An absolute blast from start to finish, Arizona Sunshine 2 outdoes its predecessor in every way, and that’s high praise indeed.

If Crash had loosened up the open-world gameplay a bit and fixed the horrible camera system, this could have been another excellent PS2 platformer.

Freak Tower is a polished and fun tower game that has some unique and bizarre extras. The game plays how it should and feels very well put together. It can be rewarding if you are willing to play it over a long period of time in short spurts, but the slow pacing and pay to win feel hold it back from being something great.

Thanks to the usage of guitar tablature, BandFuse: Rock Legends is a great way for experienced players to rock out to songs that they’ve always wanted to learn, and the multiplayer options make it a great party game. Unfortunately, the learning tools pale in comparison to the competition.

A beautiful, but sometimes shallow, crash course in Norse mythology that shines in its boss fights’ designs and overall presentation. And while Valhalla Mode isn’t much of an incentive to jump back in for returning players, it adds tremendous challenge to the already difficult core experience.

Ikenfell has a unique battle system and story that can make for some of the best moments in an RPG this year, but unfortunately it doesn’t always use these to its advantage and has multiple boring boss fights with the plot meandering in the first half. Still, its highs are so high that it is well worth seeing through to the end.

Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril is a traditional 2D platformer that stays true to its NES roots. Its simple controls and charming 8-bit qualities make it a no brainer for any retro gaming fan. The over-the-top difficulty, while a little too much at times, creates a satisfying experience overall, making this a great game for anyone seeking a challenge.

The audio design is impressive, with ambient sounds and a haunting score that perfectly capture the eerie essence of the Zone. Gunfire sounds appropriately weighty, and the growls of mutants are genuinely unsettling. Voice acting is also very well done, with brilliant performances from all the main characters...Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is an undoubtedly remarkable achievement in atmospheric game design. This post-apocalyptic experience offers an unmatched dynamic open world that is bound to satisfy long-time fans of the series. However, the extremely poor technical hiccups and hardcore yet niche nature of the game prevents it from getting a full recommendation. This is not a game for casuals. [Review in Progress]

I've only played the Cyber Tower and Ship at the time of this review, but the contrast offered by those two scenarios alone has me excited to keep exploring the other levels. The extremely space-limited Cyber Tower is almost an entirely different game compared to the ever-moving ship. The game has 8 scenarios out of the gate, including one that is a randomized map, as well as the ability for the community to share maps within the Steam Workshop. Essentially, there is no shortage of content.

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is a return to form. As a fan of the series, it’s been a very long wait, but PGI managed to deliver in a big way on nearly every front. While there are certain things that could be improved, what’s here is an excellent four player mech-stomping good time.

When Artificial Intelligence goes rogue, hacking is just what the doctor ordered. Evotinction is a mixed bag of stealth, action, and technology that sometimes struggles to stand on it's own circuit. However, the game is pretty solid with a good story at its foundation.

Sniper Elite 3 Ultimate Edition is a nice port of Sniper Elite 3 with all the DLC included. The gameplay is tactical and requires patience, which may not be for everyone. Some tasks and situations can be frustrating, but you can still have a good time.

What it does well (firing from cover, recoil, aiming) is destroyed by its short length, average graphics, bad storyline and easy difficulty.

I can see the kids (the younger the better) enjoying some of the byplay between Hornball Harry and the jaguar, but if they manage to get that far with the awkward controls and loopy camera, then they’re pretty strong gamers for their age. Skip this one.

Due to some strange technical issues, Rise of the Ronin on PC isn’t exactly the definitive version of the game. However, it’s still a good game with satisfying combat, and generally runs better here than it did on PS5.

Perhaps the only people who won't enjoy this game are those who don't understand or like the comedic style of the Homestar Runner universe.

Punch Club is a game with a lot of personality. From its realistic gameplay to the little surprises it has tucked away, there’s something special about it that will have you hooked. In spite of the moments that feel like a lot of grinding, it’s an enjoyable title.

A button-masher can hold his or her own, but mastering the game will take a very long time. Those looking for a deep but fast fighter with four-player capabilities should look no further than Guilty Gear Isuka.

