I did manage to beat Elden, and I’m still not entirely sure what was going on. There was a forest, a desert, a mountain, and then some caves. I killed the same handful of monsters over and over again, then got stunlocked to oblivion by bosses that shoot immobilizing gloop. If it was longer than it is, I probably wouldn’t have bothered finishing and I can’t say what I played was worth it — whether it was a crutch or an intentional choice, the whole thing wraps up just as bafflingly as it began.

There’s some joy in experiencing the landscapes of Paws and Soul, but that’s about all that can be said for it — it’s a dull, sluggish effort in service of two boring and awkwardly-conveyed stories that don’t connect with each other. Not all purgatory games feel like purgatory, but this one sure did.

As appropriate as it would be to knock Tsushima for being the same sort of boilerplate open-worlder that Ubisoft tosses out every few months, the truth is that I still got some entertainment out of roaming the pretty landscape and engaging in repetitive tasks at my own pace. That said, every time Tsushima subjected me to its dreadful story and the tedious critical path missions, my patience wore thin. Ghost of Tsushima is positioned as PlayStation 4’s last hurrah, and while it’s an underwhelming note to end on, perhaps a game that pushes technological boundaries while taking zero creative risks is a fitting bookend for this generation.

Wide Ocean, Big Jacket is a brief experience, perhaps 90 minutes including extra scenes recently added via patch, but it’s just the right length for delivering a richly-colored snapshot into the lives of its subjects, and as a memento of this brief camping trip where four people connect, it’s just perfect.

Fall Guys takes a bit of skill, a lot of dumb luck and a truckload of frustration, mixes it all together and produces one of the most imaginative multiplayer experiences around. Sure, I still might suck at online games but it’s never felt this good to be so bad.

Overall, Rocket Arena is a solid multiplayer title that could be the beginning of an interesting new IP. It may seem bleak for this little shooter at the moment, but I’d urge those looking for a fresh take on competitive games to check it out.

Much of the experience is visually striking, and without spoilers, I can say that I enjoyed the suitably macabre story too. However, as a survival horror game it fails since any fear I experienced was quickly replaced with frustration — the broken central mechanic terrified me in all the wrong ways.

When it works and the quests follow a natural flow, Summer in Mara can be wonderful. At its best moments, I found it to be relaxing and effortlessly charming. Sadly, the horrendous backtracking, time-wasting filler content and frustrating resource management make it less of a vacation and more of a job.

I want to be charitable towards DreamBack since it’s clear that a lot of work went into building these detailed environments, but Come Over Gaming didn’t populate them with anything of substance, and the resulting product feels like an old-school Resident Evil game with everything removed except the key-hunting. A flat version of this title would be the dullest thing imaginable, and the VR format only slightly elevates it.

While the experience was a little short at about five hours, the time spent with Urban Trial Tricky was well worth it — even with a few small bumps in the road, I enjoyed the ride from start to finish.

In a way, the shallow nature of play, the points system and the short run time make me think Monster Prom XXL would be better suited as a hyper-casual board game brought out on a Friday night, but in its current incarnation, this finned, furry student falls far short of a passing grade.

With F1 2020, the franchise expands on what it does best — realistically simulated F1 experiences with a low barrier for entry and high quality of execution. It also shakes up a lot with the team career mode, but at this stage the thing I really want to see from 2021’s installment would be addressing the persistent, longstanding issues to improve the quality of the experience overall.

The gameplay is tightly-constructed, the narrative elements add a layer not often seen in deckbuilders, and both halves are wrapped in a fantastic, semi-abstract art style that recalls elements of cyberpunk, collapsed civilizations and Indian theming with bright strokes, chunky colors and bold lines. Visually, conceptually, and in its gameplay, Nowhere Prophet is gorgeous.

While M2’s emulation work is spectacular as always, the Darius Cozmic Collection suffers from a failure of imagination. It envisions the history of this eclectic, evocative franchise as a commodity to be fastidiously repackaged and sold as’ content’ rather than taking the opportunity to explore and appreciate one of the strangest sagas in gaming. It’s a frustratingly narrow view that leaves the Darius story untold, and Taito has ensured that these collections will blend in with countless others on a shelf, struggling to be found in the crowded marketplace.

