It's Animal Crossing through and through. Though New Leaf doesn't add a whole lot of 'new' stuff, it is still an enjoyable experience, just watch out for that troublesome 3DS battery life.

I don't know how good I feel about the fact that it's an expansion that fixes a ton of the issues gamers had with the original release, sure Loot 2.0 is available to the vanilla players, but it doesn't give players the Adventure Mode which is a key component to the package, and probably should have been included in the game in the first place.

The great aspects of the game are crushed beneath the monumental weight of it's frustrating gameplay. While some of this pain is eased by the multiplayer, it isn't enough to make up for the fact that the game just shouldn't have been released on the 3DS. This is a console game trapped in a handheld body, and it's really a shame that a game with so much potential is limited by such small but ever-so-important design problems.

Street Fighter III Third Strike: Online Edition is probably exactly what a fan of the franchise would look for in a remake of a PS2 era arcade fighter, and as such, should be a thrill for old school Street Fighter fans. Unfortunately for the rest of us, n00bs need not apply.

Max Payne 3's bold and different direction from series' norms has resulted in a lackluster narrative and infuriating gameplay difficulty. A well-polished presentation and hectic gun battles aren't able to redeem the lack of a memorable and worthwhile narrative, an aspect that's defined the Max Payne series since its creation. Even with Max Payne in the game's title, the actual content couldn't be further from the truth.

It's not as polished compared to Rock Band 2 but it's not a bad game.

Dark Souls makes me sad and I don't mean because of its grueling difficulty.. Don't get me wrong, the game itself is an awesome experience but there are some serious, yet simple, roadblocks to overcome in order to enjoy it on the PC and quite frankly, that is unacceptable in today's day and age. PC gamers deserve better than this and this experience could easily have been much, much better.

If it weren’t for the multiplayer options, The Master Chief Collection would have garnered a much lower score. The multiplayer suite is truly the saving grace of this package and worth the price of admission alone.

The PC version of Horizon Zero Dawn is still a fun game to play...so long as you aren't expecting a graphical powerhouse. The PC port suffers from framerate and graphics issues, crashes, and just an overall feeling of what could have been. I'm not mad, Guerrilla Studios, I'm disappointed.

Dark Souls Remastered is a nice, shiny new edition of a game that I have never enjoyed. While I respect the game’s genre-creating precision gameplay and acknowledge it’s place in gaming history, I just don’t like this game, and can’t recommend it to new players. That said, it plays fine, and looks better than it ever has. Dark Souls fans already know who they are, and will enjoy this new edition immensely.

Wealth of Nations adds some additional options to the economic subgame, but is by no means an overhaul. It is an OK expansion, given its limited scope and price.

An interesting first game in the musical genre that tries something a little different. It's actually a nice little game that can be fun to play.

Unplayable is the best word to describe this debacle.

An otherwise thoroughly enjoyable experience is riddled with technical problems and hiccups throughout a majority of the single player campaign. Thankfully, you will only be spending a couple of hours in that made; the other modes provide great spurts of intense and enjoyable gameplay with a new gameplay mechanic that is a whole lot of fun.

Despite this score appearing low. I freaking love this game. But I would be remiss if I didn't point out the flaws that felt more common than the shard drops in the game's early going. I'm really hopeful for the future of this title, because I don't think Iga would be willing to let this game (Blood)stain his legacy.

Star Wars fans and Pinball fans rejoice! Zen Studios is easily going to fill that void with Star Wars Pinball.

All in all, the game itself is fairly solid. MLB 08 will give you a relatively deep experience with most of the game modes that you select, but there will be some headaches depending on how far you go.

Is the gameplay fun? Sure, but it’s largely the same as last year. Career mode gets Champions League branding but nothing else noteworthy. Pro Clubs and Seasons get ignored. The Journey is fun, but cannot make up for the rest of the largely ignored modes.

While the formula works, it's starting to get a little stale so while I fully expect to see a Guitar Hero IV I hope the developer takes the game and add something truly new to the series. I just got really frustrated with the PlayStation 3 version however and while the score is a little lower to reflect that, the game's just a patch or two away from being fun and worth your money.

Ultimate Alliance for Xbox game is a rehash of X-Men: Legends 2 with better character selection and slightly more unique powers. The heroes start too weak, but eventually become nearly invincible, with little physical challenge once you start buffing the characters.

