Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a ton of fun, but handicaps itself with the occasionally abysmal frame pacing, wonky camera, and design of later missions. Still, it’s the perfect accompaniment to Breath of the Wild and well worth your time.

Thimbleweed Park is a game that was created with a specific audience in mind, and that audience is adults who grew up on classic LucasArts adventure games. If you’re part of that audience, you owe it to yourself to check it out. If you aren’t, there really isn’t much for you here.

Bayonetta 3 has a lot of issues, especially in terms of story, but is well worth playing for the core combat. While the game seems to be doing its best to get you away from that, once you’re fighting, there’s nothing like it out there.

While Darknet does have a few problems, most of them tend to be more inconveniences rather than a detriment to the gameplay. The dual-layered approach to puzzles is unique and satisfying, while the games enjoyable viewpoint and challenging use of time limits come together to polish off a wonderful puzzle game.

If you are looking for a game that will make your kids think and not just blast away at enemies, Transformers Animated The Game is a good choice.

It's tough because you should play the games, but this collection is only a must-have if you’ve never played them or have no means of playing the copies you own. Otherwise, the included soundtracks are not enough to make this 35th anniversary package feel special enough to warrant a buy.

Unplugged: Air Guitar is a great concept that works quite well despite using only Sense Controllers to mimic playing a guitar rather than requiring an unwieldy accessory but falls short due to limitations on the type of chord progressions and notes that the PSVR2 is capable of reproducing without hand tracking. A good song list will ensure that most players will remain entertained for a few hours, but despite the developer’s best attempts to ensure the game remains challenging by adding new techniques throughout and multiple difficulty levels, it still becomes rather repetitive.

Despite its cryptic storytelling and repetitive gameplay, Shady Part of Me is a game that deserves to be played and experienced especially by puzzler fans.

Despite having dull gameplay mechanics, As Dusk Falls is a thrilling narrative drama with an endearing cast.

Pool Panic is an unexpected take on the classic game of pool. Combining the weird and silliness of Adult Swim with a sports puzzler type game makes for fun and enjoyable gameplay. The art style and attention to detail work nicely, and adds an unexpected depth to this wacky game!

All in all, Star Conflict is a decent multiplayer experience which, aside from the outstanding aesthetics, doesn’t quite break any boundaries or deliver anything great. I’m glad this is free-to-play, as it is completely worth it. Spending money on it? Not a chance.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies doesn’t do much to innovate the series, but does a great job at bringing a classic experience to the 3DS.

While a lack of story-changing decision moments and elementary gameplay systems mar the experience of this episode, the incredible characters and looming narrative climax continue to drive the series as a whole. With guns drawn on both sides and threat levels at maximum, I’m hoping Telltale has enough left in the tank to execute Drummer’s story properly with the upcoming finale.

While the UI takes a huge step backwards, new ways to play are a step forward, making Just Sing 2024 is a marked improvement over both predecessors.

Terroir is an incredibly challenging game which incorporates the strategy, farm simulation, and tycoon genres. The lovely low-poly graphics and the atmospheric soundtrack make it easy to get lost in this world, especially as there's often not much to do other than wait for the weather to change. Much of the challenge comes from the randomness of the weather, so if you don't mind failing a time or twenty, you will find a great challenge in Terroir, and might even come to a greater appreciation of a good bottle of wine.

Neverwinter fails to nail the social aspects and adapt to consoles effectively, but it’s still a great solo experience. A solid F2P loot-grind with D&D flavor, but it lacks the social aspects that highlight the MMO genre elsewhere.

Human: Fall Flat has its endearing, satisfying moments and its aggravating moments. The physics are fun to play around with and present a challenge, but the wonky camera movement is a weakness that’s hard to overlook.

The Great Escape is proof that the AR-K series has the potential to get better as it progresses. The graphics and voice acting are a step up, but it’s the story that has improved by leaps and bounds. Not only does it make more sense now, but it is the most persuasive argument for getting you to try the game in the first place.

Elder Scrolls Online: Murkmire is a scant but slick addition to the world of Tamriel, and begs to be unleashed even further in the future. For now, the swamps and bogs come alive and while there are some less than desirable traits to be found, the overall product is solid and a must have for dedicated ESO players.

Bravely Default’s combat combines the best things that old-school JRPGs had to offer with some new and welcome additions, and its social features are incredibly forward-thinking. However, its sluggish pacing and over-reliance on repetition and genre conventions holds it back from being the Final Fantasy replacement we all wanted it to be.

