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.

Even with its imperfections, Hitman: Absolution is a magnificent achievement that goes well beyond expectations and will lead future stealth action titles into a better tomorrow.

The New Order is also easily the most enjoyable shooter in years, boasting a tongue-in-cheek dose of ’80s B-movie action that easily topples the previous entry in the series. There’s a lengthy campaign, some genuinely impressive set pieces and, most importantly, incredibly fun gameplay. And that’s something I did Nazi coming.

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.

Through a exploration of Southern Indian cuisine and the preparation of it that’s been given a slight puzzler twist, Venba manages to serve up a captivating story about culture, motherhood, immigrant life and more, spiced up with likeable characters and great dialogue, and topped off with eye-catching visuals and an ear-pleasing soundtrack. It’s a short feast, but a filling one, so it would be wise to give it a shot. Would it help if we said that it might remind you of a rocket somehow?

With any luck, Escape Academy will be successful enough to warrant a sequel, as its uniquely quirky academic world and its cast deserve to be fleshed out even further with even more meticulously-crafted escape rooms to solve. As is, though, Escape Academy is a fun jolt of great puzzle designs guaranteed to fire up your cortex, topped off with impressive aesthetics that make for some memorable escapes. It may not be complicated breakout one might hope for, but it’s still worth checking out.

Space Invaders had slipped off the gaming radar when Extreme revived the series and a decade later it’s still a great shooter that deserves to be pulled from the resting grounds of old hardware onto something more accessible. On the surface it’s a flashy crowd-pleaser, but underneath there’s a good amount of room for skilled play to pay off in high scores. Whether you choose to play for the light show or a spot on the leaderboard is personal choice, but neither option is a bad one and both offer plenty of high-energy shooting action. It’s great to have Space Invaders Extreme back, dancing away on a modern platform, and maybe if it does OK for itself we could get Infinity Gene as well. There’s always hope.

As a horror game, SOMA feels old and archaic. It isn’t especially frightening or even satisfying to play, but the questions it raises are worth exploring and make it worthwhile regardless.

Where Knights and Bikes meets the pass-mark for a sufficient, story-focused adventure title, it unfortunately falters with its insistence on a gameplay front that’s ultimately lacking and too often reliant on a repeated formula. If you can look past its formulaic moments of enemy-routing and the dead air that are its A-to-B travel, the tale being told in Knights and Bikes is pleasant enough and one that’s sure to raise a smile or two.

As far as puzzle games go, Scribblenauts is one of the best and will have you entranced by its cute and creative nature.

Cuisineer is a must-play for anyone in the mood for a top-tier dungeon-crawler. The core combat has a lot of variety thanks to its weapon selection and upgrade paths while the dungeons themselves make every repeat playthrough feel different. The only caveat to the combat is the lack of baked-in turbo, but that’s far from a deal-breaker when the game has so much variety with the restaurant management portion of things taking you on an adventure that doesn’t require a ton of button mashing. Cuisineer is a rewarding game to play that looks and sounds great and should be a gem for anyone who loves dungeon-crawlers or who wants to get into them because as a gateway game, I can see it being a hit to those who love simulation games as well thanks to the restaurant management.

Even with its slightly unintuitive interface and occasionally-tedious boss encounters, V Rising does what so many survival-sandbox and loot-based RPGs alike get horribly wrong from the word go: having the base gameplay start from a point of enjoyment. While the task to build one's self up and survive the ongoing perils remain crucial to one's progression, it's thanks to the game's reframing of key genre pillars like gear score and meters to manage that make the experience far from the slog it may initially imply. While its introduction may lead many to suspect the same mounting tedium is coming, a host of well-integrated mechanics alongside that consistent balancing of the risks one may be willing to take make V Rising -- and now, its subsequent release onto PS5 -- a noteworthy accomplishment.

Life is Strange: Before the Storm – Episode 2: Brave New World is an excellent entry in the series. It’s an emotional roller-coaster from beginning to end and an experience that will leave you with questions answered and tears in your eyes. Anyone who enjoyed the first episode, or even the original game, will love it. Seeing Chloe gain so much characterization here while also growing as a person with Amber is a minor revelation. The more grounded nature of Before the Storm remains one of the biggest advantages it has over the original game and helps it stand out tonally as well. The same visual issues abound, but the animation and overall sound design combine with the writing to make a story that hooks you at all times.

Terra Nil is a truly unique sim game that does a fantastic job in showcasing various ways the environment can be affected, with an astonishing level of hard work put into the tools needed to make things better. With simple yet incredibly fun gameplay, striking and gorgeous visuals, and a nice level of challenge that rewards players for properly planning things out without putting them under too much pressure, this is a terrifically wholesome and clever game that’s worth checking out.

Despite the bubble-eyed anime character designs, the game's script is sharp and subtle in a way that anime usually isn't. [Sept 2007, p.60]

The formula may be a little over 22 years old, but Mega Man 10 shows that it’s still more than capable of delivering just as much fun as it did all those years ago.

For a first title, Splashteam has shown that they are more than capable of bringing some original ideas to one of gaming’s oldest genres. The action-packed levels offer plenty of surprises to keep players on their toes, even if a few fall flat, and the brightly colored presentation further benefits the unique title. Yet, Splasher‘s distinct lack of character is unfortunate, as even a few minor touches could have greatly enhanced the context in which all of this exciting platforming is taking place. Nonetheless, casual and speedrunning platforming fans alike will find a pleasantly surprising amount of depth and content that boosts Splasher to exciting heights.

