Although the visuals may not be much to look at, the combat and story are the soul of Caligula Effect 2 that holds it all together. The music and characters are far more enjoyable than the first title, with a combat system that feels more fine-tuned and makes it flow at a better speed than the first entry. It’s harder to recommend for those who haven’t played the first as they will miss out on important references to the first, but it may be worth popping open a synopsis of the first or playing through it to get to this sequel which improves upon basically every aspect. There’s so much to love here, but the experience would be improved with amped-up visuals and more English support for some of the smaller dialogue. The Caligula Effect 2 is a unique story that touches on sensitive subjects with a lot of respect wrapped up in a wonderfully-enjoyable RPG that’s the perfect length without overstaying its welcome.

Lord of Magna: Maiden Heaven is a quality, albeit quirky, JRPG. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and doesn’t dabble too much in the story department.

It’s no doubt a value, and if you need your fix of The Walking Dead, then this will certainly tide you over until the second season, but don’t expect a consistent plot full of meaningful and difficult choices.

The "Worms" series has been around for years, but it's finally found the perfect home on Live Arcade. [May 2007, p.68]

Without forgetting a presentation that harkens to the best of past and present-day animation techniques, even if Klaus is not one of the most extravagant of platformers, it’s at least one of the more memorable.

Quantum Break has an identity crisis going on for itself, not knowing if it wants to be a TV show, action game or puzzle platformer. There are elements of everything here, but they’re underdeveloped and improperly paced...Quantum Break is a great game at heart, but it comes with a lot of underutilized potential.

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.

Moomintroll: Winter's Warmth is an interesting way to dive into the world of Moomin, offering a simple but fairly competent adventure that doubles down as something akin to a coming of age story. Unfortunately, what could have been a fantastic adventure is dragged down slightly by the way quests are presented as repetitive chores. Nonetheless, it’s still a curious adventure, especially for fans of the original universe or those curious about its rendition of a world reminiscent of a fairy tail.

Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots is a solid game, launching on most of the main platforms players will be on. It has a well-designed and fun gameplay loop that will reward players seeking a decent challenge while also having plenty of unlockable content. The cast is diverse and fun to play, but their dialogue is repeated so often that it can be grating on the ears. Many of the quirky moments that happen are fun for the first few times, but get old fast. What ends up making these issues somewhat mute is the learning curve the game offers.

Raiden V: Director’s Cut ends up being a shooter worthy of its history and does a good job of keeping alive gaming’s longest-running Japanese arcade shooter series.

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

While the presentation could have been more robust and gameplay mechanics more refined, it remains a concentrated and entertaining dose of Naruto fanservice, like the developers dropped a hundred different Naruto action figures into your lap and told you to go nuts.

Despite some of the issues with the game, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is a solid arena fighting game that has tons of action and content available to players on day one and is worth a shot for fans and newcomers alike.

After making a terrible first impression, Trillion: God of Destruction manages to be a unique experience.

In the end, Toukiden isn’t the Monster Hunter killer many were expecting, but it becomes an enticing package if you can get past its shortcomings.

Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time is a great-playing game that falls just a bit short of being a well-crafted overall experience. The filler-filled stages and wave-based enemy rooms bog down the experience and get in the way of the fun. It’s a shame too as the core gameplay greatly exceeds the norm for licensed fare and delivers well-crafted swordplay, gunplay and melee combat all in one package. Beating up enemies is satisfying, but tackling waves of them in a weirdly laid-out labyrinth chips away at things. The graphical design is sharp and nicely matches the show, but is hurt by low-quality texture work from time to time. The sound design is top-shelf and not only fits the show, but makes you appreciate playing with a nice audio setup to better-discern enemy locations. Fans of the show will enjoy the game, while those just looking for a well-crafted action game may be disappointed.

Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Collection contains of a trilogy of great Assassin’s Creed games that remind players why Ezio and his games are the most celebrated within the fandom. The gameplay mechanics function just as they did in the original releases which is a double-edged sword of authenticity and nostalgia going against modernized quality-of-life improvements. While these are great games and should be played by all Assassin’s Creed fans, there are unfortunately concessions mentioned above that hold this back from being the definitive collection. The only real reason to recommend this version over the PlayStation 4/Xbox One version is the portability factor.