Devious Dungeon is a simplistic action platformer that is entertaining to play. The combat is easy to learn but you still need to be careful of enemy attacks. The step-by-step equipment purchases is a bit of a bummer though.

Jurassic World Complete Edition is a technical marvel on Switch. Delivering everything in a single package, this version of the game carries with it all three expansion packs, and all of the optional dino packs, making it the most complete version to date. While the undocked version is slightly lower fidelity, it’s a small concession for being able to build your own ill-advised dino park on the go.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 brings the series back to its roots and polishes that experience to a shine. It’s a return to form for the decade-old tactical RPG series and its best entry to date, albeit playing it extremely safe. While it does iron out some of the kinks that plagued its predecessors, it does little else.

Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition is truly a love letter from Namco Tales Studios to fans of the franchise. While the main story is a touch trite and the combat a little dull, it’s worth it to accompany this cast of interesting and nuanced characters on their journey to save the day.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a title that almost works.

Ultimately, Tormentum comes close to forming a great point-and-click adventure in 2015, but the lack of variety in the puzzle design really drags down the whole experience.

With some excellent improvements to car control, customization, and cinematic moments, Need for Speed Payback delivers on the promise of a better racing game. That said, it occasionally has a few engine knocks with chunky dialogue and invisible walls barring your path in the vast open world they’ve created. It’s a good step for the series, and it should provide a good foundation for Ghost’s next time behind the wheel.

The overall package falls short in several areas, but it does bring the series across to the Next-Gen platforms, and enables a very easy multiplayer mode. The next game should be that much the better.

Peril on Gorgon is simply more Outer Worlds. It feels like a natural addition and fits right in with the rest of the game, while offering a slightly different tone in terms of story. The main quest is lengthy and replayable, but there’s not much in terms of side quests or gear.

Oceanhorn is unashamedly a Legend of Zelda clone, but feels more like an homage than a copycat. There are few original ideas, but old-school adventure game fans should love Oceanhorn’s bite-sized interpretation of Zelda’s classic formula.

It feels like everything in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment comes with an asterisk. The combat is fun and mindless but can get very tedious with how much HP everything has. A constant battle for territory is a neat idea but frustrating in practice. The music is amazing, but very difficult to hear even when set to max volume. There are some cool Star Fox-style rail shooting sections, but they control weird and overstay their welcome. It’s not that this is a bad game, far from it, it’s just that it feels like it was mostly interested in checking the Musou box for Tears of the Kingdom instead of being its own, cool thing.

Legacy Collection 2 is a roller coaster of emotions. Only about one and a half of the games in the box are actually good, but it will also complete the X series and fulfill hardcore fans. If you don’t care about any of that, save the $20 and just get the first collection. Or, buy collection 2 and laugh at X7 with your friends.

If you like MMO’s and are looking for that next fix, then I suggest A Realm Reborn over its competitors, but if you have the means, then I’d say you should pick up the PC version of the game.

Graveyard Keeper makes a lot of bold choices, replacing the friendly, relaxing atmosphere of typical life sims with a more goal-directed structure in a more cynical setting. While I found its pace tedious at times and would have preferred more focus on the grave-tending mechanics, more patient players will find a lot to like in its wealth of well-developed diversions, fantastic art and music, and pitch-black comedic aesthetic.

Kentucky Robo Chicken is a cute 2D platformer that takes inspiration from Balloon Fight and Super Meat Boy. There's a decent challenge, but nothing too intense. The game doesn't take long to beat, but it's worth a few bucks to check out.

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.

Koira is beautiful, with its exploration of hope and the harsh world around us. Its mystical setting and its focus on music as the gateway to harmony and peace is a pleasant package for a cozy night in. It doesn’t bend the genre but it doesn’t need to, with how it makes these very real issues more accessible to a younger audience with its simplistic gameplay and whimsical moments. I’ll never stop loving this little genre of indie games, with its big heart and aim to say something meaningful.

Golem Gates is a clever mashup of real-time strategy and card game gameplay. Creating troops from the glyphs you draw and Ash you build up is a nice twist. Difficult situations and some potential crashes put a damper on the fun and may cause you to look elsewhere.

Draw Chilly is a 2D hack n'slash game that focuses on one man's mission to redirect wayward souls. With the help of an undead squad, a deadly weapon, and crazy abilities, Vladimir will earn his place in Purgatory. Some enemies and bosses are tough, but if you act carefully, you'll make it through.

