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.

Aside from a few minor platforming quirks thanks to the introduction of the third dimension, this is still the Blue Bomber that you’ve come to know and love. But don’t let the gorgeous presentation fool you, because it will still mercilessly kick your dick in with remorseless gusto.

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 is worth the price of admission. Whether you’re in the mood for some battles against the CPU, running an endless match in solo play, or willing to go to bed grumbling about your significant other somehow getting all the speed buffs and ruining your perfect Tetris, it’s a great game to pick up and play.

From the moment I turned it on, it took me by surprise. The setting of a once luxurious, sand-covered Dubai is a true stroke of genius, and makes for both gameplay and story situations that are a cut above the norm-especially when it comes to cookie-cutter military shooters.

If you’re looking for a feel-good gaming experience, it’s probably best to steer clear of The Town of Light. It’s a darkly haunting narrative that touches on a subject matter that doesn’t get anywhere near enough attention nowadays, while also avoiding falling into the trap of sensationalism. As long as you can get past some of its legitimate structure issues, not to mention a general lack of a cohesive gameplay thread, it provides a depressing, yet unforgettable quest into a person’s descent into madness. While this is definitely not an experience that I plan on putting myself through ever again, it will undoubtedly stick with me for a long time.

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.

With a campaign this good and plenty of graphically astounding action in single player and multiplayer, Battlefield 4 is a complete shooter package.

Developer Milestone S.r.l. has been making racing games for so long, it comes as no surprise how nicely Monster Energy Supercross turned out. From the detail in the dirt, to the details in the bikes, this is not only a great looking game, but a great racing game too.

What we have here is a well made 2D effort, and explorers who aren’t tired of the genre will enjoy this one for its silent storytelling and magnetic puzzle mechanics.

It’s refreshing in its earnest nature, and is actually more hopeful than nihilistic. But it is still on the simple and tropey side.

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.

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 not perfectly executed, but it comes damn close.

While The Evil Within doesn’t quite reach the iconic Resident Evil 4‘s level of brilliance or scariness, this is a satisfyingly gruesome adventure.

A great pool sim and game all-around, with more modes than you can shake a pool cue at. The supreme amounts of polish the game and the menu have make it a nearly flawless experience. Throw in online and even Cross-Platform Play, and Hustle Kings is a seriously packed game for the price.

The dense career mode, weekly online events, and the upcoming inclusion of the 2019 F2 season will have me coming back to this game long after the official F1 season is over.

The Alto Collection console release is more or less a straight port of the mobile titles made to work on a big screen with a controller. That’s not a bad thing at all, as the mobile releases were deservingly award-winning games, but it’s a missed opportunity to make some slight UI and gameplay optimizations that could have really polished the experience on console. Still, The Alto Collection is deserving of your attention, a peaceful mountain adventure that’s designed to be played in short spurts, but almost impossible to put down once you get going. “Just one more run,” never looked so beautiful or felt so zen.

Bandai Namco should be commended for taking an already good RPG in Tales of Xillia and expanding on that storyline in a way that pays respect to the original and builds so much on top of it. It is hard to make a sequel that is worth of the original and Tales of Xillia 2 does just that.

Death Mark does nail its atmosphere of otherwordly unpredictability, looming dread, and urgency that sells its central plot quite well.

If Borderlands and the MOBA genre could have a baby, I imagine it would look something like Battleborn. Gearbox Software’s signature style shines here, even if the humor falls flat most of the time.

Little Kitty, Big City delivers exactly what you want from it. You get to play as a cute little cat, cause some mischief, collect some fish, and eventually find yourself back home. It’s a charming misadventure starring a cute feline and one that isn’t extended without good reason. If you’re looking for a fun afternoon of gaming, then this fits the bill nicely.

While playing this game, I got a wave of nostalgia from my early SOCOM days on the PlayStation 2, and this was a good sign – if the servers stay loaded with a good chunk of players, this will be played for a while to come.

It’s a love letter to a fantastic genre, and is such a pleasant way to spend an evening. It may not be a grand adventure like Super Mario World, but I enjoyed every single second of it, and that can’t be said about most games.

I’ve been critical of some of Telltale Games’ endings in the past, but I really enjoyed how Guardians of the Galaxy wrapped up. Did I regret some of the choices I made? Definitely. But more importantly, I felt as if the team had legitimately grown due to some poor judgment calls, even if poor Groot was missing an arm by the end.

Sports Champions is to the PlayStation Move what Wii Sports is to the Nintendo Wii. It serves as an easily accessible, enjoyable way to show off the motion tech, while offering up some competition using sports that most people will be familiar with.

Freedom Finger is an amusing side-scrolling shooter with a challenge available for those who want it, and gameplay accessibility for those who’d rather not get frustrated with some of the later levels’ difficulty. The story is ridiculous, but that’s part of the appeal. The stellar voice cast helps to elevate the jokes to another level, and while the timing given certain world events mean having the enemy as the Chinese might upset some, the whole thing is ultimately a ribbing at the military-industrial complex that the United States finds itself in control of. Enough of that though.

An incredible eleventh-hour treat for fans who have invested their time and money into the handheld. If you enjoyed Guacamelee!, you’ll find a lot of what you loved in that game has returned. Vibrant colors with a unique “diorama” artstyle really pop off the screen, and its inventive gameplay successfully combines touch-twitch antics and old-fashioned role playing.

Some of the puzzle mechanics may not be quite as intuitive or engaging as previous episodes, but the finale puts some heavy subjects on the table to analyze, most notably mortality and the culmination of our own life’s work and moments, and what we’ll leave behind at the end.