Every bit as fun as Earth Defense Force 2017 was, and it's a great improvement over Insect Armageddon. Though its rehashed content disappoints initially, EDF 2025 emerges as the best in the series in its latter half, delivering freakish new enemies, over-the-top weaponry and a solid and expansive multiplayer experience.

Foul Play takes the brawler genre and twists it for the stage, adding flair with the Mood-O-Meter and a range of quaint characters.

Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2 had some serious missteps, but Lightning Returns ends on a strong note by sticking to what really matters: great combat and a story you want to see through. No gimmicks, no tricks, no convoluted treks through time, no cliffhangers, no tunnels – just one last trip around the world with a pink-haired heroine, and then a fond farewell.

Core ideas that exist in I Am Alive show an exceptional amount of promise, but the title shows its hand far too quickly, running out of captivating tricks within the first few hours.

Even compared to the original Brain Age, Concentration Training is much more demanding, and players shouldn't expect to breeze through exercises and watch their training grade skyrocket.

Not unlike a cartoon, Octodad: Dadliest Catch shines brightest when it allows you to revel in the insanity of its premise, but every running joke has a limited shelf life, even when the gag is this good. If you can forgive that, and the sometimes incongruous challenges, Octodad's charm may just win you over.

It sets out to explore a very compelling set of themes, parenthood, responsibility and the casual cruelty of nature, but it ends up doing so in the most straightforward and predictable way possible. It's almost ironic how a game so adamantly about nature manages to feel so unnatural.

If you want to work your brain for a few minutes, MouseCraft is a good choice (especially on Vita).

Brink's artistically compelling soldiers can sail effortlessly over obstacles, landing acrobatic maneuvers never before seen in the genre with effortless poise -- unfortunately, just about everything else lands flat on its face.

Why is there almost no tutorial? Why can't co-op players join your game in the middle of a mission? Why is water traversable in some missions, but lethal in others? Why can your grappling hook only connect to some surfaces? Why is your healing ability mapped to the Start button?

Unlike the Buddha, who waited for his students to grasp his lesson on their own, The UnderGarden felt the need to prompt me. That's not very Zen, dude.

If there's something we can all learn from HAWX 2, it's that, no matter how cool it sounds, flying a cutting-edge, multi-million-dollar jet fighter bristling with the world's most advanced weaponry is pretty dull without the opportunity to do anything really cool in it.

It feels like a decent downloadable game trying desperately to stretch itself into a full retail suit that doesn't quite fit. As it is, its joys are like its formless protagonist: ephemeral.

Hatoful Boyfriend is great at setting a tone and building a strange bird universe pockmarked with bits of broken, human-constructed items. These objects are eerie in such a happy-go-lucky world, though the creep factor is welcome in a game as ridiculous as a pigeon dating simulator. We'll call it the peep factor.

Like messy upper lip hair, MLB 2K12 is so bad at times that it's good. Learning to play along with its imperfections reflects the sport well, but that doesn't excuse its rough patches. This year's edition doesn't do enough to truly stand out from past games in the series, save for the welcome added strategy in pitching.

I honestly can't say Wii Party is a bad game. I just also can't say it's a great game. It's ... fine. But, then, is that really the reaction you want to have to your party entertainment?

Costume Quest 2 is a lot like the bags of candy Wren and her fellow Halloween heroes collect: often sweet, sometimes sour, and (for the most part) worth the occasional tummy ache.

The illusion it maintains is easily broken by the lack of interactivity and a plot that doesn't always manage to keep its hooks in you. Where and when Neverending Nightmares fails, the effects are noticeable and jarring. Still, Neverending Nightmares is an atypical horror experience and, when it succeeds, it's one you won't soon forget.

The hands-free motion control with heart monitor alone is worth the price of admission. But fortunately there's more to this game than just a gimmick – it's a solid effort all-around and a surprisingly fun way to get fit.

A Golden Wake interprets a rich history in its chapters and paints an image of the best and worst of the 1920s, and while its overly-easy puzzles didn't really add to the story, I felt a stronger appreciation for that era after playing through it.

The game-breakingly slow pace of a game that isn't that exciting to start with took its toll. Fortune Street has no respect for players' time, turning what should be a breezy pastime into a languid, dull experience.

If you're a fan of the noir genre or '90s adventure games, you're gonna like the cut of its jib.

Deadlight shines in its detailed world-building: The art direction, IDs, diary entries and pieces of hidden lore are glorious. It's the gameplay that fails to live up to the standard of these beautiful fragments, with unresponsive controls and frustrating scenarios that can't decide if they want to be puzzles or action sequences.

Even the most brainless of braindead fare can aim higher than this rat-hitting-the-feeder-bar inanity. You deserve better.

Need for Speed: The Run's biggest problem is how much it has in common with a real drive from one end of the US to the other. There are a few bright spots here and there, but it's mostly full of unexpected stops, lots of flat tires, and too many assholes on the road. This isn't the worst Need for Speed, but it can't place against other, better racers from the last year.

There's definitely satisfaction to be had with Lords of the Fallen, but there comes a point at which it has no more tricks up its sleeve. In the end, the worst enemy in the game may be the game itself, and there's nothing hiding in a chest somewhere to fix that.

The complicated controls and frustrating difficulty make Shoot Many Robots tough to enjoy on your own and only slightly less so in a group. If you're really craving the next Alien Hominid then this one might do for a quick fix.

When I see Fancy Pants Man, the game's scribbled but charming protagonist, I see Tom Cruise sliding down the hall in his underwear. This entire game feels extrapolated from that iconic, underdressed celebration in the absence of authority.