With fighting games coming back into vogue in such a big way over the past year, anticipation was quite high for a next-gen entry into the Samurai Showdown legacy. Unfortunately, bad design choices, uneven gameplay, and a limited number of gameplay options ruin this title for all but the most hardcore Samurai Showdown fan.

With some occasionally impenetrable difficulty and lack of online co-op, it feels like quite the disappointment by the time you put the controller down. If the rest of the game had been better designed, could it have risen above its brawler genre constraints? That’s a question to which we’ll never know the answer.

Defiance may have functioned as an interesting way (read: gimmick) to promote a series on SyFy that may have a shot at stabilizing the network’s bipolar ratings, but as a game, it’s barely playable.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf 07 looks like it will be the swan song for the series on the PS2, and I would say that it’s about time after playing this game. If other versions of the game had the issues I experienced with it, I’m surprised that it lasted this long.

If you're into single-player FPS titles and enjoyed the Max Payne style but were looking for a little more action, then this is a great pick. El Matador has its downsides, but it can be a fun, but bumpy, ride.

Tokyo Crash Mobs is probably the strangest game Nintendo has published outside of its own Wario Ware series. It's so delightfully weird, and its mechanics are a fun, interesting refinement on the Zuma-esque puzzler. It's too bad, then, that whatever fun that could have been had from this game is mitigated by its asinine touch screen controls.

Brunswick Pro Bowling for Kinect had the potential to be a great bowling game. The number of features included in the game is strong. The bowling just seems to be a little bit off for someone who bowls a lot. It's not a bad experience for getting a group of friends together and just have some fun. With a few tweaks, this could be a great experience for the hardcore bowler as well.

But here the developer's essentially gave players the chance to skip the most irrelevant portion of the game while forcibly skipping critical information by not leaving messages on screen for at least five seconds. Combine this with the complete lack of fun associated with the board game, stripping out the ability to strategize, and hurling flashing graphics and towering buildings at you sans an understanding of what anything means, and the result is a rapid-pace disaster of a game.

The action-based battles are not well thought out and are almost rudimentary compared to other superior action-based RPG games like "Kingdom Hearts," a game that came out almost 3 years ago.

It's too bad that Splatterhouse couldn't be brought to this console generation and become a competitive franchise.

The PSP controls just don’t seem to handle shooters that well. This is amplified by the sluggishness and slow response time by the action buttons. RtV could have been a good game if it had more compelling characters and a better control scheme.

It's a solid first effort from 1st Playable and Konami, but unfortunately it isn't something I can recommend to anyone other than an avid player of the TCG.

It is a well thought out cinematic experience, but it surely doesn’t hold a candle to the recently released "James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing."

If you are looking for something that you can play leisurely, then you might want to take a look at it. If you want something with a bit more depth, you would be better off looking elsewhere.

I was frustrated by the drawbacks in the title, especially the tiny text on the in-game radar as well as some of the differences in the tutorials between what was being described and what actually was on screen.

The innovative control system from 2002 is no longer innovative in 2005, the graphics are just not up to the level of other Sony first-party offerings.

At the end of the day, this feels like a reboot that needed a little antivirus first.

If only someone would take the time to craft a truly epic scale video game set in this universe.

It just never really sustained my interest after the first three to four hours, especially after running into Pyro and dying over and over.

With poor controls, frustrating level design and weak enemy AI, the game just doesn't live up to the promise of the concept.

Clearly, Lord of Shadows wants to feel “cinematic” but it goes too far by sacrificing gameplay on the altar of visual splendor.

A sloppy, lackluster effort looking to cash in on nostalgia and familiarity rather than build a fan base with a quality product. Stay away from this one at all costs.

At its core, Rome II is not a bad game, but it does feel horribly rushed.

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.

Do yourself a favor and reinstall “Grim Fandango” on your PC if you want to see what a top notch point and click video game adventure is capable of.

If the gameplay could match the options of the game, NBA 06 would be a contender for the playoffs.

There is an addicting quality to Hot Brain to try to do better, in a similar way to Brain Age. However, Hot Brain also suffered in the same way that Brain Age did, in that I lost interest in it.

While it sports an incredibly deep combat system, fun and complex hunting gameplay, and a lot of personality, it suffers from a lot of technical issues, repetitive grinding, and a cliched story that follows a two dimensional cast.

Endless Dungeon tries to do a lot and is largely successful. However, the mix of genres and focus on roguelite elements over tower defense falls a bit flat in the crowded roguelite space. It provides a few hours of fun, especially with a friend, but Endless it is not.

