While it may not fully capitalize on the draw of its main premise, satisfying puzzle design, boss encounters and that simplest pleasure of seeing your character hop into and out of worlds on a whim lends Cocoon well-warranted and ultimately long-lasting charm.

It’s by no means a top tier open world game and can be completed in a very short amount of time, but great gameplay makes The Amazing Spider-Man 2 a solid package that’s worth playing.

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.

Though not the first of its kind and by no means the most original tale spun from out this current trend of liberty-vouching discussion, Mainlining is a smart and cleverly put-together point-and-click piece that is layered enough with its puzzles but prominently more effective in its use of real World culture in providing that added sense of personally historic immersion.

Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet is flawed, but succeeds at providing a thrilling MMO-esque experience offline. Newcomers to the SAO franchise can jump in with this and enjoy themselves — especially if they just want a great third-person shooting experience. Be sure that you have time to devote to it, however, because it will consume a lot of it.

LEGO The Hobbit is a fun little game that serves its purpose well.

Varlet is filled with love of the genre while simultaneously getting a few notable things wrong. The portions of the game that take place between the main plot points and dungeons are dull, making it hard to want to go through the effort of completing all the side objectives. The combat is where the game shines, however, allowing for interesting combinations of your characters and what you can do with them. The issue is that the combat ends up becoming too easy when taking on the majority of the smaller enemies you end up fighting on the way to the bosses. There are no real threats if you keep on top of your characters' levels and switch them out of your party regularly to make sure each one is ready for encounters. This is a solid JRPG that's still great fun, regardless of the issues with the lack of a threat from enemies; you're still rewarded for being creative in boss fights and exploring all avenues that the game has to offer with the skill tree.

Temirana: The Lucky Princess and the Tragic Knights is a solid otome game with flaws that keep it from shining as bright as it should. The visual novel features a compelling plot, a curious fantasy setting and solid audiovisual aspects. It may not be among the best Otomate titles, but fans of the genre are likely to enjoy Cecilia’s story.

Through its creative cast and interesting interactions, 2064 brings its pixel art world to life. Despite a few technical hitches, 2064: Read Only Memories is a step forward in the way games interact and intersect with politics and how storytelling in games can make a statement in today’s climate.

OFF is an interesting RPG that exemplifies the unique, creative side of many experiences conceived over the years on RPG Maker. Its style isn’t something that will please everyone, and it feels like the gameplay is relatively uninspired even with the facelift. Nonetheless, it’s still the kind of experience worth checking out, especially for those looking for a thought-provoking, weird new RPG.

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD isn’t a perfect recreation of the original game due to some things being improved and others being taken away. The overall presentation is more enjoyable when it comes to the main game, but the massive drop-off in mini-game selection hurts the replay value.

Blind Fate: Edo no Yami is a good game that’s held back by a lack of polish. It has a diverse array of kinds of platforming action with a blend of swordplay, platforming and sense-based puzzle-solving, but it needs work when it comes to the visuals as they’re inconsistent. Some parts look fantastic, like the animation and overall movement, while parts of the environment suffer from still images being used instead of objects being in motion. The soundtrack is excellent though and the voice acting hits the notes it needs to, making Blind Fate worth a look.

Kids will eat this up, no question. Older gamers who like either Sonic or good action games owe it to themselves to at least rent this, if only to see whether or not it’ll leave the correct taste in their mouth before committing to a purchase.

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.

While an excellent step in the right direction and a guaranteed hit among fans, the layperson may find too many faults to enjoy the experience extensively.

Dystoria will expand and challenge your mind with its six-axis gameplay element as players will be forced to approach aspects of the game differently than they would logically. Technical issues and adjustments to the controls can hamper the experience, but once comfortable, players will settle into an experience straight out of a sci-fi movie from 1982. This game seems simple at first glance, but offers a good bit of depth and replay value if one looks to master the game. The addicting gameplay will make the player want to master each level. Dystoria offers more as a puzzle game with elements of an arcade shooter.

