While Banner of the Maid nails the core mechanics and captures the essence of the genre, it’s hard to ignore the lackluster story and lack of modern features that are found in much of the competition. Its tactical RPG side shines and remains a solid choice for fans of the genre who appreciate the classic formula, but a little more polish wouldn’t hurt.

Serious Sam 4 is, without question, the series’ high point. It provides all of the wanton violence the brand promises, adds a story worth investing in, and still has the time to try out bizarre experiments like the open-world areas, kaiju battles and an extremely retro game-within-a-game. Serious Sam has never been better than this, and the sequel hinted in the game’s ending had better arrive faster than the nine-year-gap since the last one.

Going Under is one of the most important games I’ve played in 2020 and one I’ll keep playing for months on end, thanks to the meaningful writing and enjoyable dungeon crawling. For those looking for an accessible starting point in roguelikes, or those who just need some delightful takedowns of late-stage capitalism, this is it.

In the end, When the Past was Around is just… okay? It’s a short experience that never goes for big moments, instead remaining quiet and subtle throughout. Sadly, the short length and simple play don’t lend itself to more than one playthrough and, after the credits rolled I found myself shrugging instead of brooding.

In short, NBA 2K21 is a solid entry for the franchise, and is arguably the smoothest on-court performer of this console generation. However, its value will largely depend on how tolerant users are of a corny, repetitive story mode and mostly the same options as in previous editions. According to most of the web, 2K Games is building the next-gen versions of NBA 2K21 from the ground up to match the improved technology. Here’s to hoping they upgrade more than the graphics, while keeping the on-court play intact.

It is massively disappointing that a title with literary aspirations falls so flat when it comes to delivering an engaging experience in all regards. I appreciate that the developers must be huge fans of Kafka, but they’ve seemed to miss that the art in literature is found not only in the quality of each individual page, but also in how they create the accompanying theme.

Darkestville Castle’s campaign takes only a few hours to finish, but it’s worth experiencing for the laughs. The Flash-esque animation actually looks wonderful in motion, and the characters sport unique styles that inject personality into the campaign. Sure, it might be a pain to try and use that cursor, but the writing is delightful enough to make it worth the headache. For those wanting to learn a little about how things might look from a villain’s perspective, Darkestville Castle might be just the thing.

Street Power Football is a good start at recreating an arcadey style of sports that hasn’t been common for a while, but this package needs further polish and a little more depth.

The difficulty of Double Kick Heroes can be offputting and the story, while amusing, was no great shakes. That said, there was just something about it that made me want to rock on. Whether it’s worth a purchase is a matter of taste, but anyone with Game Pass should give it a try.

I still recommend Inmost for having a clear and heartfelt thesis, for trusting players to go along for the ride, and for providing plenty of eye- and ear-candy to keep them enthralled along the way. As disorienting and alien as Hidden Layer’s world feels, I imagine most players will be surprised by how strongly they relate to its characters by the time the credits roll.

Despite so many good roguelikes already out or due soon, Undermine is still one that’s worth spending time with — this is a stellar debut from its developers.

Despite how anxious I am for the devs to continue the mainline Senran Kagura story, I can’t deny that they’ve put out an exceptional title here. The racing is thrilling, the characters are wonderful, and the story has charm to spare.

Putting the issue of tedious battles aside, Immortal Realms is still an enticing product, especially on consoles where there’s not much else like it. For console fans waiting for something substantial, yet less labyrinthian than some of Kalypso’s other offerings, spending time draining blood from the countryside is a great way to go.

Hellpoint has plenty to recommend it like interesting enemies, great combat, and frequently stunning settings. On the other hand, it doesn’t do enough different to stand out in the soulslike genre. It has clever moments and the option to play the campaign in co-op (local or online) is nice, but the devs might have done better by breaking further away from the Souls formula. There’s no reason the quests couldn’t be clear or that a map couldn’t exist — it seems they’ve made such choices because that’s what soulslikes do and not because it makes their work better for it.

I was initially excited for Hyper Scape thanks to its sleek style and movement. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t do much to stand out from other offerings on the market. Hopefully Ubisoft will find some way to inject more personality and consistency into this online shooter.

