They wanted to give the IP as much space as possible from this train wreck, and I’d suggest you give yourself the same.

Hoshizora no Memoria -Wish upon a Shooting Star- provides slice of life fun for those who enjoy it, with a bit extra in the form of its mysterious elements and plenty of routes, but it can often become a slog to read between key moments. While the localization provided is acceptable, the multiple issues with the text typos and formatting are not. Patches will resolve these issues, but there’s so many to resolve that it will likely take a while before they’re all finally smoothed out. Most can probably wait on this release until then to get the best experience.

In the moment, it can be thrilling to spar words with Cersei or choose whether to execute a thief or send him to the Wall. For that to work, however, you have to be willing to put up with a lot: the slow pacing, the exaggerated visuals, the awful animation and the fact that those choices don’t make much of a difference at all. Things could improve over the long haul, but based on this first episode, committing to a season pass is not recommended to anyone but the most diehard Game of Thrones fans with a high tolerance for mediocrity.

From a studio having delivered far better and should in all likelihood have done so once more, Redfall is an uncharacteristically poor and cobbled-together brand of tedium. Though pockets of the developer’s signature traits remain when it comes to exploration, level design and reading up on the world of this fictional small-town settlement, it’s as far as the game goes in injecting a sense of care or thought to what it’s offering and asking of its player. Shamelessly limping from one half-hearted implementation and excuse to pad out its run-time to the next. The killing blow undoubtedly coming by way of its PC performance. A myriad of issues big and small that will take some doing to rectify. But even then, with a lack of enemy variety, creative mission design and simply reason to stay invested or evolve from out of, its gameplay just isn’t all that fun to engage with from the off. A bare minimum effort with such scarce appeal, Redfall stands as a devoid and near-lifeless pivot away from the standard we’ve come to expect from Arkane Studios.

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

It offers players immense freedom to create their ideal farm, but only if they’re willing to do a ton of work to prepare and maintain it for future years.

If you’re dying for something similar to Flashback, and don’t mind wrestling with some control issues, an inferior story and a generic art-style, then this may be what you’re looking for. Otherwise, you’d best just sit tight and hope that someone decides to make a version of the original game with a slightly higher resolution.

Bugs vs Tanks! is a great B-Movie idea in search of a game to do it justice, but this just isn’t it.

Bound by Flame is a charming RPG that’s fundamentally and mechanically flawed.

There’s certainly worse driving games on the platform, but it’s hard to find a reason why anybody would want to play this revival of a dormant series that was mediocre to begin with and is even weaker over a decade later.

Turbo: Super Stunt Squad is both a Tony Hawk Pro Skater clone and a failed adaption of a snail racing movie. It has little relation with the film and could swap the assets out for say, The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure, and accomplish the same thing.

Unless the controls are tightened up in the future, it’s hard to recommend Tesla Breaks the World! to anyone other than the most devoted platformer fans out there.

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.

Maybe there's a great game beyond level 8. Maybe it turns into peaches and honey. Maybe a magical unicorn bursts from the screen. Who knows? After playing a single level beyond any possibility of ever getting any enjoyment from it again, I turned the game off and walked away. Gameplay masochism only stays enjoyable so long before a feeling best described as "screw this!" sets in, and Fractured Soul blew past that point and never looked back.

I really wanted to like Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier. The Apes world is fascinating and a Telltale-esque game set in that universe has all the makings for an amazing experience. While it’s an awesome idea, Last Frontier’s execution just isn’t there. Hopefully Imaginati Studios and 20th Century Fox don’t give up on this idea, though. Video games are iterative and developers learn from their mistakes. While Last Frontier can’t be recommended on its own merits, its concept has potential and shouldn’t be abandoned.

Attack of the Movies 3D is just plain bad from start to finish, and while that can be fun in the right movie, it’s just painful in a game.

There are much better puzzlers on the 3DS eShop than Bit Boy!! Arcade, so you’re better off skipping this flawed endeavor unless you really want to hear a red, cherub-faced cube talk like a serial killer.

Cognition: Episode 2 fails to live up to the standards of Episode 1, which wasn’t exactly a lofty bar to aim for in the first place.

As-is, it's a very, very pretty demo of what the SIXAXIS can do. [May 2007, p.69]

As a fan of Nippon Ichi Software’s output as a whole (these are the people behind the Ys and Xanadu series, after all), it’s hard not to be disappointed with The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2. Despite the knowledge gained from the previous outing, the developer released a title that plays like the place their unused ideas of other places got sent to die. Staying prepared for the action takes up a huge amount of time and the action itself isn’t exactly compelling.

t is not just bad, it is bad in an incredibly Wii-specific, low-effort sort of way you just don’t see on other consoles.

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.

The framework of what could be a solid title is in place; perhaps even the talent to see it through. But as it stands, DreadOut is plagued with poor design choices and a small budget.

Unfortunately, at $15, it’s hard to recommend even if you’re a PS3-only player since Urban Trial Freestyle does the same thing as this, but better.

To be fair, however, Humans Must Answer is a good example of a specific sub-genre of shooter, but it’s just not one that happens to be much fun.

Bedlam may suit your needs if all you need is a trip down FPS memory lane, but you’re better off seeking any number of similar titles which actually offer compelling gameplay.

If you are a devoted fan of Nekopara Vol. 1 then there’s little reason not to buy Nekopara Vol. 0. Not only is it far cheaper at the price of $2.99, but it also gives you nearly an hour more with a cast of colorful cat girls. Those brand new to the Nekopara world, or folks who only found the previous game to be okay, shouldn’t bother.

There’s a lot to enjoy in Lovely Planet, so long as you don’t actually have to play the game.