Because the game is such a chore from beginning to end and all points in between, it feels more like you’re trapped in a world that should be a whole lot more fun than it is. Summer in Mara will try to suck you in with promises of being all charming and delightful, but all it takes is a few minutes (and a few hours after that) to reveal just how empty those promises are.

I’ll freely admit that my expectations may have been a tad high, and that for someone who’s far more into politics than is healthy, it would’ve been hard for The Political Machine 2020 to compare to the real thing. But this game barely even tries. Rather than offering players a chance to play a real-life real-time strategy game, it reduces politics and campaigns to nothing more than clicking a few random icons for points and cash, and it’s impossible to see how that could possibly be seen as a good thing.

Beyond Blue isn’t going to make you forget The Last of Us II or Ghosts of Tsushima or any of the year’s other big hitters. But it’s also not about to make you remember all the other terrible stuff happening in the world (assuming this game doesn’t make you think about all the terrible stuff happening in the oceans). At a time when most of us need all the relaxation we can get, I can’t think of a game that’s any more perfect than Beyond Blue.

It might just be the best of the current batch of Lovecraftian games. While a lot of them have visual horrors, few of them are scary. By contrast, Omen Exitio: Plague only has a few sketched drawings here and there, but it captures the creepiness of its influence spine-tinglingly well.

If you want a game that’s interesting, or engaging, or that expects anything of you, forget it, because you’re not getting it in Gun Crazy. It’s probably for the best that you can clean up all the trophies here in about 10-15 minutes, because anything more than that and you quickly realize that this game has nothing more to offer.

Death Stranding still stands as one of the absolute coolest and most unique games of this current generation, and maybe one of the most unique of all time. It is such a wild blend of third-person action, open-world exploration, inventory management, “fetch quests” and incredible cinematics. It stands out even among the other wild games that Hideo Kojima has created, which really says something about it. I love Death Stranding, and I recommend that everyone who has any sort of interest in it try it out, and if you have a PC capable of running it the way it is intended to run, the PC is without a doubt the best place to check it out.

If you’ve never experienced Burnout Paradise before — or even if you just want the convenience of having an all-time classic racing game with you everywhere you go — you’re in for a treat with this Remastered version on the Switch. It may be more than a decade old, but time hasn’t diminished it in any way, and it’s still a must-play for anyone who likes a whole lot of destruction in their racing games.

All in all, Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in disguise is definitely a mixed bag. I enjoyed the story, love the characters, and I’m happy to see more of Francis York Morgan’s weird adventures. But actually playing the game to get to the good stuff never feels great either. Technical improvements would help a lot, but wouldn’t completely solve the mundane mission design, tongue-in-cheek fetch quests, or subpar combat encounters. So altogether, I can’t wholeheartedly recommend this game to everyone. I think you’ve got to come in with a willingness to look over a lot of issues just to get to the good stuff, and considering how many amazing games are available right this second, that’s going to be a pretty hard sell.

For all its flaws, I don’t think I’ve ever played a game that left my mouth watering and my stomach growling, yet that’s precisely how I’m feeling after finishing this one. If that was Strawberry Vinegar’s aim — and given all the shots of food, I have to think it was — then it’s done everything it set out to do.

It’s so wholly indebted to the past, it never tries to do anything new. Sure, it looks a little cleaner, and I suspect the controls are a little smoother, but there’s nothing here that suggests it’s aware of any developments in gaming post-1995. There’s barely even a story holding it all together — it’s just all nostalgia, all the time. Obviously, if that kind of nostalgia speaks to you, then you’ll probably find plenty to enjoy in Project Warlock. But if you want anything more than reheated Doom, you’re better off looking elsewhere, because you won’t find it here.

In other words, most of these games have been forgotten for a reason. Whereas the first Namco Museum volume was a solid mixture of all-time classics with one must-play new game added in for good measure (and let me reiterate: go play the Pac-Man Championship Edition demake!), Namco Museum Archives Vol. 2 is a collection of oddities that you probably don’t need to play.

