Its characters lack depth, and it could really use some sort of leaderboard or ladder to compete with. But, overall, Need for Speed Heat is worth playing even if you're just a casual racing fan. The day/night dynamic is entertaining and mixes things up. The car list is better than expected. Customization is clean and maximizes personalization. And the driving mechanics aren't overly complicated but present enough of a challenge. s

Obsidian set out to make a Fallout game, but didn’t think we’d mind if they actually made it a Firefly game along the way. So now we have an anti-capitalist Firefly mired in labor issues but elevated by rapidfire gunplay, peppered with chuckles from a tryhard sense of humor.

This is it, this is the one we've all been waiting for. Here's to hoping that, in the future, whether it's DLC or another installment altogether, that this team from the developers at Respawn can come at this again.

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 has its moments. The events themselves can be fun and challenging—sometimes too challenging—but overall it misses the mark in a couple of areas. The Story Mode can get tedious and boring when you're wading through text more than playing the events, and the fact that there's no tournament mode is a bit puzzling. The game isn't bad by any means, but it feels like more could have been done to enhance the multiplayer experience and to just add some replayability.

Though it stumbles some with undeveloped multiplayer and arcade modes, the single player of VR Ping Pong Pro is enjoyable - even to a table tennis neophyte. With rock-solid controller tracking and a variety of fun and unique environments to play in, VR Ping Pong Pro is better in a lot of areas than it needs to be.

If you’re a fan of literature, games with meaning, or unique art styles, then you won’t regret playing The Wanderer: Frankenstein’s Creature. A calm, sorrowful, and beautiful adventure awaits you, with poignant storytelling from the very Creature you control. The landscape will splay out around you in vibrant watercolors, and the music will guide your emotions. There is no thrill, no fast-paced adventure, no strategy, so if that’s your cup of tea you may want to look elsewhere. Otherwise, this game is a beautiful book come to life, and is absolutely worth the play.

The Witcher 3 today is just as much a master class in game and story design as it was four years ago. Feral Interactive did an impressive job porting this gigantic RPG to Switch.

It's refreshing to play a game like this. I don't think I've experienced one since Conker. Although this game is not nearly as complex as that, it works well to send Scrat on his way.

Modern Warfare is the most astounding Call of Duty I've played since World at War. But they haven't gone as far they could, in the campaign especially. The multiplayer is outstanding, as always, with the slightest modifications eking out big results. But in the game's attempt to shock and awe, I don't think they're quite there yet.

Zen has faithfully recreated two classic pinball tables based on Universal Monsters – complete with their spooky real-world difficulty. While fans of the original tables will be rightfully satisfied, Zen fans will have to adjust their play styles to compensate for the realistic physics. Regardless, this pack represents another solid entry in the Zen library. Did anyone expect otherwise?

Hideo Kojima has fully weaponized the walking simulator writing a love letter to the delivery service workers of our shipping and handling world. Death Stranding is about ending isolation, and does it so gracefully that I can't imagine it being done better than it's done here.

Jet Kave Adventure is a rock-solid (pun intended) platformer that doesn’t outstay its welcome and offers addictive, retro-style gameplay. If you’ve ever enjoyed any of the Donkey Kong Country titles, Jet Kave Adventure is an earnest tribute that you’re sure to enjoy.

This score is ultimately a reflection of both Sniper Elite 3 Ultimate Edition the game (which is excellent) and the Nintendo Switch hardware (which while also excellent, I found not up to this task when trying to play handheld). The determination here is: if you're happy to play this game with your Switch in console mode, you're in for a grand old time; if you want to keep things handheld, better to try something else.

Felix the Reaper is an excellent game on paper, but its execution dooms it. While the unique concept shines—and I doubt I’ll be forgetting such a lovable face of death anytime soon—the actual gameplay made it a bit of a slog.

Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns is still the same game but that isn’t a bad thing. Bundling in all the DLC and adding some new classics, this match-3 RPG hybrid is just as addictive today as it was over a decade ago.

