Peach Beach Splash isn’t as much of a departure from the series as Bon Apetit was, but it’s still somewhat inconsequential compared to a mainline entry like Estival Versus. Blasting bikini ninja with water is cute, the gameplay is mostly solid, and it does a serviceable job of increasing the threat of Shin to set up the next game, but Senran Kagura risks sacrificing the momentum of the series overall with too many ancillary games.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a remarkable title, the best Wolfenstein game yet, and one of the finest singleplayer FPS titles ever created. With so much recent chatter about the death of the triple-A single player game, here comes BJ Blazkowicz with two middle fingers pointed directly at that idea. And with such a lengthy campaign, the lack of multiplayer isn’t even missed. The thrilling action, tight controls, incredible variety of tactics, and a surprisingly emotional, thought provoking, hysterical story make this one not to miss — the fact that it brings timely commentary on undesirable aspects of American society is even more icing on this Nazi-stomping cake.

Despite papering over some of the cracks that threatened its original incarnation, Warzone doesn’t quite fix the problems of EVE Valkyrie, and its value as a space game will, in some ways, depend on a player’s available hardware. Players who own VR headsets will find the definitive edition of one of the medium’s most accomplished titles, while players without VR will find a competent, fast-paced space shooter that (at least on PlayStation) doesn’t have much in the way of strong competition.

I never got a sense that I knew what A Hat in Time was about either as a story or as a game. Its various worlds don’t cohere, its plot doesn’t exist, and its systems never really play off each other in an interesting way. No single aspect of the experience is terrible, but the good bits never build to anything. Consequently, A Hat in Time is a cute, breezy little thing that rolls off the mind as soon as it’s completed.

Assassin’s Creed: Origins breathes new life into this ten-year old series, culling the parts which didn’t work while branching out and growing beyond what it once was. It successfully maintains the heart of the franchise and smartly dumps unnecessary baggage while opening it up to more kinds of players. Technical issues keep it from being a masterpiece at the moment, but there’s no doubt that patches are incoming. Overall, if this is the future of Assassin’s Creed, it’s a bright one.

Even with frustrating oversights, The Mummy Demastered is a fantastic example of its genre. There’s great creature and boss design, perfectly designed platforming sequences, and a wide enough variety in environments that it can offer unique visuals all the way to the end. As a tight, confident action title, The Mummy Demastered succeeds not just as a love letter to movie-inspired cash-ins from the ’90s, but also as a legitimately great action game in its own right. And, if that wasn’t enough to recommend it, it’s also a rare tie-in that ended up far better than the movie it was adapted from.

While I can’t discuss story details, Danganronpa V3 shines by highlighting the memorable cast while twisting the story around in surprising ways. The structure doesn’t change much from the prior two entries and it doesn’t need the minigame padding, but that doesn’t stop this from being a fantastic experience. Fans of the series owe it to themselves to play V3, as it was clearly created with them in mind and holds up perfectly alongside Trigger Happy Havoc and Goodbye Despair.

Elex is the best game Piranha Bytes has ever made. They’ve taken all the lessons learned on plotting, worldbuilding and character development from their work on Risen and Gothic and applied it something far more ambitious. The result is a truly great action-RPG, full of interesting characters, memorable quests, and amazing environments. While Elex‘s story comes to a satisfying conclusion and all the questions Jax starts with are definitively answered, it ends with the suggestion that there’s a much bigger story on the way, and I can’t wait for it to arrive.

After circling the world’s skies and visiting the final shrine, I had a wonderful time with Aer: Memories of Old. The visuals are perfect, it’s deliciously compact, and there really is something quite wonderful about being able to take to the skies and fly without a care. After seeing it so long ago and holding onto hope that Forgotten Key would deliver, I can honestly say that it was worth the wait.

The Evil Within 2 offers a few solid scares, some glimpses into a more promising game, and a lot of unexciting bloat. In such a crowded release season, it’s gonna take more than that to earn a recommendation from me. But hey, at least they got rid of the letterboxing. That’s a step in the right direction.

While South Park: The Fractured But Whole builds upon the mechanical groundwork laid by The Stick of Truth, it doesn’t have the same impact its predecessor had. Nothing is as shocking as Stick‘s sights, too much of the same ground is covered again, and while the combat is improved, it’s nothing to write home about. South Park: The Fractured But Whole is still entertaining and I enjoyed my time with it, but I couldn’t help but feel like I was watching a rerun.

Despite featuring a gorgeous and carefully-designed world, Obduction fails to execute on its central identity as a puzzle game. And, when three quarters of the experience consists of walking from one point to another and sitting through loading screens, it’s difficult to imagine that Cyan Worlds respects the time of Obduction’s players. Returning the favor, I ended up having very little respect for their game.

Even with no major changes and some minor issues, Picross S is a satisfactory, affordable puzzle game. Not much else needs to be said.

Controls are just too important to overlook in a game, and Astral Traveler’s result in frustrating play. Add in questionable level designs that slow down the ship too often, and the result is that any potential enjoyment is sucked away. My younger self would have been disappointed, but would have kept playing. My adult self knows better, and has moved on to more enjoyable endeavors.