Radio Squid is an unfortunately dull game that’s nowhere near as interesting as its predecessors, and apart from the music, there’s really no reason to check it out.

There’s no denying that Urban Flow succeeds at being a highly addictive casual game. I’m still not entirely convinced I haven’t played something exactly like it somewhere before, but even if I did, it probably didn’t pull off traffic management anywhere near as well as this game does.

Calling it good or bad is beside the point. It’s an experience, for better or for worse, and if you want one of those, you’ll get that here.

There’s nothing good to be said about this game, and under no circumstances will it be worth your time.

Given its trappings and its story, I wouldn’t go so far as to call Red Bow pleasant, but it’s certainly in that ballpark. It’s an odd little game that’s better than it has any right to be, and it’s probably worth investigating if you’re in the mood for something short and different.

Ghost of Tsushima takes the best elements of Assassins Creed and Far Cry, throws in some of the signature Sucker Punch flair that made Infamous so successful and ends up being something that is both familiar and unique at the same time. The stealth elements are not the strongest, and aside from the missions requiring stealth, I almost always took the more forward approach to combat, but the freedom to DO that is part of what makes the game so good. Sony has consistently released incredible, single player, story focused exclusives for the PS4, and Ghost of Tsushima stands tall as one of their best yet.

Basically, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated is full of all kinds of weird little gameplay quirks that show this is just a reskinned version of a 17-year-old game. There’s nothing terrible about it, to be sure, but unless you’re coming in with fond memories of the original, you probably won’t find much here that’s worth your time.

The other standout here is demake of 2007’s Pac-Man Championship Edition. It’s probably a little unfair to compare it to any of the other ten games on this compilation, seeing as its design has the benefit of 30+ years of hindsight, but it’s still an incredible take on an incredible game that feels alive in a way that none of the other games here do. Is it enough to singlehandedly make Namco Museum Archives Vol. 1 worth picking up? Probably not…but it’s good enough that I’d at least have to think about it before answering that question. At the very least, it justifies the collection’s existence, even if the rest will probably only appeal to you if you want another version of games that, mostly, have been available elsewhere for decades.

As someone who loves murder mysteries, it’s always fun to see someone try something new — and even with its flaws, Bohemian Killing does exactly that.

The only reason you should buy this game is if you’re eager to go online and blast away at zombies with others. There are worse reasons to buy a game, though, so if that’s what you’re after — and that’s literally all you’re after — it may just be worth your time.

I think Catherine: Full Body is an overall improvement to the original game, and worth checking out if you’re like me and haven’t revisited the game in nearly a decade. The Switch version being reviewed here ran really well, with a solid framerate in both docked and undocked modes, and minimal load times throughout. There might not be enough in this package to elevate it past the prior releases of Catherine: Full Body, but again, if you have yet to play this version of the game then the Switch version appears to be on par with the rest.

Much like no one ever sees a shark attack coming, Maneater is a gem hidden in an ocean of offerings and those who find it will be in for a precious and fun experience.

It’s a sign of how terrible the first Woodle Tree was that, even with all these issues present in Woodle Tree 2, it still represents several massive steps forward. Really, that probably means you shouldn’t get either one, but if you absolutely have to get one of the two (for some inexplicable reason), Woodle Tree 2 is definitely the one to get.

For better and for worse (and I honestly don’t know where I fall on it, apart from being creeped out by the art), Infini is a…unique puzzle game. If you like weird, you’ll like it.

Obviously, New Super Lucky’s Tale isn’t about to displace Mario when it comes to being the best 3D platformer the Switch has to offer — but with no word of exaggeration, I wouldn’t put this one too far behind it, either.

Even if it’s not the most original game, Mekorama still presents a fun challenge. It’s hardly some deep game that’ll occupy you for hours and hours on end, but that’s not the point. If you’re looking for a fun puzzle game that you can drop in and out of without missing anything, this is most definitely it.