Scanner Sombre is a quick, beautiful and melancholic distraction with an interesting twist, but its main puzzle is navigating the caves, which can become confusing and frustrating due to everything being made of the same beams of light.

A fun fighting game with interesting new mechanics and touted as the definitive version of Street Fighter II, but it comes off as lazy and overpriced, padded with a lackluster buddy mode and an unnecessary and almost broken “Way of the Hado” mode reminiscent of the worst of the Wii era.

Enslaved is as ambitious as it is flawed. Those of you who can put up with mediocre gameplay and a lack of polish will find a touching, rewarding story heightened by top-notch cast performances. Others need not apply.

Without a strong multiplayer community behind it though, I would say skip the PS4 release and head straight for PC if you have the means.

While its story is clever, well-constructed, and filled with some great moments, Amnesia: Memories encourages players to not question or challenge the mistreatment they experience at the hands of their romantic interests, ultimately undercutting a lot of its standout moments.

The problem with Alganon is that for one, it's simply so 'ho-hum' and simply boring that it couldn't sustain my interest for very long at all. Second, the largest issue isn't that Alganon is broken so much as that it simply is unfinished.

World War Z GOTY edition doesn’t provide a whole lot to players that the standard edition already has done in way of free post-release content. In essence, you’re paying for character skins, and weapon skins and variants. While the variants help new players jump start their adventure, the upgrade for returning players isn’t all that worthwhile. The Marseille episode, while fantastic, can also be purchased as a separate DLC. In reality, the GOTY edition doesn’t have too many legs to stand on to suggest it’s completely worth the money.

As an anachronistic curio it fits well among a growing stable of small, simple experiences to take on the go. Getting it off the phone and onto dedicated game consoles lends it an air of importance that the game design doesn’t always back up, but it has an endearing style and gratifying challenge enough to warrant reuniting the two oft-imperiled blobs.

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden’s blend of turn-based tactical combat with stealth is interesting, but not always successful, and its story doesn’t take advantage of its unique setting. Although the ability to explore the world and sneak up on enemies adds a fun twist to the genre, it brings unwelcome complications and technical hiccups as well. I also ran into numerous performance issues, including game-ending freezes, that strained my initial fondness for the game.

Prey’s sound design and soundtrack are some of the best to come from a game this year. Unfortunately, a lot of the aspects surrounding that hamper the potential set up from the game’s impressive opening hour. The combat is a source of frustration, and the load times neuter exploration. But if you’re able to look past that, Prey can provide some thrills.

Turf Wars shows promise in its two hour story, but mostly sets up a more interesting third act with (hopefully) more interesting boss fights. At some points, it’s far too hard and the last fight is almost unfair. But the core of what made the main game so compelling is all still intact and is more than enough reason to pick up the DLC.

While Pro Cyclist Manager 2023 stands out as a commendable attempt in catering to a specific audience, its barriers to entry are undeniable. It's a game that requires persistence and a willingness to learn, making it a gem for simulation enthusiasts. Yet, the game's overwhelming complexity and steep learning curve can deter newcomers. Further, its outdated visuals and unintuitive user interface detract from its appeal. These aspects, when juxtaposed, highlight a game teetering between profound immersion and potential inaccessibility. However, when it hits its stride, the game is genuinely captivating, underlining why this series has retained its popularity for so long and is truly an unforgettable experience.

Dying Light: Platinum Edition is another impressive Switch port, but the game itself is just OK. Its design threw everything at the wall, often to its detriment. While it has some pretty high highs, they lie almost exclusively in the movement. If you do want to chase those highs you’re better off on other platforms until another patch or two comes along.

The art and style of Prodigy Tactics may have been worth the wait, but the overall package has to be a disappointment to the very people who gave and waited so long for it’s release. The gameplay is fun, but slow and repetitive to the point of monotony. The game also is riddled with lazy cut corners in displaying characters between the battles, and overall falls short of the high mark it set for itself by delaying release for years.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker sets up an epic story, expansive world, difficult combat, and lively characters, but all these elements eventually become tiresome. Its unforgiving difficulty and strict adherence to Pathfinder tabletop rules will likely turn away more players than it attracts, and while its kingdom management sim sets it apart from similar RPGs, no part of the game ever feels wholly original. Despite boldly putting players in the role of a king or queen, it never engages enough with the consequences of your decisions, or whether you have the right to make them at all.

It’s a nice distraction and even a good bit of fun depending on how much you enjoy space combat titles, but only if you go in knowing full well that this is a port a mobile game, absent of much the charm and detail we’ve come to expect from Sid Meier titles.

If you’re a fan of space strategy games, you might enjoy Ancient Space, otherwise, it’s not worth the frustration.

