Oxenfree might just be a big next step for adventure games, particularly when it comes to the way it presents dialogue choices. Night School Studio has managed to execute an interactive story that treats player choice in a mature and subtle way. It’s an emotional experience with wonderful characters and great writing, and it’s one that masters its 70s and 80s influences.

I haven't played a game to completion twice in a single sitting since Portal 2, which should roughly hint at the quality of experience that awaits: It's short and sweet, with a decent cooperative multiplayer side-story for added value. And by "sweet," I mean you can hang a thug upside-down and rip their intestines out through their ass.

New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is a fun 2D Mario experience, but it doesn't stick with you the same way the franchise's classics do.

If you’re unsure if you’re ready for more Trials — but you loved the previous games — you’ll find plenty to love here. Just make sure to hold a conclave with your friends to agree on a platform.

It was an intense and memorable experience. The story had moving parts and characters who had very different reactions when put into the crucible of unjust warfare. I think it is very well done, but probably could have left some parts out.

Elite: Dangerous is unforgiving, obfuscating, and occasionally dull, but it’s always immersive and beautiful. It offers an incredible universe to explore that, despite occasional graphical repetition, offers the tantalising possibility of wonders yet unseen at the end of each new hyperspace jump.

Ascension isn’t a reinvention of God of War; it’s a refinement. It plays on its strengths – exciting combat, great visuals, and huge levels — even when those strengths might overshadow some of the new things it tries to accomplish (like adding emotional depth to its lead hero).

The choices I’ve made are sticking with me way more than any scene that HBO has aired.

Making people happy is such a rare goal in games, and to have one excel at the notion and the motivation for doing so is a doubly rare joy, although glaring missteps do keep it out of the center ring of adventure games.

While it's cool to see characters return and discover what's become of them since the last game, the plot feels like an unnecessary retread. The narrative takes a step back, especially when Black and White's story actually had me interested to see what would happen beyond the next gym badge.

Most of what this adventure does is refreshing and just plain charming — especially for its take-my-money-please $39.99 price. The title made me smile with its top-notch production value, radiant world, and phenomenal music.

The storytelling is done well, where you learn a little bit at a time about the characters, their background, and the larger context for things that are happening around them.

Like the celluloid explosion-and-exploitation fests that inspired it, Sleeping Dogs isn't about defying convention. It's about silly, stupendous entertainment.

It’s weird when you feel so unenthusiastic about a game that you know is “good.” This used to be a series that I would never miss. These days, I’d probably take a long break from The Show if I could.

Company of Heroes 2 builds on the formula and adds new mechanics with interesting gameplay ramifications. Unfortunately, Relic does a poor job of easing new players into the rules systems.

If you ever had any love for the originals, you’ll smile like an idiot seeing how good they look now.

Telltale has put together an incredible Game of Thrones story. I’ve said all along in my previous reviews that I am happier with this than the television show proper, and I stand by that. I still can’t wait for HBO’s next season to debut, but I’m far more interested in seeing what happens with this story.

Solving a homicide can be a lot of fun when it’s alongside an idiot clairvoyant, Lolita gambler, and psychotic robo-teddy bear (“Puhuhuhuhuhuhuhu!”). Countering contradictions with metaphorical lead is an amusing attempt to giving a courtroom a more action-packed edge, and it’s a strong enough mechanic to survive some frivolously tacked-on gameplay extensions and hazy road bumps in the translation.

Despite all the advances, Giants suffers from poor video quality and characters who jabber incessantly. Younger players might not notice, but new gamers coming to the franchise could find it grating to listen to the same line of dialogue over and over only to get a cheesy-looking cutscene as a reward for their patience.

The games themselves are still fantastic and have held up about as well as anything from the NES library. I just wish this was a more complete celebration of the Blue Bomber.

It’s a much bigger game than the original, giving you plenty of land to explore and tons of missions to beat. It feels so much different from your typical big-budget console game these days. It’s more of a comic book than an action movie, allowing players to delight in their own heroics. It’s one of the PlayStation 4’s most stunning and entertaining exclusives.

It’s a promising step toward those good intentions.

A frenetically fun, albeit flawed, experience set in a beloved universe — a sexy, slash-soaked side story worth playing for franchise fans and newcomers alike.

Pokémon: Let’s Go Pikachu is another good example of Nintendo doing what it both excels and fails at: pairing fun gameplay while introducing a new mechanic.

Children deserve massive, explorable worlds just as much as adults. It’s wonderful that TT Fusion took that concept and made a fully functioning and largely non-violent world without sacrificing action. You won’t miss firing guns or swinging lightsabers in Lego City — not when you’re scouring the landscape for super builds and smashing everything in sight.

If you strip away the Rauser parts and the catchy soundtrack, Luftrausers would still stand on its own because of its excellent gameplay. But those features add so much depth and excitement that they actually pushed me to become a better player.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is not all bad, it's just very bland. For a game that was in development for roughly seven years, the different gameplay systems don't seem all that well-thought-out. And perhaps the lengthy development also explains why Amalur brings absolutely nothing fresh to the table. It simply lacks its own identity.

If you ever enjoyed a Kirby game, you really should check this one out.