A touch on the short side, and with more than a few gripes around the control mechanisms, DOOM VFR, like most Bethesda games, is made better through mods and community support. That said, even without it, there’s a serviceable vertical slice of the best parts of last year’s flatscreen title. I just wish the damned game would let me punch something!

Drunken Robot Pornography is a game that is bursting with style but somewhat lacking in substance. After a while the gameplay gets a bit repetitive as, after all, each stage is essentially a glorified boss fight.

There are plenty of options to play the game how you want to, and the objectives give a nice variety.

Lego Dimensions is a great blend of toys-to-life and charming Lego gameplay, but falters under the monetary weight required to get the same breadth of play that previous games did. Some of the best content in the game is locked behind figures, but if you like building with Lego bricks and playing Lego games, this a no-brainer.

The joy of pulling off an elaborate heist is alive and well within Payday 3, if you’ve got the crew to back it up. Holding out against an unstoppable police force or sneaking around undetected to haul out as much cash as you and your friends can carry is a blast, but it’s an experience that is severely hampered when queuing up solo. The mission structure and heist objectives are enjoyable, but carry risks of becoming repetitive when things go loud, which they often will when playing with strangers.

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.

At the end of the day, Darklings is a mildly disappointing, but also intriguing, beauty.

As a free game this is definitely worth taking for a spin, but as monetary investment this title still needs to find its wings.

There are one or two minor additions that are enjoyable, but the Diamond Dynasty continues to bore despite its overhaul.

The Sweet Tour and bonus ending videos are worth the investment alone while we wait for the PS3 follow-up.

Forager marries everything you love about survival-adventures with everything you didn’t know you wanted in one. A casual yet chaotic experience that’s worth a try despite a slight lack of polish.

Wrong Number is the right call for anyone looking for just more of the same, but some problematic focus on the wrong things keep it from feeling as fresh and exciting as the original. You should still buy the soundtrack, though.

In the end I think this is a good game that just missed the mark of being a truly great game.

Take Us Back, the franchise finale of The Walking Dead, is a serviceable episode to end the series, and in a way, Telltale Games in general. While it has the problem of falling into its familiar issues at times, the sendoff of Clementine and her friends is one that will be remembered for years to come.

Yoshi’s Woolly World is a charming, yet unchallenging platformer that succeeds at being an amusing way to pass the time.

All in all, Sonic 2 is still a great game this time wrapped in a very nice package. The new modes make the game more accessible than ever, while still retaining the core Sonic experience. While there are some nice details, like being able to switch between versions of the game and the Sonic & Knuckles lock-on cart appearing when selecting the echidna's mode, the lack of widescreen support is very strange.

Riddled with repetition, Biomutant is as grand in ambition as it is bland in execution. Where it shines in character creation and choice, it fumbles in its narrative and empty morality system. Where building your powers, weapons, and toys is great, finding all the parts to do so is simply a chore. Odd to say, but in this case, less might have been more, but what is here is fun. Just not as fun as it could have been.

Summer in Mara is a relaxing adventure sim which focuses on quests and characters over farming or true exploration; if you’re looking for a challenging farming or adventure game, you may want to avoid these waters. At its worst, Mara’s quests can be poorly communicated, bottleneck and cause frustration, but at its best, it’s easy to get lost in this bright, breezy world filled with aliens, pirates, and wholesome adventures.

Rocket Arena is an interesting rocket-based twist on the team-based shooter genre. With unique rockets and abilities, each character plays differently and entices you to try them out. Sometimes you may feel overwhelmed by enemy attacks, especially with the slow movement speed, but that doesn't drag it down much.

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker’s Memory is a fun mix of JRPG and simple investigation tactics taking place in a digital sugarland with tons of adorable creatures. When it is at its best, the scenery is beautiful and the game is complex fun, but it has lulls of dull look and sound as well. This game is a lot of fun and a unique experience for Digimon and RPG faithful.

The bottom line is that Sticker Star is a generally enjoyable experience filled with long stretches of utter rage induced by poor game design.

