I Hate This Place is a decent craft-based survival horror, but it doesn’t truly excel in anything. It’s such a mediocre game overall that isn’t worth its asking price. There is a lot of potential in the game, but it just needs more in many areas. The way it is, the game looks way better than it plays. I Hate This Place is not a bad game, but in the end, it comes across as very “meh”.

Hotel Barcelona is oozing with style but the gameplay drags the game down way too much to be fun or memorable.

The game uses left and right arrows for movement that sit in the lower left corner of the screen and another arrow for jumping in the lower right. For a game built on high-speed runs and well-timed jumps it's a deal-breaker.

Overall, Painkiller (2025) is a decent online shooter, but it really lacks content. You can rush through all the levels very quickly and complete the full campaign in a few hours (like maybe 4 hours). It is nice that it has multiple difficulties, but that just doesn’t hold up when you have so few of levels. The single player is basically an afterthought – it’s like a mode that punishes you for not playing online. If you plan to play Painkiller online with friends or randoms then you might find something to like here, but those that want a single player experience, look elsewhere or just go back to the older Painkiller games.

It's too bad that so much of the game is tedious, because the game’s battles are actually a bit interesting. The battles are turn-based, with the order of attack displayed on a timeline on the left side of the screen. In most turn-based games, the timeline is mostly informational, but in Varlet the actions that your characters take have a direct effect on the timeline. When selecting an action, you will see how many turns it will take to complete. Once you select an action, it will appear on the timeline that many turns ahead. In addition, if the action has a target, whether it’s an ally or an enemy, the target will be shown on the timeline as well. And it’s not just you doing this – your enemies are selecting actions and targets as well and those will appear on the timeline, too. You’ll need to be smart about your choices and how they will affect the timeline, carefully picking your attacks and targets, and timing them with guard and interrupt actions. This one bright spot is not enough to make the game recommendable, though. There’s just too much tedium and blandness in between, and there are plenty of better options available for you to play in this genre.

Most people will probably enjoy the game at first, but the amount of time spent grinding and losing will quickly cause them to lose interest. This is a game for masochists and those willing to spend hours upon hours of their time running into a wall based on the slim hope that just one more run is needed to break through.

Monster Energy Supercross 25: The Official Videogame might be a good game for you if you can learn its controls. For new people, I don’t recommend this game at all. New players should just stick with the last installment since it’s actually friendly to new players and you can learn as you go. Supercross 25 seems to think that you learn its new feel instantly or are willing to spend hours learning it. If you’re patient, you might like the game, but it’s definitely not for everyone. The graphics have improved, but that is about the only area where I see improvement with this installment.

Overall, The Cecil: The Journey begins is an ok survival horror. It’s not bad, it’s not good, it’s just in between. If you like horror games, you’ll probably enjoy this game for what it is, but it’s nothing that memorable. The main problems that I have with this game is just that it’s hard to find item to manipulate a good bit of the time and also the game has a major need of variety. Just finding an enemy to shoot is such a blessing when those moments come!

Karma: The Dark World is a trippy ride through the mind of others and one that is very surreal.

The game is quite a decent brawler rogue-like experience, but it is heavily brought down by its bugs. You might play the game and not get any in the short-term, but keep playing and your bound to run across one. The worst part about the bugs is how they soft-lock you out of progressing. Without the technical problems, I’d give the game somewhere in the 70% range easily since it’s quite good on its own, but the problems bring it down quite a bit overall.

I really wanted to enjoy this game. I collect Funko Pops and love many of the franchises represented in the game, and fully expected an experience at the same level of quality as the LEGO games. I’m also surprised that given the popularity of the Pop Yourself custom figures, the game doesn’t have any kind of character-building feature. Unfortunately, I can’t really recommend this game, you’ll probably find it as frustrating and disappointing as I did.

Some of the updates to Star Wars Episode 1: Jedi Power Battles may please fans of the original, but those updates can’t change the fact that this is a very dated game.

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is a decent game to try out for fans of the movies and survival horror fans. If you can look past some of its problems, the game is quite well made and unique. Fans of Alien Isolation will most likely find something to enjoy with this game. It’s not perfect, but there are definitely moments of greatness here and there.

