This is a case where more of the same is more than enough, as long as you are okay with self-directed entertainment. Your acreage may vary.

The game works well for what it is trying to accomplish, and that is to really make you feel as though you are right there on the field, standing in the players cleats. Those that are trying to get this as a replacement for Madden will be sorely disappointed.

Call of Cthulhu is worth playing if you like your Lovecraft. It’s worth playing if you like horror in general, too. However, it isn’t a must-play, despite having the potential to have established itself as one.

I was surprised that many of the complaints players had with the original PC versions weren’t addressed in this release, but I still had a lot of fun shooting zombies in virtual reality while listening to a nuanced narrative of a survivor fighting to maintain his sanity as the Arizona sun sets on the horizon.

As many faults as I can find with Turf Wars, it’s still a lot of fun to play. Stepping back into the Spidey suit is exhilarating, and this chapter offers up some of the toughest challenges yet.

A competent twin-stick shooter that lacks true depth. Local cooperative play is always appreciated, however, and the inclusion of such a rare feature is something that newly-minted developer Blazing Badger absolutely deserves commendation for. But with only one level layout, gameplay can become repetitive fairly quickly.

While this one can unfortunately get bogged down in repetitive busywork, and lacks the fun sense of exploration that comes with better map design, there’s still plenty to enjoy: the stylized characters and environments look excellent on Vita, the score is impressively eclectic and the gameplay offers a highly satisfying challenge for completionists.

If you’re like me and have been itching for another SimGolf game since 2002, then Under Par Golf Architect will scratch that itch. It’s not as polished, but it also runs on modern systems and isn’t at an 800×600 resolution, so you take the good with the bad. Just know it’s probably best played on PC rather than PS5, which has received a serviceable port but one that never feels quite right.

If you’ve already got the game in to-go form, there’s really no reason to opt into its release on consoles; this version is just as fun and cerebral as the mobile experience, but it’s held back a bit by its lack of portability. That’s not to say anything is necessarily lost, but it’s definitely a pick-up-and-play experience that’s better enjoyed on the move — “GO” is in the title for a reason.

Feels like a solid follow-up to an already promising new franchise. Unfortunately, though it attempts to correct some of the series’ deficiencies, it still fails to deliver a cohesive single player campaign.

Ever Forward could be a great addition to your PS5 (or PS4) library if Pathea Games is able to swiftly correct the performance issues. If not, I would suggest picking it up for PC instead. There is a lot of promise here and I really want to finish out Maya and Ann’s tale. Preferably sooner than later.

The inclusion of the free roaming open world aspect is a huge step in the right direction, but is let down by the lack of a mini-map and some extremely shoddy vehicle work.

It's a puzzle game that had the ability to set itself apart from the genre with the addition of music elements, but fell prey to the ease of taking the traditional route.

The first game is absurdly weak and offers little more than a look into the world before it ends abruptly after five hours.

Secret Ponchos is a refined, intricate twin-stick shooter rooted in the Old West that, for those who enjoy simple, yet tactical, online battles, will stand on its own for a time to come.

GNOG is a curious beast; an odd monster, or series of monsters rather. It’s a visual and auditory treat, with bright colors and rich soundscapes highlighting a bizarre game that doesn’t seem to really have much direction or purpose. The puzzles are fun to poke, prod, and figure out, particularly in VR where each puzzle diorama head really has a chance to come to life in front of you, but the sense of wonder GNOG tries to invoke fades too quickly, leaving me with the feeling that this is more a sensory artifice than it is a digital Rubik’s Cube.

Metal Wolf Chaos XD does show its age on PS4, but with an overblown and strangely topical narrative, absurdist humor, unaltered so-bad-it-is-good dialogue, and enough destruction to initiate impeachment proceedings, it is no wonder that this third-person relic has earned enough attention over the past decade (and a half) to get this remaster made; further solidifying Metal Wolf Chaos’ cult status.

