There's nothing deeply wrong with The Last Tinker: City of Colors. It's playable, and in places quite enjoyable, but it's so pedestrian in its approach that it's a disappointment.

On balance, République lives up to the promise of its long-ago Kickstarter pitch, and delivers an engaging, well-built adventure from its humble beginnings as a crowdfunded indie effort on a shoestring budget.

Tanuki Justice ended up being more frustrating than enjoyable. It’s not quite the bullet-hell platformer I was expecting, but its difficulty curve will likely have many giving up before reaching the end.

This is very nearly the exact same single-player excursion from last-gen consoles. There is no local or online co-op. There's no traditional multiplayer. There are no update-exclusive features. It's simply a mildly prettier, equally flawed action title with a few pieces of DLC adding more of the same to an already samey package.

With its perfectly-realized art style and a wide variety of puzzles that never break its themes, The Bridge takes its inspiration and runs an impressive distance with it. The developer has produced a charming, inventive, and only occasionally aggravating puzzle experience that I hope Escher would feel honored by.

Overall, Greedfall‘s setting, narrative and themes offer a refreshing change from the standard RPG soap operas and it has more than enough meat on its bones to satisfy an RPG fan’s itch, and I believe it shines when viewed like an immensely satisfying sidequest — it was interesting enough to keep me glued, but ultimately it lacks the breadth and depth of something bigger.

Although the ability to maintain multiple, asynchronous matches can be appealing for the puzzle-fiend in a rush, Sushi Mushi is ultimately a serviceable but generic match-three that lacks a distinct personality.

In the end, Code Vein may not be all that we might have hoped for, but I enjoyed my playthrough and didn’t want to stop before credits rolled. In fact, I was so invested that I actually restarted my game twenty five hours in after realizing that I could influence the storyline through my actions, and had no regrets in doing so. Despite the fact that it doesn’t reach the top of the Soulslike genre, it’s a worthwhile entry that lays very fertile ground for a sequel that goes further.

May get flack from the hardcore D&D crowd for simply being a "Diablo" clone set in the D&D universe, but it's still hard to deny the simple joy in teaming up with three friends to kick the crap out a Beholder.

For a supposed chill-out game, Shape of the World just doesn’t hit the right balance. Its dynamics and artwork aren’t interesting enough to justify standing still, and moving forward feels too much like work. Rather than being relaxing, it’s more of a bore.

Since innovations in this series seem to come in microscopic increments, it's safe to assume each subsequent game will not only feature the elements that made the main game fun, but also the flaws that marred the experience as well.

Dead Rising 4 is a blissfully stupid good time, and as Dan stated in his review, it’s an incredibly focused experience with clear ideas about what it wants to accomplish. While this iteration removes one of the big things that made Dead Rising what it was (to me, anyway) the team at Capcom Vancouver make up for it by delivering satisfying zombie slaughter couched in a dopey, humorous world that fits the series’ core ideals. For newcomers or those who waited for it to hit PS4, Frank’s Big Package represents a fantastic opportunity to jump in and experience everything Dead Rising 4 has to offer, making the extra year of waiting well worthwhile.

Zanki Zero: Last Beginning is a bit of a disaster. It looks nice on its surface, but the initially-promising setup soon devolves into complete drudgery thanks to inferior dungeon crawling, poor combat and a cast I had no empathy for whatsoever. My interest in the overall mystery got snuffed out long before it was solved.

Having multiple buttons for in-game confirmations is a frustrating design decision that had me silently swearing. It’s unfortunate to have these control issues, because I appreciate what Construction Simulator 2: Console Edition has achieved. The developers have delivered a decent port of a game type not often seen on consoles, but if PC gaming is an option, I recommend playing that version instead.

Overall, Frontiers of Pandora might be the greatest virtual tour I’ve ever been on. A large-scale, densely populated world offered wonder with every step and I loved being immersed in a fictional I’ve been in love with for almost 15 years. While the gameplay is only fair and the story leaves much be desired, I can’t deny that this cured the “Pandora withdrawals” I’ve had since seeing The Way of Water in theaters.

The great level design, intense combat setpieces, and the incredibly depressing design aesthetic are all top-notch. It's a prime example of great execution elevating a tired premise.

In closing, as said before, it's nice for a game to be simple and get right to it, but only the very few combo-obsessed high-score junkies will follow The Splatters all the way to the end.

Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom doesn't fail because any particular aspect of it is poorly made, it fails because its components don't fit together.

By forgetting some of the market expectations and putting a bit of themselves into their work, the game's creators (some of them at least) have made confident and convincing strides towards evolving the genre, and struck a balance between Eastern and Western gaming tastes that only Nintendo is normally capable of nailing so well. [Andrew "Fletch" Fletcher]

DAEMON X MACHINA might have an overwrought, needlessly complicated plot, but doesn’t that usually go hand-in-hand with giant robot narratives? Whether or not players are interested in the story, there’s a huge amount of great gameplay on offer with dozens of story and side missions and replayable multiplayer content. From any perspective, DXM offers great value and gameplay, making it one of the top mech games available.

Regardless of the things that I found unsatisfactory, I'm quite glad that Atlus took a big risk in bringing Shiren the Wanderer to our shores.

All in all, Brigandine: Legend of Runersia is definitely not a title for those looking to chill – it’s taxing and requires a player’s full attention at all times. On the other hand, those longing for a challenging, tactically-rich experience that will unapologetically punish mistakes will certainly find their niche filled here.

With its edges and corners firmly creased, Paper Galaxy deserves to sit among the most recognized titles in the mobile gaming space.

My gut feeling is that a player could easily skip the past events and get just as much value out of Amid The Ruins— maybe more.

As a musou brawler, Estival Versus is simply average. The gameplay is tight, but has no special innovations or notable facets, beyond copious amounts of nudity. Seriously, the game even allows players to end matches with what can only be termed ‘Nudalities’. No, it’s the story that elevates the game to an entirely higher level. It’s funny and thoughtful and heartwrenching, and the gameplay was as good as its story, this would be one of the all-time greats, but even though it can’t quite match that lofty quality, it still stands as an impressive experience from beginning to end.

Videogames this ain't. Art it might be. But what is it? Electroplankton is. And that's all it sets out to be.

Sure, it’s a shame Bluepoint Games weren’t drafted to take care of this collection of and give it some real love, but what the hell. I still had a great time revisiting them, and my only real criticism is that Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 was a poor pick in a world where Ninja Gaiden 2 exists. It’s a shame that more of an effort wasn’t made to jazz these up, but it’s still great that the classics are finally on PC.

To be clear, Conarium isn’t quite a walking simulator, but it does put the player into a strange location and let them fully experience it. While it’s only about three hours, it succeeds so thoroughly at what it sets out to do that I don’t want to fault the developers for pricing it a little high for the amount of content it offers. This is one of the most faithful expressions of the Lovecraft aesthetic and worldview offered in a game, and anyone who values that should make it their business to track it down.