Pneumata might look good and it has some overall good enemies and play control, but there are tons and tons of negatives in this game that weight it down. Outside of achievements, this game has no replay value at all. I’d only recommend this game to the most hardcore of hardcore survival horror fans. If you have to play every single horror game out at the moment then give it a try and judge it for yourself. Other than that, I would recommend Fobia or Jack Holmes for those that want a taste of an RE7-inspired survival horror.

Jack Holmes: Master of Puppets is an overall decent survival horror. The enemies in the game do get annoying, but you eventually get used to it. The game can actually be quite tough at times. There were points where I got a bit concerned about ammo, which is quite rare with survival horrors nowadays. If you enjoy RE7 and its overall horror atmosphere, be sure to give this game a try. I feel you’ll enjoy the game the most. The game is also comparable to Fobia: St Dinfna Hotel, which also played like RE7 overall, so if you like either of these games, Jack Holmes is worth a shot.

There are some interesting ideas at play here and the reality TV show simulation genre is far from crowded, but the problem is that there is so little to the actual core gameplay. The voyeuristic nature of reality TV makes this a game in which you spend a lot of time simply listening to the characters speak to each other and finding that what they have to say isn’t all that interesting. I can’t help but feel that if this was more of a real simulation of reality TV that gave you a lot more control in staging and forcing dramatic moments, then The Crush House would be more fun to play. As it is, it’s a bit of curiosity that will keep your interest about as long as it does your fictional viewers’.

Welcome to ParadiZe is an ok game if you can deal with the repetitive combat. You’re basically just R1’ing through zombie waves much of the game.

The overall graphical design of Eresys is really good, but the game gets boring quick.

The game took around 4-5 hours to complete overall and I do take my time with games. I got so tired of the trial-and-error gameplay and overall lack of guidance on where to go that I had to track down a walkthrough (which I don’t often do). Even with the negatives I feel the game is definitely worth a shot. The creature design is quite impressive and the visuals are good for horror fans. If you’re a fan of Lovecraft, you need to give it a try and judge it for yourself. It’s easy to tell that Dragonis has a passionate love for horror with the visuals and overall creature design in this game.

If Berzerk were part of a collection of arcade games so that you could enjoy it in short bursts with a variety of other games it would be fine. However, there’s just not enough here to support a standalone release.

Suicide Squad could have been a much better game if it simply stuck to being a story-focused game with support for four-player co-op. The need to shoehorn repetitive grind missions into the game so that they could be recycled endlessly for live-service content obviously distracted from the development of a richer story and environment. The focus on weapons to support the kind of gear grind that keeps some players compelled to keep playing live-service games took the focus off of the characters, and making each one truly unique to play. I wouldn’t mind seeing a sequel, one without live-service aspirations and a focus giving each character a unique play experience, but after the disappointment that is Kill the Justice League, I think it will be a while before we see another Suicide Squad game.

On the one hand, you essentially get three times as many puzzles as the game has levels. On the other, you’ll be spending a chunk of time with each level, which really breaks-up the narrative flow of the story. I think it might have been better to limit the puzzles to single goals, perhaps with some optional bonuses, and keep the game flowing. As things are, though, you’ll need to ask yourself if you’ll enjoy spending the extra time with each level. If you’re intrigued by the idea of cracking each puzzle three times with different goals, you’ll probably enjoy Howl. However, if the thought of spending so much time with each level sounds like a grind to you, or you’d prefer to have the freedom to experiment with different tactics, you’ll probably find the game to be frustrating. As such I can’t recommend the game to everyone, just those in the former group.

After playing the multiplayer game enough to review it, I can’t say that I feel all that compelled to jump back into it. That’s a first for me, and I’ve been playing the game since before it even had a multiplayer mode. Modern Warfare III is the most disappointing entry in the series for me in a while – I haven’t been this disappointed probably since Ghosts. The franchise would have better served its fans by taking this year off and putting the time into creating a better-balanced, more complete entry in the franchise. You can certainly skip this entry in the series, or at least wait until it is heavily discounted, because it’s just not worth it.

