Black Bird is a wonderful, sad, strange, funny, cute and bizarre shooter that can’t quite make its gameplay match the quality of everything else.

Never Alone makes experiencing this untouched world cumbersome and frustrating, draining the magic away from its promise and leaving a sketchy, unpolished game in its snow-covered wake.

For those who take kindly to games that are as much about agility as they are indulgence in many an unfolding set-piece, Hard Reset Redux might just be one to check out.

Freedom Wars is a decidedly solid action-RPG.

Once the feel of the grind of the Career Mode begins, the initial appeal starts to wear off even though the varying race experiences try to hide it. The multiplayer experience is seemingly just an afterthought with something that could have had so much potential. But with beautiful visuals and impressive gameplay, fans of the original GRID will find that this modern version will suit them on the track.

There's a ton of excellent shooting arcade action in Under Defeat HD, and it's absolutely worth seeing what Dreamcast importers got to play 6 years ago.

This expansion is about the same level of enhancements that we saw with Summerset and Elsweyr, and for people hungry for Skyrim nostalgia there’s some here, but the experience is clearly in the vein of the MMO and not the single player adventure. Greymoor is a good starting point for newcomers and a welcome expansion to veteran players, while the added Stadia compatibility also offers a nice portability option.

Disney Illusion Island is a great all-ages platform-adventure that works hard to appeal to players of any skill level. Even those finding it too easy should be able to enjoy kicking back with the Disney cast, all of which are well animated with their personality shining through in every movement. The large number of areas can feel a bit samey after a while, and a few more enemy types would have been appreciated, but the escalating difficulty and variety of rooms and secrets makes it hard to get bored. The map tracking of collectibles makes it hard to resist going back to explore and clean up an area, and even after beating the game there can easily be a few sections left half-done. It’s a huge amount of fun to get Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy together in a single large platforming adventure, and Illusion Island doesn’t waste the opportunity to play with its cast of beloved characters.

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.

Despite its issues, Ashes of Ariandel is still worthy of any Dark Souls III player as it’s more of what we’ve come to love with a couple of nods for long time fans.

While Oxenfree II: Lost Signals doesn’t hit the same heights as the original game, it still delivers another enjoyable adventure, once again serving up another unique ghost story that uses haunted technology to great effect, which succeeds thanks to terrific dialogue and well-crafted characters. Camena may be quite similar to Edwards Island in a lot of ways, but it still plays hosts to a nicely spooky trip more than worth taking, especially for fans of the first title.

Online is buggy, but amusingly so. It’s hard to recommend MotoGP 14 to anybody but fans of the series curious to see how it shapes up on newer hardware.

This is Claire and Moira’s most enjoyable adventure yet, focusing on puzzle oriented scenarios while throwing in combat when necessary.

Players who don’t need everything to bristle with a dark malevolence will find a great time in this one.

Sadly, Futuridium EP Deluxe does not stand on par with some of these gems, instead fading into the background, never to be heard from again.

What I enjoyed was minimal compared to the game’s content, so it does not come with a high recommendation. But if you’re a hardcore DBZ fan like I am, you’ll still manage to find some entertainment in the game. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is not the best love letter written to fans, but it’s still a love letter nonetheless.

It’s a silly game with an equally-silly concept, but Nintendo somehow does just enough to make it work, if not excel.

Stories: The Path of Destinies is a clear example that the framework for success can only take you so far; the execution of an awesome idea has to be there for a game to reach its true potential.

It’s been a long time since players have gotten to revisit Sinnoh, and all things considered this may be the definitive way to enjoy it. While some changes may seem minor, they really do add to the overall enjoyment experience. Sinnoh was always fun but flawed, and while that’s still a teensy bit true here, it’s better than ever before. Although it’s easy to say it’s a shame that it’s missing the Platinum content, what’s here is still fantastic and will make it more fun to replay for years to come. Sinnoh fans will hopefully be excited to see their region well taken care of while they were gone, and new players can easily enjoy it without having to pick up old systems and cartridges that are now significantly more expensive. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are the best remakes we’ve gotten since Heart Gold and Soul Silver and offer up a fantastic, faithful yet slightly re-imagined version of Sinnoh to enjoy before the next entry in the series makes its debut.

The controls are smooth and accurrate and there are a good number of levels, but the overly-careful strategies needed make it more work than play. [Dec 2008, p.57]

While by no means perfect, Dungeon Travelers 2: The Royal Library and the Monster Seal shows why the Vita is still a viable platform.

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.

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.

While Research and Destroy has a few flaws and comes across as way better when playing in co-op, it can’t be denied that it’s still a great blend of action and strategy, one that embraces classic science fiction and crafts spectacular moments of action out of it, eight seconds at a time. The thrill of successfully taking your time to eliminate a horde of supernatural by using a series of quick actions is something players will love, and has indeed made for a mostly terrific turn-based action hybrid that the developers should be proud of.

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.

The remake of Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord respects its roots by offering a nostalgic and punishing gameplay experience. While it could benefit from enhanced character customization and a more forgiving approach to new players, it remains a solid choice for those who appreciate old-school RPGs and are looking for a game that challenges their strategic thinking and patience. For RPG veterans, Wizardry delivers a satisfying blend of complexity and nostalgia, demanding meticulous planning and resilience. For newcomers, however, the steep learning curve and high difficulty level might be daunting, suggesting that starting with the pre-made characters and taking time to gradually understand the mechanics might provide a more enjoyable introduction.

Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree is a game with a fantastic concept that's sadly held back by factors like an unsatisfying progression system. Those who are fans of roguelikes and enjoy the character designs will still have plenty to enjoy in this title and its charming atmosphere, though, and seeing a company as large as Bandai Namco still take risks with smaller titles like this is always enjoyable in the current industry.

MLB The Show 26 retains the series reputation as a fun game of baseball. If you've never played a baseball game before, you won't be disappointed. If you have, it's hard to ignore the shortcomings. The visuals are dated and need an overhaul, which hopefully will come in the next generation of consoles. The hitting with the Big Zone Hitting and adjustable zone speed is some of the best in the history of the series. The Bare Down Pitches don't really serve a purpose other than implementing the Depth of Field addition to the game. This also looks strange when hitting, but can help identify the ball off of the pitcher's hand. RTTS is a slight improvement thanks to its early game updates, while Franchise gets a slight boost with the new Trade Hub and logic updates to help keep players engaged. No longer is there a March for October mode, and Diamond Dynasty only ends up getting World Baseball Classic players and gear. MLB The Show has transitioned more towards a closed sandbox of a baseball game offering players a few of the same options each year to play, but won't expand beyond this.