Thy Sword may be different from the dozens and dozens of other games that fit within its genre, but it’s only a slight difference. In the big scheme of things, it’s still a platformer with ideas and a look that first came into fashion a couple of decades ago. Whatever your thoughts are on games like that, this game will do nothing to dispel them.

Totally Reliable Delivery Service is the definition of a one-note joke that wears out its welcome pretty quickly. You’ll experience pretty much everything it has to offer in the first few minutes of playing it, and it’s the sort of game best experienced as part of a YouTube compilation, rather than something you need to play on your own.

I think the problem is that even if Potata: Fairy Flower does a lot of things well enough, it doesn’t do anything incredibly well. Even if, as I said, it looks better than plenty of other platformers — and, for that matter, it’s got more competent gameplay and a more engaging story than many of its competitors — there are also plenty more platformers that do all of those things much better than this game does. If you just want something that’s good enough, it’ll do, but I feel like there are lots of other games out there that you should probably play first.

The only small issue is that small screen size can be a factor in handheld mode when playing on the triple and dual-screen arcade releases in pixel-perfect mode. Outside of that, this is an absolutely amazing collection of classic shoot ‘em ups that I feel is ultimately worth the higher price tag. I think you’ll agree that the overall quality of this collection is worth it.

The only small issue is that small screen size can be a factor in handheld mode when playing on the triple and dual-screen arcade releases in pixel-perfect mode. Outside of that, this is an absolutely amazing collection of classic shoot ‘em ups that I feel is ultimately worth the higher price tag. I think you’ll agree that the overall quality of this collection is worth it.

BioShock Remastered is one of gaming’s all-time classics, and whether you’re experiencing Rapture for the first time or simply interested in revisiting it, you’ll be pleased to learn that the Switch version is every bit as solid as its counterparts on other consoles.

As I said, it’s the same as countless games that have come before it. If you like those other retro platformers, this one will probably be up your alley, but don’t expect anything you haven’t seen many times before.

The problem here is that not only does Saints Row IV look kind of bad, it runs abysmally. It takes a lot to get me to feel negatively towards one of my all-time favourite games, but this kind of achieves that dubious goal.

With an enthralling story, complex characters, interesting gameplay and gorgeous visuals and audio, The Last of Us Part II is probably one of the most polished videogame experiences out there and it’s pretty easy to give it a great score and call it a day. But honestly, thanks to the intense pace, mature subject matter and stressful situations, it may not be for everyone.

With slightly better performance, Deliver Us The Moon could have been one of the best games of the year. As it stands, it’ll have to settle for being merely intriguing.

It’s always refreshing to come across a visual novel that’s as good as what it does as Spirit Hunter: NG. Like Death Mark before it, it’s a game that wants to scare you and knows how to do it, and it makes for a visual novel experience that’s well above most of its competitors.

Overall, I’m really, really impressed by Desperados III. It went from being a game that wasn’t really on my radar, to definitely being one of the best games I’ve played all year. If you’re like me and haven’t played a single game in the series so far, this seems like an excellent place to start. I highly recommend checking it out, you won’t be disappointed.

Though Greymoor may not be a groundbreaking new chapter for ESO, it is yet another step forward. With how rocky the launch was, it is wonderful to see ZeniMax continue to create great new content, and although the main quest is nothing to write home about, it kicks off the year-long Dark Heart of Skyrim event and holds a lot of promise.

Much like the real thing, the best thing about soccer video games is seeing the beautiful game in full flight. Ganbare! Super Strikers has a lot of the same elements of soccer (and some enhanced moves that, in the right circumstances, could have been kind of neat) but as a package, it gets bogged down in its twist. Turn-based battles aren’t inherently incompatible with soccer, but the two certainly don’t mesh well here.

Gravity Rider Zero is a great way to introduce someone to the idea of what Trials has done well for several years, but don’t go in expecting more than that.

