Both games stand the test of time and are worth the admittedly significant time investment, even if you don't hold a deep-rooted, nostalgic association to the original releases.

If you've played Diablo III before and found that it wasn't for you, the changes Reaper of Souls makes to the game won't be far-reaching enough to change your mind. Reaper gives those who already liked Diablo III more of what they already liked about it.

Some strained metaphors and connections aside, the cities of Rapture and Columbia make for strange but comfortable bedfellows in BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea - Episode 2. More importantly, Elizabeth's journey is tense and rewarding on its own terms, and is one that makes Rapture as mysterious as it was the first time you ventured inside.

There are a lot of interesting gameplay ideas to experiment with, which makes the fact that so many of them are barely explained in-game incredibly frustrating.

Smite is a godsend for the MOBA genre, with the heart of its gameplay proving that innovation to the war plan for tower siege games is possible. With just a few changes to what other games have delivered before, Smite manages to feel like a brand-new game.

Dragons and Titans is a mere shadow of other, richer MOBAs, and while its significantly shorter average game time may give it some initial appeal, that appeal comes at the cost of almost any enjoyment of the time invested.

For all of the elements in which Second Son excels, the narrative fails to carry its share of the weight. Still, don't become mired in the negativity as Delsin so often does. Instead, just laugh at the cheesy dialogue and chortle at how extreme the morality system is. Second Son is a great game that knows exactly what it is, and sucks you in with its unfiltered fun.

If any developer's good at weeding out the chaff of more robust games in a particular genre, surely it's Blizzard.

What is here is big, it's often silly, and it's sometimes unwieldy, but it's rarely anything less than engaging thanks to some great execution on tried-and-tested ideas. It's Phoenix, however, in his element in this magical world, that well and truly steals the show.

The act of flight feels natural, and the next high score is always so close that it's easy to spend hours saying, "Just one more try." It may be a simple package on the surface, but Luftrausers will have you taking to the skies again and again.

Ninja Gaiden Z is crass and stupid but rarely funny. It's mean and dumb but never witty or subversive.

Every so often, 8-year-old me--the part of me that thinks that asking everyone what word starts with "f" and ends in "u-c-k" is funny--got a kick out of Yaiba's exploits. Most of the time, however, I could only wish that Ninja Gaiden Z's striking art style had been applied to a better canvas.

It may be a simple package on the surface, but Luftrausers will have you taking to the skies again and again.

After the credits roll on the main mission and a handful of side activities unlock, the best part of Ground Zeroes is just getting started. With a dearth of secrets to find, and new challenges to master, chasing the endgame will keep you entertained for hours on end.

Though it's unusual for everything to take place in a single location, there's so much to do and see, and whether you take a stealthy or head-on approach, infiltrating Camp Omega is a thrilling experience that shouldn't be missed.

Here again, there's humor and occasional pathos to be found in The Yawhg's brevity, but it's just not very moving to be told that you were a strong leader, or that you never found love, in as many words.

The PC version boasts sharper visual effects and higher resolutions, as you might expect, and both control schemes (mouse/keyboard and Xbox 360 controller) work flawlessly.)

Nintendo last explored this franchise in 2006 with Yoshi's Island DS, and though that game had its own problems, it also had an identity. By introducing new babies with different abilities, it provided a fun and unpredictable sequel to the Super Nintendo original. Yoshi's New Island has no such identity.

What ultimately sinks Battle of Z isn't the little fan nitpicks, it's just ill-conceived design as a whole. It's certainly not the worst DBZ game ever released, but if there's ever been a statement that's damning with faint praise, that would be it.

It's a confused, overly chaotic mission-based action game that tries to recreate the team-based camaraderie oft seen in its source material, but more often than not falls flat on its face.

The challenging mix of real-time strategy base management and tower-defense strategy found in this slick-looking indie shooter packs serious heat.

It has fixed a lot of the critical problems from the first entry (most notably that abhorrent save system), and the writing is leaps and bounds better here, making Dragonfall the first game that truly capitalizes on this incredible universe's great potential.

Death is so very beautiful in this game, for it comes at the hands of amazing beasts and warmongers: hulking armored knights, shimmering otherworldly invaders, and tendrils that rise out of black pools of poison.

