Suffers from cumbersome inventory management and tedious back-tracking that kill the flow and tension considerably...This one's only for dedicated followers of the series.

The story rarely establishes itself as anything more than big budget fan fiction.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash feels like an unfinished game. The shallow mechanics quickly grow tiresome, and this is further emphasized by the lack of game modes and creativity that we’d expect from a Mario sports game. It can be a fun diversion with a group of friends, but it loses its appeal within a day.

When the credits rolled, we didn’t feel relief, but rather disappointment that the adventure was over. There’s a lot to criticize in Tales of Zestiria, but the combat and characters make it enjoyable regardless. Like many good role-playing games, it’s easy to get lost in, whether that means fine-tuning your strategies or watching the various character arcs unfold. At its best, Zestiria reminds us that the Tales series still has life left in it.

If you’re a stalwart fan with a pair of dedicated friends, you will likely have a pleasant time with the game’s puzzles and combat, but it’s hard to recommend this game to anyone that hasn’t already sought the Triforce for a much more admirable purpose.

While the story can be convoluted and the controls make navigation harder than it should be, it's dark take on death and atmosphere make it a ghost hunt worth taking.

Transformers Devastation is short, lacks depth, and can be a bit repetitive, but Platinum’s tight combat paired with the old-school aesthetics keeps it fun. It may not be the dream Transformers game that some imagined, but it’s worth a play, perhaps after it goes on sale.

Mad Max doesn’t break a new mold for open world games or feel like an epic cinematic experience, but it’s nowhere near being a cheap movie tie-in either.

It establishes an eerie mood, making you feel vulnerable to what lurks in the shadows. It just gets hung up in awkward moments at times.

Act two may not capitalize on the potential of act one, but there are still plenty of moments that can bring a smile to your face or cause you to laugh-out-loud.

It’s a different take on side-scrolling gameplay, but the added depth doesn’t save it from feeling flat.

In all, Titan Souls is for people who don’t mind struggling to overcome a challenge, but there’s little else to grab your attention. It doesn’t carry the same weight or intrigue as the games that inspired it, but there’s a fun set of battles to test your reflexes.

The best thing Valley of the Yetis has going for it is the inherent fun that comes from using Far Cry 4’s skills, weapons, and vehicles. Everything else feels wasted.

Claptastic Voyage doesn’t bring much new table and it’s a bit light on side content. However, its ability to have fun with its setting keeps it feeling fresh even if you’re starting to wear out on the Borderlands formula.

It’s an audacious game that takes risks and embraces experimentation. When so many franchises seem content on retreading the same ground, Hotline Miami 2 feels like an important, if often frustrating asset.

Xenoverse is worth a recommendation for diehard Dragon Ball Z fans interested in participating in the story. Seeing your own created character interact with legendary moments from the anime is satisfying, and it’s fun to witness characters like Nappa and Goku become allies. However, the shallow and repetitive gameplay lacks the same impact, and the long grind is a heavy burden.

The Crew can be enjoyable for some casual cross-country joy rides, especially if you have some friends to drive along. However, it comes up entirely short of most of its goals, and makes a wreck of car handling and competition for the sake of lackluster MMO mechanics.

Fans of zombie survival, open worlds, and first-person shooters will find things to enjoy in Dying Light, but it’s a rough ride. The contextual movement and realistic time progression suggest that Techland wants to immerse you in Harran’s apocalyptic plight, but the game’s realism takes a hit at almost every turn whether it’s the graphics, the enemy AI, or the mannequin-like demeanor of the souls you’ll attempt to save.

Nearly everything good about Gat Out of Hell has been done better in the main games. We remember laughing out loud during the last two Saints Row outings, but couldn’t even muster a chuckle throughout the duration of the expansion.

Even with its faults, we’ve enjoyed much of our time with Assassin’s Creed Rogue. Exploring the wilds and icy seas is still fun for a while, and facing off against hidden assassins has its moments. Overall though, Rogue is left feeling stretched thin, held together by the threads connecting it to other games in the franchise.

WWE 2K15 has attempted to create an authentic wrestling experience by slowing the pace to a crawl, and the result is a boring and unsatisfying. WWE 2K15 loses sight of what makes wrestling fun in the first place: high thrills, meaningful momentum changes, and unsuspected surprises.

