There’s a lot of upside in this title, especially with Renegade Kid’s announcement of a second season featuring entirely new content, but as it stands Moon Chronicles doesn’t quite live up to its lofty potential.

The problem with Vertical Drop Heroes HD is that it’s not very fun.

It does a good job of recreating the atmosphere of those early 90s shooters despite having a very different play style. This title is geared toward a niche market and as such is not going to be a must play for everyone, but for those who love old school ultra violent and ultra challenging games, this is not one to miss. For fans of retro games, everything about Butcher screams 1993.

Earth’s Dawn has many good ideas going for it, but unfortunately doesn’t execute them in a way that brings excellence to the action RPG genre. It’s a good game but doesn’t reach any level of greatness; it is entertaining but not enthralling.

Immortal Redneck is an absolutely fantastic FPS-roguelike. There’s a lot of care in its room design, the enemies all have their own distinct style making it easy to identify the most threatening one in any situation, the action is fast and powerful and the whole game looks fantastic. The difficulty is tuned high but there’s plenty of room for growth, both from learning the enemies’ patterns and from buying upgrades for permanent character progression. Choosing a patron deity at the start of the run makes each round play a little differently than the previous one, and when coupled with the powerups found along the way you’ll have a unique character by the time you either get killed off or somehow survive the traps and creatures of the pyramid. It’s a long way to the top and each floor is more concentrated than the last, but there’s plenty of great shooting on the way to the boss fight at the apex. Then there are still two more pyramids to fight through, because if there’s one thing an immortal redneck loves, it’s when the shooting gets completely out of hand.

Rezrog will no doubt stand as one of the lesser-talked releases of the year, yet one that poses a quite resonant and important question on the principle of planning/thinking before one acts. All this, after the most baffling and head-scratching of introductory openings — an opening that immediately places all its potential systems on the player’s shoulders, coming off initially as an uphill struggle with little leniency. It’s a testament then to how well Soaphog manage to marry the charm of its art-style to the sophisticated yet inevitably accessible delivery of its mechanics. Look past the out-of-character presence of difficulty at the start or perhaps the limitation of its procedural dungeon design and what you’ll find is a strategy RPG with as much charm, personality and character to carry through the same manner of grand adventure any fellow RPG might invoke. Reflecting more so the best and perhaps worst in a player’s ambition for all-round victory — that in itself, perhaps, Rezrog‘s true lasting appeal.

Fractured Mask offers some of the season’s best scenes in yet another strong episode in Telltale’s latest season. The consistency during the two hour tale leaves a little to be desired, but Batman: The Enemy Within continues to be among the best Telltale has to offer.

TT Isle of Man – Ride on the Edge 2 provides not only a unique riding experience for players, but is also a helpful tool. Racers are using the game to prepare for a real race and the changes to the physics system nearly replicate a real riding experience. It’s amazing to get lost in the immersion of riding and cornering in these beautiful locations in Ireland and the UK, not to mention the actual Isle of Man itself. The visuals do have some way to go, but the overall feeling that comes from riding and the sound of the bikes more than make up for that. The game also only retails for $40 and I recommend that anyone who actually rides these types of bikes give TT Isle of Man Ride on the Edge 2 a go.

Milestone has improved the modes for MXGP 2020 which still offer a good bit of variety outside of just racing the 2020 series tracks. The biggest attraction is the racing itself. The controls are much more responsive and while there’s still a learning curve on how to approach jumps and maintain speed, veterans of the series should appreciate the improved handling. Online racing is still more successful and enjoyable than many racing games, but it would be nice to see more racing options for the experience. The Career Mode is also bare as it lacks in comparison to what the MotoGP series has. Overall, thanks to the improvement on the facet that matters the most, MXGP 2020 has propelled the series forward and it will be exciting to see what it offers on next-gen hardware.

Reverie Knights Tactics is a good tactical RPG experience, but one that falls short of a top-shelf one overall. The attempts to bring more story into the genre are admirable, but not as memorable as games like Disgaea that have done it with more gusto. There’s a lot of depth within the core gameplay, though, and having decisions impact character interactions make that content more engaging overall. It looks fantastic and sounds good, but none of the soundtrack sticks with the player after a session. Still, for someone craving something new in the genre, there’s a lot to enjoy in an imperfect package.

Most games based on movies are cheap shovelware that are released to capitalize on the popularity of the franchise they're based on. The Bourne Conspiracy, however, is clearly a labor of love.

Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainer may not actually train the player to be an effective boxer, but it is a fun way to burn some calories and get the heart rate elevated. The targets seem to accurately track the punching movement when it comes to scoring, and the routines presented in the daily challenges are varied enough that getting in some cardio doesn't feel like a chore. Due to the nature of it being a game, the calorie counter is only an approximation and there's no real feedback on whether the player is using good form in their punches. It isn't going to be as effective as a real trainer, but it's an enjoyable and effective cardio workout that would be a great supplement to an existing exercise program or a good starting point for a gamer that wants to be more active.