I may not have yet unveiled all there is to know about this beastly game, even after 80 hours of play, but I do know this: I will be adventuring through Drangleic for many months to come, sure to be haunted nightly by the disturbing gazes of the faceless titans that tenderize my flesh with their two-ton hammers.

The overarching experience of playing Titanfall is one of rejuvenation and reinvigoration. The sprint speed, the arsenal, the game modes, and more are all firmly derived from some of the most successful online shooters of recent years. But by reinventing the way you move, Titanfall reinvents what it feels like to play a competitive shooter.

It’s a delightfully frantic game that rewards quick wits and strategy above mastering complex controls, and truly shines when you have three friends in arm’s reach to pit those talents against.

With a few friends, Towerfall Ascension is a fantastic multiplayer game that offers a ton of variations on its enjoyable archery combat. Just make sure those friends can join you on the couch.

NaissanceE is not a horror game. Yet the hairs on the back of my neck were at attention for most of the 10 hours I spent in its world.

With A House Divided, season two of The Walking Dead is up and shambling. While the first episode was too perfunctory in how it set the stage and got everything into motion, you can now see both the story and the characters taking shape and evolving. This slow-burn approach should continue to pay dividends as the saga matures in future episodes.

The bleakness is so overbearing, in fact, that A House Divided steps perilously close to monotony. Every kindness is rewarded with brutality.

While the first episode was too perfunctory in how it set the stage and got everything into motion, you can now see both the story and the characters taking shape and evolving. This slow-burn approach should continue to pay dividends as the saga matures in future episodes.

Does the phrase "anal beads" make you giggle? Have you daydreamed of tossing poop at the people you hate? Then you know where you can shove The Stick of Truth: right into your console's disc drive.

South Park: The Stick of Truth is not the second coming of role-playing games, so if you come seeking Jesus, you'll be disappointed by the veritable second-rate televangelist you find in His place. But it's as funny as the merry tune of Stratford, and more enjoyable than Butters' favorite game, Hello Kitty: Island Adventure.

Basement Crawl is buggy at worst and unfinished at best.

The strategic large-scale tank battles pair with a deep progression system to give everything a greater purpose and deliver a real winning combo.

PC players finally have access to a proper port of the game. It may be showing its age, but Resident Evil 4 HD stands as the best version available. There is about 30 hours of content in this edition, which runs for a reasonable $20.

Banished reinforces the human drama with its brutal difficulty and negative feedback loops. It's fertile soil for some of the most remarkable emergent storytelling around.

Rambo: The Video Game does a solid job of breaking potential monotony with various alternate battle methods.

Lords of Shadow 2 should have been a much shorter game. Still, though the game's stealth sections and drab modern settings represent the worst elements of the three-part saga, the tail end of the game contains the best of every aspect that the series is currently known for.

While the unlockables fit right in with the whimsical spirit of the Plants vs. Zombies franchise, you're left feeling like Garden Warfare needed a little something more to make it a meal rather than a side salad. Still, it's that rare shooter whose world and characters might put a smile on your face, making it a refreshing entry in a genre that usually takes itself really seriously.

Whether you are new to the series or cut your teeth on Thief's particular brand of stealth when it was still novel, I'd wager your feelings will waver as often as mine did. The Thief-franchise-inspired Dishonored waves the stealth flag far more confidently than this reboot does. Garrett is not yet on his way out, but he's been shown the door.

As Thief seesawed up and down, my enjoyment of it followed suit. Each time I thought I might fall in love, the game doused my passions with a new annoyance.

Such is the turbulent nature of Thief, a clunky, intriguing, slapdash, atmospheric stealth game that leashes you to its inconsistencies and gives you no choice but to submit to its whims.

Multiplayer aside, Dustforce remains a delightful platformer that is both soothing and stressful.

This is the video game equivalent of a mindless and enjoyable popcorn flick, not a captivating epic. Even if the shallow action can't sustain the game for its entire length, EDF 2025 is committed enough to its vision of cheesy, B-movie-flavored destruction to be fun for a while, particularly with a few friends in tow.

It's all dime-store philosophy, but it's still a philosophy, and I credit Journal for a valiant attempt to say something, even if the message comes out tangled up in the end.

Horizon has some stellar ideas, and a good half of them are executed well.