It’s serviceable. Both in that it’s fan service, and that it’s a game that can only be described as workable.

Layers of Fear 2 excels in many aspects of psychological horror, but it also undermines itself. While it creates many layers of fear, there’s little connective tissue between them to make the narrative coherent enough to engage with. Overly video-gamey segments reveal the mechanics underneath, removing the tension in favor of fail states and cheap game over screens. However, its binaural audio and moments of reality-warping terror do wonders to instill a sense of unease in the player. It’s worth peeling back the layers in Layers of Fear 2 for all of the moments that don’t rely on the old horror tropes, but this journey into madness falls just short of being a pleasure cruise.

The gameplay in Castaway Paradise is not the deepest thing ever created, but it’s relaxing and is the kind of game that you can continue to come back to and play for an hour or so at a time. The game actively encourages this by providing daily rewards for logging in, as well as daily challenges to partake in.

If you were to boil TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge down to its essence, it does a fantastic job of recreating the storied event in fantastic detail. The sheer sense of speed it engenders is an achievement in and of itself. However, the mediocre variety, lack of replayability, and need for more polish derail an otherwise interesting experience. Only the hardcore should saddle up for this ride.

Regardless of if this is an issue with the localization process itself or existed in the original Chinese version of the game as well, it’s undeniable that there should have been a more robust editing and quality assurance process involved in such a text-heavy game. No matter how enticing and detailed Hermitage: Strange Case Files‘ story and world-building may be, it’s pointless if players lose interest before they get to the juiciest parts.

Unto the End has a wonderfully minimalistic style and while I enjoyed much of my time exploring its world the combat did eventually start to drag. It’s unforgiving action can start to get tiresome even with the generous checkpoint system. If you’re a button mashing kind of gamer then it’s probably best to give this one a miss.

The game feels more like a proof of concept for something far bigger, rather than a proper VR title in its own right. This lighthouse will always carry a forlorn sense that infinity isn’t quite as infinite as it is meant to feel.

If you’re a fan of rhythm games then it’s definitely worth checking out Mad Rat Dead. The vibrant punk aesthetic and catchy soundtrack alone makes it worth a gander. But for those of you that are rhythmically challenged then this is a harder sell. The repetitive levels and dull story aren’t going to do much for those gamers that are just looking for a fun platformer.

It’s always a shame when a game has such an incredible foundation and never becomes what it should. Fans of LEGO games and of the movie will have fun regardless, because we’re a bit crazy like that. But if you don’t fall in the crazy category, best bet is to wait for the next LEGO game that will hopefully feature this same innovation.

I looked at Sega Genesis Classics with rose-tinted glasses. Nostalgia is a hard card to play right. The menu effectively creates that feeling of being a young kid gaming again, but the games themselves rarely managed to recapture the magic my 10-year-old self saw in them.

The overall story is fine but lacks that punch to push it over the top. If it were a movie it would sit comfortably with in the B movie section next to Pooka! and The Babadook—which is damn good company, if you ask me. Depending on just how long it takes you to solve the various puzzles, In Sound Mind takes an average of 12-ish hours from start to finish. Not too shabby if you are looking for a game to run over a single weekend. Could be just the thing you want this Halloween.

Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force honestly has a lot going for it, but failed to seal the deal in the end. No matter the ending, I felt more frustrated than anything with all the monotony thrust upon me. Perhaps if the stories weren’t so predictable, or perhaps if the grind wasn’t so prevalent I would have been able to overlook one or the other. Instead, I wrapped up my adventures with Fang with wistful dissatisfaction.

Animal Force has a cool idea, as it introduces gamers to tower defense in 360 degrees. But its execution feels more like a tech demo than a fully fleshed-out game.

The game is a great fit for younger children who might not be ready to navigate the open-world Gotham, or for gamers who would like a LEGO Batman 2 fix on the go and are open to its more condensed offerings. However, gamers looking for a game that offers everything that the home console version does and nothing else should pick up that version, as LEGO Batman 2 Vita won't quite be what they're looking for.