The family that slays together, stays together. When it comes to striking a balance between raucous gameplay and dramatic discourse, Children of Morta is an absolute gem.

John Wick Hex is a fantastic game. It combines real strategy in a gameplay that feels truly unique in the RTS genre. It really captures the world of John Wick and brings the character from the silver screen faithfully onto the PC. There is a fluidity to the combat, but one that falls ever so slightly short of the effortless slickness that we've come to love about the title character. Missing that trick takes a near perfect game to just a notch below, but puts it squarely in good company as a top game of the year.

Warsaw is World War 2's Darkest Dungeon. Excellent narrative beats hide under the gameplay rubble, telling the story of Poland's guerrilla fighters being turned into bullet sponges for Nazis.

Man of Medan starts out well enough but just falls apart towards the end leading up to a pretty anti-climatic ending thanks to a twist that was given away at the very beginning of the story. It's not terrible but it's not nearly as good as Until Dawn. Still, as a fan of Until Dawn, I still enjoyed the story for what it was but I didn't really have a desire to go back and play through it again after finishing it the first time.

Concrete Genie is one of the best games of this generation—an experience that expands the parameters of what video games can be. By embracing values like artistry, empathy, and beauty, this is a title that will appeal to gamers that might be feeling a bit world-weary, bringing color to a world that has been feeling a bit gray lately. If you have ever wondered why video games have to be so violent and dehumanizing, then do the industry a favor and support this game. And lest I forget to mention: Concrete Genie is a lot of fun to play.

After not playing a Trine game since the original, playing Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince makes me want to play through the first three games. The biggest issue I had was the difficulty as it was kind of simple for a lot of the game and even the boss battles weren't too complex. Trine veterans should have no problems clearing the game and newcomers will find a couple of options that can aid them if need be, and online multiplayer worked pretty well with two people. Whether you're experienced with the series or if this is your first time, Trine 4 is a simple and relaxing puzzle-solving adventure that anyone can enjoy.

Borderlands 3 is a great game, but it’s definitely got some technical issues with sadly brings the score down a bit. While my issues weren’t as bad as others I’ve heard about, they’re still annoying at times. However, if you can get past that you’ll find a game that’s more of the same as previous games (especially 2 and pre-sequel), but that’s what made Borderlands great to start with. A great story, reuniting with old friends, and some pretty interesting villains ensures I’ll be coming back to open any more vaults that are found on any planet Gearbox wishes to travel to.

WRC 8 is surprisingly accessible to rally newcomers, but after explaining how everything works, the game delights in throwing buckets of cold water in the player’s face. This is a tough game, but a fair one, and fans of rally racers and other “difficult” genres will likely equally enjoy skidding through WRC 8’s wicked twists and turns. A variety of modes flesh the experience out, but prepare to feast on the Career Mode, which is comprehensive and comprehendible. Recommended.

Catherine is certainly a fun and challenging game, both in its gameplay and story and character elements. In some of these moments it succeeds, in others, it fumbles, and falls flat on its face. But that doesn't mean it's unimportant, as it is good to learn from mistakes made previously in order to improve at a later point in time.

Career mode gets a much needed upgrade while the gameplay has been tweaked enough to feel like a challenge again. VOLTA Football is incredibly fun and a throwback to FIFA Street. It isn't perfect and career mode still has a lot that can be addressed, but EA listened and made upgrades beyond a roster update.

Mable and the Wood is a seductively whimsical fantasy adventure with excellent graphics, music and a lot of good ideas, but for the moment it is held back by balance and technical problems.

The Blackout Club is ambitious, but it doesn't have enough variety to make me care for that ambition. Thankfully, there are ways that players can make the game better on their own, filling in what the game lacks, but the game needs to back it up a little more.

An engaging 80's world is the playground for a romp through a procedurally generated dungeon crawl. But it's not really the changing landscape that spices up the experience, its the wildly shifting abilities earned via in-game mutations that drastically alter one run to the next. The package oozes style and has enough substance to back it up. I just find it lacking that last little bit of polish to help me decide how I want to play, not how the random number generator is going to direct me.

