The storyline itself takes too long to wind up and feels a little milquetoast compared to the grand drama of previous installments. Syndicate is a good, solid game, one of the better in the series recently when it comes to its mechanics, with some nice surprises...It just contains a little too much filler, both in story and in side missions, to be truly great.

I'm surprised to see Sony celebrate the return of one of its few exclusive franchises with outdated visuals, watered-down content, obsolete gameplay, and a buffet of technical issues, yet that's exactly what this $60 retail package consists of, albeit with a smattering of fun to be had when things go right.

It certainly isn’t up to Pokémon’s level: while exploring is fun, combat is a passive, frustrating slog that keeps it from being as enjoyable as it should be. Perhaps younger players will find more appeal in the fighting, but in terms of being strong enough to carry a global brand, the core game of Yo-Kai Watch still needs improvement.

Super Mario Party’s new modes offer a welcome break from what some might consider the main attraction: the board game. They’re faster, and they focus on two of the Nintendo Switch’s strengths that make it such a special console in the first place — good Joy-Con motion controls and fun co-op play. For me, it makes this Super Mario Party the best in franchise history, even if I don’t care for the staid board game.

Somewhere in Paper Jam are trappings of a great game.

Divinity: Dragon Commander came out of nowhere to become one of my favorite games of the year. Swift, brutal dragon combat paired with large RTS battles works way better than I ever expected it to.

It’s pretty simple: If you enjoyed Wolfenstein: The New Order you’ll like Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, too.

Skylanders Superchargers is the most diverse and enjoyable entry in the series to date, but it also locks away a lot more of its fun content behind additional purchases.

Developer Clap Hanz has produced a thoroughly enjoyable and addictive game, filled with a simplicity that makes it accessible for players of all abilities.

Shadowrun Returns stumbles a bit in its effort to re-create on the PC the isometric RPG world gamers fell in love with on classic consoles, but it redeems itself by providing players with a seemingly infinite toolbox to craft their own adventures.

Far Cry Primal shows us that gaming still has plenty of interesting worlds to take us to. Its Stone Age setting really is its best quality. Sadly, the series’ formula is beginning to feel familiar and, frankly, a little dull. The first-person combat is tedious, and I think I’ve cleared out enough enemy camps for one lifetime.

I actually enjoyed arcade mode much more than the story, and that is the main reason why users can have hours and hours of fun with this game.

Yes, I wish it had more levels and less town-building, but Super Mario Run manages to feel like real Mario game even with only one button. It’s great to see that Nintendo is able to do so much with such a simple idea that most iOS users can easily pick up and enjoy...I just wish there was more of it.

I really like Game of Thrones on HBO, but I’m enamored with this game. Something about having ownership of character decisions in a fantasy story that lives up to the legend of George R.R. Martin is incredible.

The patient build-up of plant defenses is almost entirely absent, and the zombies act just like competent human soldiers. Although Garden Warfare has some charm, most of it is borrowed from the original games.

This is a game I expect to go back to regularly throughout the life of the Switch. But when I do, it probably won’t be for the multiplayer. Those modes are fine, but cooperative play adds a bit too much stress. But as a classic WarioWare, Get It Together shines.

I don’t think it’s as good as last year’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which was so disturbing and thoughtful and had an excellent and long single-player campaign.

While the industry seems to have moved on from both the PlayStation 3 and traditional role-playing games, Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea is good enough to bring players back.

Hyrule Warriors has little in common with a traditional Zelda game. You don’t solve any puzzles, you don’t explore any dungeons, and you certainly don’t break into anyone’s house and destroy all of their pottery. Still, it definitely works as a spin-off that focuses almost entirely on action.

It’s nice to get back to basics with ShootMania Storm and recall a time when we played for the joy of playing...And while the creation tools offer a potential for unlimited greatness, the truth is that ShootMania is fun today.

Paper Mario Color Splash isn’t frustration-free, but compared to the Mario platforming games Color Splash is light and refreshing, an opportunity to have an adventure with Mario and his friends that doesn’t require lightning-quick reflexes and high frustration tolerance. You’d better be ready for some cringe worthy puns, however.