Sure, its similarities to the competition are undeniable, but Omega Force has crafted a Monster Hunter clone that generally stands on its own. While it could have felt like a shameless rip-off with a few half-baked features grafted on for good measure, Toukiden manages to organically weave its defining elements--purification and mitama--into the genre's comfortably familiar fabric.

While his world is a little drab there’s still plenty to explore even after the job is done. Strider is fun, pure and simple, and serves as a fitting revival of a classic video game hero.

From the moment you embark on your journey right up until the final deathblow, Strider is a blast to play. Controlling this agile ninja feels empowering right out of the gate, and each new upgrade brings with it an enjoyable new way to engage your foes.

The flawed, nihilistic, trap-building simulator that resulted isn't worth a look. In the whole of the game, only one metaphor hit home for me. Sometimes when you manage to reach another person's vault, you find it empty, pillaged by a previous robber. There's nothing to take away, and all the time and effort you've put into the endeavor has been wasted.

If the regular levels were as inventive as the boss battles, then Tropical Freeze would be a surefire hit, or at least a game that demands more of your attention. No matter how much I was looking forward to seeing DK in HD, it's difficult to maintain that enthusiasm when the end product plays it so safe: even the visuals fail to make an impact. They're nice enough, but like the level design, the environments are mostly bland.

Despite the occasional frustration of visual pollution, all the aspects of TxK come together to make it a wonderful merger of what made an arcade classic fun and what makes modern twitch-based games enthralling.

An excellent addition that gives further insight into the chilling world of The Last of Us and its most interesting character.

Outlast's few weak moments are overshadowed by the effectiveness with which it so often gets inside your head and scares the hell out of you.

Quirky humor and an abundance of outrageous antics keep things buoyant through much of the short but flawed journey. Jazzpunk is an enthusiastic attempt to answer the question of just how much weirdness you can possibly cram into a few hours of gaming. In that endeavor, at least, it's a great achievement.

It's crude and blunt, and its name may not turn many heads, but underneath its blood-soaked surface lies immense potential. It is also free-to-play, so there's no reason not to leap in and bask in the chaotic frenzy with your personally crafted weapon in hand.

In essence, this is a standalone experience for Star Wars fans looking for a raucous thrill ride without all the massively multiplayer thrills. The Old Republic has needed this missing piece for some time now, and now that it has arrived, it's time to be the Jedi or Sith you've always wanted to be.

Danganronpa is an excellent adventure with a story that celebrates the human spirit, even during the darkest times, and that optimistic viewpoint made me smile even when everything seemed to be going wrong.

The promising schemata system and grandiose cutscenes are solid pillars from which a great RPG could have been constructed, but Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII falls well short of greatness.

It's a collection of ideas and concepts that don't come together in a coherent way, led by a character who has shown no identifiable growth since her first appearance four years ago.

While not everything is awesome, The Lego Movie Videogame should be just the ticket if you're ready to spend another 10 to 12 hours in the fantastic world of animated plastic blocks.

There's a substantive quality to the game's core combat and visuals, even if the rest remains somewhat clumsy.

Fable isn't quite timeless, but its genial mood is infectious, and I'm happy that Fable Anniversary kept my fond memories intact.

Smoke and Mirrors feels like a necessary bridge spanning the impactful first episode and the events portrayed in the episode three preview that concludes this episode. It smolders more than it burns, though in some sense, that's an appropriate trajectory for Bigby's ongoing investigation.

Unfortunately, Dadliest Catch is just an inconsistent, intermittently hilarious trifle, and not the game this terrific character deserves.

Rekoil suffers from game-breaking glitches that range from aggravating to completely bewildering.

It's a chore to name a single feature or idea in Echo Prime that most experienced players haven't already encountered elsewhere, in a better game.

Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 suffers from attempting to cover far too much ground for the core mechanics to handle.

Intense tactical encounters filled with firefights and flying bodies prove thrilling enough to make it easy to look beyond Insurgency's less impressive visual design. The team dynamic and unique squad system inject something different into the mix too, offering match after match of absorbing cooperative killing that proves good looks aren't everything.

The exquisite visual design is so breathtaking that I continually found myself staring at the scenery instead of pushing onward. Tomb Raider is a great reinvention of this enduring franchise that made me eager to see where Lara goes in her future.

