The Second Coming is a delight to play. While the lack of gameplay variety compared to what came before is a definite disappointment, the game is just so outright fun that it's easy to forgive.

Charming art design, an infectious soundtrack, and compelling weapon crafting supplement the standard action, but too much recycled content, irritating technical issues, and occasionally confounding design prevent the project from ever surpassing its inspiration. The result appeals to an old-school sensibility, but you'll need to overcome some unfortunate obstacles to see the appeal.

What I can say is that playing A Crooked Mile was exhausting. Each line of dialogue pulsed with meaning, and at every turn, I feared that Bigby and I might tumble over the edge we kept peering over. Episode two made me wonder; episode three made me ache.

Given its cookie-cutter narrative, polarizing leveling system, and late-game repetition, ACE doesn't address all the issues that plagued players the first time around. If it didn't satisfy your monster-fighting fix back in 2012, there's probably not enough here to draw you back to the battlefield. However, if you're a Ragnarok vet ready for more, or a new recruit looking to hunt some big game of the not-of-this-realm variety, then you'll want to start sharpening that oversize sword.

Kinect Sports Rivals is an inconsistent collection that will get you up off the couch and moving around for a bit of mild fun, but that's about the best you can say for it.

A fantastic representation of baseball, capturing the thrill and grand scale of the national pastime.

This PC port fails to take advantage of the PC's increased technical power and greater control fidelity to adequately smooth over the game's prior tablet limitations.

A lot of riddles are solved by the end of the game, yet even as the final curtain falls, many more questions are left unanswered.

Though Revelations thankfully lacks the boring stealth sections of Lords of Shadow 2, it fails to deliver an interesting story, and with only a couple memorable fights amidst the meager helping of standard enemy encounters, there's almost no reason to get excited about playing as Alucard.

There's nothing especially unique about Escape Goat 2 aside from its protagonist, but it thrives due to its masterful execution of puzzles, simple controls, and a kind learning curve.

Both games stand the test of time and are worth the admittedly significant time investment, even if you don't hold a deep-rooted, nostalgic association to the original releases.

If you've played Diablo III before and found that it wasn't for you, the changes Reaper of Souls makes to the game won't be far-reaching enough to change your mind. Reaper gives those who already liked Diablo III more of what they already liked about it.

Some strained metaphors and connections aside, the cities of Rapture and Columbia make for strange but comfortable bedfellows in BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea - Episode 2. More importantly, Elizabeth's journey is tense and rewarding on its own terms, and is one that makes Rapture as mysterious as it was the first time you ventured inside.

There are a lot of interesting gameplay ideas to experiment with, which makes the fact that so many of them are barely explained in-game incredibly frustrating.

Smite is a godsend for the MOBA genre, with the heart of its gameplay proving that innovation to the war plan for tower siege games is possible. With just a few changes to what other games have delivered before, Smite manages to feel like a brand-new game.

Dragons and Titans is a mere shadow of other, richer MOBAs, and while its significantly shorter average game time may give it some initial appeal, that appeal comes at the cost of almost any enjoyment of the time invested.

For all of the elements in which Second Son excels, the narrative fails to carry its share of the weight. Still, don't become mired in the negativity as Delsin so often does. Instead, just laugh at the cheesy dialogue and chortle at how extreme the morality system is. Second Son is a great game that knows exactly what it is, and sucks you in with its unfiltered fun.

If any developer's good at weeding out the chaff of more robust games in a particular genre, surely it's Blizzard.

What is here is big, it's often silly, and it's sometimes unwieldy, but it's rarely anything less than engaging thanks to some great execution on tried-and-tested ideas. It's Phoenix, however, in his element in this magical world, that well and truly steals the show.

The act of flight feels natural, and the next high score is always so close that it's easy to spend hours saying, "Just one more try." It may be a simple package on the surface, but Luftrausers will have you taking to the skies again and again.

Ninja Gaiden Z is crass and stupid but rarely funny. It's mean and dumb but never witty or subversive.

Every so often, 8-year-old me--the part of me that thinks that asking everyone what word starts with "f" and ends in "u-c-k" is funny--got a kick out of Yaiba's exploits. Most of the time, however, I could only wish that Ninja Gaiden Z's striking art style had been applied to a better canvas.

It may be a simple package on the surface, but Luftrausers will have you taking to the skies again and again.

After the credits roll on the main mission and a handful of side activities unlock, the best part of Ground Zeroes is just getting started. With a dearth of secrets to find, and new challenges to master, chasing the endgame will keep you entertained for hours on end.

Though it's unusual for everything to take place in a single location, there's so much to do and see, and whether you take a stealthy or head-on approach, infiltrating Camp Omega is a thrilling experience that shouldn't be missed.

Here again, there's humor and occasional pathos to be found in The Yawhg's brevity, but it's just not very moving to be told that you were a strong leader, or that you never found love, in as many words.

The PC version boasts sharper visual effects and higher resolutions, as you might expect, and both control schemes (mouse/keyboard and Xbox 360 controller) work flawlessly.)

Nintendo last explored this franchise in 2006 with Yoshi's Island DS, and though that game had its own problems, it also had an identity. By introducing new babies with different abilities, it provided a fun and unpredictable sequel to the Super Nintendo original. Yoshi's New Island has no such identity.