Whatever cheap thrills this visual novel does include aren’t worth sitting through incredibly flat writing and a lack of substance for. If you’re looking for shiny anime mammaries, hit the rest of the internet instead.

I desperately wanted to love Aviary Attorney. After all, it was doing so many things that seemed totally fantastic. One, it was gathering inspiration from the Ace Attorney series and two it was creating a marvelous-looking anthropomorphic animal-filled version of France. Somehow, though, it didn’t come together as expected.

Devilian’s combat makes it a totally competent action-RPG/MMO.

Temple of Yog is a title that would demo quite well; the first ten or so minutes revealed some fantastic possibilities. Actually trying to play the thing for any real length, however, becomes a chore of the highest order.

With a pedigree of the original Chaos, plus chess, poker, X-Com and Hearthstone in its DNA, Chaos Reborn still feels like a refreshingly different type of strategy experience.

No matter how you play it, you’ll be in for quite a time as MetaHuman’s totally unprepared CEO.

Minecraft: Story Mode – Episode 4: A Block and a Hard Place is the strongest episode yet in basically every aspect.

Turok is a great example of a type of game the FPS genre moved away from, and is actually better to play now than it was in its original version.

Nuclear Throne is impeccably presented and tightly designed. There is enough variety in characters, upgrades and weapons to ensure that playthroughs never get repetitive and its visceral combat is a joy in itself. Its frustrating unfairness, however, holds it back and may alienate even hardcore roguelike fans.

Charming as it might seem, Krillbite’s attempt at horror turns out about as scary as a brightly-colored bed sheet.

Harmonix has delivered a reboot that perfectly captures the spirit and rock solid mechanics of the original, which is something that should be commended.

Although it doesn’t look like much, Conquest of Elysium 4 packs a ton of depth beneath its pixelated surface.

For a game that has such an incredibly interesting premise, 1000 Heads Among the Trees is utterly woeful in execution.

With so many interlocking systems, Thea: The Awakening is a bit of a Frankenstein of a game, but kudos to MuHa for bolting together everything so seamlessly and for trying something new, though it might be time for developers to put card game subsystems on ice for a few years.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel is hands down the best JRPG this year — and that’s saying a lot considering how many great ones have come out in the past twelve months. But what it has that most of those others don’t is heart.

The combat can feel a little repetitive in long play sessions because it essentially is, but overall SteamWorld Heist is an excellent merger of role playing and turn-based combat.

Overall, Rubble Without A Cause is a disappointment. The first chapter was great, but the tonal shift and structure found here just doesn’t hit the right notes.

Summon Night 5 is an SRPG that needs to be played by anyone who likes the genre. It’s a love letter to fans of a somewhat bygone era of Japanese roleplaying games and manages to deliver on nearly all fronts, be it story, characterization, gameplay or presentation.

Clannad is a visual novel that everyone should complete at least once in their lives. The hard part will be securing enough time to persist through every route in the proper way to see the true ending.

The Bit.Trip is a must for anyone who owned any of the original games on the Wii, or heard of them and just wants to try them out. Their designs are simplistic in theory, but a riot to play.

It’s hard to recommend FIVE: Guardians of David to anyone. Fans of action RPGs have literally dozens of better games to choose from. Even gamers who would like to play an RPG without being assaulted by bloodshed have some excellent choices, such as the Torchlight games.

Jack the Ripper is a substantial and enjoyable additional chapter to the main game, only marred by the developer’s insistence on trying to make real history fit into a fiction.

Overall, Radiohammer doesn’t stack up to the other strong offerings in the rhythm game genre on the 3DS, such as Project Mirai DX or Theatrhythm: Curtain Call, but those games also aren’t $5.99 like this one.

The game is not without some technical issues, with crash bugs and UI glitches needing to be addressed, but for anyone still invested in The Sims — or curious to see how the game has evolved since 2014 — this expansion is worth picking up.

It may be one step forward and two steps back in the overall Final Fantasy XIII series, but it is still an attractive package.

