Honestly, I love Black Book. This marvelous piece of work consistently avoids the expected beats, and I have no doubt that many aspects of the story and how it’s told will be quite surprising – hell, simply being exposed to the attitudes and views of the characters is eye-opening all on its own. Morteshka has brought us a title that offers a glimpse into a time and place that we rarely see, and has couched it the incredible journey of a humble Russian girl.

Super Robot Wars 30 is a love letter from mecha fans to mecha fans. It’s flashy, loud, and colorful. It oozes charm, and it’s a delight to play once one gets past the information overload — and in the end, I loved it wholeheartedly.

I have no idea what brought this updated version of a 14-year-old game into being, but I’m quite glad that it’s received this second chance with a new audience. By anyone’s standard, this is a superior work that belongs in every puzzle fan’s library.

Tacoma is a great experience that’s not only wonderfully designed and produced, it’s one that that richly illustrates a side of videogames that’s worthy of further exploration. I would happily recommend it to nearly anyone – the themes and emotions here will resonate.

Average doesn't have to equate with mediocre or bad, though. Sphinx may not bring anything new to the table or anything gamers hadn't already seen in the Zelda series, but it is a fun game.

Assault Android Cactus is good, but it used to be great.

It's not perfect, but the flaws are so minor that I can't help but grade this the same as I did Meruru—a JRPG experience that anyone with even the most passing interest in the genre owes it to themselves to play.

While there have been a lot of games like it recently, Observation’s interesting player perspective, stellar production values, and exceptional level of detail might just make it the best of them.

Anger Foot is at its best in motion. Falling into a hallway hypnosis of garish ’90s aesthetics and murderous footwork, I don’t have to think — I just react. It’s when I’m forced to slow down and hear a joke or fight a boss that requires pauses in the pace that I begin to notice the seams. While these moments aren’t dealbreakers, they’re unfortunate stumbles in an otherwise sure-footed experience.

It may not be different enough to justify a replay for those who’ve already experienced the original version, but for those wanting something crisp and clean on new consoles, or for those intrigued by Bloober Team’s work but put off by tense horror, >Observer_ is a great choice.

The few design decisions that take de Blob 2 towards skillful play don't produce a robust experience of this kind, and undermine the game's better qualities.

For players more interested in narrative than challenge, look no further. With powerful storytelling, strong performances from the central cast and disturbingly relevant themes, The New Colossus is a high water mark for AAA stories. As it fires on all cylinders to deliver bombast and blood with its right hand, be warned — the most devastating hits come from its subtle left hook.

Yes, The Dragon’s Trap is one of the best-looking 2D sprite-based platformers ever, but beneath that gorgeous exterior is a fundamentally well-built adventure platformer. All the player needs to do to prove the truth of that statement is tap one button and discover just how good gamers had it twenty-eight years ago.

As an iOS title that offers literally dozens and dozens of hours of engrossing entertainment, it is hard not to recommend Defender Chronicles II: Heroes of Athelia to avid fans of the tower defense genre.

"Then what's wrong with using TV to brainwash the masses?" It's a chill-inducing sentiment, but after playing both Space Channel 5 games, I could see it coming from Ulala just as easily as from the cackling Mr. Blank.

Saving and reloading the game will give your party full health and magic, and since you can save anywhere, this bug removes almost all of the challenge from the game.

Frustration and SMB have never gone hand-in-hand before, but these issues have lessened my overall enjoyment of Super Mega Baseball 4, especially when compared to the superlative third entry in the franchise. There are a lot of high points here, but I’m hoping the team tightens things up in the next iteration.

Shattered Memories is an uneven mess, most favorably described as a kernel of greatness wrapped in a husk of wrong-headed design and iffy implementation.

Metronomicon has a lot going for it — the songs are catchy, the combat is intuitive, and the storyline, while thin, is delightfully weird. I only wish the developers had found a way to let me enjoy the graphics. As it stands, it’s a game that plays well and is interesting to watch, but doesn’t manage to be both of those things at the same time.

While F1 24 caters to those who are already fans of Formula 1, the quality of Codemasters’ work managed to convert me. Sim racing fans looking for a deep timesink will no doubt enjoy the bevy of options present in both single- and multiplayer, and the quality matches the quantity. I’m excited to sink more time in my fictional F1 team, and I’m glad that I chose to spend time with this winner in the world of virtual motorsport. All that research I did paid off!

The core of what's here is great and the concept is pure gold, but without a greater variety in gameplay, it doesn't begin to tap its full potential. My fingers are crossed for some substantial updates or an improved sequel.

Capes has loads of personality and offers a genuinely fresh experience thanks to new ideas in structure and an emphasis on characters and story. I absolutely loved the reworked and superior post-patch experience from start to finish, and have no problems recommending it to tactics fans craving something besides the usual medieval or military fare. My hat is off to the team for putting in what must have been a huge amount of work and ultimately saving the day — the effort was well worth it.

Despite my problems with the above-water sequences, I still found Subnautica: Below Zero to be a delight. It expands on the first game’s worldbuilding, offers surprises and thrills in equal measure, and most importantly, it takes a huge amount of frustration (if not all of it) out of survival. The end of the story promises a third chapter which could open up the world in even more intriguing ways, and if the developers can keep improving their formula, I’m very excited to see what’s next.

Angry Birds VR launches with the promise of more content to come, so my complaint about it feeling like a brief, tantalizing experiment may be short-lived. It gives me hope for the future of VR to see such a massive brand dip its feet into this format, and it’s a joy to finally appreciate Angry Birds as a damn game once again. This is a great pairing, and I’m eager to see more of it.

No Sleep has its faults, but I can’t say that I was disappointed revisiting the series, even if trying something new didn’t end up working in its favor. Thankfully, the runtime is half the length of the other two, so it’s not as much of a commitment and the missteps are slightly more excusable as there’s less of them than there would be otherwise. Ultimately though, I would only recommend playing No Sleep if series fans have already been through the other two and are desperate for a fix.

Those small bumps aside, Mechstermination Force is absolutely wonderful. It presents a top-notch boss rush experience with fights that are exciting and memorable, the difficulty feels perfect, it doesn’t punish the player or feel mean-spirited, and it wraps up before it runs out of juice. Well done, Horberg Productions – this is absolutely superb stuff.

Even without the open-ended level design, it was every bit as absorbing as the first game was at its very best and then some. And because of its mission-based structure that allows for quick access to all unlocked levels, it became a very hard game to put down.

While the gameplay of Mega Man Battle Network is excellent, what fascinated me most was the world in which the game took place.