Although rough around the edges, Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess gives players a chance to kill people in some of the most brutal ways possible. Fans of wanton violence and Rube Goldberg contraptions will have a bloody good time setting off traps. And with two full games to choose from, this PlayStation 4 port will keep sadistic murderers busy for dozens of hours.

The depth of this game makes it a pretty solid addition to the Vita library, even if it does come off a little heavy handed about some life lessons.

NeocoreGames delivers yet another satisfying and solid action role-playing game with The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing III. Being the conclusion to a trilogy, the third installment includes all of the series favorite elements while also introducing a wealth of improvements. It's a great time to adventure once again to Borgovia.

Don't Starve: Giant Edition fills a gap you didn't even know the Wii U had. It's a great indie title, but it's also incredibly challenging, which may be a turn off to some. This game doesn't hold your hand, which is great in this day and age.

In the end, Arkham Knight proves to be an excellent new chapter in the Arkham franchise. The story is absolutely fantastic, as is most of the gameplay, just prepare to be inundated with constant tank battles.

Chip's Challenge 2 is a pretty good follow-up to the original.

Tried and true mechanics combine with flexible customization and an interesting asymmetric challenge to create a fun, challenging game. Worth playing for both newcomers and fantasy TBS veterans alike. A dash of humor and sense of progress make the time fly by.

Sym is a valiant effort to convey how social anxiety feels, but its platforming mechanics aren't solid enough and distract from the story and themes. The art style is striking, but the story and thematic elements are too broad to leave a lasting impact.

Skyflower has the makings of a great dual-stick shooter. It's fast-paced, full of unique bad guys, packed with procedurally-generated levels and a mash-up between Smash TV and Gauntlet. Unfortunately, all this is undermined with the unwieldy mouse and keyboard controls. Without proper gamepad support, Skyflower is impossible to recommend.

Portal Pinball is definitely an excellent addition to the Zen Pinball 2 lineup, but that is based purely on its solid pinball mechanics and roots. The Portal aspect comes across as nothing more than cosmetic, which seems like a lost opportunity.

The name of the game pretty much spells out exactly what you can expect: LEGO Jurassic World. It is the traditional, Travelers’ Tale LEGO experience that is becoming all too familiar, set in a Jurassic Park setting. Nothing more. Nothing less.

The in-game experience is excellent, with beautiful scenery, accurate courses, and the true feel of a broadcast. The overall product is hurt, however, by a lack of courses, big name golfers, and stripped down modes. Gamers expect to be wowed after two years of development, not left with an empty feeling.

A solid title, not because of improvements made during the remastering process, but rather the strength of the original creation. Sure, it looks a little bit nicer, and the photo mode is a nice addition, but this is primarily the same game that it was five years ago.

Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited has addressed many of the issues that plagued the first title. There are still some issues with clipping, connections, and voice chat, but the game is still quite enjoyable with plenty of quests to complete and areas to explore. It isn't the perfect MMO by far, but at least it's one that won't cost you $15 a month and you can come back to it whenever you feel like exploring Tamriel.

Even with good looking graphics and catchy retro-inspired tunes, Spectra is disappointingly shallow.

Magicka 2 is a stellar adventure as long as you have friends along for the ride. The mechanics of the spellcasting system and the gameplay in general are tuned perfectly for multiple wizards, however flying solo will only bring you frustration and fits of rage.

While not perfect, if you’re looking for some Dr. Mario on the go, Miracle Cure is still worth a shot.

Fans of the series will have the most fun with this, but for others who haven't played any of these games, will most likely have serious problems with the fixed camera and backtracking. The combat is very good but for me, everything else is nothing but frustration.

Chip’s Challenge is exactly how you remember it all those years ago with a couple minor graphical updates. The game is still as fun as it was back when I first played it on Windows 95, but I would have like to see some more graphical updates other than a couple new animations.

You’ll need to refresh your 8-bit platformer skills to survive the tower in Teslagrad, but doing so is well-worth the effort.

Whispering Willows is an engaging horror-themed graphic adventure starring a likeable hero and a haunted mansion. Unfortunately, the great presentation is undone by a predictable story and simple puzzles. Elena's journey may be full of ghouls and ghosts, but it fails to scare up much excitement.

Sometimes you’re a rat in a cage. Sometimes you’re a lion. But when all your planning, patience, and possibly plain old good luck finally pays off, The Escapists rewards in a rare way. Because in The Escapists, whether you catch a break or catch a beatdown, you’ll know you’ve earned it.

A great twist on a genre almost as old as gaming itself, SteamWorld Dig gives platforming an injection of life and spirit that stands out from the crowd in this age of blockbuster gaming. It's worth playing for many reasons, but the fresh way it handles platforming is reason enough itself.