The simple battles with their special moves are entertaining in short bursts and having sole ownership of a piece of property to defend lends a real sense of empowerment. In the end, though, the desire to see how a base has held up under attack is outgunned by the lack of desire to actually sign in and check the darn thing.

Originally conceived for touch screens, the game still plays better with finger swipes than mouse control.

Platformer and puzzle game fans who pick this up will have a good time, but everybody else can pass on Color Symphony 2.

If you grew up racing RC cars, then you might want to give HTR+ a chance. Otherwise, existing games in the genre will probably scratch the itch for you.

The Mean Greens has a strong core concept, but wrapped around it is a game that feels a few major patches short of its potential. Levels are clever and gameplay modes are varied, but the shooting is imprecise and lackluster and without specializations or level incentives, there isn’t much reason to keep playing.

Its color-coded racing improves upon the F-Zero formula, and even if the mutiplayer fails to meet its potential, FAST Racing NEO is challenging and riveting enough to keep players busy for a long while, whether driving solo or with friends.

It may not be the RPG we had sought at the beginning, but it’s one that marries together most (though not all) of what makes this Mario spin-off so immediately engrossing.

It looks good and sounds creepy and unsettling and though Renegade Kid has tweaked the gameplay and systems to make it friendlier, Dementium Remastered is still a victim of some awkward controls, borderline bland level design and an overall feeling of repetition.

It may have taken a number of years to get here, but Yakuza 5 was worth the wait. It’s not only the most robust and well-executed game in the series, it’s also one of the best games of last generation.

Since the heyday of Rollercoaster Tycoon and Theme Hospital, it’s not often that lite-management sims get a chance to strut their stuff. This was not originally meant to be that game, but it could have been with a change of the business model. Instead this is a title that is balanced for tedium.

Fat Princess was subversive, politically incorrect and unexpectedly complex in its strategy and depth. Fat Princess Adventures trades a little of that depth for a more straightforward, action RPG-focused design.

The action is huge, the enemies gigantic and the firepower overwhelming. Earth Defense Force 4.1 is finally the game the series has always tried to be.

This Vita version of an older title has managed to up the game, surpassing the goofy, B-movie fun found in 2017.

DariusBurst Chronicle Saviours is a welcome return for one of gaming’s longest-running series, digging deep into its history to create a modern shooter with a depth of content unmatched in its genre.

Rainbow Six Siege‘s core concept, namely its destructible world and reliance on communication-based strategy, is strong, but everything surrounding it seems to falter.

An emotional and humorous roller coaster, The Last Place You Look puts Minecraft: Story Mode in the right direction for future episodes and gives players something to look forward to in the world of Minecraft.

Whether you can enjoy Chivalry: Medieval Warfare depends on how low you are willing to lower your expectations for what a current-gen console game should look and feel like.

Unfortunately, after the initial seconds, Tennis in the Face completely fails at being enjoyable. It’s physics can be erratic, levels seem untested and the quirky humor gets old fast. The sound effects go a long way towards making this game remotely tolerable, and occasionally a wry grin can be had at a pile of donuts showering the screen.

Horrendous loading times, a lack of synchronous multiplayer and optimization issues hold it back from pure bliss, but Just Cause 3 is an absolute blast, an experience equivalent to a shot of adrenaline straight into the heart.

In its current state, it’s impossible to enjoy.

It won’t make believers out of anyone not into the genre or art direction, but for those looking to pump just a little bit more out of their PS3 should at least consider picking it up.

Its unflinching tendency to do things that were not part of its predecessor’s legacy will solidify it as not only its own game, but the best role-playing experience on Wii U.

Aspiration is a good thing and The Room franchise has grown into an hours-long, Myst-like game with many puzzles and a fully-formed story to drive it along.

It needs a little more technical polish and a much smoother learning curve to be considered for real mass-market appeal, but Mordheim: City of the Damned is a rewarding game for the right player.

A little more variety in victory conditions or evolving complexity through the campaign or in skirmishes would give the game a better chance at a longer life on the hard drive.

With already shaky matchmaking, and the chances of regularly rounding up four or five spare Xbox controllers (let alone willing playmates) in the same living room rather slim, however, some of Knight Squad’s potential is sadly squandered.