Headlander is a tease — a conglomerate of great ideas that tapered at the halfway point in favor of very basic “find the right color robot body” mechanics, lack of continued humor, and a middling story at best.

For everything that Guardian of Gotham does right, it makes all the wrong moves to get there. The story reaches a precipice of intensity after a very slow burn over the last three episodes, and the dire situations at hand seem impossible to resolve within a single finale, with far too many threads left open after the conclusion of this penultimate episode.

A description of the gameplay, the setting, and the story all seem great in theory, but my short time with Contrast left me with more disappointment than satisfaction, particularly on the gameplay side of things.

The rock-n-roll bro concept is very amusing, and the variety of weapons available to craft adds plenty of motivation to replay it. However, until the developer adds in the ability to save your dungeon progress, not many will stick around long enough to craft any of them.

If you have the $5 to spend and want a minimalist RTS that does have its good moments, you should buy it. Just be prepared to watch some very slow pong paddles walk around when you wish they would go much faster.

It never quite reaches its full potential, but as long as you don’t mind that it’s quite grindy in places, then it is a worthwhile adventure. There’s also a couch co-op mode which is perfect if you have been looking for a simple RPG to introduce to a younger gamer or if you just want something low key to play with a friend.

It lends itself well to those who simply want to quickly boot up a game and knock out a few matches within minutes. But if the basic loop of fight until you win isn’t enough to keep you coming back for more, there is nothing else on offer to change your mind.

A perfect example of a game that is only as good as what you are willing to invest into it. If you have never really understood the need to do a speedrun or care very little about perfecting lines, chances are you will tire of its repetitive nature long before you reach the end. But, if you do enjoy learning maps and running along generally linear paths against the clock, you will find it here in spades and with enough style to possibly make it worth the $9.99 investment.

I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the next patch fixes this particularly nasty bug.

Although my journey with The Path of Motus was short, when I put down my controller and went to bed for the evening I was still thinking about the message within. It reminded me of a lot of events in my life that I’d rather forget. Any game, no matter the size and scope, that can drag those dredged up feeling from the hole I buried them in is both a blessing and a curse.

Sacred 3 is by no means a bad game. It’s just not a particularly great game, either. With a linear storyline, no traditional Overworld, and repetitive combat that is too easy to master, there is not much of a challenge to be found here.

This is a cheap game that will entertain those who play it as long as they maintain the right mindset.

Even though it was a short game, The Inner Friend lingers in the back of your brain long after you put the controller down. It’s an emotional journey exploring childhood fears and trauma, and might just have you pulling out your favorite stuffed animal for a reassuring squeeze.

Those expecting the same level of depth and strategy as Valkyria Chronicles will likely end up disappointed by this spin-off. When judged on its own, though, Valkyria Revolution delivers an interesting narrative and some solid, if unspectacular, action. It’s too bad that the game never truly hits a stride, as missions are rarely memorable, and ultimately a lot of interesting ideas never get fully fleshed out.

As far as VR turret shooters go, Gunjack sets the benchmark fairly high. Its lack of a concrete story may be a turn-off for some — it does have its roots in the mobile space — but that feeling of gunning down ships from the comfort of your cockpit is as exhilarating as it is immersive. At the risk of sounding pejorative, CCP’s spinoff can in many ways be likened to VR junk food — short, sweet, and fulfilling in the moment. Just don’t expect a VR experience for the ages.

Its deep and thoughtful explorations into the technicalities of AI are intelligent and surprisingly thought provoking. It’s unfortunately hindered by clunky mechanics and overly complicated puzzles that often border on the obtuse when it comes to the specifics required to finish them.