If you already love Devil May Cry 4, then this brand new special edition is everything you could hope for. It looks great, runs fast and is loaded with playable characters. On the other hand, new players may not be able to overlook some of the game's outdated designs, including fixed camera perspectives and tons of backtracking.

Whether you're new to Dark Souls II or played it on older consoles, Scholar of the First Sin is worth revisiting. This PlayStation 4 collection features the original game, along with the three expansion packs.

In the end, while the gameplay and repetition required can be frustrating, The Masterplan is very well put together from an aesthetic standpoint.

Swords and Soldiers II is an entertaining RTS game that doesn’t take itself too seriously. That being said hardcore RTS players might find this one a bit too “silly” for their tastes, though players new to RTS games might find it enjoyable, especially with the option to go through any stage on Easy Mode.

This update to a DS classic doesn't give you much in terms of hardware upgrades, but the additional campaign and gameplay changes make Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker worth playing for a second time, or a first time if you skipped the first release.

The Rebels table is easily my favorite Star Wars table from Zen Studios to date. It’s simple design is deceiving, as the mission variety and experiences provide some great challenges and do a great job of introducing the world of Star Wars Rebels.

If you’re a fan of puzzle games and especially Pushmo, you’ll likely enjoy Stretchmo just as much, if not more.

If you played this back in the PS2 days, know that it is worth picking up again thanks to all the changes XSeed and Nihon Falcom have given this update. If you're fresh on the Ys series, then give this one a go, you won't be disappointed.

Rack N Ruin is a twin-stick shooter (sort of) with a juvenile appreciation for wanton destruction. The role-reversal, with you as the bad guy, brings up some interesting questions, but the story doesn't take near enough advantage of that fact.

Schrodinger's Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark seems like the perfect game for your kid to play. It’s a cute puzzle-platformer that can spark a scientific interest. Your kid could probably also look past the fact that it’s also a puzzle-platformer ripe with tacky one-liners, uninspired level design, and repetitive game play, all of which combine to ensure that it’s far from phystastic.

Lost Orbit features an endearing story that is wrapped in a wonderful package with great attention to detail. However, even at 40 levels, the game is over too soon and the wonky controls can be problematic for a genre that requires lighting fast timing.

Scram Kitty DX may not be an essential purchase, but it's full of good ideas and fun challenges.

The story takes a while to actually become relevant, the tournaments can be a bit difficult in the early going, the digging can get repetitive, and the difficulty can spike from “easy as pie” to “I got one-shotted” rather quickly. However, my experience with it wasn’t all that bad and I did overall enjoy it, but having never played another FF game this might not be the best introduction to the series from what I’ve read.

From its engrossing world to its compelling narrative and characters, The Witcher 3 is one of the best games in years. The Witcher 3 is a must-own for role-playing genre fans—and gamers in general. The experience shouldn't be missed.

A good game marred by bugs and lack of documentation. Once it is fixed it should be back on top but it does not justify a higher score.

Jumpjet Rex is a great game but it can often as frustrating as it is fun. As long as you pace yourself, especially when things start getting difficult and your progression slows, you will find it to be an extremely enjoyable trip down memory lane and a great reminder of how challenging 2D platformers can be.

Breach and Clear offers some turn based, strategy fun, but the game really lacks variety. The most fun I got out of the game was buying things from the marketplace and upgrading my squad, but even that gets old after a while. Decent, but not great.

If you ignore the insipid faux-noir dialogue, you’ll find that White Night is a pleasing old-school survival horror gameplay experience with a sharp visual style and an intriguing story.

The Weaponographist is a decent mix of Roguelike and arena brawler, but the controls are a bit stiff and there just isn’t enough content or personality to put the game above its similarly-priced competitors.

Woolfe - The Red Hood Diaries is a severely short game that doesn't provide either interesting or entertaining gameplay. With better platformer and action games available to players, this lackluster video game adaptation of the Red Riding Hood fairy tale should be avoided until it's either improved or expanded upon.

Splatoon has a huge amount of potential wrapped in an addictively bizarre visual style. That said both the solo and multiplayer aspects are relatively simple and have a lot of room to grow with DLC and updates. Hopefully Splatoon will get better with age but for now its inky competitive action should keep you busy for a month or two.

Simply put, if you liked The New Order, you’ll like The Old Blood. The more than competent shooting, likable protagonist, writing, and gameplay choices make up for some small issues and a few static characters.

Republique Remastered is an effective, modern point-and-click adventure, and one of the few good mobile-to-PC upconverts. The controls and gameplay take some time to get used to. But it's well worth it to explore the lovingly realized world of conspiracy and paranoia.

Slender: The Arrival is more frustrating than scary. The atmospheric locations are wasted in this boring survival-horror game where players do little more than search around for numbered items. The game goes a long way to flesh out the story and mythology, but it never makes a convincing argument for why Slender deserves to be a franchise.