Mortal Kombat 1 gets the gameplay part right but I can't shake the feeling that this game was released way too early. While you do get a full story mode and Invasions mode there are so many small problems that really take away from what should be the best game NetherRealm has made yet.

Cairn is a mixed bag that I don't think will be for everyone. Persevering through a difficult section of the climb is extremely satisfying, but on the other hand, it can be extremely frustrating as well. I enjoyed my time on Kami, but there were times I felt beat down too, both by the mountain and its abrasive protagonist. Ultimately, it's hard to give Cairn a broad recommendation.

While Rhythm Heaven Megamix provides a wide variety of mini games, you can't help but realize that you are just doing the same thing over and over again and the novelty wears off really fast. That said, fans of the series should get a kick out of Rhythm Heaven Megamix as it provides plenty of mini games and plenty of content to keep fans playing for a while.

With enough content to make it worth the price, but not enough unique content to make it stand out from other free titles you can find online, Defense Grid: The Awakening is a slightly above average tower defense video game.

Good gameplay improvements and a much needed change in commentary have made the in-game experience feel fresh, but the offline game modes have largely been ignored with the same boring options except for the minor inclusion of game planning that is generally determined by the CPU anyways. Madden is fun, but running game improvements aren't enough to suggest that this is worthy of another $60 purchase.

Disgaea on DS is still a solid adventure and it works great in a portable medium, but again the limited DS cart size has caused the game to lose some of its audio and graphical fidelity in exchange for touch sensitive controls which are for the most part serviceable.

Despite being far from the best version of this series, the Walking Dead on Vita is still a stellar adventure. The quality of Telltale's work transcends the various technical issues that haunt this port.

Despite some advancement in storytelling approach and liberal borrowing from Bioware's Mass Effect approach to gameplay, Dragon Age 2 on the PC has a lot of bugs and is populated with re-used settings that make this feel like a play performed on a stage with two sets.

This short, sweet detective game is exactly that—short and sweet. With the ability to allow hints or turn hints off, you can increase the difficulty if you're a super sleuth, or keep it easy if you're looking to veg out. The cast of characters is vibrant, and the jokes are plentiful. Follow Detective Eugene McQuackin and find some not-so-hidden clues to help quack the case.

My bottom line is that the FSX Acceleration expansion pack is worth getting for the improvements to the infrastructure (carrier operations, Reno air racing), but that better add-on airplanes are available elsewhere. Which, now that I think about it, is pretty much how I felt about Flight Simulator X too.

There are some improvements to aspect ratio and analog movement, but, at its core, this is the same old Resident Evil we've been playing for nearly two decades.

Another solid outing for Volition as they've cranked out a game that is a lot of fun to play. The co-op features and character creator are great features but the game could use another level of graphical polish.

This is by no means a sophomore jinx, but without fully keeping stride with its GTA role model, and without fully stepping out on its own from under that shadow, Saints Row has found itself stuck in an awkward, uncertain tween stage of the series’ life.

There is a lot I enjoyed with Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes. When I’m winning, I like the gameplay loop. The art is fantastic, and looks great when I play in hand held mode. Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes starts out as a welcoming game. After a few battles, I begin to see the cracks. Enemy heroes I play against are two, sometimes three, levels ahead of me, something that is not easy to overcome. The random drops of units on my side don’t feel equal to the ones my AI enemy gets. I feel like I’m always on the defensive during the campaign. But the multiplier is excellent, pass-and-play is exactly what I want in a game like this.

Hardcore fans of the series and the pro players will likely love Samurai Shodown. This game is gonna be great to watch and I suspect it will thrive in the FGC tournament scene. Unfortunately that while the fighting game part of it is great, the rest is a really barebones package that most likely won't hold the attention of others for an extended period of time.

Zombie Night Terror mixes the tired undead genre with the puzzle gameplay of the Lemming series, oddly enough. It works for the most part but the game is too difficult and obtuse for its own good. There is an enjoyable puzzler here, just expect to deal with some trial and error frustration along the way.

There are a couple of technical issues that hold back Life is Strange 2, it's got some weird visual glitches, and I encountered a few crashes in the short, but ultimately interesting story of two brothers, and their suddenly upended life.

Scribblenauts returns with yet another disappointing puzzler. 5th Cell manages to get the control right, but the terrible campaign and limited puzzles drag everything down. There are remnnants of good ideas here, but Super Scribblenauts doesn't deliver on its promise.

Call of Duty: Black Ops does many things right on the PC such as dedicated servers and high resolutions, but it's just really buggy.

