Among the Sleep would be a good buy at $9.99 or under. As it stands now, $14.99 is a bit too steep a price to ask for a game that is very short, and not particularly emotionally investing.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel is a godsend for Vita fans. At a time when support for the little handheld seems to be rapidly dwindling, here comes a role-playing masterpiece with all the right stuff: XSeed’s superior localization, which bypasses anime cliches in favor of real depth; an addictive set of life-sim mechanics, from bonding with the lovable cast to cooking a bevy of dishes; and a combat system that rewards customization and cooperation between party members.

It manages to reconcile the warmer, lighter action-adventure gameplay of the fifth and sixth generations with the often dark and gritty open-world formula popularized by the seventh. At a time when gaming largely seems to be moving toward more realistic, cinematic experiences, it’s nice to see some traditionally “video game-y” elements — goofy minigames, ludicrous combat and over-the-top writing — make their way to this fifth entry unscathed.

It doesn’t cover any new ground, or do anything of great significance, but Fat Princess Adventures is a solid and playful RPG experience in its own right.

It’s easy to see the flaws in Rubble Without a Cause if it’s compared to its predecessor. Chapter 2 simply shines half as bright as A Knight to Remember.

Guns Up! is devilishly addictive and provides a seriously fun formula of mutually beneficial attack and defence tactics. It’s initially intimidating economy only works to give the game depth once you’ve completed the enlightening tutorial, leaving you with a constant desire to progress and improve both your settlement and your garrison of units. All the above is unsettlingly blighted by an ever-present need to fork out real cash or face the reality of dampening the enjoyment by grinding for hours.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege serves as a breath of fresh air against an overwhelming fog of twitch shooters. The drop of a traditional campaign is not reflected in the price, and yet the new Scenarios are just as tough as any campaign in previous entries, and easily as rewarding.

Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair is amazingly dumb, which is exactly the reason the series became such a cult hit in the first place.

The game isn’t meant to be deep or perplexing; it’s meant to be fun and tap into that inner madman who just wants to make things go boom, and Just Cause 3 succeeds in doing just that.

It’s such a shame that this is the only expansion that is going to hit Bloodborne. With a great attention to detail, and meaningful changes to single player, we can only wonder what other sort of innovative ideas From Software had in store for us before their plans changed. Still, The Old Hunters enables Bloodborne to go out with a bang, and a challenging one at that.

Sword Art Online: Lost Song’s story is probably not going to win over non-adherents of the popular anime franchise, but thankfully it’s not required to enjoy the rest of what’s on offer: a fun, lighthearted and breezy run through well-worn action-RPG territory.

Star Wars Battlefront is a casual fan’s dream come true. That’s not a bad thing, because what’s here is fun, but it’s something you have to consider if you’re looking for a more fulfilling title.

It’s a bit rough around the edges in some areas and could do with a dab of polish. Regardless of these small faults, the stories told and discovered are fascinating and the Commonwealth is immensely interesting to explore.

An insanely full featured game. If code was a physical thing, this game disc would be bursting at the seams with how much Treyarch has packed onto one Blu-ray. There’s a little something for everyone here. Players looking for a dark, rich narrative have the campaign. Competitive players have a whole new way to play in multiplayer. Fans of roguelikes and horde modes have Shadows of Evil.

Norn9: Var Commons blends its otome/dating sim elements and science fiction plot with a good deal of skill, turning out a visual novel that can be enjoyed by a broad audience.

The tunes’ over-the-top excursions into sensory overload are a ton of fun, and their brief length makes them ideal for portable gaming.

Ghost Games is onto something seriously promising with this franchise reboot. However, being unable to pause the game as well as no option to play offline may prove two obstacles that are not surmountable for some players.

As a relatively underappreciated game from the previous generation, Darksiders II deserved a bit more in its revival to prove its worth on the PS4.

Most every major unresolved plot point is given a conclusion in The Vault of the Traveler.

It never gets old hearing the witty dialogue penned by Rhianna Pratchett, and the score is suitably epic and whimsical, but those are two bright spots in an otherwise dreary mess.

Ultimately, playing Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition on consoles is a fantastic experience. It may not be the best way to play, as PC still reigns supreme, but it’s a fantastic version of an already great game. If you’re willing to roll the die, and have luck decide your fate, then you’ll have a blast playing through Larian Studios’ update of Divinity: Original Sin.