I actually enjoyed the story in Origins more than the wildly implausible (even by comic book standards) Arkham City, but my fun was constantly interrupted by bugs and questionable design decisions. While this is arguably still the third-best Batman game ever made, WB Games Montréal unfortunately dropped the high bar set by Rocksteady down a few notches.

A game that knows its roots but is willing to try something new as well. It takes the darker aspects of Spirited Away — because, let’s be honest, it’s kind of terrifying to see your parents transform into animals and then find yourself whisked away to another world with no way home — and explores them. And it does so with a lot of style.

ColdWood has succeeded in a handful of bold ways with Unravel. It is showing EA the value in smaller, quieter games. It also feels like another fresh take on the side-scrolling platformer. And while Unravel drove me mad a couple of times, I was mostly thrilled by its wonder and adventure.

Nostalgic WWE enthusiasts will love the enormous roster of modern and classic superstars, and the 30 Years of Wrestlemania mode is the most entertaining single-player campaign the series has seen.

In Rock Band VR, you sound like a cover band that sounds like a cover band, which isn’t nearly as satisfying unless you’re enamored enough with the VR technology and experience to not care what the song sounds like as long as you’re having fun.

This Lara Croft memoir ends in a good way, and I’ll miss this version of Lara more than any of them.

Watch Dogs 2 doesn’t do much new. Just like it’s predecessor, underneath all that fancy hacking you’ll find a similar experience to other city-based open world games, including Grand Theft Auto. But at least this time, the adventure is a fun one. The new, light-hearted tone and its likable cast of characters are a good fit for this series.

The visuals remain entrancing, the music is as powerful today as when it was released, and the task of clearing baddies from webs continues to be challenging. If you can look past the roughest levels, you’ll find this to be a fun and highly memorable game. Here’s hoping Llamasoft gives it a little post-release polish so it can become a modern classic, just like Tempest 2000.

I love Mario Tennis Aces so far -- even though I have some issues with its single-player content.

Though lacking polish from a mechanics standpoint, it nevertheless presents an awesomely addicting cornucopia of exploration, epic combat, and loot-chasing for hours upon hours of fun.

I can overlook a lot because of Paper Mario's charm. I really enjoyed a lot of it in spite of it committing the terrible sin of wasting my time.

You should definitely try Hohokum if only to understand how weird and hard to describe it is. But not everyone will appreciate its laid-back attitude and guidance allergy. It’s certainly a beautiful and unique title, and I enjoyed playing it, but bring along some extra patience just in case.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is a demo being sold as a bargain-priced game. While the Metal Gear franchise is renowned for having exceptional game teasers, the idea of selling one of them at this price is absurd. The unsatisfying, unlockable content is painfully obvious filler. Not enough moments of gameplay or narrative consequence happen in the main mission to justify a price above $10, let alone the $20-$30 range.

Dated graphics and a hopeless multiplayer section damage its overall appeal, but fans of the Tropico series and its competitors won’t be disappointed by the newest offering.

I wished the story was longer and the game had more things to do besides capturing things in a hole. But the story was lighthearted and the gameplay was fun. If you don’t have high expectations, I think you’ll find Donut County is a nice diversion.

As cute and clever as its creatures are, the puzzles just aren't deep or interesting enough. Still, I don't dislike Bugsnax.

Chapter 1 of this five-part series is off to a promising, if timid, start. It presents a lot of ideas and mechanics just to show you what you’ll be doing later, but it’s pretty clear that the really interesting bits are yet to come.

No other game has made me feel more like an actual participant in a legitimate Star Wars battle. I don’t know if I’ll ever get sick of that feeling I get when I take down a TIE Fighter, and I doubt that chill I get when I hear the main theme play as I run across a crowded battlefield will ever go away.

Grow Home is a better experiment than a game.

Record Keeper isn’t offensive. It can sometimes be a little fun. But it’s not incredibly engaging.

Ghostwire: Tokyo is not a bad game. I was interested enough to stick with it and engage with as much of it as possible. If you have more patience for open-world exploration and tedious collectable-finding than I do, then you might get more out of it. I didn’t go into detail about this, but the story is decent and well-told, and that counts for something. This game is also bursting with visual flavor and interest, the kind of which you won’t find elsewhere. But the majority of the game is spent in that open-world formula. Clear fog, gather items and souls, turn in for XP and money, do sidequests and tasks for that area. It’s all in the service of filling a percentage bar, and it just gets boring after a while. No matter how pretty or interesting the surroundings were, once I got well and truly stuck in the rut, I honestly stopped noticing.

