There's real depth here, and if anything I've described sparks your interest, I wholeheartedly encourage you to give it a try. Lizardcube clearly poured their heart and soul into this project, and it shows in every frame.

Between the three factions to unlock in addition to the two starting ones and the generous number of faction cards available to unlock- not to mention the ability to make and share custom challenges online- this is a game that’s easy to come back to time and time again. And you will want to come back. While it’s easy to cast aside a game that takes inspiration from another as too derivative, it’s hard to complain when the results are this fun. Monster Train proves that, sometimes, it’s good to be bad.

In all Fantasy Life i is an incredibly solid game that has a ton of charm to it. The gameplay is simple but addicting, and the quality of life features that were added compared to the 2014 game make The Girl Who Steals Time a very enjoyable experience. The story beats can feel a little repetitive at times, as can the mini-games all bearing out similarly to each other, and real time based events can be a bit of a pain. But all of that aside, Fantasy Life i is a game that this reviewer would gladly recommend to anyone that prefers a more cozy vibe to their fantasy genre.

Despite my few complaints, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey truly is an incredibly entertaining game that proves Origins was no fluke. I’m back on the hype train, baby, and I can’t wait to see where the next stop is (even if I wish it’d rest at the same station for another year or two). No longer a simple stealth game, but instead a massive, detailed, sprawling roleplaying game, Odyssey just might be one of my favorite games of 2018 so far.

I’ve certainly had my share of fun and amazement soaking up what bits of Night City’s world that I could in my 80 hour playthrough, but nevertheless with a bad taste in the mouth when so many glitches and inconsistencies pulled me out of its overall experience.

If you go into it looking for a game that doesn't give you an easy go of it and expects you to concentrate and really invest in the challenge, then you will find a satisfying and genuinely exciting game here. If you go in expecting tons of flash and colourful presentation then you may be sorely disappointed.

Both paid DLC packs and free updates are planned to bring about new cars and cosmetic changes, and if developer support continues, Rocket League could turn into something truly special. Even as it is though, it quickly became one of my favourite games of the year, in a year where we’ve already had a huge number of great titles.

Injustice 2 is a big, bold, expansive love letter to fans of DC comics and fighting games in general, and its sequel improves on the original in most every way. A deep roster ripe for customization and enough quality game modes worth spending time with will ensure you’ve got enough to keep you busy for quite some time. Though a few issues hold NetherRealms’ latest back from being truly exemplary, there are enough positives here to keep the whole experience feeling pretty super.

When I was first assigned this game for review, I thought that it might be just another card drawing and puzzle affair that seem to be common these days. However, Inscryption kept my attention until the very end. The plot, the dark theme, and the mysterious mechanics is so well thought out that I have to give it an enthusiastic two thumbs up. The only downside that I can think of is that replayability might be limited after the first couple of play throughs. Even with that said, this title is worth the price of admission.

I may have failed beautifully in managing my city, but Cities: Skylines allows me to create a vast, complex ecosystem of a city that I can call my own, and it does so with style and grace.

Legend of Grimrock II is better than the original in every regard: more freedom, better character progression, better enemies, better puzzles and better environmental variety. Those who liked the first one will definitely love the sequel!

I have enjoyed Starfield and will continue to do so as I clock up the hours, completing my huge list of unfinished quests. But I also enjoyed the various instalments of Fallout, and Starfield feels very much like a Fallout game with a space skin and with space combat. But even then, the space combat can be somewhat diminished with the Fast Travel option. The Fast Travel also reduces the exploration that players often find enjoyable in grand scale RPGs such as this. Starfield does have its minor issues, but it does plenty of things right. The combat is smooth and satisfying, the crafting enables players to improve their equipment in a relatively easy way and the game’s soundtrack is superb, ultimately setting the tone for an enjoyable experience that has you scouring the galaxy for a series of artifacts.

While playing Paradigm, I was having recollections of playing some of my favourite games of yesteryear. The surreal, yet hilarious characters could definitely become memorable pop-culture icons if this was made by a Triple-A development team with their huge marketing budgets. Paradigm does so many of the things that the golden era of point and click adventures did so well and makes it a worthwhile addition to the genre. The puzzles, the humorous storyline and characters, the fully voiced dialogue, the wonderful, somewhat retro visuals all combine to make Paradigm a modern day classic of its own. I sincerely hope that developer Jacob Janerka sees fit to produce a follow up title.

Once I got going, I found it hard to stop running, jumping, sliding and smashing my way through the hundred and twenty levels Runner 2 had to offer. The gorgeous visuals combined with the fantastic soundtrack and addictive gameplay make this an excellent game, and it is great value for money.

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Complete Pack really is the ultimate Van Helsing experience. It offers all the attractions of the original game, adding enough new flavor to keep you coming back for more.

