Despite all its issues I honestly enjoyed SmuggleCraft. The tracks are a bit lonely, the challenge level is fairly low even when a mission says Death Trap and the menus desperately need another round of polish, but the courses are beautiful and fun to fly through in their detailed, low-poly way. Zipping through a canyon at mid-day looks very different from dawn, and weather effects dress up the scenery as well. Most sections can be done by tearing through at high speed but every once in a while you need to let up on the gas during the thin, guard rail-less sections, and while it’s eventually unlikely you’ll fall off the edge failure is still a possibility. There’s a lot of work left to do to get SmuggleCraft to become the game it should have been on launch, but if it can get there it’s going to be a fantastic chase through gorgeous low-poly worlds.

Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 is being published both as a standalone title with the full package (at a bargain compared to other just launched fighters) as well as a DLC pack for half the price for owners of the last game. Because of this, existing fans and newcomers are both getting the best deal. This is a title that comes highly recommended to anyone with a penchant for fast, flashy fighters on the 2D plane. While the genre isn’t hurting for options at the moment, this is a game that can hold its own against any challenger, as long as it doesn’t ask me to play as Answer.

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, by no means a flawless entry in the nearly three decade-old franchise, may well be the closest the series has gotten to somehow finding a happy medium between past legacy and contemporary appeal. Robust, entertaining and perilously engaging, while it may still find itself tainted by contemporary RPG standards in its character cast-listing or adamancy in offering “more” for the pure sake of it, Fire Emblem’s own “remake” phase in the end pays off in ways both clear and subtle alike. Ways that will appeal to either end of the fanbase spectrum. Its core gameplay and the many grid-based maps may not have evolved as much (perhaps less so here), but it’s everything going on around the combat that makes Shadows of Valentia a game you’ll look to beyond the avid necessity of leveling up your units. An interesting detour if nothing else, Nintendo would be wise to look at Echoes’ many entertaining and delightful offerings when the series, inevitably, makes its long-awaited return on home consoles.

There are pros to picking up Deemo: The Last Recital on Vita. This single purchase opens you up to tons of what the mobile game has to offer without any need of DLC purchases. The width of the Vita itself, however, might inhibit comfortable gameplay for some out there when compared to thinner smartphone screens. No matter which version you play, though, there’s still some gameplay design decisions which don’t make total sense to music game fans. Fortunately, the highly varied soundtrack makes grinding mostly bearable as players pursue growing a magical tree to its fullest. In a rhythm gaming dearth, Deemo: The Last Recital stands as an imperfect, but mostly enjoyable, title to spend time with.

Eight maps for $29.99 might seem like a bit of a stretch, but for the quality of the remastering and the nostalgia that comes with playing the old maps over again, it’s hard not to pull the trigger. Even with some questionable design choices, it’s a solid pack of DLC that brings the total number of maps available in Black Ops III up to fifteen. It’s not worth buying Black Ops III for, but if you already have it and you have fond memories of the old zombie days, it’s a good chunk of content that breathes new life into the two-year-old game.

It is obvious that the same engine from the last Samurai Warriors game is being used, but it really does feel like a fresh, focused take on the Musou series.

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.

Some folks are really into slice of life tales, and for others, it makes reading a visual novel a total slog. If you’re interested in a slightly mystical take on the genre then perhaps A Butterfly in the District of Dreams will excite you. For most, however, it’s an average tale which plods along with no real meaning for the majority of it. There’s nothing harmful about this, and there’s far worse you can play on Steam, but your hours of reading time might be better served elsewhere.

Reservoir Dogs is a classic movie that deserves a better homage than Bloody Days for its 25th anniversary. The only equivalent would be if your dog died and it got replaced with a turtle. This was not an enjoyable experience and feels like an even sloppier cash-in on a movie franchise than the latest Ghostbusters game did. At least that had some depth. On paper, the idea of a Reservoir Dogs game coupled with what Big Star Games is pitching would warrant a purchase, but the annoying Time Rewind feature and complete lack of connectivity to the actual movie makes this feel like a trip to the dentist. Although at least with that you’d come out with clean teeth.

Mages of Mystralia is an energetic and clever action-RPG, set in a vibrant and colorful land with a dark history. The heart of the game is its magic system, and the puzzles for unlocking new runes and other goodies keep things from being too combat-heavy. It’s easy to get lost in spell creation, pausing battle to dip into the magic tome to tweak a few runes or throw together something new as the monsters wait patiently for you to pull your head out of the book. Zia is a fun heroine to play as, learning and growing as the story progresses, with a strong character design that never gets lost on the screen. Mystralia’s history is making trouble in the present, but with an arsenal of spell components and the ability to wire them together together to best effect, Zia has a good chance of becoming the hero the world of Mages of Mystralia didn’t realize it needed.

Portal Knights has a few shortcomings, but the overall experience is a lot of fun. Its blend of RPG-esque leveling up with crafting and a steady learning curve keep you engaged. Those looking for a solid gateway game into the crafting sub-genre should check it out — especially if they enjoy RPGs. The music does hold things back, but every other major part of Portal Knights works well.

Thumper is a beautifully dark, unforgiving and utterly fantastic rhythm game, and its sense of menace is only matched by its wonderful playability.

Injustice 2 is nearly everything you’d want a sequel to be. It’s bigger, badder, and filled with more content than a typical fighting game has at launch. Players will have lots to do as they strive to master the 28 playable fighters through the Multiverse, online multiplayer and local versus matches. Then there’s the Gear system, which gives players infinite ways to customize and outfit their characters. Still, it’s not a perfect sequel. The story treads water in the middle and NetherRealm still hasn’t found a way to make to make the battles not feel contrived, hampering the excellent beginning and end of the game. It’s also difficult to shake the feeling that the Gear system was only introduced as way to facilitate microtransactions. Even so, Injustice 2 sets a bar for the amount of content and depth a fighting game should have at launch. With a strong roster, lots to do, and a combat system that can be enjoyed by new and masterful players, Injustice 2 is the hero we deserve.