There is plenty to like about the combat in Earth’s Dawn, but the game doesn’t manage to reach its full potential. A boring story gives players very little reason to care about what they are doing or reason to progress, and the game ultimately becomes monotonous due to this. Those who enjoyed Odin Sphere will find an intriguing game here, just one that isn’t nearly as special or polished.

There is a lot of love with Soundfall. The music never fails to suck you in to each leve,l and the story and characters are cute. However it’s not all solos and encores, as the level design is rather bland and repetitive and the multiplayer leaves a lot to be desired. If you are in the mood for a dungeon crawler with a nice twist, you have a gem in Soundfall. Just don’t go expecting an overly deep loot system or anything too complex. It’s a rather straight forward game that’s all about getting lost in the sounds, which honestly can be rather nice to do.

At first, playing Candleman will be an unsatisfying, slow-paced act of just going through the motions, but if you stick around, you’ll discover some magic by the end.

At its core, Thieves in Time is an average platformer that has some pretty art and that Sly Cooper charm. Fans of the franchise will love it because it’s more Sly, but those looking for something that goes above and beyond will likely be left feeling a bit disappointed.

The mini-games are a fun new addition to the combat system but don’t totally eliminate the repetitive nature of the fights. The memorable cast of characters and kooky storyline helps to keep things fresh but ultimately this isn’t too different from the first Citizens game.

Bus Simulator is honestly more entertaining than I thought it would be. Driving a bus, picking up passengers, and ensuring you give them the correct change may not be as thrilling as traversing planet Pandora in search of loot in Borderlands 3, or surviving Hell on Earth in the upcoming Doom Eternal, but Bus Simulator is an immersive experience that I can see myself revisiting on a rainy day.

For those that miss the ’90s and its truly classic FPS titles, then Gunscape is going to be a real treat.

Playing 8-Bit Hordes then is a bit like walking a tightrope with boredom on one side and frustration on the other. There are occasional moments when the game offers an exciting balance. But most of the time it fails to watch its step.

As an interesting intellectual exploration of the role that word-of-mouth plays in storytelling, Where the Water Tastes Like Wine plays like a proof of concept that never graduated beyond an initial prototyping stage. Sure, it has plenty of narratives to uncover, but ultimately the repetitive, shallow mechanics prevent the experience from meeting its full potential. Despite the best efforts of the excellent visual presentation and voice acting, the net product is a hollow shell of what it could’ve been.

Wreckfest just doesn’t live up to the promise of its name. The destruction is technically impressive, but oddly distancing. It awes with flying debris, but rarely exhilarates.

The balance of symbiotic nature of environment, narrative, and puzzle design means that Obduction constantly feels riveting and natural. It’s a delight to experience a modern game with that classic Cyan design, but the technical issues detract from the experience far too much, even going as far as artificially increasing the time it takes to complete some puzzles. I managed to really enjoy the experience that was crafted, but it wasn’t without a fair amount of annoyance at little optimization problems that make Obduction far from perfect.

Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics has some new ideas, but mostly retreads familiar territory.

The gameplay loop of loot, shoot, and run all feels good, and I’d like to see more story added to the game. Also, it would be great if there were more machines, more weapons, and proper difficulty scaling for players who want to play by themselves. Above all, the world is just too big.

Payday 2 is not a game for people looking for something without flaws, as it currently rests, it is only a shell of the potential it holds.

This Is the Police will most assuredly find an audience. There is a tinge of Tharsis in the way that difficulty is handled – the world is out to get you, and things only get worse as you lose more and more resources. Most people won’t like this approach. But for those of you who enjoy having the odds stacked against them, for that one triumphant run in which luck is finally on your side and you come out of it all bruised, battered, but ultimately victorious, then This Is the Police may be right for you.

Overall, NEO: The World Ends With You is a wonderful homage for fans of the series, in many ways it seems like a remake of The World Ends With You on a bigger screen and a fresh set of faces. However, if you were not a fan of the original game, NEO may come across as lacking in plot and game mechanics; perhaps it is worth a rewind to really appreciate the lore of this franchise.

