Headliner: NoviNews has a great concept, interesting characters that you’ll care about, and potential of an enormous amount of replayability. But each part of the game is hindered by something else that can make getting through it a bit tedious or annoying. However, despite these problems, it's at least worth one or two playthroughs.

Mutropolis is a fun game held back by unforgiving speed bumps. I am enthralled by the beautiful art style, and the tone the game sets in the narrative leaves you having a good time. But it’s hard to enjoy what you’re doing if you can’t move forward, and I too often found myself at a stop sign.

Silver Linings offers some fun moments, but ultimately lands on its face. However, I have all the confidence in the world that Insomniac’s Spider-Man will bounce back, either in future DLC or the sequel.

Sackboy: A Big Adventure isn’t at its best on PC, with consistent stuttering and not many graphical options, but it’s still a fun experience you can play with just about anyone.

A Duel Hand Disaster: Trackher is a unique twist on the standard split-screen formula, offering players a chance to solo the experience. Testing your multi-tasking skills is great, although it may be too hard for some people. The separate yet connected gameplay design kept me engaged, even if some of the extra challenges were a pain to deal with.

Charon’s Staircase is more a thriller than a horror with a very intriguing story that has some pretty cool twists. Some of the puzzles are a bit ambiguous and will leave you scratching your head, but in the end you’ll have experienced another treasure of storytelling from the minds of a talented and dedicated smaller studio.

Smoke and Sacrifice tells a compelling tale of a mother searching for answers after being forced to give up her son. While the game’s gorgeous art brings its grim world to life, its story is ultimately undercut by poor pacing and vague objectives. Smoke and Sacrifice shines in concept, but falters in execution.

Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend contains three good games, but lacks any extras like manuals, save states, or cheats other than game speed to make it stand out. It’s certainly a better effort than any of Nintendo’s recent re-releases, but we can do much better to preserve the history of games.

Concrete Genie, much like its main character Ash, is good-natured and warm, but also a bit flat and one-note. The game, in spite of a late-game gameplay pivot, never truly manages to engage beyond its admittedly charming painting mechanic.

Though the visuals sparkle and small improvements have been made, overall Dead Island Definitive Edition isn’t different enough from the original to be worth a purchase. In fact, it seems worse in some ways. Only give it a buy if the arena mode sounds appealing, or if you want to show off how powerful your new graphics card is.

With a focus on multiplayer, Red Solstice 2: Survivors tackles the action/tactical genre, offering up hordes of foes and beautiful presentations in the field. Where it lacks is connection with the player, bugs, and some difficulty spikes that make it infuriating.

While the game suffers from a handful of glitches, the overall design and outcome of Xeodrifter is well worth a look for anyone in the market for an old-school experience in a brand new package.

Taking up the torch of hope against the forces of evil was never going to be an easy task, and Darkest Dungeon II makes sure you feel it. While the roster of heroes creates plenty of opportunities for build crafting, actually interacting with all of the systems in the game can feel like a slog at times. Even so, there’s enjoyment to be found in this roguelite spin on the brutally difficult combat and festering world that Darkest Dungeon is known for.

About halfway through my playthrough, one thought permeated my mind through the rest of my time with Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land: Yumia 2 is going to be a banger game. But as for this first entry, it ended up being a game I wanted to love but just ended up liking. Mechanically the game has a wonderfully constructed foundation, excelling at synergizing all the core components in its gameplay loop. But ultimately, the lack of a meaningful open world framework to justify partaking in said loop holds this latest Atelier title back. Hopefully Yumia and her band of friends gets their own trilogy to iron out the rough edges so its strengths shine brighter. But as of now, Atelier Yumia is a good game just shy of greatness.

Miitopia is an irreverent, hilarious casual RPG which is nearly impossible to put down. With the ability to create your own characters, import from Tomodachi Life, or pull premade characters from Mii Central, your game is certain to be full of a diverse group of characters from all across popular culture. This full length game has a charming aesthetic, an expanding story and a huge map to explore. Endlessly silly, strangely addictive, and easy to play thanks to the auto-battle feature, Miitopia is a delightfully ridiculous game which is perfect for the casual gamer in search of a reason to smile.

While hilarious and fun for a couple of hours, Fisti-Fluffs players will be hard-pressed to find many reasons to come back after a night or two of entertainment. Still, the hilarious win animations, variety of modes, customization options, and killer metal soundtrack make for a good night in. While there are a few issues with slowdown and bots freezing, none of these ruins the experience enough to worry about in the long run.

Forza Motorsport 5 is a technical triumph, offering up incredible achievement in both precision and realistic graphics good enough to show off your new Xbox One. Unfortunately a few baffling design decisions ultimately hold it back from feeling truly next-gen, making Forza Motorsport 5 a good racer, but certainly not built for everyone.

Drawn to Death is a bloody, messy, childish romp through adolescent notebook art, putting you into the art itself in a series of deathmatches. The art style is endearing and interesting, but it leads to some confusion in the gameplay itself. Fast-paced, unique, and creative, Drawn to Death provides a gnarly experience unlike any other, but suffers from a bit of monotony all too quickly, mimicking high school quite well.

Team Sonic Racing is a fun and intelligently designed, albeit content-light, kart racer. The game’s central focus on teamwork gives the experience a unique and engaging flavor and its sense of speed kept me dialed in. But, that isn’t enough to assuage the title’s evident flaws. From an unimpressive roster of stages to lacking modes outside of Team Sonic Racing’s great single-player campaign, I’d be hard pressed to see this game lasting more than a dozen hours for many fans. While the fundamentals are fun, this racer could’ve used a tune-up before coming to market.

Of course, with some better platforming and tighter controls, Rush Bros would be much more recommendable. But for what it is, a nine dollar indie game that provides some laughs, a few thrills, and some absolutely gorgeous art, it’s at least worth a look.

Bright Memory: Infinite is an incredibly mixed bag. The story is nonsensical and the bosses are a bit disappointing. However, the overall gameplay is immensely satisfying, and the graphics are incredible.

Hey! Pikmin is a quirky attempt at a beloved franchise with many minor annoyances. Throwing your Pikmin is fast and fun, but the different types are hardly used to their advantages and there isn’t a good incentive to collect every treasure.

Murdered: Soul Suspect is what you get when you create a point-and-click adventure game through the lens of a modern console game. It’s not perfect, but it’s a mystery worth solving.

League of Evil has its faults, but it more than makes up for them through its robust and accessible level editor. While it’s a six year port that shows its age, it’s still a great way to get your twitch-reflex platformer fix.

Project Nimbus: Complete Edition doesn’t break any new ground, and it likely won’t keep you playing for too long, either. But what it does offer is some incredibly fun, fast-paced combat with a varied set of mechs to pilot, and an enjoyable but corny plot like something out of a mid-tier anime.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a great looking remake of an already fun game, which is made better by the inclusion of two new worlds to complete. Unfortunately, the game is quite easy, and the entire experience ends too quickly, which may hamper replayability. Still, it is well worth grabbing a friend or family member and dedicating a weekend to completing the game.

Sprint Vector is unlike anything else on the VR market. The Fluid Locomotion System allows for high speed virtual movement without motion sickness for most people, and the game's ubeat, irreverent tone encourages both casual and competitive play. It does seem to be hit or miss, and sadly seems to lack that addictive quality for most people. Meanwhile, my competitive friends and platformer fans can't seem to get enough of it, and it's just physically demanding enough to provide a bit of a workout to boot.

Ray Gigant sacrifices complexity for accessibility, and while the final experience is a little rote, the style and streamlining make the most compelling case for a non-fan of RPG dungeon crawling to finally get interested.