I can recommend Steins;Gate Elite to anyone who wants to experience a fantastic visual novel with multiple endings. I cannot, however recommend this if you are hoping for full interaction or solid gameplay because there really isn’t anything like that here. Outside of a few button presses here and there, there is no game to be played. I am not usually a fan of visual novels, but I didn’t feel bored with this one. Check this one out if you love science fiction stories that captivate.

If you’re in the market for a game that does have relatively little structure, then that won’t do — though I’ll hasten to add that the game also includes a sandbox mode, where you can build to your heart’s content. But if, like me, you’re a more goal-oriented sort of player, then you’ll find that RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures offers a perfect blend of creativity and structure.

For those that were disappointed with Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised here. It’s also a perfectly fine jumping on point for new players, and the online multiplayer component will likely give this game legs well past the initial launch. Finally, the VR really should be one of the first things you boot up, and stands out as one of the better VR experiences on the platform thus far.

If you’re looking for a game that offers tonnes of content, Scintillatron 4096 isn’t it, especially if you’re playing it on Vita. But if you played that Atari Flashback Classics collection and want to recreate the feeling with something newer, this game should do the trick.

If you have a PS4, Xbox One, or PC, you should really give Apex Legends a try. It’s managed to hit the ground running, with very little in the way of server issues or other hiccups after the first week. It’s clear Respawn has plans to support the title in the long-term, and the six Legends characters available from the start (with two more unlockable via in-game currency) provide enough variety to begin with. This will be the Battle Royale title I stick with for the immediate future, and I’m excited to see this game evolve over time.

Stay undeniably has a unique, interesting hook, but I can’t say that the rest of it lives up to that little bit of innovation.

Unfortunately, Dragonfly Chronicles isn’t one of those games that’s so bad it ends up being cheesy fun, or so bad that you can enjoy hating on it. It’s just plain bad, and not in any ways that make it redeemable.

I’d highly suggest checking out Battle Princess Madelyn, or possibly revisiting the game if you already played it around launch. The changes made so far have all been positive, and it’s certainly one of the best attempts at nailing the Ghosts ‘n Goblins formula that I’ve seen in recent years.

Now, do I love Pic-a-Pix Pieces so much that I’m ready to proclaim it one of my very (very, very) early GOTY contenders? Probably not, since there’s still a long time and a lot of games to go in 2019. I can, however, say with certainty that after playing the heck out of this game on the Switch, I’m going to pick it up for the Vita and PS4 and do it all over again on those platforms too. If that’s not an endorsement, I don’t know what is.

The PS3 version of Vesperia that never made its way out of Japan has always been a long sticking point for fans, and with the release of the Definitive Edition, it’s a wrong that has finally been righted.

It’s fine for what it is, and I certainly wouldn’t begrudge anyone who does love the game and hold it in insanely high regard, but if I’m being completely honest, I just don’t get it.

I think it does a great job of emulating a style of RPG that is generally not represented on consoles or PC’s nowadays, and scratches an itch I didn’t even know I had. It’s not overly long, has a solid combat system, and the story is robust enough to draw you in and keep you hooked. Give this one a shot when you get a chance, you won’t be disappointed.

Between the lousy voice acting, the crappy script, the over-reliance on cutscenes, and the absurd difficulty spikes, this game is littered with problems, and regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, it’s not going to be worth your time or money.

Overall Mario and Luigi Bowser’s Inside Story is a charming game. If you’ve never played this game before pick it up for this adventure alone. It is a fun enjoyable experience. However, Bowser Jr’s Journey should be skipped entirely, unless you are a completionist. The 3DS may be on the end of its life cycle, but that isn’t stopping Nintendo from putting out great games for the system. If you still have your 3DS and are a fan of RPGs, you will have fun with Bowser’s Inside Story.

Slayaway Camp will force you to choose between performance and play in a way that most other games won’t. If you can abide performance issues — again, lots and lots and lots of performance issues — the gameplay here might be strong enough to make up for it. But those issues are serious and occur with enough frequency that I wouldn’t blame anyone for not thinking this game is worth all those headaches.

If you combine certain elements of Hitman: Blood Money (that is, the sandbox nature of the levels) with certain elements of Hitman: Absolution (specifically, the better-looking graphics), you’ll wind up with something closely approximating the current games. Taken on their own, however, you get a pair of fun-but-flawed experiences. While they’re still worth checking out if you’ve exhausted both Hitman and Hitman 2, considering that you can pick up either of those games for a lower price than Hitman HD Enhanced Collection, you’ll need to decide for yourself just how badly you need more Agent 47 in your life.