There is definitely some fun to be had in Primal Carnage: Extinction, especially on the dinosaurs’ side. There is a nice selection of modes, but when the end result is almost always the same it can get boring. Circle Five Studios has a fantastic premise for a game, it just needed some more time to incubate before it saw the light of day.

A safe entry in the franchise...Still, with solid combat, a very fun grappling hook gun, a wonderful recreation of Victorian-era London, and a pure focus on the single-player campaign, Assassin’s Creed has returned to its roots, and hopefully this has set the stage for something epic as the series used to be known for.

It’s a great ending to a great game, and might possibly be called the best episode of the bunch.

Add in the brilliant new game mechanics that come from the reconfigured guitar controller, and combining our old love of rhythm games with the modern way we consume music, and Guitar Hero Live is the worthwhile reunion of an old favorite that we’ve all been waiting for.

The graphics are primitive and the localization is sometimes a little shaky, but this is a thoroughly enjoyable quest with a ton of energy and heart.

Unabashedly goofy and melodramatic. It brings in famous characters from classic fiction, then strips them down to the silliest of anime archetypes.

It’s just a shame that the actual gameplay ends up being underwhelming, and the art style prevents anything from being frightening. Blood Drive could’ve been something special, but a general lack of polish really hurts the overall quality of the product.

If you or your child are fans of Minecraft, then this is an easy buy.

Bedlam is undeniably an enjoyable kick for those who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, surely drawing from personal experiences with the games it’s emulating. The eccentricities found in Brookmyre’s writing may work to alienate those merely passing through, but for those drawn in by the familiarity of its charming block graphics it’ll simply be an added bonus.

Unlike other crossover incarnations in the Warriors series, Heroes incorporates enough of the legendary RPG franchise’s traditional elements to create a giddy nostalgia trip. Even if you aren’t a longtime fan, though, you’ll have a chance to get caught up in a whirlwind of solid action-RPG goodness.

If you can get past the UI and control issues, then by all means, get Wasteland 2: Director’s Cut on PlayStation 4. It offers up hours of engrossing and strategic gameplay, and is probably worth the $60 if you’re a fan of old-school RPGs. However, if you have a decent PC, then I recommend getting it on there – it’ll be a better optimized experience.

Ride is a great racing title from veteran studio Milestone S.r.l.. It manages to have depth for veteran players, while also being accessible to new racers. If you’re sick of driving cars, and want a new challenge then Ride will offer up a fun one to master.

It’s great that games like this manage to get western releases, but it’s also easy to see why they’re so few and far between.

The Talos Principle may be one of the best puzzle games of the year. Sure, it starts out pretty slowly, the first dozen or so of the game’s 120+ puzzles are laughably easy, and the controls may be a little awkward, but these are minor flaws in the bigger scheme of things. There’s an entertaining and thoughtful story about not just humanity, but what it means to be alive.

If you’re a big Transformers fan, then that $50 price tag should be a no-brainer; just don’t expect a good story out of it.

Thief Town undoubtedly has a lot of promise, but it hasn’t reached its true potential yet. With additional modes, levels, and weapons it could very well be challenging games like Sportsfriends and Nidhogg as definitive hits to pull out during a party. In its current state, Thief Town is still a lot of fun, just a step down from the very best that the PlayStation 4 has to offer.

Farming Simulator 16 accomplishes its goal of allowing you to manage a virtual farm, pretty well. But it sadly falls apart as a game due to the lack of options, as the Vita version is severely limited to console versions. It isn’t quite as boring as watching paint dry, but it will only hold your attention for as long as you want to watch grass grow.

As LEGO’s first foray into toys-to-life games, they’ve done an impressive job utilizing the full power of their roster to create a great game that respects the properties it features, from Doctor Who to GLaDOS to Simpsons. It’s lamentable then that a great LEGO adventure is fragmented by the staccato nature of reminding you what you don’t have.

Despite the fun character customizations, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 suffers from a number of issues, including laggy multiplayer, dipping frame-rates, and off-putting physics. Sorry, Tony, but nostalgia can’t save you this time.

NBA Live 16 has a few new modes and features that help elevate it above last year’s offering, but that’s practically a footnote when you consider how the game flubs some of its basic controls and AI.

Sound issues notwithstanding, Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance is the first worthwhile exclusive for Japanese RPG fanatics on PS4. It has everything that made its predecessors great: a fast-paced, addictive battle system, an abundance of content and a cast of humorous characters.

With an emphasis on more characters and an intuitive new upgrade system, alongside the robust Free mode and Endless Castle mode, and there is a lot of new content to go around multiple times.