The ability to customize characters, arenas, and just about everything else in the game is a testament to how well Yuke's and THQ know what wrestling fans want. It's just a shame that the game didn't have just a bit more polish. Non-fans like myself might want to put their money elsewhere, but wrestling fans will probably really enjoy what WWE '13 has to offer.

The Witch and the Hundred Knight is a great buy for fans of top-down J-RPG’s.

Firewall Zero Hour is precisely the game Sony needs for their Virtual Reality platform -- addictive, fast paced, and immersive. Unfortunately, it’s also in dire need of some tweaks to realize its potential. The grind is too deep, and the need for a ready-up system causes a lot of dead time between an otherwise richly rewarding tactical shooter. Patch this, and a few other minor hiccups, and Firewall Zero Hour will be the VR Rainbow Six it needs to be.

Broken Sword 5: Serpent’s Curse is an adventure game through and through. The satisfaction comes not from high speed chases, but rather from patiently working the clues to uncover layers of mystery heaped upon one another hiding an evil curse. Here’s the rub – it’s half of a game.

Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition is a great buy if you haven’t played a game in the series in a while, and are looking for something to hold you over while you wait for the PS4’s library of games to grow, but for fans, this is not the next generation leap forward that you were hoping for.

Ara: History Untold tweaks the Civilization formula, but doesn’t change it all that much. While it’s a well polished experience, I’m not sure it does enough to push the genre forward, settling instead to do what it does well. That said, good strategy games can be hard to find, and Ara is a good one in a crowded field.

Aesthetically disgusting, Scorn touches on several deep-seated phobias all at once, ensnaring you with its alien and disgusting universe. While the worldbuilding shines, the combat can be pure frustration. Come for the visceral stomach churn, and stick around for one of the stranger stories you’ll ever see. While the combat will frustrate, the setting is worth the fight.

A compelling game lies at the heart of Penny's Big Breakaway. If you're willing to give it the proper staging and some time to practice, it will put on a great show as a speedy platformer with a fun learning curve. However, getting to that point requires seeing past its many distracting elements. I enjoyed my time with Penny, but if we're being honest, I think she needs to polish her act.

I don’t know how a hybrid of the two styles would look, but it feels like a missed opportunity to create an entirely new experience using the best of each game.

Lovingly Evil is a funny and charming dating sim with interesting characters and frustrating minigames. While it is well-written, don’t expect the game to get too deep or go beyond the start of your relationship with one of the characters.

If you are fan of the Persona titles, then you should have a good idea of what to expect. Just don't set your expectations too high since playing the previous Persona titles will most likely spoil you to this game and show you how far the Persona series has come.

Titan Quest is an entertaining port that brings back a blast from the past. The gameplay is smooth, the controls are precise, and the skills are pretty cool as well. The texture loading issues and freezes that occasionally happen can be annoying, but they aren't game-breaking. Titan Quest can also be enjoyed solo or with friends.

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.

While lacking in some areas, Code of Princess EX is a solid enhanced port that keeps all of the goofy charm and adds some performance improvements to the final package. This is one adventure beat-em-up fans should look at if they want a solid and humorous experience.

MOTHERGUNSHIP is a great FPS with some laugh out loud dialogue and a deeply entertaining gun crafting mechanic. While the roguelike elements bring the game down, it’s still a delightful little game to fire up during the AAA summer drought.

Terminator 2D: NO FATE is an extremely faithful adaptation of Terminator 2, brought to life via incredible retro aesthetics, fun level design, and multiple play modes. Unfortunately, NO FATE is hampered by its short length and lack of difficulty, making the entire experience end far too quickly. For fans of the film, there is a lot to love here, including the fantastic Terminator 2 score and all-new compositions, but non-fans may not find themselves as enthralled by its retro charm.

Golf Peaks is an interesting mix of puzzle-solving and golfing. The card playing mechanic is entertaining and adds a good challenge. It doesn't take very long to complete every level, but it's a nice journey.

Mechanically, it falls short of its true potential, but you can’t help but get swept up in the journeys of these characters. The game’s got heart, and none of its flaws can really take that away.

All but the most hardcore adventure gamers or those totally smitten by the art style and characters will easily bore of the game halfway through the second case.

The Escapists is an entertaining open-ended puzzler that delivers plenty of challenge for those possessing the patience to overcome it.

Chernobylite’s trifecta of gun combat, survival, and base management serves the game’s unique narrative system. With more features comes more shortcomings, but nothing drastic enough to take away from an otherwise compelling experience.

