Fire Emblem: Three Houses does a laudable job of bringing Intelligent Systems’ strategy series to Nintendo’s hybrid console, and I’m likely going to be playing for months to come. The ability to take command of three different houses, each with their own roster of students, adds plenty of replay value. Still, I’m going to keep my Game Boy Advance Micro loaded with a copy of Fire Emblem handy for those days when I want to feel what it’s like to really risk the deaths of beloved heroes in battle.

Like a good film, 1979 Revolution often makes you feel like you’re witnessing real events, or at least an accurate depiction of those events.

Eldritch is a punishing difficult game that tests a player’s ability to survive in a Lovecraft-inspired world.

Whether you think of Immortals Fenyx Rising as a Breath of the Wild set within Greek mythology, a kid-friendly Assassin’s Creed, or something all its own (likely because you haven’t played either of those other games), the plain fact is that it is eminently playable. There’s never a shortage of things to do, and doing these things is generally a lot of fun. And at the end of the day, that’s pretty much all most folks want out of an open world adventure.

Despite falling into a genre and being released on the kind of gaming platform I typically ignore, I’ve found Feeding Time’s gameplay to be surprisingly compelling.

A little game like Mario and Donkey: Minis on the Move would make a perfect test title for the broader mobile market. I’d be shocked if it didn’t rocket to the top of app sales charts.

At its core, the game delivers. The gameplay — always the most important factor — is as good as it has ever been and the level of depth, customization and replayability makes this one a winner.

This game isn’t for the uninitiated. It’s clearly created for fans who think the idea of a pot bellied pig named Fluffy is funny, who can’t look at Barbara Streisand and not think about Mecha-Streisand, and who randomly yell “BEEEEFCAKE!” to their friends every now and then for no reason.

Play it with a few good friends or family members and it can be the video game equivalent of a bowl of soup for your soul, leaving you smiling, content, and just generally feeling pretty good.

It’s been a bumpier ride than I’d expected – especially given the potential comic goldmine that is the Borderlands universe – but Tales from the Borderlands seems to be back on track just in time for what’s shaping up to be weird and wild final episode.

Snipperclips is going to cause arguments, ruin friendships, and break up couples. It’s also as much fun as I’ve had with Nintendo’s new hybrid console outside of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

If Harmonix continues to build upon what its laid down, Rock Band 4 could end up being a monumental interactive music experience.

For the first time I could feel seething anger and resentment boiling just under the surface of most of our heroes, and it’s coming close to bursting through.

It’s wonderfully accessible. The music library here has something for everyone, and the interface is so intuitive that players of all skill and experience levels can play without much worry of failure. It ought to prove a hit at family game nights and small social gatherings alike.

I’ve only spent a couple of hours with Disney Art Academy, but I was pleased with the quality of a Chip – or was it Dale? – drawing I was able to produce completely from scratch following instructions.

Pikmin 4 doesn’t revolutionize Miyamoto’s nearly quarter-century old concept. Instead, in much the same way as the pikmin themselves continue to gradually evolve, it grows the franchise’s ideas and themes slowly and naturally, with a bit of sci-fi whimsy and a feel-good, family-friendly vibe. I’m here for it.

This high-priced Dr. Mario clone is still loads of fun – especially in groups – and serves as an effective prescription for anyone suffering a deficiency in accessible, competitive puzzle play.

It’s not as moving as the first season finale, and it doesn’t tie things together in a satisfying narrative knot the way the preceding season did. But it’s still compelling, thanks largely to its unflinching and sometimes disturbing depiction of no-win situations. Telltale Games refuses to let Clem or the player off easy.

I don’t know how much longer this pandemic will go on, but I’m happy to have New Pokemon Snap as one more weapon in my arsenal to combat lockdown boredom, alleviate my creative listlessness, and encourage a little more socially distanced friendship and community.

It may lack new and novel features that we can use to easily define it, but Supremacy gives us something that might be even better: Some Advanced Warfare‘s most sophisticated and entertaining competitive and cooperative maps yet.

If you are looking to play this game without having to go through the story, the Magnagate feature is a great way of hopping into a dungeon just for fun. Be sure to have good lighting, though, otherwise getting the feature to work can be a little hit or miss.

There’s still some engaging play, including a lengthy and well choreographed stealth action sequence starring Asher that makes good use of Telltale’s traditional point-and-click interface. If you can manage to pull off everything without any mistakes it plays out in deliciously cinematic fashion.

Far Cry 4 is filled with crazy action sequences and harbours a deep disregard for political correctness that dares players to complain about its depiction of bare-breasted women wielding machine guns and jokes about maxi pads used as bandages...However, if you’ve played Far Cry 3, it’s all going to seem pretty familiar. Routine, even.

The slog is real, but worth it for hard core JRPG fans.

I don’t see Returnal becoming another Uncharted-style mega-franchise for Sony. It’s just too punishing and quirky to nab a massive audience. That said, it’s a well-produced and polished play that doesn’t really feel like anything else out there at the moment. If you’re not afraid of a challenge, it may be worth adding to your PlayStation playlist.

Bravely Second: End Layer is probably the superior game. But sequels come with a different set of expectations. And from my perspective, those expectations haven’t been entirely satisfied.

It doesn’t take a lot of risks. You’ll run around a little hub world choosing visiting shops and choosing levels filled with various running and jumping challenges, plus some signature Sackboy moves involving tugging, pushing and hanging onto stuff. But it’s well executed and wonderfully easy to just sit down and play for 20 minutes here or there. Plus, the action is set to a buoyant soundtrack filled with music that perfectly matches the family-friendly hijinks. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself humming these tunes long after you stop playing.

It may not be as deep or sophisticated as many other modern racers, but Dirt 5 is nonetheless an entertaining outlet for engine revving on Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5.