While the merits and the story are shallow and uninteresting, the gameplay’s failure to integrate with them reduces them to superfluous trappings that can mostly be ignored. This leaves the focus squarely on the puzzles, and it’s here that The Sojourn almost hits the mark. Although they don’t fully reach their potential, the levels are at times deep and fascinating — and neither of those words could apply to the script.

At the end of the day, Ashes of Oahu is rough around the edges and could use a bit of work, but it remains a beautiful world to explore and the hawaiian folklore elements offer something new in the well-stocked post-apocalyptic genre. Those things alone may not be enough to keep some players in, but those who may want a bit of sun and sand with their questing and skill trees might want to check it out.

When Muse Dash works well, I felt the same sort of accomplishment as I might when nailing a fighting game combo. However, I don’t fall into the target demographic and the grind-heavy progression turned things more tedious than necessary. There’s a solid base of something great here, but it would be an easier recommendation if it offered some content for those outside its niche.

Given its unintimidating nature, the only question that should hang over any prospective buyer’s head is whether the idea of watching a sneaky goose make everyone’s day worse is amusing. If the answer is yes – and it damn well ought to be – Untitled Goose Game stands as evidence that even the silliest idea can birth a surprise hit when applied with conviction. I doubt anyone will make a better misanthropic goose game anytime soon.

In total, this is quite a collection that spans the rise and fall of a truly landmark series. The bonus material is a nice addition and the ability to revisit any and all parts of the saga in one place is welcome. I’m tempted to recommend this collection on the strength of the first series alone, but something as complete as this is a no-brainer for anyone who’s a fan of the franchise, of zombie apocalypse stories, or of episodic storytelling in general.

With so much to like about Knights and Bikes, finding things to complain about wasn’t easy. One thing that came to mind is that the fifth chapter takes considerably more time to complete than the others, and at times seems to drag. However, the rest of the adventure has excellent pacing. I also had a small issue with the ending. There’s a twist that’s hinted at shortly before it unfurls, but this foreshadowing would have had greater impact if was built up earlier instead of appearing so close to the finale. Otherwise, I have no issues with this incredibly well-written story. Knights and Bikes is an adorable little treasure worth finding.

In the end, Wilmot’s Warehouse is a brilliant little puzzler that derives unique pleasure from performing an utterly mundane chore. Anyone looking to kill some time or perhaps give themselves hope that they, too, will one day tackle the growing piles of stuff in their space should check it out.

In a fictional world obsessed with punishment, perhaps it’s fitting that victory in Blasphemous doesn’t come without its share of pains and tribulations. I can’t say that I adored every second of Blasphemous, nor can I guarantee that its conclusion will satisfy everyone, but I can certainly credit The Game Kitchen for building a universe unlike any I’ve seen in games. I’m nauseated by it, yet I can’t look away, and I certainly won’t stop thinking about it anytime soon.

Maybe the connection between gameplay and theme existed more clearly in the developers’ heads than they managed to convey in the finished product. As it stands, Solo feels like a passable, if slight, puzzle-platformer trying to snag a little extra gravitas by gluing on a bunch of unrelated stuff about relationships. Despite the surface charm provided by the art style, the whole exercise felt disingenuous and gross, and I’m glad I never need to touch it again.

The Surge 2 is a thrilling ride from beginning to end. The foes are a joy to battle, the maps are built to invite and reward exploration, and the story offers just enough intrigue to keep the player hooked until the final battle. It’s wonderful to see developers taking a hard look at the successes and failures of their previous effort and ensuring that the sequel surpasses it in every way.

I’m grateful that singleplayer exists since it’s hard enough to get two friends together, let alone getting two to commit to a long campaign. However, For the King is a game best enjoyed with others. I finished it solo, but the lack of other players made the experience less enriching. With this in mind, For the King is a jolly questing experience, both as a local and online boardgame experience.

I don’t have any criticisms of Mutazione worth mentioning. Die Gute Fabrik has done a masterful job in crafting Kai’s tale, and it held my attention from start to finish. It was so good, in fact, that I have reached the end of this review without celebrating the absolutely marvelous art style which is what brought the game to my attention in the first place. This tale of a girl reconnecting with her grandfather while learning about the connections he made is not to be missed.

