Whether played solo or tackled with a friend, those looking for a fast-paced, third-person tower defense will find that the unique traps and reaching for high scores will more than keep them occupied.

It seems a shame that this inferior sequel makes us all take turns.

I support sci-fi that does more than ask people to shoot aliens with futuristic guns, but there's just not enough coherence in The Swapper to put up with the split between the intriguing premise and the contrivances that surround it.

Drop Duchy attempts to ease the hard feelings of a busted run with its progression-unlocking Challenges, but the proliferation of new features feels like it dilutes rather than strengthens subsequent runs. As a consequence, Drop Duchy falls too far into the frustrating regime of RNG-dominated games. There’s an interesting concept here, but Drop Duchy lacks the kind of snappy gameplay or compelling aesthetic that would sustain it through the unfairness of waiting in vain for that dang line piece that just won’t drop.

If the words "the death of Aeris" don't bring a tear to your eye, then dropping $40 on Crisis Core certainly will.

All told, Trine was a stylish, clever game that certainly manages to establish its own identity.

The multiplayer's locked in, but there's an incredible potential for more.

While I wasn't the biggest Bastion fan, Supergiant had definitely stepped things up with Transistor. Deep, stylish, fulfilling and concise, Transistor can easily be described in terms used for music rather than games—And like a great song, it stays in one's head long after the credits roll.

Overall, I was quite impressed with Rogue Galaxy, and as one of the presumably last RPGs for the PlayStation 2, I think it's a fitting tribute to the machine that is home to the most games of this genre.

If we assume that videogames are partly about realizing control-fantasies, Nintendogs is about the absolute opposite. Coping with the stubborn and playfully anarchic mindset of a puppy can teach gamers an important lesson: learn to let go.

In general, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 should be seen as a master class for Tekken devotees, and is certainly one of the best titles the genre has to offer.

Yakuza 5 is more Yakuza. Way more, and while the content isn't always the best of the series, it's still damned good for the most part. While every decent moment of pulse-pounding drama may be matched by a dose of piffle where characters stare into the distance and talk about following their dreams, there's no denying that Yakuza still brings the heat. Even after spending seventy hours on this, I'm still definitely up for more.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker is a masterpiece. It offers perfectly-tuned gameplay that dovetails flawlessly with the story that it’s telling, and it’s the rare example that manages to make its points entirely through mechanics — even if someone stripped out all of the dialogue, players would still understand what the game has to say about the crushing cycle of worker exploitation under capitalism. The fact that the developers went out of their way to build a believable world and great characters to help players empathize with the people trapped in this corrupt system shows how much they cared about making the best possible version of their work.

I hope that we haven’t heard the last of the Zero Escape team, but I also hope that their future projects rein themselves in and they produce something more coherent and personal.

As a fan of the series and also as a father who's always looking for quality games for his kids to get into, Skylanders: Swap Force is easy to recommend. It looks great, it plays great, it's appropriate for all ages, and it's a genuine improvement on what the series has delivered in the past.

Of course, And Yet It Moves only scratches the surface of possibility, but it is a journey absolutely worth taking.

As I end this review, I'm reminded of a phrase attributed to Oscar Wilde: "The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy." That sentence perfectly describes Prison Architect—as it is with many sims like it, it's growth for the sake of growth, and when I was done with the game and had my prison and had every little detail perfectly in place, I let it burn to the ground again.

Sonic is fast alright. Yet here's a game that openly discourages Sonic and his friends from fully embracing the thing that made the Sega's mascot so popular in the first place: raw, uncontrolled speed.

It's the level design that makes Rayman 3 stand out. While the early levels are mostly uninteresting, the game picks up as Rayman gains more of his trademark powers: the helicopter float, the wall climb, the super-punch, etc.

Professor Layton and the Last Specter is easily the weakest entry in the Professor Layton canon to date. While the gameplay remains as robust as ever, the surrounding elements don't complement or support it quite as well as they have in the past.

The Danganronpa series is concerned with the ongoing battle between the power of hope and the power of despair, and while these games are overlong and peppered with some less-than-stellar moments, the excellent plots give the player a sense of hope for the future of dynamic narrative in videogames. This is some of the best, most suspenseful, storytelling that I’ve ever seen attempted in the medium. While there’s no new content and the graphics remain unchanged from the Vita versions, 1.2 Reload is a great jumping-on point for fans of visual novels who’ve never experienced the series before.

Katana ZERO is relatively short action experience, but the fast, brutal, and provocative play left me wanting more — and that’s about the highest praise I can give it.

Limbo is a perfect fit for the Switch since it’s easy to pick up and put down, the shadowy aesthetics empowered feelings of loneliness and desperation, and even though I didn’t appreciate the spikes in difficulty, I won’t forget the immersive journey that Limbo took me on.

If we assume that videogames are partly about realizing control-fantasies, Nintendogs is about the absolute opposite. Coping with the stubborn and playfully anarchic mindset of a puppy can teach gamers an important lesson: learn to let go.

The sheer immersion of Madden NFL 16's gameplay makes this the best football video game since the series's salad days, and the most improved football experience since NFL Gameday first graced the PS1.

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.

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.

Although the campaign only lasts about two hours, I found it to be the perfect length to establish what it does, to get me invested, and then have me on my way before ever wearing out its welcome.