Although I hate to be so vague about The Bunker, giving away too much would be doing a great disservice to anyone reading this review. Instead, I’ll simply say that it’s one of the most enjoyable FMV games I’ve ever played, and that I’d recommend prospective players block out two hours and go through it all in a single sitting. My compliments to Splendy Games, and I’m now officially on record as being quite prepared to drop a few dollars on whatever they turn out next.

Gunworld 2 is a pleasure to play, and a retro experience in all the best ways. Unlike Double Dragon 4, which preserved the worst parts of that franchise, Gunworld has looked at Zelda 2 and the Mega Man series, carefully decided which parts still feel worthwhile and will work best together, and transformed them into a new experience that captures the 8-bit feel without being beholden to its limitations.

Above the Law corrects a lot of the missteps from the first two episodes and also benefits from the narrative scaffolding they painstakingly laid. If nothing else, this episode illustrates that the season is on a trajectory of improvement. The fact that Clementine is a supporting character still stings, but the pain in my heart when she makes an offhanded comment about Lee from season one suggests her character (and all the baggage she carries) remains emotionally resonant.

All in all, Lego City Undercover still ranks as one of the all-around best LEGO games I’ve spent time with, and while I’d recommend it to any fan of the series, that goes double for kids who crave some open-world GTA-style screw-around action without any of the questionable stuff that makes parents raise an eyebrow. I’m glad LCU finally made its way to a console besides the WiiU, and I’m guessing a lot of other people will be, too.

With all the things Styx bumbles, the game really shouldn’t work, but somehow everything still managed to click for me. The stalking, the scheming, and managing the successful execution of strategies are all gratifying. Styx: Shards of Darkness is far from perfect and can’t compete with the triple-A titles already crowding 2017, but it is a great B-tier budget title, and underneath that warty skin, there’s the sort of heart that’s often lacking in its more polished peers.

Rain World asks players to get to know its world over dozens and dozens of lives, to figure out each area one at a time, learning to time jumps and hurl spears to earn their right to survive in a ceaselessly hostile environment. It’s a gorgeous jaunt through an alien world full of horrors, like Another World crossed with the open map of a Metroidvania title. With its incredible art design, tight controls, and extremely deep set of gameplay mechanics, this is a truly special platforming experience that anyone with a high tolerance for constant failure owes it to themselves to try out.

BioWare has often shown more willingness than most triple-A developers to respond to community criticisms and they’re already pushing patches to rectify Andromeda’s many issues, so I’m not pronouncing the Mass Effect series dead just yet. But speaking as someone who owns multiple pieces of N7 apparel and has read the Mass Effect books – the freaking books – I hate Andromeda. Maybe this is karmic balance for all of the recent big-name releases that have actually lived up to my expectations, but it’s been a long time since a game left me feeling as deflated as this one.

With middling gameplay and a questionable story, The Crow’s Eye has only its solid puzzles and a fascinating mixture of genres to recommend it. This is nowhere near the top of the first-person puzzle-platform genre, but it’s certainly one of the strangest and most intriguing I’ve played.

That was the end of Trulon for me, and I’d have to describe it, in total, as being the videogame equivalent of an ellipsis — it’s just an empty pause with no conclusion. Everything good about it is squandered by poor craftsmanship, and in its current state it should be avoided at all costs.

Momodora provides fast platforming and combat, a beautifully realized and interconnected world, and plenty of challenge, although often this challenge becomes frustration. However, it doesn’t do anything that hasn’t been done before by better games, and ultimately, it leaves no lasting impression.

As a PSVR launch title from a new development studio, Here They Lie impressed me. Tangentlemen have good ideas, atmosphere and sound design, but ultimately the meandering pacing and sporadic story beats of their work left me feeling more disappointed than scared. I’ll be keeping my eyes on these developers, though — if this is what they deliver for their debut game, I’m eager to see what they serve up next.

I still hesitantly recommend Hollow Knight to anyone as partial to Metroidvanias as I am, but the experience runs far longer than its visual appeal does, and at that point it becomes just another Dark Souls wannabe. It’s solid, but it demonstrates how far we still are from puzzling out From Software’s master recipe.

LEGO Worlds is a disappointing and frustrating mess. The idea of an open-world Minecraft-like title is brilliant, and maybe with a few patches and improvements it might live up to that promise. But right now? LEGO Worlds feels like it was rushed to consoles and performs at an unacceptable level. Kids might enjoy it in short bursts, but I’d recommend waiting to see if improvements are implemented in the coming months. Until then, go buy some real LEGO bricks instead.

In the end, Toukiden 2 comes as a nice surprise. It improves upon the decent original in many different ways that make sense, and most of these changes ensure that smashing boss after boss doesn’t feel anywhere near as repetitive as it did in the past. When I was done with the first Toukiden, I was completely burned out and desperate for a break. After finishing Toukiden 2? I’m raring for more.

