I don't know if Telltale has lost their magic or if their adherence to this formula has just worn thin on me, but it's becoming increasingly difficult for me to get excited at the prospect of playing another episode. The halcyon days of season one are long gone.

Playing through The Little Acre will make for an enjoyable afternoon, but not much past that. The impressive production values are the star here, as the gameplay can't match the amazing amount of polish that has been put into the visuals and audio. Narratively, several ideas are left unexplored, and it rarely touches upon both of the unique settings that the game takes place within. Ultimately, it's an average adventure game that has been put in a gorgeous package.

In this violent, bloody holiday release schedule it is nice to have games like ABZÛ. It is an artistic, aesthetic game, suited for watching and observing, not playing in a strict sense of the word. Its undersea beauty is unmatched, but leaves me wanting more.

Dead Rising 4 has deviated too much from its own traditions for me to give it a wholehearted recommendation. It now resembles a typical modern day third-person sandbox game, for what that's worth. To be fair, I have a lot of fun with games like that, and I've been having a lot of fun with this game. But Dead Rising has come and gone, and has been replaced with something a little tamer and more accessible.

Dungeon Souls isn't boring, but it's tough to justify spending time with it over many of the recent dungeon crawler greats. It is a typical roguelike - fun to play for a while, and easily forgotten afterwards.

'Bethesda Pinball' is easily Zen Studios' most ambitious project yet. They really went all out making sure each table feels like the game it's based upon, but that leads to mixed results when it comes to digital pinball. 'DOOM' is the real standout addition, with the two role-playing game tables getting too overly complicated. While it may not pull off every idea it attempted, I'm glad that Zen Studios isn't afraid to take risks, and that's exactly why this is still a pinball pack that is worth checking out even if it's not the developer's best adaptation.

The writing team is doing a decent job with the direction and script of 'Batman: The Telltale Series', but the severely strained engine rears its ugly head at every opportunity. Telltale's formula and tech both are very familiar by now and have their flaws, which we've been able to overlook for the sake of an otherwise enjoyable story. The lag has nearly reached a critical mass, however.

Tripwire Interactive brings the FPS back to its most primal level, creating a ludicrous arcade-style bloodbath in an era of deeper, more thoughtful narrative-driven shooters. That approach ultimately proves to be refreshing; while more variety would have pushed the game over the top into "truly great" territory, what Killing Floor 2 does offer is undeniably visceral entertainment. And while the wave-based action is plenty of fun on its own, the perks system kept me coming back to upgrade my character and face even deadlier threats.

While 'Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization' is definitely a step up from its predecessors, it's still too rough around the edges to really appeal to anyone other than fans of the anime. It fails to take advantage of the unique premise, and an unpolished localization makes the game overly confusing in spots. Hopefully 'Sword Art Online' will get a great game adaptation, but that still hasn't happened yet.

I found some problems with 'Civilization VI' but not enough to keep me from enjoying it for quite a few hours. Firaxis has improved some systems and stumbled on others, including things that should be in good shape by now, like diplomacy. I have a feeling that a year from now it will be a much better, bigger game, (not to mention cheaper) as is tradition with this series. I just wish that the inevitable DLC felt more like expansions and less like content filling in the gaps from the day one release.

The LEGO Harry Potter Collection is a fancy-free, funny and robust brickified version of the eight Harry Potter movies. The current asking price of $50 may be a little steep, considering these are 5 year old games without additional content. One to watch once it hits a more comfortable price point. Worth a look, but only if you don't already own the games.

I'll admit I was looking forward to Super Dungeon Bros before playing. I love the genre, and a caricatured metal mash-up could have been interesting, but the game disappoints on all fronts. I like how much emphasis React put on co-op but it needed more under the hood - more choices for character building, more control, more abilities, just more.

I admired the visual and sound design for creating some truly creepy environments, and for serving up a loving tribute to the Commodore 64/Amiga era, but I was left a bit more cold in the gameplay department.

I went looking for Michael Crichton in The Assembly, but I got stuck on the lowlights. As with many ambitious projects, there is some good stock here. As VR advances, another take The Assembly could realize the promise. What's here, however, just isn't thrilling.

