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.

Demolish and Build is enjoyable once you get a ways into it, but the early going can get pretty repetitive once you've gutted your second saloon and third gas station. Overall, though, it has a bit of a charm to it as you try to improve your company's rank and expand your business.

Apart from the humor, the well done mechanics, the unique presentation, the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh-water system, and public health, what have Here Be Dragons or the Romans ever done for us? My only real criticism is that while there is little to fault on that first go, the game does struggle to offer real replayability. It's an excellent strategy game. So play it once through for that good trip and let that be enough.

The AWE expansion is a fantastic addition to the Control base game. Everything about it is just that shade better than the original content. It delivers a horror experience that is a step above, a new weapon that offers something really unique, and a final showdown that is bigger and badder than anything you've done in this game yet. It's a few more hours of a good game, that this time around takes a slight step forward to be even better.

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.

As it stands now, the campaign is great, and playing as each of the Avengers is fun, but the game just offers too little post-campaign content to warrant continued play. The performance issues are just unacceptable for a AAA game of this caliber. It's clear that this game should have released later in the year or delayed for another year. It really feels like this is yet another game shoved out the door while saying, "We'll fix it later."

A beautiful experience. Even with the long load times and, overall, feeling that this game is catered to hardcore players, there's no getting around just how gorgeous and fun it truly is.

More enticing systemically than it is narratively, Windbound nevertheless succeeds as a sojourner's adventure of striving for survival and greater understanding.

Mortal Shell embraces the Souls-like moniker with open arms. They welcomed comparisons, and, for the most part, delivered. What's more impressive is that a team of only 15 people created it. Mortal Shell will make you to rethink your ideas around patience and frustration. You will love this game for all the same reasons that you hate it.

It is loads of fun to play, has some great atmosphere and artwork to enjoy, and I recommend it wholeheartedly. However, it does not take advantage of many of the things that make the Switch so great. It does not handle the native LCD well with fonts in many places that are just too small, it also loses much of its portability in its mandate to remain always online in order to play. It remains a fantastic gaming experience, only one ever so slightly less fantastic that its PC counterpart, and the lack of cross-save will force you to choose a side, so choose wisely...

Inmost delivers a variety of gameplay styles, delivering three thoughtfully discordant narratives that tie together with a gut punch at the end. Beautifully constructed pixel-art graphics set a surprisingly somber tone, and the music is top notch at setting the horrific yet contemplative mood. Recommended.

Without much reward for playing single player—and an obtuse and difficult to navigate multiplayer system—Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition simply creates too many barriers to entry for the player to overcome. While the simple gameplay could be fun with an easier interface, the complicated multiplayer will likely only be enjoyed by the most hardcore of fans. Not an outright bad game, but certainly a difficult game to play.

Windbound is a delight. With a few UX issues and a bit of repetition holding it back from all-time-great status, this game is still a wonder to explore and discover. The sailing is fantastic, the island exploration is intriguing, and the sting of dying isn't so bad that it should scare away roguelike-haters. The world of Windbound is so well made that you may want to dip into it just to hang out for a while. Fun, exciting, and rewarding.

It's been over 20 years since the last Battletoads game—and it was worth the wait. Battletoads is an enjoyable game that brings back the fun beat-em-up aspects of the originals, as well as humorous cutscenes, and minigame stages that show just what happens after the Toads realize their glory days are over.

Despite a few rare difficult moments with finicky controls and timed puzzles, Helheim Hassle is well worth a look. The humor is lively, surprising, and wickedly funny, while never feeling mean. The majority of the puzzles are engaging and fun. Helheim Hassle is a good-natured good time.

Metamorphosis is a solidly made puzzle-platformer with a few adventure mechanics on the side for good measure. Taking a literary classic that some consider to be interminable and creating a lively and amusing game world from it, the devs at Ovid Works have create a deeply creative work that delivers a satisfyingly original experience.

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.

Insatiable Cycle's zeal in tackling dialogue choices is something to appreciate. But that can only go so far when the script is tacky, the game design is clumsy, and the retail price is terribly overvalued.

Destroy All Humans! is not a complicated or even particularly difficult game. But it sticks to the original game's strengths.

Carrion is a fascinating reversal of the typical Metroidvania. Playing as a hungry, tentacle abomination is fast, fluid and unnerving. My only complaint is that there is no mapping function, which can make progression a chore.

