NHL 26 adds welcome touches to the major overhaul that was NHL 25. A majority of the game does carry over for better or worse, but the updates to ICE-Q 2.0 gameplay do make a difference this year helping separate the best from the mid. The gameplay department receives a solid boost as a whole. Be a Pro is the mode to spend time in as it's the major update the mode has needed. Franchise Mode continues to have all the tools, but feels lackluster in execution. The extremely slow menus do not help the situation. Those looking for major updates to Chel won't find it here, and HUT does have nice additions if this is your mode of choice. Is the game fun? Absolutely. There have been excellent games of hockey played against the AI and great-looking plays executed. Being able to use the face buttons for special moves is also a bonus. There just isn't as much of an overhaul here as there was last year, but rather refinements in certain categories.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown offers up a lot of fun both on the track and in its simulated world. A lot of work was put in to make Hong Kong Island feel like a realistic place with far more exploration than one is used to in a racing game. Some of those elements don't hit perfectly, but the on-track performance is what counts the most and Solar Crown largely succeeds there. Races are fun and even on-foot exploration offers up something that helps Solar Crown stand out. Unfortunately, the online-only component of things complicates far more of the experience than it benefits and causes odd problems to occur that makes it tough to fully recommend Solar Crown.

There is no doubt about it, Arc Rise Fantasia wants to be a hardcore JRPG. In many aspects it achieves this, but before fans go rushing to buy it they have to ask themselves: just how much grind is too much grind? If killing the same weak enemies over and over for innumerable hours before any story progression is made doesn't deter you, then by all means buy Arc Rise Fantasia.

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered finds itself in a tough spot because what it aims to do is replicate the original trilogy with all of its content on modern hardware and it does it well. The biggest problem it faces is that the new coat of paint is largely just that -- the core gameplay is still rooted in early 3D jankiness and feels awkward to play now -- and in some ways, it's harder to wrap your mind around it now since no control scheme offered up feelings as natural as anything featured in a Tomb Raider game since the PS2 days onward. The new visuals look good in theory, but have odd clipping problems in motion and the animations being rooted in the PS1 games hurts the modern-day wrapper as well. It very much feels like a lot of effort went into making this feel authentic to the originals -- but to a fault.

LoveKami -Divinity Stage- is an incredible about face from MoeNovel. Once poised to strip any hint of sexuality from visual novels, they’ve now completely reversed course with their fanservice-filled release.

Those who can get invested in learning and mastering a deep combat system, however, will find a lot to like in Final Exam.

All in all, Go! Go! Nippon! 2015 does a lot to revitalize Overdrive’s aging visual novel. The biggest boosts are the addition of new events, locales and Google Maps functionality.

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is a solid, albeit flawed RPG. It features a robust skill tree system, an engaging story and half-decent combat. Unfortunately, a lot of the side quests leave much to be desired and certain components, such as stealth and athletics, aren’t as finely tuned as the rest. Having this revolve around King Arthur is an entertaining concept, but you’ll tend to forget he’s part of the plot most times. The world is tuned with a grungy, almost heavy metal aesthetic, but this striking visual art style is marred by most of the open world being on the dull side. Regardless, players who are fans of games such as The Elder Scrolls or Kingdom Come: Deliverance will get a kick out of Tainted Grail.

Citizens of Space is a well-crafted follow-up to the original that manages to keep its sense of humor intact while completely revamping its gameplay. The Earthbound approach has been swapped out for a Paper Mario style of combat — which is either a blessing or a curse depending on your preferences. If you want a more active timing-based affair, you will love what’s offered up here. If you like being able to automate combat to some degree, especially with modern games making that more of a standard, then you may not. Either way, the core game is a lot of fun even with a few rough edges.

Phoenotopia Awakening is filled with a lot of potential from its wonderfully-charming presentation to utterly-delightful characters, but it just falls short of being something iconic and memorable with systems that often work against the player and can feel almost unfair like many retro video games most people don’t tend to pick up and play anymore. With a few tweaks it could make for a much more balanced experience, but Phoenotopia Awakening would be hard to recommend to those not looking for a steep challenge.

Enjoyment of Final Fantasy Explorers is defined by two things: nostalgia for Final Fantasy and the amount of immediate challenge desired.

Titles like The DioField Chronicle usually falter based on whether or not they have good stories, but it’s quite the opposite in this case. The boring story is disappointing, but the combat is so enjoyable it’s easy to forget about. Each map feels creative and diverse so there’s not too much repeat. It’s truly a shame the story couldn’t power through to ultimately make an impact, but there’s hope here for some other title to use a similar combat style with a better focus on understanding a more engaging story. The DioField Chronicle will not be for everyone, but those who see the combat and think it looks engaging may want to give it a try.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden offers an interesting twist on tried and true RPGs mechanics. A form of a morality system is implemented, but instead of being simply good or evil, it's based one what Red wants to do with Antea's soul which adds a sense of personal investment to one's choices beyond choosing which side with which to align. The mix of detective work to remove hauntings blended with the action-oriented combat elements helps make the role of Banisher seem more complete, as they have to rely on several different skill sets in order to accomplish their goals. This was further enhanced by the interplay between Red and Antea. The biggest stumbling block in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is the pacing, as there are many fantastic moments in the game that are spread too far apart by uneventful travel. But even with the overall experience being uneven, the good qualities greatly outweigh the bad.