This isn’t the best Picross game. The original Picross for DS is still better. Picross 3D (also for the DS), which has you solving logic puzzles in three dimensions, is way better...But this is still a fine game. And, if you enjoy Picross but don’t put it on a pedestal like I do, you may find some more enjoyment from the Pokémon elements than I did.

It doesn’t pander to the player like a child, taking a long time to reach a modicum of difficulty. It’s under the impression that we’re here for a challenge and provides just that for us. Fairly, that is, so that the only one to blame for our violent rage quits are ourselves.

Sly Cooper: Thieves is Time is a fantastic addition to the series and a great entry point for newcomers. Most of my gripes are minor, but the aggressive load times present the biggest detriment to the game, and the need for a PS Vita might irritate anyone who wants to collect everything these time periods have to offer. The rest is just a few hiccups in history, but they shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the latest chapter in the Cooper story.

It doesn’t rely on stereotypes or tropes to find easy answers, and it could be a source of comfort to those who can empathize with these problems. That’s why I liked the tale. It treats all of its characters with a kindness and empathy that unsheathes their complexities.

I loved my time in the Aegean. The game has its flaws, and I gamed those flaws to find an easier way to victory. But I hope the team can patch the economic systems — or at least explain them — so that it makes more sense. I don’t think they can do anything about the sea battles except to say that this game didn’t have that big a budget. I would also have liked to have some staged battles that laid out the events of The Iliad or the sacking of Troy in a narrative path. But the game can provide fans of the series with many hours of fun. And that’s no small achievement.

Sorcerer King offers a nice strategic balance, and the feeling of carving a swath through a landscape already dominated by your enemy gives the game a fun, challenging feel.

I’m blown away by how well thought out the base design in Dead or Alive 5: Last Round is.

Evoland II may not offer the most amazing gameplay of any title you pick up this year, but its charm, writing, and storyline will keep you entertained and playing on through all the genres and graphical styles it represents. It’s a mashup on a grand scale — and a successful one — bringing together many of the elements that make us love all those games individually.

Yes, the Metroidvania space is becoming crowded with great games, but Sundered fits in with the best of them.

In Sheep’s Clothing continues on the brutal and downright insane path that Smoke and Mirrors began. It’s a little on the short side, but Telltale uses the time to maximum effect through heightened drama and expansion of the game’s world and society. It’ll leave you excited for the final episode and angry that you can’t play it immediately after finishing this one.

It’s not a starfigter game in the line of X-Wing or Colony Wars that I’ve longed for on modern consoles, but it’s fun, and it has potential. I just wish its controls were a bit more user-friendly.

Kingdom has solid ideas that get lost in its own simplicity. It’s a little too conceptual, and I found that it had a hard time holding my attention after a few in-game days. It has a whole kingdom out there to explore, but it just isn’t varied or interesting enough to warrant the type of commitment it ask of the player.

Insurgency is going to win fans for its gameplay. The action is highly competitive and focused. It brings me about as close to a real gunfight as I’ll likely ever want to get.

I guess the best accolade I can give this game so far is that it’s another Far Cry game, and it’s a good one at that. It’s nice to see the return of the player character’s actual character. The villain is monstrous yet complex. Things explode. But it’s probably going to feel like a drag for far longer than it should, both in gameplay and in the story.

I love the idea of Where the Water Tastes Like Wine. It has a lot of personality, and several days after I finished it, I was still humming some of the songs to myself. However, it’s impeded by a few gameplay quirks, like how tedious it is to move around. And most of all, I’m still very disappointed by how I wasn’t able to see the final chapter through to the end.

I'm a fan of more King's Bounty, yet the magic is missing with this latest expansion. The Viking faction isn't as fun to play as other groups. The tweaks to combat, though, give players more tactical options, something any player of a strategy-RPG can appreciate.

It’s just so easy to pick up and get lost in for a few hours at a time. You can credit Techland for that success because it picked a few ideas and really got them right.

It’s like a free game, and not an awful one. But when you judge on its own, it’s novelty quickly becomes tedious.

