Offers a lot of options which are much appreciated, but with the gameplay and story being weak, it’s a hard game to really engage with. Taking leveling up and growing your characters out of a tactical RPG is an interesting idea, and might work if the core of the game were stronger, but as it is, it robs the game of any sort of progression and makes it all run together. If you really want a game like this, you can play with others. It might be worth a try, but most players should look elsewhere for their tactical thrills.

Kingpin: Reloaded is a very problematic remaster of a shooter that wasn’t exactly a classic even in its heyday. Though there are some nicer textures and quality-of-life improvements, there are plenty of bugs, glitches and missed opportunities as well, so the source material isn’t elevated above its mediocre status. There’s little to value here unless you’re desperately devoted to millennial shooters and willing to be forgiving to the developers as they continue to patch the game’s problems. It turns out that when Kingpin was being reloaded, the magazine was filled with blanks.

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft takes a franchise that was flawed even in the 90s and does nothing interesting to update it. The new graphics are nice when they aren’t ruining the atmosphere of certain areas, but the modern controls somehow make these games a worse experience. There are plenty of great adventures out there starring Lara Croft. Her last trilogy was excellent, and even the 360-era titles, starting with Tomb Raider Legend, largely hold up. These original releases, though, have simply been eclipsed by far too many games at this point and are only really worth returning to if your nostalgia demands one more trip into these tombs.

With a little spit and polish or perhaps a bigger budget, Ary and the Secret of Seasons could have been a real standout that no Zelda fan should miss. However, at least in its current state, it’s hard to recommend as the game is anything but sunshine and rainbows at the moment. If Ary and the Secret of Seasons sounds like something you’d enjoy, that’s great. But I’d strongly recommend waiting for the game’s developers to iron out the kinks before plunking down your cash.

The idea of a Medieval take on the Grand Theft Auto formula is undoubtedly intriguing. That’s why it’s such a shame that Rustler falls short of realizing its full potential. From the game’s unsatisfying combat to its rinse-and-repeat missions, it doesn’t take long before the game starts to wear out its welcome. Add to that near game-breaking technical issues, and you have a title that’s pretty hard to recommend to all but the most desperate fans of the genre. Still, if you’re looking for an unapologetically old-school throwback to the GTA games of old, you might just find some fun to be had with Rustler.

While this remaster has its share of Kodak moments, unfortunately, the negatives are simply too much to ignore. With Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water’s disposable cast of characters and underdeveloped episodes that start to blur together like like an old Polaroid, survival horror fans are better off turning their focus elsewhere to get their fix this Halloween.

Despite its accessible controls and decent space dogfighting action, the mobile roots of Subdivision Infinity DX don’t stand up to scrutiny as a console experience. The bare-bones story and repetitive gameplay loops simply don’t hold up when removed from the platform they were tailor-made for, which ultimately results in a game that is difficult to recommend.

Honestly, a large part of me wonders if Glyph might have been better had it been a 2D platformer instead. As it stands now, it’s just too demanding and unbalanced for me to recommend to most gamers. But if you’re stubborn enough and willing to die repeatedly, you might find something to enjoy here. For everybody else, look for something a little less diabolical.

Synduality: Echo of Ada had the potential to carve out its own niche by being an accessible extraction shooter available on console. It’s not completely without merit, with its snappy gunplay making for an exciting PvPvE experience and the novel Magus system initially showing a lot of promise. However, a laborious early game grind, and monetization so egregious that I don’t see anyone but the most hardcore of audiences sticking around severely sour the experience. Whether Game Studio can course correct remains to be seen, but early signs point towards yet another live service title that runs the risk of having its lifespan cut short due to excessive grind and greed.

No, it’s not perfect. With its clumsy dialog, touchy controls, and occasionally broken U.I., Within The Blade sometimes feels like a game that’s designed to work against the player. However, if you can overlook its faults, there’s an exciting and surprisingly deep experience beneath its many bumps and bruises. You just have to be willing to sift through the grime to uncover its finer parts. As for whether or not it’s worth doing so, that’s for you to decide.

