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.