Engaging, surprising, and hella fun, Zen Studios’ Star Wars Pinball is a must for pinball fans, Star Wars fans, and fans of videogames in general. With tons of features, modes, and options, this is the definitive Zen Star Wars collection. There is something here for everyone, and as a budget title, Star Wars pinball provides amazing bang for your buck. Simply put – this is a must have for Switch owners.

Torchlight II is as fun on the Switch as it was back when it launched on PCs seven years ago. The controls on the Switch feel pretty good and eased my worries about transitioning from PC to console. While a lot of the game is basically fighting enemies, collecting loot, and repeat, if you’re into games like the Diablo series you should enjoy Torchlight II, and at a third of the price of Diablo III (at least on the Switch), Torchlight II is a great alternative.

I haven't found a more binge-worthy single-player action game this year. Control is wonderfully built, smartly written, and already dying for its season pass content.

If you're looking for an easygoing, mindless gaming session, Planetfall isn't in your ballpark—or even playing sports. But if you woke up this morning thinking, "Hey, I'd love to play XCOM and Civilization today, then you can kill two birds with one stone. Planetfall will fill your unique craving.

Erica tells a boilerplate story—but tells it very well. With a fresh, intuitive interface and some of the best production values and acting ever seen in a video game, Erica feels very much like what it aspires to be—an interactive film. Erica is perhaps an odd experiment, but one well worth experiencing for gamers that enjoy trips off the beaten path.

While interesting on paper, The Church in the Darkness is mostly just a collection of anti-capitalist audio logs blaring over harder-than-it-needs-to-be stealth gameplay. There's no love lost in this place.

Remnant is on my list of biggest surprises of 2019. I was apprehensive since I'm not a fan of Souls-like games, but this one is right up my alley. The combat is fantastic and it's even better when you are playing with others online.

A wonderful story that is now supported by great looking characters and backgrounds, Final Fantasy VIII is worth the pickup twenty years after it's initial launch.

Damsel is a fun arcade-style platformer/shooter/speedrunner/whatever genre you want to call it. The comic-style motif is a nice concept that I haven’t seen for a long time and the gameplay is pretty fluid. The darkness of the stages and the similarities between the three game modes kind of bring the game down a little, but it’s still an enjoyable outing for the Nintendo Switch.

GORN makes a gory, bloodfest type of fighting into a fun pastime that can also serve as a fairly good cardio workout. While there are buckets of blood and dismembered body parts flying around, it is designed in a way to make what would normally be prohibitively gross into something so fun that you will find yourself laughing at the incredible mayhem that surrounds you.

Million to One Hero is a well-polished game in the “custom level creation” genre (is that a genre…well it is now). The controls are fluid and you’ll have to employ a lot of skill to finish some of the creations players can come up with. The level creation itself is pretty robust, though it would have been nice if some of the icons were a little bigger on the screen, and combining levels into a mini-adventure is a nice touch. If you’re a fan of 2D platforming and level creation, you’ll find a lot to do in Million to One Hero for a satisfying price.

I can’t say enough good things about Rebel Galaxy Outlaw. It’s a sucker punch aimed at all the bloated, morbidly obese space sims out on the market today. Yes, there’s room for them, too. But Outlaw distills the ‘90s space-combat and trading sim into a great-looking, great-playing game for a new generation.

Ion Fury made me feel like a kid again and it's not just nostalgia that makes the game great. The is classic run and gun FPS action at it's purest and despite running on 20 year old tech, it's still a hell of a lot of fun and is one of my favorite games of 2019 so far.

Solo: Islands of the Heart seems like it’s trying to be your counselor. Go to an actual counselor. The gameplay is calming, the scenery is cute, the colors are vibrant, the design is unique, and the puzzles require a good amount of thinking without being too easy, but its attempt to analyze a real human person with pre-determined questions starts it off teetering on the wrong foot. It never quite regains its balance.