The development team catered to their core group, and I feel they made the game that they wanted to play. But ultimately I also feel I have to hold them responsible for making a game that feels inaccessible in so many ways.

The premise behind Nom Nom Galaxy wears thin after a can or two. Its neatly focused premise and evolving puzzles don't progress at a rate to keep things stimulating for more than a few planets' worth of corporate conquest.

For the uninitiated, Total War: Attila does a good enough job introducing a very detailed world and mechanics.

Goat Simulator is a great time for the first few hours when you're seeing everything for the first time, but once you've seen everything, there's no reason to keep playing.

Gamers shouldn't be fooled by the lighthearted premise of I am Bread as both difficult controls and gameplay mechanics result in continual frustration. I am Bread would have been better off as a funny, short gimmick and not a complete game focused around the premise of being a bread slice.

If you have a couple hundred hours to kill, I can think of few better ways to do it than with this JRPG masterpiece.

Shadow run is a campy romp that doesn't take itself too seriously. Its fun to play through, but only mimics (and doesn't quite stack up to) the exceedingly excellent XCOM. There is better weapon class variety, character customization, and a few other points where it might exceed its muse, but it measures up just a shade below on most other occasions.

Crypt of the Necrodancer is an awesome rhythm game you don’t want to pass up if you’re into the genre.

Project Cars delivers a solid racing sandbox that is both entertaining to play and stunning to see in action. Unfortunately, the game's career system lacks proper progression and any incentive to complete its races.

There is quite a bit of difficulty to it as you have to learn each titan’s patterns and figure out how to expose and attack their weak points, and others may just see this as a rip-off of Shadow of the Colossus. If you can get past that, Titan Souls provides quite a bit of challenge, but admittedly could have gone on a bit longer for a $15 price point.

Sid Meier's Starships provides a simplified, portable gameplay snippet of the series turn-based gameplay that ultimately makes it a difficult recommend for Civilization fans. While the game was clearly designed for a tablet, there is still some entertainment to be found in brief gameplay sessions.

Marvel’s Avengers–Age of Ultron looks like a 10-car pileup glued together with overly looping dialogue and a few forgivable missteps. Even without prior existing knowledge of these superheroes' thoughts and motivations, it’s still a challenging table with subtle rewards.

Story of Seasons doesn't rewrite the book on farming sims, but it's a big, healthy break from the Harvest Moon series that adds a few strong new ideas. It's Harvest Moon in everything but name, and one of the best of this kind of game to come along in a while.

Toukiden: Kiwami adds on to an already good game with more content, more gameplay variety, and some proper multiplayer that really rounds out this package.

It’s just hard not to recommend Borderlands: The Handsome Collection. There’s so much content. It received a proper current-gen graphical upgrade and there is tons of both DLC and normal content included. I have a few problems with The Pre-Sequel, but that’s it.

Out of the Park ’16 proves once again why it’s the go-to series for baseball management simulators. With the new license to use real MLB players and the other additions and improvements, there’s not much you can’t do in this year’s edition. If you’re looking for a great baseball management simulator, you’ll be hard pressed to find something better.

Ziggurat is Milkstone Studios' first game of this scope, and I both hope and believe it will be their breakout game. It is everything a roguelike game should be, and so much more.

This is a great looking game that will remind players of the genre's heyday in the 1990s. And with dozens of items to unlock and a wide variety of weapons to shoot, Jamestown+ will keep shoot-em-up fans happy for many hours to come.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars is enjoyable but rather easy, even in later stages.

La-Mulana EX is a frustratingly difficult action/adventure that mixes The Legend of Zelda with Castlevania. Unfortunately, many will be scared away by the obtuse puzzles and confusing level designs, but those that stick with it will discover a lengthy adventure that is full of hidden treasures.

Etrian Mystery Dungeon continues the streak of great Etrian titles. The shake-up in gameplay doesn't rattle the game too much for die-hard fans and will give them exactly what they want, while giving people unfamiliar with the franchise, a good entry level introduction.

Olli Olli 2 may be incredibly difficult at times but it is also non stop fun. It takes everything that made the first game great and made it even better.

Flame Over is purposely vague, to the point of being perplexing at times. While the game is action-packed and full of interesting ideas, the package doesn't come together in a cohesive fashion.

Sims fans shouldn't hesitate in picking up the Get to Work expansion pack as the new gameplay features and added content are well worth the purchase.

Infinity Runner does provide a few moments of intense fun. Unfortunately, those moments are broken up too often with gameplay choices that really bring the game (and the fun) to a screeching halt.

Fans of Nintendo's long-running Advance War series will feel right at home with this new PS Vita game. It's a solid strategy game that is hurt by a lack of polish and a repetitive design. But even with the problems, the online multiplayer mode makes Desert Ashes worth buying.