Limerick has some great ideas, but overall it's just not that fun.

UFC 5 really just doesn’t have enough enhancements to make the game a worthwhile purchase for most gamers. For a game that comes three years after its predecessor, I expected a lot more. I loaded up UFC 4 after playing UFC 5 and it really felt just about the same. The graphical downgrade in UFC 4 was noticeable once I saw fighters up close and especially in career mode cutscenes, but that is about the only thing that UFC 5 does better than UFC 4. The gameplay is still just as good as UFC 4, but UFC 5 is just too much of the same overall. Hardcore fans of this series will benefit the most from UFC 5, but I know hardcore fans wouldn’t even be reading this review – they already have the game and are happily playing it and could care less about what I have to say. For the rest of us though, UFC 5 just feels like a mediocre upgrade that isn’t really worth its asking price.

I really want to like Ad Infinitum more than I do, but it has too many faults that ruin the experience.

You can certainly have your fun with Immortals of Aveum – its world is unique and there simply aren’t enough magic shooters of this caliber out there. The bugs are annoying, and have hopefully been patched by the time you’re reading this, but if not, you’ll have to have a little patience with the game. It’s not a must-play shooter – better battles as the game progresses instead of a “more is better” philosophy towards enemies and more freedom to experiment with different spell combos rather than just matching colors would help, as well as more interesting and challenging puzzles.

I would really like to enjoy Daymare 1994, and I do somewhat. The game has collectibles to find, challenges to try for and multiple difficulties so there is some good replay value here. Just like the first game, you can tell that the developers had fun while making it with all the references and good atmosphere that the game carries. It’s just such a shame that this game frustrates me so much with its overall mechanics and poor enemies. I feel like this is a game that some people will enjoy (like I did somewhat), but it’s hard to deny the problems we have here.

Even with the insanely boring story and dialogue, this game has some pretty good gameplay. If you can reach the point (around 2-3 hours) where the game actually starts to allow you to venture out on your own, the game gets much better, but before that time, it really drags heavily. If you can get adjusted to the quick QTEs and having to waste turns on pinning, the combat system is actually quite good. The hype system is one of the best parts of the combat system. If you can gain enough hype to build the meter all the way, each battle becomes much more fun. Boss battles are also a lot of fun and a good challenge as well. WrestleQuest is definitely a long RPG with a lot of content (side quests, main quests, hidden items). WrestleQuest is worth a try for fans of JRPGs if you’re in it for the long run. If you’re expecting quick amusement however, this game really takes a while to get good.

I can see where some players might like Dead Man’s Diary for what it is, but it is not a game I found much enjoyment in. I spent about a good 6 hours on it my first time, but eventually got tired of the usual formula and overall feeling that I was going to get stuck. Like I mention, the stage select really saves the game from getting too ridiculous, but it’s still annoying to have to go back and do so much if you get stuck, even with stage select help. If you’re a fan of survival games, you might want to give this a try, but just keep in mind the negatives that I mention since they will most likely ruin the experience. Dead Man’s Diary is a game that I’d like to enjoy, but just can’t.

Unholy is very much a mix of good and bad. The graphics are absolutely fantastic and so is the overall world of the Unholy. It’s too bad that the gameplay and story don’t hold up to the world it’s in. The gameplay is mediocre overall. It has some good ideas with its emotion-based attacks, but the stealth areas get so tedious that it ruins these ideas. I ran into a few times where attacks simply would not hit or take effect (such as enemies not being lured). If you can deal with the stress of this game’s stealth, you might find an alright game in it, but the game is overall more about style than substance. I would like to see these developers do more of a traditional type of survival horror – they definitely know how to do atmosphere well!

Despite its problems, AEW: Fight Forever is a good start for an AEW game. It’s really nice to see WWE finally have some more competition. Let’s hope that the developers can address some of the problems in a future update and add some more content to the game in the months ahead. As it stands, the game is mainly only good for online or couch co-op with a friend. The Road to Elite single player mode is way too short and repetitive to hold up for long. The game has a better feel to it online when compared to a WWE game, so it has it beat on that. If you want a good single player experience however, WWE games far outweigh Fight Forever with content and just overall things to do.

