This charming adventure has its pitfalls, but it's still a lot of fun.

Battleborn's strong Saturday morning cartoon vibes might actually be the game's single most defining aspect. Outside of that consistent, permeating voice, the game feels like an elaborate patchwork of ideas that compete for attention without necessarily adding much to the experience.

Get Even tells a devastating story that ends with a striking M. Night Shyamalan-like twist. Interestingly, it's the most crucial part of the entire story, and you see none of it. The visuals are left entirely to the imagination, which is unexpected and impactful. It is these kinds of powerful moments that emphasize Get Even's key strength--delivering a twisting narrative that is fascinating enough to make up for its lackluster gameplay elements.

There is potential replay value if you want to find everything you can and experience the full experience, but that is a big if. One time was enough for me and hopefully if they do make a LEGO Batman part Deux it has new gameplay, because we need it.

The fighting modes deliver some excitement, but the adventure loses its way with too many boring fetch quests and repetitive environmental puzzles.

Tetris Party Deluxe keeps a decades-old formula fresh with new mechanics and strong competitive multiplayer.

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.

Like the mindless Hollywood blockbusters that it emulates, Turok features plenty of dinosaur-hunting action and not too much else.

Manages to convey the same feeling of deadly tension that its PC counterpart was famous for, and the compromises that were made to make it portable are fairly minor.

At its most imaginative, Color Splash's visual gags and thoughtful manipulation of 2D objects rival any "wow" moment from Sony's Tearaway games.

As long as you can find some felons to fight alongside, Payday 2 is an addictive and challenging criminal pursuit.

Rhythm fans will find a lot of music, challenge, and customization to love as they get to know Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F.

WWE 2K22 is a surprising return to form after the Shockmaster-sized disaster that was 2K20. The extra year of development has done a world of good, and the only hope now is that the series doesn't return to an annual schedule. There are still failings when it comes to multi-person matches, and not all of the new modes are particularly engaging, but 2K22 establishes a solid foundation for the future. Ideally, WWE will calm down when it comes to gutting its roster, and the next game in the series won't feel quite as outdated. It will also be interesting to see how Yuke's upcoming AEW game fares. Competition can only be a good thing.

Despite its lacking final moments, The Park makes the experience of searching a haunting, abandoned amusement park feel genuinely tense. This, rather than a specific plot point, is what sticks with you after you turn off the game and return to your normal, less disturbing reality.

The Settlers: Rise of an Empire is the most fulfilling game in the series, adding easy-to-play charisma to the usual Middle Ages economics and trimming much of the micromanagement that made playing past releases in the series as much fun as doing your homework.

Ska Studios has created an ambitious sequel that takes various elements from both Monster Hunter and the Metroidvania genre and combines them into one sprawling 2D Souls-like. For the most part, this curious amalgamation succeeds, offering snappy combat, a labyrinthian world to explore, and tense boss battles against a vast array of challenging foes. Unfortunately, it also elicits plenty of moments of frustration, whether it's because the absence of a map and fast-travel system adds additional tedium to its grind, or because the combat system is overly punishing in a way that feels unfair and unbalanced. Salt and Sacrifice still offers an enjoyable distillation of familiar elements, but too many issues hold it back from achieving greatness.

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.

Above all, Anodyne never lets you forget that it's a game more concerned with the journey than with the destination, and at 10 bucks, it's a journey worth taking.

High On Life 2 may falter in a few key areas, and not everything connects--whether it's a drawn-out gag or a timid shotgun blast--but it stands out in a genre where the self-serious shooter is usually king, by offering an outlandish, comical, and creative alternative. The addition of a skateboard is a literal game-changer, and there's plenty of joy to be had seeing what exactly each mission entails. Its influences are overt, yet it has an identity all its own, and there are definitely worse ways to spend a weekend.

While I don't think Tides of Tomorrow rises to the same narrative highs as Road 96, its primary incentive is a great draw. It's a little weird to want to stalk other players through a digital world, watching and listening to their every move in order to better your own lot in life, but it's a compelling enough gameplay loop that I overlooked the shortcomings in the game's story and non-player characters. And even if I don't plan on playing the game again, it warms my heart to know that my digital ghost is now out there, potentially guiding other Tidewalkers that may need a little help.

Pass protection that depicts an offensive line truly working together is a long-awaited improvement that series fans will love, and there are tangible dividends in learning the running game, provided you invest the time.

While the narrative is disappointing, Hellboy: Web of Wyrd's recreation of Mike Mignola's signature art style is mightily impressive, while its twist on the usual roguelite structure establishes a potent sense of progression that drives the journey forward. Its punchy and calculated combat is forced to carry the load of what is otherwise a fairly barebones experience, and it falters here at times, too, with a dodgy camera and lack of variation outside of its multitude of enemy types. Yet it's also the challenging toe-to-toe action that makes Web of Wyrd worth playing. Donning the crown (of the apocalypse) as the best Hellboy game ever made might not sound like an extraordinary achievement, but this is a character that has been starved of games, let alone good ones. Web of Wyrd is exactly that, which is maybe enough.

[Time reversal is] a nifty effect at first, but the rewind as a whole undermines one of the formula's most treasured elements: ownership of your decisions.

The combat is frantic and tense, but often feels samey and superficial. The in-match leveling works wonderfully in the campaign, but can become problematic in multiplayer. The varied cast of heroes adds longevity, but the game still feels relatively content light. With so many moving parts that never quite gel, I found plenty of things to love but just as much to feel confused by and ambivalent about.

While it does have some minor issues, Control streaming on Switch is impressive. Even a few rooms away from my WiFi router, the game always handled well, and I was able to fight through battle after battle with the Hiss with nothing more bothering me than a less-than-optimum frame rate. This isn't the most beautiful-looking version of Control, but it's also nothing to sneer at, and it's boosted by the opportunity to play such a big, technically demanding game on a handheld system. Venturing through the Oldest House on the Switch mostly feels great, and this is a solid, convenient way to experience one of 2019's best--along with all its DLC--if you haven't already.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure HD Ver. competently provides the bare minimum of content.

Despite the potential pitfalls and the actual flaws of Payday 2, things have a way of coming together.

Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 is an entertaining take on the sports-event genre that has, by and large, disappeared in the modern-day. The game aims for accessibility at every opportunity, and while nothing about it is particularly exceptional, it still has plenty of unique flourishes to offer, and the wealth of different events and simple controls make for an appealing casual multiplayer title. Thanks to a generous selection of events and a few neat gimmicks, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is the best entry in this series.