Once again, Zen nails the Star Wars look and feel with another set of tables. There are issues to be taken up with both, but overall they prove to be a lot of fun and great additions to the Star Wars Pinball line.

Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is a mixed bag. Hatching and maxing out your Monsties is a lot of fun, but the battle system in which you spend most of your time eventually wears out its welcome.

Shovel Knight Dig is a fun little rogue-lite. While it took me over ten hours to beat, I know better, more rogue-lite skilled players will not need as much time. I did not encounter bugs or errors with my time; but more than a few of what felt like unfair deaths. The chaotic gameplay of Dig makes it hard to see how great the pixel art is at times, but being able to literally slow down the gameplay or adjust my health and damage output makes it easier to appreciate the visuals. I can see myself returning to Shovel Knight Dig in a few months just to give it another spin, but the overall replay did not entice me back immediately.

The Prince of Persia Trilogy is a great package, primarily due to the source material. Ubisoft has done little to improve the included titles for the new generation but thankfully they were as good as they were in their original forms that their overall quality still shines through. Whether or not you are a fan of the series, you will enjoy three excellent games brought together in this discounted package.

Good puzzle games make you see the pathways in your mind before they show up in the game. Mini Motorways does this, and does it well. At its heart, Mini Motorways is about failure. Or your attempt to push failure back as long as possible, just like my parents' marriage. Eventually your city will collapse under its own pressure. But if you need a half hour to kill Mini Motorways is a great choice.

While admirably confident in its new direction, the Prince relies too heavily on the lifesaving Elika and the endgame story to carry the entire tale.

Garden Warfare 2 will be fun for those who enjoy the tower defense genre. Anyone else will want to stay away from this game that suffers from lackluster controls in third person shooting and a missed opportunity to create a much larger world to explore.

PAC-MAN 256 is exactly what you probably assume it will be, which is frustrating and disappointing, but also fun enough to probably warrant its tiny price tag of $4.99.

A good entry in the series for those who skipped a year. Virtual currency is pushed everywhere. The Neighborhood is OK. Basketball action is fun and exciting.

Card Shark has a few things going for it, not the least of which is unique gameplay. I've never played anything like this. The watercolor style looks great. But the story feels like an afterthought; it never felt important or drove the actual game anywhere. The card playing part of Card Shark is nonexistent, instead focusing on the tricks you are trying to pull. While the tricking is fun, there is a lot to remember, and some of the tricks feel silly to perform. This might not be Devolver Digital’s biggest game to date, but it does have that feel that most Devolver Digital games give off - a unique game with a unique look and feel. Card Shark doesn’t fit into a genre, which is something to admire.

A sci-fi shooter with a strong reputation, Vertigo 2 doesn’t move the needle strongly one way or the other. It’s a lengthy outing by VR standards, so there is some bang for your buck, but it simply doesn’t do enough to standout on PS VR2.

Assassin's Creed III may not be the sequel I hoped for, but it remains another solid entry in the time-bending franchise. The setting is a lot of fun to explore and the first half really works on a storytelling level. Unfortunately, the quality is thwarted by a weak villain, boring hero, and frustrating mission designs. Couple that with a disappointing ending and it's hard to be enthusiastic about Ubisoft's latest Assassin's Creed game.

There were times I wanted to root for Goodbye Deponia, and there were times I wanted to, well, say goodbye to all of it. Deponia happens to miss almost all of my laugh bases with its self-aggrandizing jibs and jabs, but that doesn't mean its puzzles and gameplay mechanics fail. It's confident and consistent in its tone, even if its tone isn't laughable when it should be, which means its drama is off-kilter when it shouldn't be.

Tetris Forever is a pretty slick package. You learn a lot that you didn't know, and it's cool to know that Tetris will definitely be around if all other games were to go by the wayside. With so many ways to play it, and so many systems, I would've loved to see more of a variation, or versions of Tetris. "Play Tetris, My Friends" is the quote in the opening by Mr. Pajitnov himself. I would, but there's so much Bombtriss blocking the way.

Unless you're desperate for CoD and only own a Wii, pass on Black Ops or get it for a different console. Discerning Wii owners looking for a good FPS should get GoldenEye, and start saving for Conduit 2.

Skylanders Giants is a perfect companion game for a Wii U-centric holiday morning. Any young kids on your holiday shopping list will love it, but keep in mind they'll probably get hooked on the little plastic figures and you'll end up buying more of them. As a standalone game, however, it's a merely decent dungeon crawler and the figure-scanning gimmick might actually present some redundancy and irritation for older gamers.