What's most remarkable about Tomb Raider is how its many elements so perfectly complement each other, so that no matter which activity you're currently engaged in, you're fully invested.

If nostalgia drives you to visit this particular kingdom, you'll not likely regret the time spend there. If your good old days weren't brimming with games of this nature, it's more difficult to appreciate the take-no-prisoners challenge and overlook the limitations.

The time and care it put into those cinematics is obvious, so it's disappointing that the gameplay and its bugs--issues that existed in the Vita version--didn't receive the same level of attention.

I still recommend Assassin's Creed: Liberation for fans of the series, but it's hardly worth revisiting if you've completed the Vita version.

It's a wonderful arcade experience that not only demands both precision and speed, but has the tight controls necessary to make both possible.

If you seek horror, The Cat Lady may sometimes freak you out, though probably not outright scare you. But that horror is in service of a touching character portrait--a portrait that's authentically, poignantly askew.

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.

The quality of Blackguards' story is generally good enough to justify tinkering with different choices to see how they lead to different outcomes. But make no mistake: this is a game aimed at the hardcore crowd seeking a good struggle above all else, and on that front, it mostly delivers.

Man, is Consortium glitchy.

If you have friends nearby, this is some of the most fun you can have stabbing them through the heart.

On the PS4, it remains a frustrating, fascinating, and beautifully grim experience that controls nicely and packs the same absorbing punch as the original.

It's a challenge, to be sure, but so is crossing the Sahara. The desert might even give more back.

The most disappointing part of Dr. Luigi is that it doesn't give the Dr. Mario formula that shot in the arm it needs to feel magical again.

Broken Age's world may be fun to explore, but don't get too comfortable. Just as you fall into a steady groove with its story and puzzles, the game ends. Thankfully, the ending provides some resolution while also leaving you excited for the second act.

If you've exhausted Steam's survival horror library, Dementium II HD will scratch your genre itch. Unfortunately, that itch has already been rubbed raw by much better games.

The Banner Saga is a beautiful game, filled with interesting ideas and enjoyable battles. It's too bad the story gets entangled within its own winding web, but this chilly journey does a fine job of reminding you that being a respectable leader is about more than just giving rousing speeches and schmoozing with the high and mighty.

Driftmoon is much like a classic fairytale story, overflowing with charisma and heart. The game takes a modest approach in its systems, but shines with clever writing and memorable characters. Whatever flavor of RPG you enjoy, Driftmoon is a delectable treat, particularly if you tend to shy away from the genre's typically complex gourmet meals.

Continue's commentary on mortality, existence, and what is truly important in our lives will persist long after you put the game away. It is a pity the actual game supporting this evaluation isn't as rich as the subject matter it addresses.

Its action isn't as sharp as its artfulness, yet Ballpoint Universe Infinite is too exuberant to ignore.

Terraria is a perfect fit on the Vita. Playing this adventure on a handheld is a huge bonus to a game that was already incredibly well made.

It's hard to fault the developer's intentions, and I appreciate the game's tranquil color palette and its pensive atmosphere. In a different context, 9.03m might have been a lovely trifle--but the lives snuffed out in 2011, and the survivors that mourn them, deserve more than just a trifle.

Violett is quiet and unassuming, but it steadily weaves a tale about childhood fears and desires with which we are all too familiar. Despite its surreal setting, it has a very personal touch that grounds it.

Max: The Curse of Brotherhood benefits immensely from attractive art design, and that is supplemented by a variety of puzzles that are initially quite satisfying before finally wearing out their welcome near the end. Consider taking the plunge if you're itching to dive into another pretty platformer, but otherwise you're probably better off waiting for a different curse to come along.

The limitation on cooperative play is the game's biggest disappointment, so here's hoping that Microsoft Studios has more multiplayer levels in mind for possible downloadable content.

Flow has adapted well to the PS4 ecosystem and holds up remarkably well, though it is neither as serene as Flower or as touching as Journey.

No matter what your level of enthusiasm for the X series is, do your best to escape the pull of Rebirth's gravity. It's only bound to cause a fatal crash.

Seven bucks is a steep price to pay for what amounts to a shake-up of the original adventure, although to its credit, it delivers a satisfyingly harrowing experience for players who didn't find sufficient challenges the first time around.