Fenyx Rising doesn’t have any right to be as good as it turned out to be. It sounds like a mid-tier PS2 game and in a lot of ways it is, except it takes all the weirdness and creativity and “what on Earth is this supposed to be”-ness of that era and applies full AAA-caliber production values to every aspect of it.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole is loaded with toilet humor and enough F bombs to make Andrew Dice Clay and Sam Kinison blush, but anyone following South Park over the past twenty years should be expecting that.

Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana may show its age with its mechanics, but still holds up surprisingly well. It lacks many of the standard features of modern Ys games, such as multiple playable characters, minigame battles and homebase building, but still provides the same story-driven adventure with fast-paced action combat. It's a relatively short adventure that can be completed in around ten or twelve hours, but none of that time is wasted with unnecessary filler. Between the charming visuals, enjoyable gameplay and amazingly-reworked soundtrack, Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is a great action RPG that should be experienced by all fans of the genre and a must-play for fans of Ys.

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe is a wonderful remaster with a good amount of love put into it. While it may not be as vast as last year’s new Forgotten Land title, it has a lot to offer players, especially those who may not have touched it before. Those who have previously played Return to Dream Land might not have much to look forward here unless they’re a hardcore fan, but those who like Kirby and have never tried this title will want to consider picking it up. It doesn’t do anything crazy compared to the typical Kirby adventure, but it’s so well put together with tons of optional activities that it’s well worth going along with Kirby and his friends to see it through to the end.

Grim Grimoire is an aesthetic masterpiece, and a good reminder of the storytelling potential inherent in video games. [July 2007, p.58]

People who want a portable experience are going to absolute require the Circle Pad Pro, in addition to a suitable explanation for your friends and family as to where you were for the month you disappeared and couldn’t be found.

Siege X is a much-needed update to Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, but more could have been put into it. Dual Front is a gameplay overhaul that will keep veterans busy for a long time. The visual upgrades are solid, but aren't mind blowing as this is still an eSports title that requires high refresh rates and low latency. The audio overhaul will help players better identify locations and the experience truly begs to use headphones. This is still Rainbow Six Siege, though, so it's either going to click for players or it won't. There's a steep difficulty curve and it requires time investment. Yes, protecting a room in the final minute while using your tools to take down four people as the only survival is rewarding, but wasting 5-10 minutes trying to plan then getting shot through the floor with one bullet while no one on your team is willing to revive you is frustrating. The update is welcome, but it doesn't revolutionize the game.

It’s hard to go wrong with Hatsune Miku and all the other Vocaloids in one of the most enjoyable rhythm titles on Switch. Although everything about how to play is simple at face value, it gets more challenging the higher the difficulty goes and constantly challenges one’s rhythm and ability to be alert without getting distracted. Anyone who enjoys the style of music and keeping up with a beat will enjoy the latest in the Project Diva series, as Mega Mix delivers on being a fantastic time. The new mega mix mode is an awesome addition that gives more ways to enjoy all the songs and move to the beat the entire time. There’s a reason Hatsune Miku is so popular and Project Diva Mega Mix further proves she’ll be here to last for a good long time.

In terms of gameplay itself, Crafted World is a great step-up from Woolly World. It feels closer to the original Yoshi’s Island, with some brand new quirks added in along the way. Every single stage in Crafted World feels like an entirely different idea come to life, which makes it all feel like a brand new adventure the moment Yoshi jumps in. While the music is a bit of a disappointment, it’s still enjoyable and light-hearted the whole time which fits the soft adventures of the wonderful crafted Yoshi. Anyone who enjoys the Yoshi series or is looking for a laid-back platforming adventure should consider taking a trip into Yoshi’s Crafted World.

Playing Gears of War: Reloaded is a beautiful reminder of how far the industry has come and what we've lost along the way. Upfront, Reloaded is a remaster of a remaster and does nothing to improve the nearly twenty-year-old game. Various quality-of-life improvements for AI, balancing, mechanics, the UI and more would have been greatly appreciated. Outside of that, however, Gears of War remains as compelling an experience as ever. The story, while lacking character development, remains exciting with stellar worldbuilding, foreshadowing and setpieces. The linear campaign is a true gem and reminder that you don't need a bloated 30-60 hour campaign to tell a compelling story. Gameplay remains basic, yet fun and majorly improved thanks to the enhanced framerate. It also goes without saying how spectacular it is to get the full multiplayer suite included given that most remasters don't even bother. The visual presentation is stellar, bringing what was originally an Xbox 360 game up to modern day standards. Reloaded is a stellar value with its campaign, cross-play co-op and full multiplayer suite, especially on PS5. Would a Gears of War Collection been nice, especially given the fact that neither Gears of War 2 or 3 are available on PC or PS5? Absolutely. What Gears of War: Reloaded does set out to accomplish, though, is successful, especially at giving PlayStation players their first of hopefully many trips to Sera.

I’ve attempted to stick to reviewing Pokkén Tournament DX on its own merits and not compare it too much with its predecessor. Of course this is the definitive version and superior choice. Fans of Pokémon will have a good time checking out the title. If there is any future content coming or major league gaming events, then it will have a bright future. Regardless, its entertaining gameplay should appeal to Switch owners and earn it a deserved fanbase.