Disgaea 5 Complete comes with a lighthearted story, enjoyable characters, all the DLC and gameplay full of different strategies for every player to try. It works amazingly well on the Switch, as it’s a perfect title to play in short bursts with handheld mode.

For all of its noticeable issues, Acquire’s risk to try something new in Akihabara pays off. Akiba’s Beat is a superb game for players who want an anime imbued, character driven experience that refuses to take itself seriously. The very enthusiasm that the makers obviously have for their subject pulses through the title, giving it a true personality that helps it stand on its own. It keeps the rhythm like me behind the drum set: the heart is absolutely in it but the sticks get dropped a few times. Fans of the Persona series and those who enjoy otaku culture and its trappings will find plenty of reason to groove to Akiba’s Beat. Just be prepared for the parts when it loses its tempo.

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.

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.

Prey is a fun game with its highlights rooted in beautiful yet creepy levels that contain a lot to explore, but its lack of originality sadly holds it back quite a bit. It’s a classic case of “jack of all trades, master of none,” except with a couple of flaws in some of its trades as well.

Lily of the Valley is best enjoyed in a single sitting on a quiet day. It doesn’t take long to finish both endings and deserves being completed rather than left hanging with only one ending. Over the brief playtime you’ll get to know a few characters and (hopefully) feel for them by the end. However, even great visuals and a decent soundtrack can’t turn this into a total tear-jerker of a visual novel. But, since that is variable between people, it’s worth checking out if you’re at all interested in short visual novels which have little to do with fanservice or silly hijinks.

Grisaia Phantom Trigger Vol. 1 is just a small bite of the new world of Phantom Trigger. Clocking in at just a couple hours, some may feel it takes a few missteps at truly utilizing its short gameplay length fully. Still, players should easily find themselves wrapped in a militaristic world that is both intriguing and a bit frightening. The likable, if odd, cast also ensures that most will go on to read Vol. 2 after completing this one. Hopefully that chapter finds it footing as Vol. 1 definitely has promise but doesn’t fully utilize this potential.

Higurashi weaves such an intense tale each and every chapter. After being involved for this long, it’s nearly impossible for fans to stop playing now. We’re finally being rewarded with an Answer Arc and getting to learn far more about the events which transpired. As future chapters release, players will finally begin to hone in on the actual truth of the matter. Higurashi When They Cry Hou – Ch.5 Meakashi offers a rather bloodthirsty introduction to Answer Arcs and also a much-needed explanation for earlier events. There are still more chapters to go, but if they’re anything like this one, players are going to be in for an amazing ride.

Birthdays: The Beginning is a cute and clever world-builder where simple actions can have deep, complicated results. While it was never apparent that life evolved by the guiding hand of a super-sentai hero, Birthdays shows how much all of Earth owes to their climate-controlling wisdom. Flying around the planet raising and lowering the land has far more complex results than would be expected thanks to the interlocking systems, and it’s always a treat to see what new life pops up as the result of the latest round of tweaking. The main story is plenty big enough but is also joined by a sandbox and goal-based modes, providing plenty of world-building fun. As cute as it is deep, Birthdays is a purely charming life-sim.

Picked nits aside, there is no better time to explore the world of Planescape with this enhanced edition. The content of the game has aged extremely well, providing almost endless hours of top notch exploration, dialogue and story. Beamdog has done a great job with getting it running better on modern machines while not going overboard. It ran without a hitch on my humble, underpowered laptop. As a must play for returning fans and newcomers alike, there is no real reason to skip Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition. This is PC RPG gaming done right.

When discussing The Caligula Effect, one cannot help but feel it will fall under the same umbrella as Resonance of Fate. It’s highly flawed and requires a bit of work to get the best out of it. Once acclimated, though, this is a game that will demand attention and affection from the player. It’s a strange, interesting tale that explores the nature of joy, sorrow, and choosing knowledge over bliss for those that want to think about it, or all of that can be ignored in favor of a silly anime-like story of friends overcoming long odds with superpowers. Either way, it’s a game that will probably gain more recognition and popularity as time goes on. Also, do not read page 24 of the game’s digital instruction manual.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has taken all the best parts from the Wii U version and improves quite a bit upon where it needed some adjustments. From the entirely revamped battle mode to all the brand new characters and features, Deluxe is far more than just a port. Those who have never played Mario kart 8 and have a Switch should consider this a need to play title, and those who had it on Wii U should know that this is still worth picking up as it is the definitive version by far. Whether racing on the track or taking down opponents in battle mode, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a perfect addition to the Switch library and remains the best Mario Kart title to date.

Despite being left wanting a bit more, What Remains of Edith Finch is a one of those examples of truly interactive storytelling. In gaming, there are many examples of titles that are lauded for their narrative that don’t quite hold up when compared to genre contemporaries in other mediums. There have been and will certainly be many more diatribes that explore this phenomenon. Giant Sparrow has created a title that can be held up against books and movies for storytelling prowess and stand strong. With its contemplative story and consistent interesting use of design, this is a title that should be experienced by anyone interested in what video games can do.

When approaching Mighty Monster Mayhem, it’s fair not to expect top of the line, wiz bang graphics. Rank17 is a low budget indie studio and needs to make some understandable compromises. Instead, it’s reasonable to hope for a title to competently take the narrow focus of emulating a game from the 80’s using simplified graphics, allowing the novelty of the input to carry it the rest of the way and have it come out playable. The developer got some of it right, but the vast majority of this game is riddled with too many cracks in the facade, indicating it was launched way too soon.

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.