As I said up top, despite all my complaints, I’m not going to deny that MLB The Show 21 is a solid, well-made baseball game. If you haven’t played the series in years, or if you’re coming to it on Xbox, then it’s probably a must-play. But if you’ve been sinking years into it already, there’s not much here that will make it worth playing.

I had no expectations for it going in, but it shows immediately that it can do one thing exceptionally well. If they could have made a game that lived up to that — or even came close to living up to that — then it could’ve been worth playing. As it stands, though, it just feels like a lot of wasted potential.

If it’s not fun or rewarding it, why bother playing it? While I’ve certainly played worse clicker games, that doesn’t make The Unexpected Quest significantly better, and it really doesn’t mean that you need to waste your time with it.

Unless you fit into a very specific box — that is, V-Tube fan who loves repetitive action, meandering dialogue, and awful noises — you’re probably not going to get much out of Neptunia Virtual Stars.

My best analogy for this title is that it’s oddly like Donut County, a charming, well written title which you only really need to experience once and it’s best cost of entry comes from the mobile port (there is a 10 dollar surcharge to buy Say No! More on Switch/PC). The experience is indistinguishable from it’s console brethren. I guess I would say No! to getting this title on PC/Switch and saying Yes! To picking this up on IOS if you want a fairly short, but uplifting experience.

As we learned from another relic/artefact of the same era, great soundtracks can help overcome a lot of flaws. But at the same time, this is just a mindlessly fun game where you can run around chomping on brains, and that sort of thing never goes out of style.

Conceivably, more and better guns would make Thunderflash more interesting…but at the same time, this is a game where you just move forward constantly if you want to win. There’s only so much more interesting it can get. That may have been enough 35 years ago, and it may still be enough for people who miss those days of gaming, but in present day, it just feels kind of lacklustre.

Overall I feel this really isn’t the ideal way to experience this title. That doesn’t mean that Doom 3: VR Edition is a bad game by any means, it just doesn’t mesh well with VR. With that being said, I can still recommend this for your PSVR library. It’s not horrible, but not exactly the best experience you can have.

GENSOU Skydrift may be essential if you’re a Touhou Project fan who always wondered, “Hey, how would those girls work as racing karts?”, but for everyone else, there are plenty of other much better racers out there.

There’s nothing good to be said about this game, and as much as I’d hoped that MLB The Show’s expansion to other consoles would push this series to be better, it’s very clear that’s not the case. This has to be the low point in a series of low points for the revived RBI Baseball franchise — and given how bad it’s generally been to date, that should tell you something.

If you can get The Game of Life 2 on sale, it may just be worth it. Again, your enjoyment of it will likely be proportional to how many people you have to play the game with, but as board game ports go, this one isn’t too bad.

Even if Gods of Almagest had tried to explain itself, though, I don’t think it would’ve been significantly better. Everything here is terrible, from the incomprehensible story, to the baffling gameplay, to the lousy graphics. It’s a shame that this is one of the final games of the Vita’s lifespan, because it’s hard to imagine a worse send-off (apart, you know, from the one Sony is giving it).

Don’t get me wrong, if it didn’t crash, I’d still be raving about it. It’s not often you see the tower defense genre not just rethought in such an interesting way, but also paired with a lively soundtrack and sleek visuals. But factor in Rip Them Off’s literal game-breaking technical performance, and suddenly, it becomes impossible to recommend the game.

If you’re a Switch owner who is still a little sore that Capcom never ported Monster Hunter World to the Nintendo console, then I’d argue that Monster Hunter Rise is a really great consolation prize. I’d even argue that Monster Hunter Rise might actually beat out World in a number of ways, and I’m glad to have a new Monster Hunter game to sink time into as we roll into Spring. It’s a really fantastic experience, and I’d highly recommend checking it out if you haven’t already.

Because PUSS! is so odd, it feels like calling it “good” or “bad” is missing the point. This is the kind of game you should play when you really want something totally different, and you want your senses assaulted the whole time you’re playing. It is what it is — and even though I’ve always hated that phrase, it’s the most appropriate way to describe PUSS!