While the last boss is unnecessarily cheap (come on, we all saw that coming) and the graphics are nothing to write home about, I was happy to find that there were plenty of nuances to the fighting, and there was clearly much thought given to its design. Senko no Ronde 2 is an oddball title that’s not for everyone and the story mode is a complete waste, but for those who find themselves in the Venn diagram intersection of fighting games, anime, giant robots, and shmups, there’s nothing else on the market like it.

I’m sure a patch will fix the crashes soon, but otherwise, Battle Chasers: Nightwar is one of the few RPGs I’ve played recently that respects the player’s time and rewards them with story beats, smart dungeon designs and great characters. It may not be perfect, but when it comes to RPGs, it’s a step in the right direction.

I can’t praise Valkyria Revolution‘s story enough. It’s a clear-eyed meditation on the horrors of war – even, perhaps especially, justified war. If the developers had found a way to make the dreary, repetitive combat as worthwhile as the story that frames it, this would have been an incredible game.

Although Echo fizzles out instead of building to a crescendo, I still loved it. I mean, we’re talking instant entry into the Top 5 games I’ve played this year. It’s just a shame that Ultra Ultra didn’t keep layering in mechanics and that the story lost focus. However, despite these issues, Echo remains an incredibly strong debut from a developer I’ll be keeping my eye on in the future.

Mages of Mystralia is a pretty, polished experience bolstered by an excellent spin on combat. The world is bright and cheerful, the exploration of the land is rewarding, and the spell system is great. Chalk up another success story for the Canadian Media Fund and one for Borealys Games.

It truly bothers me that I had to spend half this review talking about loot crates and in-game economics. I would’ve much rather spent this space talking about the fantastic driving experience, the way the game can be tailored to any desired skill level with the bevy of options, the incredible car customization (when applicable), the beautiful graphics, the astounding attention to detail in the car models, and the sheer, unrelenting car-porn that Forza 7 provides. On the other hand, anyone who’s paid attention to this series already knows this — not much has changed, and the stuff that has changed like the VIP support, currency manipulation and the homologated career mode will leave longtime fans perplexed why this route was taken. Forza 7 is a fantastic driving title that can’t stop tripping over itself, and its majestic driving experience is overshadowed by a lack of new ideas and suspicious economic decisions.

While I actually felt sympathy for the monster even though I didn’t doubt the girl’s condemnation of it, Lydia still manages to land a heavy emotional blow with admirable economy thanks to its expressive art and skillful storytelling. It’s a strong, sharp jab of a game, and well worth it for anyone willing to take the punch in the gut.

With a better upgrade/weapons system and slightly nerfed bosses, Let Them Come would be a fine experience — the kind of quick diversion players could drop into for a few minutes of alien slaughter here and there. Unfortunately, at some point in development the decision was made to prioritize challenge and droning repetition over playability, and the result is a title that can only be enjoyed by players who like spending time with games that hate them.

Dragon’s Dogma isn’t just a fantastic time, full of superb adventuring and uncharacteristically accomplished combat. It’s also one that’s stood up incredibly well over the years, feeling every bit as fresh and unique as when it debuted in the previous generation. It really says something that after hundreds of hours and dozens of completions later, I was more than willing to drop everything and get stuck back in to this remaster. It may have aged a little visually, but its combat and reward-heavy exploration have proven themselves evergreen, standing out from the competition even now.

By Perception’s conclusion, I’d witnessed several generations of families who’d lived in this mysterious estate, how they meshed together and found Cassie’s link to them. Some were more interesting than others, but Perception ends up dragging on for too long with too little intrigue to carry it through. Had it been half as long and experimented more with the applications of Cassie’s blindness, Perception could’ve been a fascinating experience. What I actually got was the chance to stumble around in the dark for six hours, which is about as enjoyable as it sounds.

Playing Cuphead on the easier difficulty reveals that the game’s challenge level is the only trick up its sleeve. Take that away, and all we’re left with is an uninspired and monotonous run-and-gun that just happens to be the most visually-striking release of 2017. Yes, Cuphead’s presentation is magnificent — it’s just a shame that StudioMDHR couldn’t come up with an interesting game to pair with it.

As an exploration title the environments are dull, and navigating them is a chore. As a puzzle game, it’s a cakewalk. As a narrative, the framework of a solid concept is spoiled by poor presentation and pacing. As a horror game, it’s not scary. What Andreasyan was able to create here all by himself couldn’t have been simple or easy, but tell that to the person who has thousands of Steam games to choose from and a finite amount of time and money to spend on them.

Putting the lack of new content aside, Axiom Verge is just as good now as it was in 2015, and it also pulls off the rare feat of being incredibly imaginative while also paying obvious homage to its inspiration. Thomas Happ clearly loves Metroid a whole lot, but his outstanding art design and musical talents keep the game he spent five years of his life on from feeling like a knockoff. Anyone with a Switch who hasn’t played Axiom Verge yet will find a polished adventure that would be a great addition to their library — just don’t leave it in the backlog pile.

This feeling of style over substance largely describes Ruiner in total — the aesthetics are on point, but style alone can’t carry a game. It’s a shame that it fizzles out so soon after starting, but I’m left with the sense that this studio will be turning out great things in the future… they’re just not quite there yet. If their next project manages to bring gameplay as rich as their visuals, it’ll be a real crackerjack.