Heroes of A Broken Land can be short and easy, or a test of patience and faith. It can be huge, chock-full of quests and glorious gold, or small and intimate. It seems the only thing each randomized adventure has in common is that they’re equal in fun.

While the difficulty level is unbalanced everything else in Shantae and the Seven Sirens works together to create an incredibly entertaining platform-adventure. The series leans more heavily on sex appeal than it needs to, but the world and characters are a huge amount of fun, bursting with color and personality. There’s a good variety in challenges, with the levels alternating between straight combat, platforming and even the occasional puzzle. Secrets are frequent enough that it’s always worth going back and re-checking an area, and even though I thought I’d done a thorough sweep for a first play-through, I still only ended up finding 84% of all items. They’ll have to wait for another play-through, though, because while my first save is still playable New Game+ is waiting with more magic, less defense, and a new outfit. Shantae and the Seven Sirens is a big, ambitious outing for the half-genie hero, and while she may not have gotten the vacation she was hoping for, it’s an adventure worth having.

Chernobylite offers a deep survival game experience that offers elements of sci-fi, horror and RPG. It’s hard to call this a survival horror title, but all the management aspects and the branching storylines will provide fans of the survival genre plenty to enjoy. There are only a handful of areas to go to and while they’re decent sized, enemies tend to respawn in the same location upon returning to the location. The atmosphere could have gone a different direction, but the visuals and environments are undeniably effective. The visual design in the portals in particular are something to marvel at. With a structured base of a game with varying options to keep players coming back, Chernobylite is worth checking out.

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.

Easily Spiders’ best work and one that is confident in its own material, GreedFall, though flawed, is one more fine addition to the AA sphere and a great example of passion and dedication, succeeding where it matters.

The difficulty in the later levels may be a turnoff for some, but that aside, Lichtspeer is highly enjoyable, action packed and a perfect blend of old-school action and new-school design. It hits the sweet spots of those that enjoy both fast-paced arcade gameplay and a cute sense of humor and is the type of game that can easily suck you in for lengthy periods of time.

Fans looking for a compelling plot that will help reinforce and enhance the Persona fiction will unfortunately have to look elsewhere as the story mode drags its feet far too often. Regardless, the core mechanics of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax will have you immersed, but only if you’re willing to put in the hours to master it.

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.

Super Mario Run is absolutely worth playing. Just don’t expect it to replace a 3DS for a good portable experience.

Fantasian: Neo Dimension is a modern take on the RPG formula. In many ways, it's similar to classic Final Fantasy games, but elements such as the trajectory aspect of battles and the Dimengeon help distinguish it from other titles the developers have previously worked on. The Dimengeon is an especially welcome addition to slow down the interruption that random encounters provide. The battles are enjoyable as they do require strategic planning, though playing on Hard difficulty can result in especially rough difficulty spikes later on. The rewarding battle system is complemented by the fantastic soundtrack and engaging story, reminiscent of some of the best classic RPGs. A couple characters can be grating and sometimes the controls feel like they could use some refinement, but Fantasian: Neo Dimension is a welcome challenge for anyone who is a fan of classic JRPGs.

The ambition of the game design makes it easy to overlook Wildmender‘s technical flaws. There’s just so much to mess around with, whether that be exploring the land looking for shrines, ghosts and graves, turning up new seeds and seeing what they grow, figuring out how to make rare hybrid crops, or just hanging out at home base to spruce the place up after un-collected seeds sprout new plants that clutter up the landscape.

This collection’s inclusion of thirteen games is enough to make it worthwhile, but the inclusion of all the extra content shows that the developers wanted to make this something special for TMNTfans. This collection is great reason to spend an evening ordering pizza and party like it’s 1989.

Held back by one too many erroneous factors unfortunate that may be, SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech is still by far Image & Form’s most fascinating and mechanically-impressive entry in the series to date.

There’s not a myriad of changes this year, but what has been tweaked is noticeable and makes for a fantastic game of pigskin.

After a period of expansions that were often average at best, World of Warcraft: Midnight delivers what now feels like a consistent quality following The War Within. It's not perfect, but it's a solid expansion that continues to show that World of Warcraft is heading in the right direction and understands what its current playerbase wants to see. World of Warcraft is in a good spot, and that's only being improved with the addition of features like Prey that keep players wanting to log on regularly, even if they don't have the time available. It's now accessible for players who want a more intense experience, as well as those who play casually, and that shift is what WoW needed.

Call of the Elder Gods is a fantastic Lovecraftian adventure with a unique setting, compelling story and mostly intuitive puzzles, except for one that feels like it makes no sense. Thanks to the Request Hint menu, even players who aren’t very familiar or have a hard time with the genre will be able to advance through the game, but finding solutions by yourself is a fascinating experience. While anyone may enjoy the game, it’s especially recommended for those who have already played Call of the Sea for a further dive into the universe’s lore.

Unlike some cringe-worthy games, the characters feel developed and not as if they’re simply jumping into relationships willy nilly. The storyline is sweet, sometimes saddening, and makes AlienWorks a developer to keep an eye on in the future.

For console gamers or those approaching this fresh, this is an easy recommendation. It’s fun and just the right kind of depraved.

Its best feature, outside of any obvious educational benefits, is that Influent feels very much like a video game. Where most programs would have you sift through walls of text, painfully memorizing bits and pieces at a time, Influent has you explore, on your own terms, a game space chock-full of interactive study points.

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.

While its party games may be largely disposable, the core gameplay alone is worth the budget price tag.

MotoGP 26 is the technical racing king in the current market space. The amount of details that have gone into the physics model cannot be overlooked, but it has gone back to having a steep learning curve to get good. The AI is inconsistent, which actually makes it feel brutal because you will feel like you're making ground. You can turn off Dynamic AI as this may be the culprit as it pushes the difficulty to the extreme every other lap. The Arcade Mode is back for those looking for something not as challenging. The updates to Career Mode are more than just subtle changes. These are solid enough to modify the experience, including the new Rider Ratings. The introduction of Production Bikes is a nice addition to go along with the already established other Rideoff bikes to try. There remains a lot to be played in MotoGP 26, it is just going to take some dedication to get good.

If you’re looking for a spellbinding visual novel, then don’t waste another minute searching for one, because Hakuoki is what you want.

As long as you’re aware of the middling shooter gameplay which takes up about half the experience, you’ll still be able to enjoy the outrageous, hilarious, depressing and ultimately impressive writing of Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls.

There’s no doubt that WWE 2K19 is the best series offering of this generation. With the Daniel Bryan Showcase, the narrative-based Career Mode and the 2K Towers to keep players coming back, these should answer the previous cries from fans that the games got boring. On top of that, WWE 2K19 offers the best visuals in the series and possibly the best player models in any sports game to date.

It’s fine-tuned in every way, with satisfying gameplay, graphics and sound that accurately represent the 8-bit era they pay homage to.

Abyss Odyssey is a quirky little gaming gem, and as long as its warlock keeps dreaming, it’s worth fighting through the beauty of his visions.

Fenix Rage is nothing short of great. It’s a worthy entry into an unfortunately short line of hardcore and enjoyable platformers, with great aesthetics and music backed by solid mechanics.