For what it is, Greyhill Incident has a unique concept and graphics to go along with it. The trailer makes the game out to be way better than what you actually get. It might be worth a playthrough for the curious mainly for its alien invasion theme, but I can’t see many people coming back to this game or even thinking of it as memorable. Some people might like the light-hearted story, but for me, it ruins the game.

Redfall has the potential to be a good game, but it has a bunch of issues that need fixing first.

Overall, I’d say that this is a good video game adaptation of a board game – the AI is competent enough to be challenging to average player, but not so strong as to be frustrating, and the graphics put the original cardboard and plastic game to shame visually. I wish there was more information on the rules and even gameplay tips, though, as well as more gameplay customization options. CATAN: Console Edition won’t replace sitting around a board with friends, but it’s a good enough option if you want to learn the game or just take a board game break when you can’t round-up your friends for a game night.

Dark Revival creates an interesting world and it has a unique art style, but the gameplay itself comes up short. While there are some imaginative locations and enjoyable moments, overall it’s the kind of game that you’ll play through more because you’re interested in how it all turns out than you are in the journey to get there.

A lot of the balance in the game just feels off, too. Invaders come quickly and often, and there’s just no time to get your tower into a minimal defensible state. Even if you get lucky and have the cards to close off your tower, the game punishes you for this tactic by generating enemies from a moving warp portal within your tower. Your wizard is forced to collect items from the rooms that they are produced in, but you can’t give commands to your whole tower while you’re off the throne. It feels like these and other restrictions were added to compensate for issues with the gameplay, when what was needed instead was more time spent refining and balancing it. Perhaps one day a game can make these two genres work together, but Dwarven Skykeep isn’t that game.

Madden NFL 23 is another incremental update in a franchise known for putting out incremental updates. Updated rosters, a few minor additions to existing game modes, and a couple of gameplay tweaks – you know the drill. The presentation is still thoroughly dull and even the soundtrack feels tired. The gameplay engine is in need of more than an incremental update, though. The “if it’s in the game, it’s in the game” game still feels more like you’re playing a Madden game than a simulation of an NFL game. With the passing of its namesake, perhaps it’s finally time to build a new game, one that NFL fans can really get excited about.

Midnight Fight Express is an intense button masher brawler that gets repetitive too quickly, but it’s still fun and actually quite deep.

Despite Bell and Bones and the occasional bug, Whateverland does have its charms - the game’s setting is certainly unique. There are some interesting characters inhabiting Whateverland and some of the puzzles are fun to work through, but that’s not consistent throughout the game. The burglary path puzzles can be rather frustrating at times. Point-and-clickers will probably be more forgiving of the game’s rough patches given the dearth of games in this genre these days, but others may not find the motivation to press on through to the end.

Backroom Beyond is overall extremely repetitive. The worst part about playing it is that there is such little reward for completing each room. Your only reward is to simply start the next area. The game has an interesting subject matter, but the overall gameplay just isn’t fun for too long. Even though the game changes up each level, you’re still doing the same thing in the long run (pushing a block over a button) and it doesn’t hold up well for long. This game needs more variety in its puzzle solving.

There were times while playing that I felt the zen of cleaning, my mind cleared by the soothing sound of water as it steadily droned on or changed pitch while moving between different surfaces. There’s also a certain sense of satisfaction that comes with transforming some grossly dirty areas into the pristine places that they were meant to be. However, there were plenty of times when the simulated work felt like real work. Spending over ten minutes walking slowly back and forth across a driveway to finally get it clean and then looking up and seeing how far you have to go to get the rest of the home clean can be both frustrating and disheartening. The relaxing moments provided by the game were simply outnumbered by those that became more and more tedious by the sheer number of large surfaces that must be cleaned in the game. You can easily spend an evening cleaning somebody else’s home for them, and then look back and think that you could have spent the limited time you have for relaxation and entertainment more wisely.

If the game’s story, characters, and research aspect sound really appealing to you, then go ahead and give the game a try – there is some intriguing gameplay under the incomplete covers. For anyone else, though, I’d recommend that you use your real-world Google skills to find another adventure game to play.

