Overwatch's strongest aspect is how it manages to constantly teach you something new. Each match reveals another detail you might have previously ignored--the audio cue that signals McCree's lethal Deadeye attack; the sound a stalwart Bastion makes when entering its dangerous turret form. Playing Overwatch is a digging process, and finding new layers is part of what makes it special. It's not impressive that Overwatch tries so many different things--it's outstanding that it succeeds in every attempt.

If you've never experienced God of War Ragnarok, then there's a strong chance this port will satisfy you after the extended wait. It's just a pity it's not flawless as the extra time might have you expecting. [Unscored PC Version update]

All in all, I'm enjoying playing Mass Effect 1 again, something I never thought I'd say (I find the original game's combat too frustrating). I'm eager to get back to it, and see how the Legendary Edition may have changed Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 as well. [Review in Progress]

As it stands, Splatoon 3 is a wildly inventive story campaign paired with a massive amount of multiplayer modes and options, making it the most robust Splatoon game so far. I need more time to put the multiplayer modes through their paces, but the foundation appears strong. [Review in Progress; Provisional Score = 70]

Bearing in mind what's still to come, 30XX is nonetheless off to an excellent start. It's already a thoroughly enjoyable homage to the likes of Mega Man or Turrican, with tight controls and polished character design securing the foundation and a roadmap to version 1.0 promising a steady supply of new content. I wouldn't hesitate to start your run now, no matter what the Bureau of Encouragement might say to the contrary. [Early Access Provisional Score = 70]

Almost 50 hours in, I finally feel like I'm playing Dragon Quest 7 proper; I have access to job classes, the main story is kicking into gear, and I've located a casino where I can try my luck at a few mini games while I continue my adventure. I'm wary after so many hours of repetitive questing and simple combat, but it's motivating to see signs of good things to come.

Knockout Kings 2001 is more of a hitting simulation than a boxing simulation, which is a complete turnoff for die-hard boxing fans who want realism.

As the MK3 arcade cabinet once said, there is no knowledge that is not power. With everything Digital Eclipse packed into the collection, there's a lot of power to be had. [Review in Progress; Provisional Score = 90]

While the additional content is certainly welcomed, there's so much already here that you'd be forgiven assuming the game wasn't in Early Access. The core pillars that prop up its distinct premise are sound enough that playing through Fights in Tight Spaces tickles all the right strategy parts of the brain, providing satisfying victories when you've thought out your options just right. The additional development time afforded by Early Access could help smooth out some of the rough edges, making the future of this tactical deck-builder one to look out for. [Early Access Score = 70]

With an uninteresting world and dull combat, the survival horror game ZombiU is a weak link in the Wii U's launch lineup.

While this all may sound like a great value, every single one of the ports is incredibly poor, resulting in nothing but disappointment for anyone looking to replay any of these classic games.

If you had a mandate for all of the things a No More Heroes game shouldn't be, "boring" would be near the top of the list, but this sequel frequently is just that. No More Heroes 3 lacks the irreverent charm and personality of its predecessors. Combat picks up the slack, and there's a degree of vivid style to be found there, but the game falters in so many other areas. After an 11-year wait, maybe No More Heroes 3 was always destined to fall short of our expectations. But to end without so much as a touchdown is a mighty disappointment.

A shallow reimagining of the classic adventure that fails to justify its existence in the modern era.

Of course, every moment of Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection feels like it could be someone's breaking point. That's the series' legacy: the feeling it champions. If you have a strong nostalgia for these games and whatever feelings they inspired in you, it is a faithful homage. And Capcom deserves credit, to a point, for recreating a game that can stand shoulder to shoulder with Ghosts 'n Goblins, and Ghouls 'n Ghosts, as peers in excruciating gameplay. As entertainment, though, it is an artifact of a time long-past that I'm happy to remember, rather than return to.

Aegis Defenders is disappointing because it had potential, and I still think that potential exists. There is satisfaction to be found in setting up its towers and combining them in interesting ways to make bigger and better turrets. And its loop of exploring, defending, and upgrading is alluring. But the game never meets your expectations. Whether it's the nonsensical narrative, the frustrating combat, the numerous bugs, or the simplistic platforming, Aegis Defenders stumbles more often than it excels.