Ageless is bright, colorful, and sounds great, but is just a bit clunky. The game gives off a Celeste-vibe, which is a good thing, but it can take some time to get used to the age mechanics and the precise aiming required for a lot of the puzzles.

It's not all doom and gloom as the actual gameplay is fun and the characters at least have their own unique weapons and play styles. This could be one of those games that ends up being a breakout hit and, years down the line, is filled with tons of content and has a big player base. Unfortunately I can only review what I have now. While the game is fun, I felt like I did and saw everything the game had to offer in about an hour.

Who says you can never go home again? Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral town takes an already great game in the storied franchise and throws it into HD, with a hefty bushel of new content along for the ride. Whether you're a nostalgic veteran like me or a greenhorn just starting out, Mineral Town is a worthy addition to your Switch library.

Ghost of Tsushima is a beautifully crafted adventure that distinguishes itself as one of the great titles of this console generation.

Urban Flow is the best kind of puzzle game: one that is easy to pick up, difficult to master, and lovingly developed exactly for the hardware on which it runs. It's not perfect, but has so much to offer and it so well done in places it's easy to overlook the few warts. It is a welcome addition to the Switch library and a great example of why this console is so good at what it does.

Taking Superhot's amazing and addictive gameplay and expanding it in several directions, Superhot: Mind Control Delete feels exactly right. New bad guys, new powers, and roguelike randomized levels keep the game feeling much more rollicking than its intellectual predecessor. Mind Control Delete offers what the original game did not; endless hours of Superhot fun. Not bad for a free add on.

Maid of Sker is a long, linear hike through a very murky, muddy game world. Interesting story beats can't overcome the fact that Maid of Sker looks and plays like a frustrating game from an earlier era. Obscured visuals prevent any fun from being had with the stealth gameplay, leaving deaths feeling random and unpredictable. This hotel is best avoided, for reasons beyond its tortured history.

If you like going on long walks, if your favorite color is safety orange, or if you're never taking "must love dogs" out of your Tinder bio, then Hunting Simulator 2 is sounding your mating call.

The core of the game is excellent, the gameplay is fun, progression balanced, it has personality, and presents as much difficulty as you are willing to chase flawless runs through the levels. However, there are small quality of life challenges that hold the game back when receiving its due. Streamline the menus and make some tweaks to really optimize the experience on the Switch handheld screen and I would have bumped the score up a notch.

Iron Man VR is a good finale for the PS4's lifecycle of PS VR titles. While there are a few technical issues with Iron Man VR – mostly related to the Move controls – it's still a pretty enjoyable affair. Just gotta take it in small doses to make sure you get your VR legs first.

Orcs Must Die! 3 contains a ton of the tower defense/shooting hybrid gameplay that fans love – all delivered in a very polished package. The new war-sized levels deliver a massive jolt of fun, and there is plenty of content here to keeps players busy for quite a while. Though progression feels a little unbalanced in single player, perseverance or grinding will eventually overcome obstacles.

The BioShock trilogy is still three masterpieces that demand attention. While the first game hasn't aged particularly well, the sequel never got the recognition it deserved, and the third game is ultimately pretty disappointing, but they're still all worth another playthrough. The Switch port is masterfully done, smooth and crisp, and a great way to experience these games for the first time or revisit them.

Who knew that playing SpongeBob SquarePants: The Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated would deliver such a solid dose of nostalgia? But deliver it does. Having played both versions of the game in the past week, I can attest that this is a rock-solid remake of fun but somewhat flawed game. You take the bad with the good on this one, but for the most part Bikini Bottom holds up surprisingly well.

Crayta is a remarkable game-creation game/tool, with just enough fun structure built around it to keep the proceedings light and fun. Crayta is built to appeal to builders of all skill levels, providing simple controller-based construction for newcomers, while allowing skilled users to dig right down into code. While a few starter games are provided by Unit 2, they aren't really the point. Time will tell what the community builds out of Crayta, but the tools are certainly there for this platform to spawn some amazing things.

Most people thought this series' best days were behind it. But the Command & Conquer Remastered Collection is a well-crafted ode to a titan of the RTS genre and the community that's loved it for the better part of 25 years.

With two distinct but well-integrated strategy modes, Brigandine offers a huge amount of gameplay that feels both old school and fresh at the same time. A fantastic tutorial eases new players into the game with little friction, and the seeming complexity becomes quickly manageable. While the graphics are nothing to write home about, the care taken in each story thread is evident, and the tactical gameplay offers a ton of replay value. Brigandine is an utterly unique offering on Switch, and should appeal to RPG fans and strategy buffs alike.