Some corners were cut in terms overall production values and the gameplay may be too watered down for fans of more technical fighters, but if you're still on the fence about Naruto, this is the game that will make it or break it for you.

It’s content to give you a solid, lasting sense of satisfaction from pushing buttons in the right order and hearing some good music.

The game's cast and gameplay are just as inventive as they were in the past, and I had trouble controlling that "one more match" urge while playing. The content available is comparable to most modern games, and this should be required playing for any fan of the genre.

It feels like the Gentlebros were having a blast making this game. After beating the boss, there are plenty of other side quests to go on if you’d like, and the generous save system makes it possible to play it for just a little while and then put it down. Cat Quest doesn’t reinvent the RPG genre. Instead it just does it well, with some cute cats to boot.

The lack of polish in some areas and questionable design decisions in others can overshadow Tokyo Jungle's moments of brilliance. As I finished the story, however, I realized I couldn't stop smiling: It knows how absurd it is, but it doesn't care. The developers takes the ridiculous concept and runs with it all the way, mainstream tastes be damned. That's something you really have to admire.

The story just doesn’t live up to the exhilarating gameplay, and a weak, unresolved ending gives a poor final impression. Thankfully, the game can re-enter your good graces once you’re done with the plot, and you can just spend hours running across rooftops for fun. The occasional death-inducing fall will frustrate you, but Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst’s first-person platforming feels so good when it works that you won’t easily give up.

This game offers a potential for endless hours of fun...We all expected a knock-off, but this fighter has an identity that's completely unique.

Most of all, it’s ambitious. Mobile games and music games both tend to get short shrift when it comes to emotional narrative arcs. Lost in Harmony commits to one, and does its best to bring that through in level design, musical selections, and even small details like costume picks.

It may have its flaws, but Neverwinter is highly enjoyable and accessible to veteran, beginner, and casual players alike.

After nine successful titles (though No. 3 was pretty weak), Activision has finally delivered a Call of Duty game that is a disappointment for me. I’ll play it. I’ll enjoy the multiplayer. But I thought that the multiplayer modes for Black Ops II were great. I don’t know why Infinity Ward couldn’t borrow more from those modes and just build upon them.

Killzone: Shadow Fall is a pretty game, gorgeous even. But the demand for moments to punctuate trailers or demos forced a sacrifice of story that it never quite recovers from. The OWL will find its place in history as one of the few controller-based mechanics to actually entertain, while the time spent in free fall may make players actually consider a plummet-related death.

United Front Games has done a phenomenal job of re-creating the look and feel of the Craftworld while applying its kart racing expertise with imaginative tracks and responsive controls. And the Create mode is nothing short of stunning, even if I don't have the patience for it. Depending on how the community of players respond, it might be the only kart racing game you'll ever need.

Bethesda went the extra mile to tweak existing quests in order to fully integrate the experience, and their effort shows. The constant treks across Skyrim do get a bit old after a while, but the wealth of new powers, information, and intrigue you'll find along the way more than makes up for the long walks.

This is a good installment, but the stutter in combat makes me wonder if it’s as polished as it should be. The game has crashed on me sometimes during Blitz modes in particular, with a lot of players. But overall it held up tremendously well in multiplayer as I fought my way to the first Prestige level and got through it with a 0.84 kill/death ratio. In fact, the more I played the more I enjoyed multiplayer.

It’s good to see Nintendo flexing the strength of its back catalog. NES Remix was a nice start, and NES Remix 2 is an improvement. Plenty of people, including me, love this era of gaming, and this game does a good job of capitalizing on that.

Basically, if you were a fan of Canvas Curse, there’s no reason to think you won’t enjoy this sequel. A little bit of the uniqueness is gone, but this is still a fun twist on the traditional sidescroller.

Questionable game design choices and some irritating bugs just overpowered the storytelling for me.

Its levels are predictable, the puzzles are obvious, and the four-player co-op adds little besides the literal ability to have four people playing at the same time.

Tri Force Heroes is a lot of fun when you’re playing with friends, but make sure you have two buddies who can dedicate some time. The experience just isn’t as engaging when you’re alone, and you lose a lot of the social elements when you play with strangers over the Internet.

