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.