Wave Break is a blast of a skateboarding game – once you get through its nearly impenetrable shield of difficulty. With tons of moves to learn and master, and some deep and dense levels to explore, Wave Break offers a variety of gameplay options to keep things fresh. Just remember to explore the game's modes on your own, because Wave Break isn't interested in explaining things to you.

Five Nights at Freddys: Help Wanted is a very enjoyable experience. The game provides remakes of the first three Freddy titles, along with a selection of new minigames. While having these games remade in HD is great, the lack of proper control explanation and some missing fan-favorite characters detract slightly from the experience.

Invasions brings a delightful mix of lizard overlords, botched genetic experiments, and acid rain to Planetfall's already unique brand of 4X strategy.

Minecraft Dungeons is a competent hack n' slash RPG; nothing more, nothing less. It has the outward charm of the creative masterpiece that inspired it, but very little depth. What is here is fun for a time in solo or co-op, but don't expect it to hold your attention long-term.

Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath is a fantastic expansion to the game with three fun characters and a great conclusion to the Mortal Kombat story. It's a shame, however, that they didn't offer people the option to buy the content individually instead of together at the steep price.

Ultimately, I can't call this game perfect, but I can call it compelling. I can say it is an absolute joy to play. I can say it is a natural extension of the first one which was best in class, but takes the story into an entirely new direction, taking a very different path.

XCOM 2 is, at five years old, a stone cold classic. The XCOM 2 Collection on the Switch may have some technical issues, with framerate and resolution being the most prevalent, but having the ability to play this amazing title on the go far outweighs any problems you might experience. Let's be real; you aren't playing XCOM 2 for the graphics anyhow. All of the strategy, depth and fun is accounted for here. Highly recommended.

Borderlands Legendary Collection is a great way to experience the first three games in the series on the Nintendo Switch. The games play as their original counterparts (well, Game of the Year edition for the original) and run about as smooth as their original counterparts both docked and in portable mode. As you're also getting just about every DLC add-on for all three games, $50 is definitely worth picking the collection up for the portability alone. Who knows, maybe if this does well we might just see Borderlands 3 on the Switch someday.

From storytelling to game design, Those Who Remain's tepid approach to its overabundant tropes made me want to leave Dormont as soon as I arrived. My best advice to horror fans: ignore the exit—even if your tank is running low.

Maneater is a solid first entry in a new open world RPG franchise. Repetitive missions and some fairly severe framerate issues hold the game back a bit, but overall Maneater is a good bit of summertime gaming fluff. You can't beat the feeling of chomping people at the beach, and Maneater provides just what gamers are looking for – fun carnage with just enough structure to keep players motivated.

If you're looking for a relaxing way to pass the time and improve your architectural skills, Poly Bridge 2 is worth checking out.

Nioh 2 does what a good sequel should. It capitalizes on the best parts of its predecessors while providing new content and mechanics to advance the franchise. While the story structure and level design are largely the same, added weapons, more build depth, and new combat mechanics all enhance what the game has to offer. It doesn't always hit the mark perfectly, but it's a solid addition to the series. And let's face it, being a samurai is awesome.

The Inner Friend is a game with interesting ambitions that doesn't quite gel together into a cohesive whole. While elements of the game (music and creature design) are quite stellar, other areas (puzzles, controls) suffer enough to hold the game back from what it could have been. The Inner Friend is still worth a look as an interesting experiment, just go in forewarned about the parts that don't work so well.

If you enjoyed Super Mega Baseball 3's predecessors, you're in for a treat. SMB3's identity as a quirky but committed sports title remains intact. With promising post-release updates ahead, SMB3 will satisfy your baseball cravings for the indefinite future. The Metalhead team listened to its community and implemented their feedback. For that, they deserve extensive praise and thanks.

Perfectly capturing the feel and look of the nadir of a 30 year-old-franchise, there is much to like about the single-minded offering of Predator: Hunting Grounds. Unfortunately, however, that joy and nostalgia is soon lost in repeating the same, limited experience ad nauseam, and doing so around a frustrating user experience. It's not a bad game, and is fun for a weekend, but it doesn't offer enough to justify it's price tag. This whole 4v1 experiment seemed to have already been tried and failed with the much more ambitious Evolve. I can't see how slapping the Predator franchise logo on the same concept is really going to keep a player base going.