There are kernels of good ideas throughout RAD, and none of my problems with it feel like they can’t be fixed or tweaked to make the experience less frustrating. Unfortunately, its current iteration falls squarely into the Double Fine catalog of work that’s great to look at, but only fleetingly entertaining to play.

Despite the overpowered nature of the stealth, Heretek does include enough new content to whet the appetite of Mechanicus fans and gives them good reason to come back. The new battlegrounds are a nice reprieve from the planet scenarios of the core campaign, and the new items and units give players more choices. All in all, it brings glory to the Omnisaiah once again.

With new console hardware expected to arrive by late 2020, there’s a good chance much of 2K Sports’ design and programming teams are hard at work making the most of new technology. However, that doesn’t excuse the visual and gameplay gaps that shouldn’t be here. That said, NBA 2K20 is still a fantastic basketball sim with enough modes and features to keep fans busy until those revolutionary next steps start to come in over the next few years.

As it stands, Forager is a wonderful reimagining of common concepts and systems that have grown stale… or at least it is until it falls prey to the very things it was subverting. It’s a shame, but hopefully it will get patched or rebalanced in the future. With just a few tweaks to its numbers, I’d happily return to this small-scale adventure and keep on crafting.

Overall, Fantasy Strike takes a leap and tries to create a deep fighter that’s also accessible. It’s successful, but I don’t see it dethroning any of the heavyweight fighters anytime soon.

While the central narrative likely won’t inspire seasoned indie fans, Songbird Symphony might be just the thing to convince a younger age group to try some independent releases. As for me, this songbird’s notes aren’t particularly touching, but they did succeed in putting a smile on my face.

I enjoyed myself in almost every one of Gravity Ghost’s levels, and had a great time weaving my way around and through its many planets. Iona’s starbound story is a tragedy, but her afterlife is a triumph.

The world is so carefully crafted and the combat so great, they both carry all the weight the story doesn’t, and then some. After being unimpressed with Remedy’s previous work, Control feels like a powerful final draft after those early false starts and marks a strong new creative direction for the studio.

Catherine: Full Body does an excellent job of updating and refining a surprisingly good puzzler that oozes style, yet still has too many issues in the narrative to overlook. It’s a shame — there’s some great dialogue on topics rarely discussed in big-budget games hidden under piles of nonsense and occasional insensitivity. Still, Catherine does have its fans, and they’ll be thrilled with the gameplay enhancements, new content, and the graphical bump.

With these splintering narratives I wanted to come back to Church several times to to see what the varying outcomes would be. However, I started to see behind the curtain, and apart from the central four characters, the other NPCs have little impact.

I love the style and overall concept of Creature in the Well, but after its initial statement, it just didn’t have much to say. With more detail, a few more ideas and a bit more depth, it would be a must-play. Although it doesn’t get where it needs to go, it’s a great start from Flight School Studio that’s got me excited to see how they up their game next time around.

Overall SimplePlanes is a very solid engineering title. With its learning curve and freedom in building, both new and experienced players can enjoy the process of building. With its physics engine, it’s also an engaging vehicle simulator with exploration, racing, and combat accessible within a a few clicks.

Though there’s a surprisingly large field of competitors on the platform, Rolling Gunner ends up as the best scrolling shooter available on the Switch. While it clearly embraces the traditions of its arcade-oriented predecessors, Koizumi’s work serves as both as a solid introduction to the genre as well as a satisfying deep-dive for veterans.

The first half of War Tech Fighters is a light, silly ‘blow everything up and look cool’ sort of thing, but the second half is weighed down by developers who apparently felt the need to offer a ‘real challenge’ that wasn’t necessary or welcome.

When played the way the developers intended, Dark Pictures: Man of Medan is a one-of-a-kind triumph, and a shared horror experience unlike anything ever produced. It’s extremely presumptuous to ask players to buy two copies to get the full effect, but I can’t deny that it’s absolutely worth the time and expense for those who do. Dark Pictures: Man of Medan is a true evolution of the interactive movie genre, and horror fans owe it to themselves to climb aboard.

If EA wanted to do something revolutionary with the series, it would have offered Madden NFL 20 as a roster and feature update to Madden NFL 19. Not because there isn’t an enjoyable, playable game here, but because Madden NFL 20 is just more of the same when the series should be making strides toward true greatness.