Wolfenstein: Youngblood takes one of my favorite FPS series and ruins it with repetitive grind, bloated FPS mechanics, a broken, mandatory co-op system and a frankly insulting story. Don’t touch this one with a ten foot pole.

This content is pretty much dedicated to the Attack on Titan faithful. It's not enough content to justify a whole new game, but it does a good job at being a pretty beefy add-on, but the high cost of entry makes it a tough sell.

While the game itself is really quite good, the lack of gameplay options and lack of thought into porting over the control scheme make for an average experience overall. This is a port that feels very much like one done with the absolute minimal effort required, and that's just not good enough for 2019 when so many other games this year have done so much better in this same PC to console space.

If you aren’t a fan of games like What Remains of Edith Finch and Fe, where combat and thrill takes a backseat to emotion and art, then I’ll be honest—this probably isn’t the game for you, and that’s okay. But for those of you who enjoy games with meaning, games with abstraction, or games with that unique artistic beauty that so often blossoms in indie games, then Kay is waiting for you on the Sea of Solitude.

While its procedurally-generated nature produces some annoying issues, Nightmare Reaper has a creative story, punchy edge-of-your-seat action and a deep, entertaining arsenal. This is one bad dream you won’t regret ripping and tearing your way through.

If you can imagine Asteroids meets Frogger in Space, you have a fairly good idea of what to expect from LOST ORBIT: Terminal Velocity. The game play is entertaining and the difficulty levels ramp up at a reasonable slope. The storyline doesn't bring much to the table, but the game mechanics stand on their own just fine.

Rudimentary in visuals, content and gameplay, Boxing Champs barely qualifies as a free phone game, much less a 15 dollar eShop title.

Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled is a refreshing take on the aggressive kart racing genre. While it’s certainly not perfect, it’s packed with content that can keep the player engaged for a long time.

Blazing Chrome is a great throwback to games such as Contra; simple run-and-guns with swarms of enemies, awesome boss fights, special weapons, and a great soundtrack to go with it. With fluid controls, multiple difficulties, and a stage select so you can pick which stage to tackle in any order, Blazing Chrome is definitely worth picking up if you’re into Contra-style games.

A remastered game is still the same old game, but with prettier graphics. Current owners of Sniper Elite 2 probably won't find better graphics to be worth a purchase, but new players wanting to start the venerable series near the beginning might want to give it a try.

What goes down must come up. The Sinking City is more than the sum of its glitchy b-game parts. Balanced detective work makes up for shoddy gunplay. A gruff and well-realized cast makes up for brain-dead AI. This is unironically a highwater mark for both detective fiction and Lovecraftian Horror in video gaming.

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.

Riverbond is a simple game that follows a blueprint. By mixing up characters, weapons, and environments, Riverbond does a decent job of reiterating this predictable path in such a way that each level is still a unique world – which is necessary to keep the player engaged and entertained. Overall, gameplay is easygoing and doesn’t require much effort or critical thinking, making Riverbond a solid option to power up and knock out on a slow day.

Warlocks 2: Godslayers is enjoyable for the most part, but the difficult and tedious combat can take the fun out of the game for some people. The game is definitely geared for multiplayer as the combat can be overwhelming during solo play. Beyond that there are a few minor performance hiccups though it doesn’t normally affect any major gameplay. If you can get past that and the difficult-at-times combat, you’ll find an enjoyable and humorous game with some interesting gameplay mechanics and even more interesting writing.

F1 2019 encompasses the breadth of experiences, car choices, track choices that provide a far deeper experience for the player than would be available in a generic sim. That depth truly demonstrates the complexity of not only the hardware, but the ever-changing conditions during a race. The updated graphics make use of more sophisticated lighting conditions, but most of the game will be familiar from last year. Formula 1 is the most sophisticated, expensive, unique, and popular auto racing league on the planet; it would take close to a decade to build a game/simulator to do it justice in all of its beauty and complexity. F1 2019 might have just accomplished exactly that.