Just Dance is a series that’s hard to hate as it genuinely wants players to have a good time, but 2015 is a misstep. Hardly anything has changed and practically nothing has for those who don’t partake in the online functionality, some features are missing and the interface has become too basic.

Steep: Road to the Olympics brings enough new content to the table to make it a worthwhile acquisition for any Steep fan. The Become a Legend mode in particular adds a goal-focused narrative that so many gamers have been conditioned to crave while Japan allows the free form exploration of some nice looking snow-covered countryside. Steep was not on the smoothest course when it was first released, but the numerous tweaks and additional content have made it a more enjoyable experience overall. People who were completely unimpressed by Steep when it was first released will likely not see enough of a change to have this content change their mind, but those who were will find a lot to love in the expansion.

The action packed gameplay and well developed story make the time in Bolivia enjoyable, and the freedom to play solo or cooperatively through campaign caters to anyone’s preferred social level in gaming. Wildlands might not be what longtime fans were hoping for from a new Ghost Recon, but putting expectations aside, Wildlands is not a game to miss.

Even an infrequent control failure is maddening when the difficulty is cranked up and every inch of the level is covered in cameras and patrol-bots, though, so until The Swindle sorts out its issues, it’s going to have to be merely decent rather than the excellent it could have been.

Taiko is one of the greatest rhythm titles to ever exist, and although playing on a controller doesn’t quite replicate the true drumming feeling, Taiko No Tatsujin: Drum Session! is a masterful rhythm title that will hopefully continue to reach all fans for years to come.

Suffice it to say, Stranger of Sword City is a must-play for JRPG fans who own an Xbox One.

Super Meat Boy Forever asks a lot of the player but also makes sure that they’ve got the tools to master its challenge while also being considerate enough to make each one approachable in bite-sized chunks. A perfectly-run level takes less than a minute and is divided up into sections that are rarely longer than ten seconds, but each second requires focus. And if that focus slips then a retry is instant with little time lost, making it easy to try again, and again, and again until Doctor Fetus finally realizes what a terrible idea it is to antagonize the Meat Boy/Bandage Girl family.

If you needed proof that some games end up putting out what you yourself put in, WRC 7 is likely the closest the series has gotten into successfully drawing in the more casual players, all the while maintaining the series’ raw and challenging simulation edge.

Dandara‘s seemingly-impossible feat at combining elements of platforming, combat and strategy within its explorative template takes some doing and is almost an accomplishment in of itself.

Whether it’s the indulgence of its presentation or simply the lack of reason from its players to really care about such a dire portrayal of modern-day life (implying harsher truths or not), Mosaic seldom lands any sort of balance between involvement through gameplay and artistic direction for the journey to feel worth trudging through. For a game all about trying to break out of a cycle and changing one’s perspective, Mosaic seems oddly content in the same drab pretense that in the end, through needless repetition, still arrives at nowhere meaningful or memorable.

Mother Russia Bleeds succeeds in being a self-aware play on the edginess in video games. As interesting as its concepts, art design, themes and general aesthetic are, issues with its combat and AI hold it back from being the indie darling it clearly has the potential to be.

If you’re already a fan of the series, it’s impossible to recommend a bare-bones expansion like this at its current price point. If you’re not… well, I have a hard time imagining that you’d enjoy the third installment at all.

A great game that is persistently close to being a spectacular one. It has a bigger story to tell than a 10-15 hour third-person action title can accommodate, but still manages to be surprisingly emotional and touching by the time the credits roll.

The term "interactive film" is thrown around often, but this is the first game to actually feel like one. Carefully maintaining a balance between its social context and supernatural elements, the game refuses to give into standard video game tropes and remains a mature and thoughtful story throughout. It’s poignant, thrilling and even a bit frightening at times.

Destroy All Humans! is a rare example of a remake that changes just enough to maintain the essence of the original while improving the overall experience. The gameplay enhancements give this a more modern feel but it maintains the original story and visual style to appease those seeking a nostalgia fix. Destroy All Humans! was always a fun game though hasn’t aged all that well. This version revitalizes the title, changing just enough to make revisiting Area 42 a worthwhile invasion.

While some might balk at the fact that Project Cars 3 is designed to be accessible, under the hood is the same bone-grindingly difficult racing sim that the series has always been. There’s just more variety of modes and an easier on ramp for people to get into them. This newest title is a welcome mat for the new fans and the die hards alike. There’s always another fresh race to enjoy and a new challenge to overcome. While it isn’t perfect, Project Cars 3 is a solid entry to the series and the racing genre as a whole.