With a compelling storyline, and load times that don’t keep you guessing when you’ll get to play, this is a great mature title in a time period that is often left neglected.

A deeply personal two-hour meditation on saying goodbye that invites you to channel your lived experiences and walk alongside its characters. It’s a little sparse on the details, but No Longer Home still gives players plenty to chew on.

The largest fault of the game is the save system. Saving can be done at any point in the level, but restoring the game results in going back to the beginning of the level.

A pretty good game, but it certainly can’t stand up to other RTS games out there. Regardless of that, Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars is an excellent 19th century based strategy game, a time period that has been dry for a long time.

With bite size nibbles of the most challenging or salient aspects of what made these games great, NES Remix 2 also delivers more iconic and well-recognized games from the library that made Nintendo famous.

If you are a fan of the game series, you may want to check it out first before making a purchase.

When Life Is Strange: Double Exposure focuses on telling a personal story about trauma and regret it soars. When it focuses on being a teaser for future entries with its supernatural spectacle, it unravels. This balancing act unfortunately causes the latter to cannibalize some strengths from the former. Still, Max’s characterization and emotional journey remain the prominent highlight, offering a heartfelt and bittersweet thematic throughline at how the wounds of past guilt and grief scab over time. For the game to win me over despite my initial skepticism, that’s a pretty strong achievement, flaws and all.

I had a handful of small, niggling issues with Shio that by the end I was willing to overlook in the face of a game so expertly crafted that it shouldn’t be missed. I just wish there was more of it.

Like some sort of peasant Animal Crossing, Medieval Dynasty casts us in the role of mayor of Dysentery Village. You’ll slowly grow from labor-intensive shacks to a semi-self-sufficient hamlet through the sweat of your brow, building a dynasty that will last generations. You’ll just wish your peons would pitch in and carry their own water...and stop eating the buckets.

A masterful rebuild from the ground up, Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered is not only everything you could want in a remaster, it fixes multiple long-standing critical issues with controls, cameras, audio, and so much more. Yes, it's a product of its time, in design and execution, but what PlayEveryWare has delivered is incredible, and I can't recommend it highly enough.

This game is about variety to the Nth degree. You can fight a hundred different ways and still never be wrong.

When it comes to the world, the narrative, and the characters that inhabit the Weird West, there’s a lot to love. If you’re looking for a game that’s well written and where your choices feel important and consequential, then it’s likely you’ll be able to forgive some of the lacklustre RPG elements that unfortunately weigh this one down.

While the stories may not set the world on fire, the compelling gameplay is very accessible but tough to master.

Variety. This game is about variety to the Nth degree. You can fight a hundred different ways and still never be wrong.

As a fan, I'm miffed at the story, which I doubt is what the creators want to hear. As a gamer, I had a good time with Chaos Bleeds and if you're looking for a good fighting game, check this one out.

Long story short, Dungeon Hearts is a viciously difficult match-three puzzle game that loosely resembles RPG battle mechanics. And while it hints at other RPG elements such as questing, leveling up, and story progression, it does not truly offer them in any real way.

Splintered Fate transparently aims to munch your time. All of its combat and replayability ideas give the appearance of a sturdy shell, yet the cracks in its execution undermine what is otherwise a lovingly crafted representation of the TMNT.

Mom Hid My Game! is a weirdly hilarious title that suffers from a host of problems, but its flaws are what make the title enjoyable. If you have an hour to kill and want something cheap to purchase on your Switch, you should take it for a spin.

DNF Duel had the potential to be a great fighting game for beginners, but is far too shallow and unbalanced to be competitive in. Even so, it’s good for a more casual and laid back experience with some great visuals.

The somewhat disappointing textures, lack of any graphical or audio "wow" factor, poor battlefield ambiance, a boring tutorial, and a short overall game all take away from its glory.

Overall, The Bridge manages to avoid crossing that fine line between challenging and frustrating, making you work to solve each puzzle without wanting to break your keyboard in the process. It’s an enjoyable experience that encourages you to think differently, and then rewards you for doing so.

