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.