Despite largely being a repackaging of last year's game, Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence - Ascension makes smart changes to the formula that immediately pay off. The new game still controls a bit wonky using a controller, but the revamped user interface does make the strategy title more accessible.

New World Order doesn't completely torpedo 'Batman' but it's by far the weakest we've seen yet. Sometimes I feel like I'm less Bruce Wayne and more of a boring CEO with a soap opera love life. There are still two episodes remaining and I hope the best is yet to come.

Unfortunately, there just isn't much depth to be found here. Though there are four difficulty settings, the three available levels just don’t feel all that different from one another.

Mafia III put a high priority on its backstory, immersion, and presentation. That work shows in the quality of the narrative and the tragic characters, but unfortunately left little to flesh out the city of New Bordeaux. It's worth playing for the campaign, but perhaps there isn't a need to rush.

The meekly named PlayStation VR Worlds rarely escapes its origins as brief demonstrations, but it is certainly worth checking out as part of the greater PlayStation VR launch experience. Some of the five experiences bundled here could make for great fully-realized titles, and failing that, this disc version is ready for any time I might want to show 'PS VR' to others.

Battlezone feels like a serious missed opportunity. As the successor to what many consider the original virtual reality game, I expected Rebellion's revision to be an accessible arcade battler — the sort of game that would make a great introduction to home-ready VR. Instead, this new version takes its influence from more modern inspirations, including roguelike elements and procedurally generated maps. That's not a bad thing on its own, but the implementation of these elements is incredibly frustrating.

It differs little from its predecessors in this genre, and as sheer time-wasters go it pales in comparison to so many other casual and, I dare to say it, social media games. The folks over at Madhead are clearly lovers of the HOPA but this a niche field to say the least, and Adam Wolfe has little mainstream appeal.

I had a tough time taking The Bunker seriously. It was an admirable attempt at live-action psychological horror, but the John segments meander on and stumble around like the main character. It's not entirely predictable, but nor is it treading new ground.

Warhammer 40K is a great franchise on paper but has struggled in video gaming, and 'Eternal Crusade' is on the lower end of the spectrum. It has the trappings of a freemium pvp game but asks for $50 just to get in the door. From the shoddy controls to the inscrutable mysteries of equipment, this is one shooter we cannot recommend, even for the most dire of 'Warhammer' fans.

Despite its low points, the tension that permeates Colorado works tremendously in its favor, leading to a more consistently enjoyable 'Hitman' episode than 'Bangkok', which remains a low point for the game. While there isn't nearly as much personality or humor as there perhaps should have been, there's still plenty of fun and excitement to be found within the militia camp. It's also the biggest leap forward for the story thus far, and builds toward what should be a tremendous climax when the game's final episode hits next month.

Aragami is an ambitious stealth game that occasionally brushes shoulders with greatness. A poor frame rate and sub-par enemy AI really hampers the experience, but stalking from the shadows remains fun throughout.

Sure, I was constantly fighting both the controls and the camera while also battling Aragami, but it wasn't enough to ruin the experience. 'God Eater' is begging for an iteration developed for consoles from the ground-up, so hopefully that will happen soon. Until then, fans will have to settle for a serviceable port that sadly isn't optimized for the PlayStation 4.

Far from being a bad game, MeiQ: Labyrinth of Death doesn't really try to be much more than simply competent. Its systems and ideas are all strong, but they're tackled fairly gracelessly and just end up feeling rote after a while. I didn't have a bad time with the game, but it's hard to not just recommend playing something like 'Demon Gaze' or even Idea Factory's own 'Trillion' instead for those looking for a great Dungeon Crawler or JRPG on Vita.

Not a standout expansion but nor is it disappointing the way that 'The Dark Below' and 'House of Wolves' were. The production values remain high with the superb score, attractive Temple of Iron, new Crucible maps and so forth. On the other hand, the PvE content has mileage issues. It is still worth playing and even worth coming back to 'Destiny' for, if only for a short while.