Try to get over the kids-only stigma Skylanders games might have, and let yourself enjoy playing in this world. Skylanders: Superchargers offers more than meets the eye, and you might find yourself pleasantly surprised.

Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection is not one or two, but three of the best PS3 games, remastered with precision, love, and care for the current generation.

While there are certainly some stumbling points, NBA 2K16 is another great entry in 2K’s series. Livin’ Da Dream may feature more cutscenes than Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, but it’s an interesting way to present a career mode.

Extreme Exorcism isn’t a bad game, but its core hook fails to captivate players from the get go.

If you can get past the long AI turns and the generally long matches, then Blood Bowl 2 is worth buying.

Whether it’s the poor writing or poor delivery is hard to pinpoint, but something about the repetitive one-liners is soul destroying, you’re more likely to pick your character based on how annoying the voice talent is, rather than which one looks the coolest.

The Taken King goes far beyond a simple expansion, and reworks the core of the Destiny enterprise.

Fans of the series or not, Persona 4: Dancing All Night has all the right moves.

Frictional Games have shown us time and time again that they are masters of telling a scary story; this time, without the crutch of plentiful jump scares.

While there are some rough edges, FIFA 16 stands out as the best football game in recent memory.

Afro Samurai 2: Revenge of Kuma Volume 1 is an unpleasant, deeply depressing experience throughout its short running time. Its narrative is incomprehensible melodrama told through sloppy cutscenes and obnoxious monologues. The levels largely feel unfinished, offering only sporadic opportunities for player interaction.

Thanks to the smooth, physical gameplay, the amazing animations, and the various and strategic game modes, PES 16 is easily the best title in the franchise. To go one step further – PES 16 is likely one of the best sport games out today.

Combine the puzzles with top-notch graphics and plentiful entertaining dialogue, and you have something worth playing.

I wouldn’t say that you should go out and buy The Golf Club: Collector’s Edition simply for these new additions, but I do recommend the game if you think creating beautiful golf courses is your cup of tea.

NHL 16 is a huge step towards restoring faith in EA Canada and EA Sports. The game saw huge improvements across the board, with Be a Pro, Be a GM, and EASHL all being better entries than in previous years. It’s not without its issue, as menu and online play lag is somewhat frequent and the added practice mode could use so much more attention, but the product is as crisp as they come.

Knock-Knock is a game with great sound work, a nice, unsettling art style, but several flaws. Its mechanics are never explained. You can expect to replay the entire thing over again to see its “best” and “good” endings.

Somehow Beyond Eyes is able to turn even its flaws into a positive.

It’s definitely a shame the animation is so awkward and stiff; it pales in comparison to the visual splendor of the hand-drawn backgrounds, and it’s nowhere near as impressive as the graphics of The Shadow of the Templars were in 1996. Still, it’d be an even bigger shame if that put anyone off from experiencing this classically-inspired adventure.

If you have friends to play with then Zombie Vikings will be a fun way to spend a couple days with them. Otherwise, it’s a brawler with a lot of heart, but not enough variety.

Hyper Void is not without its fair share of fun, producing some eccentric and vibrant experiences with its procedural environments. Unfortunately, it’s still very light on additional content and offers next to no incentive to continue the fight once you’ve exhausted the short run of levels.

It’s a well-balanced and good-looking experience that shows originality is still possible in a format that’s centuries old.

Strategy gamers rejoice! There is finally a game worthy of your time on the PlayStation 4.

It has fun melee and vehicle combat mechanics, and it has an engaging upgrade and customization system in place. While things did begin to feel old after a while, players can still get many, many hours out of the game before that happens.

What could have been a simple cash-in HD port of the handheld title was instead lovingly (paper)crafted by the developers into a vastly improved, dedicated PS4 platformer.

Incredibly, unbelievably, what we have here is a nearly perfect finale to the Metal Gear franchise. I truly believe that The Phantom Pain is where Kojima always envisioned he would take the franchise. This is personalized, open-world infiltration at its finest.

I am Bread is initially a very frustrating game to play, but it makes up for it by being full of charm and character.

Despite the occasional frame-rate drops and the repetitiveness, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 is a fairly fun game.

A witty sci-fi puzzle game that combines real-time with turn-based strategies. It achieves that blend well with a huge amount of mechanics and with the very entertaining commentary of Dr. Science accompanying you on your whole adventure.

“Cute” just about sums up Amnesia: Memories. It’s got a light tone, lots of warm moments, and above-average production values. If you’re the sort of person who enjoys dating sims, and you’re in the mood for something airy, goofy, and kind of mindless, this might be just the ticket...If not, this is a pretty tame and unsubstantial entry in the visual novel genre.

