Tumble VR improves upon the original Tumble with all manner of new puzzles and a cute versus mode. It’s also a game which makes total sense for playing within the PSVR. There’s something about placing blocks with your own “hands” that just feels better than other puzzlers. The caveat, of course, is if your controller also exhibits the weird shakiness in-game from time to time, which makes it totally annoying rather than an amusing experience.

The on-rails shooter genre is rarely all that frightening, yet somehow Supermassive Games put together a ride which is fun, scary, silly, and an enjoyable romp on PSVR.

With a sports-like feel dripping from its commentary and team-based play, RIGS is a fantastic first-person shooter that works in either short bursts or for longer play sessions when you get in the zone. It gives you a sense of awe that no other game in the PlayStation VR launch lineup can rival, offering the most rewarding gameplay as well.

Virtual reality is an incredibly exciting technology. Unfortunately, The Assembly follows safely along the path of other VR games with a functional, but absolutely cumbersome, movement scheme.

Driveclub VR is an outstanding showcase for PlayStation VR. As the lone racing game available for it, it stands atop a short mountain — but its core foundation being so well-crafted bodes well for it working as a showpiece for quite some time. Anyone who loved the original game should check it out, while those who always wondered what was so good about it will find out in the best way possible by experiencing it in VR.

Super Stardust Ultra VR does everything that had made the series work before and expands on it with a new cockpit view. This really brings the action close to you and sucks you in like never before.

Blue Revolver is a rock-solid arcade shooter that hits all the high points of the genre without getting bogged down in its excesses and easily earns its place in any genre fan’s library.

When you get down to it, the only major flaw of Event[0] is that there isn’t enough of it. Or, alternatively, that what is there needed to be reconnected into more of a tighter story.

The single player campaign once again feels tacked on. It’s more like a glorified eight-hour long tutorial, training players for multiplayer by throwing them in tanks and planes rather than telling a cohesive story. In the end, it’s the multiplayer that matters most, and Battlefield 1 excels at giving players the Battlefield experience they love in an era they probably won’t be all that familiar with.

Sure, there’s no Trance Vibrator attachment, but being immersed entirely in Rez’s world is an almost religious experience in and of itself.

The gorgeous locales and emotional storytelling shine through exceptionally well via PSVR. With that said, it seems that virtual reality was not in the design plans from the get-go. Sure, it doesn’t get players motion sick, but there’s often a feeling of being lost when playing in VR that isn’t there during non-VR gameplay. [Tested with PSVR]

Everything about this game clicks, even though it probably shouldn’t work in theory. Anyone who loves a casual golf game should check it out.

For those who love everything Hatsune Miku, it’s a great pickup and even for those who just don’t “get” it, check it out because it is something that can convert you into at least seeing the merit behind the concept.

Rocksteady’s latest romp through Gotham City is a brief one, but something that fans of the franchise will enjoy a great deal.

For a game with a limited concept, Headmaster does succeed nicely. It sets out to do two things — providing a soccer-style game that shows VR can work with sports-themed games and throw that concept a curveball with some dark comedy. It succeeds at doing very little, and while that may sound like we’re damning it with faint praise, it really is a lot of fun to play. It’s probably the best party-style game of the launch lineup and something that any potential VR owner with a large circle of friends will want to pick up.

Gurumin not only offers a great challenge, but makes players want to go back and find every last hidden secret and collectible. The graphics, sound and music all look and sound great on the 3DS. If there is even the tiniest bit of interest in Gurumin, it is absolutely worth picking up.

The simulation gameplay is utterly engrossing as you work to help your daughter down a wide variety of paths.

Harmonia is a bite-sized taste of what VisualArts can do with the visual novel genre. It is not the most emotionally intense of their releases, but still packs a punch in just a few hours of storytelling.

While a stronger story and better release period would have benefited Shu’s impact on the consumers of the gaming industry, Shu’s consistently solid gameplay make this platformer one that’s sure to satisfy fans of the genre as well as parents looking for a more kid-friendly title.

This is a worthy entry in the series, giving an enormous dose of the quirk and charm that earned the series its place.

The barely contained chaos and sheer variety of things to do keep Final Approach interesting. It’s action packed while still being family friendly, all while offering a lengthy campaign. The fact that the scoring system keeps the missions replayable seals the deal. Phaser Lock Interactive has released one of the best games for VR. [Tested with HTC Vive]

Last year’s iteration attempted to change the genre of the series, but Imaginators grounds it in platforming again, this time simply crafting the best gameplay experience possible.

