There’s so much going on here that it can be overwhelming at times – a problem not helped by the cumbersome UI – but you’d be hard-pressed to find a more accurate depiction of what it’s like to wage war.

Capcom’s execution isn’t always perfect, and the lack of quest variety may wear on some, but Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is just about everything it strives to be: a sprawling adventure full of charm, customization and a whole lot of monsters.

This is a must-buy platformer for anybody who either grew up on that genre as a kid or who fell in love with it again — or maybe even for the first time — with Shovel Knight.

Overture has a lot of cool things going for it, from its pick-up and play gameplay to its catchy chiptune music. At the end of the day, however, Overture feels too by the books to leave a lasting impression.

While The Escapists on the Xbox One may not be the most definitive version of the title, it’s still a soundly optimized and immensely original gaming experience that stands out from the crowd in the One’s digital library.

It may have resulted in a seemingly incoherent fusion of ideas and pixels, but at its heart, #IDARB is a classic sports game that will click with just about anybody, and the extra helping of random chaos will never cease to entertain.

It’s a testament to sound design when the worst aspect of a video game is indeed its actual title. Even with it, though, Grey Goo is a stand-out RTS that has found an expert way of blending old with new to create something familiar but fresh.

There’s no gameplay hook to latch onto and the writing and pacing both leave a lot to be desired.

If you’ve never played Indigo Prophecy before then you ought to give it a try, but you’d be better off digging up a PS2 copy than playing this mess.

Deep in personality, but shallow in mechanics, Apotheon is a classic case of style over substance.

HuniePop is pornography – darn fine pornography at that – but it’s also a shockingly good puzzle game. Occasionally those two identities feel at odds with each other, but for the most part they work in concert to show you a good time.

It’s a solid value given how much time can be spent with the new maps.

Forward to the Sky may have wanted to reach for the skies, but it needed to dig out of the ground first.

This is not to say that Criminal Girls: Invite Only is inherently broken; it certainly functions and offers over twenty hours of gameplay, but there’s better JRPGs available.

If you’ve got the tolerance for terrible and the four hours or less that it takes to beat the game, maybe you’ll have fun groaning at how bad Zombeer is too.

Few games – hell, few films – are so genuine and earnest in their execution, and few first episodes of anything are so effective in leaving you wanting more.

If you can get past the instability and lack of aesthetic cohesion, you’ll find a foundation of smart mechanics and clever challenges. With that said, you’ll probably better enjoy those elements on your phone or tablet.

Even though its story will leave most players unsatisfied and its open-world design is questionable at best, its phenomenal side stories and often entertaining gameplay will prevent distaste. This isn’t the next The Last of Us, and its narrative comes nowhere close to Telltale’s The Walking Dead, but the framework is in place for a generally good time.

Sakura Angels is short, seemingly robbed of an exciting ending, and tries to stifle its positive strides with copious CGs.

Even seventeen years on it still stands taller than just about every other game that built upon its foundations. Aesthetically speaking, almost no game of its era has aged quite as gracefully, and even with the remastered visuals turned off it still looks great.

Atelier Ayesha Plus: The Alchemist of Dusk doesn’t significantly subtract from or add to the original 2013 release. It does, however, incorporate some new elements that do just enough to make this the more complete edition of the game. It still lacks depth due to Gust’s mission to streamline much of the series’ nuances so as to rope in new players and broaden the title’s appeal, sacrificing some of what gives Atelier its identity.

Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2 provides many hours of gaming jokes, silly plot developments and strategic battles which adds up to a mostly lovable JRPG.

Score-chasers, 16-bit enthusiasts, arcade-game aficionados and Sega addicts all need apply for this one; anyone outside of those groups may not get as much from it, but even still there’s fun to be had.

Delivering a near-endless supply of side-content and addictive combat, Saints Row IV is ridiculously easy to recommend, but Re-Elected’s limited enhancements and unwelcome technical issues keep this version from being the definitive version that it should be.

Given its somber tone and grueling difficulty, I’m not sure if I should refer to Brandish: The Dark Revenant as the PSP’s swan song or its funeral dirge, but either way it’s among the system’s best RPGs.

It might not resonate as strongly as Earthbound, but Citizens of Earth is arguably more fun to play.

Subdued visuals, a mysterious storyline with strange characters and nearly ten endings make Train of Afterlife a commendable visual novel effort.

Gat Out of Hell captures the madness and destruction that made the series so fun, but even as an expansion pack, there’s not much new here. So much of it is cut from the same cloth of Saints Row IV that the nuances end up meaning much less than they should.