Chasm is one of the finest Metroidvania games ever created. While the game’s developmental journey was longer than expected, the wait was well-worth it. Every aspect of the game shows that a great deal of care was put into it and the attention to detail for the core gameplay pays off in spades. There are many different ways to play Chasm and all of them result in an unforgettable experience. It plays like a dream, looks stunning and features an atmospheric soundtrack that makes every new room both exciting and terrifying.

Despite its narrative leading to little in the way of a noteworthy tale, TOHU manages to gracefully side-step such an omission through wise understanding of its scale. Utilizing such a wild, excessive aesthetic in a way that feels earned, as opposed to unjustly forced. But in focusing specifically on the bevvy of point-and-click conundrums — as much making sure to sprinkle in more deductive puzzles along the way — TOHU isn’t just a pleasant trip through a child-like exaggeration of visuals and scenery, but crucially, does so in a way that doesn’t treat its players similarly as such young-aged audience members. Both with the way conundrums are presented, but also through its hint system that manages to give enough of an assistance, yet still trust its players to deduce the correct method forward. It may fall victim to the trappings of point-and-click’s very structure once or twice along the way, but TOHU still manages to provide a short and sweet little adventure through a surreal, at times delightful, set of circumstances.

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

Massive Chalice is the best turn-based strategy title of 2015 so far, and its unique simulation aspects make it especially intriguing.

Even for a game priced at five dollars, Ninja Senki DX is a letdown.

Salt and Sacrifice doesn’t explain itself by words, which can make it hard to get to grips with, but when you let that go and just discover by play, the game gently drags you in and refuses to let go.

Nintendo Switch Sports doesn’t revolutionize motion-controlled gaming, but instead brings it back at its peak with six enjoyable sports that play great locally or online. Some events, like volleyball or tennis, may feel more shallow than their compatriots, and the absence of a traditional online bowling mode against strangers is hard to overlook. But whether you’re looking to rise through the Pro League ranks or for a fun afternoon with family and friends that doesn’t involve sitting on the couch, Nintendo Switch Sports has plenty to offer gaming fans of all ages that are looking to clash swords, score goals or knock pins.

It’s good to see that new life, by means of bizarre franchise combination, can be breathed into a nearly dead game series.

The developer is showing continued effort to tune it up on a regular basis so perhaps soon enough we’ll see the current issues fixed. Until then, it’s recommended for the more hardcore set of gamers who don’t mind dealing with unexpected hiccups on occasion. When it works as intended, Cloudbuilt is simply an exhilarating ride.

There is some initial appeal in Squids Odyssey and its simplicity is mildly entertaining if played in bite sized sessions.

Grandia HD Collection has a few issues but in spite of these is a still a worthwhile addition to any JRPG fan’s collection. The two games are classic gems that flew under many people’s radar during their initial release but are also fun even if this is the first time playing them. There are minor modernization tweaks to the titles and some technical issues do mar the experience, but even with these concessions, having these two titles available to play on the go is hard to complain about. They show their age and have some flaws, but their good outweighs their bad and each title provides a different but memorable adventure.

It's nice to play a game that manages to be fun for the hardcore and casual alike. [Summer 2008, p.48]

An improvement in every way over the original, Catalyst is a solid offering that fills a major gap in EA’s portfolio, considering that the major publisher isn’t necessarily known for its open-world games. Bringing an IP back from the dead is always a risky proposition, but Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is a good example of how to mitigate that risk with an enjoyable title that succeeds in more ways than it fails.

Skylanders Imaginators remains the same great game on Nintendo Switch as it was on other consoles, but with a few drawbacks and additions.

The Golf Club 2019 brings improvements to the table including the PGA Tour license and a Career Mode, but that should be taken with a grain of salt as these features are severely lacking. The most important aspect of the game is that the golf mechanics and atmosphere are great, even though the gameplay could be more approachable. With 2K now producing the game, things could change in the future for the franchise, and more courses will be added at some point. The Golf Club 2019 features a lot of positive and raw aspects with potential.