Red Strings Club is more of a visual novel than a true adventure game, but its roughly four-hour story will give you some topics for your brain to chew on. The conversational gameplay, not to mention the drink mixing minigame, are a lot of fun.

Double Fine's Happy Action Theater isn't a great "game", but it is the best tech demo and use of Microsoft's Kinect peripheral to date. There is a simplistic joy to be found in this title and you really get out of it what you put into it. There is no purpose, no goal(s), and no real requirements to succeed. Players simply interact with a variety of environments and have a ton of fun. It may not sound like much, but it works, and the manner in which it does is almost like magic.

There's nothing horribly wrong with The Assignment, but the instant death rules that I disliked about The Evil Within continue to plague the DLC, making Kidman's story one of frustration and retries.

If you have the patience for it and find the online community aspect appealing, TrackMania United will be a good fit for you.

Chronicles of Mystara is a must-have for any fan of the original arcade releases, or D&D fans in general. However, the charm of this package is going to be lost on anyone who wasn’t already sold on these games in the past.

The price is right for this expansion ... it's the length that is all wrong.

With some tweaking and structure Scribblenauts could have been one of the best games of the year. As it is, it's merely adequate.

Knife of Dunwall is relatively short, has a story that makes no sense, makes no attempt at explaining basic plot points, and features gameplay that seems strangely lackluster relative to last October’s Dishonored. If Daud killed videogames, Knife of Dunwall would be on his hit-list.

Puzzle Dimension is a simple yet solid game for the PSN, or the PC / Mac for that matter. It isn't hard to figure out in terms of how to play, but some of the puzzles will really push your patience to the limit. Puzzle fans are sure to enjoy Doctor Entertainment's freshman offering.

The tutorial will open up the rulebook, but composing winning strategies is a trial-and-error procedure that offers no apologies for its tough-as-nails enemy AI, game-ending scenarios, and multi-tasking mechanics.

Gun is a fun little game of Cowboys and Indians worth checking out if you're a fan of this era, but don't expect more than a few hours of gameplay.

City of Beats has a lot of genres combined into one, and it may have too much going on for itself. With the game literally stopping you from progressing the way that you want to, it's a little hindering. For the price, you may want to give it a shot. A shot. Like, just one. Don't worry if you lack rhythm, City of Beats does sometimes too.

While it's got some good graphics and some good options, gameplay leaves a lot to be desired.

There are a few big twists, some of them you will see coming from miles away, and a few that you won't. But I did mostly enjoy my time with the game. I don't necessarily know when I'm going to go back and play again, but I am interested to check out a few of the other twists. I have a hard time justifying the $60 cost to anyone but fans of this kind of game.

Baddest of the Bands takes on an ‘80s hair-band schlock as the sense of humor grows even slightly less predictable than its preceding episodes. Its take on reality TV-based competitions, however, isn’t the most timeless theme, but the chuckles don’t suffer from it.

Chips 'n Clawz vs. The Brainioids has big ideas for the strategy genre, but it doesn't quite pull it off. I still think it's worth playing if you're interested in an easily digestible, save-the-world-from-aliens strategy romp.

There’s still a lot of work to be done before the Wii has a truly excellent wrestling game, but the semi-natural controls, competent graphics and breadth of gameplay in WW Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 make it a good choice if you’re a Wii-only person.

It's easy to look at Echoes and see a criminally short game that could have been something even better, but at $2.99 this proves to be a fun diversion

LEGO Voyagers is a fun journey along a short trail. There is groundwork here for what could be an amazing cooperative experience, but in the end, it comes across as simply a proof of concept.

A fun but ultimately shallow experience, Victor Vran offers a dungeon crawler experience that is solid, but not particularly interesting.

I think the group at Firaxis Games had their hearts in the right places when they tried to overhaul this series, but so much of this lands with a thud, I cannot tell people to buy this game. There's plenty of things I like, but the bad outweighs the good. The condensed age system coupled with a modern era that seems to be condensed for the sake of simplicity is a huge disappointment. There are some good ideas, but this game needed another six months to a year of cooking. I hope patches and DLC can help this game out, or else I worry about what Civilization VIII is going to look like.