Elder Scrolls Online: Wrathstone is an introductory set of dungeons designed to tell the story of how we get to Elsweyr and see the release of dragons upon the online version of Tamriel. The dungeons both have some incredible moments and boss battles, and definitely are above and beyond the usual simple releases we get when they are dungeon-only. Alongside the free update, Wrathstone is one of the better releases for Elder Scrolls Online in awhile and sets up nicely what needs to be a home run with the Elsweyr expansion.

Sundered is beautiful, tense, and frustrating enough to make you want to throw your controller. If you can make your way through it’s overwhelming combat encounters, you’ll find a platformer that’s well worth the madness.

This game is recommended to anyone who is looking for an engrossing, time consuming and intricately detailed JRPG to sink their teeth into. What it’s lacking in story and character development, it more than makes up for in strategy based gameplay.

Lost in Random offers a highly enjoyable experience with rich, dynamic gameplay and an interesting plot. While it's weighed down by repetitive fetch quests and some bugs, it's easily still one of the most charming games I've played so far.

While they have both aged considerably, this bundle is packed with two of the most stylish games ever to grace the action genre. With 4K resolution and an ever-flowing sixty frames per second, Bayonetta and Vanquish can finally be played in their full glory on this generation of consoles.

Cosmonious High is a fun, albeit brief, VR experience which allows you to drop into a school in disarray and obtain a variety of powers which can then be used to fix the school or cause more chaos. The assignments are fun, the VR mechanics work great, and the characters are hilarious, making Cosmonious High a game well worth spending a few hours on.

Skydive: Proximity Flight may be lacking all the bells and whistles of more popular arcade titles, and at times I did want a little more variety, or maybe even just a missile launcher or two. But that’s not what this game is about. What you have here is a fairly realistic and engaging simulator of an experience that most of us will never try due to an overriding sense of self-preservation. And maybe that’s enough.

Broforce is a fun game, but it’s overbearing and obnoxious tone made it difficult to play for more than an hour or so at a time.

Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter is another solid entry into this long-running franchise.

Stray Gods is an interesting and mostly successful experiment in creating a new gaming genre, one that I am ultimately hoping leads to more refined experiences in the future. Despite a few grievances, I enjoyed my time unraveling Calliope’s death and diving into the lives of these diverse Idols, all while tapping my feet along to some well-constructed songs.

Ultimately, what Project Wingman lacks in VR visuals or realism, it makes up for its unwavering devotion to gameplay.

While not as deep and rewarding as the material it’s riffing on, Reverie’s ode to Zelda presents a charming trip through New Zealand folklore that’s worth checking out.

The Sims 4 is a fantastic game at its core, but with its tiny neighborhoods and many features simply missing, it holds itself back from Sims greatness.

There’s a lot of new content for the Dragon Age enthusiast to enjoy here. The Descent is a worthwhile return to Thedas even if there’s strange design choices that you’ll have to suffer through to get to the best parts.

Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax crafts a crossover fighter that’s extremely enjoyable and faithful to its series, but lacks the depth of polished fighters to garner any long-term attachment. Play for the fun, but don’t expect to lose yourself in it.

Endless Legends tries to overcomes flaws by focusing on strengths. Unique factions, in-depth customization and beautiful art will keep you hooked and wanting more. It isn’t perfect, but it is still a solid strategy game.

Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers brings a quality and enjoyable tower defense style game in its third installment in the series. Although the story and cutscenes tend to drag, the overall gameplay is great fun. Even if you’ve never played a game in the Dillon series, I recommend giving this a try.

MegaMan Battle Network Legacy Collection is a neat package of 6 GBA titles with some interesting features that somewhat capture the appeal of the games. While it could do a lot more, the games themselves are good and the collection makes them easier to enjoy than ever.

Himno is like listening to those free relaxation apps you can download to find your Zen. It never wants to be something it isn’t. Its music, gameplay, and game mechanics all fit within the realm of serenity and relaxation, especially on the Switch. Sometimes it’s good to just take a moment for yourself and let your mind be at peace.