Road Redemption may be fun for a short period of time, but it’s not something I will find myself going back to play. It’s not a bad game, it just doesn’t stand out among the array of options available.

Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book is a more relaxed entry in the series, and I enjoyed that particular aspect of it. Unfortunately, it’s also becoming clear just how little the series has grown over a whopping 17 entries, a condition likely due to the annual nature of its sequels.

What Layers of Fear lacks in complexity, it more than makes up for with atmosphere. It’s a bizarre and thrilling ride that doesn’t even considering letting up as you traverse a truly broken mind. The concept is incredibly novel and well portrayed, the wellbeing of your limping vessel never coming into debate as he works on his masterpiece. It’s just a shame that, even with all the literary influences, the phenomenal and thought-provoking ambiance isn’t backed up by the writing or voice work that can both feel flat and uninspired more often than not.

For me, I started to get bored with Coconut Dodge: Revitalised after about an hour, mostly because the early stages are really boring. I then took a break and came back to it a couple hours later, getting further than I ever had before, enjoying myself as the difficulty ramped up.

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.

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

It’s a perfectly solid local co-op game that can be worth a few runs with some friends. Is it great? Nah. Does it have issues? Certainly. But don’t be like me and just turn it away because of its dubious origins. More VR games should look at catering to the local co-op crowd anyway.

Creed: Rise to Glory is superb as a boxing simulator, but it’s almost non-existent in its storytelling. The spirit of Creed and the Rocky franchise isn’t just in the fights, it’s in why they fight, and that’s something this game completely fails to capture.

Mobile Suit Gundam Battle Operation: Code Fairy is strictly for the fans. That isn’t to say people who are unfamiliar with the series won’t enjoy it. Indeed, with as few walking tank games out there as it is, anyone into this type of gameplay will probably enjoy things here. It’s just that being invested in the story of Gundam helps a lot, because much of the game is about taking in the story. Combat is clunky, but gets the job done, and the episodic format makes that fact easier to forgive.

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're a fan of the series or you want to spend time running around stabbing people, Assassin's Creed III: Liberation will suffice, but because it tries so hard to be like a console title, its failure to match the level of depth, breadth or enjoyment you'd expect is all the more heartbreaking.

There’s a lot to love in Agents of Mayhem, which makes the pitfalls harder to swallow. An imaginative story and cast of characters is burdened by an uninspired and soulless open-world. Exciting character combat gets pushed out of the limelight by notable slowdown and other bugs that inhibit gameplay.

You can play it on both the PS3 and Vita but I found it a bit better suited for the on-the-go style of the Vita.

If you want something you don’t have to think too deeply about or are into competitive multiplayer with friends, then World War Z could be for you. But if you’re expecting an in-depth narrative and a campaign that requires strategy and coordination, then perhaps you should stay away.

If Saints Row‘s meta humor can get you through collecting your hundredth orb or doing the same type of mission on repeat, you may want to check out GOH. But, if not, I’d recommend staying away from this one, as it burns itself out a bit too quick.

The game is $10, or $13 if you get it bundled with the DLC, and it can be completed in only an hour or so without giving you a reason to go back to it. At the same time, the gameplay is frantic and fast-paced, and it can a lot of fun to shoot down hordes of alien spaceships.

Shenmue III should have been the final game in this trilogy, all loose ends tied up and (re)vengeance served. Instead, Suzuki-sama hopes to continue Ryo’s story and with little improvement made over the past two decades and I fear that a fourth game will stick to this same stagnant formula. Disappointed as I am with this news, my real hope is that he can pull off a fourth and final game sooner than later. Because as much as I love this series, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to feeling let down with this revival and worry about ever seeing the end of this tale.

What we have here is a deceptively challenging game wrapped in a slightly sarcastic package, with a few rough edges.