It’s nice to see some bonus content and it’s great just to have more Back 4 Blood content overall, but this first DLC feels lackluster. The Ridden Hives literally feel like content that should have been in the game in the first place or been added with a free update. The new characters and new items are easily the best part of the DLC. Hopefully the upcoming DLC will be a better than this one. Tunnels of Terror is not totally bad, but it’s not exactly fantastic.

Trek to Yomi’s opening chapter really builds expectation for what will follow, but what does follow doesn’t live up to that promise. It’s a gorgeous game to watch, but the gameplay simply falls short of matching the quality of the visuals.

Overall, the game does not have much to it. It tries its best to achieve the randomness of a David Lynch movie, but just like his movies, you either love it or hate it. With me, I do not like Paratopic very much, but I do see where a person might be interested in it and give it a few playthroughs. One playthrough was enough for me and I was done after that. There are a total of 20 achievements to gain and I only got 10 of them on my first playthrough. The game roughly last around 40 minutes to an hour. There is no way to save and the game warns you of this from the start. The game is an interesting try for the curious, but be forewarned that you’ll only play it a few times before shelving it most likely.

Big Bang Pro Wrestling is fun to look at and admire for its controls and many other factors, but it isn’t very fun to play.

The game starts off as a novelty, but the pinball gameplay soon dissolves into a mass of explosions and zombies.

Battlefield has had some shaky launches in the past, and there’s no reason not to think that things will eventually be smoothed over in Battlefield 2042 over time. However, Battlefield 2042 is also weighed down by design issues and missing features. You’re going to want to wait on this one, and even then give some thought to skipping this iteration in the series.

The game has tons of items to unlock and an overall good amount of stuff to do, but all of this really falls flat when the gameplay gets so repetitive. No matter what mode you play, there isn’t much gameplay variety outside of the standard gameplay mechanics. You don’t have the options that you get in the usual WWE 2K yearly release and it all wears thin fast and becomes a chore to play. The game is honestly fun at first, but it just doesn’t hold up well in the long run. I honestly prefer WWE 2K20 over Battlegrounds and that’s saying a lot with all the problems that game had.

You can certainly have fun with Madden NFL 2022, but overall the changes over 2021 feel incremental at best and show more potential than they actually deliver. My wish list for 2023 would be an NFL game that gets me as pumped-up to play it as I feel on game day, one that has an AI that actually reacts and adapts to my play-calling, and one that has animations as fluid as the real thing.

Mayhem Brawler is a decent beat’em up, but everything it does, Streets or Rage 4 does better. It’s a decent alternative to SoR4, if you’re bored with that game, but it just doesn’t have the replay value or the fluid controls that you’ll find in SoR4. It could be an interesting try for beat’em up fans, but I highly suggest that you try it before you buy it. From the trailers, the game looks fantastic, but once I started to play it, the control flaw was obvious as I continued to play. Even though bosses, can be frustrating, they can be overcome with patience, but some of them can surely get very cheap no matter what exploits you find.

Although the game can be found on home consoles, it’s really a better fit for the phone and Switch platforms that it also appears on. It was fun at first to treat the game as a sort of gaming digestif, enjoyed after an evening of shooting things in other games to wind down peacefully before bed. However, the inventory bloat and crafting complexity quickly began eating into the relaxation time as more and more time was spent sorting through quests, recipes, and inventory to figure out which items you needed to collect that night. Soon, relaxing with Cozy Grove simply becomes too much work.

Jay and Silent Bob: Mall Brawl is a decent beat’em but it takes a lot of patience to truly enjoy.

The ease of play combined with a relatively small map and short story means that you’ll get through the game in a few short hours. You’ll be acutely aware of the map’s relatively small size since it will have you doing a fair amount of backtracking during your quests. It seems like the game’s length is more likely the result of some sort of constraint felt by the developers, budgetary or otherwise, because there is enough to the game’s world, story, and potential side narratives to provide for a longer experience. Your time with the game will be mostly enjoyable, but you will feel that your experience was cut artificially short when you reach the end.

