Dino Frontier is an impeccably charming adventure, one that feels like physically playing with a bunch of cowboy figures and plastic dinosaurs. There’s the foundation for a really solid and unique simulation builder game, not to mention another great application of virtual reality, but Dino Frontier never plays to its strengths as a game.

CastleStorm VR is not a necessary VR release, but it is a fun one, showing the possibilities for traditionally non-VR titles on the platform. Head tracking works well, and playing the game feels like you are playing with a physical medieval play set.

Patapon Remastered is a worthy remastering of a classic game that deserves to be checked out. If you can’t take an intense difficulty curve, however, you may find yourself frustrated at a lack of progress early in on the campaign. Sticking with it, and getting used to Patapon’s many mechanics being used, however, will likely result in a slow but steady mastering of all your drums.

In practice, Smashbox Arena ends up being a lot of fun, with precise tracking and fast paced competitive gameplay that hides a lot of depth and strategy, but it’s ultimately held back my a number of technical issues and the lack of a strong online community.

With Circuit Breakers, what you get for your money is a very, very basic twin-stick shooter that is missing a lot of what makes the best in the genre so special.

While the writing leaves a lot to be desired in some regards, the story told is a compelling one, and earning the trust of the icy suitors was a more nuanced and sweet process than I expected.

It’s not a question of if the player will die in Sundered. They will lose the struggle against the Eldritch horrors that call its world home, and it ultimately comes down to the core theme of resist or embrace. Will the player embrace the challenge, or resist it by giving up? That’ll ultimately come down to how much perseverance a person has, but those that do see the adventure out will be rewarded with more glimpses into a gorgeous world and some incredibly tense combat exchanges.

It’s been awhile since I’ve so thoroughly enjoyed a learning curve in a racing game. Tiny Trax hides a highly challenging racer behind its charming presentation, and I’ve enjoyed going from nearly being lapped to occasionally winning races. The only thing that really holds the game back is a lack of content and options, as there are only three cups of tracks to master, but FuturLab definitely has a winner in the gameplay department.

As a casual pick-up-and-play experience, Zen Studios’ latest obviously isn’t going to set your world on fire, but it does what it does very well. The core mechanics are solid and contain just enough variation to keep things exciting, and the progression system provides just enough incentive to keep you busy across all the different modes. A little polish and pizazz on the visual front would have gone a long way here, but again, it’s good for what it is. If you’re looking for a fun take on the pastime, Infinite Minigolf is a pleasant, surprisingly addictive little game.

There’s a lot of potential to really have Theseus be a great adventure, but it ends before you can get invested at all, a slow burn with an all too rapid conclusion. It feels like the whole middle part of the game is missing, with a long intro leading right into the climax.

Though the campaign is unimaginative and some areas are not fleshed out as well as they could have been, the game is still addictive stuff. But, once you’ve run through the campaign you’re only left with the sandbox mode, which grinds to a halt as soon as you start to do well.

It feels disingenuous to even try and write words about Pyre, another Supergiant masterpiece.

I feel like every gamer should find a way to play SUPERHOT VR, but they should really look to play the Rift or Vive versions if they can. While it still provided some of the coolest moments I’ve ever experienced in a game on PlayStation VR, it also provided some of the most frustrating ones. It’s truly a masterpiece that is marred by being on a platform that just isn’t technically up to the task.

From the opening stages to its thrilling conclusion, every single moment within SUPERHOT is a memorable one. Even a year removed from its initial release, its innovations are unmatched. Even those that aren’t typically a fan of the genre owe it to themselves to check out one of the finest games released in years.

Super Cloudbuilt is an impressive entry in the platforming genre. The level of challenge on offer is sure to please those looking for a chance to prove themselves.

Another visually noteworthy PSVR game, Archangel blends immersive storytelling with a complex rail shooter to let players live out their mech fantasies. Very little replay value and a high launch price tag of $40 for a three to five hour game may drive away some, but Skydance Interactive has managed to capture the enveloping magic of virtual reality to tell a personal narrative while at the same time creating a strong VR rail shooter as the vehicle to tell it.

Children of Zodiarcs is a bargain at $17.99, and has plenty of content to sink your teeth into.

The proverbial meat of the experience consists of interesting concepts that are executed poorly. Much like what the player will encounter during several puzzles, gameplay itself feels like an ill-informed leap of faith that elicits more far exasperation than elation.

Fallen Legion: Sins of an Empire doesn’t manage to nail all of its ideas, but it manages to make enough of them stick for it to be a worthwhile title for role-playing game fans. Developer YummyYummyTummy didn’t play it safe, and has implemented some fantastic ideas here. It’s just that some repetitive level design, and a flat story, manages to drag the game down in its back half.

Much like the fauna that inhabits its world, Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is a beautifully odd creature. The things it does well it does extremely well, which leaves me baffled at some of the obvious drawbacks that limit its scope and longevity. With that said, I am massively impressed by what such a small team was able to accomplish, and the attractive launch price certainly makes it all the more appealing.

It’s a great proof of concept as to why mobile and console gaming can complement each other, and don’t always need to be separated.

It may lack any distinctive feature that helps it truly stand out from the pack, but fans of motorcycle racing can’t go wrong here.

When it comes to pleasant surprises, Serial Cleaner ranks among my favorite indie releases of 2017. The simple to grasp mechanics yet surprisingly deep execution managed to take a genre that I traditionally loathe, and somehow deliver an immensely gratifying experience.

Not only does it feature the usual remaster fare of significantly improved visuals up to their maximum capabilities but it also includes significant and positive improvements and additions to its audio and gameplay that take into consideration both its past strengths and weakness, the resources of the current times, and both its past and current potential audience.

The final product is a reskin of a paint-by-the-numbers dungeon crawler that is devoid of motivation, originality, or replayability.

It’s also helped tremendously by the addition of Accel World characters, as they immediately caught my attention.

Elite Dangerous is a massive, living game with plenty to see and do. Like a lot of sandbox, open-world games, you get out what you put in to the game. The various systems at play, including flight mechanics, are just complicated enough to be believable, while not hindering gameplay. It also helps that the game looks gorgeous, and runs solidly.

The matchmaking is currently a mess, ranked play is currently inaccessible for many, and there’s no semblance of a campaign to keep players busy while the online is being worked on.