Session: Skate Sim is a game of two halves at the moment. It presents a daunting, yet rewarding challenge that genuinely tries to move the genre forward through its dedication to being an authentic sim, but at the same time lacks the character and anarchy that the genre and skateboarding, in general, are synonymous with. Add onto that a healthy serving of jank and bugs, and Session: Skate Sim becomes a hard sell. However, if you can look past its flaws and are down for a challenge, it’s worth giving a shot as the innovations it does present are worth experiencing, and the highs you will receive from mastering the complex controls are unlike anything else the genre has to offer.

While Struggling eventually comes together to a degree and showcases impressive creativity, it doesn’t change that this is a game with audio that made me want to mute my TV and controls, which simply don’t feel good. It’s a real struggle to play. While that may be mostly intentional, it doesn’t make the game more enjoyable in the end. Some players may find more in it than me, but I’m more interested in seeing what the creative team at Chasing Rats Games does next. Any team with this much creativity feels like they have a great game in them. They didn’t get there this time, though.

Gal*Gun Double Peace makes the jump to the Nintendo Switch fully intact and slightly undressed. Whether flinging pheromones at frisky schoolgirls on your TV or in handheld mode, the game runs well and its vibrant visuals, while not particularly detailed, still manage to pop off the screen the same way they did when it was first released in 2015. Solid performance aside, however, just how much enjoyment you’ll get out of this risqué rail shooter depends on what you’re looking for. If you’re already a fan of the franchise and itching for more fanservice-filled firefights, you’ll undoubtedly find those here. However, if you’re looking for a satisfying shooter that will test your reflexes with thrilling boss battles and exciting locales to blast your way through, I’d probably wait for The House of the Dead: Remake to shuffle its way onto the Switch instead.

I wish I could end on a high note, but Lila’s Sky Ark was more creative than it was memorable. While you can beat the game in less than a dozen hours, you’ll probably spend more just trying to fulfill the final mission. And while I did enjoy wandering around this weird world, ultimately some bad combat decisions and a lack of balance hurt my immersion. If you’re a big fan of action adventure and like games just for the sake of weirdness, I’d still give this a shot. For everybody else, this probably isn’t your game.

That was actually my general experience with the entirety of Expedition Zero. It does a solid enough job of creating atmosphere and making the player nervous, but playing it just isn’t fun. The seed of a solid idea is here in the game’s various printers, but they don’t do enough to help overcome the slow and awkward movement. Horror fans may find a few hours of scares, but anyone else should steer well clear of this expedition.

If you want a new roguelike to play that’s more on the gentle and forgiving side, Dust & Neon certainly isn’t a bad effort. The gunplay is satisfying, making you feel like a badass gunslinger, but there’s too much to fault regarding its repetition and sense of sterility that what glimmers of goodness there are get submerged in banality. Whether it’s the feather-thin story and context, the dull mission objectives, or the general lack of character, Dust & Neon fails to make the most out of its Western setting and its pleasing gunplay. Dust & Neon is worth unloading bullets into robot cores for an hour or two, but it won’t sustain you for too long afterwards. Consider this one scrapped.

If you’re after a passable RTS, there are worse options to plump for than Dark Descent. Ably evoking the claustrophobic and unsettling mood of the Alien franchise, Dark Descent may please fans of the franchise with its desperate firefights and tense stealth sections. However, it doesn’t push the envelope in regards to anything it does, failing to wholly immerse you in its story thanks to mediocre dialogue and vapid characters, compromised by finnicky management systems, leaving you confined to a temporarily terrifying but otherwise banal and toothless RTS. It may be tempting for Alien devotees, but don’t be surprised if Dark Descent devours your patience quicker than an alien pouncing on its military prey.

If you have friends to play with regularly, Cruis’n Blast can provide light arcade-style thrills. With over-the-top courses, a catchy soundtrack, and simple gameplay, there’s fun to be had. There’s just not enough content to justify it for anyone else, though, especially when basic features expected of the genre are missing.

Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood isn't a terrible game, but it's most likely not one that's going to stick with you long after the credits roll. It's mindless and repetitive, but if you're a fan of World of Darkness and feel like channeling your inner wolfman for the weekend, it just might scratch that primal itch. However, if you're on the hunt for an action-RPG with some meat on its bones, you're much better off sinking your claws into something else.

Unfortunately PopSlinger is a hard game to recommend to most gamers. If the developers can make a concerted effort to balance and streamline the camera and combat issues I pointed out, as well as helping the game provide clearer visual cues, I think this could be something special. As it is now, however, it’s just too much of a mess to recommend to anyone that isn’t willing to put a ton of effort into the experience. Hopefully Funky Can Creative learns from this game to make their next adventure one that lives up to the hype.

Despite all of Ghostrunner‘s problems, there’s the kernel of a great game here. If you have the option to pick it up on any other platform, then I absolutely recommend doing so; especially if you’re a cyberpunk fetishist with a love for games that aren’t afraid to kick you in the teeth. Sadly, the Switch version just doesn’t deliver the same experience with its severely downgraded visuals and plethora of performance issues. When all is said and done, this is one port that’s better off lost in time, like tears in rain.

It’s difficult to recommend Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Tempestfall. While I’m confident comfort settings will be patched in upcoming releases, and the tracking issues with combat will be resolved, it’s more complicated to address some of my other concerns with the game. A dull and impenetrable plot, coupled with uninspiring combat and limited enemy design, make for a fairly meaningless experience. You’d be better off playing The Wizards or Blade and Sorcery for your fix of fantasy VR hack and slash.

If you’re expecting Destroy All Humans 2! – Reprobed to be more of a remaster of the original game than a remake, you’ll likely be happy with the results. The game looks great and feels extremely faithful to the time it was released. Those with nostalgia for the original will get what they need out of it. After finally spending some time with it, though, I can say confidently that this was only ever an okay game, featuring the same lack of content and empty areas that open-world games of that era were known for. Today's open-world games are better at creating an overall experience worth your time.

Hellsweeper VR, with its ambitious design and promise of an intense, infernal combat experience, positions itself as a potential standout in the VR space. It teases players with the allure of an underworld filled with challenges, unique mechanics, and the thrill of mastering both melee and magic in tandem. But more often than not, its execution stumbles, falling short of the high bar it sets for itself.

Much like its inspiration, Freezer Pops is a one-note experience. We all know the narrative is just a flimsy pretext for getting these guys into ostensibly sexy situations. It only takes a few hours to complete, and there’s little reason to revisit it. It’s kind of a wild ride while it lasts, though.

I really want to emphasize that no matter what score I give, respect should be given to any developer striking it out solo, with Alex being no exception. The visuals are damn good-looking for an indie effort, and the core gameplay is shockingly solid for being a blend of FTL and XCOM. I see so much room for a game like this to grow and develop, and I’d even go as far as to say I’d gladly go another round if there were a few fixes for the lack of checkpoints, laggy ship transitions, and a bit more depth added to the gameplay. Sadly, Space Cats Tactics in its current form doesn’t stray much farther from general tactics roots, and the characters, while cute for the first few minutes, don’t evolve much more from there, either. If you can work around that and some rather irksome bugs and glitches, I really do encourage giving this a run for being something rather unique in its field, if not to give some support to a solo dev that really has passion put in his project.

Golf Club: Wasteland frustrates me because there’s so much about it I like. With tighter controls, a few tweaks to certain levels, and a better-integrated narrative, this could be a truly special game. As is, it never comes together and is hard to recommend.

Playing The Sundew is much like eating at a fancy boutique restaurant. You’ll be served something that’s beautifully presented only to then find the meal isn’t nearly substantial enough to fill your belly, and you’ll be aghast at the bill for it. The story flies by before it’s even had a chance to begin, and even though there are multiple endings, they only add a little sliver of extra playtime. Though there’s a little fun to be had in exploring the lovingly rendered pixel art scenery, this cyberpunk outing is sadly destined to wash away from your memory – like tears in The Sundew.