Those in the mood for a fast-paced experience that won’t require a massive investment of time for a play session should give Funk of Titans a shot.

Overall this seems like a game that would be good for die hard fighting fans who love playing against other people, but not recommended for anyone looking for a substantial single player experience.

Ride 2 doesn’t do everything it could have to become the premiere motorcycle racing game on the market, but it comes far closer than the original. The racing action is more intense than before, but the core game is still held back by a bit by long load times. The online play remains solid, so anyone who enjoyed the original’s online play will find more of that to enjoy here. Anyone who felt that the first game was a world of unfulfilled potential will find more to like here. The core action is far better and there is more to enjoy than before. It’s a well-crafted game and well-worth buying for anyone who enjoys fast-paced sim racing and has a passion for motorycles.

Those looking for something more fleshed out and demanding of a deeper trudge through its own brand of desolation may feel short-changed, but The Tarnishing of Juxtia just about manages to stay the course and avoid getting too indulgent in its blatant inspirations. A committed action-platformer that doesn’t outstay its welcome.

Gunplay has never felt better, but the bullet-sponge nature of the enemies and lack of necessary ammo dilute what is otherwise an enjoyable game to play. Wolfenstein: Youngblood is a different beast from its predecessors. While some of it works, other aspects fall flat. Youngblood is a fun distraction with a friend, but if you want the full Wolfenstein experience, you’ll need to wait for Wolfenstein III.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is not a perfect game and the tech issues in particular are fair grounds for complaints. Even with its faults, however, the positives greatly outweighs its flaws, though some old school Assassin’s Creed fans may be in an uproar over some of the more drastic changes to the traditional formula. Despite its issues, this is a worthwhile odyssey to embark on.

While cumbersome controls and an oddly-behaving combo meter can betray the underlining intention of pace and of orderly chaos ruling over, Zombie Army 4: Dead War does just enough to shun these unfortunate moments. Players voluntarily, not forcibly, involving themselves with such madness with sufficiently-positive results.

Blade & Soul is a free-to-play MMORPG and as such offers a lot of content and gameplay for literally nothing.

Even with the over-zealous use of effects and seemingly-obligated need to snapshot every significant moment mid-game, Tsubasa understands that to truly craft an entertaining sports title, it has to convince its players that the depth it houses is worthwhile. But much like the lofty heights of the best PES iterations, the game nails the tenuous, juggling of emotions that soccer can bring. Crafting on top two solid (if a touch slap-dash on presentation) story campaigns, that have all the trappings of some of the best and most resonating of emergent gameplay. I sincerely hope these issues are rectified sooner rather than later — Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is an unabashed yet joyous rendition on what makes soccer games so good.

Coming at arguably a fitting time of the year, The Block — simple and small in scale it may be — makes for an adequate palette-cleanser of a release. Balancing a stripped-back and minimal appearance with a gameplay loop open to self-propelled challenge-making. Its variety on object selection and grid sizes isn’t the most expansive. So quickly prone to repeated use and suggestions that a more substantial selection wouldn’t have gone a miss. Even so, for a game devoid of true objectives, progression or anything else you’d consider standard fare in most games, The Block does just enough in providing a fascinating short-burst of a clicker-type release. One whose simple premise but obsessive potential means that an hour spent in The Block is just as viable and likely an outcome as any number of minutes.

Fashioning Little Miss Lonesome is the kind of game that is best played and not analyzed. It should take most only a weekend to play and offer them an outlandish, generally humorous tale which brings together an antisocial teen and two bizarre classmates. It doesn’t provide much substance, but comedy visuals novels rarely do. It also offers the choice between accessing or avoiding adult content for those who aren’t comfortable with that. There are better otome titles out there, sure, but there are also far worse. Fashioning Little Miss Lonesome deserves props for trying something a little different, even if it doesn’t excel enough to become memorable.

Juiced 2 is a nice change from the hardcore, but ascetic, sims you might be used to. This one manages to find a nice mix between the two extremes while remaining fun. [Nov 2007, p.54]

All things considered, Black Knight Sword is truly a one-of-a-kind experience thanks to its imaginative art direction, soundtrack, narrative and overall concept. For $9.99, those qualities might be enough to warrant a purchase.