If firing a weapon in a first-person shooter game starts feeling like a chore, you know there's a problem. If a cutscene leaves you more confused than enlightened about the story of the game, there's a problem.

With all of its upgrades and love, Fable Anniversary really is the original Fable in a brand new suit, warts and all.

Elli’s relaxed nature makes it the perfect game to unwind with. Its world is gorgeous and its gameplay is solid, due in large part to its well designed puzzles. By the same token, its myriad technical issues and solid, yet totally shallow, core mechanics and story hold it back from being truly great.

Overall I felt disappointed in Paleo Pines. The world is bright, colorful, and fun to be in. The dinosaurs are truly adorable. Playing the flute to learn their song to befriend them is a very unique experience. But the rest of the execution is just mediocre at best. Forgettable quests, roadblocks on things that just aren’t fun, cost of supplies is too high, and the fact we can’t even go into our house is a real bummer. The quality of life things that we all basically expect in games these days just aren’t there. I’d love to see some changes made to the game. I honestly really did try to get into Paleo Pines because the visuals are adorable, but at the end of it all, I was left incredibly bored and lost interest.

There are enough small grievances I have with the game that hold it back from being truly great, but the tone and setting are so charming that it’s hard to be too mad at it. If you want to do some peaceful meandering during your commute, the Switch version is easy to recommend.

The Sims 4 Blooming Rooms Kit adds in a lot of plant-type decorations to your home, not only in the form of potted plants, but also planted lights, shelving, a vine curtain, and tables. It gives the player more choices for cozy and homey decorations, but I feel some of them only fit specific aesthetics. While The Sims 4 has definitely had better Kits release this year, at only $4.99 it’s worth picking up so you have options.

I enjoyed Necropolis enough to try and keep playing to get the full experience, but I myself never got past Level 2 out of 10. And there is no option to adjust the difficulty, so it ends up being a grind just to survive. Perhaps that’s what some people want out of a game, but for me, I want to feel like I’m getting some sort of progress, and constant permadeath doesn’t quite do it for me.

ChromaGun VR doesn’t do much to improve on 2015’s puzzle shooter, and the game takes a hit both visually and in performance in its attempt. The mechanics work fine, but bland repetition of puzzle elements only hit a few primary colors rather than the rainbow of features to keep this an engaging experience all the way through. If you haven’t played ChromaGun yet, this may be the way to experience it, but otherwise, you’re fine with sticking to the original version.

Soundfall has an interesting premise, but it falls short of realizing its potential. Nothing in the game is overtly bad, but this isn’t a game I’ll come back to or probably even think about all that much. Soundfall is a let-down, missing just enough beats to throw off its own groove.

Fun, quick paced, but a little clumsy, Attractio is passable and provides a fun and unique alternative to a shooter.

Cibele has some things going for it, such as a narrative structure based on interaction with the main character’s computer. It’s a fairly predictable story told in a new way. Some parts of it were intriguing, but overall it didn’t really wow me.

Double Dragon Gaiden focuses on replayability to its detriment. Solid combat mechanics give way to balance considerations made to justify all of the difficulty sliders and upgrade systems. If I had to pick between a game with a lot of “replayability” versus a game I simply like to play, the latter will win out every time. Double Dragon Gaiden isn’t far off from being enjoyable on the merits of the gameplay alone, but it’s far enough to consider going back to the dojo and polishing its Sou-Setsu-Ken technique.

This retelling of the 2013 game stays largely faithful to the source material and adds some valuable improvements. If you’ve already experienced the original I think you can sit this one out; but newcomers should experience this remake at least once.

Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky is a test as much as a game, with some interesting new ideas being applied to a pretty standard JRPG. There are some highs and some lows, but the overall product is lacking in severe ways that are amplified by the generally promising new concepts. However, a strong story and some exploration options make this a game to consider.

The visuals and 80s soundtrack are amazing and look great whether playing on a TV or on the Switch in mobile mode. Too often did I feel I was on the back foot when it came to weapons, upgrades, and dealing with random enemies. There’s definitely a balance issue when it comes to the procedurally generated mechanics.

As it stands, I can’t in good faith recommend Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland. I do believe there is a good game hidden underneath the game’s incredibly rough exterior, but I believe most people are better off waiting until that good game is dug out via patches. The single player experience is admittedly better than co-op, but the plethora of bugs in the co-op mode is still unacceptable. Some people may luck out and make it through the game encountering minimal issues, but if anybody’s experience is similar to mine then they will instantly regret the money they spent purchasing this game.