At $40, I think Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics is a real steal. This, for me, is one of those games I’d suggest buying digitally, just because you’ll likely never want to remove it from the system. It’s a great game to have handy in a variety of cases and certainly belongs on the list of must-have Nintendo Switch games.

Basically, I’m just happy that Journey to the Savage Planet on the Switch finally has it living up to the potential the game showed back when it was first teased. It’s kind of ironic it had to be visually downgraded to achieve that, but if I have to sacrifice a bit of performance to get a lot more fun out of a game, that’s a trade-off I’ll take every time.

Does this make for a faithful representation of John Wick? As I said, I have no idea. I’d feel much more confident in saying it’s not the best Mike Bithell game possible, but I imagine that’s a much less meaningful statement for most people, judging by box office totals compared to the broader cultural impact of Thomas Was Alone. As such, I’ll split the difference, and say that John Wick Hex is a solid strategic action game that’s great if you’re in the mood for skulking around in stylish shadows and killing lots and lots of bad guys.

Presumably the game goes easy on players so they can focus on the unfolding story (pun not originally intended). However, if you hate the story as much as I did, that’s not a good thing. Again, I’ll freely admit that if you don’t spend too much time thinking about any of this, A Fold Apart is a mildly charming puzzle-platformer. But beneath that brightly-coloured surface, there’s a pretty noxious message.

As I said up top, I never played any of the Five Nights at Freddy’s games, so it’s entirely possible that those games were just as finicky. Somehow, though, I doubt that mobile games that relied on touch controls are as frustrating as these games with their way-too-sensitive thumbsicks. Which, in turn, means that whether you’re a series veteran who wants to relive these games, or if, like me, you’re someone who wants to experience the games for the first time, Help Wanted really isn’t worth it.

Despite some issues, it’s hard to suggest not playing Minecraft Dungeons, considering the low entry price on most platforms, and the fact that it’s free on Xbox One via Game Pass if you’re already subscribed. It’s a fun take on a traditional Action-RPG that utilizes the Minecraft charm really well and will make for a fun time, especially if you can get a friend or two to tag along with you.

Control issues aside, I still wouldn’t say that Stories Untold is a bad game. Indeed, if you like emotionally heavy games with interesting, underutilized mechanics, you’ll get that here — you’ll just have to go in understanding that, without a mouse and keyboard, some of those mechanics don’t work the best.

As I’ve always said, KEMCO RPGs exist within a pretty narrow band — they’re never great, but they’re never terrible. They’re really just the same game repeated dozens of times with minor tweaks, and Asdivine Menace is no different. As far as I’m concerned, however, the microtransactions are a step too far, and you’re probably better off getting one of the other KEMCO games that falls closer to the good-ish side of the spectrum.

If you’re looking for a game on the go that’ll last you a few dozen hours (if you’re the completionist type), Vampyr delivers that. But that also means spending a few dozen hours with a game that’s not particularly interesting, and I don’t know why you’d want to bother with that.

If you haven’t checked out one of these excellent SEGA AGES releases so far, Thunder Force AC is a pretty good place to start. It’s one of those games that rarely gets ported, certainly not to current consoles, and is a neat little bit of video game history in its own right. I would highly recommend picking it up when it hits the Switch eShop today.

Concept Destruction feels more like a really great demo or a proof of concept than a full-fledged must-play game. What’s here is good, but with a few big tweaks and additions this could have been great. As it stands, this is a fun way to spend an hour or so, but if you want more than that, you’ll just have to wait for the developers to flesh this out a little (or rather, a lot) more.

Where MLB The Show is basically just refining its (admittedly very good) formula while it waits around for the next generation, and RBI Baseball chose this year to take a step backwards, SMB3 feels like a substantial improvement over its predecessors — which I already loved without reservation. It’s fun, it’s simple, it’s got about as much depth as you could want in a baseball game. Just about the only thing missing at this point is a create-a-player feature — which, I hope, is in the cards for my presumptive 2023 GOTY, Super Mega Baseball 4.

