ECHO is a short-ish game though, clocking in around 8-10 hours, so it doesn’t quite overstay its welcome. It’s a slow burn, but when it gets going it doesn’t really let go. If you’re keen on tense stealth games, with a good sci-fi story, then look no further. ECHO is destined to be a cult hit like the movie Event Horizon, and that’s no small praise from me.

One of the best story-driven CRPGs of late and the year has not been shy of them.

Battle Chasers is a great game and great RPG. I love the rich characters and their background. The art style makes this whole experience beautiful. The story, while I have not completed it yet, has captured me and I can’t wait to see where it goes. I think anyone who enjoys RPGs will enjoy Battle Chasers.

All in all, I didn’t like Cuphead in the slightest. I fell in love with it. The charm and care they put into this game brings back a nostalgia I haven’t felt in many years. Not nostalgia for the 1930s, as I wasn’t born yet, and I’m not quite that old to have watched American Golden Age Cartoons, but nostalgia for the challenging feel-good types of games I played as a younger self. While the stark challenge might not be everyone’s cup of tea, and 1930s cartoony art styles might not appeal to today’s anime crowds, what StudioMDHR has created is nothing short of a masterpiece. If there was ever a game to take a chance on, this would be it. Leave your silverware at the door and pick up a cup, you won’t be disappointed.

If you own a Nintendo Switch, you want this game, period. I didn’t know I wanted this mashup, but now that we have it, I can’t wait for the DLC, and I definitely want sequels.

Warriors All-Stars adds a few fun new additions to the series, but ultimately falls short at making itself stand out for any reason other than the cast. It allows many of Koei Tecmo’s stars from multiple games to meet up and cause massive amounts of mayhem in the name of good, but adds no interesting mechanics or hooks outside of continuing to provide a great Musou experience.

Though XCOM 2 at large remains mostly unchanged, the addition of new factions, enemies, dynamic missions, and the boss-like Chosen augments and broadens the experience to a whole new degree.

I often found myself torn between pushing the main story forward and doing all the side activities, but the real tell was I just really enjoyed spending time in the game no matter what I was doing. The graphics, music, and game mechanics all work well together to provide many hours of delightful and fun entertainment.

On the Switch, in handheld mode, it plays marvelously, though I admit the chaotic action is a bit rough to follow on the smaller screens.

It lightens up on the story consequences from your actions and allows a much more liberated approach to your gameplay in which I found myself gleefully slaughtering guards more than creeping around corners.

Destiny 2 is an epic: a story with an ever expanding scale made greater by the heroes of whom the story is told with tragedy, struggle, and redemption. It is very fitting that the score to accompany it must be, too. And it is. There were moments that I had to put the controller down and simply listen, taking in the scope of what I was experiencing.

Personally, I am still not completely happy with how the gameplay feels.

While not an excellent game it is a solid fighter filed with some interesting Pokemon.

If you don’t care about playing online, don’t care about optional microtransactions, and can stand the ups and downs of bugs that will be patched, NBA 2K18 is the best basketball game of the year and probably of the past decade. It’s a shame that some polish and poor business choices weigh it down.

It’s beautiful, hard, and fun.

RUINER is a great game. It’s polished, offers a unique world and some solid combat mechanics. Although it doesn’t necessarily revolutionize the twin-stick shooter, RUINER’S attention to story, graceful and synergistic combat and pacing set it apart from many of its brethren. Fan of the genre or not, RUINER is a game to keep on your radar.

Beach Buggy Racing may be a winner on the mobile scene but on the Switch, it just doesn’t hold up.

An interesting, topical game that touches on some important issues with regard to our connected world and the impact it can have on young people. If you go into it knowing that you need to really be on top of the UI thing, you’ll find a good story that you’ll find yourself pondering over long after the game is finished.

The developers did a great job of updating a genre that has been buried by the sands of time. They took an old-school dungeon crawl, added a fresh coat of paint (no crappy 8-bit graphics here), dropped it into a fresh Steampunk setting, and added some modern mechanics while staying true to the genre. The story was well told, but it would have been better had it been as unique as the setting.

NeuroVoider is a great addition to the Switch, both providing a challenge for a single player while also being a great party game. The loot customization adds a hook to keep you playing and killing more monsters, while the procedural generation makes sure you always have new levels and loot to look for.

A very challenging hack and slash that will require quick adaptation, decisive accuracy, and a great patience with frequent death. The game is graphically pleasant and fun to play and even throws in a range of different tactics and mechanics. If you like hardcore challenges, this is definitely a game to try out.

Hob never loses momentum as you dive deeper and deeper into the game. It constantly rewards you by making the game easy to consume and feeling like you can go for just a little longer. As a result, this is one of the few games that I’ve ever had trouble putting down. The gorgeous artwork might draw you in but the content will not let you leave.