To its credit, the sound design of Dark Train compliments its engaging presentation to create a fully realized mechanical world, and a dense soundscape that is as effective and oppressive as the dreary and haunting visuals. Along with the strong art design, Dark Train provides an evocative, beautiful, but ultimately alienating experience. It’s slow and confusing in all the wrong ways, and provides no payoff at the end of its painful, frustrating adventure.

It’s certainly not the best way to experience the Berserk saga for the first time (I’d recommend the original manga or 1997 anime series instead) and it’s not the best example of a Musou game, but for established fans of Berserk who fancy engaging in some rampant slaughter, it should do the trick.

If Nier: Automata had been more compact or structured differently, it would have been more effective, immediate and powerful. Instead, it’s a great idea stretched across too many hours of uninspiring content. Although I had affection for the androids and admired what the script ultimately revealed, this is one case where less would have definitely been more.

Sniper Elite 4 is the best sniping game I’ve ever played, and is absolutely the high point of the series. This is a perfect example of what can be achieved if a developer understands what their game’s potential is, and never stops working towards it. Rebellion has made huge leaps forward with every new entry in this series, and they’ve finally reached a point where the results are flat-out incredible. I can only imagine the great things they’ll accomplish in the future.

Those who can get past the short playtime and lack of ideas disrupting the swath of ‘lite’ games currently populating the VR scene will find Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin to be a rousing affirmation of Double Fine’s greatest strengths — using character and charm to do the heavy lifting in the absence of innovation.

2Dark is as rough as widely-released games come, but even more impressive is the way it puts the player and their prey on equal footing. The shadows are just as dangerous for the villains as they are for the hero. This is a truly difficult game to get through on multiple levels, but it offers profound satisfaction in fighting the worst evil imaginable.

Yakuza 0 is a magnificent achievement that should be experienced by anyone interested in lecturing people on the importance of money, then blowing ten billion yen on a horrifically tacky golden statue of themselves. Or those curious about winning a chicken in a bowling competition, then installing it as the manager overseeing some of the most financially lucrative real estate holdings in Tokyo. Or those inclined to beat fifty knife-wielding thugs to a pulp in a back alley before heading off for takeaway and wasting the night playing Outrun. Or those wondering why that man in the convenience store is walking around in his underpants, and being unafraid to forge an unexpected friendship with him.

BLADE ARCUS from Shining: Battle Arena is a neat little brawler with a decent cast and enjoyable mechanics, but it’s too limited in too many ways to be anywhere near a… shining… example of the genre.

While Loot Rascals isn’t the deepest roguelike I’ve ever played, I still adore its elegance and accessibility, and let’s face it, that artwork is charming as all hell. And besides, for a genre that’s generally known for being ultra-hardcore, I can’t help but appreciate an entry that takes a sunny, easy-to-grasp approach. My astronaut hasn’t recovered the terraforming machine yet, but I’m still trying to get her there and having a great time in the process.

Breath of the Wild is a phenomenal title in and of itself, but it’s particularly special in that it embodies the vision for the series that Miyamoto and Aonuma have never been able to realize until now. It’s a game three decades in the making, and it’s no exaggeration to say that I’ve been waiting my entire life for this. Breath of the Wild is, by any measure except nostalgia, the best Zelda game ever made, and considering how many unbeatable classics this series has already produced, that is a staggering accomplishment.

After more than 30 hours with Wildlands I was left wondering why it was set in such a massive open world. The huge space offers a ton of missions, but what’s the point if they feel so repetitive and dull? I did enjoy the combat and stealth, and when the game is working properly it can be exciting to take out a group of drug-runners silently. But, so much of it feels like little more than vast areas of land stuffed with filler. If Wildlands was smaller and more focused, it could have been fantastic. Instead, it feels bloated, boring and messy, and that’s something a few patches won’t be able to fix.

Phoning Home plays well enough for its genre and has several good world-building moments, but it just wasn’t for me. I was hoping for something a little more complex given the excellent premise, but it never developed. Players who are fond of survival/crafting games might get more out of it than I did, but they should be prepared to do a lot of babysitting when ANI makes her appearance.

Soda Drinker Pro is just a weird project by a weird guy, who somehow got people to pay for his inside joke. A little research shows this title was created in one day by someone who – wait for it – wanted a soda. Me? I just wanted to turn it off and walk away from it forever.

With decent gameplay and mildly intriguing story, I would have given Space Rift a passing grade in the current PSVR lineup. However, the lack of a coherent art style and the disastrous bugs keep me from being able to do that. If and when Chapter 2 is released, I hope the developers manage to buckle down and make sure everything works properly. I don’t hold out much hope, though — I mean, how many games are there where even the end credits are broken?