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.

It’s great that a game that many may have overlooked on the Wii is being given a new lease on life on the latest generation of consoles. A new coat of paint and some fun new gameplay features makes Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon: Every Buddy! a very easy game to recommend to those seeking a challenging but super adorable adventure.

Untethered from the expectations that come with a Dark Souls or Bloodborne game, FromSoftware was able to create a game that maintains the studio's unique identity while allowing them to explore interesting new mechanics and ways of telling the story. Sekiro is challenging, but fair—a game with the goal of allowing the player to grow, rather than the avatar. It blends mechanics and narrative in a way that is too rare in games today, allowing for a deep level of immersion that begs for just one more clash of blades no matter how difficult the encounters get. Seeing each one to its bloody finish is well worth the trials it takes to get there.

There’s a ton of content here, a lot of fun characters, lots of depth to the combat, and even a goofy multiplayer mode to boot. It isn’t the most well-written game in the series, but as a high-octane action game, it delivers plenty.

It gets high marks for engaging, yet somewhat predictable, story threads and having a variety of waifus, but clearly misses the mark in a few areas.

The Wizards nails the dream of having magic at your fingertips, but never goes as far as to make the magic feel all that useful.

Overall, despite the occasional combat snag or nagging disappointment I couldn’t play as Franky, One Piece: World Seeker absolutely shocked me with how good it is. It’s a massive, familiar, comfort food sort of open world game, that just happens to have the upbeat vibe, wacky characters, and bright colors of One Piece powering its engine.

Eternity: The Last Unicorn is not a great game. It’s a game that takes from Norse mythology, but doesn’t really go deep enough to make you feel like you’re on a viking adventure. You can’t skip the cut scenes, the camera is the hardest boss in the game, and it just doesn’t live up to the games it emulates. I like you Eternity, I just wanted better.

R.B.I. Baseball 19 is once again a disappointment. The extremely low production values, lack of game modes, inconsistent animations, and uninspired gameplay result in one lackluster delivery.

SNK 40th Anniversary Collection is one of the coolest, most fascinating video game releases out in 2019. There is really nothing else like it, even when you compare it to the work Digital Eclipse has done in the recent past that led up to this being made.

I often found myself willing to overlook all the obvious flaws in favor of engaging with what sits at Left Alive’s messy core, a sort of ultra hardcore, Metal Gear-looking-but-not-really, room escape-slash-solo-board game sort of deal that really got my brain juices flowing.

There isn’t much here that feels fully developed. While The Caligula Effect: Overdose has some interesting ideas, none of them really work.

If you’ve played action games like Bayonetta, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and Ninja Gaiden, you’ll feel right at home with Devil May Cry 5. It takes that familiar action gameplay, then adds an immense level of polish and some over-the-top battles that give it personality.

Hell Warders has a decent game hidden under its rough exterior.

Stellaris is an in-depth experience. It’s as addicting as any game I’ve played. You’ll be surprised how the hours just slip by while you’re engaged. It’s a black hole that sucks you in slowly, but relentlessly.

The Occupation is a good game that tells an intriguing story. Unfortunately, that story is lost in jumbled-up storytelling, which ultimately causes the player to be confused and disconnected from the game.

Enhanced approachability and single player modes help build upon a stable of already solid content. If only Team Ninja could get past the sophomoric need to toe the line of decency and tacky content, it could really evolve the series into a mainstay on the competitive scene. The game makes baby steps in the right direction, but still has plenty of growing up to do before it can live up to its full, ass-kicking potential.

The story is dull, the combat is bland, and it just feels really repetitive. Overall, it’s not a very challenging game and is unlikely to hold your attention for long.

As much as I personally wanted Anthem to be a runaway success, it ends up delivering an inconsistent experience that constantly waivers between mediocre and excellent.

This isn’t the most elaborate or intense game in its space, but it’s the happiest to be there.

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.

I wanted more of what The King’s Bird was, and less of what it became.

Trials Rising is pure, unadulterated, arcade fun at its finest.

ChromaGun VR is a funny, occasionally challenging first-person puzzler, and one that is enhanced in VR.

The entire time I was playing it, all I wanted to do was switch back to The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince.

The story is such a brilliant blend of science fiction and occult and, with the constant twists and turns, I didn’t want to put the controller down until I’d uncovered the truth behind everything.

It has all the charm of the anime, all the narrative excellence of the original, and a refinement that hasn’t existed in either up until this point.

DiRT Rally 2.0 features some positively exhilarating racing. While there aren’t a ton of different modes to choose from this time around, there are plenty of courses to make up for it.

Metro Exodus is an entertaining post-apocalyptic shooter that isn’t afraid to take chances with the series’ formula.