While it’s a big improvement over last year and a clear step in the right direction, NBA Live 15 forgets that basketball is a team sport. Dunks are overpowered, rendering ball movement and teamwork pointless. Hopefully further refinement can produce a great basketball game in the future, but for 2015, NBA Live’s advances are still overshadowed by flawed fundamentals.

You can wrap up the story in about 6 hours. There are 12 costumes to try on and 27 cards to collect. Whether you can handle the grind or not Costume Quest 2 is a shallow game. It’s also a celebration of this sacred holiday that you may find yourself replaying next year. If there’s still time before the sun rises on November 1st, you may not regret buying this game.

The more straightforward design of Lords of the Fallen puts more focus on combat than building an interesting world. Players may be less likely to get lost, but the game lacks a sense of wonder and isn’t helped by its dull narrative and recycled enemies. Still, the solid mechanics are a step in the right direction.

There’s a lot of greatness within Sunset Overdrive, but it’s obfuscated by a lack of difficulty and an aggravating tone. Ultimately, it’s worth dealing with the game’s worst moments to enjoy the many things it does get right. When you’re darting around the world like a ninja in a denim jacket, there’s nothing quite like it. If there is a next time for Sunset City, and hopefully there is, maybe things will come together more smoothly than they have here.

There was so much potential for Korra when you consider the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a developer like Platinum to work on the combat, but it seems like the Japanese studio’s B-team showed up for this project.

Fenix Rage isn’t for everybody. Some fans of Super Meat Boy, Flappy Bird and other challenging platformers may want to test their mettle in a new arena, but conquering its trials results in a hollow sense of victory.

Alien: Isolation is worth experiencing, but at the same time feels like lost potential.

Until Nintendo manages to nail all aspects of Smash’s multiplayer, it’s just another missed opportunity that has to rely heavily on its solid single player offerings.

When played in short sessions, Hyrule Warriors is mindless fun that celebrates the rich history of the Zelda series. However, your long term enjoyment of this game boils down to how much you like Dynasty Warriors, or hack-and-slash games in general, and whether or not you care about exuberant amounts of Zelda fan service. It more than delivers on both these points, but if either one of these is a turn off, this likely isn’t the experience for you.

Shadowgate is a formidable if sometimes frustrating return to classic adventure gameplay. If you’re a fan of the original or undaunted by Shadowgate’s unforgiving depths, it’s worth grabbing a torch and venturing inside.

While there are certainly some things to like about The Sims 4 such as building a custom mansion, or being visited by the Grim Reaper, the entire experience feels like a starter kit for bigger things in the future. If you had The Sims 3 and its multiple expansions, The Sims 4 will feel stripped down. If you have never played a Sims game, it might be a better option to hold off until The Sims 4 flourishes into a more complete package.

For fans of the story, inFamous: First Light is somewhat dimmed by rewriting events and motivations, but it’s carried along by Fetch’s fast, agile gameplay and a strong closing chapter. It’s not a must-play, but it’s a good excuse to run another lap around Seattle.

The most condemning thing we can say is the dream reminded us of everything missing in the episode; if only we cared as much as Lee and Clementine used to care about each other.

CounterSpy doesn’t really develop beyond its opening concepts. It’s fun to play the spy game for a while, but it quickly falls victim to tedium and repetition, with an unrewarding ending that comes off as a smoldering dud.

For such a large RPG, it’s the small moments where Risen 3 works best. The game just needs more of them; times when you get swept up in a random quest, stumble upon hidden treasure, or chuckle at a random quip from Bones. It's a game with its heart in the right place and when everything clicks, you won’t want to leave.

Akiba’s Trip is largely a wasted opportunity. For as much as it tries to honor the Electric Town, the attempt is undermined by severely limiting exploration. It’s amazing that a game about tearing clothes off can be so consistently dull.

Despite a distinct look and feel, Hohokum doesn't live up to its more ethereal aspirations.

While Sacred 3 isn’t a broken mess, there are few redeeming qualities to be found. Linear levels, repetitive enemies, meaningless progression, and insulting voice acting add up to a dreary mechanical exercise. There are far better options for action RPGs than Sacred 3.

Gods Will Be Watching strives to be meaningful. The story ruminates on how hard it is to find purpose in a world where things are often outside of our control. Many may never get a chance to appreciate that message, since the game ruins its own potential. At no point does Gods Will Be Watching make the struggle worth the effort.

