I absolutely endorse picking up LEGO The Lord of the Rings, whether you're a big fan of the film series or the LEGO games. Your appreciation of the story will certainly hinge on whether you're a LOTR fan or not, but regardless of that you'll still have a whole lot of fun with this unique video game adaptation. It's a blast to play through in single player and in local co-op, and despite a busy holiday season for gaming, really shouldn't be missed.

Again, there’s absolutely nothing here that’ll derail your enjoyment of the series if you’ve enjoyed Etrian Odyssey for quite some time. And you’re not likely to find a more perfect jumping on point if you have yet to experience the series.

While not every event in the game is going to please you, I'm sure you'll find plenty of things to like, especially with a group of friends.

The biggest problem with a game this deep is that all the distractions prevent you from actually getting through the campaign, which I admit is fairly bizarre (and could be a very subjective criticism.) I kept thinking that playing through certain aspects were either required or would benefit me, when they actually weren't, and I could have just as easily blitzed through the campaign.

Game Arts has created a masterpiece for RPG fans with Grandia II. Even if the story is somewhat predictable, the gameplay and characters are just too much fun to pass up. If you are like me and are wondering what to do in this massive drought of good classic JRPGs this is a great game and shouldn’t be passed up!

Obviously, your feelings on Dariusburst Chronicle Saviours will differ from mine greatly if you're more favourably inclined towards shmups in general. If you like the prospect of getting a few thousand shots at refining your shmup abilities without the hassle of changing games, then this is absolutely the game for you. It's visually appealing, the controls are intuitive, and it's pretty well-made overall. Non-shmup fans, however, will probably find the experience much less worthwhile.

Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception may try and sell itself as a visual novel-SRPG hybrid, but that's not really an accurate description. Sure, it possesses a few SRPG elements, but in the overall scheme of things, we're talking about less than a quarter of the game. More than anything else, Mask of Deception (not to be confused with Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth, its sequel, which is due out in a few months) is basically a visual novel that just so happens to give players a little more opportunity for interaction than most of its peers. Actually, that's not the only way that Mask of Deception stands out from other visual novels. It also does that by being surprisingly good, with a some legitimately funny humour and interesting characters.

To be sure, none of this will be that new if you played Slayaway Camp. But this is one of those cases where that doesn’t matter. It basically comes down to “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” — only with the added bonus that everything that was broken when it came to Slayaway Camp is entirely fixed in Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle.

Was this title worth the near-decade wait? Absolutely! Like a Dragon: Ishin! delivered on story, gameplay and replayability. Despite my minor complaints about some quality of life issues, I’ve spent more hours than I needed to solving the problems of the citizens of Kyo, shaking down roaming thugs in hopes of extracting a much needed crafting material or perhaps recruiting them into my squadron. Western fans of the series are treated to a wondrous experience that they were deprived of and one would hope their support would give RGG Studios the will to bring other Japanese only experiences out to the west or remake other side titles. I’m looking at you Like a Dragon Online, the Kurohyō titles and of course Yakuza: Dead Souls.

Red Barrels is a developer that I hope to see more from, and to my knowledge, there's nothing currently like Outlast that doesn't freely give in to cliches on a regular basis (I have yet to play either Amnesia title), and that's enough for me to call it worth playing.

The framerate remains solid throughout, and seeing a giant tsunami rip through the world and completely submerge it is very impressive.

It is by far the best of the series thus far and is a great building block for future versions. Just bear in mind that the multiplayer experience gives this game a much higher score than the single player, so if you don’t plan on playing online or with friends, you may want to just check this out.

I’m a simple man (not in game), give me a comic interpretation made by people who appreciate and understand the source material and tell a captivating story and you’ve got me hooked. There’s not much to do outside of the bit of collectibles and costumes after you beat the game but maybe if Guardians does well enough we’ll see some strong DLC content. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is built to be a holiday season blockbuster (I mean is anything else even coming out this holiday?), and all of its accessibility options make it the perfect gift for anyone.

I don’t think it’s a noticeable upgrade over last-gen though, and if you’ve already played or owned the PS3 or Xbox 360 version of the game, I don’t think this upgrade is a must buy. But if you missed out on the original release, and either enjoy the characters or fighting games, then you’ll find a lot to love about Injustice.

More a glimpse into how a real Army fire team moves and engages enemy forces than it is a challenging real-time strategy game.

A lack of selectable music and no graphical enhancements keep this game from breaking into the "A" grades.

I'm just trying to justify why I have no intention of buying Tetris, one of the best and truly ageless videogames ever made, on PSN at it's current price.

The problem with Renegade Ops is that it's all too brief; we're talking a few hours max.

While there are some flaws, I think you would be hard pressed to find a game with a larger fun to value ratio. Darwinia by itself would have been worth the price of admission but you also get the fantastic Multiwinia thrown in which makes this a great deal.

While it does suffer some faults, the magic is still there and the package is a solid purchase for those looking to relive the glory of RPG's gone by.

May not bring much new to the table for the genre, but the new additions offer enough of a twist to keep the game interesting.

If you enjoy hack and slash games you should have a good time with Crystal Chronicles...a great attempt at connectivity and a fun game as long as you have the massive hardware requirements needed to fully enjoy it.

Capcom vs. SNK may not have as an impressive roster or flashy supers but it does bring together the two worlds we thought would never collide.

Does it ever come close to matching Portal? Obviously not. But it doesn’t need to, either. Chromagun 2 may not do a whole lot new, but the fact that so many other games are out there now that are also copying Portal makes that easier to forgive.

Overall, I think Pokémon Sword & Shield is a great entry in the franchise, only brought down by its lackluster storyline. It’s certainly new player friendly, but also has enough going for it that long-time Pokémon fans will likely enjoy the new features too. If you have a Switch, and you’re even remotely interested in the series, I’d suggest checking it out.

It’s hard not to recommend Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country to anyone looking for a great RPG experience on the Switch. It’s a great expansion for fans of Xenoblade 2 while at the same time being a perfect way for newcomers to sample the games without signing their life away on a full-length RPG. It also has one of the better stories in the series and to me it plays the best that these games have, so if you’ve been on the fence then definitely check this one out.

I absolutely recommend checking out Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time. It’s a great RPG with a lot of elements that come together really well, allowing you to focus on various professions that are sure to cater towards a variety of gaming tastes. The storyline is light and whimsical, not particularly deep, but fits the world and aesthetic of the game really well. The ability to play online with others is also great, allowing you and your friends to form up a party and take on a lot of the optional content as well. It’s a fantastic follow-up from developer Level 5, and shows that Fantasy Life deserves to be held up amongst some of the greats in its genre.

It’s hard to complain about the rest of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. On a lot of levels it’s a back-to-basics approach for the series that works, with an engaging, entertaining campaign, great visuals and voice acting, some classic Modern Warfare callbacks, and a strong multiplayer mode too. If you’ve been away from the series for a long time, this would make a pretty good year to jump back in.