If Square Soft wants videogames to be compared equally to other forms of art, then they are going to have to gain that respect by producing a game that is more intellectually and culturally aware and not a game that is essentially a video game screaming for attention and respect.

Rock Band is admittedly a financial investment, but for the gamer with at least one friend who enjoys music, I think it's worth it.

Whether it's seen as an incomplete art object or a transcendent masterpiece, Journey is beautiful from its solemn opening to its masterful ending.

Xenoblade may not be the greatest JRPG ever, but it's certainly one of the best games on the Nintendo Wii.

The developers have taken the theme and backdrop story very seriously and it shows because the WWII iconography in MoH is captured beautifully not only in the costumes of the characters and the design of the architecture, but it also permeates through the detailed movie-like orchestra scores that make up the background music.

The magic of PaRappa will not be easily cloned and we'll probably only get one like it in our lifetime. Sure to transcend cultural differences, PaRappa is special; plain and simple.

There’s also no getting around the Mario Kart series’ continued inability to provide solid single-player offerings, thanks to a dearth of solo modes and the notoriously-cheap AI. The addition of online play has alleviated this to an extent, but since the Switch is designed to be taken to places where an internet connection won’t be available, Deluxe’s appeal is still limited on the go. Nevertheless, this is the definitive version of what was already the best Mario Kart to date, and it seems to finally be getting the audience it’s always deserved. Even after dumping over a hundred hours into the original version, I’m still finding Mario Kart 8 as fantastic as ever.

True, nearly everything in Echoes was also in its predecessor, but the merit in maintaining that game's superb balance whilst still making careful additions (Echoes bears the burden of flawlessly updating the screw attack into 3D with great élan), giving nearly every interface a new lick of paint (dig the sleek new menu design) and imbuing the game with its own uniquely foreboding atmosphere (with a moody synth score that's equal parts John Williams, Kraftwerk and Joy Division) cannot be understated.

Metaphor feels like an evolution of both the Persona and SMT series in the best ways. It builds on what’s come before in both, and synergizes everything together in a cohesive package. It also boasts some of the best gameplay found in any turn-based JRPG, with style to spare. While its world is beautiful and the cast lovable, it sadly never feels like it gets past the surface of anything, and pulls its punches in the final act. Despite this it remains a fantastic experience, and offers a worthy new frontier for Atlus to explore.

The linearity of Metroid Fusion was definitely a disappointment, but not something to write it off... In terms of simple gameplay mechanics, control, boss-battles and overall design effort, it is top notch.

Despite the lack of prizes for going above and beyond, I found Bzzzt to be a delight. This is a platforming masterpiece crafted by people who know the genre inside and out. Anyone who loves super-intense platforming is all but guaranteed to adore it, as it’s a truly exceptional game that’s as rewarding to play as any of the top titles in the genre.

Inside succeeds on the strength of the powerful mood that Playdead builds using crisp, clean audio work and the visual design of its oppressive but seductively mysterious world. That power hasn’t been lessened in the port to the Nintendo Switch — and in fact, I imagine that Inside’s horrors are perhaps even more potent when played in the claustrophobic cram of a subway, or in the human clot of an airplane.

The game is what it is, and nothing I could say in this review will effectively capture the sensation of holding the guitar controller straight up in the air and slamming through an insane series of notes on reflex, not really understanding how I did it - and not really caring.

Overwatch is trying hard to rope in players who don’t normally go for team-based shooters, and in that respect it succeeds better than any other game in its class. The exceptional treatment newcomers get makes me want to love it, but I’ll need more modes and better maps if I’m going to spend hundreds of hours with it as I have with similar titles.

Kojima is both retro and eccentric, and unless you're willing to accept that, his work won't fly for you. But if you are, if you are on his wave-length and able to appreciate all the witty touches that make his games sing, his work becomes rewarding in ways almost no other games are.

Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition is one of the best games available for the Wii. Period.

My first time through the game was the best eight hours of gameplay I've experienced in years, and it's game's only gotten better with subsequent playthroughs.

A near-perfect melding of next-generation technology and interactive gameplay, Crysis is the pinnacle of the evolution of the first-person shooter and is the new standard against which all others will inevitably be compared.

With a string of never-ending combos rattling off my fingertips intuitively, without thought, I now stand my ground against one and all, confident in my abilities, quite certain of my power. And it's exhilarating, in the face of such overwhelming adversity, to be able to do so.

Shadow of the Colossus ranks among the best works this medium has ever produced, so giving it new life in this way is both giving players everywhere a gift and erecting a monument to its greatness.

For players who just want more Witcher, there’s no doubt that Blood And Wine delivers. It has a whole new land to explore, there are tons of things to do, and there’s enough content to keep someone busy for dozens of hours. On the other hand, it felt to me like the entire Witcher experience had already peaked, so following it up with something that’s just not as good leaves things in an awkward place. The last ten minutes are absolutely worth seeing, but the hours that come before it? Maybe not so much.

In a game absolutely packed with embarrassing relics of the first Halo-silly Covenant vehicle design, the Spartans' ridiculous looking low-G jump existing alongside a modern physics engine, the return to one gun at a time-Bungie chose to fix only a multiplayer game mode.

An incredible effort from any perspective, Mass Effect sets the new standard for story-driven games, and has unquestionably surpassed all others to become the preeminent science fiction franchise today.

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Overall, Split Fiction exceeded our expectations when it came to co-op action-puzzling — we just wished the story had more nuance and depth. If Hazelight Studios were to focus the same level of attention to both gameplay and writing, their narratives could serves to be more than vehicles to experience their action through, and that would be something like no other. However, even as it is, Split Fiction remains something special and one of the best cooperative experiences out there.

Despite completion anxiety and combat that was just a little bit lacking, I still had a great time with Trails through Daybreak — it offers an interesting world coupled with plenty of likeable characters, ultimately delivering an enjoyable journey filled with plenty of good times.

Rather than the perfect end to a thrilling series, it seemed like the developers were afraid to take real risks with either the story or the gameplay of Gears 3.

Simply put, this game effectively captures the gameplay experience of being its main character better than any other comic-based title I have ever played, but surprisingly the character development side feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.