Although I absolutely love the aesthetics and concept of Headlander, the non-combat gameplay is only fair, and it’s brought down further with too much combat detracting from the things it does well. I was interested enough to stick around and see how things turned out at the end, but there were definitely a few times when I walked away and took a break out of annoyance. Like so many other examples before it, Headlander is another could-have-been that just doesn’t play to its strengths.

ModNation Racers has a core of creative multiplayer fun, but it's sadly mummified beneath an irritating career mode and layer upon layer of load times.

Foregone is a solid entry in the metroidvania genre, and the limited options in combat are slick enough. It does what it needs to do — the problem is that there are many better examples of this structure that would have to be recommended first.

I've played this game for tens of hours, thought about it another few, and now written a review, and I still don't know exactly what the developers intended.

Chronicle of Innsmouth: Mountains of Madness does a decent job of honoring its inspirations. The characters are trapped in a bizarre world full of inexplicable horrors and have no choice but to keep slogging through the nightmare, because the only other option is to lock themselves away in an asylum and wait for the apocalypse. Whatever problems I may have had with the puzzles — and I certainly didn’t enjoy going to the internet for help twice — the game gets the feel of Lovecraft right, and that’s worth overlooking a few awkward design choices.

So, is The Long Journey Home worth it? Overall I’d say yes, the moments of discovery and dealing with alien races makes the experience worth engaging in. My only hope is that the developers introduce a difficulty setting that allows players to dial back the drudgery of resource collection. The good outweighs the bad here, but there’s a much better experience waiting to be discovered underneath the busywork and failure.

Despite Techland's efforts, the Western genre is still wide-open for someone to ride in and claim it.

Although I personally wasn't too impressed with this offering, I will say that my son (age 7) absolutely fell in love with it.

From a gameplay standpoint, Samurai Warriors 5 is an easy recommendation. However, the political content isn’t as easy to sign off on. While there’s always going to be some celebration of military action in a title like this, the way the script goes out of its way to portray the bloodthirsty as heroes in defiance of true historical facts feels like a step too far. Samurai Warriors 5 isn’t a depiction of Japan’s violent past, it’s a celebration of it.

It might sound strange to say after outlining my dissatisfaction with it, but Toukiden is still the strongest of the Monster Hunter clones available stateside, and would make a solid entry point for players interested in trying the genre. On the other hand, it's an obvious clone which can't match Capcom's quality.

Ultimately, Stonefly ends up being a mixed bag. On one hand, exploring the forest by piloting tiny mechs is a wonderful idea, but the repetitious nature of resource gathering is compounded by the clunky combat, and I’d imagine that most players will be driven away before the experience is over.

Hero-U is an imperfect experience that it is difficult to recommend, even to fans of these devs’ previous work. It might be an interesting proposal to those looking for something far outside RPG norms, but there are too many other choices out there to give this one a general recommendation — if nothing else, I’d suggest tracking down the original Quest for Glory titles instead!

To say that the camera in this game is atrocious is like saying being kicked in the teeth kinda hurts-it gives the person an idea about how bad it is, but it doesn't even begin to describe the agony in detail.

Despite everything, I think Hiragana Forbidden Speech makes a valiant effort to blend teaching basic Japanese script and words with an interesting game structure and story, resulting in a genuinely helpful tool for anyone curious about learning Hiragana.

There's nothing revolutionary to be found here—no innovative play mechanics, no stunning graphics. This is a rock-solid Nazi-blasting FPS, and nothing more.

This slowdown often results in accidental death and having to start over, but not before sitting through the game’s load screen, which consists of the now-seared-into-my-brain image of the words “now loading” slowly revolving around an open book.

As much as I enjoyed it in the beginning, it soon began to feel like a chore and I’m sad to say that Undead Horde 2 is one of 10tons Ltd.’s few stumbles — it’s still addictive and sports their trademarked solid controls, but it’s sorely missing the infectious charm of their previous installment.

However, in the end, I felt that much of what made Risen 2 such a charming adventure was missing from Risen 3—it has fewer flaws overall, but the ambition has diminished as well. As a result, it's simply less interesting, and the return trip isn't as enjoyable as the previous journey.

Overall, Construction Simulator 3: Console Edition is clearly meant for those who enjoy sims of this caliber. Myself? As a first-timer to this genre, I found it to be enjoyable, if a bit lacking. The moments where I was essentially role-playing as a construction worker were exhilarating, and the moment-to-moment gameplay kept me hooked. Unfortunately, the visuals hold it back and a little more polish on little things would go a long way. For now, though, I’m not quitting my day job to join a construction crew…

Sporting only a few minor upgrades, the Legend of Mana is largely the same game it was over twenty years ago – lots to do, but doesn’t really excel at any one aspect. The story and graphics are still delightful, but gameplay feels unpolished compared to today’s standards. That said, it’s still always great to see older games receive re-releases making them more available to larger audiences.

It's fun and violent and asks nothing at all from its player than to spend a few minutes blowing things to pieces whenever they feel like it, rewarding them with epic levels of blood and gore when they do.

I may have gotten the bad ending, been sick of the puzzle format and hated the platforming, but the forgotlings were cute, the world was a pleasure to look at and the few cutscenes were noteworthy. Ultimately, Forgotton Anne is held back by tired, repetitive game systems, and will itself soon be forgotten.

Without technical accomplishment or a compelling narrative, Natural Threat never rises above the crowd to distinguish itself in any meaningful way. There are better ways to spend time hunting pixels.

Considering its premise, it would be betraying the concept to make a ‘good’ game. It’s certainly interesting, but does that lead to an enjoyable experience? Well, it’s worth playing for those who enjoyed Hypnospace Outlaw and are interested in another snapshot from that period, and it’s brief enough so that it doesn’t outstay its welcome. However, people who aren’t Hypnospace fans or those who aren’t interested in the meta-concept would probably do well to look elsewhere if they’re craving a standard FPS fix.

Mind: Path to Thalamus is beautiful and has several elegant puzzles, but it doesn't tell any story with those attributes, nor does it tell a good story with anything else.

Ultimately Ninja Gaiden II retains everything from the original, for better or for worse, and makes a few small but very noticeable improvements.

I found myself going through all of the levels back to back while enjoying the mindless carnage it had to offer. If the devs were to pivot, scrapping the overcomplicated plot and instead focusing on polishing all aspects of the gameplay, the entire experience would be better for it. In its current state, with just a short selection of levels that take a couple of hours to complete while not being fully optimized? EvilVEvil‘s fangs aren’t as sharp as they should be.

Ultimately, though, the drudgery of actually playing this game outweighs whatever interest its narrative has to offer. I have to admire the ambition of the concept here, but Stories: The Path of Destinies falls short of having systems equal to that aspiration. Like its swashbuckling hero, this game’s reach exceeds its grasp.