Langrisser is a tried and true return to retro roots. This enjoyable remake is one that long-time fans of Warsong or those who have been interested in the series for a long time finally get the chance to play. While it lacks a tutorial, the mechanics are mostly easy to grasp with a little sleuthing around the menus to understand how everything works. The updated art style is wonderfully drawn, but the inclusion of the original art is what shines most with a wonderful early ’90s nostalgic anime style. The story may not last on most memories, but the combat makes this a fun romp with a good amount of challenge. Any fan of tactics titles should absolutely consider diving into Langrisser I & II.

The Weaponographist is wonderfully insane and had the potential for greatness, but the pieces that it’s lacking mean it’s simply a fun, straightforward speed-running twin-stick action/RPG-lite.

With Catherine: Full Body, it feels like Atlus was trying to find an acceptable midpoint between remake and remaster. As a remake, its success depends entirely on whether or not players choose to follow Rin’s route. If they do, then the story changes at least feel justified, even if one doesn’t actually like where that story thread goes. If they don’t choose Rin, though, then the whole exercise winds up feeling entirely pointless. As a remaster, however, Catherine: Full Body is successful. The game looks and sounds great, its new remix mode offers refreshing challenges to player both old and new alike, the new safety mode makes seeing all the endings easier than ever, and the addition of a fully-featured online multiplayer is sure to keep die-hard block-stackers happy for a good long while. New players and serious fans likely won’t regret picking up Catherine: Full Body on release, but everyone else would likely be better-off waiting for a sale.

Monster Rancher 1&2 DX is a blast from the past, letting fans re-experience a classic while introducing new players to the franchise. The big take away is that these games have not aged particularly well. Mechanically, it’s rough around the edges, at least within the battle system. Raising a monster is one of the more compelling components as fans of micromanaging time and effort will have a blast. The disc system, or lack thereof now, is disappointing as it becomes a gaccha reroll machine that takes out the fun of picking up what you have around and using it. Granted, it’s hard to actually simulate a system that cannot be done today, but it’s just not the same. In the end, Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX has done enough to justify the revisit of two of the most memorable monster games.

Unrest is a choice-driven RPG with little combat to speak of that touches on relevant social issues.

Call of the Sea could benefit from having more substance, but otherwise it’s a solid adventure game that manages to put a unique spin on the traditional Lovecraftian adventure. Norah’s journey is a memorable one, thinks to some terrific dialogue and a breathtaking, surreal island full of fantastical mystery. It may not be the most challenging graphic adventure game, but it’s still one that players might want to take a look at sometime. After all, after so many sheer descents into madness, why not set out to find a welcome change of pace?

Poi‘s greatest weakness lies in its sound design, but the core game is well-crated and a lot of fun. The smaller world size keeps players focused on the task at hand, while keeping mandatory collect-a-thon parts to a minimum puts a stronger focus on the platforming action. Thankfully, this is the game’s strongest point and anyone looking for a solid 3D platformer should check out Poi. It controls nearly-perfectly, with only an iffy camera causing issues from time to time. It looks solid for the most part too, with impressive lighting adding some impressive visual flair to what can sometimes be bland-looking stages.

The game looks fantastic and feels like it was designed specifically for the PS Vita. Capturing the essence of what Digimon is, Cyber Sleuth is the Digimon game fans have been waiting for.

It may not be the coveted next leap forward given last year’s highly-satisfying rendition, but WRC 9 provides a satisfying-enough reminder as to the heights this series has finally achieved.

Hot Lap Racing succeeds far more than it fails as a more serious racing game on the Switch. It's hurt a framerate-wise by the hardware, but still manages to control nicely with digital inputs being recognized on either controllers with purely digital inputs or analog. Controlling the cars feels natural and that plays into the harder-than-usual difficulty that makes the player get better to excel and doesn't offer as many options as other modern-day racers to ease the burden. Veteran racing fans will probably appreciate that approach to an extent, while the inclusion of many kinds of driving challenges evoked more of the fun of Project Gotham Racing than the more laborious classic Gran Turismo license tests. It's a flawed, but fun racing excursion on the Switch and offers far more racing variety than its contemporaries in the Gear Club Unlimited series.