Bio Inc: Redemption fits in a strange place. It feels like it’d be as welcome on a cell phone as it is on PC, and as a result, it often feels like it doesn’t take advantage of either’s strengths. The campaign’s restrictions create a barrier for casual players, but the sandbox is freeing. Multiplayer is a real highlight, as long as it stays stable. When the crash bugs are ironed out, there’s a lot of fun to be had here, I just wish the difficulty was less of a cliff and more of a curve.

Wanted: Dead has truly been an experience. Combat takes center stage, though the fun of hacking and slashing away at lesser enemies is soon overshadowed by getting pummeled into oblivion during boss fights. Some aspects of the game could use some ironing out, but, otherwise, it’s a fun enough experience to pass the time and wrack up achievements & trophies.

World’s End Club is an excellent story with some abysmal platforming tying it together. While story sections greatly outnumber gameplay sections, these stand out as a sore spot that may put off some players.

While Robinson: the Journey looks great and has a decent conclusion, it seems like Crytek didn’t put any of its time into any other aspects of the game. It suffers immensely from repetitive gameplay, a short story and confusing puzzles. While I would definitely recommend that you experience this amazing world, the rest of the game doesn’t really make enough of a mark to justify its high selling price.

Mario & Luigi Brothership is definitely ambitious, but the structure of the game is not well suited to the sluggish feeling everything has. Despite being about half the length of some other modern RPGs, it doesn’t have the depth to match. A few good gags and some touching character moments doesn’t make the entire experience fulfilling. What’s here is solid enough but it’s death by a thousand cuts. Every cool or fascinating thing has some kind of asterisk to go with it. Battles are fun but they take forever to finish, characters are unique but dialogue is often belabored, Battle Plugs are interesting but take way too long to recharge. There’s a lot to like here, but just as many things if not more to dislike, leaving the game okay but frustrating.

If you and a couple of friends are into a quick hack-and-slash adventure, Godbreakers has a quick fix for you. What it lacks, however, is robust combat systems and replayability. While there is fun to be had as you steal abilities from your foes, the highs wear off fast.

Thief of Thieves is an interesting but unpolished stealth game that offers a great cast of characters but has little else going for it. The voice acting and writing had me invested in these characters and I enjoyed my journey with them; I just wish it had less of the stealth gameplay which isn’t exactly great since this is a stealth game. In the end, it just really made me want to play Dishonored again.

Nothing about the game (other than the bugs) is particularly bad, but there is very little to recommend here either. As a single-player experience there are much better ways to spend your cash, and even in cooperative play I’d only recommend it pulled from the bargain bin.

Souls of Chronos is a mediocre experience that will get lost in the shuffle of the plethora of fantastic RPGS we have available today. The potential for a fantastic visual adventure with an endearing duo is replaced by a mystery that’s hard to become emotionally invested in. Hopefully, a sequel can take the good bits at the game’s core and expand them into a fully fleshed out experience.

Reynatis is close to a master at one trade, with its unique and refreshing combat system. But there’s too many other pieces that drag the overall presentation down, especially with its outdated graphics, poor Switch performance, awkward camera angles, and high price tag. However, even through all its minor to glaring flaws, and believe me there are many, it's an adventure I find myself looking fondly back on the things it does well.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora - Secrets of the Spires plays it very safe. It has some cool moments, missions, and mechanics, but eventually resorts to sneaking around RDA bases again. For better and worse, it’s more of the same.

At only $10, it’s worth a plunge for genre fans, but only expect about three hours of gameplay with a startling difficulty spike.

While Quantic Dream tackles subjects usually only handled within the realm of film, it lacks the grace, subtlety, and class of its celluloid counterparts to do it properly. Technically, it’s a triumph, with some of the best looking graphics and facial capture I’ve ever seen in a video game, but if you’re going to put so much emphasis on the story, it better be damn good, and honestly, it just isn’t.

Caught in a struggle between being a definitive casual game while also being a hardcore competitive experience, Sparking! Zero makes the best of its numerous limitations. The core game is fun enough, it looks great, and it contains an impressive collection of Dragon Ball fan service. Sparking! Zero pushes limits in all of the ways a Dragon Ball game should. Unfortunately, various limitations push back just as much, resulting in a game that still has plenty of training to do in order to reach its full potential.

As a quirky, slow-paced adventure game, The Great Circle has its charms. As a faithful adaptation of the Indiana Jones franchise, it’s a somewhat misguided project. I enjoyed my time with The Great Circle overall, it’s just not the kind of game I can readily recommend to someone. You have to be chill, not necessarily in search of a thrill.

An accessible game to those unfamiliar with tactical RPGs, Guards has enough to satisfy newcomers, but its reliance on grinding as well as its limited gameplay system might persuade veterans to look for something deeper.