Hypnospace Outlaw is a fascinating experience that I wholeheartedly recommend. It is well-written and authentic, and while the early going may feel like completing chores, it soon tests the player’s detective skills. With cases that are satisfying to solve and a story that also applies to the internet as we know it today, it’s a must-play.

For players accustomed to modern affordances and styles of play, Moon may be a challenge to get into. Its graphics, a mix of Claymation-esque renders and spritework, have not been updated, and neither have the more tedious aspects of its gameplay. Even so, there’s something moving about inhabiting this world, loving the weird denizens, and bringing them what happiness we can. And isn’t that the way it should be? If goodness and love win, shouldn’t they win with goodness and love?

In spite of sporadic issues with the controls and the monetization model, UFC 4 is a great fighter, even if one bases it solely on the expansive career mode. As I currently celebrate my first championship title and defending it, I wholeheartedly recommend this one, not only to fans of the sport, but to anyone looking for their next fighting game fix.

While I enjoyed my time with Wasteland 3 and recommend it to those looking for some quality post-apocalyptic adventure, my hope is that inXile will knuckle down and iron out the bugs sooner rather than later — there’s a lot of great adventuring to be found within already, but it’ll be even better once the game is working properly.

While there were many aspects of Mortal Shell that I didn’t care for, the bits that worked for me really worked. The final product is far from perfect and I’m not sure that I’d even recommend it to anyone except the hardest of soulslike hardcores, but beneath the underdeveloped ideas and questionable design choices is a pool of talent bound for bigger and better things — Cold Symmetry’s work shined brightest when it veered away from standard Souls, and I’m interested to see them take it further.

Meowing aside, what I enjoyed most about Giraffe and Annika was the story, and this came as a big surprise. There’s an underlying mystery about why Annika has woken on Spica Island with no memories, and how Giraffe knows her. I found the resolution to be surprisingly affecting, and it manages to be so without betraying the positive tone found in the rest of the game. At last, I’ve reviewed a good title that bucks my trend of negative reviews. I’m glad that I spent time with something I normally wouldn’t look twice at, and it was an enjoyable experience despite being aimed at kids. It’s got a few issues, but the easy-going style, bright visuals and surprisingly resonant story means that I’m going to call this one a win.

The sublime power of Manifold Garden’s visuals is never matched by its puzzles. Rather, the puzzles skitter across the surface of every new idea, dipping into each one just enough to suggest fascinating interactions and then move on at a brisk pace. Manifold Garden never dives into its concepts, or, perhaps, it only dives far enough to end up back where it started.

Speed Dating for Ghosts is a gem. It’s a perfect mix of discussions on mortality and love with wit and humor. While some of the stories would have benefited from more length and some room to breathe, it still comes highly recommended for anyone who’s looking for something charming from the other side.

Superliminal truly feels like a whimsical dream – it might base itself in mundane reality at first, but it doesn’t take long before that goes out the window and fantastic elements start to flourish, and I already wish I could experience it again for the first time.

As a triple-A holiday blockbuster from a renowned studio and a major publisher released after years of build-up, it doesn’t feel like a product that has justified this much anticipation. Furthermore, as yet another live-service title expecting players to sink who knows how many hours into its ecosystem, it completely fails to convince me that anybody will be playing in a year without a great deal of work needed to elevate it out of mediocrity.

At the moment, Skater XL feels more like a skateboarding and lifestyle simulator rather than a fully fleshed-out game. There’s plenty to try and the difficulty level will keep enthusiasts glued to their screens in hopes of nailing those elusive combos, but as a gaming experience, it comes up short.

Though its battles are bland, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim still stands as possibly the best game Vanillaware’s made, and a must-play for anyone missing the dense, meaty science fiction of mecha fiction’s glory days.

A more serious issue is the way Faeria handles losing connection to its servers. It was fine on an excellent connection, but on a weaker service I lost connection almost once per game. In some cases it recovered and I was able to return to play, but there were multiple times when my controls stopped working and I was only able to forfeit the match. This is a technical stumbling block that needs to be addressed. Those issues aside, Faeria is a complete package likely to please both casuals and more serious deckbuilders alike. However, Faeria as an online service isn’t stable without an excellent connection, so buyers approaching it from that angle should beware.