It’s a huge misfire from a developer that, at the very least, tends to be pretty competent, and it means you shouldn’t feel any hesitation about skipping this one and going back and playing one of Compile Hearts many better RPGs.

The most annoying part of Balthazar’s Dream is that a lot of care and attention went into it, and with a few tweaks it could have been much better. The way items like hydrants and vacuums play such a key role show a real commitment to the dog theme, and the overarching narrative — about a dog sitting at the hospital bed of his master in a coma — could’ve been heartwarming. Instead, though, you’re left with a game that can’t get out of its own way. In the end, it doesn’t matter how cute Balthazar’s Dream could’ve been; when you have a platformer where the jumping is a pain, no amount of adorable pups will save it.

It’s all pretty low stakes, and it’s extremely low stress. But that’s the point — it’s designed to be a relaxing game you can finish in a single sitting. It’s not about the change the world, but it should be enough to put a smile on your face…and yes, maybe just make you want to go camping.

Really, if you’ve ever played any run & gun platformer, you’ve experienced what Random Heroes has to offer. Just about the only difference here is that there’s more of it than you’d find than in most places. If you value quantity of a game above all else, then it might do the trick, but otherwise I don’t see why you’d bother with it.

Honestly, I can’t figure out why anyone would want to buy Ghost Sweeper. I mean, it’s a free phone game (with in-app purchases, of course), and, better still, you can also play Solomon’s Key itself in your browser right now. I’m all for supporting indie games, but when they do as little as Ghost Sweeper does to build on their inspirations, there’s really no point to playing them.

Even if the deeper meaning of Wanderlust’s politics are somewhere between pablum and deeply problematic, there’s no denying that the game fulfills its goal of making you stop and read and think about what you want to do next. It’s a visual novel that takes the “novel” part very seriously, and even if it accompanies its copious text with some gorgeous visuals, if you’re going to play/experience it, you’ll better have your reading glasses handy.

Despite its flaws — both performance and otherwise — Blacksad: Under The Skin still makes for an interesting game. It’s clunky (in more ways than one), but it’s also got a gripping story at its core, and it’s oozing style. I’ve certainly played better adventure games than this one, but there’s enough interesting stuff going on here that fans of the genre could do worse than checking it out.

Controls aren’t immediately obvious, and with such limited movements within each turn, you’re a) mostly figuring it out as you go along, and b) dying a lot. For many people, of course, the difficulty is the point, especially when we’re talking about survival horror — which, its isometric puzzle trappings notwithstanding, Overland definitely is. It doesn’t hold your hand (which, for some — i.e. me — may be a drawback), so if you’re tired of the current apocalypse and in the mood for one that’s a little different, it might just do the trick.

As it stands, this is a great port of a unique, obscure fighting game that I’m happy gets to see the light of day again. Hopefully, this will pave the way for more Neo Geo Pocket content on the Switch, which seems to be a perfect fit. Definitely check it out when you have a chance, you won’t be disappointed.

Illusion of L’Phalcia also makes tentative steps into the world of 3D animation. It’s not the first time KEMCO games have tried 3D, but they don’t do it often, and it looks absolutely awful here. Some excuses could be made for the fact this is actually a port of one of their older games…but still, we’re talking about a game that was originally released in 2014, not 1994. There’s no reason why the few scenes with 3D characters should look as bad as they do. To be fair, if it weren’t for those shoddy 3D animations, there wouldn’t be a single thing in Illusion of L’Phalcia that’s even remotely memorable. It’s near the bottom of the barrel as far as KEMCO JRPGs go, and you’d be better off playing pretty much anything else they’ve brought over to consoles.

I’ve found myself enjoying my time spent with the game, and I think it has the potential to improve even more. I think if you’re in the market for something akin to Friday the 13th or Evolve, or just looking for a new competitive asymmetrical multiplayer experience, you could do a lot worse than Predator: Hunting Grounds. Just keep in mind that there are elements that feel a little rough at the moment, but barring that, it’s a pretty enjoyable shooter.