Twelve Minutes starts off well but eventually descends into chaos. The game’s premise of trying to rewrite 12 minutes of a couple’s time is a great idea but the execution varies in success. Twelve Minutes starts well with a convincing story loop and gameplay that makes sense. Unfortunately that story loop becomes confused with a controversial twist that muddies timelines and morals. Gameplay starts to lean heavily into trial and error and some will give up before they see some of the later outcomes. Those that persist will likely remain confused. Luis Antonio seemingly had a lot of ambition with this one, but it hasn’t completely paid off.

A good tactical RPG that never gives you a wow factor but stays solid throughout.

Megadimension Neptunia VII is a mixed bag, with great combat elements and parody sadly shuffled together with overly padded plot, repetitive boss fights, and boring story presentation.

As copies of the modern versions can be picked up for a comparably low cost, with a still existent online community, I cannot recommend this to anyone but an old school fan looking to revisit some memories.

As an NBA Playgrounds apologist and lover of arcade sports sims, this game can only be characterized as a disappointment, and a frustrating one at that.

Jump Stars is a nice, cheap diversion if you have a couple of friends to play with. Unlike almost every other game out there, you cannot play single player. There are also just a handful of game modes to choose from. It’s a party game you might come back to when the mood strikes. The fake game show announcer with dual personalities injects some, well, personality into the game, and the characters are amusing to play with. There’s not a ton of content, and multiplayer is required, but $9.99 ($7.99 for PlayStation Plus members) seems like a fair asking price for Jump Stars.

Neptunia X Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars will appeal to longtime fans of either series, but outside of that it’s an average action-oriented JRPG plus visual novel that anyone can easily get the hang of. There’s plenty of titillating fanservice to go around, even if Sony insists on at least some of it being censored for the Western release. It’s a safe bet if you can’t get enough of Neptunia and the rest of the Goddesses or Asuka and the other shinobi, but otherwise there are more traditional games that are probably a better use of your time.

It should have been an easy slam dunk: port the game over to the Unreal Engine 4, apply some polish, maybe through in some behind-the-scenes features, and profit! Instead, what we end up with is a poorly-optimized port which sees even the older Arkham Asylum stuttering from the game’s first moments, and some odd lighting that cuts into the otherwise excellent ambiance of both games.

So long as you are willing to get over the strange music and art choices, and can work around how they can adversely affect your play, you can absolutely get something from BZT.

Yes, the touch controls aren’t a superior substitute for a mouse and can occasionally find themselves frustrating, and the menu being overlaid as a thought bubble causes way more problems than a simple toolbar, but I promise, you can work your way through it.

It’s hard to pinpoint why it suffers with fatigue quite so badly but, irrespective, it’s fully worth having in your library, albeit just for that one night in with your friends you’ll all remember for a long time to come.

For some, local co-op may be worth the price of admission, but for those without others to play with, the asking price may be a bit too steep at launch.

Human: Fall Flat seems like the kind of game that was conceived at a party where someone asked “what would it be like to control a character who’s already drunk?” Unfortunately, the game falls a wee bit short in terms of depth and gameplay.

With the vast love of the Mass Effect series, Andromeda was never going to make people 100% happy, the same way the ME3 ending didn’t make people happy. The BioWare team put so many great things in place, but the main story, the characters, and most of the writing keep the game from being great. Sadly, the technical mess keeps it from being good.

Deponia is recommended to fans of point-and-click adventure games, since it serves as an adequate point-and-click, and there is little else out there on consoles in this genre. It has a quirky world all its own, but the protagonist may rub some people the wrong way, and he may fail to garner enough sympathy to see the story through to the end. The control scheme can be a little odd using only the analog sticks, but it is capable.

Even being aware of Saints Row The Third’s issues and having played the game more than enough in the past, I still found myself wanting to keep playing it and really enjoying myself when I did. If you’ve not played Saints Row before I can’t see this one leaving a better impression than the fourth game, but if you’re familiar with the franchise this is still a good, if a messy, time.

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