Although not long by typical game standards, taking most explorers between four and eight hours, this is a serious amount of time for virtual reality releases. Adventuring around Tyson III is beautiful, and sometimes even breathtaking, and as such, it would have made more sense to focus on these high points instead of forcing players to drudge through puzzles or deal with sometimes finicky climbing mechanics. Even so, it’s incredibly appealing to visit the world of Robinson: The Journey within a VR headset. Barring that key aspect, it would be just another exploratory title with dinosaurs and adequate gameplay.

With period-authentic aesthetics and sharp writing, this point and click will keep you enthralled from beginning to end – and maybe teach you a thing or two about history along the way.

Amanda the Adventurer 2 is a fun adventure title that delivers solid puzzles, great performances and a nice mixture of dread and humor, but a few sloppy decisions and a lack of anything substantial in either the gameplay or story areas hold it back. Still, if you can get past those issues (and the first puzzle), there's a nice, quick romp through an eerie library here that's worth checking out. If nothing else, at least the true ending will leave fans properly hooked for more games to come...

Redeemer is at its best when being a brawler, which it does most of the time. Guns are nice to take out the small fry and leave room to concentrate on the bigger threats, and the occasional trapped room is best bulled through and forgotten, but when you’ve got a room full of enemies of different abilities and are darting about, looking for environment kills or things to throw while performing counters and working on chaining attacks together the combat flows incredibly well. Heading into a room, assessing threats, coming up with a plan, and adjusting it on the fly to pound cyborgs and mutants into the floor feels great, especially when you fall into the fight’s rhythm and come out with barely a scratch. At the end the difficulty increases by enemies that take a few too many hits to go down, frequently joined by armored sniper that require you to keep moving rather work on offense, but by then you’re almost done and can push on through to the final encounter. Ignore the story and show up for the fighting and Redeemer provides a nice, long quest with plenty of unique areas to wreak bloody violence through.

Root Letter is a strange visual novel, but one that keeps players interested throughout. If you feel you’ve received a rather lackluster ending then that’s cause to play through four more times to uncover the final truth. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t make expedite subsequent playthroughs. Still, there is a lot to like about a visual novel focused on the lives of thirty somethings rather than samey love-struck teenagers.

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.

It falls just short of its goal of being a Bomberman killer, but just short of Bomberman is still a pretty good place to be, and Dollar Dash is definitely worth looking into.

It’s still an enjoyable action platformer, and while there are some unique elements to help make the game memorable, it still falls short of some of the great titles that inspired it.

Although it should take most ten hours to complete, A Hand in the Darkness provides something unique in the visual novel space. Not only is it a rare English yaoi tale, it also presents itself in a more realistic way than, say, Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator.

In the end, though, it’s the gameplay and music that’s king here, and both together make for a very enjoyable experience. It’s not worth the for $60 price tag for non-Persona 3 fans, but is worth trying after a price drop.

It's not too often that a game comes out at a low price that makes you feel willing to pay more if they had just added certain things. This is the case for iRacing Arcade. Was this a game simply because there was extra room in their budget or was iRacing just testing the waters? If there is a sequel, they know what to add after this. The racing, the aesthetic, and the Career Mode are the draw in iRacing Arcade. At just $25, any racing fan needs to pick it up. Players will need a group of friends to lobby up, though, as there isn't matchmaking for online racing and not much else going on outside the Career Mode. This also does get grindy and repetitive. These cars could be made into toys, as the reflections really showcase the detail in these caricatures of automobiles. The racing is fun at the right difficulty level, and is completely worth the price of admission.

For an odd spin-off to an RPG series, Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight is very well executed. Its song library is more than a little sparse considering how many of the tracks are remixes, but each song offers its own challenge and is fun once one gets into its groove.

Dark Souls II: Crown of the Old Iron King is a solid expansion to an already captivating game, but there are some questionable choices that have been made.

