While SOMA never hits the highs of Amnesia: The Dark Descent, it's still largely decent in its own right. Some confused environment design and lackluster monster scenarios work against it, but as an atmospheric jaunt under the sea with a reasonable storyline behind it... well, it works pretty well. Faint praise perhaps, but praise nonetheless.

With so much to like about Knights and Bikes, finding things to complain about wasn’t easy. One thing that came to mind is that the fifth chapter takes considerably more time to complete than the others, and at times seems to drag. However, the rest of the adventure has excellent pacing. I also had a small issue with the ending. There’s a twist that’s hinted at shortly before it unfurls, but this foreshadowing would have had greater impact if was built up earlier instead of appearing so close to the finale. Otherwise, I have no issues with this incredibly well-written story. Knights and Bikes is an adorable little treasure worth finding.

Those issues aside, there's no question that The Walking Dead: Episode One-A New Day absolutely nails the spirit of the story that inspired it, and it seems poised to become another winning, must-experience branch of Kirkman's über-franchise.

It's to Lost Planet's credit that the skillful handling of the difficulty and level design puts the player in a state of desperation for almost the entire length of the game.

Despite the glitches, the addition of true, two-player co-op makes it a fantastic adventure to share. I found Brothers to be a hidden gem when it was first released, and that still holds true today.

For anybody looking to scratch an old-school side-scrolling itch, Astlibra: Revision might be the perfect thing. Otherwise, it’s a tough one to recommend to those who may be in the market for something a bit more modern in its sensibilities.

The engaging battle system eventually turned into a tedious exercise, and the lighthearted and sentimental story grew increasingly sluggish and labored.

At the end of the day, Mega Man Legacy Collection 1 & 2 are fine collections, even if the first one shows significantly more care and love than the second. I feel Capcom missed out on the chance to add some developer commentary or a few interviews here, but ultimately the titles are what matter, and both contain excellent ports. For those planning on revisiting Mega Man or just wanting to glimpse a bit of gaming history, it’s hard to go wrong.

While The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors is a cool, modernized reminder of a bygone era, its main downside is that arcade-style titles were usually designed to extract the maximum number of quarters from their audience in as short a time as possible, so longevity and variety weren’t high on the list of design requirements back then. As a result, it isn’t likely to hold someone’s attention for long if they aren’t interested in attempting to top the leaderboards. The campaign will take most gamers a couple of hours to complete at most, and the unlockable hard mode and new characters aren’t enough to give it legs. With that in mind, this spruced-up blast from the past is enjoyable while it lasts — it’s just a shame that there’s not a little more mechanical meat on these robotic ninja bones.

Although these new assignments for 47 are just bonus surprises, I prefer them to the normal Contracts and Escalation missions IO regularly publishes. The maps aren’t brand new, but it’s clear that care and creativity went into crafting the missions, and that the developers didn’t just push quickie content out the door to hold players over until the next official episode.

I enjoyed myself in almost every one of Gravity Ghost’s levels, and had a great time weaving my way around and through its many planets. Iona’s starbound story is a tragedy, but her afterlife is a triumph.

Overall, Five Dates was a joy to experience. It’s a solid rom-com with strong writing and characters that accurately captures the trials and tribulations of living and dating during the COVID-19 era.

Overall, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game – Complete Edition is a difficult, grindy play that ends up being ultimately enjoyable thanks to its combat and style. Fans of the source material have no doubt already bought it and are enjoying the hell out of it, and anyone else who enjoys a good old-fashioned brawler with plenty of style should check it out as well.

Easily the best of the X-Men games to ever appear on a console and a shining example that not all games based on licensed properties like comics and movies have to suck.

While South Park: The Fractured But Whole builds upon the mechanical groundwork laid by The Stick of Truth, it doesn’t have the same impact its predecessor had. Nothing is as shocking as Stick‘s sights, too much of the same ground is covered again, and while the combat is improved, it’s nothing to write home about. South Park: The Fractured But Whole is still entertaining and I enjoyed my time with it, but I couldn’t help but feel like I was watching a rerun.

Monday Night Combat may not come with as many of the bells and whistles of a bigger game, but the sweet, bacon-filled core is tasty enough on its own-even if it is a bit lean.

Like the first Coffee Talk, Hibiscus & Buterfly delivers a delicious cup in the form of new stories, characters, and a lil’ shot of revised gameplay mechanics, and these elements all blend into a delicious mix that I love to cuddle up on the couch with.

I love Rollerdrome. That “hell yeah” factor hit me early, especially once I saw how it utilized the foundation built by one of my favorite franchises, yet still managed to create its own experience. Its satisfying gunplay and sense of momentum make it one of the finest sports games available, while its art style makes it stand out from the crowd. Roll7’s winning streak of incredible skating games continues.

Enjoying La Pucelle Tactics requires a compulsive temperament and a perverse sense of humor.

Despite this, much of the game is a joy to play, providing more than its share of simple, disposable fun. Moreover, Cabela's Survival: Shadows of Katmai nails the spirit of its protagonist and the atmosphere of the adventure. Although its scenario is silly and many of its incidents are ridiculous, the game succeeds because it never takes itself very seriously.

And Guybrush is so likeable-in that pestering, caddish sort of way-that I want to know what happens to him. That, really, is what a serial game should accomplish; to leave players hungry for more.

Flipping Death’s slight mechanical complaints don’t detract from the strength of a great voice cast and an understanding that the audience should care about what happens next, not just that they should be laughing.

Bithell’s first experimental foray into doing a game short is a successful one. My time spent riding the rails with this robot detective was pleasant enough, and I have much respect for any game that respects my time. I’m up for another, sir.

As the first entry in a planned trilogy, The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky has technically done its job. The game has built my anticipation for the next installment, in spite of itself. Granting that, I'm not interested in a rerun. A clever battle system can distract for only so long, and the value of semi-persistent society is limited by the appeal of the world in which it exists. I'm sure that it's hard for creators to not fall in love with the product of their labor, but navel-gazing is only entertaining for the owner of said navel.

Overall Crystal Crisis is a well-made game, but it’s not the most welcoming to newcomers and has significant issues with online play. Fans of Super Puzzle Fighter will probably enjoy it, but I’m not sure many other people will.

In the end, Pirates Outlaws is a hidden gem of a game. It’s easy to pick up, has a wide variety of characters and strategies, and also offers enough depth for deckbuilding players players who really like to dig in. Strongly recommended!

Gamers looking for a fresh take on puzzle solving adventures will absolutely find it with the map manipulation in Carto.

While it might be going a bit far to say that this is the biggest action game ever made, some math might make the point more clearly. There are around 150 missions on offer, each coming with a remixed super-hard version. Each of the four soldier classes play so differently that they’re effectively a completely different experience. Consequently, it’s not a huge exaggeration to say that Earth Defense Force 6 has 1200 missions to enjoy – and that’s all before the DLC comes out. This might be the most gameplay ever, and such a huge amount of it is so flat-out great that it can be called one of the best games I’ve ever played.