The Way of Kings, Escape the Shattered Plains is a treat, allowing fans to experience the world of Sanderson's Stormlight Archives first hand. It will likely be a little less enjoyable for those unfamiliar with the books, but holds no fewer secrets for those imaginative enough to poke, grab, and fill with Stormlight.

Steep is a triumph at merging gameplay and presentation to deliver players a sense of place in its beautiful open world. Controlling each sport feels simple yet laser precise, and the diversity in sports and challenges encouraged me to stay in the game even when challenges became too frustrating or uninteresting. Add to this a solid layer of social functionality, albeit shallow when playing with strangers, and you have a game that reaches the great heights it endeavors to recreate.

Metro Awakening is another good entry in the outstanding Metro series, though at times it feels like more of a side quest than a main entry. Still, the graphics are gorgeous, the metro underground is equal parts fun and creepy to explore in VR, and the game makes great use of VR to bring the world to life and really immerse the player. Despite a few minor issues, Awakening is a great VR experience and well worth picking up, especially if you are a fan of the series.

Mass Effect Andromeda is a return to the original Mass Effect game in ways both good and bad. Interesting characters, solid gameplay and RPG mechanics, and the revival of the open-world elements of the series will immerse and delight longtime fans. However, wooden characters, a light story, and plenty of glitches hold this title back from fulfilling its full potential.

Dungelot: Shattered Lands is a fun combination of Minesweeper and a dungeon crawler that you’ll surely keep coming back to. While not without its moments of frustration, overall this game rewards you for skill more than it ruins you with bad luck. What it lacks in story it makes up for in its variety of creatures, items, challenges, and treasures.

Mechstermination Force is a wonderful follow-up to Bertil Hörberg’s Gunman Clive series. While it can get a bit frustrating at times, the silly atmosphere and tough but entertaining gameplay make for a great time for those who want some simple, unadulterated fun.

Don't buy this game if you don't plan on getting the whole series. It would be like watching "The Fellowship of the Ring" and not bothering to watch the rest.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is oozing with charm and bursting with activities. While it all feels a little shallow, the constant feeling of progress is great and there’s a ton to customize. The story isn’t great, but it doesn’t need to be when there’s always something to do around the next corner.

Despite the bite-sized mission structure and constant interruptions, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is still a great game, full of funny moments, quirky segments like Luigi humming along to the background music, and a gorgeous HD makeover which leaves no hint that this is a port of an 11-year-old handheld game. I admit that I was a fan of Dark Moon when it was first released on the 3DS, so my judgment may be a bit biased, but I still believe that Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is well worth picking up and that this HD remaster has done a fantastic job bringing a handheld classic to modern consoles.

Perfectly encapsulating the Paul Verhoven film, Starship Troopers: Terran Command strikes the right balance of cheesy and challenging, at least in the latter missions. While it doesn’t have multiplayer or a scenario editor, the single player is a blast. We’ll fight, and we’ll win, I just wish my troopers weren’t so dumb while we do it. Oh well, more meat for the grinder.

A visually striking take on the survival horror genre, The Chant solidifies its own identity within the alternative science of prisms and natural remedies. Unique game mechanics serve to create an unusual but fun experience, even if at odds with the overall narrative at times.

While World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth hasn't been my favorite expansion in the franchise, it brought with it some great new dungeons, fantastic new raid encounters, an excellent new story, and gorgeous scenery. I have hope that what is lacking, or not working as intended will be adjusted over time. My love for the game, and the thriving community I have built within it are what keep me logging in week after week.

Superdimension Neptune vs. Sega Hard Girls is a match made in gaming heaven. A JRPG with some expanded and fun platforming mechanics throughout, this game improves on the Neptunia series model while sending the player on a lighthearted romp through an alternative Sega universe.

It Takes Two is a fantastic co-op game, and feels right at home on Switch. Sadly the visuals take a big hit, but in return you get a few more options on how to play. It still remains difficult to get a co-op partner for the full game let alone enough controllers, however if you can manage you’re in for a great time.

Likening this game to the movie Up, Arise: A Simple Story is much more than what its title lets on. It forces us to take a step back and analyze life. With its time control mechanics that manipulate the world in so many ways, platforming style of play, and its ability to tell a narrative story without dialogue, Arise is one of those games that makes you question whether small titles like this are becoming the status quo.

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection – Volume 1 serves as both a fantastic collection of video games and as an impressively detailed look at the evolution of the iconic video games series, but is unfortunately hampered by a sense of déjà vu due to providing few upgrades to the core games from the previous HD collection release. Despite this, the Master Collection remains the only way to be able to experience these games on modern consoles and each title is well worth revisiting. The real stars of this collection are the screenplay and master books which provide meticulously crafted breakdowns of each game and serve as a treasure trove of information for die-hard fans to pore over.

If you are looking for just a fun time with some friends and don't care about franchises or online play, you might be better off with a previous version of Madden. If you want to control your own franchise or build your own team, then there have been enough enhancements to justify the purchase. Just realize that some on-field issues still exist.

Override 2: Super Mech League is a vast improvement from its predecessor, with a great, varied roster (and more Ultraman characters in the future!), revamped combat system, and some gorgeous combat. The base game is currently half the price of a full-priced last generation title, so you should pick it up if you and your friends want some building-sized destructive fun.

A very solid roleplaying game, and definitely worth the $40 that it's fetching on the retail market. If you're a fan of RPGs or NIS at all, you owe it to yourself to pick this title up.

Familiar series hang-ups lead to signs of aging, but Resident Evil 0 HD’s core gameplay and horror element hold up remarkably well. Updated visuals and controls make the return trip to Raccoon City worthwhile.

Mario Kart World has a lot of big ideas, but its execution on them can feel shaky. It has a massive, interconnected open world, but there’s not much to do in it and you barely spend any time on the carefully crafted racetracks. It bumps each race up to 24 participants, but can feel so chaotic as to be unparsable at times. The driving in and of itself is great, it’s just everything that surrounds it can feel half baked.

Despite all of the ways that Outriders is stuck in the past, the moment to moment gameplay is so compelling that it’s impossible to say it’s not a blast -- especially with friends. It’s also remarkably expansive in its crafting and skill trees, with plenty of ways to customize your playstyle. I may not be that invested in the story, and this certainly isn’t that different from most first person shooters, but Outriders is well worth the time and effort. Even if there may be extra effort put in because of crappy server connections.

While the narrative is a bit disconnected, Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments uses the short story framework to its benefit, keeping each of its cases focused on pure, thrilling detective work.

The football section of the game is flawed enough that it seriously detracts from the enjoyment of the game.

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

While it starts slow, RoboCop: Rogue City – Unfinished Business finds its groove and keeps going. The gameplay is as ferocious as ever, with some great character work balancing it out with several heartfelt moments. If you liked Rogue City, you have no excuse not to grab Unfinished Business, and if you’re new to Teyon’s take, prepare to have a heck of a time.

Spellbreak could be a huge hit if it was capable of filling out games with players, rather than bots. Even still, Proletariat’s fantastic sound design, music, gameplay mechanics, and art style creates a hugely immersive experience for the player; comfortably satisfying a player’s desire to experience games shaped around elemental magic. It’s a shame that such an incredibly rewarding experience is marred by bot-heavy games.

The game feels largely the same through all the levels, even with new weapons gained through the game. Move through the level, fight monsters, get through more parts of the level, fight more monsters, collect glyphs, and fight the boss. However, this game does make good use of the license.