Series faithful might stumble through for the sake of story, and perhaps to appreciate those few moments that recall when Resident Evil was at its peak glory. But this long, poor sequel is the ultimate test of patience for even the most dedicated.

Game-crushing bugs overshadow the turn-based tactical goodness Eador: Masters of the Broken World offers.

Has absolutely no significance for anyone but hard-core Bust-A-Move completists.

The Dreamcast version's graphical flaws manage to wreck anything the game has going for it, leaving behind an ugly, unplayable mess.

Worse than the technical shortcomings, off-the-mark combat, and terrible omissions from the roster, Yuke's failure to capture the heart of WWE makes WWE 2K16 such a disappointment. The modern WWE is overflowing with talent. The series’ inability to deliver on the magic of WWE's characters and athletes, beyond number crunching and subpar combat, indicates that this series is still far from being able to relive the magic of the squared circle inside your living room.

Even if the technical hiccups get fixed in a patch, though, the Wonderful 101 doesn’t stand the test of time. Remastered or not, I constantly felt like there were missing steps or if I was figuring things out too slowly to keep up with the hyperactive story and its multifaceted gameplay. What’s more, the transition to the Switch, even with its touchscreen capabilities has only exacerbated the game’s core problems. There’s a great concept and the good combat mechanics we know Platinum can achieve in there, but you’ll need a lot of patience to find them.

The new content in this World in Conflict expansion is short and not so sweet.

Neither a groundbreaking VR experience nor a strong dungeon crawler, The Mage's Tale ultimately squanders its potential. It offers a couple of high points--some jokes do hit their marks from time to time--but there are so many problems, and there’s so little of substance to drive the experience forward, that The Mage's Tale feels more like a shallow experiment than a reason to get excited about VR.

Frequent and infrequent players alike should avoid it, for no amount of narrative sincerity makes up for this exercise in mechanical frustration.

Simple and forgettable.

While the game re-creates what we played in the 1990s, misty water-colored memories of hours spent with Eye of the Beholder are not enough to fix numerous design miscues, performance problems, and bugs. This is a tough sell to all but the most dedicated and patient retro fan.

Obviously, a game-breaking bug is a serious problem, but I was tired of Bridge Constructor Portal long before my progress was abruptly halted. This game falls short in just about every area; an amusing story or eye-catching visual design could have at least distracted from the dull puzzles, but you get no reprieve here.

Plot is more of a protracted errand through drab, gray streets that are a chore to navigate.

Aggravating combat overwhelms the elements that could have made Sorcery enjoyable.

The most egregious problem with Hell Yeah is that it's not fun to play. A slew of shallow ideas thrown into one game do not make for a worthwhile experience.

Jet Set Radio was interesting in the year 2000, but the game needed more than a fresh coat of paint to make its awkward design worth revisiting.

The restrictive saves and unbalanced combat combine to make much of Scorn's adventure a frustrating slog, betraying the initial promising opening hours that emphasize puzzle-solving and atmosphere above everything else. Even with the disappointing smaller puzzles, the overarching ones that are the centerpieces of each act are satisfying to slowly put together, but not captivating enough to distract from the brutally unfair challenges along the way. There's simply too much in Scorn that works to push you away from it rather than pull you deeper into it, making even its relatively brief adventure a difficult one to suggest you give your time to.

Though Storyteller's premise might be creative, its repetitive puzzles and lack of challenge quickly make the game feel stale.

The core ideas are full of promise, but there's no follow-through. What ought to be a cheeky, charming celebration of a delightfully furry woodland creature is instead too rote, too dry, a neat idea undone by a lack of imagination. The only thing left to say is, well… nuts to that.

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. offers the most frustrating kind of steampunk: It brushes up against potent themes, but then turns its back on them in favor of pure aestheticization.

Losing progress in a roguelike is meant to entice you to hop back in with new accessories to change your next run, but Genesis Alpha One doesn't have the mechanics in place to make these variations interesting enough to experiment with.

As it stands, Ashes of the Singularity feels like little more than a tech demo of Stardock's new Oxide engine.

I could go on and on, but Mirrorverse is stuffed with predatory tactics like this. They shred any remaining desire to further explore what is truly a bold and unique take on the Disney universe, which is a real shame. I'd hoped these Guardian versions of the Disney characters I'd grown up with would get more time to shine and show off their new abilities. Instead, I got buried in resources and currencies, which relegated these amazing heroes to posing on the menu screens, and the result is a big disappointment. I'm looking into the Mirrorverse, but I don't like the reflection.