Get Packed is a wild multiplayer title, challenging players to pack a moving van while wrestling with some seriously destructive physics. Even in single player, the game is a good time, but in multiplayer Get Packed comes to life. Fans of games that cause them to yell at their friends should have a great time here, as this is a polished example of the genre.

Make War's bizarre alien interference on historic battlefields gameplay is fun on several levels, but the interface is broken beyond any level of acceptability. With a great concept and super-sticky gameplay, this game is likely incredibly addictive on PC. But due to poor implementation on Switch, you'll get frustrated and quit before you experience the game's many simple pleasures.

Dread Nautical is a solid tactics strategy game with a very unique story. Though the game was developed originally for mobile devices, it makes the transition to consoles cleanly. With tons of character customization options and non-irritating procedurally-generated level design, Dread Nautical has enough meat on it to justify several playthroughs. Tactics fans shouldn't hesitate to pick this one up.

Resident Evil 3 may not be as good as Resident Evil 2 but It's still a fantastic game. I would say, so far, it's one of the best games of the year. I really want Capcom to continue with this series of remakes. Hopefully we can get a remake of Code Veronica because that's really the one Resident Evil game that needs a remake the most as it's pretty much unplayable today.

The game is just as good as it was 10 years ago, and now looks even better.

Gears Tactics is definitely different than what Gears fans are accustomed to, being a tactical-style game, but I think it fits the genre pretty well. If you've ever wondered what Gears would be like outside of the main series, Gears Tactics shows that it does pretty well in a tactical-style.

Chimera Squad gives XCOM something it needed a lot more of: direction. The stakes are lower, but the execution is smoother.

Sketchbook Games' narrative platform/puzzler is appropriate for all ages, but that doesn't stop it from going to some surprisingly dark places. Though the platforming and light puzzle solving are enjoyable (if none too challenging), the story and artwork are the stars of the show. Impatient players might want to stay away, but for those interested in a life affirming story about overcoming obstacles and learning to deal with regrets, Lost Words is a beautiful experience.

The game's design, art, and simplicity make it a near-perfect Switch title. It's easy to learn, easy to play, and suffers only a few issues that detract from the overall experience.

Final Fantasy VII Remake is a wondrous exploration of the original, with fantastic writing, performances, and production values. However, an overindulgence in cut scenes and an extremely linear path through the game causes some serious sag in the middle chapters. A fine experience, but perhaps best viewed as a prelude to things to come.

Good Goliath is a well-made arcade game that I just didn't enjoy all that much. The central mechanic of little dudes throwing things at you and you catch them and throw them back somehow made me feel angry and annoyed. Stellar artwork and design would not overcome some mechanical issues and, in the end, I was left feeling grumpy.

DOOM Eternal is gorgeous to behold, a technological tour-de-force and an exciting new chapter in the Doom narrative, but it's not quite as fun to play as DOOM 2016. The problem is not that DOOM Eternal is too hard, rather it is too hard unless you play by its specific rules, which, for all its mechanical complexity, makes its combat chess less freeform and satisfying than its predecessors.

I had such an incredible time going back into the Half-Life universe, and in VR. It's outstanding. The story is full of surprises as you can expect from a Half-Life game. A true AAA experience in VR, Half-Life: Alyx is a triumphant return for Valve—even if you aren't playing as Gordon Freeman.

It's rude, it's crude, and until Rockstar decides to port something better than LA Noire over or Sucker Punch stops being a Sony studio, it is the most fun you're going to have in an open world crime or mayhem type game on the Switch.

Part point-and-click radio play, part adventure game audiobook, Kentucky route Zero is as much of a journey in sound as it is a meditation on surrealism. I’d nominate it for the Booker Prize in literature before I’d hand it a Keighley statue at the Video Game Awards.

Zen Studios new dungeon crawler takes the tropes of an oft neglected genre, and updates them with wit and style. Operencia: The Stolen Sun oozes charm, with the perfect balance of combat, exploration, puzzles, and funny bantering characters. This game is a complete winner, and any fan of dungeon crawlers shouldn’t hesitate to pick it up.

To no one's surprise, Ori and the Will of the Wisps is visually and audibly beautiful. Once you get the hang of Ori's abilities, the platforming is fluid and satisfying, the combat is cool, and the game rewards your exploration even when said exploration is a result of getting lost. Through it all lingers a feeling of accomplishment that makes it so easy to keep playing, even through the frustrating parts.

