Prince Caspian combines simplistic gameplay with a confusing narrative for an action adventure that unfortunately isn't as good as the movie it's based on.

Rock of Ages has a delightfully goofy concept and offers some destructive fun, but it's hampered by its weak defense elements.

While Lichdom makes a strong case for a shorter game, it also makes the case for another Lichdom game. If there is any game this year deserving of a sequel, it’s this one.

There are elements of Sega Rally Revo that provide some enjoyable moments, but too many irritations and issues get in the way of those moments.

While combat is fun in moderation and the crafting system is bizarre in all the right ways, the flip side of this is dull and monotonous quest design, a forgettable story, and hollow morality. There's still an enjoyable game here, but a lot of unfortunate caveats come attached to that statement. Yet while it might not always hit the mark, Biomutant is an ambitiously flawed game from a small studio, and the games industry could always use more risky endeavors like this one.

For most of its tenure, Reverie Under the Moonlight is a satisfying game. It sounds unlikely, but the inviting presentation melds wonderfully with its uninviting atmosphere. The initial search and discovery process recalls the familiar comfort of games like Super Metroid or Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, with fun and challenging combat sprinkled throughout. But short of not finishing the game, there's no way to avoid the less-impressive closing hours when it runs out of new ideas, and at worse, halts your progress with increasing instant deaths and obtuse progress requirements.

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.

Achron's time-traveling brilliance is marred by some critical flaws.

With Brothers In Arms DS, Ubisoft has proven that it's technically possible to bring the series to the DS--but just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.

It's a copy of a previously released game that wasn't that great to begin with, but with the less-engaging characters of the Miami cast and a series of mysteries that also aren't as interesting.

Entertaining combat and quirky puzzles save this game from belonging in a museum.

Bugs and glitches mar an otherwise fair attempt at bringing the gentleman's sport to the PC.

Dawn of Ragnarök is almost transformative for Assassin's Creed, teasing the possibility of what the series could become without the overt hand-holding that has defined it for almost two decades. However, after an intriguing opening, Dawn of Ragnarök falls back on old habits, and that feeling--coupled with how the expansion's narrative themes feel too similar to the base game--creates an experience that too often resembles something you've already had once before. But Dawn of Ragnarök is built on the bones of a great action-adventure RPG, and that carries much of the expansion, especially with the rewarding considerations introduced with the Hugr Rip. Only time will tell if Eivor and Havi's story continues beyond Dawn of Ragnarök, but if this is the end, it's a fine-enough conclusion to the relationship between the two.

Despite the strong foundation, I was struggling to stay interested in Blade & Soul at the end of my journey. It does wonders with the blade, yes. But where's the soul?

The aesthetics and vibe are still unlike anything else out there, and they’re still worth the hassle. But the greatest trick Parappa the Rapper ever pulled was convincing the world it's not a broken game.

Armored Core V can field some fierce firefights, but the combat is encumbered by repetitious missions, simplistic objectives, and dull visual design.

There are no big action sequences, which takes away some of the energy, but the emphasis on character relationships is what makes this episode a good one.

It isn't as comprehensive or glamorous as any of Nintendo's Pokémon games, but fans of the show will still probably enjoy it a great deal, since it will let them gather and build their own set of fighting spirits while also experiencing firsthand many of the stories told in the show.

The game isn't without its charms in the moment, but when its inspirations are so readily available, it doesn't really have much to offer against the real deal.

Armored Core V can field some fierce firefights, but the combat is encumbered by repetitious missions, simplistic objectives, and dull visual design.

Even if the touch-screen controls hadn't stripped away much of the subtlety of the sport, True Swing Golf would still be a lean and flavorless game of golf.

This short expansion is only for Company of Heroes completionists.

Kill Team's dual-stick shooting action has an old-fashioned arcade appeal, but it's too simple to stand out from the crowd.

Pentiment strives to exist somewhere between a history book and historical fiction, not quite committing to a detailed look at history or fulfilling a narrative arc. This is a detriment to the game's conclusion, dampening my memories of the game save for the stories of individual characters. I retain a soft spot for the wise Illuminata and her conversations with Andreas about literature and religion, and I have a parental fondness for a young peasant girl who I watched grow from a gurgling toddler to a young woman. Witnessing their lives play out is a narrative delight, only enhanced by the creative use of Pentiment's different fonts to better convey a person's societal station or education. But limiting how much time the player actually has to engage in the game's best parts hurts the overall experience too much.

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.

Even if The Ascent was fully functional and balanced in a way where building up a character to become the ultimate Indent warrior felt great, there's the fact that so much of the game is designed to feel like servitude. As you climb the superstructure housing all of Veles, you serve a progression of masters, and the payoff for the game's central mystery--where did the mysterious group running Veles suddenly run off to?--isn't nearly enough to offset the hopeless grind. Your bosses insult you when you go on your task, ignore you when you've done well, and provide no rewards for success. For so much of the play time, The Ascent feels like, well, an uphill battle.

Though shallow and flawed, Body and Brain Connection has some neat minigames that engender a satisfying sense of progress.

There are plenty of good trivia questions, but this is a flawed port of the classic board game.