Smoke and Mirrors has plenty to like, but it doesn’t quite live up to its impressive prequel. I miss the first part’s abundance of action sequences, but the dialogue and storytelling are still among the best around. And I would still like to turn off those annoying notifications.

I had a lot of fun playing Strike Vector. It’s a good game held back by frustrating glitches and a lack of polish.

Island-hopping in a fantasy world felt new to me, and this builds upon the already engaging strategy that exits in Warlock.

If you love Destiny, Rise of Iron gives you enough new content to keep you invested and interested Bungie’s online shooter. But for more casual players like me, you won’t find anything here to really excite you. It’s just more. It’s all at the quality you’d expect, but little of it breaks through as exciting, creative, or daring.

Technical issues already dampened its prospects since its debut, and long matchmaking times are only compounding the problem. But with rock solid mechanics and genuinely interesting ideas behind it, 5th Cell's innovative shooter still has a fighting chance of bouncing back.

I wish I could say that Dead Island 2 came out a big winner after such a long development cycle. But it’s not Game of the Year material. It’s not even what I would call a great zombie game — there are many that do story or even gameplay better. But Dead Island 2 is solid. It is competent, and it is fun. If you want some uncomplicated zombie-slaying antics in a beautiful setting, Dead Island 2 will scratch that itch. But I don’t expect anyone to still be talking about it this time next year.

It succeeds most as a tribute to Marvel. Its giant roster offers a great variety of heroes. And while the gameplay is simple, it can still be satisfying with some cool cinematic moments and boss fights that I won’t spoil for you here. I think most people know what they’re going to get with this one: a simple Marvel-themed beat-’em-up game. Just don’t expect anything more than that.

Unfortunately, the weird pricing structure and noticeable depth of features holds back the screaming, rage-filled “Powerthirst” of fighting games from really making a statement. It’s no Street Fighter competitor this time around, but it’s good enough to measure up against the rest.

Artistically, it's uninspired. But mechanically, it's one of the best shooters I've played in years.

Act 1 was just an appetizer. Act 2 is the meaty main course that defines Broken Age — and not just because it finishes the story. It’s where Double Fine let loose and went crazy with the puzzles (and the complex train of thought you need to solve them).

Fe stumbles at times, in part because of its sometimes elusive camera. But it’s memorable and beautiful, worthwhile simply for diving into an alien world and letting it carry you away with its sometimes adorable, sometimes breathtaking creatures.

Anarchy Reigns tries to be many things, but what kills it is that it is too often the one thing it never should be: boring.

And while the graphics are better than the games made for prior generations, I believe that Supermassive has to do some major upgrades that eliminate latency, improve the movement, and still reach an even better level of graphics realism. I’m looking forward to more entries in this series. If I think of The Dark Pictures Anthology by itself, I believe this series is getting better with time.

But the reason that I so unreservedly love this take on Game of Thrones is because it also has a great story that acts as a canvas for you to express these characters upon. And like any great story, I’m looking forward to the final chapter with mixed emotions because I don’t want this to end.

Castlevania isn’t brutish — it is a test of your agility and your willingness to overcome nearly impossible odds. Mirror of Fate really wants to dazzle you with clever puzzles and name dropping fan-favorite characters, but it can’t emulate the soul of the series.

Dead Rising 4 is like a digital stress ball. It can be cathartic to let loose and kill thousands of zombies whenever you want, but it doesn’t have much else going for it, even with the charming Christmas setting and a compelling multiplayer mode. If you’re a diehard Dead Rising fan, you might get more out of the story than I did. Like the characters mentioned earlier, the narrative is not very interesting and mostly served as a way to push me to different parts of the map.

Bringing such an interesting, varied, and challenging game to consoles was a great move by Square Enix for the franchise. It’s more Final Fantasy than any recent Final Fantasy game.

It's a cute, easy-to-play, innovative brawler presented with humor and a well-developed sense of fun. It's even more fun played through with a partner or two, and though the vs. multiplayer isn't to my taste, I'm sure many gamers will like it.

When it works, Loadout hooks you in with its deep weapon-crafting system and frantic battles where everyone is trying out their own crazy creations. And to its credit, Edge of Reality has shown incredible resilience in responding to the server problems so quickly. But Loadout isn’t worth playing until it solves them.