Wrath of the Druids is simply more Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, both for good and ill. For a paid expansion, it doesn’t add much new or interesting and the main quest doesn’t have much to deal with Druids. Still, more Valhalla is more Valhalla and it’s enjoyable for what it is.

Crash MOM isn’t a bad game, but it’s not a particularly good one either.

I think there’s a certain subset of gamers that will absolutely adore MS7, and a larger group of us that will find it fun, but ultimately somewhat unsatisfying.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 is a fun game that slowly loses its luster as the time in-game passes.

A fun solo venture, but it won’t suck out thousands of your hours.

Chariot is a fun, albeit slow-paced platformer with a refreshing art style and interesting concept.

Final Fantasy XVI: Echoes of the Fallen is very light on story, but provides some of the most fun combat scenarios in the game. If you enjoy the battle system, this is more of that at its heights. It’s not the most impressive or interesting DLC out there, but it’s very fun and provides a lot of spectacle.

This is a solid second effort, but both Left Field and Activision really need to put together a stellar effort next year, when the PS3 and Xbox 360 are the main gaming systems for a lot of people, along with the Wii, in order to get people to drop the money on the title.

It’s definitely an upgrade on the originals, but it’s also a rehash rather then a remaster.

While it can be complete chaos most of the time, Chocobo GP is still a fun and charming kart racer at its heart. There’s enough charm here to combat the frustration and bland tracks, and the multiple modes will keep you interested.

A charming story within a world not too complex, but not too bland, Runt of the Litter takes very little time in getting one interested in the little runt that is your very own gryphon. In addition to a well written story, it is interesting enough to make me want to go back and try a different path to see all the outcomes. I would love to see a sequel of some sort out of this.

Night Call may draw you with its murder mysteries, but you’ll keep playing to learn about its numerous, interesting characters. It’s incredibly well written, if a bit pretentious in the best way. Unfortunately, it’s numerous glitches may frustrate players too much to keep playing.

While The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me contains some incredibly effective horror, it has the rug pulled from under it by a flubbed finale and some immoral choices the game considers “correct.”

The ability to create your own Skylanders adds a great new twist to the series. The new sensei figures are nice additions, and using them in the gong battles pose a refreshing challenge. Aspects of the story can be a little underwhelming but the target age group probably won’t have any problem with it. While the Boss battles were repetitive and easy, the overall level design and experience is very enjoyable.

If you go in with tempered expectations and know there isn't much of a game, you'll have an enjoyable experience.

While it’s over a bit too soon, Evan’s Remains is a delightful little puzzle game. Its story builds up to some great lengths, and the puzzles are innovative and fun to solve.

Overall, I think that Waking is brilliantly well-thought out. It’s satisfying at times, beautiful at times, emotional at times, and it quickly roped me in to feeling passionately eager to resolve my mental problems and discover my fate. It is inevitably, somewhat repetitive because it gives you many, many hours of gameplay, but just doesn’t quite have the enemy diversity, or unique map specificity to keep up with that. As a player, I felt listened to by the game, and I repaid it with my attention and effort, and it DID pay off in the end. I recommend Waking to any player, of any skill-level, looking for a unique, emotional, and personal experience.

Whether you want to call it a rogue-like or an RPG, Skeletal Avenger is held up by top-tier combat that is challenging but never feels unfair. Unfortunately, runs in the core game don’t last long enough for builds to really ‘take off’, and bland bosses and environments hold the game back from reaching the highs of similar games in the genre.

While the early game’s repetition doesn’t match the second half, there’s something to be said about the experience of evading dinosaurs while solving puzzles. I just wish they’d have taken more advantage of Sony’s new hardware with this port.

The visuals are gorgeous, the goofy premise works perfectly in context, and the mechanics are an intuitive and downright rewarding use of VR. While you may need a great deal of VR callus to deal with the smooth motion of the game, Phantom: Covert Ops is VR stealth done right.