You can't really go wrong with this collection. You get two fantastic games that still hold up today at a fantastic price. If you are a fan of Platinum Games now, you owe it to yourself to check out these older titles. The only shame is that Bayonetta 2 is a Nintendo exclusive and Vanquish never got the sequel it deserved.

Highly recommended for folks that enjoy cooperative play, or as a way to introduce a friend to basic stealth gaming mechanics. Covert delivers a lot of gameplay for two players—one on PS VR and the other on the companion mobile app. The heists remain fun and engaging without ever becoming too difficult, ensuring that everyone has a good time. Can't ask for much more than that.

BE-A-Walker is the first game I can recall that opens with a difficulty spike. The message is clear: get onboard with the game's many anxiety-inducing mechanics or get out now. Beyond that, you will find a moderately entertaining AT-ST simulator. Be ready to juggle a variety of frustrating systems, as nothing in this game comes easy.

Space Channel 5 VR: Kinda Funky News Flash! is an absolute delight—for the entire 27 minutes of its play time. While the music, swirling lights, and dancing are all accessible and fun, the price for this game is incredibly out of proportion to what you get for your money. Wait for an extreme sale, and then have a blast with this wildly entertaining game.

Book of Demons is a fun Diablo-like game, but some of the mechanics might be a turnoff for others. Movement is locked to set paths while enemies are free to roam around and there is no equipment as cards represent spells, items, and artifacts in the game. That said, there is still quite a bit to like about Book of Demons as there is a good amount of strategy to employ if you want to survive. However, the price tag might be a bit much given the restrictions some of the mechanics place on you.

Infliction feels like a mash-up of elements from other, better-known games. However, a strong game loop and stellar sound design elevate Inflicted beyond being a tired retread. While the lighting is questionable at times, in general the visuals reveal an eye for detail. A fun photo mechanic also sets the game apart from its contemporaries. Infliction is well worth a look for horror fans, and those nostalgic for the early '90s.

It didn’t matter that I’d never designed a game before, didn’t matter that I’m not much of an artist, didn’t matter that I can only play music and not compose it. From the very beginning, I felt welcomed by Dreams.

The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners is a great game. It's just that maybe it's not a great game for you. Maybe, like me, you don't have your VR legs enough to enjoy it. Maybe you want a little bit more from the PC hardware you have to run it on and won't accept the compromises this game makes. Maybe you just have TWD fatigue. If those things don't stand in your way, then what is on offer is an incredible and immersive experience. A well-developed virtual playground to craft and battle your way through a rich world and story that is only let down by an implementation that just screams compromise to make way for a PSVR release.

Regardless of your feelings on the first two Metro games—which are quite good in their own right—this is a masterful portable collection handled with an expert hand by the games' original developers.

A solid, but still returnable, second serve that could use a little more mechanical tinkering.

Fantasy Zone was a lot of fun when I first played it a long time ago and it's still a lot of fun today. While the save states aren't quite as useful as with other games in the Sega Ages library, the Upa-Upa and Time Attack Modes do add some variety to the gameplay for players looking to change things up a bit from the normal mode. If you're looking for a fun simple shooter that has a nice difficulty curve and a bit of strategy in how you play (namely in how you spend your coins), Fantasy Zone is worth checking out.

Zombie Army 4 feels like an old friend you're reconnecting with after a few years. Even though it's similar to its predecessors, the game has been refined into something that holds greater mass appeal. Weapon upgrading, fresh enemy design, and a packed progression system give players a reason to keep coming back. The core gameplay loop is even better more when tackled in co-op, yielding some hilarious and action-packed adventures. Despite the good, the game's core issues arise from a bland campaign that lacks the impressive set pieces and locations from the previous iterations.

Never Not Shooting is a very effective arcade twin-stick shooter that tasks the player with protecting the sun from waves of baddies. With a number of different weapon loadouts to choose from, this is a game that can be played a lot of different ways – all of which are intense and enjoyable. A must for arcade fans, this game could slide right into a 1980’s cabinet without raising any eyebrows. Never Not Shooting is a hidden gem of a game, and is well worth its modest price.

Throw Anything is a fun and well-made VR diversion that delivers some real thrills. While the tracking becomes an issue due to PSVR’s single camera, the cleverness of the level design compels players to work through the clunkiness. This game is not terribly long, but a few difficulty levels extend the play time. Dropping stuff on zombies is pretty entertaining at its core.

