Even with the issues present, I adore Despot’s Game. The humor, the atmosphere, and the casual nature of play make the it easy to get into and play around with all of the crazy army combinations that can be put together.

I absolutely loved the Sega 3D Classics Collection. Sega did an outstanding job in picking this lineup (they credit fan requests) and the work is presented with love.

R-Type Final 2 is about as niche as niche gets. It represents a genre that’s hardly en vogue, and it’s a traditional, hardcore example of an experience that ferociously clings to its roots. This is not the shmup I would gift to someone in hopes of luring them into the genre, and it’s an especially difficult sell with the rather astounding $40 price point before DLC. All of this makes R-Type Final 2 a game with a fairly narrow scope, but anyone directly within that Venn diagram will be in for an exceptionally-produced, technically excellent iteration on a legendary franchise.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure does a generally fantastic job of following up on Max’s story despite the plotholes and an ending that left me wanting. However, it still pulls off a (mostly) satisfying narrative while exploring trauma and interpersonal relationships via sci-fi elements. It’s a great continuation for existing fans, but I’ll say again that newcomers should definitely start with the original Life is Strange — still an excellent play!

In its base form, Chariot is cute but frustrating—a great idea with a lot of flaws.

Putting aside the fact that I find it incredibly weird that Dancing in Moonlight and Dancing in Starlight are being sold as two separate, full-priced games (they’re too similar in concept and execution for it to make sense) it’s neat fanservice for those who wish to spend more time with the Tartarus SEES and Phantom Thieves crew. Ultimately, though, I wish that the devs had tried just a little harder to carve out a new and exciting rhythm game, rather than something that fits squarely into established genre norms and coasts by on the charm of its characters.

As much as I enjoyed my time in Century : Age of Ashes, I do have wonder how much staying power it will have. Since all classes are viable in each mode, I suspect many players may stick with one character class, get invested, and not explore the rest of what the game has to offer. As an example, I found myself only switching to other classes if the daily mission or hatching a dragon egg specifically required it. Also, due to the limited amount of content that is currently present, a busy player will see nearly everything within a couple of hours. Despite those concerns, the game looks great, each class is enjoyable to play, and each match is maybe 20 minutes at most — perfect for quick sessions.

It is a mere sheep in wolves clothing that uses only the most socially timid and comfortable clichés like cigarettes-for-trade and prison escape maps to paint a PG-rated teen-friendly novelty amusement park interpretation of prison life.

There are enough new features to ensure that the game is more than just a stagnant rehash, and the sheer depth of options is enough to keep the experience fresh for a long time - certainly long enough to get your money's worth and more.

A textbook example of a game that wasn't ready to be pushed out of the nest. What could have been an exceptional game founders in mediocrity because of an artificial timeline.

It's not that Lego Pirates of the Caribbean is a worse game than the first Lego game I played. It is, however, the same game, which means that the wonder is gone for me. Pirates of the Caribbean is still magical in a way, but I've seen all these tricks before.

Of course no game is meant to last forever, but replay and variety are hallmarks of the roguelike genre and in this way, Splintered Fate comes up a bit short. It’s a good time while it lasts — especially for Turtles fans — but more content, more variety and perhaps a little more narrative would have boosted the experience to the next level.

I found DNF Duel to be enjoyable overall, but this cool, high-energy anime fighter with great characters and an appealing style is hampered by a lack of depth, low online playerbase, and the Switch’s hardware. That said, when it comes to a bit of brawling on the go, players could certainly do a lot worse than this. It’s not going to be the next big thing in fighting games, but it doesn’t have to be in order to still offer a fairly solid experience.

I don't expect World War II to fall in popularity as a game subject any time soon, and Battlestations: Midway is a perfect example of why.

With the exception of a small item collection scheme which allows players to build their own grenades, Cold Winter offers nothing distinctly new to the FPS market. Instead, what it brings is excellent design, good storytelling, and eight to ten hours of entertaining violence to a console that's never had it so good.

Black Bird is stunning. It’s rare to see a project so finely tuned, so perfectly balanced, confidently paced and smartly constructed, let alone from a team whose previous work was an iOS puzzler. This is fantastic stuff. So, like I said earlier… I think I need to go download Million Onion Hotel now.

The Last Stand: Aftermath is as good a zombie roguelike as I’ve ever played. Scrounging for ammo and crafting materials never stops being a desperate struggle, and the balance between virus-fueled perks and ever-dwindling health ensures that every combat encounter is a tense struggle. Exceptionally great design, balance, and gameplay turn this into one of the best action rogues I’ve ever played, and it’s a clear high-point in the survival horror genre.

Ultimately, it may not have delivered as much variety as I was hoping for, but with the right expectations there's still a good amount of job-flavored questing to be had.

Newcomers or devotees to the RPG genre may find some basic value in it, but my feeling is that most players who've been there and done that probably won't want another helping.

Despite my frustrations with some unfair aspects of the gameplay, I found Never Alone to be incredibly compelling.

Like many CRPGs in the past, it’s likely that I will never beat Dread Delusion and I’ll be totally alright with that. Still, I’ve largely enjoyed my time in its world and I look forward to exploring more of it because to me, open world games are (and always have been) more about the journey than the destination — and I suspect the developer behind Dread Delusion would wholeheartedly agree.

It may not be what it could have been, but there's still a lot to like underneath the awkward design blips.

In the end, Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 contains only a small handful of games, none of which are obscure. Three of those entries are genuinely excellent, but beyond a strong challenge mode and the Extra Armor option, the features in this package are lacking. Maybe one day there will be a truly complete collection, with all the bells and whistles and even Mega Man Soccer. That day is not today.

Lushfoil Photography Sim has a lot of rough edges that need work, and it’s rather unfortunate, as many of the areas offer stunning views and photo titles in general are rare. There’s definitely a vision here, and I can’t deny that this photo safari has charm. However, for a title that only aims to do one thing right, that thing needs to be perfect — and it’s far from it.

Like some of the narrative choices, it’s hard to know how to feel about Cloudpunk — and maybe that’s the point. It’s well-written and lovingly constructed, but it’s sometimes hard to appreciate as much as I’d like to thanks to the pacing issues. However, despite the problems, it’s definitely a journey worth taking — just go into it knowing that a little patience in some spots is required.

After Burner may be spiritually true to Sega's seminal 1987 hit, but game design has progressed by leaps and bounds since then. Cleaving so closely to its dusty, outdated forefather hurt more than it helped, I'd say.

Disney Illusion Island is a well-crafted platformer that hides an equally-excellent Metroidvania underneath. Fans of the genre who might not be immediately taken in by the license shouldn’t let that dissuade them from giving this game a shot — this is a great one.

Just Cause 3 may offer a metric ton of content, a ridiculously huge world to roam, and some unbelievable aerial acrobatics, but none of those things are enough to save the day because the writing is phoned in and the game's core is too rooted in the last generation. Apart from the traversal, everything here has been covered time and time and time again, and it absolutely wheezes without anything more interesting to sustain a player over the long haul.