When it comes to long-awaited sequels, New Pokémon Snap doesn’t disappoint in the least. There’s so much more to do for those looking for a wonderful adventure through the brand new Lental region with camera in hand. The amount of time any player will get out of New Pokémon Snap will vary of course, as it’s a title that relies on people enjoying pure atmosphere and seeing tons of adorable or tough Pokémon in brand new ways. All in all it’s a proper and fantastic sequel to the long-beloved original N64 title. While New Pokémon Snap borrows much from its predecessor, it has plenty of new to stand up on its own two legs that builds an endearing experience. Hopefully it won’t be another 22 years until the next entry, as New Pokémon Snap is so utterly charming that it’s hard to keep from wanting even more.

The game mechanics are on par with some of the better known stealth titles out there, and taking place in a massive and beautiful fantasy world only enhances the experience. The typical stealth elements such as hiding in the shadows and hanging off building ledges mix well with the more unique abilities such as invisibility and having a clone run amok to take the focus off of Styx.

This may not be a necessary purchase for somebody who still has their Sega Genesis collection from the last console generation, but this is a great assortment of Sega Genesis games and at least one of these collections should be in a every retro game fan’s library.

Reus is a game of giants walking the earth, and an epic contraption whose pleasantly rewarding output wrests a world teeming with life from a dead planet’s skin.

Res Publica gave me a reason to have a blast playing as the Dutch. It adds a fun, historically accurate story about the competition between two philosophies and political entities and asks you to harness their competition for the benefit of the empire.

Mega Coin Squad is a fun, frantic and wholly unique action platformer with all sorts of crazy ideas and mechanics built around a clear and engaging objective of collecting and banking as many coins as possible.

Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones opens a lot of doors for the series. The Metroidvania overworld lets you learn and use the different gadgets in open-ended ways, offering ample opportunities to experiment.

Be sure to pick up F1 2014 if you’re a lapsed fan of the franchise. It does everything right and eliminates the clutter that has hurt past entries in the series.

With the revamp of war, naval combat, technological additions and managing territory, Stellaris: Apocalypse might even be a more ambitious addition than last year’s Stellaris: Utopia. Stellaris only seems to journey towards a brighter future and Stellaris: Apocalypse paves the way for it to shine.

When it works, Demigod is a game with plenty of fun to be had and at times even rivals its source material.

The magical combination of two creative powerhouses in Disney and Harmonix has produced one of the best Kinect rhythm games to date. Like no other to come before it, Fantasia: Music Evolved combines the required accuracy of the best of the genre with wholly enjoyable remixing tools that allow players to create new compositions on the fly merely with their hands.

Killer Instinct Season Three offers up the best incarnation of the reboot to date.

Granblue Fantasy: Relink has a short and sweet story campaign with the potential for endless grinding after the main credits roll. The story is an enjoyable ride from start to finish that blends a captivating story filled with interesting crew members and exhilarating action-packed gameplay. Most of the characters' backstories are revealed through Fate Episodes in town and watching these stories adds a great deal to how invested the player can get in their individual stories. The content after the main story promises countless hours of completing increasingly more difficult missions to extend the life of the game. These missions after the main campaign deliver story content at a much slower pace, however, and after a certain point these activities amount to little more than grinding for better resources. Multiplayer helps with these missions, but most players will likely move on before completing all the content the post game has to offer. But up until that point, Granblue Fantasy: Relink is an incredibly fun adventure.

The new features, content and high-definition visuals aren’t quite enough to make it feel like a brand new game all over again, but they do go a long way towards enhancing what was already there. Its story is easy to get into for those who allow themselves to go along for the ride; the main characters are a likable bunch and its generally positive atmosphere and bright presentation is even infectious at times. The combat takes a bit to come into its own, but becomes a real spectacle once it does. Some might find that slowness and the large amount of dialogue to be annoying, but the game’s inherent positivity and silliness will likely still be enough to make it an overall fun experience.

Every day is a new challenge, and with a bit of practice with the ship’s handling and familiarization with the set pieces that make up the world, maybe you can give the sun a run for its money.

Tales of Vesperia as a whole is a masterful game that deserves to be played by anyone who enjoys a good story. It’s not only one of the best Tales games, but it’s up there in the pantheon of impeccable RPGs. With so much new and enhanced content on an already impressive base, Tales of Vesperia Definitive Edition starts 2019 off with a bang.