Abyss Odyssey is the kind of game that initially seems fantastic, but its many issues become increasingly apparent the more time you spend with it. The thought that went into combat prevents the game from falling into mediocrity, but it also never lives up to the potential that’s so obviously there.

The few moments where Murderd: Soul Suspect actually makes good on its supernatural potential aren’t worth slogging through the rest of the game for. It’s trying to be a gripping murder mystery, but never really knows how to get there. This is one you should probably just leave for dead.

The pervasive sense of quirkiness in Tomodachi Life works, but can’t sustain the entire game. It’s the type of thing that will make you laugh for a few hours and then you'll never want to pick up again, since it isn’t worth the effort of endlessly doing the same tasks. Sometimes weird isn’t enough.

Wolfenstein: The New Order suffers from minor inconsistencies in nearly every aspect of the game from its storytelling to its action, but the good news is the game never feels consistently bad.

Bound by Flame is far from perfect, but underneath a few rough edges, a memorable journey awaits, defined by an unpredictable storyline, and decisions that have a meaningful impact on the story.

Plenty of important things happen and there’s a lot of action, but none of it carries the weight that it should. Instead, “In Harm’s Way” is mostly a bullet point list of zombie-story cliches without many of the excellent character interactions we’ve come to expect from Telltale. It’s certainly troubling when characters get killed and the only thing you feel is indifference.

If you’re really into JoJo, or really into fighting games, or both, you’ll be able to see through the messy design, pick out the good stuff and have some fun with it. Otherwise you’re likely to be beaten and bewildered.

The various game crashes, audio glitches, and unceasing loading make up an additional catalog of do-not-want, but it’s really just how diminished Spider-Man is that hurts. The anemic plot and the oft-repeated zingers give us a pencil sketch of the great Spider-Man, when he deserves to be inked and colored.

Daylight's potency is diminished by repetition and distraction, but when you have the chance to become truly engrossed in its shadows, it can really pull you in and make you jump, especially if you’re wearing a pair of headphones.

Cold, Cold Heart is a bit curt and claustrophobic, not unlike Mr. Freeze himself. If you felt Arkham Origins didn’t do enough to force the franchise forward then you can give this DLC the cold shoulder. If you’re a committed defender of Gotham City, you should be amused by this brief addition to Batman’s beginning. Just don’t expect this New Year’s party to last all night.

The long and the short of it is that it feels good to be bad. The thrill of abusing and degrading these virtual people and the little twinges of guilt you might feel for enjoying it serve as a wonderful complement to the mental exercise of building a better deathtrap.

This mix of ideas just never properly congeals. Uncovering mysteries and vanquishing foes while building up your repertoire and knowledge should be fun, but wandering this world is often little better than performing listless chores.

Past Ninja Gaiden games demanded a certain level of commitment and you could actually feel yourself get better while playing. In Yaiba, even when you're doing well, it all feels like a mess. Between the horrendous camera and the overly simplistic combos, you'll never truly feel like a ninja. At this point, it seems like Tecmo Koei has no idea what to do with Ninja Gaiden, but whatever comes next, we hope it's better than this.

It’s a game torn between two personalities, and it shows. The new Strider is at its best when it’s delivering arcade-style action moments, but sadly these come too infrequently and too late for its own good.

Lightning Returns feels almost pointless, amounting to little more than an excuse to dress the heroine up in different outfits and beat the crap out of things. There's not much payoff for those that have been faithful since the beginning and it's so obtuse that it will be difficult for new players to get into.

Jazzpunk ends up being scatological and surreal, but it’s not sublime. Like Meatloaf says, two out of three ain’t bad. But when’s the last time anyone listened to Meatloaf? Jazzpunk is funny in its own peculiar way, but that’s about all it is.

Episode two puts The Wolf Among Us in an awkward place. Telltale shows enough of its hand to interest players in the rest of the story, but the unevenness of this second episode deflates the enthusiasm that first worked so hard to earn. It's difficult to tell how strong the series will become, but right now, it's tough to accept good when you're used to great.

All in all, this eagle has landed on some seriously shaky ground. Short, boring, and reeking of “been there, done that,” this first episode in the series feels like a poor value as a one-off $9.99 purchase or as part of $29.99 season pass.

Escape Plan’s memorable puzzles are wrapped up in a unique presentation, but once you finish the 3 hour campaign there's not much of a reason to comeback.