This is a two-and-a-half-year-old title brought to current-gen consoles with minimum effort at close to full price.

It isn’t the most beautiful or artistically consistent game in the world, with an art style that could be charitably described as generic high-fantasy. On the other hand, it is a free-to-play game that rarely reminds the player that they could or should be paying real money.

Even if you’re a fan of the books or HBO show, there’s not much incentive to play Telltale’s Game of Thrones.

If everything about Hard West was as great as its combat and strategic layer, it would easily sit near the top of a list of memorable Old West-themed games. Take away the cowboy costumes and it’s still an excellent turn-based game with some clever mechanics to mess with.

Bloodborne: The Old Hunters is a solid add-on to an already outstanding game. While it fails to try anything new and is relatively short, the bosses make this something worthy of trekking through, especially for existing fans.

Sword Art Online: Lost Song has so much going for it. The battle and flight systems are top-notch entertaining time sinks, the artistic style is nothing short of gorgeous and being able to hang out with characters from the show, with dialogue written by the creator, is an engrossing experience.

If you played and enjoyed Knee Deep, Act 1: Wonderland then there’s little doubt you will also dig this latest release. Just don’t expect to learn much more about the whole situation before this episode wraps up.

Kromaia Omega is a giant hyper-saturated burst of color, speed and heavy firepower, as stylish as it can be difficult, and it’s impossible not to forgive a few questionable design elements when the enemies are swarming and the action takes off.

As unique as Typoman is, seeing the scale of its missed opportunity unfold only saddens me evermore.

What’s there is fun, and DLC is on the horizon, but the package is on the light side.

The quest to find and create a new homeworld has plenty of room for disaster to strike, but it’s also a lovely journey through a vibrant night sky.

It’s been a full four months since Episode Five ended on a massive decision that left players reeling. Given Telltale’s past work on the series, it was hard to imagine that Episode Six would actually do right by that decision and manage to wrap the season up in a remotely satisfying way. Sure enough, huge chunks of Episode Six are just as middling as everything else in the season, and on a technical level, it’s even worse.

Not an especially charming or friendly take on the genre, FortressCraft Evolved has a lot of depth and potential for the dedicated player.

Yo-Kai Watch may lack the epic plot and deep, challenging combat system of other RPGs, but its cheerful spirit and culturally infused world make it one of the most joyful experiences on 3DS.

It’s shocking how little content there is in Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash. As much as we’d love to explore the title further, the rabbit hole doesn’t go any deeper.

As far as thrillers are concerned, few video games make it anywhere near the skillful story weaving present within the Higurashi series. Higurashi When They Cry Hou – Ch.2 Watanagashi is yet another look into the Watanagashi mystery and makes us want to know even more.

Star Wars Battlefront is a solid proof-of-concept that should be fully realized in an inevitable sequel. Like Evolve, Titanfall and The Order: 1886 before it, Battlefront chooses style over substance. It’s absolutely beautiful and captures what it’s like to be in a Star Wars film, but style can only take a game so far.

An excellent conclusion to Blizzard’s trilogy. While one can get impatient with the familiar mission structure, it’s impossible to argue with the excellent faction balance and action.

The only ones that should give this a look are those who have exhausted all of the other games of this genre and are still clamoring for another traditional monster-gathering RPG.

Prominence hearkens back to the glory days of first-person point and click adventure games. Its intriguing story will keep you digging through terminals to find out more. Not only does it look like a classic game, but it plays like one too. It’s a nice modern addition to our libraries full of old favorites.

Thanks to these problems, a visually charming and potentially enjoyable — if thoroughly unoriginal — tower defense game becomes much harder to recommend. Of course, grinding to earn upgrade points is always an option, but the levels aren’t that charming.

Limitations aside, Impossible Creatures still feels unique and is definitely worth playing. Fans of Spore will enjoy the creature building and younger players whose only RTS experience is the current Starcraft trilogy might appreciate the simple, straightforward and uncluttered gameplay.