The game has a few jump scares here and there, but you hear the loud noise before you even see the actual scare. There were times where I didn’t know what the game was trying to show me – all I knew was that I got the jump scare noise and that I just “witnessed” a jump scare. The game does seem to have some secrets which could encourage a replay. For a budget title, the game is actually decent. Overall, it’s a 50/50 chance whether you’ll like this game or not. If the game was more expensive, it would be easier to lay down a lower score, but with its current price point and the fact that I stuck with it all the way through, it’s actually a decent title for the price.

The game is a total mixed bag, but most of the bad parts are brought on by the performance issues from being on Nintendo Switch. It just seems like the game wasn’t fully optimized well for the system. If you plan on playing the game portable, you may not notice the problems as much, but the framerate still got to me at times, even in portable mode. Overall, Silver Chains is a decent survival horror game, but I’d recommend another version unless you plan on playing in portable mode all the time.

Heart of the Forest is a decent visual novel but not long enough to make much of an impact for the series.

I enjoy the challenge of rogue-like games, but Gods Will Fall feels more frustrating than it does challenging. The game’s design really stacks things against you, to the point where it just doesn’t seem worth the effort. You’re better off seeking challenging gameplay entertainment elsewhere.

The Medium is a decent psychological horror from the start, but it’s rather hollow when it comes to gameplay.

If you’re a diehard fan of Tormented Fathers, you’ll likely be the only type of gamer that will enjoy Broken Porcelain.

If you can’t wait to get your hands on Jump Force and you only own a Switch this version is nearly just as good as the other versions. It’s actually impressive that the game didn’t have any dropped content to make it to Switch, but it all seems intact. I would think many Switch owners would play this game in handheld mode, so you most likely won’t even notice that much of a difference in the overall graphics compared to the other systems. The game is nearly no different from the other versions except for a few framerate and graphics issues that are often in Switch ports.

Crysis Remastered has issues like texture pop-ins and getting stuck under jetties. However, its graphical overhaul makes it like a flower with thorns - prickly but beautiful.

The game clocks in at around 4-5 hours long total. It has a total of 4 acts with many stages in each act. The game can be played locally with up to 3 others players. I didn’t get a chance to try it with another player, but it definitely looks more fun with a partner. Sadly, there is no online co-op option. The game can rarely be fun, but overall I found it quite dull for the most part. The game is a mixture of dull and frustration. I really wanted to like this game, but at the end of the day, I just don’t.

I enjoy going online and taking on other players, but for me playing Sunday’s games during the week leading up to them, and replaying games to change their disappointing real-world outcomes, has always been a big part of the enjoyment of the game. Running the same handful of plays over and over again just takes a lot of the fun out of that. Madden NFL 21 feels like it's more interested in running out the clock than it is in going for the extra yard.

Windbound’s direction blows in the wind. It wants to be a relaxing seafaring simulator, an unforgiving survival struggle, and a haunting tribal tale all at once. As such, you will have a polarizing experience depending on what you look for - and this is a mixed bag. But, even if you want to give up after going in circles or dying of hunger, the colors and stunning vistas you shall witness will surely sweep you away.

The updated version of Destroy All Humans certainly looks a lot better than the original did on two-generation old hardware, but it really needed the gameplay to be updated as well. Artificial challenge created by horde-tactic mobs of enemies, a clunky skills and weapons system, repetitive gameplay, and claustrophobic open world levels all work against the graphics to really show the game's age. The game's premise still holds up today, so it's a shame that the gameplay was left stuck in the past.

What Happened isn't totally bad, but the gameplay makes it a real chore to play. If you're a fan of a decent story, you might find something to like here, but if you're planning on actually enjoying the gameplay in between the story, it's not that fun.

I have a hard time recommending the game to the types of gamers who would find The Academy appealing from its description. Adventure gamers looking for a Harry Potter experience will be disappointed in how bland the world of The Academy is. Puzzle gamers will be disappointed in the overall quality and challenge of the puzzles. And Professor Layton fans, well, maybe The Academy will give them an even greater appreciation for how well-designed the Professor Layton games are.