The quick-and-dirty port does everything the DC and PS2 releases did--meaning it looks good for a Dreamcast game but pretty awful when compared with anything else released on the GameCube so far.

On paper, then, Ride 2 is an exciting proposition that bundles the promises of aspirational game design with the raw power and fun associated with motorbikes. Unfortunately, those promises are broken and the resulting game falls flat. Unless you're so enamoured with two-wheeled machines that you simply can't help but pick yourself up a copy, you should wait for a new contender to try its hand at delivering a biking game of this scope.

These flashes of satisfaction aren't enough to hold up a game that’s mediocre at best and vexing at worst. Together with a host of minor annoyances, they add up to a long, dull stint with a bad game from a great franchise that deserves far better treatment.

This isn't the same Silhouette Mirage that debuted on the Saturn nearly three years ago, however - the game has somehow transformed from a delightfully quirky platforming romp into an average, unbalanced, and tedious exercise meant for "hard-core gamers."

Its lack of survival depth and inclination to only reward time served instead of clever play saps whatever life it might have had to give.

WrestleQuest has the right tools to make for a memorable wrestling RPG experience, with its quirky characters, vibrant atmosphere, and countless references. Unfortunately, though, its over-reliance on a rote combat system, poorly paced narrative, and issues under the hood make for a frustrating experience. Far from being Mr. Perfect, it is, instead, the Genesis of McGillicutty.

Remasters, ports, and remakes are nice because they make games more accessible to new audiences, and the ones that excel understand that some features from the game’s era are antiquated and should be updated or removed. SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated flops like a fish out of water when it comes to this. It’s a game so focused on emulating and embellishing the original that it doesn’t know the parts of itself that are fun and the parts that aren’t. It lost sight of the basic elements that make a collectible platformer enjoyable. This game doesn’t promote curious or keen gameplay, the movement isn’t smooth, and gathering collectibles never feels rewarding. Ultimately, the game winds up being an unpleasant nostalgia trip that nobody should pack their bags for.

Ultimately, Conan Exiles is one of the most unsatisfying games I’ve ever played. Its crafting and resource systems may be dense enough that the ultra-patient could find something to enjoy here, but anyone else would likely walk away with their hands thrown up in defeat. The mind-numbing tedium of harvesting resources, woefully boring combat, and a slew of bugs left me feeling completely underwhelmed and unimpressed when it was all said and done.

World Racing 2 makes a couple of key improvements on its predecessor, but it's still a substandard effort.

An emphasis on style over substance defines Hell Yeah: Wrath of the Dead Rabbit, though unfortunately even the stylish aspects have serious problems.

There is no shortcut to boss doors, nor an opportunity to save outside them--you must traverse the preceding dungeon in its entirety again, which begins to disrupt and destroy the decent dungeon-crawling. As a result, despite the fact Snack World is initially most exciting when you're exploring the depths of its dungeons, that excitement is soon painfully wrenched into tedium. This phenomenon seems to permeate Snack World in its entirety: although it's exciting and captivating early on, each of its constituents become tedious before long, and all of its strengths are weathered away by repetition and a sense of feeling incomplete.

Its flaws are too numerous, and its strengths seldom manage to work in concert. The end result is more disappointing than it is entertaining, which is a real pity if it means another 25-year delay before someone takes the next crack at doing the concept justice.

There are a lot of neat ideas here, but none of them pan out. The game's creators clearly adore 4X strategy games in general, and Alpha Centauri specifically, is clear here, but Pandora: First Contact is not a proper tribute. I want to love Pandora, I really do, but nostalgia can't fix a game that doesn't work even at the most basic level.

If you have cherished memories of playing The Simpsons Arcade Game, keep holding on to them and ignore this port.

While leaving the quick save feature out may seem like a slight oversight, the reality is that it changes the game into a frustrating exercise in trial and error.

Scratches is dull, ugly, a bit short, and a perfect example of exactly why traditional adventure games have fallen out of favor.

While UFO: Aftershock improves on its predecessor in some ways, there's just far too much wrong with this copy of the classic X-COM alien-hunting strategy series to recommend it.

