To recap: imagine playing the most uninspired, atmosphere-free "Resident Evil" clone that could exist... Then instead of using a control pad, you must verbally tell your brain-free character exactly what to do every step of the way. This is what Lifeline is like.

I was still drawn into the game's mechanics, attitude, and replayability.

From the rousing space battle at its beginning to the surprisingly intense firefight at its end, Mass Effect 3: Omega is just the sort of add-on that I would want for a game of this kind… apart from the fact that it's a bit mindbending to revisit a virtual time and place that had such an unforgettable final act. I might still be trying to wrap my head around it, but I enjoyed my time with Aria and Nyreen just the same.

Efforts to align Moon Diver's classic gameplay with an environment 20 years removed from its progenitor have only done it harm. The greatest shame is that the game did not fall victim to the caprice of an indifferent natural order; Moon Diver is betrayed by the deliberate adaptations of rational designers.

The story may be as dull as dirt and the graphics may lack a satisfying level of detail, but there's no denying that Trapt (and its three predecessors) provide a crazy sort of skewed gameplay that simply can't be had anywhere else. Very few projects actually make me laugh out loud with maniacal glee, but this was one.

Like many Atlus titles, this isn't a game for everyone. Lone players can enjoy the colorful art, the humor and some of the table-turning ruthlessness, but Dokepon's journey is meant to be taken with friends.

It may not be a technical marvel or something that will keep you occupied for days on end (it's best played in 30-minute bursts, in my opinion), but it's hard to deny the energy and enthusiasm the game brings with its off-kilter PaRappa-style characters, a kooky sense of humor, and the welcoming playability that developer Jamworks has packed onto the disc.

I could go on, but over the course of this review I've already described a litany of qualities that should win over players who appreciate mature RPG experiences with quality commensurate to the amount of time spent in them. However, there's no getting around the fact that first impressions will likely turn a lot of potential adventurers off.

While the developer is on the right track, Risen 2: Dark Waters feels choppier than the last game, and will test those with little patience.

The game is perfectly, almost proverbially, meh.

I'm sure once EA gets a better grip on this engine and produces stellar next-gen golf, we'll look back at Rory McIlroy PGA Tour with a furrowed brow. Until then, it's the best golf sim for current-gen consoles, and it offers fans and newcomers alike a heck of a good time, warts and all.

I'm not sure just why Activision was in such a rush to release the game that they didn't let Luxoflux actually finish it.

As a new music game, Helix sounded like a fun concept and I wanted to enjoy it more than I did. I just had a hard time staying with it. Taken on its own terms, the game definitely provides a challenge and some sweat—for the gamer that gets into the spirit and avoids cheating with mini-waggles.

I may not know what other MMOs offer, but something that feels like a single-player game where other people just happen to show up is just about the best possible thing I can imagine. Coming from this perspective, Defiance delivers.

If Ryse were a longer game full of interesting foes that deserved to be brutally chopped to pieces, it could have been great. Instead, it has to settle for being almost there.

The most serious problems in Star X lie with its controls. The ship's movements are limited due to poor button configuration.

The inclusion of the power-ups severely cheapens the game, changing it from a competitive fighting game into a wannabe party title.

We don't live in a sports game world where "definitely playable" is a testimonial. Gamers expect authentic sports experiences from head to toe, and a flawed-but-functional title just can't compete for their hard-earned cash when 2K's bulletproof NBA title will set them back the same sixty bucks.

I wanted to like Lifeless Planet. I gave it a fair shake and I even liked it until I got a grasp on everything it has to see and do — about 45 minutes. Past that, it’s just an exercise in running and jumping across boring vistas while collecting uninteresting audiologs to support the bloated, unsatisfying story.

There are times when it looks like there’s a much better game trying to claw its way free from the technical and design issues that plague it, but they’re only fleeting glances at what could have been before it gets overwhelmed by the muck dragging it down. Fans of the books it’s based on might get some worth out of The Dwarves, but when compared to pretty much any other half-decent RPG on the market, it comes up short in almost every possible way.

There are highs and lows to the design, but it's a fundamentally solid action title with a few terrible design decisions that make it harder to get into than it should be.

The sad part is that with some real work put into it, Payday 2 could have been awesome on the Switch. If some of the old problems had been solved, motion controls included and the graphics updated, that would have been a great start. Instead, I’m left with poor visuals, glitching enemies, terrible AI and no way to coordinate with anyone who wants to play. As it stands, it’s extraordinarily difficult to recommend this version of Payday 2 when better versions of this broken game exist at half price on other platforms.

Despite all the rough edges and problems, I am impressed with Edge of Eternity‘s ambition. The developers have some grand dreams on display here, but the fact is that a lack of polish and too many ideas stuffed into one package leave Edge of Eternity an overcomplicated, unfinished product.

I wish I enjoyed A Fistful of Gun more than I do. There's a lot about its visuals and arcade-style presentation to like, but it never stops feeling disappointingly shallow and overly-chaotic. Exciting and charming in small doses, it's just a relentless slog through hails of gunfire during extended play. Fans of the Western genre might get into it, but I'm riding to another saloon.

All in all, Steal Princess is a game the likes of which I haven't seen for years, and it manages to feel fresh and familiar at the same time.

It doesn't try to accomplish very much, and it succeeds at almost all of its very modest targets.

I had high hopes for Zack Zero going in, but the game is too rough and unpolished to recommend it. The dodgy platforming, bland gameplay, and goofy main character are huge detriments to the experience, and the ridiculous ending is like one final slap in the face before gamers go about their life.

It's so overflowing with contrived gimmicks to (presumably) add to the depth and longevity to the game that its weak core gameplay sticks out like a sore thumb.