Putting aside the technical complaints, Shadow Warrior 2 is legitimately one of the best shooters of 2016 thus far. From its quick, snappy gun and sword combat to its satisfying Diablo-style loot system, this is the type of game that players will find themselves coming back to whenever they’re seeking a good time. Yes, it’s blatantly trying to be offensive in the dumbest ways possible (lest we forget, your character’s name is Lo Wang), but its self-awareness has a way of bringing a smile to your face.

Were one to be completely honest, the gameplay found in The Silver Case would garner it a middling score. The controls are a bit too clunky, leaving the excellent puzzle design to carry the work, but the game is more of a showcase for the story. On that front, The Silver Case succeeds.

The UI leaves something to be desired and backtracking to previously explored areas is not terribly exciting, but neither of these issues ruin the game and there are more than enough positives to offset those imperfections.

Outside of a sub-par soundtrack, Mantis Burn Racing is the finest overhead racer in years. It combines skillful racing with a level of excitement that is usually absent from the sub-genre.

It does a good job of recreating the atmosphere of those early 90s shooters despite having a very different play style. This title is geared toward a niche market and as such is not going to be a must play for everyone, but for those who love old school ultra violent and ultra challenging games, this is not one to miss. For fans of retro games, everything about Butcher screams 1993.

At the very least, it earns points for its attempts to make the most out of this subgenre thanks to its unique hook in the way they achieved their setting and some fine acting, but much like the titular bunker itself, a lot of it does sadly feel a bit empty after a bit.

While not without some issues, Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour is absolutely a worthwhile release of an absolute classic. It is admittedly better played on a keyboard as designed, but the original title is given a clean representation with this version.

Thumper is a beautifully dark, unforgiving and utterly fantastic rhythm game, and its sense of menace is only matched by its wonderful playability.

Rise of the Tomb Raider 20 Year Celebration is a joyous occasion that properly commemorates the evolution of Lara Croft and her franchise.

It wouldn’t be surprising for Mafia III to emerge as the AAA game with the best story of 2016 as Lincoln Clay’s revenge tale, and its wonderful documentary-style presentation, are engrossing from beginning to end, with a host of unique characters that make New Bordeaux feel unlike anywhere else in video games. You’d be hard pressed to find a game that presents some of the most shameful times in our nation’s history in a more elegant way, though the realism that comes from being so on the nose is shocking.

Thoth is a solid and clever twin-stick puzzle/shooter hybrid, sometimes frustrating in its progress but nicely creative in its challenges, and a little determination mixed with practice and copious swearing will earn the sense of satisfaction from the final credit roll. And a string of randomized levels afterwards, because why stop at the end?

Most interested in Mad Father, however, should wait until confirmation of a new patch which resolves these massive issues before diving in.

The episode doesn’t really close out the story of the Order of the Stone as a whole and really only makes it an addition to one of the many adventures that Jessie will have.

There’s a lot to like about Carrie’s Order Up! The charming concept and visuals enhance its core frantic arcade gameplay. Serving customers is hectic fun and failures usually seem fair. Completing the main mode might not take very long, but the game continues to add value with additional modes and challenges.

Don’t go into Gears of War 4 expecting a thought provoking story; go into it for its action packed scenarios, superb multiplayer experience and top tier shooting mechanics.

RunGunJumpGun is simple arcade action taken to its extremes. The basic controls don’t get in the way of the gameplay being run through endless permutations, with each of the 120+ levels giving a new challenge distinct from the previous ones.

Despite the occasional dips in performance — be it visually or aurally — and the rather unavoidable slip-ups with its 3D animation not quite flowing as majestically, Aragami‘s methodical and gracious pacing offers an interesting tale on stealth based on more than just the merits of its unique shadow-manipulation mechanics.

The puzzle design misses the cleverness that made the previous chapters so much fun, rendering the penultimate chapter an extreme disappointment as a game, doubly so as the previous chapter was the best in the series.

Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 doesn’t radically change the formula of the first game beyond adding a new character. Fortunately, Copen plays slightly differently and does offer up a fresher experience.

To put my enjoyment in perspective, I am a huge Dragon Quest fan, and while I appreciate what Minecraft is and what it does, it never held my interest for long as a game. I couldn’t stop playing Dragon Quest Builders and it is one of those experiences that I look forward to continue playing even after the review is done.

A testament to the design philosophy that if an idea is good, it’s usually very good.

Chapter 3, though, shows that the studio has their legs under them and are ready to round out the series in epic fashion.

