The Veilguard is a mostly sound game that works when you're playing as a class that can take advantage of its combat. I haven't run into any glitches or game-breaking bugs. No side quest feels too obtrusive or too fetch quest-y. And now that I've distanced myself from the mage, each combat encounter is snappy and avoids feeling too tedious or frustrating. The Veilguard feels like BioWare making a good BioWare game again, and that in itself makes me extraordinarily happy.

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.

It's clearly stated on the box that it isn't suitable for inexperienced players, while those who are experienced enough to explore the new lands it has to offer will certainly find these areas to be extremely challenging and rewarding.

What's so remarkable about B-17 is that it manages to be even more immersive for the player than even the most sophisticated dynamic-campaign-driven single-seater flight simulation.

The game's arcade feel may discourage those looking for an off-road racing sim, but most everyone else will find it to be a fun pick up and play game.

Fans of the first film will definitely want to pick this one up, but those who enjoy action games in general will also find a lot to like here, in spite of the game's short length.

The perfect game for role-playing fans sick of repetitive hack-and-slash gameplay. It's also the perfect game for real-time strategy fans sick of repetitive base building and tank rushing.

The brash trivia franchise returns to the stage for a very successful new outing.

Fans of the first Suikoden game will love the sequel - it improves on everything that had made the first game memorable. Suikoden II brings nothing new to the genre, but it executes well enough that no one will really care.

Improves upon the previous release in every conceivable way.

Bearing in mind what's still to come, 30XX is nonetheless off to an excellent start. It's already a thoroughly enjoyable homage to the likes of Mega Man or Turrican, with tight controls and polished character design securing the foundation and a roadmap to version 1.0 promising a steady supply of new content. I wouldn't hesitate to start your run now, no matter what the Bureau of Encouragement might say to the contrary. [Early Access Provisional Score = 70]

An almost perfect translation of the arcade original.

It's with--and against--others that the game hacks into your pleasure centers, so while Sam Fisher may not be the man you remember, Splinter Cell: Blacklist has too many sweet adventures in store for you to miss them.

Its diverse roster is packed with a wide range of personalities and fighting styles, bolstered by a raucous attitude that begs to be taken seriously while simultaneously mocking its more peculiar whims in the process. Tekken fans will find their next favorite game--one that's the product of decade's worth of refinement. And while some of this depth will be lost or out of reach for newcomers, there's enough fun to be had outside of hardcore competition to keep players from all walks of gaming thoroughly entertained.

An astonishing and moving postapocalyptic journey.

The on-field action is as exciting as ever, but off-the-field problems drag NCAA Football 12 down to the turf.

The parts may seem commonplace, but Puzzle Quest's blend of RPG and puzzle-game convention makes for something refreshingly unique and dangerously addictive.

While the game does deliver on its promises of being a charming, challenging action game with a rogue's gallery of robots to scrap, it makes a few puzzling choices that keep it from true greatness.

The saying "They don't make 'em like they used to" is totally applicable to video games, and Ninja Five-0 is a great throwback to how they used to make 'em.

Despite a smattering of minor complaints, Captain Toad stands as a pint-sized version of Nintendo's stellar first party pedigree. It's among the best Mario spin-offs around and a delightful iteration on old ideas.

Madden 18 marks an unusually large shakeup in a series that, due to its annualized releases, rarely features much more than small, iterative changes.

To play Botanicula is to peer through a microscope at hidden world and feel like you've made the greatest of discoveries: one of a place that's so overflowing with imagination and so full of wonder that only a person with a heart of stone would fail to be taken in by its charms.

Outrun 2006 Coast 2 Coast offers a fun, accessible experience to racing fans who just want to jam on the accelerator and go.

A chilling story and satisfying puzzles work hand in hand to make Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors a deeply absorbing adventure.

Despite an unsatisfying narrative, the bulk of Viewfinder is spent solving a variety of unique puzzles, and it's here where it never falters. The numerous ways in which Viewfinder manages to stretch its core idea consistently kept me entranced, providing a deeply satisfying loop of deciphering a conundrum and constructing a solution that could be distinct to my playthrough. Given how Viewfinder quickly empowers you with the tools to create your own solutions while challenging you to push your understanding of its world, it's pleasantly surprising how frictionless the entire experience is, never once devolving into tedium or frustration. Viewfinder finds elegance in simplicity but doesn't trade this for straightforward solutions, making it one of the best puzzle games you can play today.

Many games often aspire to deliver more, sometimes bartering in dizzying excesses--be it in high-octane action or through big, sweeping narratives that thrust you into a heroic position. But it's the diminutive tales and everyday experiences of A Short Hike that give the game its comforting, even pastoral allure. It's about seeking quiet communion with nature even as you make your umpteenth hike towards the peak, or finding contentment in stumbling upon tinier, quaint scenes. It proposes that even the smallest and most mundane of vignettes can be as enthralling as grandiose universes and narratives of more ambitious games. As I embark on yet another leisurely trek after ascending the summit of Hawk Peak, I can't help but heartily agree.

College Hoops 2K7 is a very good college basketball game, but its value is somewhat lessened by the fact that it follows "College Hoops 2K6" by just eight months.

As the game itself states within the blog of a gone-but-not-forgotten ally from Episode 1, "It's not a happy ending, but maybe it can be a hopeful one."