Simple combat, forgettable boss fights, and a reticent narrative--not to mention an overly vague map--are the only dampeners on what is an impressive sequel, despite never quite feeling like one. The unsuspected changes and additions are bold and mostly pay off, with consistently engaging and rewarding exploration that's propelled forward by an ambitious central mechanic. Axiom Verge 2 is a game that constantly evolves and delights, but just lacks the same bite as some of its contemporaries.

Those exhausted with puzzle-genre conventions will find Exit to be a fun and inventive brainteaser with a wonderful sense of style.

There are occasional stumbles, but Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is another good entry in the platforming series.

It might be squarely aimed at the younger crowd, but Chocobo Tales is highly charming and a great choice for players of all ages.

The slow start can make BloodRayne a tough game to stick with.

An enjoyable experience, with attractive graphics, strategic gameplay, and unique features that provide up-close looks at the dinosaurs in action.

Once you dig into Transformers' gameplay, you'll find a surprisingly intense combat model that's pretty tough but also rewarding once you get a handle on it.

Save the strange decision to remove multiplayer modes, Blitzkrieg: Burning Horizon is the ideal expansion pack. It amplifies the core concepts of the original game and ramps up both the AI and the difficulty without straying from the tactics-first philosophy that allows this series to stand apart from the RTS crowd.

By abandoning almost all pretense of a coherent story, the designers have simply created a series of beautiful, interesting environments filled with some good puzzles.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 features a couple of new game modes, but things are still largely unchanged in Konami's football franchise.

The game is good. Whether you've seen the movie or not, Toy Story 2, as a game, stands on its own. It's not complicated or sexy; it's just a fun, straightforward, nonlinear adventure game with puzzle and platform elements.

For better or worse, Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition is not that much different from your standard issue Game of the Year Edition. That is to say, you'll be treated one of the best open world crime adventures in recent years, and the game still looks great, if not dramatically different on its new hardware.

As it is now, VF5 REVO is the best currently available version of an all-time great 3D fighting game. If you're willing to put the effort into it, Virtua Fighter will reward you with some of the most intense fighting out there. Just please, make sure your PC runs it at a proper frame rate before you do anything else.

Once you get a handle on the core mechanics, you'll find in Acid a rewarding game of strategic stealth combat coupled with a quirky, intriguing storyline and some neat points of nostalgia for the longtime Metal Gear fan.

El Shaddai is such a gorgeous game that it would have been worth playing even if the combat was merely average. But developer Ignition Entertainment gave reasons to play beyond its outstanding visual design. The combat system makes excellent use of its narrow moveset to create an enticing experience that demands focus and determination to prevail.

NBA Live 19 is a capable and competent basketball game that offers a multitude of different ways to play and numerous reasons to keep coming back. Its impressive attention to detail complements the strong foundation set by its presentation and gameplay. However, the AI logic and animation problems are impossible to ignore given they're at the heart of the experience the entire game is based on. These issues, combined with a lackluster franchise mode and a push towards microtransactions, detract from what is an otherwise solid basketball game.

This brutally difficult side-scroller is good, bloody entertainment.

Like Liberty City Stories before it, Vice City Stories isn't nearly as appealing as a PS2 game, but it's still got worthwhile qualities.

Hiding amid an onslaught of tedious puzzles is some compelling dungeon-crawling action.

A decent dungeon crawler that invests some energy into lampooning RPGs and high fantasy in general, but like a stand-up act about airline food or the line at the post office, its perspective isn't very interesting, and it lacks any real follow-through.

Playing Chibi-Robo can sometimes feel like a chore, but the game is redeemed by a great sense of humor and colorful cast of characters.

The Next Big Thing creates a lush vision of an alternate-reality Hollywood, but its knockout visuals can't make up for its frustrating puzzles.

The first installment of Hector: Badge of Carnage is a crass and creative detective adventure.

In the cute and clever Cubetractor, simple mechanics give rise to fiendishly difficult situations.

I left the third episode of The Wolf Among Us with my heart in my stomach; I left the fourth with burning curiosity, which is not as striking of a feeling. But given what other fables tell me of the Crooked Man, I suspect that it will not just be my curiosity that burns in the final chapter of this episodic tale. I want closure, I crave closure, but The Wolf Among Us has taught me that conclusions aren't always neat and tidy, and that you must suffer pain before you can earn relief.

The ruins of a time long forgotten will always darken the horizon, and there'll be a part of you that wonders what more there could have been before you find yourself shunted to the next life goal in a long series of life goals. That feeling is unfortunately hard to shake, and it's a shame that there's not as much to the world of Portia as first appears.

Lost Records explores and depicts adolescence in a way that not only surpasses many games, but several works of media in general. It's no secret that we are inundated with "coming-of-age" stories, and as a fan of the cliche, I'd argue it's for good reason. The era between childhood and adulthood is one filled with hormones, emotions, self-discovery, lust, defiance, and experiences that ultimately shape the person you will become, shedding some semblance of your former self. Yet both the story that Lost Records explores and the one being shaped in the "current" time, in which women in their 40s come together and dispel the grating notion that women of that age are decrepit, matronly, and boring, do so in a way that feels fascinating, new, and important. As it stands now, Lost Records: Bloom and Rage is poised to be one of Don't Nod's greatest titles. Ultimately, however, much of the game's success is dependent upon the release of its second half, which is scheduled to release this April. It will take answers, action, and rewarded patience to stick the landing, but as of right now, I have faith that the team will do so.

Its slavish dedication to convention will scratch the methodical, cerebral itch all diehard adventure game fans have. As a genre exercise, though, it exerts little energy to draw in new players.