De Blob 2 has an infectious feel-good vibe, but some frustrations cramp this platformer's funky style.

The on-field action is as exciting as ever, but off-the-field problems drag NCAA Football 12 down to the turf.

With a few more weapon types and vehicles that actually worked, Section 8 could have been a lot more exciting. As it is, this is a satisfying take on the genre that makes up in fun what it lacks in innovation.

Appropriately dreamlike with its narrative that shifts from one strange moment to the next, Silence bounds from powerful emotion to powerful emotion in its last couple of hours, and there's a sense here that these are the feelings that developer Daedalic wanted to stir the first time around.

Older audiences probably won't be engaged by it, but Ty 2 should be easily appreciated by juvenile platformer fans.

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.

Like some of the ghosts in The Sixth Sense, Elena's spectral aides are in desperate need of closure.

If you can stand to look at a lesser version of Doom's once captivating world, you'll find that the game plays well enough on Switch so long as you've got a TV in front of you and a Pro Controller in hand. There's nothing else like it on a portable system, but be prepared to face a handful of compromises, especially if you're used to playing on other platforms. It's an impressive port that begs you to consider gameplay over graphics, and it succeeds more often than not.

Fear The Spotlight is far from the scariest game you could play this Halloween season, but what may be read as a detriment for some is instead its best quality for others. With classically designed but more contained puzzles and combat-free monster encounters, it's a game that utilizes genre touchstones in manners meant to onboard new and/or younger players. Mechanically, it's simple, and the story doesn't come together until you've unlocked and finished the second campaign, but its combination of old and new horror-game design elements makes it a creepy and clever introduction to what is my favorite genre, and what may prove to be yours, too.

An unapologetic homage to beloved Japanese RPGs that plays well but takes few risks.

An action adventure game that absolutely permeates with potential, but Galleon just didn't come together as a fully cohesive or entertaining experience.

An adorable city-building simulation with very light combat and alchemy elements, Atelier Annie isn't very difficult, but its' more engaging than the sum of its parts.

This somewhat scary sequel is a solid shooter, but it can't keep pace with its lauded predecessor.

Trials Rising maintains the engrossing, challenging, and occasionally slapstick gameplay from past entries in the series, building upon it in small ways with a smartly implemented school to teach fundamental skills and modifiers to make events worth revisiting. But it also doesn't fix issues from the past, either. Its track editor remains uninviting to learn, and the more outrageous stunt events and course obstacles frustratingly lean more into random luck than calculated skill. Trials Rising isn't a reinvention of the franchise--it's an invitation to lose more hours to new exhilarating, technical, and ridiculous Trials courses.

Master of Illusion is a neat way for kids to learn how to perform simple magic tricks.

These faults are frustrating, mainly because they waste time, but they don't completely deter from Steelrising's unexpected charm. You can be cynical about Spiders' brazen inspiration of other Souls-like games--yes, it's derivative, and it's all too easy to get hung up on the similarities--but once you look past resemblances and notice the differences, you'll see all of the ways in which Steelrising stands out. From the disparate parts that make up its satisfying combat, to the wonderful setting and worldbuilding that meshes dark fantasy with alternative French history, there's much to enjoy in what sets Steelrising apart from its peers. It's one of the better Souls-likes in a now-crowded genre.

The enjoyable and derivative The Splatters proves that slime can get just as physical as any angry avians you might know.

There's a lot of fun to be had here, and with classic Nintendo characters backing up the action, World Tour is a thoroughly charming game too. What a shame, then, that it lacks the cohesion and refinement to make those sometimes-brilliant moments easier to digest and access.

The First Templar draws you in with delightful visuals and rhythmic combat, but technical foibles can lessen your fun.

Like the terrain if depicts, Far Cry 4 travels both high and low, representing the good, the bad, and ugly of video games all at once. It's awesome and messy and dumb and fun and annoying and gross and beautiful. Take any given adjective in your vocabulary, and chances are, it will in some way describe Far Cry 4.

With these changes, Massive Assault Network isn't so much a step forward as it is a step sideways--or even backward.

Though it features a few more annoying control restrictions than its console counterparts, it's still a solid platformer.

The PSP version of flOw doesn't add any new features, but it's well worth a look if you've never played any other version of the game.