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.

Observation spins a chilling and seductive science fiction tale of suspense and mystery, juxtaposed against strong adventure gameplay and stellar production values.

Some of the Detective mechanics can be hit or miss at times but still hold up enough to make Judgment a fantastic game. An engrossing story, fun missions, fun side activities and great fighting mechanics makes for a great game that both fans of the Yakuza series and those who have never played a Yakuza game before can enjoy.

I was hoping that Shards of Infinity would get a digital release and it didn’t disappoint…mostly. Newer players to the game might find that even the easiest difficulty can still be quite challenging and that may prevent them from fully enjoying the game, at least against AI opponents. Once you’ve learned some basic strategies and have gotten used to how some of the cards work, you’ll find a challenging deck building game that keeps you on your toes and is just as enjoyable as its physical counterpart.

Assetto Corsa Competizione may someday be a top-notch racing simulator, but then again it might not. As of version 1.0, ACC is a study of the potential costs of releasing a product too soon. There is a lot of potential on display, but there is also a great deal left to be either fixed or finished. The current state of the VR implementation is very sub-par, and the most common form of head tracking, TrackIR, has not been implemented at all. Adopt a wait and see strategy for now - eventually/hopefully continued updates will fix the most egregious problems.

American Fugitive is good in spots. And those spots are fun. But on the whole, the game just barely keeps up with its own scope of ambition.

Urban Warfare brings dynamic changes to the battlefield unlike anything before it. Those changes are surprising, challenging, and push the exploding, collapsing city in new directions. The graphics engine groans under the weight of urbanization. But the city is bright and beautiful.

There is a decent survival gameplay loop at the core of Fade to Silence. It's just that everything that emanates from that core is either cheaply cropped from another game or poorly executed in this one. I just kept coming back to this feeling I was playing disjointed parts of these other games, not a unified experience of this one.

Layers of Fear 2 is an abstract, slow burn psychological thriller that strings you along with increasingly skilled and disturbing imagery, then leaves you shaking and looking over your shoulder.

While it’s a bit slow to start, frontloaded with tutorials and exposition, and generally muddled at the outset, Rage 2 shapes up into an incredibly fun time and a natural evolution of a franchise I was worried Id had written off as a dead end.

Even skippers used to playing the PC version might want to give the PS4 version a look. It has been built from the ground up in order to leverage the processing and graphics power of modern consoles, and far more content is available from the get-go. If you want to skip the process of upgrading your ships and waiting to unlock more of the fleet that the free-to-play version has, you can opt to just buy the entire fleet all at once for a fixed price.

Sonic Team Racing does a pretty good job with the new team mechanics, but the difficulty can still be a tad rough at times; While not as bad as prior entries, it can be easy to fall behind after you've spun out, only to catch up again using a Team Ultimate, only to drop back a few spots when the opposing team does the same thing and cost you the race. Still, Sonic Team Racing is enjoyable alone and even more with friends or while playing online.

Saints Row The Third is the same riotous good time it’s always been, except now you can take it anywhere. Some performance issues hold the experience back, but with any luck the instability will get patched out.

World War Z doesn't hide its intentions. It's not a layered, in-depth survival sim. It doesn't try to be anything it's not. It's built around the horde effect, which it nails. They're like train wrecks: you can't stop watching them—except the train is headed straight for you.

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.

Endlessly stylish, emotionally gripping and deceptively addictive, VA-11 HALL-A is the pure essence of a visual novel: a digital page-turner filled with unforgettable characters and set in an infectious cyberpunk noir that will live in your head for weeks after you’ve put the game down.

Assassin's Creed III Remastered is a mixed bag. It's repetitive combat and lackluster visuals, strung through with a few bright spots of naval combat and exploration, and unique displays of combat. Narratively, the game is as weak as they come. There's no mystery. Just an obligatory plot to finish the fight between the Assassins and Templars. Not to mention the mumbo jumbo with the First Civilization. The game is frustrating and not worth another look.