While I appreciate the effort and skill that went into creating a game that throws back to an era that I miss dearly, Star Horizon simply misses the mark. The core of the game - the aiming and shooting - just isn't up to par. Your ship moving at the pace of a mail truck in a crowded neighborhood doesn't help either. While technically competent and somewhat well-written, Star Horizon just doesn't live up to the games it is meant to celebrate, though if there was a Star Horizon 2 on the, um, horizon, I'd sign up for it. The ingredients of greatness are all here, but a sequel with reworked systems could really, really sing.

As much as I loved every part of Profane, the whole "time" thing really killed the entire experience. The bosses are truly memorable encounters, the graphics, story, music and gameplay are all excellent; but the "time" thing... it feels like watching anything past season 12 of The Simpsons. The spirit is there, and it is amusing, but something just doesn't work. In the case of The Simpsons, we don't really know what happened; in Profane's case, we know it was being a slave to the clock that took a great thing and killed it, in this reviewer's eyes at least. There is no doubt that Profane is a good, if not great game, and for a certain subset of audiences, it will be a speed run, ultra-difficult sensation. This reviewer, however, is on to less frustrating experiences.

If you enjoy a good story in your games, In Other Waters will deliver that to you, but you'll need to be patient with its slow-pacing and the fact that you'll be spending so much time looking at little icons and lining them up with other icons and lines. It's not that far off from a walking simulator, but the interesting visuals of those types of games will only come from your mind's eye. In Other Waters is a niche game, and by now you should know whether or not you fit in that niche. If you're intrigued, by all means give the game a try, you won't be disappointed by the story that it delivers. If it all seems like a lot of effort to slowly read a book on your Switch, though, you're best off spending your time in other games.

Despite some weak single-player filler, Runbow's player base deserves a new lease of life. With its delightfully flamboyant art style and randomized maps, the game can provide a firm package with its local multiplayer mayhem. Picking your favorite indie hero and fighting for victory in 4-player local tournaments is a genuinely good time. Overall, Runbow is a quirky amalgamation of brawling, platforming, and racing that should aid your search for quality couch competition.

As much as I wanted to love Warlocks 2, the combat just is so sloppy, so clumsy and so - frankly - impossible that all the stuff the game does splendidly, it almost doesn't matter. Tons of characters, a funny story, great graphics and sound... none of it can escape the crushing weight of the just plain bad combat. QubicGames will forever have a soft spot in my heart, but this is definitely a misfire in their expansive catalogue. Skip this one; get Rekt instead.

RemiLore is a cute hack-and-slash for kids and adults alike. Its procedurally generated dungeons and enemies serve as a good grind. And with 213 weapons and several costumes to unlock, the game made me embrace my inner collector spirit. While its weak story and overall shallowness cannot be overlooked, those looking to mess around with the gameplay modifiers, couch co-op mode, and vast array of weapons will be satisfied.

Moons of Madness is an overall decent cosmic horror for hardcore survival horror fans.

By the end of the game, it's easy to tell that there was a lot of love put into this game for the overall concept and story alone. Even with all the flaws, it's still a game that I enjoy deep down, but I cannot deny all the annoyances that I had in trying to stay focused on completing it.

There's some fun to be had with Mokoko's Qix-style gameplay, but that fun won't last for very long.

Close to the Sun is decent, but I can't help but feel that the game could been so much more. The overall atmosphere and especially the sound is fantastic! If you're looking for a game with a decent engaging story, you might like this one, but don't play it expecting the next Outlast or Bioshock.

While it has a great atmosphere to match its title, Dark Devotion is brought down too much by its flaws.

If you want to play Overwatch, the Switch shouldn't be your first platform of choice, and if you're looking for a way to play Overwatch on the go, you're still going to be limited to high-speed access points. Imprecise controls and graphical slowdowns are other issues that you'll need to contend with, but at its core the games is still a fun team-based shooter, and if the Switch is your only option to play it you will probably have fun with it overall.

Even with all the game bugs in WWE 2K20, there is still a decent wrestling game underneath.

