Naraka: Bladepoint does have a lot of cool and unique ideas for the battle royale genre. I love its melee-focused combat, I love the varied weapon selection, and I dig the durability system replacing the "limited ammo" functions of other games in the genre. However the game's longevity suffers due to becoming stale quickly, the lack of variance in the core gameplay loop rearing its ugly head quickly. It's the kind of game I would absolutely recommend to a friend, but only for one or two matches at a time. For long marathon sessions, there are far better options.

Simply put, The Lords Of The Fallen beat the crap out of me. I languished, I lamented, but I lingered on, and as I'm sitting here now I am looking back fondly on what I did. The dual-world idea is phenomenal, even if it contributes to the game's worst technical tendencies. The mood set by each world, however, is downright creepy and gross, which serves as a strong foundation. Enemies can be bruising, while bosses aren't quite as difficult, which doesn't quite jive right throughout the game. As much as I wanted to toss my controllers around, I would be lying if I said I didn't have fun with The Lords Of The Fallen.

In the end, Age of Empires Online works well as a demo rather than a F2P game. There just doesn't seem to have been enough thought about what each element from the MMO and RTS genres bring to the party. Instead, they've just been thrown together.

Atom RPG is a valiant effort for a small indie team.

Black Prophecy is an interesting take on how flying/space combat can and should happen. However, its lack of content and specifically Endgame creates a short appeal for the modern player. The lack of an economy creates a one-dimensional gameplay experience. I would sincerely like to see this game introduce a universe wide resource system and a multitude of ships and weaponry that required a similar crafting system to many of the modern games. By introducing more group quests we would see a surge in the social atmosphere, and see Black Prophecy be more than the mediocre experience it is now.

I wish I could recommend Ancestors Legacy to Switch players. I wish I could say I had an amazing time and couldn’t put it down. Unfortunately, I mostly just wish I had played it on PC. As my brother told me, “not every game belongs on the Switch.” I suppose he was right.

Code Vein II is a game I could gush over for a few more pages, but I think it’s better experienced for yourselves. It’s an objective improvement over the first game in almost every aspect. The world is more fleshed out. The characters are more memorable. The weapon and Blood Code combinations are more interesting. As someone who adored the original, Code Vein II more than exceeded my expectations and I highly recommend it to RPG and Souls-like fans.

New World is off to a rocky start, but if Amazon can right the ship and address real player concerns, it has the chance to be something really special. But right now, it’s an okay experience overall that leaves me wanting more in order to stick around.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning is the same game many of us fired up for the first time back in 2012. For the most part that’s a good thing, the vast world offers plenty of paths for the player to take and the combat still feels so dang good. The technical improvements are well done also, the extra details of each environment adding a little more color to Amalur’s world while keeping the framerate manageable. There’s still a few warts along the way, mostly involving things and people popping into view when passing or speaking to them, but none of them break the game to the point of starting over. Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning accomplishes everything a remaster should accomplish, and stepping back into Amalur should be a top priority for everyone.

In all, Raji: An Ancient Epic was a great game. Yes, I had some problems with it’s length and the ending but if I step back and look at the game in its entirety, I can recognize that Raji was a gorgeous game. It was educational and made me want to learn more. My hope is that we’ll get a sequel to be able to explore ancient India once again and perhaps right the wrongs this game committed...only time will tell.

Zoria: Age of Shattering has the makings of a good CRPG. The game has hooked me, and I want to see where the story goes next, even if it is so far standard fare for a fantasy game. I like making the tactical decision of what Character to bring while exploring and how best each class can help me during combat and while encamped. But I still need to find that feeling of being fully engaged in the world, and that is because Zoria: Age of Shattering is missing some quality-of-life additions and polish. But even without that, it snagged me into exploring one more area and upgrading my keep one more time before I quit for the night. For $24.99, it's a decent pickup if you are looking to try a new CRPG.

The Outer Worlds: Peril On Gorgon is a story-driven DLC that offers some new (albeit) uninspired depth to the game’s lore. Some odd narrative reveal choices and lack of originality left me feeling unimpressed with the whole experience. Still, with solid combat, new locations and a chance to spend more time with your crew, Peril On Gorgon does flesh out the universe the Obsidian has worked to create.

Remnant: From the Ashes is still an excellent game. Gunfire Game’s port to the Nintendo Switch has made an exceptionally great game accessible to a whole new group of gamers. Tight, responsive controls and consistently smooth gameplay performance make up for some downgraded visuals. This leaves you with a solid offering for the Nintendo Switch. If you’re in the market for a Souls-like with a unique story, a bit more forgiving gameplay and also like to game on the go then I can highly recommend picking up Remnant: From the Ashes on the Nintendo Store.

You’ll be able to take along any combination of 3 friends, monsters, or strangers via the internet to get the job done. With 12 Eidolons to capture, 21 jobs to unlock, and 10 different historic characters to collect there is more than enough Final Fantasy fan service offered up in Explorers to ensure that it successfully married the best of monster hunter style action RPGs and the Final Fantasy franchise.