Yet DC Universe Online tips its hand early on; in all too short a time, it stops offering any real surprises, remaining approachable but never wading too far from the shallow end of the pool.

Claws of Awaji is a difficult recommendation, but I do recommend it. The DLC wraps up the three lingering narrative threads of the main game's story, while transforming the main gameplay loop into a more enjoyable cat-and-mouse formula where the hunter becomes the hunted. Yasuke continues to drag this experience down, and is now impacting the emotional payoff of Naoe's story, but at least Naoe's shinobi fantasy is still one of the best Assassin's Creed experiences to date.

But this web-based adventure game is off to a promisingly frightening start. The Last Door is all the more engrossing for the ways in which its visuals encourage your own imagination to play a part in creating its horrors.

Because of its high production values, fans of the movie will undoubtedly enjoy this movie tie-in, but the epic scope of the adventure is hampered by the unoriginal gameplay.

It's when you circumvent Far Cry 4's major thematic flaws, inconsistent missions, and incessant nagging that you find the game you came looking for, breathing easy and enjoying the mountains that rise in the distance and the valleys that stretch beneath you.

Starfield has its moments, for sure. Its satisfying gunplay makes combat exciting, especially when it's integrated into setpieces within its better, more captivating questlines. And although limited in its conception of space exploration, there's a novelty in poking around the galaxy to see star systems up close and personal, and occasionally finding side content worth chasing. However, it struggles to deliver a cohesive and memorable RPG experience amid the seemingly boundless sea of stars. For all its reverence for scientific philosophy, its stories and characters paint a rather tame and sterile vision for what our spacefaring future could look like. When you strip Starfield down to its essentials, it relies on a tried-and-true, but well-tread formula while missing some of the depth of the games that came before it. Starfield is a game more concerned with quantity than quality, and leaves the experience at the surface level.

A forgettable comedy is actually a good table tennis game on the DS.

It offers an appealingly unique setting that makes it something more than a typical adventure game.

The beautiful visuals, fun battle arenas, and easy-to-grasp fighting gameplay of Dead or Alive 6 make for a brawler that packs a punch.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong feels very retro in certain respects. It's designed to be played in short bursts, which can feel anachronistic on a modern handheld hybrid that's perfectly suited for long play sessions. But it's also a throwback in the best ways, recapturing the clever aha moments of puzzle-platforming that made its predecessors so memorable, all while packing distinct visual improvements and quality-of-life tweaks that bring out its charm like never before.

Yet DC Universe Online tips its hand early on; in all too short a time, it stops offering any real surprises, remaining approachable but never wading too far from the shallow end of the pool.

This vocational minigame collection provides some wacky fun, despite sometimes feeling like a chore.

For all its minor faults and bare-bones nature in comparison to others, WRC 7 is still an enjoyable, but seriously challenging rally title. It’s not the most welcoming game for newcomers, and even experienced racers will find some of the rougher stages tricky. But ultimately, that’s also the point. Rallying isn’t easy, and KT Racing have taken that much to heart.

You'll enjoy this fascinating and intricate role-playing game in spite of its troublesome combat and scattered bugs.

Mulaka is a simple game at heart with a lot of familiar traits. The open, low-poly landscapes and characters are reminiscent of Journey. The combat and puzzle elements are similar to Breath of the Wild and Okami. But thanks to the specific Tarahumara setting and characters, Mulaka still manages to have a personality and feel all its own.

The latest Armored Core makes up for the series' lack of progress by simply being fun to play.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 is an improvement on last year's game, but this is a series that desperately needs a complete overhaul.

Despite these issues, it's difficult not to get sucked into Chapter One's web of intrigue. The central mystery is uneventful until its final moments, but the cases surrounding it are consistently excellent, and the role you play in solving them is incredibly gratifying. The open world is more of a backdrop than anything else, but it expands the game with dozens of side cases that are just as alluring as those found in the main story. Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One may stumble at times, but it scratches that investigative itch like few games even attempt to.