Once the game was in my hands, reality struck me like a Detroit Smash and what I had before me was a mess. Jump Force is ugly, janky, confusing, and far too simple. It does what other games have already done before, but with far less confidence or success. It tries to hide its misgivings behind cool special moves and motion blur, but fails at that too. It’s a total swing and miss.

The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince definitely lives in a story gamer’s wheelhouse, but there’s plenty here to satisfy those who may not care about a story in games. But I bet you will care about this one by the time you reach the end.

Far Cry New Dawn is definitely another Far Cry game, though the changes it makes to keep everything feeling fresh are intriguing. a very light RPG touch makes much of the typically repetitive content feel new with a difficulty curve that will challenge how people play. While it can be played independently, Far Cry 5 and New Dawn together create an interesting story package featuring some great twists, turns, and betrayals of the player (even if those pesky convenient macguffins keep coming into play).

When looking back at my time with the game, I don’t feel horror at its revelations. I feel disappointment in light of what it could have been concealing, and simply wasn’t.

Apex Legends is an expertly-crafted battle royale shooter, which is no surprise when you consider the development team behind it. It feels like the culmination of lessons learned from other games in the genre, almost as if battle royale has finally grown up.

As you can gather, if you didn’t play the first two games in full, and I mean in full, you will not enjoy a second of Wintertide Miracles. This is strictly for the absolute hardcore fans who have been dying to know what happens next with Cardia and her beloved. There’s a strong emphasis upon the word “fans,” mind you. Filthy casuals need not apply.

The joy of winning a closely contested match by knocking an opponent out of the arena or timing a perfect block that would send their own projectile back at them is the reason that competitive games were created.

Song of Memories is just such a bizarre game. It tries really hard to be different with it’s sudden and drastic tonal shifts in storyline, but it’s not a game that is going to be held up as one of the greats of its genre. Its sluggish early pacing, forgettable characters, and dull rhythm mini-game means that this can only really be recommended to the most die-hard of fans.

Monster Energy Supercross 2 will intrigue veterans of the series with its deeper career mode, rhythm gameplay, and authentic AMA Motocross Championship presentation. Meanwhile, casual racing fans can hop in and have a lot of fun with the easy to learn controls and compound mode, however bugs and long load times will frustrate everyone.

Melbits World is an interesting and fun party puzzle platformer, but its pacing is just a (mel)bit too slow to encourage repeated or long gameplay sessions.

The Mage’s Tale isn’t a game that shows hints of what the future may hold for virtual reality, but rather an example that the future is now. It stands on its own as a genuinely fun experience that shows this space has started to mature.

God Eater 3 definitely has a tougher barrier of entry compared to last year’s Monster Hunter: World. Most of that is due to complexity; God Eater 3 has tons of combat mechanics, a weird, jargon-filled narrative, and just generally a lot going on at once. However, it also doesn’t have a lot of the same heavy preparation and survival vibe of Monster Hunter, so it’s really more about mastering the action than micro-managing your inventory and outsmarting behemoths.

The pixel art-style and generic character design in Riddled Corpses Ex makes it a game which is fairly easy for people to overlook and dismiss as yet another bland twin-stick shooter.

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.

With the stated commitment to continue to support Bombfest after launch, it is definitely a good buy for party game enthusiasts. Hopefully online multiplayer, more maps, and even more wild bomb types are on the horizon, so Bombfest can have an even bigger impact.

It’s a satisfying mix. This is the rare (only???) game offering something for fans of Doom, No Man’s Sky, Harvest Moon, and Fortnite. It’s not the perfect simulation of life in outer space, but, in some ways, it gets closer than anything else has.

The developer has refined and perfected the combat. It kept its silliness in tact. It kept in the darker themes and deep moments of self-reflection that we all need every once in awhile. It’s, quite frankly, the best Kingdom Hearts game Square Enix has ever created.

I’m ragging on JackQuest a lot here, but to put it plainly, JackQuest doesn’t make a great case for itself. It feels like an earnest project inspired by the titans before it, but it doesn’t have nearly the same juice behind it. From a lack of interesting narrative hooks to several gameplay issues that make playing it feel like a chore, JackQuest just manages to miss the mark on a fundamental level.

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.

Holy Potatoes! We’re in Space?! sticks to its strengths, keeping true to their time management roots and nailing those parodies. That tutorial battle took me a little longer than I thought it would, but eventually I got the hang of it. There was some trial and error during the first mission as I had to switch my brain from thinking this was A Weapon Shop?!. But once I put on my Mal Reynolds suspenders, it was smooth sailing. Now I’m the best damn pilot in the galaxy, zipping all over the place blasting baddies out of the sky. I even have a furry sidekick.