The Quarry comes close to being Supermassive’s strongest successor to Until Dawn yet, but sadly stumbles when it comes to delivering a satisfying finale as the story fails to hit the high marks it sets up early on with its mystery. Still, for those looking for a satisfying horror game, graphic adventure or interactive movie to have a few thrills with, there’s more than enough here to deliver a satisfying experience, largely thanks to nicely-honed gameplay and a cast of likeable characters. Give it a whirl if interested, if only so you can play director even further once you finish it and try to find something new.

It’s a mediocre brawler, an interrupted open world adventure, and a decent visual novel, but ultimately the game lacks the confident quirkiness the initial idea clearly had in spades.

Dark Souls III: The Ringed City isn’t the swan song that we hoped it would be, but it’s still an enticing adventure for hardcore fans. The problem lies within city itself, which is a bit of a formulaic mess that fails to capture what made the series great. The first half of the DLC has an excellent setup that will leave players wanting more, especially with callbacks to Dark Souls II, but city portion is structurally boring. It’s still intertwining in on itself, but it feels like the developers had a checklist of all their favorite areas and design tropes that needed to be in this short experience, lessening their importance. No one area feels fleshed out enough to be memorable. Regardless, the bosses are a decent showpiece, especially if you can find the secret one, and the new enemies are a welcome addition. It may be only a few hours long, but The Ringed City still a worthy addition to the Dark Souls universe.

Excelling with its simulation aspect and deep career mode, MXGP 3 is a solid motocross title in a market that is virtually non-existent. Back in the days of the original PlayStation, both 989 Sports (Sony) and EA had flagship motocross titles, but those days have sadly passed. For a smaller developer like Milestone to accomplish what they have with the game speaks wonders, but there is much room for growth. With the game featuring the FIM license, maybe it would be more appropriate to lock up the AMA license to have the official stadium tracks and drivers for this side of the pond. For having all the licenses and sponsors, the audience needs to be broadened.

It shows its age in some spots but for the most part it’s enjoyable. People with fond memories of it would probably enjoy this update over the original if for no other reason than the visual facelift. Its style has as much to do with its legacy as the gameplay but this is one of the more memorable titles to grace the original PlayStation. In spite of the areas where this title has not aged well, MediEvil is still fun and darkly charming adventure, and like Sir Daniel this HD remake still shows there’s life left in this corpse.

Kromaia is by no means a perfect game, but the action at its heart has an excellent flow.

Black Desert Online is a beautiful game marred by inept tutorials and an impenetrable story.

It is, however, an experience that leaves a bit desired. Newcomers looking to get into the roguelike genre for the first time though, will probably find this to be the ideal experience.

Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare is an incredibly frustrating game to review as everything that’s here is great, but there’s simply not enough of it.

Phantom Abyss is a trek into a lost and trap-filled temple that constantly has you on your toes. Each room is filled with several ways to die, or at least take a good amount of damage, and the constant pressure from the guardian means you have to think while moving. While there's something to be said for tearing through the level at top speed, the rooms are frequently interesting enough that it would be nice to stop and look around for a minute without being pushed forward. The secrets are highly satisfying to find, and when a guardian is dropping poison bombs or just relentlessly advancing that can feel like it's working against the necessary concentration or experimentation needed to reach them. A lot of the time it can feel easier to just dash on through, ignoring the intricate room design to reach the door to the next one, and the next and the next until finally reaching the exit. Every once in a while, though, Phantom Abyss manages to balance the speed and exploration, and that's when it's at its best.

While Wreckreation still needs work to get the remaining kinks out, there's still a hugely entertaining racer once you get used to the fact that there's no reasonable way to expect Burnout Paradise-levels of polish. It's the kind of game you can spend half a day listing its flaws and the other half having a great time playing, bashing opponents into scrap metal while seeing what kind of trouble you can find or create. Wreckreation shoots for the stars and doesn't quite make it, but it's hard to complain when drifting a mountain road's switchback at two hundred miles per hour or building a series of ramps up a mountain just because you can. It's a lovely peaceful world in the countryside of Wreckreation, but with a little bit of creative mayhem, that's a problem it won't have for long.

