Firewatch is one of those games that you need to take a step back and think about after it’s over. This tense four-hour adventure might lead you to believe it’s going places it never goes, and while some might wish for a grander tale loaded with conspiracy, what’s actually there stands on its own as wonderful. A touching human story sprinkled with player agency, Firewatch succeeds in causing players to consider what it truly means to be alone.

If only it was a little longer and more fleshed out, Rise of the Tomb Raider’s Baba Yaga would have been something special, but alas, it ends up being only a solid, albeit dry, in the middle deviation from the main campaign.

It’s a game that tries too hard to be vague and ambiguous that it ultimately leaves the content that is there to process feeling disproportionately stagnant.

It’s an experience that was quite intense for this particular reviewer. It is a wondrously constructed game born of love and culminating as an incredibly, beautifully bittersweet, emotional adventure. Filled with heart from its opening to the cessation of the credits, it will wow you, make you smile and make you cry. Gamer or not, you need to play Unravel.

If you’re smitten by the style and want a casual dual joystick shooter to plow through in an afternoon, AIPD isn’t a bad purchase. But if you’re hoping for a shooter with some real meat to chew on, AIPD will leave you wanting.

There is depth and relevance to The Political Machine 2016’s gameplay and content. It’s easy to pick up and play and whether you take it seriously and really play to win or approach it with less reverence, the game will accommodate you. Because it is so tied to the issues and candidates of the moment, it is both amusing and instructive, but probably not something you’ll want to revisit after next November.

Lost in Harmony is a fantastic experience and an incredible presentation, but it’s a shame that it’s just not that good a game.

In DarkMaus, Daniel Wright has created a focused, challenging experience that successfully translates the core tenants of Dark Souls — careful approach to combat, high level of initial difficulty, wise use of resources and character development — into a game that looks deceptively innocent and benign.

Without forgetting a presentation that harkens to the best of past and present-day animation techniques, even if Klaus is not one of the most extravagant of platformers, it’s at least one of the more memorable.

As is, No One But You is a game with some intriguing moments and great artwork but overall feels too disjointed.

Megadimension Neptunia VII is slightly refreshing, but not enough to really revitalize this aging series.

Yes, it’s a massive bummer to see games that appear to be prime split-screen titles go completely without this functionality, but if you’re looking for a solid game to hop into with friends before larger multiplayer experiences begin to drop, you could do a lot worse.

LEGO Dimensions felt like much-needed innovation for a game series that has seen little change since its inception in 2006. Unfortunately, LEGO Marvel Avengers didn’t take many of those innovations to heart.

Blade & Soul is a free-to-play MMORPG and as such offers a lot of content and gameplay for literally nothing.

Death by Game Show is not an incompetently made game, but as a collection of design decisions the sum and its individual parts are annoying, disappointing or frustrating.

Enjoyment of Final Fantasy Explorers is defined by two things: nostalgia for Final Fantasy and the amount of immediate challenge desired.

It has an interesting cast of characters, but proscribes our interactions with them and too often crucially frames relationships as a series of tasks or gifts. On a second thought, that might be true to life, too.

If the story is nonsensical, the fighting and platforming are great fun.

If its use of nostalgic video game styles had been more deliberate and integral and some of its puzzles more essential to telling the story, Between Me and the Night’s art and atmosphere could have carried the experience.

To put it bluntly, Bombshell is a dud. What once began as something that had potential to become a so-stupid-it’s-awesome classic ended up being merely…well, it isn’t even really that stupid as a whole, just dull.

Rise of the Tomb Raider’s PC debut is nothing short of phenomenal, and provided you have the PC to back it up, it can look and run substantially better than its Xbox One counterpart.

Harvest Moon fans will find themselves enraptured all over again with the gameplay and world that these games create.

Everything about it screams “knockoff” like a “ROLAX” watch, but don’t be fooled: if you’re a fiend for devious puzzles, Attractio is the real deal.

World of Tanks has arrived on the PlayStation 4 in spectacular fashion. It plays better than it ever has before on a console, looks fantastic and features some PS4-only content to add extra value.

Gravity Rush Remastered is close to perfect. The original Vita game was very well received, and while this update doesn’t exactly push the PS4 to its limits, it still looks and plays extremely well.

The Witness is a game that can easily cause players to eclipse the one hundred hour mark and the vast majority of that time is going to be spent engaging with hundreds of brilliantly designed puzzles. While it won’t have the industry-shifting impact that Braid did in 2008, The Witness will influence video game puzzle design for years to come.

The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human may have its share of flaws, but is a highly original and mostly enjoyable entry into the increasingly congested metroidvania subgenre.

Minor issues aside, The Deadly Tower of Monsters is a pleasant surprise indeed and a particularly impressive budget action game showcasing a lot of creativity.