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux is as long and as the title, and can be challenging to get into, due to dated UI and lots and lots of text to read. The story is interesting, if not slow, offers multiple endings, and more than 300 demons for you to collect, fuse, and fight alongside. A solid, if not slightly clunky title built for the retrogamer crowd.

There’s a lot of content in Okami HD. Unfortunately, interacting with the wealth of characters, locations, and collectibles becomes more of a chore when the story and action is so repetitive. Despite the different coat of paint, each new encounter felt like the last. The colors began to fade around the halfway point, and the game just kept painting without adding anything new to the page.

Hellbound is a fun shooter that’s got all the hallmarks of what made the 90s FPS genre so great. Unfortunately, just like the 90s games before it, it’s pretty dated in both optimization and graphics. There’s a large number of bugs and game-breaking glitches to be experienced, all of which tarnish what is otherwise an incredible experience.

Despite an extremely promising opening, The Low Road fails to capitalize on its own interesting premise. Every part of its presentation, from art to music to voice acting, is fantastic, but the puzzles that make up the game fall flat. Though I was happy to spend time with The Low Road’s characters, the game around them doesn’t hold up.

Figment’s representation of the mind is still as beautiful on a phone screen as it was on a television, and the shorter sessions I tended to play on my phone helped obscure some of the weaker elements. It doesn’t turn this into a classic, but like the Switch version, come for the music and visuals, not the puzzles.

Slick, intuitive stealth gameplay serves as Disjunction’s backbone, though the supporting systems and level design could do more to lighten its burden.

In the end, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure All Star Battle flashes a lot of style but lacks the substance that prevents it from being a great fighter.

While it looks and performs better on console, a port simply cannot fix the problems at Oceanhorn 2’s core. Still, it may be worth dipping your toes in if you’re a 3D Zelda fanatic.

While I do believe that there is an intriguing plot underneath it all, The Casting Of Frank Stone is in a weird position for me to recommend. Are you a fan of Dead by Daylight? Then I think you're gonna enjoy this Supermassive-flavored spin on the world of DBD. But for those who lean more as fans of narrative-horror experiences, there may be less here luring you beyond the fog.

The Sacred Tears True hits the mark for fans of the genre. However, unexplained game systems and anime tropes will keep those curious from appreciating it as much as the diehard doujin fans.

While Ashwalkers has an interesting art style and atmosphere, it does little to capitalize on its survival mechanics, choice based narrative, and is far too easy for what it wants to be. While Ashwalkers may be worth a single playthrough, there’s not much to motivate repeat visits to this wasteland.

The enemies in this game are just dumb as a damned rock.

As much as I’d like to be able to tell you that this title is terrible or amazing, the truth is that it’s just okay.

While Danger Zone provides some thrills and serves as an interesting revival of one of Burnout’s beloved game modes, it’s often too slow and lifeless to give fans the fix they were hoping for.

I can’t pretend like I didn’t have any fun with Metallic Child and honestly I should probably give it more credit for getting me to play it to its conclusion, even though I usually skip games of this genre. But it has a repetitive nature, game breaking bugs, and heavy handed poorly paced story.

It’s clear that Gat out of Hell is purely fan service. If you liked the lunacy of Saints Row IV, you’ll find more of it here. While it isn’t bringing a great deal of new to the table, that doesn’t prevent it from being a fun ride while it lasts.

Even if some of Urban Myth Dissolution Center's mysteries are rather straightforward to solve, the overall experience is still reasonably enjoyable to amble through. If you're looking for a more laid-back occult mystery, it's here, but don't expect the myths to be too legendary.

LEGO The Incredibles is geared to fans of LEGO games and unlocking iconic characters from the Incredibles universe. Kids will love this game and will have hours of fun. As for advanced or adult gamers, this game has its highs and lows and is exactly what it was meant to be…A game for kids.

Foamstars can be a blast under the right conditions. It’s colorful, fast, fluid, and has a great party atmosphere. It’s also disgustingly over monetized, has terrible voice acting, and a boring single player mode. When you’re in a match with players of a similar skill level playing as your main, it’s a ton of fun. But with only three main modes the fun can run out fairly quickly. Who knows how long Foamstars will last, but even with the negatives it’s still worth giving it a shot.

Yooka-Replaylee oozes with charm and color, yet much as its visuals endear, its lack of cohesion still can’t match the heights of its 64-bit ancestors. While filled to the gills with collectibles, those nostalgic for Rare’s golden age may well be better off revisiting their classics via Nintendo Switch Online or digging out their old Banjo cartridges.