Regardless, if you can get past the inherent creepiness that permeates Monster Monpiece on a number of levels, then there’s no denying that this is an intelligent, fulfilling card game.

Open Roads is a touching love letter to grief, the breaking of generational cycles and the complexities of family relationships. Dever and Russell’s performances are at once invigorating and heart-wrenching, demonstrating a genuine passion for acting throughout the game. The interactive environment feels lived-in and authentic to the early 2000s, adding another layer of immersion to the player's experience. While the voice acting is impressive, the characters’ appearance and facial movements become repetitive around the thirty-minute mark, diminishing some of the emotional beats in the story. Overall, Open Roads is a must-play poignant experience for fans of visual novels.

The most ardent JRPG fans will find much to like; though casuals be warned: this is a grindy timesink. Even the rock-solid combat mechanics can’t offset how much grinding is present. In fact, it’s hard to recommend to an audience other than hardcore Japanese roleplaying game aficionados because of how many great RPGs have just come out or are getting ready to.

It's too hard for its own good in places, making it far too easy to just exasperatedly credit-feed to see the end, but with a ridiculous amount of practice and ninja skills almost everything is (probably) survivable. Even with all that, though, Metal Slug XX is merely decent enough in its way and little more.

The difficulty in the later levels may be a turnoff for some, but that aside, Lichtspeer is highly enjoyable, action packed and a perfect blend of old-school action and new-school design. It hits the sweet spots of those that enjoy both fast-paced arcade gameplay and a cute sense of humor and is the type of game that can easily suck you in for lengthy periods of time.

An experience housing enough content to validate repeated play-throughs, Brut@l — despite its stripped approach to crafting and indeed to leveling-up — manages enough in its generative structure to add a distinct level of spice to make even the most minimal-looking of scenarios feel both exciting and enticing.

Edge of Eternity is a love letter to classic Final Fantasy and Xenoblade games. It doesn’t live up to the level of its influences, but given the small team and limited resources, it’s an impressive attempt. The story does rely on tropes and the characters aren’t all that likeable, and while the game comes close to reaching its ambitious goals, it never reaches its full potential. It does scratch the JRPG itch and fans of the games that influenced it will likely get a lot of enjoyment from Edge of Eternity, but ultimately it’s a good but not great JRPG.

As a goofy little fighter for the Vita, Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus provides a solid amount of content and substance behind its shameless fan service, and as a result, transcends it.

Vikings – Wolves of Midgard takes the formula made popular by the game named after the Spanish word for devil and makes it its own. I wouldn’t go as a far to say this is a Diablo killer, but this is one of the more impressive titles that follows that game’s template. The looting, crafting and killing formula is one that has been done many times over and it is no less addictive in this title. This interpretation of Ragnarok and Norse mythology creates an interesting campaign setting that’s not often used in games, and the visual and sound design make this an engrossing title once the player gets past the tutorials. For fans of action RPGs, Vikings – Wolves of Midgard is a must play.

Crystar pairs an original and compelling story with fairly average gameplay. The repetitive nature can become tedious, especially during the later parts, but the narrative concept is interesting enough to push the player to guiding Rei to the end of Purgatory. This is one of those games where the recommendation would have more to do with the level of personal interest in the story than anything else as that’s the most noteworthy feature in an otherwise good but unremarkable action RPG. The game taking place in Purgatory seems fitting since the enjoyment is a lot more pleasurable than Hell, but doesn’t quite reach the levels of joy that Heaven advertises.

Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds is a splendid brawler.

Teenage Zombies is pretty much the perfect platformer. [Spring 2008, p.52]

This title is basically a celebration of twenty years of Atelier titles, and while it may not be the strongest entry in the franchise catalog, it’s a must play for longtime fans. Judging this title strictly on its gameplay merits would simply be a good game and nothing special to write home about, but the inclusion of so many past Atelier characters make this an enjoyable game for fans.

Castle of Illusion is a welcomed change to the original remake formula, but it falls short in a number of areas.

Rise of the Triad will never be confused for a great FPS, but it’s pure popcorn fun from beginning to end.

Assault Suit Leynos is exactly what a remake should be. It takes everything that worked about the original and improves upon it with modern flourishes.

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.

Much of the fun of Deception IV comes from what you make out of it.

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.

Say No! More is an odd little game that’s worth checking out, but only for its sharp satire, humorous moments and quirky cast of characters. When it comes to delivering an actual game, though, it falls flat, especially when it tries to create an illusion of any depth. Still, the writing alone, combined with its unique style, make this into a bizarre workplace tale you may want to hear, especially if you’re all too familiar with the awkwardness of the daily grind. Overall, maybe it doesn’t deserve the most enthusiastic “Yes!” but you shouldn’t say “No!” to this game either.

Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors isn’t a groundbreaking RPG, but does offer a decent gaming experience with an interesting story concept. The problem is it’s somewhat bland without the sexual aspects.

A great title for kids. Many of the plain jokes and goblin humor is not lost on the younger crowd.

The puzzle design misses the cleverness that made the previous chapters so much fun, rendering the penultimate chapter an extreme disappointment as a game, doubly so as the previous chapter was the best in the series.

Warner Bros. Montreal took a giant risk with Gotham Knights. Not only did the studio choose to forgo using one of the world’s most famous heroes, but also the top-rated Arkham series. What we have with Gotham Knights is an original setup filled with a great central cast and an intriguing tale of young sidekicks uncovering Gotham’s dark secrets and becoming knights themselves.

As a whole package, Rhapsody delivers a charming and entertaining tale about love and finding one’s happy ending.

It’s oh so close to achieving high marks from a gameplay perspective, but it’s also hurt greatly by a lack of polish that makes it a hard product to recommend at launch. In time, there’s a chance we’ll see some improvements that tighten up some of its loose ends and while that’d be unlikely to fix every issue the game has, it may result in it being a more complete experience. As it stands, it feels like a half-baked product that succeeds in spite of its shortcomings, but still needs more work to be a must-buy pickup for either fans of the show or brawler fanatics alike.

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead takes an interesting concept and fails to reach the mark, fizzling out into mediocrity before even getting started. The goal of remaining quiet is portrayed well with several successful mechanics (opening doors slowly, watching where you step), but becomes boring as the game fails to create engaging challenges while plummeting in quality. Fans of the franchise will get a kick out of this adaptation for the first few hours, but it's hard to imagine many players sticking around until the ending.

Nights of Azure is a solid action RPG.