The Metronomicon is bright and upbeat fusion of two genres that shouldn’t fit together as well as they do. There’s a great sense of humor running through the entire game from the character and monster designs, background details, and even item descriptions, and the audio holds up its end with an energetic soundtrack holding a large number of tunes that are fun to tap out attacks to.

System Rift is a short but sweet experience...Had Eidos Montreal added an extra couple of sections or puzzles, System Rift could have been something great.

As a penultimate episode to the first season, Freedom Fighters makes an effective statement, even though there are flaws in its execution.

Sonic Boom: Fire and Ice has a forgettable story and some rather tedious, but optional, side missions. While the main 2D levels can be fun, they start to feel repetitive before long.

Instead of churning out the same old rehash of last year’s game, EA Canada has chosen to add a whole new element to their soccer sim. From the fast fluid gameplay, to Alex Hunter’s story, FIFA 17 puts together everything into what has to be the most complete package of football that we’ve seen to date.

The graphics lack style or pizzazz and the controls have a wrongness to them. This Touhou title isn’t terrible, but the curiosity of its mash up is all it has.

Lella’s journey is compelling, and the game itself is unlike anything we’ve seen before.

Star Trek Online is a game that casual and dedicated Star Trek fans should check out. While it doesn’t beat out Neverwinter as far as mechanics goes, it allows players to inhabit a fascinating facsimile of the universe, exploring, undertaking complex missions and always boldly going forward (because we can’t find reverse).

Klang’s take on rhythm platformers is indeed a unique one, in both aesthetics and gameplay, and despite some frustrating moments and uneven difficulty holding it back, its variety of levels, attractive look and sound, and easy-to-learn-hard-to-master gameplay can still make for a highly fun experience.

With the right mindset, the game design is perfect for a brain cleanse or to serve as a half distraction while contemplating a more complex problem.

Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past takes a fragment of gaming’s forgotten past and breathes new life into it. Some of the more hardcore Dragon Quest fans may find the reduction in job grinding time and streamlining the intro a negative change that dumbs down the game, but I would argue that it also makes the title more accessible and more fun.

River City: Tokyo Rumble takes everything good about River City Ransom and improves upon it.

Destiny: Rise of Iron is a big step back from The Taken King. While The Taken King was willing to push Destiny forward with brand new ideas, features, and a ton of new content, Rise of Iron is perfectly fine with recycling what has been run into the ground.

Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors isn’t a groundbreaking RPG, but does offer a decent gaming experience with an interesting story concept. The problem is it’s somewhat bland without the sexual aspects.

With a renewed focus on tangible gameplay improvements and general realism, this year’s iteration of the longstanding franchise feels like the best yet. Being able to execute more accurate dribble moves and jump shots is fantastic on its own, but hearing engaging and varied commentary at the same time makes the entire experience feel fantastic.

An enhanced version of a game that is, objectively speaking, a sub-par experiment at niche game design. The newly-added characters, uniforms, animations, tutorials and so on add to what was present originally in a highly beneficial fashion. In fact, many of these things should have been considered and added before the original released. The problem is that the original formula wasn’t great originally. Adding honey mustard to a wilted lettuce wrap might make it taste better, but it’s still not good.

To this date there has never been a football sim that has handled gameplay the way PES 2017 does. The gameplay, however, isn’t enough alone to save PES from feeling a bit outdated at times. If you’re willing to overlook the lack of official licensing and entry level mode diversity, then the act of playing football in PES 2017 can’t be matched.

While it lacks the same emotional presentation of games like Journey, or the same consistently compelling narrative of games like Gone Home or The Stanley Parable, Dear Esther’s exceptional writing and soundtrack help the title overcome these flaws, providing a worthwhile journey for those willing to take it.

Forza Horizon 3 retains everything we’ve come to love about the open world racer while incrementally improving upon its formula. The leap isn’t as significant as it was between the first two games, but Australia ends up being a highly appealing setting to drive through.

It is a bit lacking in content and could use some slight tweaks for difficulty purposes, but it still controls like a dream, looks and sounds great, and has enough solid and addictive gameplay to pack a punch.

Project Highrise is the kind of game that grabs a hold of players and doesn’t let go. Only once you’re in deep with a massive building do you begin to notice the cracks. There are undoubtedly numerous improvements that should be made — and likely will be in the coming weeks via patches — but even with some niggling complaints, it’s still incredibly challenging to put the darn thing down.