The return to Teer Fradee largely disappoints in the De Vespe Conspiracy, although the PlayStation 5 upgrade works well. I wanted so much more in something called an expansion, even if the cost said I should temper my expectations. The De Vespe Conspiracy still tells an enjoyable tale, but the surrounding new enemies, empty location, and anticlimactic ending make for something akin to getting a dinner mint as a dessert rather than the chocolate melting cake.

Fantasy Life lets you partake in every step of the adventuring process, from item creation to monster slaying. Unfortunately, the copious backtracking and bland narrative make this adventure rather boring.

My suggestion is that this game should definitely be purchased, but if you're playing "Dragon Quest VIII," wait a couple of months after finishing it to play Wild Arms Alter Code: F, otherwise you're simply not being fair to yourself or to this great game.

HarmoKnight has the Nintendo polish, but you’re spending $14.99 for what is essentially a glorified mobile game.

Freedom Wars delivers an action RPG in an accessible, pickup-and-play, portable package.

Grid offers an enjoyable racing experience that tests your driving skills. With the nemesis feature, a ton of racing personalities, and the flashback feature, there's a good amount to make it unique. There are some annoying track designs that drag you down, but most of them are winners.

A really great chess game. The presentation values are excellent, and it has a wonderful training mode which includes fully-voiced tutorials from Josh Waitzkin.

The game isn’t perfect but if you want to buy your son or daughter a game based on one of their favorite movies you can’t go wrong with Kung Fu Panda Legendary Warriors.

With anime inspired tones and the quick play, this game is just plain fun.

THOTH is a blissfully difficult twin-stick shooter that challenges your reflexes and puzzle-solving skills on the fly. Never have 2D shapes been creepier.

With unrelenting charm, excellent writing and voice work, and an art style that is sure to put a smile on your face, Disney Illusion Island is the magical Mickey Metroidvania you didn’t know you needed.

Its main goal from the outset seems to focus on raising the player’s blood pressure and enthralling them with the action. While it achieves that feeling for a majority of the game, the console version suffers from some serious frame rate and loading issues that bog down their experiences.

Kirby Star Allies is a fun entry in the traditional Kirby series. The co-op is fun, the CPU controlled helpers are competent, and the new abilities are a blast to use. Sadly, the length of the game and the lack of difficulty-scaling for bosses in multiplayer make it just shy of living up to its fullest potential.

A movie-based game that is well done and relatively problem free? X-Men Origins: Wolverine is definitely one of the more pleasant surprises of the year.

One could sum up my issues with Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 by the liberties that were taken with both the story and the characters. It's the only thing in my mind that keeps the game from being truly great, because the gameplay mechanics and leveling system are really top-notch.

A rock solid RTS.

Despite being held back by neglected gameplay elements and an overeager narrative, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals still offers an enjoyable experience.

Project X-Zone 2 is a dream crossover on paper that falters in execution, failing to excel in any area beyond unabashed novelty. The quality of the cast and engaging juggling mechanic are the most you’ll likely get out of this crossover RPG.

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes can occasionally get tedious when playing alone, but the multiplayer is one of the greatest handheld co-op experiences around.

A mashup of many genres, Tribes of Midgard manages to do many things well. It does ask a great deal from you, and it offers little in the way of instruction, but if cooperation and discovery under pressure is your jam, this is the game for you.

Stories: The Path of Destinies mixes looping narratives, engaging brawler combat, and beautiful scenery to create a compelling indie adventure that should not be overlooked. Not wholly without fault, but even in the imperfections it’s easy to find a lot to love in Stories.

If you are willing to stick with it, and accept that they may use terms that won't even get completely explained in this chapter, it is a decent science fiction story. It's just not simple to follow, and translation from Japanese to English probably did not help make things any easier to understand.

Directive 8020 isn’t the best game The Dark Pictures Anthology has to offer, but it is better than most of them. The story has some fantastic twists and turns, the characters are likable if a bit too shallow, and it's intensely replayable with an absolutely astounding amount of variance.

