But despite its graphical flair and fancy high-tech features, the hollowness and simplicity of the core gameplay ultimately left the experience feeling unbalanced and unrewarding.

Wildbus is an interesting little timesink which entices the player to visit its strange world and rewards them with plenty of oddball dialogue and weird NPCs, but it doesn’t have much to offer beyond its status as an oddity. I wouldn’t recommend it to the average person looking for something to play, but connoisseurs of the strange will want to look into it.

I still hesitantly recommend Hollow Knight to anyone as partial to Metroidvanias as I am, but the experience runs far longer than its visual appeal does, and at that point it becomes just another Dark Souls wannabe. It’s solid, but it demonstrates how far we still are from puzzling out From Software’s master recipe.

A decent installment in a long-running series, but this reboot is perhaps a bit too authentic in that it lives up to its predecessors, but fails to exceed them. Since it's been over a decade since the series's fourth entry, the sights might have been aimed a bit higher.

Taking it for what it is today, Full Throttle doesn’t quite stack up to other remastered LucasArts offerings like The Secret of Monkey Island or Grim Fandango. That said, it remains a worthwhile re-release for fans, and I’m happy it’s back to be experienced by a whole new generation. However, that new generation may want to temper their expectations slightly.

Moonscars has so much potential, but its ruthless battle format and flat character dialogue left much to be desired. There’s no denying that it’s beautiful and the customization of weapons and attacks makes the character-building process exciting, but I was still left wanting more bang for my buck, and less doom for my gloom.

While some of the reaches Fabledom takes end up a little empty, there’s no denying that it remains a friendly, streamlined, indie take on city-building that not only offers quite a bit of charm, but would also be a great place for a genre newcomer to get their feet wet.

The Evil Within 2 offers a few solid scares, some glimpses into a more promising game, and a lot of unexciting bloat. In such a crowded release season, it’s gonna take more than that to earn a recommendation from me. But hey, at least they got rid of the letterboxing. That’s a step in the right direction.

Madden NFL 23 certainly isn’t lacking content and is arguably more realistic than ever. Yet, after nearly a decade of treading the same still waters, it’s never been more evident that a new approach is needed. As much as I appreciate the gameplay improvements and still enjoy the annual Madden experience, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to recommend investing money into it year after year.

At the end of the day, Ashes of Oahu is rough around the edges and could use a bit of work, but it remains a beautiful world to explore and the hawaiian folklore elements offer something new in the well-stocked post-apocalyptic genre. Those things alone may not be enough to keep some players in, but those who may want a bit of sun and sand with their questing and skill trees might want to check it out.

Players in the target audience for these titles (like me!) who’ve been waiting for this storied series to come to console will find the package worth exploring even if there’s only one real reason to buy in.

I had good times with it, and I’m convinced that with better controllers and a tweaked upgrade system, my son and I would eventually be able to find greater success. Crytpicle is close to being a must-play, and even as it stands, it’s worth a look.

Stale references aside, 60 Seconds! is incredibly entertaining in short bursts, and an easy recommendation to those looking for short, cheerful bursts of desperate apocalyptic survival.

Considering the great number of things Metal Arms: Glitch in the System gets right, it's a shame that the game is ultimately sullied by its gassy length (it doesn't seem to know when to end) and often sadistic difficulty (did anyone play-test it?).

With puzzles that hit more often than they miss and an art style that had me eagerly anticipating how they’d render each new setting and creature, Pool Panic is a brilliantly strange experience that’s worth playing just to be able to say that one waded into its madness and came back whole. If only it offered a slightly clearer structure and a little bit of guidance, it would be more than just a fascinating experiment in seeing how far the concept of playing pool can be mangled while still retaining its basic appeal.

Its incredibly addictive drawing and animation succeed by providing a unique opportunity for your imagination to run wild, yet I can't help but be disappointed that the rest of the game doesn't meet the same impressive standard.

It may not be entirely to my taste due to the fairly demanding time requirements—upwards of an hour per complete run—and a lack of selectable waves from the menu screen, but as a free addition to what's already an absolutely kickass core game? It can only be seen as a good thing.

Those looking for an intriguing sci-fi tech thriller could do worse than The Signifier – it’s competent and intriguing until the second half. That said, with a more fleshed–out plot, more interesting puzzles and a stronger finish, Playmestudio could have had something special on their hands.

While DmC: Devil May Cry—Vergil's Downfall is exactly the kind of story-based DLC that I enjoy the most and getting a new slice of a fantastic game like DmC: Devil May Cry is always welcome, this add-on could have gone from "okay" to "outstanding" with just a little more work.

It’s a huge problem when the narrative of a narrative adventure fails to come together in a satisfying way, yet I struggle to write State of Mind off completely when its style is so striking, its world so rich, its ideas so fascinating. The game reportedly had a long development cycle, so it’s possible that Ganteföhr simply ran out of the time or resources necessary to properly finish telling this story, but even if the questions here are infinitely more interesting than the answers, I’m glad that someone is asking them.

Luftrausers is a great pick-up-and-play game in the short term, with most sessions providing a few minutes of entertainment before culminating in a bloody ship-shattering climax.

For anyone but die-hard fans of the franchise or genre, these two games just aren't worth the price of one.

Bully is the same product I’ve already consumed four-plus times before, and an interesting thematic twist isn’t enough reason to sing its praises.

Overall, I’ll fondly remember my time with Bendy and the Ink Machine. It’s a dark world with fantastic aesthetics and a compelling, if tritely-told narrative. While the horror tropes of revenge, abandoned places, and jump scares may be a bit cliché and the tension loses some punch at key moments, the exploration of a long-dark studio and the menace of creatures of black ink will stay with me.

Katanaut looks good and has potential, and honestly, it’s getting better by the day. The developer has been dropping frequent updates that offer additions and enhancements that weren’t there when I first started playing, and the push and pull of going between melee and ranged during the action feels on point. However, there’s a lot of competition in the roguelike genre right now, and in order to succeed, Katanaut‘s going to need better handling of its story and adjustments to the grindy nature of the meta-progression. As it stands today, it didn’t land with me and I haven’t stuck with it, but that could change in the future with a few more patches and upgrades.

Narita Boy’s retro style is its main selling point. It’s almost like a documentary on the early days of videogames when their creation were labors of love and dedication from passionate geeks in a garage, not industrial products focus-tested by mega corporations. Although it falls short of being a masterpiece, it’s got more than enough appeal to come recommended to those who have a soft spot for the period.

Alan Wake puts up a front of being cerebral and deep, but it simply doesn't do the legwork to back it up. I had significant difficulty becoming invested in the events and found it very hard to care about anything that happened from start to finish.

The real problem will be the expectations that millions of Gran Turismo fans bring. The vast majority who are going to buy this game aren’t the kind who’ll be reading this cautionary review, nor any other gaming publication for that matter. I imagine there’ll be a great deal of people strolling through a Wal-Mart, they’ll see a new Gran Turismo on the shelf, take it home, and then be completely dumbfounded by this barebones, obtuse, restrictive package. Those people are going to be profoundly disappointed by Sport, and I’m guessing so will most of the others who buy it thanks to the level of commitment necessary to get the most out of it. The people who go all-in will adore it, but the rest will be left in the dust.