Transference is a novel concept with with adequate execution. It’s intended to be played in VR for the greatest impact, so those with multiple platform options should factor that into the decision process of choosing which one to go with. The story is fascinating and fans of horror will most likely find an enjoying and disturbing experience. The short length is a double-edged sword, though, as it can be comfortably played in VR in one sitting but is ultimately a very short game. Being story driven, the simplistic gameplay is just interactive enough to keep the player engaged, making Transference a worthwhile descent into madness to take once but offers little reason to come back for more.

Joseph: Collapse is a welcome addition to Far Cry 6. It isn’t the most substantial piece of DLC, but that works in its favor. It’s a straightforward roguelike experience that can be enjoyed in a single sitting of less than an hour. The short amount of time required for completion ensures that Joseph doesn’t wear out his welcome over the multiple playthroughs required to unlock the highest difficulty level and fully upgrade all of his abilities and weapons. Joseph Seed is a memorable villain and being able to learn more about his backstory makes revisiting a corrupted version of Hope County a worthwhile trip in Far Cry 6: Joseph: Collapse.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central isn’t exactly the deepest rhythm game, but there’s still fun to be had here, even if the overall product is held back by its finicky Joy-Con controls. A great soundtrack, enjoyable gameplay modes and a bold, eye-catching visual style help keep the party going even longer, but with a little refinement, future shindigs in this series can be even greater than ever.

“Thicker Than Water” has its moments of enjoyment and incredulity, but the slow build-up and the meandering nature of the episode as a whole turns it into a frustrating chunk of a mostly consistent season. Players who stick through it will be well-rewarded with an intriguing finale setup that will hopefully pay off, but individually, the episode feels more like an obstacle than a continuation.

Prey is a fun game with its highlights rooted in beautiful yet creepy levels that contain a lot to explore, but its lack of originality sadly holds it back quite a bit. It’s a classic case of “jack of all trades, master of none,” except with a couple of flaws in some of its trades as well.

Millennia is an interesting, if flawed, take on the civilization-like experience that could be so much more with polish and time taken to it. It’s worth experiencing if you like these types of games, but it’s not going to revolutionize the genre, or dethrone Civilization anytime soon. With some polish and the right updates, it can get better, but for now it's a good, but flawed experience.

There's a lot to explore and a huge amount of potential stat tweaking, but it would have been nice to get a proper explanation on how Legasista's systems fit together.

NASCAR ’14 offers up a solid racing experience, and should be a satisfying pickup for fans of the sport. Casual fans may want to wait for a price drop, but die-hards will easily get $50 worth out of — especially with DLC coming monthly that updates everything to the current season.

There’s a lot to love about The Gunk even if the core gameplay rarely rises above being pretty OK. It’s a good adventure through a unique and pretty alien world, filled with character and life. Rani and Beck are a good team and their dialogue is great fun, even as the pressures mount on their relationship. The story of the alien civilization makes sense, and it’s good to play a game where the mysteries have clear solutions rather than get lost in heavy-handed world building. If the platforming and combat had lived up to everything else then The Gunk would be top-tier gaming, but even so it ends up being a playable adventure that will keep you invested to the final credit roll.

Angry Video Game Nerd I & II Deluxe is the perfect game collection for fans of the difficult 8-bit games and the Angry Video Game Nerd. That being said, while it’s a great game collection for people who fit that criteria, if you remove the character and humor it ends up being an average old-fashioned action game with a ridiculous difficulty level. Fans of the Nerd probably have this game already and are enjoying it but it seems like it would be a hard sell for anyone who isn’t into retro gaming and the Nerd. Still, from any objective standpoint this game is much better than having a buffalo take a diarrhea dump in your ear.

LEGO Dimensions feels like it wants to be the ultimate LEGO game, but never quite gets there.

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins re-imagines the earliest Final Fantasy in a manner befitting of a popcorn action film and for the most part succeeds. The story is an interesting re-interpretation of the Warriors of Light even if there are a few elements that seem nonsensical and shoehorned in. Like most things involving a timeloop, it’s just better for one’s sanity not to contemplate the finer points of the story too much. A lot of the story wants to be taken seriously, but Jack’s over-the-top obsession with killing Chaos brings the overall tone into comedic territory. The gameplay is frenetic action with several difficulty options to make it accessible to newcomers and challenging to veterans of the genre. Approaching Stranger of Paradise with any sort of expectations of what a Final Fantasy game should be will likely lead to disappointment. When viewed through the lens of a campy B-movie, however, killing Chaos can be a thrill.