Having a darker sense of humor is somewhat of a prerequisite to truly appreciate this title, but for people possessing that attribute there is much fun to be had within 60 Seconds!

BioShock: The Collection successfully brings three of the best games from the last-generation to the current-generation, but not without a few hiccups. Everything you loved, or hated, about the originals is still intact. The gameplay, art style, engrossing plots and the wondrous cities continue to provide plenty of incentive to give back into the ocean or fly into the skies. While Blind Squirrel Games has done a good job remastering the original BioShock for a new generation, it is disappointing to see the effort put into each entry decline.

Despite a few small details holding it back, Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander is one of those titles that cannot be recommended enough to fans of 4X games, JRPGs or space-based science fiction. So much attention to detail was poured into the game, with enough moving parts working together, that it feels like a sprawling epic rather than the indie title that its low-fi graphics might imply.

Legion injects excitement into a game that for the past year has survived on being better than most. With the addition of features such as Artifact Weapons and cinematic story driven content, World of Warcraft’s sixth expansion raised the bar back to where it should be while at the same time adopting ideas that will take it into the future.

While there’s no argument against the principle Shiny has a good concept going for it as far as offering consideration before taking that next pivotal action — no matter how minor it might be — its woefully-optimized performance and presentation (visually as well as from a design perspective) can put many off even the more notable of classic platforming segments.

MeiQ: Labyrinth of Death is a good though unremarkable game. There are better dungeon crawlers available for the Vita, but fans of the genre will likely enjoy MeiQ in spite of its flaws. Being able to build up the Guardians and the elemental system are good ideas, but because of the simplistic nature of combat, neither idea lives up to its potential.

In 2016, Dead Rising is fantastic nostalgic trip that benefits from the higher resolution, frame rate and graphical options greatly, despite the overall textures and models not being as magical as they once were.

For as cool as The Tomorrow Children looks, there is far too much monotony in its moment-to-moment gameplay to warrant a recommendation. Forget about all of the time you’ll spend gathering resources and riding the bus to the islands, as a resource-gathering game there’s a lot to be desired here.

Despite a highly-questionable decision to neuter the lethality of the series’ central enemies, the core gameplay coupled alongside the electronic presentation proves to be one of the most addictive combos on the market, with the three-star perfection of Adventure mode and the constant climb up the leaderboards in Score Attack providing key motivations to continue returning to the title for another near-decade.

Without the progress gating and fewer technical issues, we’d be left with a shorter, more intense action-platformer featuring a solid movement system. There’s something slightly enjoyable about ReCore‘s color-switching combat mechanic, despite it taking place in such a lock-on heavy shooting system and the friendship between Joule and her robot pals Mack, Seth and Duncan can be charming. While not lackluster enough to be considered a bad game, there are enough stumbles and hiccups here to prevent this effort from Armature and Comcept from living up to its potential.

The storyline and characters are utterly compelling, regardless of your awareness of the source material. In fact, the story was effective enough to convince me to give the show a watch. The game does, however, end up missing a few of the convenience features expected from many other modern entrants in the genre.

DOGOS is mostly great and a little bit broken, but if you bring a giant helping of perseverance to its more troublesome sections there’s a fantastic, great-looking shooter trying to blast your heavily-armed experimental final-hope-for-humanity gunship into a smoking shower of red-hot shrapnel before you do the same to it.

Tadpole Treble is a game built for music lovers by music lovers. Its solid gameplay forms a perfect foundation for the music, which is the real star of the game, to take center stage. The level editor, however, is what gives Tadpole Treble real staying power. The type of feature that could make this a sort of cult classic, I wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing YouTube videos of levels built in Tadpole Treble. If you like music, you should pick it up.

Seasons After Fall is unique in that its beautiful artistic style almost makes you forget about the lackluster gameplay. While it’s far from perfect, it still manages to be an enjoyable experience, especially for those who treat games as an experience rather than a task to be completed.

Mother Russia Bleeds succeeds in being a self-aware play on the edginess in video games. As interesting as its concepts, art design, themes and general aesthetic are, issues with its combat and AI hold it back from being the indie darling it clearly has the potential to be.

While the gameplay found in Featherpunk Prime does offer some momentary enjoyment on each of its self-contained floors, the frustrations lie with how reliant the game feels on the same design structure aspects and same layout in each of its floors; the repetitiveness eventually begins to grate.

Those looking to explore a lore-filled world heavily inspired by Norse mythology and packed with gorgeous hand-drawn animations will be hard-pressed to find better. But with the limited scope for the interactive aspects of both the exploration and combat, Jotun never quite reaches the heights of Valhalla, instead providing a mediocre experience that inspires as often as it bores.