Basically, if you’ve ever played any 2D platformer at any point in your life, you’ll know exactly what to expect from Fin and the Ancient Mystery. As I said, you could do a lot worse than this one, but given the sheer number of alternatives on the Switch alone, there’s really no reason why you’d want to pick this one specifically.

While not as packed or well known as some of the previous SEGA AGES releases, G-LOC Air Battle is still a great addition to the lineup. If you like After Burner and Out Run, then you will feel right at home here. New players can also pick this one up and get the hang of it right away. It’s not a must own, but more of a quick pick up and play game. If you are looking for dogfight action found in games like Ace Combat, you aren’t going to find it here. Just a simple Arcade quarter-muncher designed to challenge and sometimes frustrate you. I say try it out, you may like it.

Basically, Rush Rover is a nondescript game that’s only worth playing for the trophies or achievements, if those appeal to you. It offers a few minutes of fun, but pretty much nothing else beyond that.

The weirdest thing about Breeder Homegrown is that it could’ve easily turned into a semi-decent horror game if there’d been even a little bit of attention paid to developing a cohesive story. It has a somewhat creepy atmosphere that, in better hands, could have been used to great effect. As it stands, though, there’s nothing really here to make the game worth recommending — unless, of course, you have $5 bucks to spend and a half hour to kill, and you want one of the easiest Platinums you’ll ever find.

It’s highly addictive thanks to how quickly those dates breeze along, and even if it’s all done with a wink, the game never seems like it’s looking down on the genre (which, I’ll admit, I may have been doing going into it). It all makes for a fun way to pass the time, and if you’re looking for something a little different on the Switch, you’ll find it right here.

Really, the only good thing I can say about Battle Rockets is that it must be a labour of love, because it’s only on the Vita. Personally, as someone who has played the Vita for far more hours than most people, I feel like that’s enough to make the game worthwhile, but for anyone who isn’t a diehard Vita completionist, Battle Rockets is more an oddity worth noting than something worth playing.

Just about the only way Blood Breed might appeal to you is if you, too, have nostalgia for the early days of PS1 horror games — but if you do, you’re probably much better served playing the Resident Evil remakes than you are playing junk like this. For that matter, I suspect that if you were to go back and play some of those classics from that games, they’d still be better than Blood Breed. Really, just about anything is better than this.

A terrible game with generous checkpoints is still a terrible game. Thunder Paw manages to take a formula you wouldn’t think would be easy to screw up, and somehow finds a way to screw it up. It’s an abysmal game, and everything about it is best avoided.

Given how nice it looks, I suspect that if you were to strip out most of Moons of Madness’ gameplay — such as it is — you would’ve been left with a very solid (if somewhat short) horror walking simulator. Instead, all you have here a somewhat scary horror game that manages to drown itself in a whole lot of pointless busywork.

While the game is mostly focused on exploration and education, every so often you have to fight off sharks and other predators. It feels totally out of place with the rest of the game, watching it veer from “Save biodiversity” to “Zap that shark!” and back again. I understand that the developers probably wanted to gamify sea exploration, but that doesn’t make it any less odd. I wouldn’t say any of those flaws ruin Deep Diving Adventures, though. They may detract a little from the overall experience, but, at the same time, that overall experience is different enough from most other games out there that it still feels pretty unique. As long as you don’t go in expecting something flawless, if nothing else you’ll come away with a whole new appreciation for water levels.

Needless to say, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 is just as fun as the first three games in the series. It doesn’t break any new ground, but it doesn’t have to. If you want a game where you can take over a map by punching your enemies through buildings, you’ll get precisely that right here, and that couldn’t make me happier.

If we’re grading Epic Word Search Collection based on how well it delivers, well, epic word searches, I don’t think there’s any disputing that it does what it sets out to do. It may not be replace the old pen and paper variety, but if you’re looking for a good time-killer — and these days, we all are — it’ll do the trick.

