — some will enjoy the solemn journeys found in Appalachia, while others will only play when friends are online, but even without them, the Wastelanders update is a step in the right direction.

Once I overcame my disorientation, figured out my tasks and conquered the middle of the Inverse, the last few sections were considerably more straightforward and delivered feelings of being awestruck similar to those I experienced at its beginning. InnerSpace suffers from some minor issues, but remains a game full of original ideas that’s worth getting lost in.

So, the levels in ICFSaAOB are long, but the lack of meta play or any incentive to replay means its lifespan is short — paradoxically, it’s too long in the short term, and too short in the long term. It is also repetitive to the point of tedium and the answer in almost all situations is ‘use the shotgun’.