People looking for drastic changes to Road to The Show or Franchise mode, however, may be disappointed with this PlayStation-exclusive baseball sim.

Easily the best fighting game on the market today. MK X takes all of the lessons learned with the 2011 release and turns it up to 11: content, gameplay, and overall fun. If the developers can improve the netcode a little bit, this could be a major contender on the fighting game scene for years to come.

Not being able to reliably move in diagonal directions makes certain levels near impossible. Q*Bert deserves better.

Mario Party 10 introduces some great new uses for the Wii U GamePad and makes smart use of the Amiibo figurines, but unfortunately its main mode is still bogged down with bad ideas from Mario Party 9. If you ignore the main mode and explore everything else the game has to offer there is definitely fun to be had here, but it doesn’t live up to the series’ colorful, deceptively deep gameplay history.

A cute concept is not enough to save Jungle Rumble: Freedom, Happiness and Bananas from being a disappointing rhythm-action game. Tapping the screen is fun at first, but too many of the levels play out the same way, and the whole ordeal becomes too repetitive for its own good.

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.

Hand of Fate is a devastatingly addictive adventure game that mixes card collecting with fast-paced third-person action and board games. Although full of disparate ideas, the game is never confusing. It has a few technical issues and I would have preferred a way to continue, but none of that should keep you from experiencing Hand of Fate.

Take simple, Pitfall-like platforming (minus the rope swinging), mix in a hint of Sword & Sworcery’s art style, and then you have an overreaching X-meets-Y makeup of The Deer God. I feel like its motivations are far better than half-hearted; creatively and intentionally. But The Deer God keeps asking me to return to a life I find less and less interesting with each reincarnation.

Dead or Alive 5: Last Round is an excellent ending point for this chapter of the series. It takes all of the groundwork laid in DoA5 and polishes it off in the best way possible. Armed with an excellent roster of characters and a ton of modes, this is a great introduction to 3D fighting on the new generation of fighters. Just be prepared to be smothered with DLC options.

While far from original, Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype is a great playing shoot-em-up with enough interesting ideas to stand out. Best of all, the gorgeous visuals zip by at 60 frames per second. It may be short, but there's more than enough replay to keep this side-scrolling shooter exciting.

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.

While a good game, it would have been nice to see some more complex puzzles around the mid-way point to up the challenge a bit more.

Resident Evil: Revelations 2 comes to a proper close with chapter 4; Metamorphosis. The great gameplay carries through to a satisfying ending and Raid Mode continues to be a blast.

The Metroidvanis genre has rarely been done this well and this adventure deserves to be held up there among the greats like Symphony of the Night and the original Metroid.

It's still as violent as ever before and best of all, it's still incredibly fun.

Both tables in the Iron & Steel Pack, at first glance, fall back on overly generic themes, but Wild West Rampage tells the more interesting story with its genre's tropes, but CastleStorm makes you earn its love.

Fans may enjoy the fast-paced action and emphasis on character building, but everybody else will be left scratching their heads at the outdated graphics and repetitive gameplay.

Code Name S.T.E.A.M. has an interesting premise and an initially appealing aesthetic. But then the gameplay comes along and teams up with a crushing difficulty to deflate what should have been a great piece of hokey Americana.

Deathtrap's unique take on the tower defense genre by expanding player interaction with action and role-playing gameplay elements results in an entertaining and worthwhile experience. Both fans of tower defense and role-playing games are recommended to take a journey into the world of Deathtrap.

Despite the manner in which it will punish and abuse you, Bloodborne will have you crawling back to it and saying, "Thank you, sir, may I please have another." It's a gorgeous and dreadful world that sucks you in, and then kills you. Beautiful in every single aspect of the game and sense of the word, this progression of the Souls franchise is more accessible and addicting than ever.

Battlefield Hardline is a worthwhile entry in the series that shouldn't be passed over by fans.

Ace Combat Horizon Legacy Plus is exactly what you want from the series: Ace Combat on the go. This new version isn't essential if you have the original 2011 release, but if you've never bought the game, the new Amiibo support and other features make the Plus edition the one to own.

Harold is one of those games where if you don’t like steep difficulty curves, you’ll likely want to stay away from it. If you can get past that though, Harold does provide a pretty good challenge even in the early going and really tests your reflexes as the races get harder and you have to multitask even more obstacles.

Gat out of Hell is not bad, but it's not great either. To put it simply, it's more Saints Row IV. If you go into it thinking its going to have all new gameplay with an all new story, you are going to be disappointed. It's fun but the overwhelming feel of deja vu may sour you a bit on it.

If you've reached this point in the game, you're pretty much invested at this point, and there's no good reason not to see this through to the end. The story and puzzle elements of Judgment make for a good setup for the climax to Resident Evil: Revelations 2.