There’s really no other way to describe this game as anything other than a middling Bomberman clone. There’s no story. The hero is a skeleton who has to escape a series of dungeons for…reasons. The graphics are vaguely retro, with no distinguishing features. The controls are as standard as they come, with the only thing that really stands out being the fact it’s awkward to move the eponymous hero around, which means that you’re going to needlessly die quite a few times. That said, you only die if you play, and there’s really no reason why you need to play Explosive Jake in the first place. As Bomberman clones go, it’s certainly one of them, and you’re better off just seeking out the original instead.

I give EQQO a lot of credit for keeping things basic and allowing the on-screen action to function without ever having to explain itself too much. Unfortunately, it works that well because there’s really not much of a challenge here. In normal circumstances, that might not be the worst thing in the world: it could allow you to focus on the game’s essentials, and in EQQO’s case, that theoretically means focusing players on its utterly delightful story. Unfortunately, however, the reality is that the most notable thing about EQQO isn’t the story or its characters, it’s the absolutely awful controls. No matter how adorable the game is, or how much love went into it, those controls are really its defining feature, and in this case, they drag everything else down with them.

There’s nothing here that seems impossible right off the bat, which is a nice step up from a lot of these kinds of games. It’s just hard. But hard doesn’t equal bad, of course. That was true for Dark Souls, and it’s true for Duck Souls+. It’s not like there aren’t dozens of other tough-as-nails platformers that inhabit the same space, but Duck Souls+ is definitely one of the better ones.

Journey to the Savage Planet is a frustrating game. Not because it’s that hard (it’s not, at least not intentionally), and not because it’s broken (at least not too much). No, it’s frustrating because it’s so close to being a good game, and you can see the tweaks that would have made it a good game…but absent those tweaks, it all just feels like a giant missed opportunity.

It’s fine for what it is — but, if you’re looking for a good kart racer or 3D platformer, there are better options out there. On the Switch alone, there’s Super Mario Odyssey, of course, but also plenty of other decent games of this ilk. Even if you’re thinking strictly in terms of PS4 or Xbox (and I kind of am, since I liked this game enough that I want to pick it up for my niece to follow up on my Paw Patrol and kids’ PS4 controller at Christmas), there are still games like Yooka-Laylee or Tearaway that are higher quality. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get your kids Gigantosaurus: The Game ever, only that there are other games you should get for them before this one. It’s hardly a must-play, but if you’re looking for ways to get your kids hooked on gaming at a young age, this one might be the way to start.

So yeah, I really found myself loving Final Fantasy VII Remake, to a degree that I’m likely going to go back through it on Hard mode (which unlocks post-game) and try to platinum it if I can find the time. Even after 40 hours spent with it I’m finding it hard to pull myself away from the game, and I think there’s a good chance you’ll feel the same way too.

While professional sports have been cancelled indefinitely, something like Dunk Lords arrived just in time to help with social distancing (I mean it doesn’t even have online play…although I hope they implement it at some point otherwise it might prevent the title from having serious legs). That said Dunk Lords is close to a total package for an arcade sports game. Great gameplay, fun gimmicks, colorful cast, I certainly look forward to a console port.

As it stands, I’m not going to say this one is a must-play, but it’s solid enough that if Ratalaika and Petite want to continue on with another sequel in this series, I certainly wouldn’t complain.

Whether intentionally or not, Wizards of Brandel isn’t afraid to show it has a sense of humour, and it makes the rest of the game seem a lot more palatable, even enjoyable. Admittedly, if you don’t find that hilarious, then you’ll just find Wizards of Brandel to be yet another in a long line of unremarkable, indistinguishable JRPGs. And, what’s more, if you hate microtransactions, then you may even find this game intolerable. Personally, though, this was the best KEMCO JRPG I’ve seen in a long time — possibly ever — and I’m willing to ignore those microtransactions if it means the game leans in on the silliness as much as this one does.