No matter what good things it has to say or how nice it usually looks, it never does so well enough that you can overlook how obviously it borrows from other sources. It’ll be fine if you’ve never played any of those influences before, but otherwise, you’ll just be thinking of games like Limbo, Braid, and Contrast.

Chicken Police is an off-kilter approach to a well-worn genre, but it’s so well done that it’s worth playing if you’re any kind of fan of adventure games or visual novels.

Normally this is where I’d note some flaw or issue that stops Kaze and the Wild Masks from being absolutely perfect, but I can’t think of a single complaint. It’s just a phenomenally well-done that captures its influences without being completely indebted to them, and it’s one an early contender for one of my favourite games of the year.

Tropico 6 may take its time to allow you to do exactly what you want, but you can at least be confident that you’ll know what you’re doing and how to do it. But again, there’s only so much I can sugarcoat things. Tropico 6 is one of my favourite city-building games and I’ll never say no to playing it on the go, but if you’re interested in it, you need to know that the experience you’re getting is a little rough — to put it mildly.

A lot of effort went into creating distinctive worlds, and they help the game constantly feel fresh and fun. Really, that could be the tagline for Crash 4: fresh and fun. It may be based on a franchise that started a few decades and generations ago, but this new entry feels resolutely modern. It’s a wonderful addition to a series that you’re sure to enjoy, regardless of whether you’ve been waiting for it for many years, or you’re coming to Crash Bandicoot for the first time.

The fact that the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater franchise has withstood the test of time is a testament to the care that Neversoft put into the original game over two decades ago. If you’re a veteran skater or just someone looking for a fun skating experience and have access to a next-generation console most certainly consider checking out Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2.

As a swansong, the RGG team has crafted something that is absolutely befitting of the stoic hero who has carried the series for since 2005. It would’ve been easy to have this be the most bombastic entry of the series and have all the series fan favorites show up, however the fact that a majority of characters involved are mostly new allows you to really focus on Kiryu’s final story. We’re not gonna sugar coat that a new hero has already risen and has held his own, however it is heartening that the series has gotten enough support that it has finally escaped the PlayStation ecosystem and can be enjoyed by gamers everywhere!

The collection is a great entry way to get some underrated portable fighting game, however the genres being represented are a bit lopsided. The presentation is somewhat underwhelming but you can’t deny the value of the collection versus buying these titles piecemeal. That said there’s still some gems in the NEOGEO Pocket library and let’s hope volume 2 will include a certain crossover card game, that’s all I ask!

It at least achieves being middling, which is certainly a lot better than some visual novels could aspire to. In fact, couple it’s average-ness with the fact that it’s short enough that it doesn’t overstay its welcome, and you can see why, if you squint just right, Autumn’s Journey is totally passable.

Though “frustrating” probably overstates how strongly I felt towards Professor Lupo: Ocean. It’s a forgettable puzzle game that may be interesting if you loved the original and want more of its world, but otherwise, you needn’t bother with it.

I would absolutely recommend Bravely Default II to any RPG fan out there that’s in the market for something new, regardless of whether you have any prior experience with the series or not. It’s a really solid, charming RPG that will provide you with hours and hours of entertainment. The job system is remarkably diverse, and the battle system is just unique enough to keep it from feeling like a chore even after countless encounters. Definitely check out Bravely Default II when you get a chance, you won’t be disappointed.

Cruel Bands Career is a harsh game is all kinds of ways, and you should only check it out if you’re in the mood for a bit of masochism.

I was very impressed with Mundaun from the beginning, and despite that impression faltering a bit while I got my bearings and came to grips with some of the wonky controls and design choices, it ultimately delivered an experience that was beyond what I could have hoped for. I was drawn to this game from the first announcement, mostly because of the unique art-style and intriguing story, and it really managed to deliver above and beyond the initial promise. Stick with Mundaun past the growing pains, and I think you will really enjoy it too.