At the very least, Goliath is a valiant effort in adapting a series of unique mech battles into a more fantasy-themed action RPG. If it weren’t for a few poor issues with the story and some kinks in some of the gameplay elements, this could have had a chance at bring one of the classics in the genre.

Hardcore fans of the series will enjoy this the most, but the learning curve is steep for those new to the series or to Supercross in general. The confidence level for riding will take some time to reach to pull off jumps and corners, but there’s a good payoff when you get to that point. The Compound offers a big change and in a positive way while other modes get some boosts as well. The online experience is much improved thanks to its dedicated servers and some mini games. Colors pop on the screen and the atmosphere of a Supercross race is still replicated well. Milestone needs to implement the tools to make the game more accessible.

The combat is mediocre and in some ways this still feels like it needs more time in the oven, but those who forgive these shortcomings can have a lot of fun in Conan Exiles.

Tandem: A Tale of Shadows may be guilty of taking from any and every corner of the genre in constructing its challenges. But while it may zip from one set-up to the next — less-than-concerned with the through-line that ties it all together — the perspective-shifting, requiring of balancing overhead and side-scrolling puzzle-solving alike, just about delivers on the promise its set-up initially paints. Not just on the basis of a satisfying series of environments to conquer, but an admittedly-brief fascination on how everything ends up unravelling, let alone solved. It’s not everyday you stop to marvel for a second at the way two perspectives can play out at once, but that very trait is what Tandem: A Tale of Shadows shines on and in the end utilizes sufficiently well.

Arc of Alchemist is a flawed, but fun experience. The action RPG mechanics are rewarding and make tough battles even more thrilling to win, while the overall gameplay loop needs a bit more variety. Luckily, the story is interesting enough to make the repetition worth it as you find more about the world and how it has shaped everyone you encounter. It isn’t the best-looking game in the world and suffers from muddy textures, but does sound great with a top-notch soundtrack and impressive voiceover work.

Automatron isn’t without its hiccups and it’s a huge downer that some users will have to grind quite a bit in order to build the robot that they desire, but it’s still nowhere close to a stain on one of the best games of 2015. What’s more, if this is a hint at the level of quality that users can expect from Season Pass content going forward, then the initial investment will be worth it.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War aims for the spectacle of the films, but falls short with a directionless, lore-breaking campaign.

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 isn’t the game-changer that the first Puyo Puyo Tetris was. In fact, it’s just more of the same with extra toppings. The new characters, better presented Adventure mode and improved Lesson mode are all great additions, but it would have been better of more had been done to make everything else feel fresh and improved. The Skill Battle mode helps, but that mode is undercut by a poorly-implemented stats system and the existing disparity between Tetris and Puyo Puyo. With that in mind, Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 is better as an entry point for new fans than it is for older fans who already have the first game. It’s all the fun of the original, but there’s not enough new here to justify buying basically the same game all over again.

Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception is a good visual novel that blends that genre in fairly seamlessly with strategy RPGs. It’s far more of a visual novel than an SRPG, but when the SRPG elements come in, they’re well-done. It plays well, but its slower pace isn’t going to be for everyone and being unable to skip things dos make this tougher to get through if you’ve already watched the anime and just want to experience the SRPG portions. It looks fine on both the PS4 and PS Vita, but the core graphics are from Vita, so anyone looking for a PS4-level game will be a bit disappointed due to iffy textures. The soundtrack is excellent and the all-Japanese voice work is full of life and passion.

For all its occasional grievances — that don’t add up to too much — it’s the intriguing mystery as much the appeal of its investigative leads across many a conversation where the strengths of The Forgotten City end up standing out most of all.

Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail excels in its promise to bring exciting new jobs and combat scenarios to the New World. Unfortunately, it falls short of expectations when it comes to the narrative, which ends up being a mess of issues.

A very good game on a technical level, but falls short of satisfying because it feels far too similar to other games in the series.