While Still Wakes The Deep doesn’t boast the biggest narrative draw, what will really pull you in is the eerie atmosphere it manages to envelope you in. Fighting for your life against the churning sea and the strange creature that rose from the murky depths provided some truly surreal and hair-raising moments.

While it probably should’ve been DLC, it’s still more Borderlands fun for anyone starving for more Vault hunting action.

Superhot is short but full of style and substance, taking an inventive mechanic to its furthest and providing a unique shooter experience. The current offering is slim, but unlike anything else around.

It honestly has more of the feel that the original "Driver" gave on the Playstation, and that's a good thing. However, it isn't enough of an improvement to truly recommend this title as anything other than a rental or budget purchase.

Hitman tries an interesting balance of stuffing a lot into a little, but doesn’t exactly pull it off with elegance.

TASTEE scratches a tactical itch in a Dark Souls-difficult, but ultimately rewarding way. The asymmetric multiplayer is unique in the genre, offering a new way to play. If you are a fan of deep strategy, ignore the goofy name and check out TASTEE: Lethal Tactics.

With high production values, solid voicework, and impressive scale, The Mage’s Tale was every bit worth the wait. While the controls are certainly obtuse for the platform, the fun storyline, puzzles, and spellcrafting makes it a fun addition to the Vive library.

I would recommend it for kids especially except that some of the jumping puzzles just drive you NUTS because they are so hard.

A very high quality free-to-play game, but free-to-play all the same.

Telltale struck gold with The Walking Dead, but it seems they merely struck bronze with a promising future in The Wolf Among Us. It has some wonderful characters and a lot of potential, but it fell apart as the season continued.

Lina's week-long adventure is a brief but intense adventure in technology, human nature, and all the ways those two can intersect. Where it lacks in length, it makes up for with compelling deeper stories about people.

With exhilarating moment to moment gameplay, Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 delivers on its promise of longer shots, new gadgets, better contracts, and everything you’ve come to expect. Sure, it brings bugs and design choices that’ll make you scratch your head, but that’s no reason to avoid this one. Lock and load.

Friday the 13th: Ultimate Slasher Edition represents the culmination of the last two years of development for the iconic masked murderer and his dippy camp counselor victims. As a result, we find a well-balanced and fun asymmetric 7v1 slasher that we can take on the go. The only thing letting this ultimate edition down is the underpowered hardware of the Nintendo Switch. Come for the pure fan-service cat-and-mouse gameplay, but know that it’ll be better on every other platform.

Tropical Freeze offers up a ton of challenge (though perhaps a bit too much at times) and secrets to those craving a little break from the popular plumber. But I played this game already, back when it was called Donkey Kong Country Returns.

FC 26 is fine for a while, but the longer I played, the more I became annoyed with the control scheme. The AI was a big fun killing factor, and no matter how many times I changed the game's difficulty, it never got better. Still, I had fun with a few of the game modes and love the training games.

Overall, The Duck Detective is as lighthearted and as fun as it gets in terms of puzzle games. It’s the perfect game to unwind down to play. With such a stellar cast and sense of humor all in a cartoonish art style, it’s hard not to feel joy when playing this game. It has a bunch of little quirks that I haven’t mentioned in the review because the joy of this game is just experiencing it. The gameplay and fill in the blank sections definitely need some work and revisions in its sequel, but how can I not be happy to dive back into this little, silly loosey goosey world.

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.

Strike Suit Zero: Director’s Cut may not be for everyone, and if you suit up expecting a AAA budget game you might be disappointed.

Overall, Perish is a game that achieves conceptual brilliance and incorporates it down to the finest detail in many areas. Unfortunately, it stumbles when it comes to the execution. Some poor gameplay decisions hold it back, notably enemy design and spawn rates. It’s entirely possible that with future updates, the game will heal its scars, but for now, they run deep, blemishing the gameplay; yet, the aesthetics remain immaculate.

At the end of the day, Soul Sacrifice Delta is a great looking game with an engrossing story, killer soundtrack and an in depth customization system – the only thing really holding this impressive handheld title back is the repetitive nature of its monster hunting gameplay.

Now that we have two instalments in the Duck Detective franchise, there is nothing stopping you from marathoning both and having the best ducking detective experience. This time around the setting and story caught my attention a lot more, with a great variety of characters and puzzles to solve. Don’t go in expecting a complete revision of its predecessor making the ultimate experience, it is pretty much the same game but with a new coat of paint, but for me that’s all I really needed. I’ll always come back for more with Duck Detectives shenanigans!