It’s definitely new and improved framework, but Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal is mostly the same picture. Underwritten busty characters, who serve only to please those viewing them, engage in repetitive combat segments that become little more than “Dynasty Warriors with TnA.”

FutureGrind’s story and sounds may not be the most gripping, but the breadth of what’s offered in terms of bikes, courses, and challenges make up for its other shortcomings. In the end, the quick thinking and creativity it requires make it a ride you won’t want to miss.

This isn’t just an old Resident Evil molded into the new Resident Evil formula. It’s a new take on Resident Evil 2 that doesn’t feel like it’s trying to “modernize” or “fix” the original. It’s more of an expensive, ludicrously polished tribute than a remake in the semantic sense, a project that has been in demand for years and quietly pursued for just as long. I’m glad it worked out so well.

Ultimately, the question for many will be if Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition is worth picking up even if players have experienced it before. The answer, at least in my eyes, is a resounding yes.

Wandersong is one of the most pleasant and refreshing games out there. Even when the going gets tough, the goodwill garnered here will help you push through and enjoy another day.

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, however, has managed to effortlessly fly back into battle without missing a shot. Everything that you loved about the old iterations has evolved with the times and delivered a solid new combat flight simulation experience.

If you’re looking for an indie RPG that tugs at your heartstrings, Smoke and Sacrifice is that game.

Smash Hit Plunder is an extremely entertaining game. However, if you’re playing the game in single-player exclusively, expect to get burned out rather swiftly. Unfortunately, aside from keeping onlookers busy, the social screen mechanics don’t deliver much more than an interactive distraction until they get their next turn under the visor.

While I was on board at the title screen, it didn’t take long for the disappointment to set in. There’s an unearned self-confidence in the writing that is hampered by stilted dialogue and shallow characters, and the exact opposite in the gameplay, where YIIK feels afraid to actually be a 90s-style RPG. It’s obtuse and poorly balanced, making each encounter a frustrating exercise in attrition. YIIK has big ideas but they rest on top of a shoddy foundation, one that crumbles the more you try to stay on top of it. I’d rather just play EarthBound again.

This remaster seems only well suited for folks who’ve experienced the series before. It’s tailor-made for folks who want to take a trip down memory lane. Even then, you’ll find the same surprise I did—that Onimusha: Warlords is a game remembered as being better than it actually was.

In its refusal to hold your hand or even guide you a little, Vane feels like it stands out among its peers as a vehicle to deliver narrative agency for players, not because they have a list of choices to sift through, but because they are presented with an environment and scenario that is so freely open to interpretation. With Vane, you get out what you put in, and while you may not come back to it multiple times, that first one is a doozy.

Silver Lining is another excuse to strap on the web shooters and play more of one of 2018’s best games, but it makes that excuse in a way that feels complacent.

I started out thinking this game was charmingly fun, especially with the resource management adding an extra layer to the gameplay. As I progressed further, this feeling turned to pure frustration at the difficulty and the repetitiveness of having to commit an entire level to muscle memory just to progress far enough to even attempt the really tricky part. And then you have to start the process over again.

It’s a bedtime story based on a nightmare that somehow comes out on the more pleasant, earnest end of that old school madness, and while it’s a pain in the butt to find your way around without a map, the gorgeous settings and pitch-perfect platforming action make it feel worth the struggle.

In the face of quicker, louder rivals, PUBG offers a slow and meditative experience. It’s not, I would imagine, unlike sitting in a deer blind waiting for an unlucky whitetail to pass below. While PUBG’s technical issues are ever-present, they rarely spoil this core experience. This is a buggy game, but they aren’t game breaking bugs.

Without the backdrop of nostalgia, The VideoKid would be a truly forgettable game. That it is only saved by its licenses was enough for me to extract a certain amount of enjoyment, but it probably won’t be for those not versed with the characters of 1980s Hollywood.

Odd control schemes, lack of core gameplay features from previous installments, and unfortunate legacy design decisions make this holistically feel like an inferior experience.

Hellfront: Honeymoon is a good budget title ($/£9.99 at launch) to kill some time with friends who want to do more than just smash buttons in a random fighter.

It’s not the best or the worst otome I’ve ever played, and most of the romance routes are rather sweet. Getting there, especially for completionists, is a beating and never feels fully worth it, but when you see the lovely couple finally come together, you can’t help but feel warm and squishy inside.

There is a wacky, multiplayer racing game in there, but it feels more like a side effect of a notepad full of gags than a gaming experience that can entertain a group of friends long enough to make them briefly forget about Super Smash Bros., nor does the single-player experience do much after you understand what’s happening in front of you.

