Though Trufflepigs is not the game I was expecting, it’s still a generally pleasant and engaging experience. I loved getting to know Beth and Adam, but the plot is incredibly uneven and feels unfinished. Had I gone into the game thinking it was centered only around Beth and Adam, I would have enjoyed it far more. Sadly, the missed opportunities of the heavily-advertised ‘murderer’ plotline left a sour taste in my mouth.

Gamers looking for an art-house experience would do well to spend a couple of hours soaking in what Suda 51 has served up. Those more concerned with gameplay they can chew on might want to think twice.

Without replayability, unlockables or any other motivation to continue playing, Point Blank DS shows how advances in game design since the mid-90s could have saved even superficial titles.

Hardcore fans of the original show, if they exist, may find something to like in Punch Line’s exploration of alternate possibilities. Other folks just looking for a decent adventure game with a nice look had best project their spirits to more promising prospects.

Ultimately, I see a lot of unrealized potential here. Blending cozy gameplay with dark subject matter, Mirthwood offers an experience that is pleasantly familiar, yet distinct enough to stand out from other games of its ilk. That said, it’s not an experience that appeals to me in its current state. Once some changes are made to the combat mechanics and NPC dialogue, perhaps I’ll want to return to the Free Lands and finally see my crops bear fruit.

From its simple premise Crash! delivers plenty of fun to reproduce a simple childhood joy.

It's sad when a gaming icon known for eschewing cliches gets mired in so many of them that he becomes part of the me-tooism he originally tried to combat.

Heroes of Mana feels like Dawn of Mana, take two. It's gorgeous and somewhat interesting, but undermined by basic flaws in its ability to let players see what's going on. Here's hoping there's no take three in the works.

At the end of the day Vertigo seems to be a decent core idea for a game wrapped in a lackluster package. There have been other successful games in this genre but for me, Vertigo doesn't live up to that legacy.

No matter how many games I played, I regularly gave up shallow bloop and in-the-gap inside-the-park homers because I couldn't gel with the computer's logic of who should be fielding the ball.

While there are a number of small issues holding it back, they aren’t enough to detract from the overall gameplay and fantastic boss fights. it might not live up to the lofty standards set by its 16-bit influences, but Fox n Forests remains an enjoyable platformer with some neat ideas.

While the length of levels and their lack of checkpoints is discouraging, a pleasant surprise that kept me playing Lightbringer was the ability to access any of the levels in the game. Later stages are unlocked by simply playing the previous level — they don’t need to be cleared, and there’s no need to find all the fragments of light. Simply try a stage and the next one unlocks. What an excellent concept! While this feature alone earns Lightbringer a few brownie points, it still has some issues. That said, players looking for a casual 3D platformer experience can find it here.

While difficult to describe it as a success, Shadows of Doubt is a title I won’t soon forget, and if the itch in the back of my brain is any indication, it won’t be long before I’m back on the streets, chasing down leads and catching killers.

With multiple endings, several unlockables, and a nice difficulty curve it's an enjoyable play. What frustrates me about Neo Contra is that it could have been another "Gunstar Heroes" had it taken the quality of its humor more seriously.

If the harmonization sequences appeared on their own, Laserlife might seem too thin, but I'd be willing to replay it. As it is, Laserlife is a game I'll be fine with forgetting.

There is potential for a great creative tool in Elegy For A Dead World. Anything that can give more people inspiration to write should be supported. However, without a way for players to interact and respond to others, they have no concrete method of learning where their strengths lie and what they need to improve.

Sacrificing tone on the altar of entertainment has made Not Tonight 2 somewhat less of a “bold, politically charged dark comedy” that publisher No More Robots bills it as, but despite that it remains a beautifully-realized, genuinely enjoyable adventure.

Burst Re:Newal plays better than any SK game before it and has the most satisfying story yet. If it weren’t for the lackluster fields of battle, I’d have no trouble calling this the best game of the franchise. Regardless, it’s a perfect starting place for those new to the battles of these soulful, buxom shinobi, a fantastic plot resource for fans who didn’t play the DS game, and one of the most player-friendly brawlers around.

In the end, Aquanox: Deep Descent does everything it has to, but it doesn’t stand out from the crowd. The combat is thrilling, but the story and quests fail to intrigue, the environments don’t have much variety, and there just generally isn’t much to it — it’s a solid 3D shooter set underwater, and not much else.

Everything from the graphics to the storyline feels half-baked.

Overall, The Force Unleashed is a fairly ordinary game that is bolstered by its IP. If not for the Star Wars connection, it would have been forgotten long ago. Going wild with force powers does have its charm, but that’s not enough to elevate it into must-play status, by any means.

It’s a pity – thanks to fast action, tremendous atmosphere, and some genuinely clever weapons, Phantom Fury could be special, but it winds up as frustrating as it is enjoyable. At this point it’s a tough one to recommend, but I’m hoping that it can be salvaged with some patching and rebalancing in the coming months.

It's not a terrible effort, but there are dozens of missed opportunities over the course of the game that could enhance the entire experience, and the fact that practically none of them were taken left me scratching my head.

I hoped The Red Lantern would grow on me with subsequent playthroughs, but, unfortunately the opposite was true due to the technical problems, design issues and repetitive dialogue. Those looking for a trip through Alaska or wanting to revisit bittersweet memories of traveling to Oregon, might want to check it out, but anyone on the hunt for a narrative-driven roguelite should skip it.

While I admire any indie developer with the ambition to take the Souls formula on, Immortal Planet is a surface-level imitation of an iconic series lacking the polish, variety and painstaking detail of its inspiration. This game takes a lot more than it gives.

While I doubt that Quantum of Solace is going to become a beloved classic the way GoldenEye did, it's a skilled first person shooter that easily takes the title of the best James Bond-themed FPS in a decade.

Choplifter HD certainly does its predecessor justice, faithfully recreating the original's highs and lows, and offering beautiful graphics to make up for the lack of original thinking. While there may not be much depth or replayability to Choplifter HD, it's certainly an entertaining diversion which serves as a testament to the solid gameplay mechanics of a title from thirty years ago. Maybe Choplifter was never a top-tier game, but it's certainly one that warranted a second look, and inXile gave it the update it deserved.

For a piece of DLC that offers so little, $7.00 seems steep. Save some hard-earned money and watch the videos of it on YouTube instead… the most relevant bits can be seen in a minute or two, and those Microsoft points can instead be spent on something more substantial.