Pokemon Shining Pearl and Brilliant Diamond, despite ignoring some of the original's issues, is a great remake that runs remarkably well and sports excellent visuals.

The loading times, framerate drops and lack of a "draw-in" factor with the story really hurts this game from being all it could have been.

Just what Telltale hopes to accomplish Minecraft: Story Mode remains in question as “The Last Place You Look” breaks story and characters for the sake of seeing every corner of the Minecraft universe.

A Criminal Past puts Adam in jail for a great self-contained storyline pushing a solid narrative and a far greater emphasis on stealth in the final DLC for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. While the voice acting can be a bit of a mixed bag, there’s no doubt that Eidos Montreal is ending this one on a high note.

There hasn’t been a shoot-em-up game in recent memory that’s made me smile quite as much as Neko Navy: Daydream Edition. Its adorable artstyle mixed with innovative gameplay mechanics and a ton of replay value will reward anyone who’s feline up to the challenge, meow!

Outriders Worldslayer is more Outriders, and that’s not a bad thing. While the story doesn’t do much, the game as a whole is still one of the most fun third person shooters out there right now, with a feel to the gameplay that is a blast to play. The addition of the Trials of Tarya Gratar end game content is worth every penny, and the new gear, skills, and Apocalypse tiers ensure you’ll want to stick around and grind for a good while.

Kayak VR: Mirage is a testament to the power of the PlayStation VR2 and a showcase for those who want to show their friends and family what VR is all about. While more of an experience than a full-fledged game, Kayak VR manages to provide a gorgeous, realistic, memorable, and relaxing experience which accurately mimics real kayaking and is almost certain to make you begin plans for your next vacation.

A solid improvement over the Meta Quest 2 version, Cities: VR - Enhanced Edition brings with it improved visuals, rebuilt UI and controls, and a far larger build surface. Virtual city building may sound like watching paint dry on paper, it may be precisely the relaxing activity you need after a long day in the real world.

Providing some high quality scares and morbidly curious gameplay, The Mortuary Assistant is a good horror game held back by an undercooked port to consoles that can create more frustration than fun.

Knocking it out of the park once again, San Diego Studio continues to make MLB The Show 26 a premier sports sim.

Lords of the Fallen serves as a solid entry point to those toeing the waters of the Souls franchise, but simplified systems, a shallow story and forgettable bosses keep this game from dethroning the greats.

Strange Brigade is a fantastic third person shooter that is best enjoyed with friends. The 1930s tone and quirky charm are wonderfully crafted, adding more of a light-hearted tone to the experience. The variety of weapons and abilities are nice and offer something for every type of player.

Fans of the Tower Defense genre will enjoy Savage Moon. However, players new to the genre will likely become frustrated with the uneven difficulty level and quit the game as soon as they come to one of the harder levels. For those new gamers I would recommend starting with Pixel Junk Monsters on the PSN.

Need for Speed Unbound is an arduous experience, and not one I’d recommend if you’re looking for an arcade racer. The only good aspects are the refined handling system and the aesthetic customization of your cars, which is really brought to light via community creations. However, this experience is quickly overshadowed by the boring open-world, a meaningless collect-a-thon, unbalanced AI, and some of the cringiest story and dialogue I’ve experienced. It’s The Room of racing games.

Using only text messages, Bury me, my Love develops two relatable main characters and tells the engaging story of a Syrian woman’s search for refuge in Europe after her sister is killed in a bombing. The game rewards multiple playthroughs with its compelling writing and interesting storylines, though replaying the same passages can be tedious.

Although I wish there were more missions and that some new mechanics had been introduced, there’s some fantastic Starcraft narrative and gameplay here. The price to content ratio is fair, and this is the closest we’re likely going to get to experience what Starcraft: Ghost could have been. If you enjoyed the Terran, Zerg, and Protoss campaigns you’ll get a great kick out of Nova Covert Ops.

Strike Vector is a game with great ideas, and really breathes some life into a dying genre. The game’s challenge may be a bit too much for casual players, but if you’re looking to scratch that aerial shooter itch with a frantic edge, then take to the skies — but don’t expect to live long.