Fans of fellow Vita visual novels like Zero Escape and Danganronpa should make this a priority.

The Dead Island series provides for more challenge, a better story, and a whole lot more content at around the same price. So unless you’re bored with other zombie games, you can wait for a sale.

The conversion from mobile to console is perhaps only noticeable in its length, but the surreal art style wowed me, especially on a big screen. It is a tiny game with a unique, yet brief and understated impact.

There’s a cynicism deep-rooted in Calvino Noir, a heavy darkness you can’t escape. Death is always lurking, success is futile. Maybe this is the best representation of noire in games that nobody wanted.

It’s certainly no replacement for Danganronpa 3, and I find myself pining for that announcement, but Ultra Despair Girls surprised me far more than I thought it could.

It’s a pristine release that’s being saved from fading into history with this re-release and delivers all the content as a thank you. For the double dippers considering this, a stern word of caution. Very little has changed since you left Dunwall but if you really get a kick out of your controller talking to you then by all means, go in for the kill.

If you want to relive your memories as a kid or just want to see how Mega Man got his start, then Mega Man Legacy Collection is an easy recommendation.

Madden NFL 16 truly is more than just a roster update as EA added enough new features to kick the game up a notch to another level.

There’s a well written and unchanging lore here. It’s campy, but it’s horror and was never billed as anything else.

Thanks to a story that gets a bit confusing, boring combat, and poor animations, Risen 3 is simply not a good game. The huge worlds, beautiful visuals, and large number of character skills do fight hard to make the RPG worth your money, but in the end, I think it’s a game that most likely should be avoided.

It’s a streamlined dungeon-crawler with easy-to-learn combat and a great selection of time-tested characters. Things may start to feel repetitive after a while, but playing with your friends and taking breaks every couple of levels can help things feel fresh again.

From the opening with Rhys hilariously attempting to zig-zag as he runs from his masked captor, to the epic Borderlands staple credits sequence set to a great soundtrack, and all the way to the jaw dropping conclusion, Escape Plan Bravo manages to cram humor, heart, and tension into one of the best episodes that they’ve ever created in any of their series.

It’s an undeniably cute platforming adventure that’s sure to provide a good few hours of enjoyment, but this is mostly due to it not stepping out of the norm. The Adventures of Pip does little wrong simply by not doing much at all, its colorful stages, tight mechanics and often humorous writing are all disappointingly dulled by an overwhelming and unshakeable sense of déja vu.

A refreshingly simple 3D tower defense game. It blends the strategy of building and upgrading your units with action-packed third-person shooting, and the result is unadulterated mayhem with a lot of visual charm.

It translates the core game over to Sony’s portable system without any major gameplay issues. That said, it is a downgrade in every possible way. The atmosphere is diminished by poor graphics, controls are slightly clunkier, and it just makes the experience less special.

It does get held back by some over-sexualized content and a lackluster story, but the core gameplay will keep you occupied for many, many hours.

Goat Simulator is unapologetically absurd but fails to meaningfully give players anything to do beyond the occasional ridiculous party trick.

A huge step in the right direction for the series, and is a very enjoyable read.

Actual Sunlight is an insightful look at how some people deal with depression, and the struggles of everyday life.

Despite the annoying side-dialogue and the somewhat repetitive missions, GALAK-Z presents players will highly engaging and even strategic gameplay.

This is a video game as a piece of literature. Some may call it art, but I like to think gaming has evolved beyond such a contemporary definition. The Chinese Room had a story to tell, and they have done so in such a unique fashion that I eagerly await their next adventure.

Despite the major frame-rate drops and the repetitive quests and gameplay, Sword Art Online Re: Hollow Fragment is fairly entertaining, thanks to a fast-paced combat system and a large amount of weapons and skills to pick from.

N++ features a thumping soundtrack, one that is guaranteed to get you into a nice rhythm as you send your ninja careening into the air.

It’s a game that, on the surface, seems built for you to ask questions about what it presents, but once you dig a little deeper you realize it was never prepared to give you the answers. It’s not a conversation; it’s a speech.

Brilliant. The Odd Gentlemen have managed to modernize a classic, retaining much of what makes the originals so beloved, yet not making it feel outdated for modern gamers, even if we do have to deal with a bit of backtracking.

The gameplay is the perfect combination of stealth and action, and its difficulty, while brutal, is satisfying.