One Line Coloring is a charming little puzzle game that revolves around tracing objects using only one line. It's relaxing and offers little in terms of challenge, but its colorful visuals and cute aesthetic helps alleviate that. Unfortunately it doesn't take long to trace all 110 objects though.

Fight Crab is a wacky, fun game. While it doesn't have much depth, the sheer silliness of it will keep you entertained for an afternoon. It does support multiplayer, and I found it to be a lot more fun when teamed up with my son. With easy to learn controls, and fast paced battle, you can't help but love Fight Crab.

ReCore is the framework of an incredible game with some truly unforgivable technical issues, which greatly deter from the overall experience. You’ll enjoy the challenging platforming, and awesome robotic action…in between aggravatingly long loading screens, and deaths via falling through solid surfaces.

Horizon Chase Turbo is a fun and challenging racing game that harkens back to the old school arcade days. The collision system can be aggravating and dampen the fun as a result. The tracks aren't anything to rave about, but the environments have a bright, plucky charm to them. It has its share of flaws, but it is worth checking out if you need a quick racing fix.

Utopia 9 is a short but sweet twin stick shooter. The plot of the game is shallow but a fun reason to be fighting. The variety of weapons and tools are cool, and I was excited to see what I'd find next. Offers a fair challenge, but nothing that difficult.

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is a high-quality mobile title that lives up to its console counterparts, and is certainly better than most of what you'll find available in the free-to-play market today. Unfortunately its confusion over the value of its content and barely-there social features make me question its long-term staying power.

Mario Strikers: Battle League presents a shockingly deep take on Soccer held up by some incredibly charming and expressive character animations. Sadly there’s not much to see outside of the core loop, and can quickly wear out its welcome as things start to feel too repetitive.

Baba Yaga is a good excuse for another adventure with Lara, but it doesn’t hook quite as deep as its base game. Besides an excellent boss fight and a few major moments, nothing here stands out from the fold.

God of War Sons of Sparta shines a light on a young Kratos, and to devastating effect. An emotional story carries the game... when it gets there. While basic, the gameplay and varied locations make for a great starter Metroidvania, it just may not work as well for longstanding veterans of the genre. If you wanted more God of War, this is indubitably a good game and a smart spin-off by Sony Santa Monica and Mad Cat Studios.

Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance TD is a solid tower defense game that becomes muddy with few game systems that the game doesn’t flesh out.

Aether & Iron offers a story-driven noir adventure that can both satisfy and frustrate. The retro-futuristic depiction of 1930s New York with floating cars on flying islands is enticing, complete with factions and seedy characters. Turn-based combat on high-speed streets is engaging and satisfying, offering some new considerations to your typical turn-based experience. While the story and characters are worth experiencing, some of the storytelling mechanics can feel frustrating and unwieldy. That said, the patient, strategic gamer looking for a well-told story will find a good time with Aether & Iron.

UNO’s empty lobbies might be a disappointment, but local play, house rules, and the Ubisoft game themed cards breathe new life into the family game night staple.

Star Ocean: The Last Hope HD and 4K Remaster is a beautifully rebuilt hidden JRPG gem from prior era of gaming. The game plays slow, and that drags the action down during battles, but adds depth and purpose to the world exploration. The upscaling is thorough and very well accomplished, and with a high quality soundtrack to accompany you, Star Ocean: The Last Hope is bound to provide hours of quality fun.

Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition is a decent way to play an often overlooked PS1 RPG along with its accompanying SNES text adventure, but it doesn’t do a whole lot to justify a purchase if you already own the original. In fact, it actually performs worse in some cases. Still, the new options like fast forward and disabling encounters are convenient, and finally having a way to play Radical Dreamers is awesome.

Dark Devotion is a 2D action game that focuses on combat and exploration. With a variety of weapons and items, foes, and branching pathways, you'll have plenty to fight with and experience. Some enemies, especially certain bosses, are frustrating and may have you considering throwing your controller. Even so, succeeding feels rewarding.

Homebody is unnerving. The puzzles are difficult, and it’s extremely rewarding when you slowly chip away at them as you uncover the secrets of the house. Equally, it’s immersive — you’ll slowly morph into the player character’s shoes and feel her fear of isolation. The only trouble with Homebody is it eventually feels less and less like a horror game, as you’ll eventually realize that it’s not all that scary — and quite forgiving.

Clustertruck is an addictive, fast-paced parkour platformer with great controls and a ton of challenging levels to race through. While it lacks a polish in some crucial areas, it’s easy to recommend this game due to how simply fun it is.