Devil’s Dare is a dedicated return to arcade beat ‘em ups of ages past full of familiar-feeling characters, opponents and music. It provides difficult and skill-based combat and a constant stream of challenging encounters that will prevent you from losing interest.

Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening is a worthy entry in the forty-year-old franchise. The unintuitive user interface and vague explanation of game mechanics give it a steeper learning curve than it should have, but once the player has invested a few hours into it, the journey to unify Japan can be a rewarding one. Because of this it’s difficult to recommend this title to someone new to Nobunaga’s Ambition or RTS games in general. Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening isn’t casual friendly, but like most endeavors can be a worthwhile game for those willing to invest the time.

River City Saga: Three Kingdoms is an enjoyable yet unexpected take on Kunio and company. One of the areas it excels is in bringing a new interpretation to the Three Kingdoms story while making it feel at home alongside any other River City game. The controls feel dated, and while recreating many positive elements of classic gaming, they’re too unforgiving when it comes to the required precision in fighting off hordes of enemies or jumping on moving obstacles. In spite of this complaint, River City Saga: Three Kingdoms is a blast to play and maintains the essence of what made this series so popular. It would be interesting to see other source material get the River City Saga treatment in the future.

Destiny 2 has its share of issues, a lot of them to be frank, but it’s still an entertaining adventure that the developers have properly improved. The shooting mechanics are some of the best in the business, and the art team has done an amazing job in bringing this futuristic universe to realization. With that said, it’s not a monumental leap, feeling less like a sequel and more like an overloaded expansion. That’s not to mention the worlds, while beautiful, are less memorable than most of what the original game had to offer. Thankfully, Bungie and Activision have outdone themselves with the PC port. While the graphics are primarily sharper and more defined, the 60 FPS frame rate is the real game changer, ensuring you’ll never want to go back to another 30 FPS shooter. The keyboard and mouse controls also add a level of precision you couldn’t find on consoles, making this the go-to version to get. In the end, the PC release will give players a decent idea what console players have been talking about over the last three years, for better or for worse.

Not the first game to focus so literally on the contrast between light and dark, Morkredd isn’t brimming with aesthetic originality, but its puzzles make up for in plentiful amount. It’s the surprisingly deceptive nature of its puzzle-solving — and the many hidden dangers its rendition of darkness brings — where Morkredd‘s best moments are to be found. Puzzles that somewhat rely on a preconceived assumption of movement so as to trip you over, yet more importantly are designed in such a way to encourage you to think carefully about your next move. Slow and steady is the general order of play here. Its world may seem too insistent on its own implied sense of shock and surprise, not least when it tries to be climactic for climactic’s sake. But despite the lack of any real meaningful exposition with its narrative or its world-building, the true revelation lies with how Morkredd makes each step forward into the dark an anxious yet entertaining one to consider.

The actual game portion is well done, and fun in small chunks, but becomes a bit too repetitive for its own good.

It’s such a shame that Street Fighter V launched in the state it did; it’s impossible to wholeheartedly recommend to everyone as a result. If you’re on the fence or a newcomer, you’re better off waiting for another update or two for the game to get fully fleshed out. But even right now, beyond all its rough edges and missing modes, Street Fighter V is a tremendous fighting game at the top of its class.

For $20, it's about the price of a graphic novel, which is exactly what it is. So if you can stomach the gore and overall obscurity, then this super niche PSP title may be worth a checking out.

When Sea of Thieves clicks, most likely because you have a full galleon of fellow pirates to work with, it can create a rousing, fun experience whether completing a long voyage for the Gold Hoarders or even just sailing around, looking for any hidden secrets or loot. But remove that and becomes clear that you have a game with little in the way or content or variety. It’s still decent, of course, but it’s nothing to write home about without a group.

An actual campaign, a good amount of Strikes, the Crucible and a plethora of side activities ensure that Destiny 2 will remain in your console’s disc-drive for a long time. In other aspects, however, Destiny 2 feels more of an expansion than it does a sequel.