While M2’s emulation work is spectacular as always, the Darius Cozmic Collection suffers from a failure of imagination. It envisions the history of this eclectic, evocative franchise as a commodity to be fastidiously repackaged and sold as’ content’ rather than taking the opportunity to explore and appreciate one of the strangest sagas in gaming. It’s a frustratingly narrow view that leaves the Darius story untold, and Taito has ensured that these collections will blend in with countless others on a shelf, struggling to be found in the crowded marketplace.

Overall, the Namco Museum Archives collection offers a bunch of great games in versions that some players might not have seen before, but the whole package is missing some personality. Sure, that doesn’t detract from the titles themselves, but it’s shame to see these historical artifacts treated in such a slapdash way.

Overall, the Namco Museum Archives collection offers a bunch of great games in versions that some players might not have seen before, but the whole package is missing some personality. Sure, that doesn’t detract from the titles themselves, but it’s shame to see these historical artifacts treated in such a slapdash way.

The eye candy is appealing, it’s LGBTQ-conscious, the writing is on point and the gameplay is just engaging enough to keep a player’s clicking finger busy on the quest to reclaim their fortune. Spending time on the spicier side was exactly the change of pace I needed, and I’m 100% on board with whatever these developers cook up next.

While I’m disappointed that the developers didn’t fix the original version’s upgrade system and challenges, Destroy All Humans still succeeds at most of what it attempts. It’s a silly, brutal trip through a nostalgic version of America’s past that excoriates the empty values the country claimed to stand for.

Mr. Driller DrillLand is a welcome return for a character who hasn’t been in a new game since 2009. It’s filled with plenty of variety, and still holds true to its original gameplay — fans will be pleased, and it’s also worth a look for anyone who enjoys arcade-style action.

In an era full of triple-A self-seriousness and open-world games that feel like they’re little more than busy work, Criterion reminds us that we don’t all need to follow the same template. Over a decade after release, Burnout Paradise is still the king of open-world racers, proving that a simple gameplay loop is often the most effective.

It doesn’t really matter whether Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted is good or not — all that matters is whether the shocks it offers can startle the player. By that metric, it’s a passable success in docked mode. I won’t say the game isn’t scary, but I will say that it doesn’t have much to offer past that.

Like the team’s previous work, Never Alone, Beyond Blue shares informative content via a genuine love for its topic. I can easily imagine pre-teens picking this up and wanting to be marine biologists, in the same way that I wanted to become a skateboarder, or how one might want to be a paleontologist after walking out of Jurassic Park.

In spite of its issues and a lack of ambition, Alwa’s Legacy is a solid, predictable experience. The platforming feels precise, exploring is enjoyable and it feels rewarding when using skills that can help navigate dungeons and defeat a deadly boss. For fans of metroidvanias or Zelda, it’s worth taking a look — just don’t expect the unexpected.

Mind Control Delete ultimately feels like an arcade-mode add-on that should’ve been included with the original release. Although it’s novel, I value the original’s audacity in presenting a brilliant idea without wasting any of my time. Mind Control Delete feels like the antithesis of that – it’s a bloated diversion that exists to provide more hours of gameplay without any larger purpose. It’s just more for the sake of more, and after my time with it, I’d say it’s actually too much, too late.

Games can have messages, but they can also be a venue in which we act out our most twisted fantasies free of judgment and consequence.

It’s in those quiet moments when it ventures furthest away from Silent Hill‘s template that Someday You’ll Return becomes a beautiful, unsettling delight. Unfortunately, the game forgets its strengths towards the end, and as a result, the ending sags and is much less urgent and interesting than the middle.

Little Town Hero looks great and the combat has a nice puzzle-like quality, but it’s hurt significantly by random elements punishing the player and battles dragging out for so long. It’s got a quirky charm that a certain kind of player will love, but that kind of player is not me.