Mechstermination Force feels like it comes very close to having a manageable learning curve. Quality-wise, it’s great, and a good homage to its boss-filled predecessors. However, there’s nothing more game-ruining than, you know, not being able to play the game. There’s hard, and then there’s hard hard, and then there’s Mechstermination Force. It can be done. It can be beaten. I just hope you have a spare hour or two for every boss, and some throat lozenges and ice water nearby.

Old school role-playing fans who have only owned Xbox products recently will no doubt get a kick out of Blue Dragon. This is a worthwhile game if only because it's the only game of its kind currently available for the Xbox 360.

The Pinball Arcade is an excellent platform for emulating the classic tables that made the pinball genre as great as it was. An accurate physics engine and an insane attention to the level of details make the future bright for the game. Now FarSight just needs to begin putting its licensing agreements to use and roll out more tables as well as make use of the various features being promised. Until then, it fails to live up to its potential.

With a terribly below mediocre campaign, an average zombies mode, and an excellent multiplayer option, Call of Duty: WWII manages to hit all the marks. But not in the way that it should. I had high hopes, and was surprised that the real gem I found was not the one I was originally hoping to. It’s not great, it’s not good, it’s okay.

While technically competent and armed with a good story to tell, Apex Construct doesn't provide a compelling reason to keep going after the first few levels. A couple of upgrades to your single weapon appear, but the primary increase in challenge is simply more of the same.

Lost Odyssey doesn't break the JRPG mold, but it does fill it out quite nicely with a strong story and great characters.

Prototype’s gameplay is non-stop super-powered amoral fun, but is held back by nearly every other aspect of the game.

As a singular purchase, Flashpoint appears rather modest on the surface. But taken as a whole, it would be impossible for me to go back to a pre-Flashpoint campaign.

A solid and promising free-to-play multiplayer RTS that seems to have been released a bit too early. Even so, there's a lot of fun in the content that is available.

Tales of Xillia is most certainly a good game, but it's not the best the franchise has to offer. The scattershot story kept me from really enjoying the game, and I'm hoping the sequel can tell a more cohesive tale.

Always fun to watch, sometimes tedious to play alone. Star Wars and LEGO solidify their meaningful relationship once again. The developers just need to address a terrible save-game system, and need to clean up some of the bugs forcing reloads. But the LEGO video game formula is still the LEGO video game formula. Just be prepared to still be left wondering "What do I do now?" from time to time.

This is a Battlefield experience through and through. However, I find myself staring more at the gaps in the menus than the accessible parts that are there. The promise of future content is a great thing, but not when you are constantly reminded of the voids it will fill. Fans will love this entry, and rightfully so, but in its current form Battlefield V won't be recruiting any new soldiers to this battle.

Lost Planet: Colonies Edition has all of the same problems the original game had, only this time with a cheaper price point and a ton of new content.

As a multiplayer-focused free-for-all, Starwhal is a lot of fun in short doses. Sadly, the game is too repetitive and the extra modes are bafflingly unbalanced. I can imagine this being a hit with large parties, but solo players need not apply.

Metal Hellsinger is a refreshing take on traditional demon killing, Doom shooting, and rhythm based heavy death metal music. It features some truly immersive and satisfying gameplay mechanics, especially when you click with the beat and blow off demon heads while rocking out to the beat of System of a Down. However, the game’s difficult learning curve and lack of variety may be off putting to some.

Liberty City Stories is a great PSP game that didn't need to be ported to the PlayStation 2. If you're in the market for a Grand Theft Auto game on Sony's current generation console it's better you stick with Vice City or San Andreas.

If the ridiculous title doesn't turn you off to this game, perhaps the weak story or monotonous gameplay will.

Never short on content, Rune Factory 4 is full of things to do that'll keep players engrossed for a long while.

EA UFC 4 takes a few steps forward with the changes in the fighting game but takes some back as well with the career mode which was bait and switched once again and barely has any significant upgrades.

PGA Tour 2K21 scratches the itch for the hardcore golf fans out there, but casual players are going to find a game that is lacking deeper options even though the game itself is beautiful. It's a good entry that hopefully is built upon in the future.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is a mess. There is fun to be had but there it really feels like Infinity Ward really had no idea what direction they wanted to take the series in. Space battles are fun, the campaign missions are fun and the new Zombies mode is a blast, but everything else is just so mediocre that it really brings down the experience.

Overall, FIFA 22 is the best new entry in recent years. But the nefarious gutting of play-to-win rewards in its most popular mode means that the shadow of pay-to-win microtransactions looms ever more over FIFA's latest entry.