Pitting the player’s wit against a changing set of circumstances is a fun and exhilarating experience on paper, but ROOT makes too many wrong decisions in executing this mechanic that it’s hard not to see the majority of its level-by-level progression as anything but malnourished of some much-needed player-support.

Dragon Fin Soup is a great game trapped in a terrible game’s code.

It’s fitting that Stella Glow is ultimately developer imageepooch’s swan song; they came into the business making waves with their beloved SRPG series Luminous Arc and now they’re going out making waves with another excellent SRPG.

While gameplay at the core is functional and multilayered, most won’t find themselves excited to play over and over again.

For a game so mechanically simple, it’s one of the better experiences out there — four-letter swear words and all.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC is not just a title that writers looking to pad their word count would love. There is an incredible amount of depth packed into this release.

Anno 2205 is functional and fun, but with the singular exception of its visuals, it either had so little ambition at the outset or was so scaled back in development that it’s regrettably a missed opportunity.

Fallout 4 contains what should go down as the best open world in the history of this medium considering the sheer wealth of meaningful content packed into it.

Those looking for an engaging story to keep them reading for hours on end will want to pick up The Devil on G-String.

While there has been an influx of open world games over the last few years, Crystal Dynamics have been able to find a perfect balance of cinematic action and strong adventure elements...Rise of the Tomb Raider is an adventure like no other, giving players a twenty hour experience that will have them engaged from the moment Lara comes on screen.

While it isn’t perfect and there are limitations evident in each episode, Life Is Strange sets a new precedent for episodic gaming and reiterates why it’s a bona fide contender for 2015’s GOTY, despite facing fierce competition for that distinguished accolade.

For all the promise Pixel Pi shows amid the early phases, Pulse sadly delves little further into evolving from out its basic foundation — new ideas introduced later on feeling out of place and poorly executed, it’s hard to see them as anything other than square pegs forcibly shunt into round holes.

This is basically five standalone games wrapped into one deep package. While it will have DLC released for it, there’s enough content out of the box to keep players busy until the next Call of Duty and probably some time after that. The campaign is perfectly paced and entertaining throughout, the multiplayer is rich with customization and Zombies is refreshingly challenging. The only real black mark is a story teetering on the on the brink of pretension, but the existentialism of it is undeniably fascinating.

Norn9: Var Commons might not be the very best the otome genre has to offer, but it’s certainly up there.

Conflicks is like eggplant: it’s a taste that requires effort to acquire. Once the feathers get smoothed out, though, there is a robust, entertaining game to explore.

Hopefully, with the potential that the series holds, the following episode will focus more on Jessie and give players a much wider variety of things to do, decide and explore.

Yoshi’s Woolly World won’t suit everyone, but if you find yourself drawn towards its plush, adorable aesthetic, it might be one of the most emotionally pleasant experiences you have all year.

The Men of Yoshiwara: Kikuya may be worth a purchase on Steam for those who haven’t played it, but there are definite issues with the release. The biggest of these is the iffy translation and editing work done to the text, harming its ability to entertain.

Fans have waited a long time for Rodea the Sky Soldier, but unfortunately the final experience never comes within range of Yuji Naka’s past masterpieces.

Mushihimesama is a phenomenal arcade game and an indispensable addition to any shooter fan’s library.

Hypserspace Invaders II: Pixel Edition fuses an intense arcade shooter with eye-searing effects laid over chunky-pixel art, perfectly fused with its fantastic electronic soundtrack, as much a music album as a shooter and with both parts making each other all the better by contrast.

There are so many glaring flaws right up front; the framerate bottoms out, the story characters forced upon the players are atrocious and the always online requirement simply eats up bandwidth while adding nothing to the experience. When it hits that perfect line, however, this manages to be a satisfying and beautiful experience.

WWE 2K16 isn’t without its flaws, but it’s the most feature-rich wrestling game to come along in a while, with a right massive roster, a good deal of likable modes and well-fleshed out main attractions in the domains of 2K Showcase and MyCareer.

It’s a long and dangerous road out of the realms between worlds, but with enough shooting and a nice selection of helpful new internal organs, you might just get strong enough to escape.

This is one of the top visual novel releases on Steam this year, and an excellent horror experience in general.