Soul Hackers 2 is a by the books turn-based JRPG that doesn’t do anything particularly memorable nor offensive. The story is lacking in scope, dungeons are bland, and there’s questionable design choices to tried and true systems. It doesn’t help that there’s less-than-stellar load times on the current generation consoles, especially considering the amount of traveling that’s required. With that said, there’s decent character development, a fantastic combat system and of course all your favorite demons and creatures you’d expect, and then some. On top of that, the visual aesthetic (at least outside of dungeons) is tremendously vibrant, bringing your screen to life in the most enticing way possible. In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the game, but it comes with numerous flaws. Soul Hackers 2 has all the trappings of a great Shin Megami Tensei game, including heart, but lacks the substance to make it special.

Pokémon Quest is a wonderful experience that is easily played in short bursts and feels properly at home on Nintendo Switch in particular as it makes great use of the tablet-like aspect of the system. Those interested in this cute cube-styled world should give Pokémon Quest a try as it’s truly a delightful treat for every type of Pokémon fan.

There’s a lot of upside in this title, especially with Renegade Kid’s announcement of a second season featuring entirely new content, but as it stands Moon Chronicles doesn’t quite live up to its lofty potential.

1001 Spikes‘ challenge doesn’t hurt its cause by any means, but those who despise trying something hundreds of times in a row will find themselves quickly turned off.

Outside the campaign, The Final Shape does mostly well. The Pale Heart is a visually-arresting space to explore, though doesn’t change the Patrol Zone formula in any meaningful way. The addition of the Dread enemy faction and Prismatic subclass add freshness to the sandbox, though don’t offer any evolution to the way you’ll play Destiny 2. The only truly downright awful thing about The Final Shape is that, for $50, there’s still not a whole lot of included content, leaving Destiny 2’s core activities starved for anything fresh. Destiny 2: The Final Shape is, ultimately, more Destiny 2, and it provides a meaningful ending to the 10-year Light and Darkness saga.

Sonic Colors’ vibrant colors, inventive level design and fast gameplay made it a hit back in 2010. Sonic Colors: Ultimate recaptures the magic, making refinements and upgrades to the gameplay and visuals to bring them more in line with today’s standards.

Edens Zero is an enjoyable action RPG that offers solid variation in combat skills and an interesting look into Hiro Mashima’s work. Despite its worlds feeling oddly devoid of life due to the lack of interactive opportunities beyond battle and looting, it’s still a good journey to depart on.

Mugen Souls Z isn’t a great RPG, but it’s an entertaining one, and there’s enough meat on its bones to keep you playing for a good long while.

In the history of gaming there have been experiences where everything about the game is fantastic except for the actual gameplay. The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story falls into this category. The well-written story keeps the player captivated through the entire playthrough while the music perfectly complements each scene. The acting cast is top notch, especially if the original Japanese audio track is used. The hexagon system of coming to a hypothesis can get quickly tedious, and with no penalty for a wrong conclusion or choices that have any impact more than the illusion of involvement, there isn’t any replay value. But the lackluster gameplay aside, The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story is a wonderful story that should be experienced and one of the better attempts at an FMV game.

Thanks to the distinctive story and a number of improvements to the overall combat, Tales of Berseria ends up being one of the better Tales games in a while. With that said, this accomplishment isn’t exactly the most difficult hurdle to overcome considering the last decade hasn’t been too kind on the series. The problem is just how slow-paced and one-note the early goings are.

Digimon Survive is a strange combination of genres that, taken as a whole, is enjoyable, even though the sum of its parts doesn’t wholly mesh. Digimon Survive is a worthwhile adventure for those looking for a strong story, but expect things to move slowly and not much actual gameplay.

The game in general is worth the time for fans of the series and someone just looking to play a lighthearted action/RPG. The tough part is deciding if Deluxe or the Vita version is the definitive entry. Each has their Pros and Cons over the other, not the least of which is the fact that the older versions have a lower price when compared to this gussied up version. One needs to choose if they want the complete edition or one with a less temperamental camera, if a higher framerate is worth the lack of portability. Of course, there’s also a Switch version of Deluxe which has that benefit… I’m not quite sure where I land on that choice for myself, but this game is fun in any incarnation.