Granblue Fantasy: Relink bundles a lot of familiar elements together into one abridged RPG experience, with varying results. The combat is fast and furious, but it can sometimes feel monotonous, especially in longer battles. The story is a great catch-up tale for non-Granblue fans, but it doesn't do anything to stand out from its RPG counterparts. The looks and sounds of the world are wonderful though, with Granblue's signature style bursting to life with vibrant color. It doesn't revolutionize Granblue Fantasy, but Relink serves as a solid refresh for the former gacha game.

Despite these issues, it's difficult not to get sucked into Chapter One's web of intrigue. The central mystery is uneventful until its final moments, but the cases surrounding it are consistently excellent, and the role you play in solving them is incredibly gratifying. The open world is more of a backdrop than anything else, but it expands the game with dozens of side cases that are just as alluring as those found in the main story. Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One may stumble at times, but it scratches that investigative itch like few games even attempt to.

Big strikeouts and even bigger homers make The BIGS a fun arcade baseball game, flaws and all.

When Two Brothers works, when it lines up whole scenes that bounce between funny, disturbing, and touching, it shows just how powerful the ideas it's working with are.

Your enjoyment depends on your willingness to cast aside memories of Rollercoaster Tycoon and its freedoms in favor of Screamride's aggressive xtreme attitude and unique mix of construction and destruction.

When everything's working as intended, Madden 22 marks a recent high point for the series. The gameplay doesn't move the needle much mechanically, but changes to the AI make for a more interesting and varied challenge, while Gameday Atmosphere and Momentum brings every team's fans to life to palpable effect. With Franchise making the moments between these games more engaging, it's relatively easy to sink hours into building a team to challenge for the Super Bowl. It's just unfortunate that this comes with the caveat that technical problems might prove to be the biggest obstacle standing in your way.

Survival and crafting take a turn for the brutal in this fascinating adventure.

This slow-starting platformer is simple at times but builds up to a goofy good time.

It’s easy to get lost in Hohokum’s enchanting scenes, but it’s just as easy to come crashing back down to Earth when you lose your way.

If you're the sort of player who is willing to do without a complex plot if it means you can spend more time brawling, Kung Fu Strike: The Warrior's Rise is a pleasant surprise. It sometimes lacks the refinement that you'd expect from a modern release, but the core experience doesn't suffer in the slightest. Make sure that you don't overlook it.

Rochard's gravity-defying antics make for an enjoyable adventure, albeit one that rarely reaches for the stars.

The bread and butter co-op experience shines just bright enough to compensate for this relative lack of content.

This game covers well-trodden territory, but the way that it tracks your performance and the performance of your friends makes it a fine fit for the Xbox One's launch lineup, and a pleasant way to spend some time.

This is a strange and wonderful game, one that's equally comfortable exploring the nuances of human interaction as it is sending you through space on a flying piece of poo. Such experiences are rare in games. Then again, there's nothing commonplace about Doki-Doki Universe.

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

Bolt is an action platformer that benefits from its super ambitions, even if it doesn't completely live up to them.

And yet, the credits roll on Vampyr with the realization of how seldom we see an open-world RPG experience like this, where being a citizen with a responsibility to a place and its people feels personal, even if that investment lies in who looks delicious tonight. Vampyr is certainly shaggy and rough in the technical department, but its narrative successes still make for an impactful and worthwhile experience.

Serious Sam 4 is a successful synthesis of the series' disparate identities, with humor to spare and jaw-dropping large-scale battles. But technical issues, tired tropes and a lack of gameplay variety make it just a solid foundation rather than a new pinnacle for Croteam.

You'll probably have a hard time believing that you waited so long for what the sequel has to offer: the same old graphics, the same old rides, and the same old objectives.

Risen 3: Titan Lords is not the studio's grandest gesture, but the tendrils of this fantasy saga still grab you. The glitches and irritations poke at your patience, but the promise of buried treasure on a distant beach still compels you. Risen 3 has the potential to sweep you away, provided all that driftwood doesn't keep you at shore.

Anarchy Reigns might not hit those highs often enough to be truly great, but it's different enough and crazy enough for a chainsaw-fuelled rumble or two.

A great story and likable characters make it easier to overlook Riviera's limited combat and exploration.

Ultramix 4 has all of the modes you'd expect from a DDR game, but whether or not any of that is worthwhile depends on how you feel about the song list.

