Detroit is well worth playing, but it struggles to strike the right balance between giving you freedom of choice and reminding you that it's all a game in the end. Cage and Quantic Dream are getting closer to nailing this style of game, but it's obvious that there's still room to grow.

A few annoyances don't drag down Persona Q2 significantly. As a dungeon crawler, it's challenging and engaging, but doesn’t drag or feel overwhelming. As a piece of Persona fan service, it delivers the goods with delightful crossover character antics and an enjoyable theme. It all combines into a solid little RPG that can keep you hooked for its entire runtime. The curtains may be closing on the 3DS, but Persona Q2 is a terrific way to end the show.

Those who do pick up Underground will also find a new way to play. The core mechanics and bullet sponge enemies haven't changed, but the option to engage in short bursts of customizable, cooperative gameplay provides a hugely welcome alternative to simply replaying story missions or struggling through the Dark Zone.

What this fast-paced basketball game lacks in depth, it makes up for in fun.

Cyber Shadow is a solid retro throwback with a few things that drag it down. The feeling of becoming more powerful and being able to take down huge enemy threats with your wits and skills is very rewarding, and the levels when you can use your abilities more freely to overcome challenges are quite fun. It's the trial-and-error areas littered with cheap deaths, demanding exact precision over long and frustrating stretches, that hamper the experience. Still, if you're looking for an old-school-styled ninja game that will test your skills (and sometimes your patience), Cyber Shadow is a worthy contender.

Secret Ponchos is well worth falling for, if only because playing as The Killer and using cover for a speedy reload is the closest a game has ever come to depicting the first Metal Gear Solid boss fight from Revolver Ocelot's perspective.

As only the second open world game in the Clancyverse, Ghost Recon: Wildlands is a middlingly safe tactical shooter and a slightly wasted opportunity given the ambitious scope of its seemingly boundless map. While its main strength is its mission diversity, it doesn’t take long to lose the motivation after reaching El Sueno's doorstep. Even with a foursome of highly trained friends, Wildlands eventually reveals its diminishing returns. The feeling of positive immediacy and dopamine hits begin to wane sooner than you expected from a game with such a large and diverse world.

EA Sports FC 24 is a better game than FIFA 23, but only marginally so. PlayStyles, Evolutions, and the addition of women in Ultimate Team are all positive steps forward, but it takes just as many steps back. The same gameplay issues continue to crop up, Career mode is underbaked, and Ultimate Team is still marred by the inescapable presence of microtransactions--and they've only gotten worse. The on-pitch action is excellent, with some frustrating caveats, and it's capable of moments of pure footballing joy. For those expecting a reinvention to go along with the new name, this is not that. EA FC 24 is the same ugly, beautiful game.

It's a nifty little time-waster that Neocore's created here, and while there could and should be a lot more content in the future, the game we've got right now nonetheless makes a convincing bid for your time.

What is somewhat surprising is that the gameplay is pretty solid for a game aimed squarely at kids, the voice actors do a good job of capturing the inflections of the film's characters, and the game features a nice boon of unlockable content to make up for the short quest.

Minecraft Dungeons is missing conspicuous parts of what gave the namesake its identity--most noticeably, breaking through walls to explore underground caverns and using the found materials to craft. But because it's such a successful departure from its predecessor, Dungeons shows how flexible the franchise has become. Rather than shift our expectations of what games can be, it's banking on its own popularity to introduce younger players to a classic genre and serves as a short-but-sweet treat for looter vets. It scratches the dungeon-crawler itch with a sense of goofy charm and expands what Minecraft can be.

The narrative thread is just strong enough to remain interesting, but it takes a back seat to the loot-soaked foundation that works so well.

While it's not the prettiest Xbox game out there, let alone the best-looking Star Wars game, it does offer good control and entertaining gameplay.

If you're someone who has steered clear of Layton previously, Azran Legacy isn't going to convert you. This is a series that sticks to what it knows: challenging puzzles alongside a thoroughly charming adventure.

Ape Out is a game that draws you in with its strong aesthetic style and flair, but it feels short on ideas. When you're barrelling through a room, knocking multiple enemies into walls and watching them explode into puddles of blood, it can be quite exciting. But the game never really rises above being a mild thrill, and a lack the variety means that it’s too repetitive to truly make a strong impact. Ape Out isn't as creative with its level designs and challenges as it is with its soundtrack and art, but as it stands it’s a pleasant, jazzy way to spend a few hours.

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.

While it may be tinged with an insubstantial campaign and a few other minor problems, How to Survive is a worthy game built on a strong foundation of exciting experiences.

Yes, it's nice to have that attention to detail poured into the physics simulation itself, but when the likes of Forza are heaping on the features, it's hard not to feel shortchanged by GT6's lack of vision. Maybe we'll see the makeover the series sorely needs when it inevitably hits the PS4, but until then, Gran Turismo 6 remains a fantastic simulation; it's just not a great game.

Ape Out is a game that draws you in with its strong aesthetic style and flair, but it feels short on ideas. When you're barrelling through a room, knocking multiple enemies into walls and watching them explode into puddles of blood, it can be quite exciting. But the game never really rises above being a mild thrill, and a lack the variety means that it’s too repetitive to truly make a strong impact. Ape Out isn't as creative with its level designs and challenges as it is with its soundtrack and art, but as it stands it’s a pleasant, jazzy way to spend a few hours.

Rapidly tapping buttons is still exhausting, but tight controls and a bunch of unlockables make this a worthy update.

In Line Rider 2: Unbound, you'll experience a love-hate relationship with squiggly lines.

There are plenty of weighty decisions, risky maneuvers, and impactful events to consider. But they often take place in repetitive playthroughs in galaxies that don't always differentiate themselves from the next. Master of Orion shows signs of brilliance, but it's bogged down by boredom, and sometimes, the allure of the stars wanes too much to beckon us onward.

An amusing adventure that makes a powerful case for more creativity with level design, setting, and pacing in co-op shooters, without thoroughly capitalizing on all of its own best ideas. Traps and their extensive use within many of the levels are a joy, and the underpinning gunplay is strong enough to warrant a sturdy recommendation, but it all comes to a head well before it should.

Though it's certainly not a bad game, Line of Sight: Vietnam isn't as ambitious as "Deadly Dozen: Pacific Theater," and its environments aren't as interesting.

Eldritch does right with the revered Cthulhu mythos, bringing to life its sinister lore and pitting gamers against Lovecraft's insidious demons. Though a short ride, the game provides plenty of jumps and scares, just in time for Halloween.

I love that the game portrays its female characters as assertive beings that desire and need sex on their own terms, instead of as sexual material doled out in-game as "rewards" for player performance.

This role-playing board game takes delight in letting you mess with your friends, and it's fun for as long as you can tolerate its slow pace.

Despite some potentially off-putting thematic material, Arcana Heart 3 is a fun fighter with a lot to offer.