If we’re talking about things like reduced load times as a big plus, I think it’s clear that R.B.I. Baseball 20 isn’t the (relatively) smashing success that R.B.I. Baseball 19 was. But it still points to the game making an effort to improve, which clearly wasn’t the case up until last year’s outing. Whether that will help the series next year when MLB The Show stops being a Sony exclusive remains to be seen, but for now, at least it means that anyone who wants a baseball game outside of the PlayStation ecosystem won’t have to suffer through a game that’s a complete write-off.

It’s really hard to enjoy Draugen when it all feels like it’s a collection of nods to other, better games. A game shouldn’t make you want to play other games, yet most of the time I spent with Draugen I was wondering about whether it was too soon to go back and play Gone Home or What Remains of Edith Finch. If you’ve never played those before, this won’t seem nearly as derivative — but that’s more an argument for playing those other games than it is for playing Draugen.

I genuinely cannot find a real fault with this game. Sound design is incredible, the visuals are stunning, the story exceeds all expectations, combat and puzzle design manage to remain true to what fans would want, while also seamlessly translating themselves to the VR space, there is humor, there is horror, everything comes together and creates the perfect Half-Life game. This is the game that VR was waiting for, this is the game that VR was built for, and if you have VR technology, you owe it to yourself to play this game. If you have been waiting for the right game to come along and make the VR purchase worth it, Half-Life: Alyx is it.

It’s a decent enough game that improves a little when you realize that it’s not actively trying to kill you at every opportunity. Not exactly the stuff of eventual GOTY material or anything, but I’ve definitely played worse.

Hidden Through Time is pretty cute. It’s got an art style that comes off as a cross between Scribblenauts and The Oatmeal, and as someone who likes both of those things, that appeals to me. Every time I finished a level, some part of me half-expected to hear that little Scribblenauts tune that played whenever you found a shard, which should give you an idea of just how close the resemblance is. But intuitive controls and fun design don’t make for a great game — that would require the game itself to be fun, and honestly, Hidden Through Time just didn’t do it for me. If you’re a diehard hidden object fan who really wants a challenge, it might be worth your time, but if you’re looking for something you can play with your kids, I have a hard time imagining it would pass muster.

Trancelation works as entertainment, but not edutainment. You’re probably not going to come out of it fluent in any more languages than you went into it with, but if you just feel like dodging around the screen to a great beat, it’ll do the job.

As I said before, we’re talking about a KEMCO game, so you more or less getting exactly what you’d expect when it comes to Asdivine Dios. There are far worse JRPGs out there, but there are also far better ones, and this one comes in right where you’d expect, in the exact midpoint between those two extremes.

Being able to play the game with family in the same household may require a bit much (multiple Switch consoles and copies of the game) but when you get it all up and running, it is a great way to spend your time stuck at home. I’ve spent hours with the game every day since launch, and have yet to come close to being exhausted with it, and seemingly never run out of things to do. So, if for some reason you have yet to pick this one up, I’d definitely recommend doing so.

It’s not ground-breaking in any way, but it’s a solid game nonetheless, and it offers a fun way to pass a couple of hours (and boost your Trophy count/Gamerscore in the process).

All in all, I found Bubble Bobble 4 Friends to be a really fun take on the old Taito franchise, and a great experience for old and new players alike. It makes for a really solid family game that’s appropriate for all ages, but one with a difficulty curve that won’t make the game a bore for parents or older siblings. So check it out now on the Nintendo Switch, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Twin Breaker is a nice diversion while we wait for the year’s bigger releases. Surely Moriarty’s detractors will find ways to nitpick his initial foray into game development, thankfully I won’t be one of them. I do look forward to the inevitable sequel which will probably introduce controlling 6 ships. Until then I will ask…Switch when (cause you know it’s the only handheld that matters)?

Overall, Resident Evil 3/Resident Evil Resistance is a solid release that hardcore fans will love and will bring something fresh for newcomers to the series. It may not be RE2R, but that doesn’t hurt it in the end. It’s a memorable experience and can’t wait to complete it on Hardcore.