So many moments in The Curse of Brotherhood are hampered by a sense that a square peg is being shoved into a round hole. All of its great ideas are dwarfed by the fact that it doesn’t feel good to play. The game tries to make invoke a sense of creation, but it’s more akin to fumbling in the dark.

With an asking price of nothing, it’s not unreasonable that Warframe charges for things, but when the game’s main hook is getting more loot, it slowly becomes frustrating running into so many roadblocks. Even with your warframe’s athletic prowess, the nondescript missions don’t offer enough to put up with the waiting, and there certainly isn’t a strong reason to part with a credit card.

Leveling up dragons and replaying for ranks and leaderboard score might be enough to garner Crimson Dragon a cult following, but for most people the bungled core mechanic is a deal-breaker. This dragon might fly, but it never truly soars.

Responsive controls and steady momentum will keep you engaged in Ryse’s constant war-making, but repetition unavoidably dulls the edge.

With the way it looks and how simple it is, it’s easy to think Knack is a game for kids. And while that may be the intent, it doesn’t make Knack any less dull. Whether you’re five or 25, Knack is boring throughout its 10-hour duration.

Burial at Sea is a worthy return to Rapture, but by the end you’ll wish you could’ve spent more time absorbing the sights and sounds of the city’s unspoiled areas. The grand tourism of the game’s opening versus the constant combat in the rest of the DLC creates a disconnect that makes both halves feel underdeveloped. Hopefully episode two will mend the tear of Burial at Sea’s two disparate parts.

There’s clearly potential here, but these games will never be more than easily discarded novelties until the developer’s fine tune the controls and embrace the creative craziness of Dream Matches. Here’s hoping Mario and Sonic bring their A game next time around.

Ghosts is certainly not a bad game, but it offers few surprises. Although Black Ops II wasn’t always successful, it felt like it was conscious of stagnation and attempted to push the series forward through player choice in the campaign and the introduction of the 10-point system in multiplayer. By comparison, Ghosts seems almost afraid of screwing anything up.

Quotation forthcoming.

For a work that prides itself on its story and your role in it, Beyond: Two Souls can’t help but make you feel a bit inconsequential in the ultimate scheme. The looks, the action, the acting, will have you see Jodie and Aiden through to the end, but not without shaking your head at what feels like a missed opportunity, bandaged by ghostly pranks and callbacks to more established games and movie staples.

It is neat to experiment with language to summon your favorite heroes or see surprising effects on the world, and it's at its most fun with a friend brainstorming with you. Still with the awkward action and haphazardly placed puzzles, there's a lack of direction to unleash that potential, making it hard to stay interested for the long-run.

The game is fun, at least it starts out fun, but repetition eventually morphs into boredom and killing demons changes from a guilty pleasure to a chore. By the game's mid-point the joy of combat has faded, the humor has worn thin and the characters and storyline aren't strong enough to carry the game. Shadow Warrior does stay true to its 1990s roots, but never truly moves past them.

There are some poetic moments using evocative music and words that seem to exist within the world right along with you, and though it rains for hours, the atmosphere somehow never feels tiresome. Rain can be a bit irritating though. You don’t get to see the script beforehand, and the stage managers often fail to provide you with proper cues. Things seem to stretch out too long, with some scenes seemingly exist just to fill time.

MechWarrior Online is a smart game burdened by free-to-play annoyances and unfortunately lacking in things to do outside straightforward combat. The grind of match after match eventually erodes your enthusiasm as you start to wonder what it’s all for. Considering MechWarrior has a rich history to draw from, it’s hard not to feel like something’s missing when you find yourself in an endless arena.

The sporadic moments of greatness, when you’re storming enemy walls or have finally brokered a peace agreement, are swallowed by tedium. With patience, your inner imperialist is satisfied as you skillfully cultivate a sprawling empire. It’s too bad you have to put up with so much to get there.

The impressively eerie environments provide a convincing backdrop to the tale, and a few good scares and unsettling revelations mean that Machine for Pigs can still grind at your mind.

Killer is Dead never becomes anything more than a decent action game. The perpetual nonsense in the story isn’t remotely cohesive and the gigolo missions are nothing more than degrading distractions. While Killer is Dead often looks striking, the game’s other parts rarely match its outward style.

The Bureau is trying hard to pass as a shooter and a strategy game, but seems to accidentally squash its clever ideas with brute force. Though combat might slosh around and threaten to spill, it’s functional. The presentation can only be called cheap, but there’s a dab of polish.