It has an old-school feel to it that brings to mind the days of scrambling for quarters blended with some good old-fashioned ultraviolence, simple yet effective combat, surreal dystopian horror and some surprisingly deep gameplay elements. It’s just that it has a bit of a difficulty spike and a few annoying combat elements holding it back from true greatness.

Should you be looking for a brief distraction or simply a game with a bare input to see most of what it has to offer, Beyond Blue provides a quaint, if a touch short, detour away from the regular catalog of current-year releases. While everything around the core presentation is not exactly extravagant or worthy of anything but a passing glance, that’s not to say E-Line Media haven’t at least made the feeling of moving about bodies of water one you can easily immerse in. An immersion that doesn’t bang you over the head with some last-minute lecture. Aided more appropriately by a well-integrated, ethereal score — complete with a tasteful selection of licensed tracks alike. The educational side of the content will naturally live or die by the player’s own personal interest on real-world sea-life. It may be far from the most complex of voyages, but Deep Blue‘s more laid back and meditative (if unremarkable) envisioning of life under the sea is sufficient enough in its intentions.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning is the best way to experience the journey of the Fateless One. Paradoxically, this version also feels like a relic of the past and does suffer from it. For the most part this remaster feels like playing a previous gen game on a backwards compatible console using texture smoothing, which probably isn’t too far removed from what it is. It’s still a great time and a highly-recommended game, but it does suffer from the caveat of “this is a great game for 2012.” Still, anyone willing to look past the dated menus and RPG tropes can have a blast with this action RPG.

PixelJunk Monsters 2 is straightforward enough to be enjoyed by casual gamers, but trying to perfect it on the highest difficulty will provide a worthwhile challenge to the hardcore gamers.

There’s the potential for a beautiful journey here, but Rain seems to be too content to wallow in its melancholy to create any real engaging gameplay. All the set pieces are present for a new nonviolent darling, but with the plodding narrative, uninspired gameplay, and often frustrating camera tied to environmental puzzles, Rain combines a string of mishaps rather than a heartwarming journey to save a little girl in need of a helping hand.

The concept behind Guild of Dungeoneering is fantastic and more people should delve into tweaking genres like this. As the game stands, however, there are features that seem missing from a typical “full” release.

Max: The Curse of Brotherhood doesn’t break any new ground, and should have had the option of using the Kinect for the drawing mechanic, but still delivers. It has rough edges, but overcomes most of them because the platforming is done well.

Ray Gigant takes some risks in game design to create a unique JRPG experience. Some of these are executed better than others, but the overall game is solid.

Disappointing it may be to see the same infrequent defining of difficulty — as much the over-reliance on visual gags at the cost of gameplay variety where it matters — Rock of Ages III: Make & Break still manages to entice, but not impress. At the very least, ensuring players will gladly once again come back for another roll down a winding level or two.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is, at best, a minimal improvement over its predecessor while sharing a lot of the same issues, but there’s just something so endearing about how it all came together.

The Adventures of Van Helsing is an excellent game that deserves to be played by those looking for an extremely well written experience and for fans of old school RPGs everywhere. With a game length that puts many AAA developers to shame, NeoCore Games punched well above their weight and succeeded where so many indie games have failed in the past.

This is a worthy entry in the series, giving an enormous dose of the quirk and charm that earned the series its place.

FIFA 21 has thrown a lot of adjustments under the hood to help give players more tools than ever before. A lot of the casual players, however, may not take advantage of this. Something needs to be updated to the shooting model and not just the 1-on-1 matchups. The feeling of a soccer match is still fantastic, but it seems EA has put this in the back seat in favor of VOLTA. Even though the Career Mode offers a good bit of options and control, the focus still feels like it is on VOLTA and FUT in terms of game modes even though neither mode changed much. FIFA 21 is a great soccer experience for those who don’t play these types of games often, but the limited mode selection and the overall feel of the game will leave a lot to be desired for yearly fans.