My overall impression after 25 hours is that Marvel's Avengers is a fun but flawed game with a lot of good ideas. It still feels as though the story campaign and the live-game missions are pretty divorced from one another, and I miss the moments when it was just me using my skills to take down a tough boss, rather than just watching as Taskmaster or Abomination get absolutely mobbed by me and three other superheroes. But there's a lot of depth in the combat Marvel's Avengers offers as you unlock more and more of a character's skill tree, and especially when you get a decent team that works together, there are quite a few opportunities to feel super.

What starts out as a simple but entertaining aerial jaunt quickly becomes monotonous and shallow, making it hard to justify its price tag.

The game itself isn't terrible, but unless you are absolutely aching to exercise the online capabilities of your Dreamcast, there is really no reason to pick up this game.

Simply, Ride 2 doesn't make a convincing case for more motorcycle games to be produced. Yes, it is a genre that is underrepresented in comparison to its car-based siblings, but the level of expected quality across racing games as a whole is so high that anything other than an outstanding release is impossible to recommend.

Many of the interesting concepts in T:A llose their appeal shortly after the umpteenth quest to help some tortured soul in town.

How far can cinematics get you when the gameplay sandwiched between them is so poorly paced, so utterly misconceived, so reliant on stick wriggles and button tapping? There's a place for contextual prompts and cinematic storytelling in video games, but Resident Evil 6 is a mishmash of elements put together without any sense of care or direction.

Questionable design choices aside, the problem with almost every aspect of The Godfather II is simply that it feels unfinished.

RtCW has always been a pretty uninteresting single-player game, and without solid multiplayer to cushion the blow, the PlayStation 2 version of the game is a real failure.

The body-swapping combat, RPG-like team of possessable people, the monster-hunting semi-paranormal narrative--they're all exciting until you engage with them a little, when they reveal themselves to be shallow and underdeveloped. The actual experience of playing Slitterhead is constant repetition of systems that aren't very engaging even their first time, across levels you'll see over and over again, telling a story that never makes much sense, with characters that feel like first-draft lists of stereotypes. Slitterhead has a lot of fascinating ideas and compelling gameplay on the surface, but beneath, it's just boring and banal--a bunch of scary-looking monsters who turn out not to be very scary at all.

Even as a longtime fan of the series who adored Kingdom Hearts 3, it's hard to muster up any sort of enthusiasm for Re:Mind. What's more, Re:Mind made me understand Kingdom Hearts 3's story even less, which is a testament to how bonkers it really is. It's not all that surprising this happened; after all, it's Kingdom Hearts. Nevertheless, Re:Mind is an incredibly peculiar expansion that simultaneously falls flat and partially obscures the brilliance of Kingdom Hearts 3.

While it's not a complete waste, Mercenaries is a disappointment, and it left me second-guessing my allies in war.

3 on 3 NHL Arcade is overpriced and annoying.

Tedious quests and little payoff make this Korean massively multiplayer online game a real grind.

Disney Universe isn't much of a Disney product--nor much of a game, either.

Memento Mori is a plodding adventure that makes the world of art forgeries and ancient mysteries seem dull.

Swansong ultimately has little to recommend it. Its writing is stilted, its storytelling muddled, and its puzzle design is mostly unimaginative. Sadly, there isn't even any kind of worthwhile payoff if you do manage to see it through to its conclusion. I reached a point where I was thinking I'd hit the close of the second act, and then the game ended. Just like this.

On paper, then, Ride 2 is an exciting proposition that bundles the promises of aspirational game design with the raw power and fun associated with motorbikes. Unfortunately, those promises are broken and the resulting game falls flat. Unless you're so enamoured with two-wheeled machines that you simply can't help but pick yourself up a copy, you should wait for a new contender to try its hand at delivering a biking game of this scope.

Bankshot Billiards 2 doesn't play a great game of pool, and as the most expensive Xbox Live Arcade game available, it represents lousy value for the money.

Nailing down my feelings on Pokemon Scarlet and Violet this past year has been difficult. In my review of the base game, I said it was one of "the best mainline Pokemon games in years," and 350 hours later, I still stand by that. Terastallization is the best battle gimmick the series has introduced to date, the open-world design fits nicely into the series' themes of exploration and discovery, and the competitive scene has been a thrill to follow and participate in. However, Scarlet and Violet's triumphant highs are still obscured by technical issues, and the same can be said for The Teal Mask. Scarlet and Violet's core issues still persist, but there's a lot to chew on here, both for hardcore competitive players and fans who want to see more of the Pokemon world. [Provisional Score = 70]

While the game does a lot of things right, severe graphical issues surface at almost every turn and essentially nullify its strong points, leaving behind a game with lots of untapped potential.