It’s a classic “jack of all trades, master of none” scenario and it’s easy to think of other franchises that do every element of Saints Row IV better than it does. That isn’t to say the game won’t keep you entertained, but hopefully the next Saints outing is as refined as it is irreverent.

Rise of the Triad has its heart in the right place. How often does a game give you six different rocket launchers? But goofiness doesn't remedy the multitude of bugs. Hopefully Interceptor will address these issues, but right now, Rise of the Triad is less of a triumphant comeback and more of a fun diversion.

Lasting just a couple hours and adding nothing to Metro's world or story, there's little value in Last Light's Faction Pack. Thankfully, at only $5, the ranger mission is worthwhile for players itching for just a bit more time behind the gas mask.

Project X Zone successfully delivers on the fan service and flashy battles, but it falls short in the strategy department. It’s a fun game to play in small intervals, but it’s a lengthy proposition clocking it at around 40-50 hours to complete.

Comic fans looking for a mindless romp may find Wade Wilson’s misadventures up to the task, but players seeking some actual substance should look for another mercenary to hire.

Game & Wario could come as a disappointment if you’re accustomed to excellent past collections that bare the Wario moniker. While there may be a few glimpses of really clever ideas, they’re overshadowed by the amount of uninspired games that don’t lend themselves well to the hardware. Sorry Wario, guess you’ll have to look for future funding through another Crowdfarter.

Remember Me isn’t quite up to par in terms of craft. But whatever you might say about it, this curious and ambitious game certainly isn’t without personality or interest. It’s up to you to decide if your mind has room to hold such a curious oddity.

Some might see it as an enjoyable co-op shooter with a sci-fi bent, some as an exercise of wasted potential. We imagine that it stands as a science experiment for if yet another unremarkable sixty dollar shooting gallery can sell - Insomniac’s solid track record points to a positive outcome, but this might be a case where the catalyst just isn’t strong enough.

Pandora's Tower isn't the best-playing action RPG out there. Its fixed camera and control issues are often quite frustrating. Yet these issues aren't enough to completely outweigh Elena's convincing character.

There are many things to see in this land, but wandering around can feel empty.

The core shooting mechanics are engaging enough to keep you coming back, and its intriguing episodic ties have the potential to keep ark hunting interesting in fresh, original ways.

Slender: The Arrival is an atmospheric package relying too much on one admittedly terrifying trick that overstays its welcome far too early in an already short series of events.

The odd thing is that while Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel is clearly not a well-executed game, it still manages to be fun with a friend. It's quick, stop-and-pop gameplay with carnage and explosions aplenty. Every awkward moment and terrible line of dialogue is a potential laugh -- or two -- so it's not the worst choice for a weekend rental.

It’s clear that some effort certainly went into this dastardly devil’s creation, but Vergil’s Downfall leaves us wanting more; the inability to play as Vergil in the main campaign, much less the recently released Bloody Palace mode, is a puzzling omission given the precedent set with Devil May Cry 3.

Mirror of Fate leaves a poor first impression, but the game gradually becomes more enjoyable as you move through it. The game takes time out to puzzle near the halfway point for a welcome change of pace, and has its best moments coming at the end of the game, which you can reach in around ten hours.

Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 starts strong and has a few inspired moments, but it can’t keep up its momentum and plods through most of its material, too often asking you to watch rather than play.

Lasting about three hours, this $10 first act has a hard time standing on its own.

While Proteus doesn't evoke a sense of lasting emotional impact, it provides a brief escape to zone out and let your senses soak in its world, whether you're following your nose in discovery or simply relaxing and watching the sunset.

Despite the game’s best intentions to immerse you in the Aliens universe, the result is a bloody massacre. Relying on dated storytelling techniques and technology, and stretching way too far to provide a plausible link between the second and third films, Aliens: Colonial Marines isn’t able to connect its action to any real sense of drama or terror, completely missing the aspect of psychological horror that gave the film its edge.

If you're looking for combat, in-depth crafting options, or a true survival simulation, then Miasmata's limitations will likely be disappointments. Yet if you are the type of player who enjoys exploring, cartography, and the danger of being hunted by a creature you cannot defeat, then Miasmata will prove a to be a highly memorable experience that's equal parts exasperating and thrilling.

Anarchy Reigns throws a lot of blows, and while it's sometimes recklessly off target, this is a talented and capable fighter at its core.