Mind you, it’s no Fibbage, Survive the Internet, or Tee KO. And that’s why Jackbox Party Pack 5 isn’t quite on par with its predecessors. It’s a solid party game, to be sure, and if you’ve played Packs 2, 3, and 4 as much as I have you’ll be welcoming the new game options, but it’s not quite essential. Then again, “solid Jackbox party game” is still better than pretty much any other party game you could come up with — and for that reason, Jackbox Party Pack 5 is still a worthy addition to the Jackbox canon.

I’m sure that if you were to pull 150 games from any system, you’d have an equal number of hits and misses. So it is with Atari Flashback Classics. It may not make you rush out and find an old Atari cabinet or console in an antique shop, but it will make you appreciate exactly why Atari was, for a time, synonymous with video games.

It could be worse, I guess. Gear.Club Unlimited 2 could’ve suffered from the same fate as Asphalt Injection and been grind-heavy and ugly. Instead, you’ve got a game that’s just grind-heavy and boring. It works, which is nice, but with these load times, working feels like the least the game should do. The best games have some kind of exciting spark to them, and that’s one thing Gear.Club Unlimited 2 completely lacks.

So overall Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is a retro inspired platformer and shows the genre at its finest. Not to mention it feels right at home on the Switch despite being a multiplatform release. If you’ve never played a Monster Boy game but have been looking for anything to scratch that Metroid or Castlevania itch then this is for you. And if you’re a Monster Boy fan wondering if this installment is any good then you should probably already own it. But if you don’t then take it from me you won’t regret your time with Cursed Kingdom.

Superficially it would be extremely easy to pass on this title. Yet when this title was pitched to me as Onion Soup Interactive’s digital love letter to all things Japan, the inner-weeaboo in me found the title to be oddly charming. I would certainly cast a more critical eye if I were tasked to review this studio’s future titles, but for a first effort this one’s not too bad.

Ultimately, it’s kind of a short game (around 20 levels or so, and it can be beaten in under 3 hours) that doesn’t do anything that revolutionary. But even so, it offers a nice tweak on the tower defense formula that will get your blood pumping. If you’re a fan of tower defense games, what more do you need?

The set features fan favorites like Attack from Mars, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed The Party Zone, which is not a table I was familiar with prior to playing this release. Also included is the pirate themed Black Rose, another carry over from the The Pinball Arcade. Once again the new physics model that Zen Studios has incorporated for these tables feels great, with fast, fluid gameplay and actual weight behind the ball itself. The lighting models for the tables are outstanding, and each table really pops, looking as close to the real thing as you’re likely to get.

P3D recognizes that not everyone has the same aptitude when it comes to rhythm games, so it makes sure that the easier difficulty is challenging without being impossible (while, of course, making the harder difficulty levels hard enough to challenge even rhythm game veterans). Would my enjoyment of Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight been greater if I went into it knowing and loving Persona 3 already? Possibly. But I can’t help but think that it’s a good sign that this game appeals to someone like me, who wouldn’t be able to tell you the first thing about the original.

If you’re thinking of revisiting Onimusha or just curious to try it for the first time then it’s a solid recommendation as a short and action-packed classic game with some good replay value after your first run. This just goes to show that a port in the right hands means it’s a good time to revisit older series that might now be forgotten.

Complaining about how hard a retro-platformer is seems kind of pointless — it’s been ingrained in the genre since they first started popping up in the first half of this decade, and it doesn’t seem like it’ll be going away any time soon. Which means that Super Life of Pixel gets a pass on its difficulty — and, more importantly, it means you get to compare it to many other games of this type. For Super Life of Pixel, that comparison is only a good thing, since — much like Life of Pixel — it’s a standout of the genre. Hopefully this time around, more people will discover it, because it absolutely deserves more recognition than it received the first time around.

It’s certainly light on content, light on songs, and rarely feels great to play from a video game standpoint. Yes, you can get a little workout in, but it would be nice if the Switch would accurately track movement more consistently. I think Fitness Boxing has the opposite intended effect after you whiff 3 or 4 hooks or uppercuts due to poor motion sensitivity, which in turn leads to some dejected, frustrating moments. As it stands, I wouldn’t recommend Fitness Boxing to Switch owners, at least not without some deep discounts involved.

Given that we’re talking about a budget casual title and not some expensive extravaganza, this is probably all you should expect out of Instant Tennis — which is why I started this review off with that exact admonishment. There’s not a lot here, but what is here will provide you with a pleasantly decent experience.