You can almost view WARSAW as a game in the mold of Oregon Trail, a game in which the difficulty in succeeding brings home the lesson of how difficult it was for the people who actually had to live through those times. It's hard to recommend the game to anyone except those looking for a brutal challenge or those with an interest in the historical event represented by the game.

If the super long title doesn't stress it enough, Friday the 13th: The Game Ultimate Slasher Edition is the definitive version of the game.

The game's technical issues and inventory system bring it down heavily. Without the flaws, it's a decent survival horror game, but nothing that stands out that well. If you're a hardcore survival horror player, Submersed might be a game to consider (a guilty pleasure), but for those that want a quality survival horror, look elsewhere.

Youngblood starts off great, but fails to keep that momentum going. The level-locked missions and daily grind required to level-up and advance just don't work with a Wolfenstein game, especially since it lacks all of the social and gear upgrade aspects of the online shooters it is trying to emulate. This also makes the game stretch out it its already thin story to the point where you'll barely notice it's there. Youngblood is a rare misfire for the Wolfenstein series, and you won't miss much if you sit this one out.

Sea of Solitude certainly has a unique look and feel to it, but the novelty alone is not enough to carry the game. Your enjoyment of it will come down to how much you connect to Kay and her story because the gameplay alone will not be enough to compel you to play until the end. Even if you're just in it for the story, there are times when that story will also feel like a slog, especially when you face the monsters that represent Kay's endlessly bickering parents. The game is certainly an unusual experience, but it will probably leave you wishing that it was a more compelling one.

Layers of Fear 2 has a great horror atmosphere, but the game falls flat when it comes to gameplay.

If you're a fan of puzzles, you might find something to enjoy later in the game, but for fans of survival horror gameplay, the atmosphere is decent, but the overall gameplay is rather dull.

MXGP Pro is not bad. I really think a player that enjoys racing simulators might find something to enjoy with it. If I could get past its extreme learning curve for first time players, I bet I could have a lot of fun with it. It's hard to have fun with a game when you can't even beat the first track on any single player mode when all the other racers leave you in the dust (or dirt and mud) however.

Even with One Piece: World Seeker's problems it can be fun to play once you get into the main story missions. The cutscenes are entertaining and the game has good character dialogue. It starts to get more interesting once more characters are introduced. Fans of the One Piece franchise will most likely enjoy the game for what it is much more than I did, but I don't see how you can ignore the gameplay flaws. The game really needs more options for exploration and more to do in its environments.

The almost nonsensical story and some poor mission design aside, you can have some fun with Ace Combat 7. It will take some patience to get through the sequences with poorly defined objectives, but you'll have fun with the action-packed aerial combat and enjoy testing your skills against other players in the multiplayer mode.

A game with a lot of potential that was released before it was ready.

It's nice that many games include achievements and support online multiplayer and leaderboards, but if you're not having much fun with the games, what's the point? Atari Flashback Classics would have been a stronger collection if it had fewer games and more effort could have been put into making them play as well as the originals. As it stands, though, this collection is strictly for the hardcore gaming classicist.

Jump Force celebrates 50 years of Shonen Jump with an overall rushed game that could have been so much more.

When you get down to it, Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum Session is a two-button rhythm game with an obscure soundtrack. It certainly has a lot of personality, but there's just not enough to the game to hold your interest once the novelty wears off. Perhaps it would be different if you had the opportunity to play it with a drum controller, but we're not being given the opportunity to find that out for ourselves.

While PUBG delivers the core gameplay of the battle royale genre, it doesn't manage to do it with the sophistication of competing battle royale games on the PS4. It looks and plays like an alpha build of a game that's focusing on getting the basics worked out without worrying about optimization or graphical polish. It's also a threadbare offering, giving you a single game mode while games like Black Ops 4 and Battlefield V give you a whole lot more game modes beyond their battle royale modes. PUBG may have come first to the genre on other platforms, but its PS4 debut feels like a game that the world has long ago passed by.

Just Cause 4 has some enjoyable moments when you're playing around with the grappling hook to create explosive mayhem or experiencing the weather events, but the problem is that outside of this there's a lot of repetition and hamstrung gameplay that make the game feel like a grind.