If you have ever praised the sun, or if you have any fear of the old blood, Nioh is an absolute must play. A fantastic and deep combat system, coupled with great boss design and a difficult yet fair effort/reward loop put Nioh right up there with its not so distant brothers in Dark Souls and Bloodborne. If I were to assign a score to the game, simply for its content it would absolutely be a solid “A”. Unfortunately, even though it is the Complete Edition, this is not necessarily the superior version of the game. If you only play games on PC, this game is still a no-brainer to pick up, but if you’re like me and have consoles as well as a computer, I think the PS4 may still be the place to play Nioh.

The extremely dedicated, and perhaps a bit masochistic, will absolutely adore Jak X's lengthy and varied single-player, however frustrating it may be.

A solid, if standard platformer if you have some appreciation for Scooby-Doo or if you're looking for a game for the kids.

As I said, there’s pleasure to be found in a bit of neatness and order, and A Little to the Left appeals to that specific part of the brain. But it doesn’t do it consistently enough to make the game worth playing, unless you like having a bit of frustration mixed in with your cute and cozy puzzles.

Ty's game play is simple to pick up and play, while it merits enough challenge to make even veteran platform junkies scratch their heads for a bit.

For folks who haven’t endured the phenomenon of HP, you’ll need to start from the beginning before picking this one up.

While it is an improvement in almost every aspect from controls to options, it still isn't close to what fans of stock cars want to see from their beloved franchise.

The DioField Chronicle is a game that I had little trouble sticking with throughout the review process, and could easily see myself going back to in order to finish up the few remaining trophies I have left. The fun gleaned from this strategy title is almost entirely due to the engaging battle system, which while a bit basic compared to other titles, is still a lot of fun to play. It’s not a game that I’d wholeheartedly suggest picking up at full price, but I’d certainly suggest giving it a go after a sale or two.

Improved visuals, spruced up game play, and in-depth online play that will keep any fan of the collegiate games very happy indeed.

The game isn’t about guns, action, blood and mayhem. It’s a game dealing with stealth in its purest form.

It's fun enough for most adults to enjoy (admittedly in limited doses) and simple enough for most kids to grasp. The opportunity for interaction among family or friends makes Shrek 2 more than the sum of its parts.

As solid as NHL 23 is, it’s hardly a must-play game if you have any previous entries in the series. Given that year(s)-old sports games tend to be pretty inexpensive, that makes it hard to justify buying this one new when you’ll get basically the same experience buying a game from last year or the year before. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll get a very well-made game if you do decide you need all the latest rosters and draft classes, but it’s up to you to decide how badly you need those things.

At best, it feels like a well-made rehashing of much of what’s come before it, with a slightly harder difficulty level. There’s nothing wrong with that, to be sure, but it makes it hard to recommend The Sojourn unless you’ve exhausted most other possibilities of the genre already.

If you can get past some of MVP’s fielding glitches, and appreciate this offensive driven baseball title, then you will be in for a delightful surprise this season.

Personally, I thought Ary and the Secret of Seasons was worth it, but you’d be well within your rights to figure it’s more trouble than it’s worth, and look elsewhere for your Zelda-like needs.

It is true that NCAA Basketball 09 isn't a perfect basketball sim, but what it brings to the table is pure enjoyment for any fan that enjoys watching these kids bust their butts every week and not get paid for it.

Even being a major horror fan and enjoying the fact that someone has created a horror themed platformer, I have a hard time believing this is going to find a core audience that shares my views about the game and its content.

The animations are disappointing. Shooting someone should offer some satisfaction, but in SOCOM the dead man just slumps over.

It’s this lack of real replay and major feeling of linearity that I feel many will be turned off sooner than later.

If you haven't bought a Worms game yet this generation and don't mind dropping $15, Worms 2: Armaggedon won't disappoint.

Enjoyment of the X Collection will hinge on whether you enjoyed these games in the first place, because there isn't much content to be found aside from art galleries. But fans of the series and those who like the sort of action Mega Man provides will be very happy.

At the end of the day, video games are about personal preference. I do not have the time I used to for mastering individual games, and Black Ops Cold War doesn’t demand it of me. I have already reached first prestige in the week it has been out, and that is in addition to playing the campaign AND tackling launch titles on the PS5. Cold War would seem perfectly positioned for the casual Call of Duty player if it weren’t for Warzone. Warzone is entirely free, and offers an experience that has been built upon for over a year, and will continue to be built upon and supported long after Cold War is not the “current” Call of Duty. For the more hardcore players, I think after a few weeks in Cold War, they will be returning to Modern Warfare (2019) to wait for the next installation.

There are better platforms to have this on, sure, but if you're looking to try the game out for the first time there's nothing wrong with choosing this as your platform of choice.

Given how much care was put into the rest of the game, it feels weird that much of the combat — when you’re not either hiding or running — basically comes down to swinging your weapons wildly until you kill the other people. In a game that’s so intricately made, it feels oddly inelegant. We Happy Few isn’t nearly as broken as Contrast was, but it’s still frustrating that a game that looks and sounds so good doesn’t play all that well.

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.

If you already own Madden 18 and you’re a casual football fan, you’d be hard pressed to find anything in here really worth the $60 price tag, especially when you can download the current roster via the community downloads. But if you’re looking for your way back to Madden or have not ever played the series, this is a great jump on point as the visuals are amazing and it’s a near perfect football simulation.

Golf Zero won’t be the best golf game or platformer you’ve ever played, but, if nothing else, it’s kind of interesting.

It complements Volume 1 nicely, and shows that for a little-loved handheld with a small library, the Neo Geo Pocket Color had a pretty impressive collection of games.