And yet, the credits roll on Vampyr with the realization of how seldom we see an open-world RPG experience like this, where being a citizen with a responsibility to a place and its people feels personal, even if that investment lies in who looks delicious tonight. Vampyr is certainly shaggy and rough in the technical department, but its narrative successes still make for an impactful and worthwhile experience.

Ball x Pit shines brightest when it's letting you loose on enemies ahead of you, and giving you the tools to concoct your own brand of unstoppable chaos to fill the screen. It's easy to move from one run to the next when you're filling just a handful of minutes with thousands of enemy kills, accentuated by bright explosions and dizzying particle effectsBut your momentum can also be frequently halted by the vital town management moments in between them. Progression through Ball x Pit's campaign can feel uneven as a result, but, that's easy to overlook when the majority of the runs you embark on carry the potential to both surprise and delight in equal measure, with enough variety to keep the action in your final hours with the game as grin-inducing as your first.

It's less about what you do, and more about where you are. Though they've substituted platform hops for page flips, the developers have crafted a Disney-quality world worth revisiting.

It comes to a halt too frequently, but when it's speeding along, Need for Speed: The Run makes cross-country racing a joy.

It may not be easy doing sneaky dirty work in the Second World War, but it is more entertaining than you'd expect.

When everything goes right, Vector is a fast-paced joyride that earns your attention.

While Assassin's Creed Origins reaches great heights in this new setting, it routinely runs into issues that bog down the overall experience. Technical issues make for an inconsistent experience and its new gameplay pillars wobble under the weight of its systems.

Battlefront doesn't go much deeper than its ambitious surface appeal. It front loads its best content, only to fade in quality as the hours roll by. Star Wars Battlefront's skin is beautiful, but its legs are shaking, and threaten to buckle with time.

Despite its aging formula, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is still a great entry in the series, with its typically tight platforming and both accessibility and depth to spare. While it can feel a bit stale for those who have been round the Mushroom Kingdom one too many times before, Deluxe is well worth playing, especially if you didn't get a chance to play NSMBU on Wii U.

It's bogged down by unnecessary quick-time events and annoying mob chases, a halfhearted attempt to tell a story, and frustrating interruptions to your racing. In spite of these burdens, the game frequently makes you feel like you're tearing across the varied terrain of this vast and majestic country.

The gameplay might not be anything special, but The Simpsons Game delivers more than enough laughs to make it worth a look.

When you get down to it, if you enjoyed Sacred, then you'll no doubt enjoy Underworld; it pretty much offers more of the same, but at a ramped-up level.

The rapid-fire minigames found in the DS version of Arthur and the Invisibles offer a different take on the WarioWare style of play, and they're a good bit of fun for the relatively short time the game lasts.

Rain pulls you in from the early moments. The abandoned city that you roam through is beautiful in its gloominess, and the quiet piano score adds subtle background texture without overwhelming the other aspects. The pieces of Rain meld wonderfully together, and as the story comes to a tense conclusion, it becomes absolutely riveting. But there are hours between the evocative opening and cathartic ending that go through the motions.

With its short games and easy-to-grasp mechanics, Fall Guys is easily the most approachable and welcoming battle royale yet. Its bursting color and varied game modes do a good job of reeling you in and keeping you hooked, even if a handful feel at odds with the easygoing nature of its premise. It can be disheartening to have a game end prematurely due to uneven team matches and, worse still, when you're forced into one of Fall Guys' unsatisfying finale modes. But neither are enough to derail the fun Fall Guys consistently generates, with its chaotic obstacle courses and earworm soundtrack ensuring you'll be coming back for more.

Though some tension is lost in the binary and sometimes simplistic encounters with the creature, its physical makeup, and behavior are the game's best aspects and rise to be deeply unsettling, if not terrifying. All of this makes Still Wakes The Deep a story that memorably tugs on your heart, starring a monster eager to tear it out.

This accessible arcade-style soccer game eschews realism in favor of fast-paced fun and features some great multiplayer options.

Though the gulf between two very different difficulties is not fully fixed by its additions, from the updated Mellow Mode to the extra Poochy levels, Poochy and Yoshi’s Woolly World gives you what you put in--it can either be almost frustratingly hard for a determined collector or a good fit for someone who’s just looking for a fun, relaxing few hours of platforming.