Plain and simple The King of Fighter 98' Ultimate Match is pure fan service.

FIFA World Cup Brazil is a excellent meeting of the near perfect FIFA franchise from EA and the very perfect FIFA World Cup event.

Screamer started as a frustrating reimagining of an arcade drifting racer, with a downtrodden, slow-moving plot. By the end, I wanted more, and I became a drift racing believer. I’ll never win an online match, but I’ll take losing for another chance to race in this universe.

Despite my minor complaints, Salt and Sacrifice is an insanely fun Souls-like featuring brutal challenges, great level designs, beautiful hand drawn graphics, interesting enemies and boss fights, cool gear to find and upgrade, a fun leveling system, and one of the most enjoyable co-op experiences I’ve had in quite a while. The fact that this game was designed by so few people and is of such high quality for a relatively low MSRP of $19.99 is nothing short of astounding. While not perfect, Salt and Sacrifice kept me entertained for well over 20 hours and made me excited for the next entry in this incredible series.

Adults may tire of the gameplay after a few rounds, but kids are sure to love it. I never thought I'd be recommending a fart app, but it just goes to show that a little personality can go a long way!

SpongeBob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake doesn’t live up to its predecessor, but is still an enjoyable enough romp through the sea. There are a ton of delightful callbacks that can spice up the safe level design and it’s fun to see alternate versions of beloved characters. If you’re a fan it’s worth playing through, but if not you may want to skip this one.

Destiny: Rise of Iron is an excellent addition to Bungie’s open-world shooter, but is held back by a weak story, and a leveling meta that requires a bit of grinding. Overall, Destiny looks, sounds, and feels better than it ever has, and there has been no better time to be a Destiny player.

Late Shift is a technological beauty that shows what full-motion video games can truly achieve. Its slick plot and fast but meaningful pacing proves that the genre has some uncharted territory it can explore in the future.

Hybrid is a unique experiment in multiplayer cover-based shooting, and it succeeds gloriously.

It'll be interesting to see where the series goes as it makes its first steps into the next generation, but DDR SuperNova is a great sendoff to the Playstation 2, and should be part of almost any DDR fan's library.

Though not without its flaws Dead Island 2 has succeeded in providing a fun and unique zombie slaying experience that will leave players highly satisfied.

Eagle Flight transcends its simple concepts, bringing the world of flight to life in a way I could not have expected. With incredibly intuitive controls it is accessible by any audience, and all without nausea. If you own a PSVR, Eagle Flight is a must-have.

METAL EDEN is a satisfyingly fast paced slaughter as you glide through the air and tear out the hearts of your enemies. With the varied weaponry at the Hyper Unit’s disposal, you’ll certainly have a blast rescuing the citizens of Moebius from the cryptic engineers, even if the conclusion comes quickly.

With the largest cast of wrestlers the franchise has ever seen, 2K and Yukes have done a solid job righting the WWE 2K ship. That being said, there is still a lot of work to be done.

Digital Eclipse has made this journey as earnest and effortless as possible. For those who want to forge a deeper bond with the medium (you know who you are), Wizardry 2.0's worth your time and money.

One Piece Odyssey Deluxe Edition is a solid port of a good game. It looks great and runs fairly well in both docked and portable modes, though sitting through loading times for every single battle can get very tedious.

Get to Work is all about the careers of your Sims, and it does it well. It is the first expansion of the Sims 4 and is a great addition worth any Sims fans attention.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order is the ultimate comic book power fantasy. From its empowering gameplay mechanics which evoke the heroism in the game’s iconic characters to its event comic-styled storyline and presentation, there is a lot for Marvel fans to enjoy here. While the moment to moment gameplay more than justifies the price of admission, when taking a step back, certain facets of the game’s inherent design knock it down a few pegs--but not enough to dissuade me from giving this game a solid recommendation for the comic fans in the room.

Always Sometimes Monsters is one of those independent, cult-classic-to-be, games that fans of narrative storytelling should really give a chance.