Star Ocean First Departure R offers an easy way to play a hard-to-find classic RPG, but very few enhancements makes this a purchase strictly for Star Ocean fans. Simplistic combat and minimal options make this a hard sell for devout JRPG fans.

While the story in Eden Tomorrow is intriguing, there are simply too many frustrating mechanics to look past. The quality of the narrative is overwhelmed by repetitive puzzles, and a strange combination of completely linear gameplay and an occasional lack of direction. This is a game that would have been much better had the developers given up on the puzzles, and simply told a story.

There's no question that Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana is a beloved entry in the franchise. However, bringing it to the PS5 offers next to nothing to the entire experience, bringing only the most miniscule of adjustments, another Trophy list, and a free PS5 upgrade.

Though it was dubbed the Deluxe Edition, its inclusions of extra costumes, a small graphical upgrade from the Vita version, and an increase in enemy encounters, can't help distinguish Blackgate from its handheld roots. Blackgate is an entertaining title that links well with where the overarching Arkham Origins story was going -- it's just a shame that the titles handheld origins weren't improved upon.

A decent if distinctly workmanlike RTS, Sudden Strike 4 should certainly appeal to tactical newbies but is too limited to appeal to really anybody else looking for a sophisticated, strategic challenge.

It's not the worst remaster but Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles should have been a great remaster but Square just didn't do enough to make the game feel like it belongs in this day and age. Co-op is a chore to even get started and having no couch co-op to play with your family takes away the identity of Crystal Chronicles and what made it such a stand out - traveling and exploring as a family.

The Final Station is yet another example of an Indie title with great ideas but not the best execution. The world is well crafted and its simplicity can allow anyone to get into it. But it's more important features like maintaining your train feel shallow and are a definite missed opportunity.

A technical achievement to be sure, Battlewake succeeds in delivering accessible arcade-style naval battles. But underwhelming depth in the campaign, combined with broken matchmaking and a lack of cross-play with PC VR systems leaves the long-term prospects for Battlewake looking pretty grim. It is no fun having a cool game that you are unable to play, and that's what Battlewake released as.

A shallow but stylish and challenging single-player space blaster, which despite the forgettable storyline, offers a good few hours of alien ass-kicking at a budget price.

Black Legend is a competent game that loses itself in its own cumbersome execution. For every good mechanic, Black Legend introduces a way to make it confusing to learn, and hinders your enjoyment of it in the process. Black Legend crafts an intriguing world that I loved exploring when I wasn't constantly getting lost due to its poor navigation. Where the brunt of issues appear are in the game's cumbersome Catalyst System and repetitive combat animations. Thankfully ,the fun cross-class System keeps things a bit interesting for as long as it takes to finish the title.

If you're craving the wholesale slaughtering of otherworldly beings, Painkiller has you covered despite a myriad of superior alternatives. You'll enjoy buddying up with co-operative pals and relish in the carnage of the game's meaty weaponry. However, if you're a veteran of the arena shooter or a learned observer, you'll find Painkiller is far too similar to the genre's juggernauts than can be comfortably accepted.

Lollipop Chainsaw is too repetitive for its own good. While it's always fun to play a game that doesn't take itself too seriously, Lollipop doesn't offer much else besides silly sexuality and gory combat.

Over-sensitity of Move controllers can be frustrating as can the incredible efficient A.I., but overall Sports Bar VR is a fun party game when playing online.

Alpha Protocol is all ambition with little follow through. This espionage-RPG attempts to draw players into a world of lock picking, Saudi terrorists, and secret government conspiracies, but does it so ineffectively it is hard to maintain interest past the first mission.

Art Pulse is more of a toy than a game - but pleasant electronic music, brilliant colors, and a great movement system make Art Pulse an experience that certain people will enjoy quite a bit. While there is almost no structure and the creation tools are ultimately limited, just existing in Art Pulse’s space is pleasurable for a time. Keep your expectations lowered, and you might enjoy simply existing in this gamespace.

A competent, yet underwhelming Prince of Persia-inspired puzzle platformer. Its good looks will get it far, but its shallow personality won’t be bringing you back.

Though Killing Time: Resurrected can't really hang with other boomer shooters in 2024, let alone more contemporary fare from a fundamentals perspective, I'm still happy that Nightdive Studios has cemented its heroic status by remastering it to an extremely high standard anyway and its love for the source material is abundantly clear. In spite of its clunky and flawed fundamentals, Killing Time is indicative of a shooter that wasn't afraid to try new things in 1995 and if there's one thing that remains true even now, it's that more FPS efforts could certainly learn to take a risk or two.

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged is a fairly decent approximation of toy car racing, with the added bonus of being able to customise your car collection and design your own tracks. However the karting / arcade gameplay doesn't quite click in either direction, and the failure to make the game accessible for younger children adds to the feeling of mild disappointment which pervades the whole game.

Blow for blow, Yooka-Replaylee is a quality 3D platformer. It does what it needs to do and does so in a way that’s inoffensive and pretty bogstandard. My issues with the game come from its existence as a replacement for a game with genuinely interesting ideas. Replaylee does away with every interesting wrinkle in favour of an experience that, unfortunately, falls far too close to certain other games for me to want to prioritise this one. It’s a bizarre exercise in overcorrection that misses what the original game was literally made for. Is it a better game than the original? Probably. But it's a lesser imitation of its far more modern inspirations.

Lacks polish with lack of collision detection being the most obvious flaw, but Tour De France 2014 has hidden strategic depths that may appeal to fans of the world's most prestigious cycling race.

Shaun White Skateboarding tries valiantly to inspire players by allowing them to transform grey settings into colorful scenes, but the mediocre gameplay, boring quests, and poor visuals ultimately leaves things feeling decidedly uninspired.

Clid The Snail is a charming indie game with characters that you can easily grow to love just by spending time with them, and a narrative that is entertaining and consistent all the way through till the end. However, its gameplay issues and the clash of two very different vibes pull you out of those fun moments constantly, and you're left reminded of all the game's shortcomings all over again.

EA Sports NHL 25 fails to deliver on the promises it sets in the new features that EA swears are improvements. It's another example of an entry into an annualized sports game series that doesn't feel like it's doing anything differently from the last year, but at least in this case last year's (and by default this years) game is fun to play.

I really enjoyed Bookbound Brigade's humour, art style and world design but unfortunately, the unresponsive formation changes and bad map design really drag down its score. The characters are enjoyable and the gameplay, on the whole, is sound. Hopefully, after a patch to fix the control issues, I will return to find all its secrets. Until then I would wait for a sale and hopefully the fixes this game deserves.

It's a shame that Seven Deadly Sins first foray into videogames couldn't have been better. As a big fan I enjoyed the Knights of Britannia for what it is but most will find it mediocre at best.

Worms is a great game of strategy but, for us, the nostalgia has worn off. Do we really need three Worms games packaged together?

Windbound is a serviceable survival game that offers a unique sailing experience to keep hardcore fans of the genre interested. But with simplistic and bland-feeling combat and an experience that doesn't engage with its narrative (despite promising to), Windbound isn't recommended at full price.

Chasing Static creates a strong sense of nostalgia as the appreciation of late 90's era horror games shines through. The game works well as a throwback, but it doesn't work as well as a horror game in its own right. More than that however it is ultimately let down by an abundance of overly familiar narrative choices. Minding that, fans of PlayStation 1 style horror should still find something to love.