Hot Wheels Unleashed is a competent enough racer, but lacks anything to make it unique compared to previous games. It’s generally very bland, relies on loot boxes, and the AI rubber bands constantly.

Urban Trial Tricky is a biking game where your goal is to perform tricks and earn points. With a fair amount of cool and quirky tricks you can perform, this game will make you grin. It gets repetitive, so it's best enjoyed in short bursts, but even so, you'll only get a handful of hours out of it.

Ikai is a wonderful entry into the psychological horror genre. The story is intriguing and beautiful in its own way. The spooky music kept me feeling on edge, giving away no hint of any looming dangers, adding that much more to my sense of unease. I just wish there had been more of it.

As of episode four, Minecraft: Story Mode feels like it’s on the right track to conclude in a more interesting way than it originally appeared, but I’m not sure yet whether that makes dragging yourself through the first three episodes worth it to see the better places the series goes as it nears its conclusion.

You'll find a lot of fun in Back 4 Blood. Turtle Rock Studios managed to take something that was old and give it enough of a touch-up to make sure we recognized it but played with it differently. It's fun to hop on with your friends and blast away the zombies and compete to potentially take out the Cleaners, but you have to get past the first half of the game to get to the best parts. It doesn't help that the story gives you nothing to cling to, but once you get past those parts, the tension and excitement kick in. But sadly, playing solo hardly gives you anything like what you get playing online and with friends.

Submerged is a short but impactful experience, crafting sound and sight together to create something unique and different from the mold.

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.

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

After a slow start, TRON: Catalyst fires on all cylinders in the second half of its narrative, with a great original story backed by a spectacular time loop take on the metroidvania genre. While the quest objectives and combat can become wearisome, riding around on a Light Cycle is still as cool as it’s always looked, and the alluring neon of the grid is captivating. Albeit with caveats, Catalyst is worth chippin’ into.

There are plenty of engaging moments, despite the annoying puzzles, that make this game worth recommending. It’s also a great representation of mental illness, portraying the patients not as cackling sociopaths, but as victims of tragedy. While it’s not for everyone, especially those who want a more “in-your-face” kind of horror, the historical setting and creeping dread make for a very memorable experience.

While some small technical issues crop up every once in a while, the Sly Cooper Collection on Vita is a surprisingly competent handheld port of three excellent games.

While Little Hope may not be the fright fest some wanted, it’s still a fascinating game that’s well worth playing once or twice, if you can get over the nonsensical ending.

Goodbye Deponia has some great things going for it: the gorgeous staged scenes set against hand-painted backdrops are Daedalic’s trademark, and they seem to have pulled it off again here.

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

It's downright lame. It feels exactly like what it is – a cell-shaded game where you have to navigate large deathmatch maps essentially picking up "keys" in order to progress to the next level. It's loud, it's uninspired, and gets boring after a few hours.

Kingdom Wars 2 is a solid real-time-strategy game that hits the bar squarely in the middle.

Although Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time has the occasional frame rate drop, and it doesn’t pose that high a challenge, Soleil’s game direction has proved worthwhile. Having all the tools to shape your experience provides a thoroughly enjoyable experience for the player, and it’ll keep long-time fans of the series happy seeing Jack’s old allies in action once more. However, with such a short time-to-complete and weak story, it will have you yearn for more.

If you’re looking for a fun Picross title to play for an affordable price, PictoQuest has got you covered. While a bit too overbearing with its action elements, the new mechanics and tried-and-true Picross puzzles are sure to engage beginners and veterans alike.

Black Future '88 is a fast-paced, thrilling roguelike, but it offers little to shake up the genre’s inherent repetition. Its often underwhelming gear and lack of variety in levels makes for dull runs too often, even though its gunplay consistently satisfies. You’ll find lots of hidden depth in its upgrade system if you stick with Black Future '88 despite its uninspired structure, which is made easier by its great art style and stellar soundtrack.