When Doom: The Dark Ages plays to its strengths, it is the ultimate in destruction. The mechanics of the Shield Saw work amazingly well, bringing something different to the series, and combined with the iconic Doom weaponry, provide for a smooth combat experience. And although the sections with the Atlan mech and the cybernetic dragon aren't as entertaining as the main combat phases, they are still enjoyable. The awesome soundtrack gets the heart pumping and sets the tone perfectly, whilst the visuals look stunning, with the cutscenes doing a wonderful job of continuing the story. A word of warning though, Doom: The Dark Ages does require a decent PC to run even on minimum. Indeed, if you were hoping to play on the go with a Steam Deck you will be disappointed. But if you have the system to play it, and enjoy shooters then Doom: The Dark Ages should definitely be on your must-play list.

Once you've become accustomed to the pace of play and mechanics, Solium Infernum is a charming and strategic game. If you can get over the slow movement and learn the rules, you'll find an engaging grand strategy game that is rewarding on subsequent playthroughs. And, if you've got a few friends to betray, the overall experience becomes heightened. I struggled with that pacing at times, but after sinking more time into it the hurdles because less and less imposing. The only problem is you have to spend that amount of time over a series of rounds, rather than a long one or two.

It is elegant gameplay combined with a nice social commentary on the side which makes it unique, and I can’t recall the number of times I smiled as I performed a perfect combo.

Gripes with the latter stages aside, Shovel Knight is still a fantastic game.

If you want complex, tactical combat, and a fascinating story told in a unique style, you’ll get a lot from Valkyria Chronicles.

Nioh 3 does it all. And just when you think it has finished doing things, it does some more. Frequently the combat feels akin to a fighting game, the loot and systems surrounding it are reminiscent of true ARPGs, and, of course, it's a soulslike at its core. Yet even as it is doing the most, it takes great pains to ensure the player has all the information they need. While the open-world formula is a little clunky in execution, it remains strong in so many other areas, so it overshadows those shortcomings quite a bit. And the game wraps all of its systems and mechanics in beautiful recreations of historic Japan that are both visually and audibly enjoyable. It's time for Nioh to come out from under the games that inspired it in the first place, and Nioh 3 is proof of that. It's a combat delight through its worlds, with two fighting styles seamlessly blended together, even as it offers a nearly endless stream of challenges and expectations.

As a first entry in a five episode series, The Wolf Among Us: Faith is an exciting game.

It’s silly, but in a way everyone can enjoy, and most importantly, it’s a lot of fun to play with friends. Which is fitting, because that’s what the game is all about: friendship.

Dragon Ball FighterZ is a great game that should be an automatic purchase for any fans of the Dragon Ball franchise, and is worth a hard look from anyone that may be intimidated to jump into their first fighting game. It’s too early to make claims about the game’s longevity, balance, and online community, but the pieces are certainly in place to for the game to have some legs.

I honestly had a blast with Death's Door, with the only major problem I ran into being some save file problems. Admittedly, playing a pre-release version of the game could have had something to do with that. The game is not phenomenally long, sitting at around twelve or so hours, with the chance of it being even less if you have fewer issues with the somewhat unforgiving nature of the game. There’s also no difficulty scaler which may turn off some players who want a slightly less difficult playthrough. If you too like to roll on the darker side of life, or death if you will, give this game a chance!

Skate Story isn't particularly difficult or demanding of skill, and that works in its favour. Rather than worrying about completing board rotations in time to get the wheels on the ground, the focus is on the path ahead in a way that feels like our demon skater was something of an expert in their past life. This helps make the animations look tight, the gameplay flows through levels, and the initially-scary timing mechanic becomes second-nature. At a certain point the feel of those trick patterns overtakes the visuals, but even without hitting the sweet spot you're still skating like the best of them. I just wanted more to do with all of it. The existing levels are great, but without the ability to play any one of them on-demand it means sitting through dialogue that goes a tiny bit slower than I would like, pushing and Ollie-ing tutorials, and all the other first-timer experiences again and again. But still I do it. Perhaps as I go through more of the story will continue to break through the obscurity it's baked in, and maybe I'll find those missing collectables, but all of that is supplemental, because Skate Story's unique approach to skateboarding feels, looks, and sounds great.

The Alters does exactly what great sci-fi stories do: it uses the fantasy of future technology to have conversations that are timeless. It didn't need to be absurd, it didn't need to be existential, but it is at times both, and so much more. The conversations and relationships represent the true experience, but the management aspects hold their weight, too. Even though it stumbles over those heady conversations at times, either as a result of the writing itself or because stitching together disparate pieces in a video game sometimes ends up like that, it's about so much more than those individual moments. Parts of the gameplay don't reach the same heights, particularly when it comes to base building with minimal benefits, but The Alters is satisfying from so many angles when it comes to management and survival that it's difficult not to recommend it. More than that, though, it's forgiving enough with those mechanics that it becomes a must-play for just about anyone. Much like Jan Dolski, I thought I was going to struggle to survive, but I ended up thriving.

Despite the occasional control annoyance and underdeveloped trait system, this is a fantastic game that I am going to spend many more hours with to continue building my legacy.