Silence is a great game with some quirks. The artwork is beautiful and the animation is pretty good for the most part, and the story definitely takes center stage for me. However, the puzzles are rather simple, most of the dialogue (and puzzles for that matter) have no real consequence for choosing a wrong option, and the forty dollar price tag might be off-putting to some, especially since you can find it for half of that on other platforms. Silence is definitely worth checking out and it makes me want to play through The Whispered World, but I’d recommend waiting for it to go on sale.

It took a few hours to get under my skin. But now that I've gotten into a rhythm with its post-apocalyptic horror-survivalist aspects, Days Gone puts on a good little self-serious road drama.

A good game with a lot of depth & just what one would expect from Paradox. Play it through once or twice just for fun, then grab one of the strategy guides that will be popping up to more fully appreciate the mechanics.

Mortal Kombat 11 is a nice send off to the 25+ year story of the series and it's NetherRealms best fighting game to date. It's just unfortunate that almost all of the single player content had to be filled with ridiculous amounts of grinding, RNG loot drops and unfair, unbalanced challenges.

Katana ZERO is a game I’ve been interested in from the moment I saw the trailer for it and once again Devolver Digital and Askiisoft didn’t disappoint. From the nice graphics and awesome music, to the fluid controls and the engaging story with different ways to respond to dialogue and take out enemies in each area, Katana ZERO was an enjoyable game from start to finish, even with the story getting a little bonkers after several stages. Then again, it’s that bit of craziness that kept things interesting throughout the game and I’m perfectly okay with that.

It had been several years since I had played Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon so I was a tad worried about doing the series justice in this review, but I can definitely say that outside of a couple of issues with giant insects blocking my camera view, repeatedly getting knocked down when surrounded by the critters, and the sensitivity of clicking L3 to turn around when moving backwards, Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain is a solid entry into the EDF series and one that anyone wanting to blast the heck out of giant insects should enjoy.

This isn't Call of Duty in the land of Swedish meatballs, it's Boston Dynamics in an IKEA-effect hunting sim. Come for the difficult robot fights, stay for the Arctic Circle sunsets. The technical issues will make you rage quit one day and then bring you back the next.

The Division 2 takes a step forward on the original in just about every area. In a world where so many titles in the genre stumble out fo the gate to fall flat on their face, this is a sequel where the developers really listened to the shortcomings of the first effort and came up with real solutions to overcome them. It's not the fantasy I wanted, but it's a game that really delivers the vision it has. And by every measure looks to have a roadmap to keep it well supported and reasons to keep grinding for the next year to come. It might suffer from a lack of a cohesive narrative, but it offers a vibrant open world with so much going on you can write your own stories on its canvas.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice has FromSoftware’s typical brutal difficulty, but honestly that’s beside the point. What matters is the thoughtful, precision-based combat, smart use of stealth, and a skill tree that’s trimmed of fat. This game shows what you can do with game design if you dispense with the extraneous and focus on strong core mechanics. It’s a punishing, rewarding, and beautiful experience.

The Prometheus Secret Noohra is an interesting mix of ideas and concepts, but it kind of falls flat a bit. The marble segments are trial and error, which is fine, but you get punished quite a bit for the errors. After spending time to grind for coins and tokens to correct those errors, the boss fight card battles are another interesting concept, but can also be a major roadblock if you haven’t found a lot of secret cards to improve your deck, especially early on. Overall the game is interesting, but there’s a lot that could have been improved.

Tropico 6 brings a lot to the table. It is pretty to look at, easy to get started with, and offers hours of play time with its generous depth and breadth in multiple categories of human life. There are enough play modes to suit most any type of player and enough permutations to satisfy all but the most eclectic leadership style.

Windscape has its rough edges, but the scope, ambition and heart of this one-man passion project help it to punch above its weight class. If you want a Zelda or Skyrim-style game that’s great for relaxing after a long day, Windscape fits the bill nicely.

