Firewatch is special and rare...It tackles mature subjects, but it isn’t just telling a story. It is using the medium of gaming to say something to the player. Maybe that was especially effective for me because I’ve avoided asking myself the questions that Firewatch poses. But I think it’s important that a developer can wield this kind of power, and I want more of it.

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.

It has more than enough to satisfy the hungriest RPG fans: fun exploration, in-depth combat, and a scope that will keep players engaged for a very long time.

Some life-long players of the franchise may not feel like Explorers has enough Final Fantasy for them. It has a lot — and lets you customize much of it along the way — but it just doesn’t have that “magic feeling” I get when playing a Final Fantasy and knowing that game’s world is at stake.

Games don’t have to be fun. They can have more value than that. And I’m not saying The Witness can’t be fun, but it’s just as often frustrating.

Somewhere in Paper Jam are trappings of a great game.

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.

Star Trek: Timelines offers a lot of fun for mega-fans of the franchise, but understand that you won’t get as much out of it as you would want unless you’re willing to spend some money. And, once you start, it can become hard to resist the temptation to drop another $5 for another chance to unlock a rare character or ship...Of course, I wouldn’t put up with any of that if the game wasn’t so much fun.

I commend ACE Team for trying to come up with something that’s authentic and clever. But the developer only got The Deadly Tower of Monsters halfway right. The excellent premise and likeable characters outshine the streamlined gameplay.

RE Zero is a great example of why old-school horror releases are beloved and special. With a few new technical upgrades, it has largely made a graceful return on current systems.

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.

How you feel about Tharsis probably depends on how you feel about board games, soul-crushing challenges, and shorter gaming experiences. If you love tabletop games, repeatedly dying while learning, or heavily micro-managing resources, Tharsis is a worthwhile way to spend an evening.

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

Magic: The Gathering fans will be surprised to see how much of that card game’s mechanics remain intact in this match-3 version, and even casual mobile fans who have never played the original can appreciate Puzzle Quest’s added depth to the formula. You’ll even get a lot out of it without spending any real money, although the thirst for more cards will definitely tempt you.

Guns Up! will look familiar to a lot of players through its similarities to Clash of Clans. But, it has enough going for it to be unique and enjoyable. It is vastly more interactive than a lot of asynchronous multiplayer offerings that have proliferated on mobile, and it successfully brings some of the accessibility and simplicity of mobile games to the PS4 console.

I love that this game exists. It checks the boxes that it absolutely needs to hit. 60 frames per second? Yes. Cool look and sound? Definitely. A sensation of speed that doesn’t seem possible? For sure.

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.

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.

Though it’s technically a 9-year-old game, it feels far older, stuck in many of the conventions other RPGs from around the world have already moved past. If you have to see how the story ends, it’s worth seeing through, but everyone else should look for something else to spend this much time with.

It’s rare for a game to so ruthlessly and completely nail the altered reality games place us in the way Undertale does. Whether it’s the nameless NPCs you always meet in RPGs or the hundreds of mooks you mow down with gunfire in games like Uncharted, Undertale brilliantly demystifies these conventions and questions why games are still codified this way. But even outside of its ambitious themes, it proves to be a compact, perfectly paced RPG experience with hilarious, tense writing and endearing characters. That it succeeds so completely in its thematic approach on top of all that is what makes Undertale a truly essential experience.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is fun. I enjoyed my time with it — much more so than I did with Mario Tennis Open. It’s a step up over the last iteration in some areas, yet still it manages to be a lackluster entry in a series that seems to be sadly suffering from continual decline.

It’s a blatant attempt to get you to buy more Amiibo, and it’s not even a good one at that.

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.

If you have no other recourse, then getting the iOS version of Guitar Hero Live might be for you. But even then you may want to reconsider.

The Wii U version of Rodea is simultaneously a game with a lot of charm and one that’s difficult to love as much as you want to. When Rodea works and all of its gears are cranking along smoothly, it’s an exhilarating joy to play. But everything can come crashing down at any time: an enemy encounter reliant on overly finicky aiming or a misplaced attack that sends you careening into the abyss can sour the sense of wonder in a flash...Rodea’s high points are lofty indeed, but the experience as a whole has too many pitfalls to be wondrous.

I’ve spent around 50 hours playing between the console and PC versions, and I don’t feel like I’m anywhere near quitting...And that’s what we want from Fallout, right? A world we can dive into completely and spend days exploring. Well, if that’s what you come to Bethesda products for, you’re going to get it here.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is an epic adventure, and it’s a story well told and well played.

Call of Duty: Black Ops III is a big step forward on multiplayer play, the quality of the single-player story, the imaginative story paths, and the outstanding quality of the wide-open landscapes, and the wide variety of enemies. I suspect that Activision has a very good chance of restoring the series to record levels in comparison to the last couple of years.