Hakoniwa Explorer Plus is entertaining but isn’t extraordinary once you get past the novelty factor of the half-naked killer demon girls. For RPG standards the story and gameplay are enjoyable but shallow. The game doesn’t provide much of a challenge, and while that may sound like a criticism, it isn’t that detrimental if the player just wants to see the different areas and bosses and enjoy the humorous moments.

With a bit more content, Blade Ballet could have the potential to be another multiplayer classic, which is why hopefully we’ll see more additions to it in the future. As is, though, it’s still really fun, especially when combined with a few good friends.

Atlas Fallen is far from a perfect game, but the important thing is that it’s still a fun game. Even when it can feel like it’s throwing a kitchen sink at you, there’s always something enjoyable to find in Atlas Fallen, mainly its impressive combat that leads to a lot of challenging, enjoyable battles (albeit with a few that could use tweaking), and its visually striking landscapes that allow for a ton of fun sand sliding. Even with a large coat of jank, there’s still a lot to delight here once you’re successfully able to dig it up, so give it a shot if you like to experiment and don’t mind a little roughness.

All gripes aside, I’ve had less fun with games that were full price. This is a 2-on-2 arcade basketball game with some replay value for $20. NBA Playgrounds attracts you on the surface but brings a different yet inconsistent experience to the table that somehow still manages to be fun. Leveling up player cards and playing as legends while landing some awesome dunks are the main attractions. There’s enough nostalgia combined with an entertaining aesthetic to make NBA Playgrounds worth a look for basketball fans.

Unfortunately as enjoyable as the combat is everything else about this title comes up short. It’s not that the ideas presented in the story are bad, it’s that they are so minimal they make the game almost feel incomplete. The potential was there to make Valkyrie Elysium one of the greats, but instead there’s an uneven experience of great combat with uninspired storytelling and level design.

Galactic Civilizations III is good (and I love the cutscenes which really build up the universe), it’s just not good enough to stand out in such a crowded market, particularly due to its endgame and micromanagement problems.

Digimon Story: Time Stranger is a fun game with interesting gameplay mechanics that are unfortunately held back by simple enemy encounter design. Thankfully, the fun mechanics and respect for the concept of Digimon will still make this an enjoyable title for fans of the franchise. If you're craving a new story starring these beloved creatures, then you can't go wrong with picking this up.

When the layers of the experience are peeled back, what we’re left with at Arcadias‘ core is a sluggish brawling RPG that can sometimes lack the kind of gameplay merit needed for sustainability beyond a handful of hours.

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition is the remaster the game deserves. The overhaul of aesthetics in gameplay make it look better than it ever has. This Definitive Edition comes supersized with all the previous game’s content plus new missions, campaigns and factions. The new additions are fully developed and integrate masterfully with the base game. While the game is beautiful to look at and still holds true to the formula that makes AoE such a great franchise, it’s also riddled with frustrating glitches and inconsistencies. While I’m sure a post-launch patch will be released to add fixes, players will have to deal with these inconveniences in the the meantime. Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, however, does justice to the franchise by recognizing its flaws and working towards a better product. The collaboration with Indigenous consultants helps it regain its dignity by providing historical accuracy. Through these collaborations, developers were also able to solve gameplay issues that plagued all fans of the game. Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition is by no means a perfect product, but it perfectly honors the spirit of the franchise.

Strafe falls short of greatness, but is definitely great fun. Each of the three main guns feels good to wield, and if some of the mods aren’t as useful as others, there are still ways to use them effectively. The secondary limited-use guns provide a welcome opportunity to change tactics when necessary and grabbing an exploding bug off the wall to use as a makeshift grenade somehow never gets old. The bloody violence is particularly well done, because not only is it fun to get your carnage on, but the bloody trail you leave in your wake is surprisingly helpful in keeping your bearings. Plus you can always shoot an enemy on a toxic orange spill and use their blood to make the floor safe again, which is awfully helpful in a gory kind of way. There are plenty of secrets, occasional hidden levels and many other goodies and bits of weirdness to find amidst the carnage and mayhem, making Strafe a fun and highly replayable action roguelike FPS that wears its love for the 90s on its blood-soaked sleeve.

Torchlight III doesn’t bring anything new to the looter dungeon crawler and that’s okay. It’s rather simplified and accessible, but most importantly fun and hard to stop playing. Hardcore fans of this style may be critical of the fact that it might be too simplistic and accessible, and that’s understandable since I have fond memories of working out complex character builds in other games of this nature and feeling pride when they worked out well. Comparing Torchlight III to other dungeon crawlers may come up lacking in those areas, but it’s an enjoyable game just taking it in as its own entity, making the return trip to Novastraia worthwhile.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game – Complete Edition is an enjoyable throwback to beat ’em up games and having access to the game with all the DLC after its several year hiatus is a welcome return. Its short campaign makes it ideal to whittle away a few hours in a single sitting with friends. It’s patterned after retro beat ’em ups and does a good job of recreating an authentic retro experience. On its own gameplay merits it isn’t as good of a beat ’em up as other recent revivals or the best classics, but the outlandish and colorful game world and characters make the overall experience more enjoyable and memorable. For Scott Pilgrim fans and beat ’em up fans in general, Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game – Complete Edition is well worth your time.

Its biggest issue is how safe it plays everything, but anyone wanting a straightforward approach to the JRPG genre will leave more than likely impressed by Alphadia‘s endearing simplicity and nostalgic allure.

Octodad: Dadliest Catch is hilarious, silly, annoying and engaging all at once, and that’s ultimately what makes it a game worth playing.

A dungeon-crawling RPG, that while unspectacular, is nonetheless worth the time and effort needed to tackle its ordeals head-on.