Batora: Lost Haven is a perfect fit for Nintendo Switch, sitting well alongside games like Immortals Fenyx Rising. The unique duality system makes for some interesting gameplay. There is a decent amount of replayability with the different endings, though you’ll still be through with it fairly quickly.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf is a good tactical challenge marred by frustrating mechanics, questionable graphics and dodgy controls. But I had fun with it nonetheless and the card system differentiates it from other turn-based strategy games. Ultimately, your enjoyment may depend entirely on whether or not you have any prior interest in the Warhammer 40k universe.

The core of what Gravity Rush is is still here and still great, but what problems the game originally had aren’t fixed by the visual update, and some of them are even made worse.

“Give No Shelter” still doesn’t do much to stand out among everything else in The Walking Dead’s universe, but it does make a more compelling case for its main character’s struggle.

Windjammers 2 is a great-looking, highly challenging, and mostly functional game. While its difficulty curve can be intimidating to new players, it still provides an all-round enjoyable experience.

In the end, the DLC is $9.99, or double that for a season pass. While the story is compelling, it’s also fairly light on a meaningful denouement.

Fashion Police Squad is an incredibly silly shooter hearkening back to the original DOOM in its design, while also taking into account some more modern sensibilities. While the combat does suffer from a lack of choice, the tight platforming and hilarious premise does make up for it somewhat.

Kunitsu-Gami is a striking game both conceptually and visually, exactly the kind of experimental game that I wish we got more often. I just also wish it pushed itself a little further than it does. Offense runs the show in Kunitsu-Gami, which unfortunately undermines some of its potential strengths. Still, the game keeps itself engaging with its hybrid of action and strategy, as well as the courage to change up its structure.

Robotics;Notes DaSH includes the same entertaining characters from the first game as well as an engaging plot. However, the experience is often hindered by the inclusion of annoying story beats and a convoluted progression system.

Kirby’s Blowout Blast is a fun, short distraction that acts as a pseudo-retelling of Kirby’s Dreamland. The levels are short, there aren’t a large variety of bosses, and there is a notable lack of surprises, but replaying levels to earn a platinum level, or even just ace your score, is what makes this game almost worth the $6.99 purchase.

In the end, Ironcast is easily a fun game that you can get caught up in while playing. It keeps you engaged and planning, but not to the point where it becomes a chore. The soundtrack stays faithful to the older steampunk style of the game as well. It’s not a long campaign, maybe a few hours at most, but the permadeath roguelike mechanics offer more replayability. The final boss was definitely the most frustrating thing to me because of how much tougher it is with no real lead-up. Other than that and bad luck with the board a few times, Ironcast has been largely enjoyable experience. A nice addition to the color matching puzzle genre of games.

GORN is a great popcorn video game. Nothing about it screams game-changer, but it’s so much fun to play you might spend more time with it than other more refined experiences. With plenty of weapons to decimate your enemies with and plenty of them to pulverize, GORN is certainly an enjoyable and outrageous game.

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

Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta is a very basic Ys game. It's fun and has some cool mechanics, but the story is mostly bland and goes on for just a little too long. Still, the music is good, the combat is fun, and the initial focus on exploration is neat.

The Charnel House Trilogy is a great rainy afternoon pulp horror game, with just enough creepy imagery and top-notch atmosphere to mull over in the days after. It ends up feeling like a short, albeit exciting, prologue to a great adventure game.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is just as fun and infuriating as I remember. It’s a content-complete package that celebrates the series. It can feel a bit too limited, with no online play or unlockable characters in minigames, but it’s still a unique experience you can’t get anywhere else.

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.

Lost Words: Beyond the Page is a heartfelt and human exploration of grief. While it will certainly make you feel things, it stumbles a bit in the execution with ham fisted moments, glitches, and overall simplicity of puzzles.

Whether you’re playing solo or co-op, Killsquad’s skill-based, challenging, and fast paced combat is a triumph. While the lacklustre mission design and unexciting loot end up letting it down a little, this one can still be a blast to jump into if you and your friends are up for a grind.