If you’ve been eying the crop of team-based shooters coming out these days, wondering which to pick, I’d recommend Battleborn. The PVE campaign, it’s multi-layered and varied progression systems, and its Borderlands-esque humor make it a cut above the others still on deck. While it can often feel like Battleborn is trying to do too much at once, I’m glad it’s more ambitious than its genre brethren, because in the end there ends up being more meat on Battleborn’s bones because of its sky-high goals.

If nothing else, come for the combat. With TERA on the horizon it's refreshing to know that the future of the action MMO isn't restricted to just one title. There are a lot of things that Bigpoint Games have done well here. It may not be the game that occupies you indefinitely, or even for that long…but I defy anyone to try it out and claim it was a waste of their time.

There is no question that Warhammer: Chaosbane has truly delivered on a high quality, full featured ARPG experience.

Lost Sphear is a good JRPG from Tokyo RPG Factory that falls short of being great. The refinements made to the combat system from I am Setsuna are a welcome addition. The additional colors in the environment also spruce the game up a bit. However, no matter how strong the overall story arch is there are some deep lulls in the early game that are hard to push past.

High on Life is a decent FPS with great voice acting and an interesting new universe to explore. While I didn’t find any point in the game where I laughed out loud, if you are someone who enjoys the humor of Rick and Morty, then you will likely enjoy this experience as well. Just be aware that at different points the subject matter can be offensive to some, and the swearing is pretty much constant. High on Life may even be too much for some fans of Justin Roiland. While players won’t find anything new for mechanics and world traversal that has not been in other FPS titles, it is a good set of bones for future DLC and/or sequels.

One year and twelve updates in, Warframe appears to be a solid action game leveraging really excellent technology to create a fun and engaging experience. There are still some rough edges and many opportunities to amp up the variety of content, but with a compelling world and addictive, twitchy action, Warframe has a lot to offer.

This game is not going to top of the RPG giants, it still has some work to do to earn that title match, but WrestleQuest is definitely a scrappy up-and-comer with plenty to be excited about.

World of Warplanes is a solid game, but one that suffers from poor controls and a lack of options. If there is one thing that Wargaming has shown us, it is that they support their games with post-release updates. That is promising. In the future, many of the issues currently plaguing the game may disappear entirely. Others, such as its soft-edged art style and poor sense of speed, are likely here to stay. But, as is the case with all free-to-play games, your best bet is to try it for yourself and see. There is a good game here, if you can get past its wrinkles, and one that will only get better with time.

Ultimately, Aliens: Fireteam Elite is more hit than miss. Although it does little to advance the survival shooter genre forward, Cold Iron Studio has done a great job of combining the familiar source material with fun, action-packed combat. The few flaws are merely a minor distraction and don’t mean game over, man!

Lichdom: Battlemage is a fun, if shortsighted RPG with some fantastic upsides. Is it worth the asking price of $40? I’d say no at this point, and hold out for a Steam sale. It’s definitely something fans of the old Hexen will enjoy, but fans of open ended RPGs will find Xaviant’s game lacking. A solid effort, but not quite what I’d hoped for after seeing the game at PAX East this year.

Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is a valiant attempt to build upon its predecessor’s successes and address the shortfalls. Its story is much more comprehensible this time around due to opting for an open-world instead of a mission-based structure. However, it still felt undercooked with potentially interesting concepts and the supporting cast’s character development wasn’t executed well enough. Even so, the customization, gameplay, and movement are just as great as ever. Just maybe choose to play on a different platform than Switch 2 to avoid the performance issues.

Pokémon Go is fun. It’s just a beginning, but I can’t put it down. It’s free, and what you can spend money on can also be earned in the game easily. If you’re into this sort of thing, if hunting down fake digital monsters in the real world with friends or alone sounds fun, then try it. You may be disappointed in the combat, but the real world adventures are worth the data plan overages.

Stardock has created a game with good bones. Some of the new systems, such as the core world management and ideology system, add to/improve the game. Unfortunately, other systems feel tedious at times. They are not broken per se but are not quite there yet. They either bog down the gameplay or lack impact on the experience. The core gameplay loop is decent, but it just didn’t hook me into feeling the need to play one more turn before bed. If you enjoy the series, Galactic Civilizations IV is worth picking up. Otherwise, I would wait for a few patches or DLC to help flesh out some of the systems.

You don’t have to be a big Arena Shooter fan—or have a childhood full of campfire Capture The Flag—to find something to enjoy. If you give Last Flag a little time and meet it on its own terms, there’s a really fun, chaotic rhythm to it that starts to click. It’s weird, it’s loud, it doesn’t always go the way you want it to—but when it works, Last Flag hits in a way that’s hard to replicate anywhere else.