In Barrow Hill, nobody can hear you yawn.

Supreme Ruler 2020's steep learning curve and micromanagement will turn off all but the most fanatical strategy gamers.

Questionable design choices aside, the problem with almost every aspect of The Godfather II is simply that it feels unfinished.

The interface and poor control are bigger enemies than the game's Iraqi soldiers ever are, and in the end, this is a game you can surely live without.

Shallow, mindless hack-and-slash action makes this a crushingly tedious slog through an anachronistic version of 16th-century Japan.

Despite its attempts to add a unique spin to the genre, Daemonica is generally a tedious and unappealing adventure game.

Tetris Worlds does what countless iterations of the game haven't managed to do in the past--it actually breaks Tetris.

Excruciating difficulty makes this latest addition to the Desperados family one frustrating trip back to the Wild West.

Metal Wolf Chaos is an old game with a wild reputation, and though it lives up to it in some ways, it's not good in general. At best, it's a curio that helps inform the story of From Software's trajectory over the years. At worst, it's a frustratingly shallow experience that fails to capitalize on it's best qualities.

Stonefly takes flight in a fantastical world where you glide amongst giant trees, branches twisting improbable pirouettes in the sky. But the initial wonder soon sputters under frustrating combat design and runs aground against the mundane grind of its progression structure.

Ultimately, Conan Exiles is one of the most unsatisfying games I’ve ever played. Its crafting and resource systems may be dense enough that the ultra-patient could find something to enjoy here, but anyone else would likely walk away with their hands thrown up in defeat. The mind-numbing tedium of harvesting resources, woefully boring combat, and a slew of bugs left me feeling completely underwhelmed and unimpressed when it was all said and done.

The core ideas are full of promise, but there's no follow-through. What ought to be a cheeky, charming celebration of a delightfully furry woodland creature is instead too rote, too dry, a neat idea undone by a lack of imagination. The only thing left to say is, well… nuts to that.

Though Pop can be fun in short bursts, it isn't worth 700 Wii points ($7).

Akiba's Trip has a bizarre concept that might turn a few heads, but once you strip away the promiscuity, there's little left to keep your attention.

Gotham Knights acts as more of a cautionary tale than the logical next step for this storied universe. For a long time no one knew how to make a compelling Batman game, and then we got four of them in seven years. Taking what worked before while seeking to evolve it is admirable, but the obsession over loot is ill-conceived, cynical, and tasteless. It feels as though volume of content is given precedence over meaningful content, and for those that might enjoy the grind, the endgame's absence will be noticeable.

Mario's latest athletic endeavor lacks the sort of skillful competition that could have made for a compelling challenge.

Zany flair puts a bit of wind in its sails, but One Piece: Pirate Warriors is still a shallow, tedious game.

As it stands, investing in Ancestors' journey demands too much effort for too little reward.

The Phantom Fortress is full of lame minigames, occasional fights, and tons of repetition. Enter at your own risk.

It's hard to resent a game as unapologetically dweeby as The Sinking City. It's an old-fashioned, bookish mystery rooted in the mythology and mysteries of a pulpy, cult-favorite mid-century American novelist--an effort not without charm, to be sure. But no matter how fond your affection for H.P. Lovecraft and the idea of a wide-eyed, slow-burn literary adventure, the poor design, cliched writing, and lumbering pace make this far more tedious than delightful, let alone unsettling or terrifying.

A lesson in boredom. Without a jump command, the platforming elements are all but wasted, while the spell-flinging portions of the game are equally forgettable.

Its ideas reveal the game Kholat wanted to be, but its aspirations soar far higher than the game it became. What good is a mystery if you don't care about what it might tell you?

Its sci-fi galaxy is mostly abstracted, and its unit models are simple and blocky. It's not those issues that really put me off of Starships, but rather the way it seems to aspire to that narrow, dated idea of what makes a "good" mobile game. I can turn aside the quick and obvious assaults on PC sensibilities--the rough graphics, the lack of options--but it's the cynical design that guts me, in the end.