If nothing else, Hunters establishes itself as a solid and important entry into the Metroid canon with new elements like peripheral characters and a revamped game structure packaged in a more streamlined, enjoyable adventure than its immediate predecessor. For that alone it deserves respect.

Death’s Door is a strong offering featuring challenging combat and amazing art design. The amount of love and care Acid Nerve put into this quirky afterlife can easily be seen in every little animation or dialogue. Granted, the combat may be a bit overwhelming at times (especially when the puzzles become infrequent) but for lovers of the genre and those who won’t mind a bit of swordfighting and dodging, Death’s Door might be one of the best titles to come out in 2021.

Even if Bungie backtracks on some of these horrendous missteps, there’s evidence that the dev team is either flailing around without a clear idea of the experience they want to present, or even worse, they’re happy to offer the least amount of mediocre content possible until the player base starts pushing back. When free-to-play titles like Warframe and Let it Die seem monumentally more generous and offer vastly more entertainment value than a triple-A sixty dollar release built with a budget large enough to feed whole continents, it’s clear that something has gone horribly wrong.

A bit of a disaster...Why? It's a half-assed, crudely cobbled-together product prone to crashing, lockups (and as of press time) absolutely non-functional multiplayer.

Addictive personalities will no doubt find themselves caught up in the game to the exclusion of all else. There's always one more quest to undertake, one more rare to find, one more level to grow…it's these elements that keep people coming back.

Even with that ridiculous level of challenge aside, every chunk of Assault Android Cactus feels like it's almost more than I can do, and it feels great to overcome the challenges Witch Beam threw my way. For those who think they're up for the task, this one comes highly recommended.

I've never had an interest in MMORPGs until now, and since this game has released, I've got a full-fledged addiction (witnessed by my 14 full days of playtime since the PlayStation 2 launch last month).

With other games I've felt similar feelings after beating an especially tough boss or solving a taxing puzzle. But when I truly master a song in DDRMAX, the sweat on my face and the swift beating of my heart magnifies the feeling. The soreness in my muscles and the burning in my lungs tell my body that I have actually done something worthwhile. It's a singular sensation that can make other games seem like meaningless fumbling with the controller.

A gem, and perhaps the greatest indie sports game of all time. In fact, it's so good that big-budget sports devs need to take an honest look at it—there's a lot they could learn.

An efficient (i.e. — boring) playthrough of Hitman 3 could probably be finished in a few hours for players who know what they’re doing, so the fact that I’ve spent more than 30 hours in six maps trying to master each one says everything about how much I love this series. However, despite how much I love Hitman as a whole, I can’t deny that the middling innovations and repeat rewards are starting to make 47’s adventures feel slightly stale.

Despite these minor blemishes, Rogue Legacy is an engaging game that holds up over numerous trips through its diabolical castle.

For a time-rich audience, I can see Lords of Shadow being well worth the investment.

No review will ever accurately convey the tension in navigating through a sea of multiple colored bullets that fill every inch of the screen or the joy in finally nailing a 100+ chain combo because Ikaruga, like all good shmups, is visceral.

Minor flaws aside, Yakuza Kiwami 2 is a great reimagining, reworked with love and pride by a team who clearly understand what makes their games shine. Even though there are loads of Kiryu’s adventures to choose from at this point, this one stands apart as one of the best. It may not dethrone 0 as the definitive Yakuza experience, but it’s still an excellent entry in its own right and has essentially become the gold standard by which all remakes should be measured.

West of Loathing is fantastic on every level — the writing is consistently, genuinely funny, the intricacy and breadth of the world is truly impressive, and all of the mechanical systems are perfectly geared towards make sure the player is able to go through the world and experience as much as possible without needless frustration.

Grabbing this title is a no-brainer for the show's legions of devotees.

Despite the story-dulling pauses and my previously-mentioned concerns with technical production and the diminishing presence of gameplay content besides QTEs, The Wolf Among Us has been an excellent series that I've enjoyed very much.

Playing this game was like witnessing the Broadway musical of Metal Gear Solid. Or maybe it's more like the movie adaptation of the book. You don't learn anything particularly new things about the characters or the story.

Just about every feature in Fight Night lives up to the hype and feels right, if not outstanding.

If the idea of gunning down bad guys while kickflipping through the sky doesn’t appeal, then there’s nothing in Echo Point Nova that’s going to convert someone. For me, though, Echo Point Nova does exactly what it says on the tin and excels at it — and honestly, that’s enough to keep me coming back with each update to maintain my 100% completion.

While the basic premise of The Warriors on the silver screen remains intact in its videogame adaptation, it is confronted with a gritty sense of realism, which gives the original artistic vision of Hill a whole new angle. And that, dear Mr. Ebert, is art indeed.

Red Faction: Guerrilla scores, and it certainly adds a nice twist on the established open-world game formula.

With peerless strategy gameplay, brilliant level design, and great storytelling, Valkyria Chronicles 4 is a worthy inheritor of the name. And just in case the number in the title seems daunting, rest assured, the game is every bit as playable for complete newcomers to the series as it is for those who’ve been waiting 8 years for the series to return to the west.

While I’m glad that I waited for Darkest Dungeon to hit the Switch, I still have misgivings. It’s certainly better on the go now than it was on the Vita, if for no other reason than the screen is simply larger, but it doesn’t feel like a great fit. However, in docked mode it’s still the same amazing game that it’s always been, although it looks sharper on PS4. After holding out all this time to finally get the optimal experience, there’s just no easy answer. However, one thing does remain clear — now that the devs have added even more tweaks and amenities, the core experience is still outstanding no matter what platform it’s on.

Anyone interested in horror, Lovecraft, or top-notch point-and-click adventures has no excuse for missing this one.

The standalone Gwent release is free on GOG, and I encourage those who enjoy it to shell out the money for Thronebreaker, a strong expansion of both the base game and the Witcher universe. Geralt’s portion of this story may have concluded, but the folks at CD Projekt RED seem committed to sharing more tales from this world, and I couldn’t be more excited.

Even if it had made serious strides over Far Cry 3, even if the gameplay held true to the series's core, even if its story weren't junk, even if it had been put together perfectly, I would still find Far Cry 4 annoying as hell. It's not just that Ubisoft can't execute; it seems like they can't design anymore. To compensate, they've just slapped whatever crap they can onto an open world in the desperate hope that large portions will make up for the flavorlessness of the meal. Instead, I got sick of chewing, and longed for the days when Far Cry just shut up and let me shoot some guns.

From start to finish, The Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy is intertwined with memorable characters and thrilling courtroom scenes depicting both the best and worst of humanity, presented triumphantly in a manner I won’t forget anytime soon. Even if the core of the gameplay loop is showing its age a bit, it won’t hinder anyone’s enjoyment by much — a good story is a good story, full stop.