Sega Ages: Shinobi is still a great game more than 30 years after its initial release—and it's still just as difficult. It takes a lot of skill to progress beyond the first couple of missions. Newer players are given a couple of tools to help them, namely save states and a rewind feature, while expert players will find the same game they enjoyed all those years ago. Whether you're an experienced ninja or you're checking the game out for the first time, Shinobi is a great addition to the Sega Ages library.

Patapon 2 Remastered fails to compensate for the fact that the Sony PSP was a very different device from the PlayStation 4, and in the end, controller latency sinks this classic game adaptation. If the game had compensated for the particulars of its new home, it may have been immensely enjoyable – the core of a great game is intact. But as it stands, Patapon 2 is frustrating and unfun.

If you're not worried about a major story or a lot of strategy but still want to see what the monster hunting genre is like without shelling out a lot of money, Dauntless is a nice free-to-play game to ease you into things.

Darwin Project takes the battle royale formula and turns it on its ear with simple survival mechanics and visceral axe combat. While hunting down your peers, be sure to keep warm, or else you will freeze to death all by yourself. With a tight map, fun and unique classes, and little in the way of intrusive monetization, Darwin Project feels fresh in a quickly crowding market. A battle royale game for those that didn't get hooked on the big titles, Darwin Project is an enjoyable competition with a great community.

Iceborne is a well-crafted expansion that will give returning players a ton more content to experience and a bunch of new mechanics to master. Even past the story, the end-game leaves plenty of content for the most hardcore of players to dive into. The PC version is acceptable but will need to address some of its system issues to make sure everyone can enjoy the game at the same level.

While it isn’t winning any graphics awards (not that it's terrible), Eclipse: Edge of Light still manages to achieve VR greatness. With a few simple mechanics, Eclipse allows the player to experience its eerie, lonely world in ways that feel tactile and rewarding. Highly recommended for fans of trippy sci-fi, Eclipse stands out from the crowd in all the right ways.

A brilliant world is offset by some cheap level design, a fantastic toolset and movement is offset by some terrible throw mechanics when left tooless. However, Budget Cuts 2 takes two long strides forward for every half step back and does deliver on its promise. It hits the mark this time around to provide a really good VR experience and would be recommended to anyone with the gear to run it.

Feral Interactive has ported Alien: Isolation to Switch with no cut corners. Simply put, this game is a timeless horror masterpiece that ratchets up the dread and doesn't let up, and it looks and plays amazingly on Switch. Don't pass it up.

It won't convert a casual fan of the sport into a rabid follower of the series, but it is one that will take anyone who wanted to live the fantasy of managing a football club and give them every opportunity to find their heart's content.

Williams Pinball Pack Volume 5 continues Zen Studios’ relentless adaptation of real-life pinball machines. The quality of the tables isn’t the issue here; the quality of the adaptation is what should be noted. As usual, these tables are spot on. Real-life pinball fans will love this pack, and FX3’s more casual fans might enjoy the gut check beating they endure at the hands of these classics. Recommended, as usual.

There is a wide variety of nations and leaders to choose from, as well as a variety of Victory conditions to pursue and an even greater abundance of maps randomly generated or otherwise to build your empire. There are grievances that could be improved, sure. But those are really ancillary to the the core loop you experience. A loop that is hard to break out of. Civilization VI is top-notch and feels right at home on a console.

The Dark Souls of zoo tycoon sims. Start slower than you'd like to, YouTube yet another tutorial, then watch Planet Zoo blossom before your eyes. This is a slow, mindful, niche of a sim that demands more patience and learning than you'd expect.

A gorgeous world with so much to explore awaits everyone. It's not without some faults, and those with older spec'd PCs may have trouble running this. If you've got the rig to handle it, it's a wonderful experience.

Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries brings back most of the combat and management the series is known for. Your mileage may vary on just how satisfying that is, but in objective terms there are a number of small issues—from AI to graphics—that add up and keep this game from its full potential.

While interesting and certainly unique, Ritual: Crown of Thorns wears down the player with relentlessly punishing difficulty. While the concept and story are a hoot, in the end the gameplay can't sustain interest. Instead of feeling rewarded by advancing to new levels, players must often backtrack and play previous difficulty levels repeatedly. Frankly, there are just too many other ways that I would rather be spending my time.