I’m glad it exists simply to try things outside of the box in VR, but this is a building block, not a definer.

When you consider that Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden came out of nowhere, the insanely polished tactics gameplay and charming characters are absolutely remarkable. If you’re looking for a darkly charming way to burn hours over the holidays, look no further than this apocalyptic hellscape. Who knew that the end of civilization as we know it could be so damn entertaining?

Any charm Rage! has is hidden under thick and ugly jungle, and undermined by its weak execution and a narrative that is at its best boring. Save yourself the rage, and look elsewhere.

Gungrave VR is a generic shooter wrapped in the new-tech allure of VR. For fans of the 16-year-old PS2 series, this will no doubt bring up some nostalgic feelings. But the incredibly small amount of content on offer will turn off most gamers looking for a fuller experience.

That’s what Monster Boy’s final hours feel like. They’re a clunky conclusion clogging up an otherwise slimy sleek progression. Usually in Metroidvanias, your progress stops because you’re missing something you need. In Monster Boy, progress slows because The Game Atelier and FDG Entertainment have given you far too much.

Override: Mech City Brawl has high aims, but feels a bit clumsy in its execution.

Big Crown: Showdown is a safe bet for party games to play that most people will enjoy. A large variety of maps helps to avoid tedium, but the core gameplay mechanics may be a bit too simple to sink into for much more than an hour at a time.

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

Even though it’s unlikely to be something that keeps you enthralled for long, when you take into account the game’s fairly low price tag, it’s still worth a look if you like these kinds of puzzles.

Earth Defense Force 5 is absolutely, thoroughly, another Earth Defense Force. If you know what that is, you know what you’re in for. It’s the first one built for modern hardware, which means more stuff happening on screen, but it’s not an upheaval of the formula, nor is it a magical facelift.

Just Cause 4 is just a better Just Cause 3, and that’s not a bad thing, but it feels that many elements were added just ’cause rather than seeking to revolutionize Rico Rodriguez’s many revolutions.

The game does something with its combat system that few had tried before or after, and it is a genuine joy once you’ve got the hang of it. When you strip away the below-average genre trappings, all that remains of The Last Remnant Remastered is a damn fine combat system that was clearly built before any other element of the game.

I was blown away by Subnautica. What initially appeared to be a knee-high kiddie pool worth of depth, suddenly gives way to a literal ocean of gameplay opportunities.

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

Rival Megagun is a fun, frantic bullet hell game with a unique competitive mechanic. The retro-inspired art style is pixel-perfect, which is paired with an equally retro soundtrack.

RIDE 3 is the bike racing game to beat this generation. A much-improved presentation, with a focus on the thrill of the ride, comes alongside improved load times.

With so many choices left unexplored and far too many hidden items I have yet to discover, 11-11: Memories Retold is a replayable title with new experiences for me to discover.

As much as it tried my patience at times, I definitely enjoyed my time with Bendy and the Ink Machine. What seemed to start as a side project is on the way to becoming a full-blown franchise, and there’s enough narrative juice here to sustain it for sure.

Perhaps the best way to describe how infectious the cheer and simple fun in Persona Dancing: Endless Night Collection is to reflect on how it stays with you after you put it down. Hours or days later, you’ll find yourself tapping your foot to a song you played, and rather than just leaving it at that, a temptation emerges.

It has a slow start that won’t do much to sway anyone that’s not invested. If you’re willing to dig deep and stick with it, Darksiders III can be an extremely rewarding experience that has a lot to offer. It diverges from the first two games enough to feel interesting, but retains a distinct look and feel that fans of the series will instantly be familiar with.

Simple, fun, and addictive, Beat Saber has a hook that will immediately grab players and keep them engaged for a long time.

I want to love Fallout 76, namely for its addition of co-op play and the representation of a region dear to my heart. I simply can’t. I wouldn’t say the latest Fallout title is abysmal or even bad, just very middling. It removes many of the series’ strong suits and attempts to make up for it by adding in new mechanics or strengthening lesser ones.

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.

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.

Who knew that the horrors of war could ultimately end up being so goddamn beautiful?

The survival genre is so crowded that there’s little ground left to break, but The Forest has done it.

Hitman 2 continues the fun assassination sandbox gameplay that was in the reboot, with scant few details changed in the single-player campaign. The levels on offer are some of the largest, and certainly the most detailed for the Hitman franchise. Cutscenes may disappoint, but Agent 47 hasn’t been slacking at the job. He now has more options at his disposal than ever before.

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.

Many video games don’t age well, but Spyro Reignited Trilogy feels like the game didn’t age at all. Toys for Bob applied the fountain of youth to a 20-year old series, and the little purple dragon is just as perky and fired up as ever.