A worthwhile expansion for fans of the series. A couple new races and hypergates freshen up a 4X veteran.

NieR Automata: Game of the YoRHa Edition was my first foray into the NieR series and I personally loved it. I know some people soured on having to basically replay the same game again just to get to the third run that opened up more of the story, but the first two routes don’t take incredibly long to play through if you don’t do any side missions. Then again doing the side missions just made the game more fun for me and I kept forgetting that I needed to finish the main story to write this review. If you’re into hack-and-slash RPGs and don’t mind having to play through the game three times to experience the full story, give this game a shot.

With a reliance on unique and diverse flow of action gameplay and writing that endears players to the characters’ and their story, Devil May Cry 5 is more a blessing. It’s fun, and it brought a smile to my face more than once. That may sound like a one-off comment, but it’s something I find significant when a game can elicit an emotional reaction from me, because it shows that it made me care in more ways than one. Devil May Cry 5 is frigging great. I think I’ll leave it at that.

Mx Vs ATV All Out Anniversary Edition pairs an accessible, almost arcade-like (in a good way) driving/riding physics model with enough realism to make it a compelling and enjoyable way to race on the new tracks included in the anniversary edition. The majority of the new tracks are long rides through open scenery, but there are also a few shorter, indoor tracks as well for those that prefer tighter racing.

Ape Out is that rare mix of great art, sound and game design. It’s a short but addictive experience with challenging, satisfying gameplay and an audiovisual style that instantly grabs your senses and doesn’t let go.

Braveland Trilogy is a fairly solid set of games, simplistic as they may be. You can adjust the difficulty during the game so you can make it as easy or as difficult as you wish at any time. While it would have been nice if the games were at least a bit more complex, keep in mind that these are ports of mobile games so the simplicity makes sense here. Even still, if you want a complex strategy game, you might want to look elsewhere but if you’re okay with simple, Braveland Trilogy is worth checking out.

Anthem is a competent looter-shooter. It is not an overwhelming, hallelujah-inducing entry into BioWare's storied history, but it's fine. I doubt I'll engage with the game past unlocking the final javelin, even though there is that tease at the end of further content.

I really want to like this game more. NiCO's a fun new character to add to the mix, and the DOA Quest mode is a lot of fun. But the middling story, and ridiculous costume grind kind of shows how little new content there is to this game. Maybe down the line it'll be a fully fleshed out experience, but at least it's off to a better start than Street Fighter 5.

The King’s Bird has the potential to be wonderful—and in its art and music, it is. Based on that alone I would play it all day. But the sense of freedom it is trying so hard to evoke is held back by its finicky controls, and since the game’s very foundation is meant to be freeing, it falls short. Altered controls and a slightly wider margin for error, especially on console, would really let The King’s Bird soar beyond the confines of its cage, and boost its mechanics up to the high tier of its design.

This is the best 4x game to grace the current generation of consoles, possible the best 4x game to grace any generation of consoles; but that's kind of like winning a race when you were the only genuine competitor. It still suffers greatly from a frustrating mid-game but if you've got the itch to explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate on a console this will scratch it.

I had the most fun in New Dawn during two states: when I was at my most stealthy and, conversely, my most reckless. Those are Far Cry’s sweet spots. Either doing one-click takedowns on enemies you sneak up on, or just turning the entire place into a run-and-gun wonderland of destruction. If you play Far Cry in the middle, then it’s a middling experience. But if you embrace New Dawn’s ridiculousness, there’s a fun, casual level of violence to enjoy.

I've gotten some sense of closure after the credits rolled in Kingdom Hearts 3 and it wasn't quite what I wanted, but that doesn't make it unworthy of being experienced. It's hard to say this game was worth the long wait, as the story is still a mess, but Square-Enix showed some real love in crafting this experience. There's definitely some highs, and quite a few lows, but seeing this journey through is ultimately satisfying. And if you've been in it for the long haul, then you'll probably come away pleased.