Donkey Kong Country Returns is a throwback through and through. It's a little less novel than it was when it first appeared on Wii and was the first DKC game in more than a decade, and at this point a lot of its refinements and clever level ideas have been surpassed by the later Tropical Freeze. It's the best way to play DKC Returns and to revisit some truly top-class level design, though. The visual overhaul looks nice on modern displays and it encompasses the improvements made to the 3DS port. Just be warned: Given the sharp and sometimes frustrating difficulty spikes, only the most dedicated ape enthusiasts need apply.

Bully's enhanced rerelease is raucously entertaining, but you may need to look past some frustrating glitches to get the most out of it.

The tennis is merely average, but the challenges and minigames in Sega Superstars Tennis are creatively done and a lot of fun.

Turba's pleasant, beat-based block matching is good, rhythmic fun.

With missing features, server issues, and some gameplay quirks that need to be ironed out, in many ways, Rematch feels like an early-access game. Its foundation is strong, though, capturing the chaotic energy of playing football with your school pals. It's disorganised at times, and the people you're playing with might be frustrating, but there are very few moments when you're not having fun. It's a different kind of football game, yet it's intuitive, and the allure of improving your skill level is captivating. If Slocap can sand off its rough edges, Rematch could be something special. But even in its current state, saying "no" to one more match is a challenging proposition.

With its short games and easy-to-grasp mechanics, Fall Guys is easily the most approachable and welcoming battle royale yet. Its bursting color and varied game modes do a good job of reeling you in and keeping you hooked, even if a handful feel at odds with the easygoing nature of its premise. It can be disheartening to have a game end prematurely due to uneven team matches and, worse still, when you're forced into one of Fall Guys' unsatisfying finale modes. But neither are enough to derail the fun Fall Guys consistently generates, with its chaotic obstacle courses and earworm soundtrack ensuring you'll be coming back for more.

As mind-numbing and soul-draining as the game (and customer service in general) tend to be, any game whose ultimate lesson turns out to be, just maybe, be better to each other, is an experience worth having.

Little Nightmares 3 is faithful to the series under its new leading studio at Supermassive Games. The team, already a well-respected name in horror, carries Tarsier's torch well, though it sometimes feels too deferential to the past games, failing to raise the bar both in puzzle and monster design. This is a good sequel that I'm glad to have made the time for, but if there's to be another trip into this world of tiny terrors, it'll first need a refill of nightmare fuel.

The Ultimate Edition of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow breathes new life into the three-year-old game through improved graphics and extra content.

There are certainly some bona fide '80s showstoppers on this expansion, but all told, this is Guitar Hero II with a coat of neon paint and half as much content.

The sheer number of quests and the complexity of customization will keep you busy for hours. If you like that sort of thing, that is. Even though its economy leaves a bit to be desired, it's not clunky enough to dissuade you from working hard to earn items and craft your ultimate armor.

Wanderstop, at its core, is the type of game that I suspect a player will need to play at precisely the right time in life to truly connect with. As its story (and Alta) unraveled around me, I was reminded of my own struggles and kept thinking about how comforting it might have been back then. Regardless, I adore the fact that it exists and will surely serve that purpose for so many others. It's an audiovisual delight, its narrative and characters are memorable, and I applaud the way it tackles burnout and how self-destructive productivity can be--especially in a time when just about every other influencer is preaching hustle culture and life optimization. That said, Wanderstop is not for everyone, and its gameplay and rough edges create a formidable barrier to truly enjoying what it does well.

Quarantine Circular is a mostly well-written sci-fi tale that doesn't succumb to tired tropes or obvious plot contrivances to draw you in. Instead it uses its limited working space to deliver a captivating tale about human nature and our theoretical place within the universe.

DTR doesn't have a lot of exciting new features, and the lack of substantial multiplayer support is disappointing. But the game is nearly as much fun as its predecessor.

Despite some rough edges, it makes for a fun ride that justifies the budget price.

Rock Band 4 recaptures the unadulterated gratification that made the series such a hit half a decade ago, but mainly because it’s a relatively unchanged, repackaged Rock Band 2. A lack of content and general stagnation hold this particular iteration of Rock Band back, but new ideas like Freestyle Solos genuinely enhance the core experience, which remains a sincere and joyful celebration of music.