In a year full of massive, story-driven and crunch-produced experiences, it’s refreshing to spend time with something so straightforward. Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 does something simple but does it right, and when I’m dropping blocks or matching puyos, I just can’t seem to put my Switch down.

For newcomers to the Oddworld series, New ’n’ Tasty is a good place to start and the anti–capitalism and anti–consumerism messages in Oddysee still feel (sadly) as fresh and important as they did back then. However, there’s no real reason to grab the Switch version if one already owns any of the others. It’s still tasty enough, but a little short on the new.

Watch Dogs: Legion is far from perfect. It tries to tell a story about resisting oppression via the power of the people, but the concept of making any character in the world a viable choice means that the experience ends up being too broad and vague. I was able to spice things up by bringing my own roleplay to characters and used items that weren’t necessary, but this was my way of compensating for the ways in which Watch Dogs: Legion falls short of what I want from a triple-A adventure.

Even if the last decade and a half came and went without bringing any substantial change to the original Katamari Damacy formula, that doesn’t hurt this remastered version – the rotating mix of jazzy tunes and catchy J-Pop choruses provide encouragement for the prince’s reckless consumption, and it remains now, as it was then, a purely good time.

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.

Embracelet is a brief experience, but the journey is a satisfying one and this charming idyll is absolutely worth visiting.

Grading yearly releases is tricky. Axis Footbal 2020 has made some great strides compared to last year’s title, and it’s much easier to recommend this year’s installment. The franchise mode is just about perfect and should only require minor tinkering in order to keep fans happy, but the on-field play and presentation definitely need to be addressed if this series is going to ever be considered a contender to the Madden throne.

Scourgebringer will be manna from heaven for players craving a fluid, smooth roguelite with hair-raising action. While I wasn’t crazy about graphics and the relative lack of freedom in building my character, I kept coming back because of how it all came together when I found a good groove. With a more distinct art style and some tweaks to the controls, this could have been a real classic.

Users won’t see a true next-gen NHL title until late 2021 at the earliest, so it’s refreshing to see the developers making a concerted effort to deliver a strong experience for current gen fans — EA did an admirable job here.

The hours spent uncovering a science experiment gone wrong kept me invested, not to mention the sidestories that were also available — if I needed a break from dangerous drug labs I could track down documents from a reporter, assist a search party, break up an argument in a bar and more. Players who enjoyed The Outer Worlds and are itching for a reason to jump back in will find Peril on Gorgon a perfectly good reason to do so — just try to refresh your memory as best you can first.

Eastern Exorcist is brisk and engaging. Despite a few rough points, the combat is solid, the world is beautifully rendered, and the extremely depressing story is was interesting enough to carry me through to the end. After the credits (which are entirely in Chinese, just FYI) there’s footage promising DLC or a sequel that’s is already in production, and I’m absolutely interested to see how this franchise moves forward.

I won’t say that Umurangi Generation is the best game of 2020, but it’s almost certainly the most relevant, and not just for its most apropos parallels (like an abundance of face masks). This game is a sobering plea of the disaffected youth, and real-world events have given us countless reasons to lose faith in the idiots our parents put in charge. It’s only fitting that the teens at the core of this story never actually speak, because they were deprived a voice by the people who built this terrible future for them.

While Cold War is a part of a series I would have said that I loved, I can’t fully embrace it now knowing that this work is trucking in harmful stereotypes via patriotic-tinged gameplay. A decent CoD multiplayer experience will likely emerge from the currently-underwhelming Cold War, but I’m going to seriously consider whether that gameplay is worth enduring (and supporting) the rest.

It’s been a long time since I could say that I genuinely and deeply enjoyed something in the Adventure genre, but Nine Witches: Family Disruption was a great ride from start to finish. This gem has lots of laughs, plenty of clever situations to solve, and a good dose of rotten Nazis to foil. Plus, zombies! If Krakovitz and Akiro get assigned to another mission, I’m up for that tour of duty.

In the end, Art Sqool feels more like an art project itself, rather than a full-blown game. It’s a rather short experience and it might not be for everyone, but there is genuinely nothing else like it. I may never be an artist, but for the hours that I attended Art Sqool, I truly felt like I was creating something special.

Bugsnax leans heavily on the unique nature of its titular creatures, and it succeeds by doing so. They’re cute, they’re creepy, and their existence makes no logical sense whatsoever. Armed with a bit of design this indelible, the developers could have phoned in the rest and raked in the merchandising money. Instead, they fully committed to delivering a narrative worthy of the creatures starring in it. It was a risky choice, but it was also a daring and clever one, and that’s exactly what it wants to be.

For all intents and purposes, Torchlight 3 seems like it’s an action RPG struggling to find its identity. It feels generic, repetitive and boring, and comparing it to earlier, superior Torchlight titles does it no favors. Pretty colors aren’t enough to save this one from oblivion, especially with so much quality competition out there.

While I wish the combat was more responsive, Chronos: Before the Ashes more than makes up for it with an interesting setting, a marvelous age mechanic and puzzle content that lends it distinct flavor while keeping the entire experience firmly within the soulslike genre. I’m a huge fan of From’s work, but there’s a lot of room to grow the genre they created, and Gunfire Games has done exactly that here.

Gamers looking for a fresh take on puzzle solving adventures will absolutely find it with the map manipulation in Carto.

As a basic introduction to tactical RPGs, there are worse games to choose than Tears of Avia… but there are also so many better. However, with the amount of brokenness present in the content, I just can’t recommend it.

After years of letting gamers simply play other people’s songs, Harmonix has now decided to let players create new music using those songs. It truly feels like a fully-realized vision of melding music and games in ways that haven’t been done before and feels like the next step in music games. Harmonix is back in fine form, and that’s a tune we can all dance to.

Despite the PS4-specific issues and a main story that isn’t on par with the best of the series, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla remains a solid adventure that I can’t wait to keep playing on better hardware. The focus on exploration coupled with a wealth of secrets to uncover made this adventure a thoroughly-enjoyable timesink, and I can’t wait to continue my domination of England on PS5.

With a fantastic combat system and quality content in all other aspects, Star Renegades is stylish, accessible, and innovative, making it one of the best turn-based roguelikes around.

Pumpkin Jack packs a lot of charm in this breezy adventure. It has flaws for sure, but players who have nostalgia for the specific kind of platformer that it’s paying homage to might find it to be worth their time.

Overall, Five Dates was a joy to experience. It’s a solid rom-com with strong writing and characters that accurately captures the trials and tribulations of living and dating during the COVID-19 era.

Bright Memory looks fantastic and the action is strong, but there’s just not enough actual game here to recommend it. As interested I am in seeing a full-length version, I can’t say this taste is worth the price when all it has to offer is six rooms and a couple of hallways’ worth of content.

I’ve gone on record several times to say that Mortal Kombat 11 is a fantastic game, and this Ultimate package is a fantastic deal. If there’s anyone out there still curious but hasn’t yet taken the plunge, there’s no better time.

The Falconeer is a beautiful game with an intriguing setting that engaged me throughout my playtime, but the dogfighting disappoints and there’s just not much to it otherwise. It was created by a one-man studio so this is quite an accomplishment, but the fact remains that the final experience falls short of greatness.