While there are a few too many barriers to entry, there’s no denying that Gundam Versus provides some incredible robot-on-robot action. Each individual Gundam brings with it its own intricacies to master, and it’s highly satisfying once you’re flying your mecha around like its second-nature. There’s still room for improvement, as the single-player modes are uncaptivating at best, but the competitive multiplayer is top-notch.

Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution will feel a bit dull for those who are looking for a heavily storied experience but it should not be overlooked simply for the fact that it isn’t a full fledged Naruto story. What it lacks in story it makes up for in frenetic 4-player combat and a whole slew of modes and features to keep you busy.

A pleasant and often challenging run through a fascinating world that ends much too soon. While the game doesn’t present anything innovative or bring anything new to the Metroidvania genre, it’s still quite an enjoyable albeit disappointingly short experience.

While the difficulty level has been ratcheted down noticeably in the name of accessibility, the harder modes should suffice for those looking for a challenge.

Ride 5 is yet another impressive offering from Milestone. By focusing on the current generation of hardware, the motorcycle racer isn’t held back and is able to live to its full potential. It all results in a great-looking experience that is easier to get into than ever before and is just as fulfilling to master.

Technical issues aside, I greatly enjoyed my time in the Heretic Kingdoms. The hack-n-slash combat with puppeteering strategies always felt fresh, the enemies always presented a challenge on the Normal difficulty, and I never got tired of the vast exploration and puzzle solving.

It is about forcing players to make strategic moves and plan accordingly, all while giving them a limited amount of time to do so. It’s fast, it’s smart, and it’s absolutely worth picking up, especially if you dig party games.

While not groundbreaking on a technical level, the game's visuals are the best we've seen from this studio. Every locale feels authentic and lived in, making the experience, although incredibly linear, still feel organic.

At its core, Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late is a complex game that rewards players for taking the initiative. Its variety in character and combat types helps make up for a beefier story mode – though to be honest given the base story I’ve love to see more.

A lot of video games attempt to say something, but rarely do they manage to leave a genuine impact by the time the credits begin to roll. In just 20 hours, The Caligula Effect tells an uplifting story that revolves around inner strength and coming face to face with one’s shortcomings. It may suffer from some annoying load times and a frame-rate that occasionally makes characters look as if they were wading through water, but that doesn’t take away from the touching story that Tadashi Satomi has come up with.

The visuals and sounds of the game make you feel as if you are actually experiencing Hogwarts, granted from a LEGO perspective, but that perspective is an immersive and a fun title regardless of what age you are.

Drive!Drive!Drive! provides a fresh idea in a very established genre that doesn’t often see them anymore. While it’s easy to dismiss the track-switching action as a gimmick, it actually adds a whole different dimension to racing. There’s a lot to like here.

When played in small bursts, Mothergunship has the potential to be an extremely amusing experience.

While it struggles with how simple it does or doesn’t want to be, Blade Strangers has a cute vibe, an earnest sense of humor, and flashy enough gameplay that running through it with all the characters is definitely worth a few weekends in-between Evo training.

I wouldn’t recommend playing Men’s Room Mayhem for longer than 20 or so minutes at a time, or you will quickly find the breaking point at which the game gets old. Ironically, Mayhem is the perfect game for a trip to the men’s room.

While it might be a little too simple for hardcore puzzle gamers, MouseCraft is a fun, solid puzzle game experience.

It’s a solid, stealth action game which should provide for an entertaining weekend full of quiet kills and stalking in the shadows.

An extremely competent brawler, with a shockingly expansive, albeit slightly disjointed, core campaign. Despite its narrative shortcomings, the moment-to-moment combat is fast paced, visually arresting and extremely entertaining. If you are looking for a fun mindless jaunt to kick off the New Year, look no further.

For a quick splitscreen showdown, Trailblazers is easy to get into and not too heavy on the wallet at around $30 USD.

It could be argued that Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness is not, in a traditional sense, a game, but even so it’s unbelievably entertaining. Story gamers will be in heaven, and fans of the anime are sure to find it just as delightful. I’ve never even seen the anime and I definitely found my own happiness within the stories I experienced.

Rarely have I had as many conflicting feelings about a game as much as I do with NBA 2K18. So much about the basketball sim is top-notch, but there are also so many elements that make me want to put it down and never touch it again.

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

When you take a step back and look at the “big picture,” at least on paper, MLB The Show 21 is a success. That said, when it’s your first entry in a new console generation, the bar for success is admittedly quite low. For this reason, not to mention the meager distinctions between the PS4 and PS5 versions of the game, it’s fairly difficult to justify the extra expense of making the jump to next-generation hardware. That said, if you decide to take the plunge and pick up the PlayStation 5 version, you won’t be disappointed by the latest in a franchise that keeps knocking it out of the park.

I had fun with Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered, but I found myself knocking it down to easy so I could just hit things without thinking too hard, and going through the more compelling sights and sounds without having to dive into a bunch of clumsy systems I didn’t enjoy engaging with.

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.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising is a good game that introduces you to a bright and colorful cast of characters and the world they inhabit. It’s short and sweet, with the main story missions costing me 10 hours, but it leaves just enough of an impression without overstaying its welcome. I do worry that it’s releasing a bit too early compared to the main entry and with a game focused around questing, it’s so disappointing how badly the questing system and UI is setup. There is also a lot of needless backtracking that could have been avoided. All that being said, it’s a good start and for those Suikoden fans out there, it brings out a lot of nostalgia and moments that feel like Suikoden. Great start from Rabbit & Bear, we can’t wait to see what’s next.

Need for Speed Unbound marries classic NFS gameplay with a hot new graffiti-inspired aesthetic. Gameplay-wise, it’s a safe approach that sticks to what has always worked for NFS, with police playing a big part during races and open-world exploration. Thankfully, the visual shift does a lot to make this racer feel fresh, taking it in a different direction from the likes of Forza and Gran Turismo. Those looking for an arcade racer with some attitude should check out Unbound, as it wins far more than it loses, and looks great doing it.

Pid takes the cinematic 2D platforming genre to the next level with incredible graphics, a great soundtrack, and good level design. The fact that they didn't at least add a friendlier difficulty level does take away from the overall experience though.