Developer Red Barrels has offered an excellent step in this universe with Outlast 2. Choosing a different environment and adapting to those settings to help create a truly terrifying experience was successful. Adding some narrative to the game is a step in the right direction. The linearity of the game is detrimental, but does not kill the experience. This game has a little longer playtime than the original, but that will most likely be extended in the first playthrough due to the unfamiliarity with locations and enemies. Outlast 2 will punish and terrify at the same time; it’s a cruel game.

The Enigma offers plenty of teases for the season ahead while also improving upon the combat and presentation for Telltale’s take on the powerless superhero. Those mere hints are all that separate this episode from feeling like a standalone story, though, albeit an intriguing one at that. Once the full season comes into play, this debut episode may feel a little less out of place, but for now, The Enigma represents a strong start for Bruce Wayne’s latest struggle to keep his city, and his relationships, intact.

Straightforward and occasionally frustrating the set-up may seem, Noita‘s hands-off approach to instruction and allowing player-made discovery to bloom is one sought-after trait in gaming that here pays off time and time again.

Overall, Cat Quest II is a fantastic adventure that’s easy to recommend for players of any age. It’s a big improvement over the first and greatly expands upon what worked before while fixing some of the issues that didn’t. Having two characters to play as simultaneously keeps things fresh, as does the addition of long-range attacks. The graphics aren’t a giant improvement over the first, but they’re still good overall and pleasing to the eye. The weakest point is its sound — which isn’t bad, but unspectacular. Anyone seeking an action-centric dungeon-crawler will love Cat Quest II — and if you didn’t like the first, the second may just fix that.

There are too many aspects of Tormented Souls to appreciate for any fan of original survival horror titles to pass up.

Everything in No Sleep For Kaname Date - From AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES is tailored to provide a new and unique experience in a world that's beloved by fans. Puzzles and trials are all new and fresh, making you think of new ways to solve the wild scenarios our characters have found themselves in. The writing isn’t perfect, but it remains in the same vein as the previous games, staying true to its roots by being serious when needed and lighthearted in between those more intense moments. While it isn’t recommended to play this as your first game in the series, it does avoid spoiling the games that take place before and after it, respecting players who may not have completed the first game yet. This won’t be the best starting point for the story, but it may be enough to get those new players interested in exploring the prior games as well.

Sure, it has some flaws, namely its reliance on the same mechanics that never really change over the course of its 10 hour campaign. But even so, Strike Suit Zero: Director’s Cut still manages to pull off a fun experience that blends action-arcade and simulation just enough to please both crowds.

Death end re;Quest 2 follows the mold of its predecessor but is ultimately more enjoyable. There are times when the day portion of the game feels like it’s going on for too long but the story is at least interesting enough where it’s not too tedious. The battle sequences are simple but the enhanced knockback mechanics make them more enjoyable. It’s not the deepest RPG out there, both in terms of depth of a character development and combat mechanics but the gameplay is enjoyable and the story finds a way to be grisly and dark while still having an overall lighthearted feel to the game. It does have the certain feel to it that Compile Heart/Idea Factory games have, but Death end re;Quest 2 is arguably one of their strongest games overall.

Despite its downfalls and legacy design issues, I simply cannot put down PGA Tour 2K21. Much like the previous Golf Club title, this is a golf game with smidgen of the PGA Tour tacked on it. MyPLAYER is designed to be a individualistic experience, but a lack of depth on the branded items and the fact that there’s no leveling up the player leaves the long-term aspect in question. Couple that with a season that is mostly full of fantasy courses with some mid-tier PGA Tour courses thrown in and those expecting a full on PGA experience will be disappointed. What matters the most here, however, is the golf and the proper representation of a golf broadcast. The addiction of building confidence until you find that sweet spot and the ability to nail shots that you crafted in your mind makes it worth it. Just avoid higher difficulties until you get comfortable, but I also feel getting too serious about your play style may ruin the experience that’s otherwise extremely fun. In the end PGA Tour 2K21 is a great game of golf and a promising start to the new franchise, and with 2K onboard, we should continue to see more of the PGA positively implemented in the future.

For a game so mechanically simple, it’s one of the better experiences out there — four-letter swear words and all.

Hive Jump combines many sub-genres of action-platformers into one game, and does them all fairly well. Its shooting is fantastic, with strong sound design making each kill feel rewarding.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue may not satisfy those who desperately want Kingdom Hearts III, but it is the perfect collection to experience old and new adventures in the Kingdom Hearts universe while we wait.