From the presentation to the deep franchise mode, NHL 17 has everything away from the on-ice action nailed down to a T. If the experience of playing the game fell into the same pristine category instead of being too overbearing for its own good, this would be a near-perfect game of hockey.

While the mechanics are stiff compared to modern games, it’s a blast from the past that will invoke nostalgia for those who haven’t played it since its initial release in 2005.

A modern JRPG masterpiece. It is the perfect blend of the classic JRPG formula mixed with contemporary features. Almost everything this title does has had some equivalent seen in RPGs that came before it, but they have been tweaked where the experience still feels fresh.

The atmosphere, music and overall writing of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice are spot on. While there are a lot of callbacks to previous games, it never feels like they are there just for nostalgic purposes, yet the experience seems reminiscent of the original trilogy in the best of ways. The game is not recommended to those who have never played the Ace Attorney series.

A glorious return to form for the series. It takes what was previously a gaming device-only franchise and transitions it successfully onto mobile platforms. While it would be nice to have traditional controller support, the touch-only setup here works fairly well. Visually, it’s about on-par with the full-fledged console entries, but does have some slowdown when it comes to moving from level skin to level skin.

If you’re looking for a game that will completely sell you on the Touhou series and turn you into a fan, Touhou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet probably won’t do it, as it really feels like a weak entry with a lack of substance that doesn’t show off a lot of Touhou’s potential beyond the ability to have a massive amount of bullets appear on the screen.

Pan-Pan may provide a short journey in the end, but it’s definitely worth setting out on. If the absolutely stunning graphics and art style don’t draw you in, then hopefully the intriguing world and enjoyable puzzles will.

Madden NFL 17 isn’t leaps and bounds ahead of what EA Tiburon was able to accomplish last year, but it builds on a very solid foundation with only a few hiccups and annoyances to speak of.

As a five-dollar indie game, The Legend of Kurasaki is a competent time-waster, but nothing more than that. While a neat concept, charm and simple yet nice gameplay might draw you in, the short length, repetitive elements and frustrating moments made worse by a lack of explanation (even after beating the game, I still don’t know how the level system works, not that it was apparently needed) hamper what could have been an adorable little homage to a legendary Nintendo series.

It’s outrageous that a slice of life game that actually makes an effort to create a great backstory and memorable characters still ends up with a beginning that drags. Luckily, both audio and visuals are outstanding, showing that a lot of care went into creating this visual novel.

Every moment is pure destructive joy, the likes of which absolutely must be played. It is something that I never thought would be seen again: a AAA isometric shooter. With likable heroes, overwhelming villains and engrossing story and gameplay, Livelock sets a new standard for the genre. No bugs could be found, either, with the exception of the mechanical ones that are supposed to be shot. Publisher Perfect World Entertainment proved that they knew what they were doing when they picked this up to release as their first non-free to play game. This is a masterpiece.

The Final Station does a remarkable job at leaving a mark with its chosen aesthetic and subtle narrative — peaking one’s interest with this particular post-apocalyptic not-zombie infested World, it’ll be easily remembered above the mediocre allotment of survival titles out there at present. Overall, The Final Station is a welcome breath of fresh (if desolately murky) air and stands out through its interesting mix of platformer and survival mechanics — carving out a game that’s entertaining but cunning too.

In an age where many mainstream games offer countless distractions to constantly pull the player in all sorts of directions, Hue’s straightforward and relaxing presentation offers a nice, brief reprieve to play in between some of today’s lengthier titles. With a reasonable set of expectations, Hue can provide a pleasant adventure for players willing to give this unique game a shot; just don’t go in expecting it to stick with you beyond its playtime.

Whether you’re in it for the gameplay or find yourself drawn in by the looming mystery that steadily simmers over in due course, The Turing Test (minus the occasionally hard-to-decipher audio) is a smartly-structured and delicately-arranged puzzle game that knows its boundaries and leaves it to the player to fill in the missing gaps.

If you’re planning on tackling it solo, Federation Force is a much tougher pill to swallow, with its prohibitive level of difficulty. On the other hand, if you have a friend or two who are willing to take the plunge with you, Federation Force can make for a good time, especially if you’re all playing together in the same space.

With the lessons that Digital Dreams has clearly learned, it’s going to be fascinating to see what the small studio does next. After all, this is a team that clearly understands how to improve over time.