Still, I was left with the feeling this episode simply fills the space between the first and third, moving our heroes from one important location to another without much of consequence happening along the way.

Regardless of whether I stick with Fallout Shelter to the end, filling a bunker a couple of dozen stories deep with 100 bustling dwellers, I’ve definitely had some fun.

I can only provide thoughts my own experience, and my experience with Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture was one of delight and wonder punctuated by many unfortunately long stretches of interface frustration.

Running across a horde of freaks in Days Gone is a helluva thing.

Needless to say, Paper Mario: The Origami King doesn’t have the general appeal of a traditional Mario game. It’s smart, creative, and rarely less than lovely to look at, but its combination of odd combat mechanics and sporadically subversive wit are bound to reinforce the franchise’s status as distinctively niche within the Marioverse.

They may have to fight their way to liking the game instead of it capturing their imagination from the very start. Xenoblade Chronicles X is probably the best RPG on the system, but your mileage, much like your Skell’s, will vary.

This is Far Cry reduced to its core elements, both good and bad.

The second season and occasional special episodes haven’t managed to recapture the emotional peaks of the series’ devastatingly emotional first season, and I’ve yet to see anything to suggest that this season will be any more successful. But it’s still well written, expertly acted, and filled with tense moments dealing with both the zombies and the true monsters of Kirkman’s world, humans.

The second season and occasional special episodes haven’t managed to recapture the emotional peaks of the series’ devastatingly emotional first season, and I’ve yet to see anything to suggest that this season will be any more successful. But it’s still well written, expertly acted, and filled with tense moments dealing with both the zombies and the true monsters of Kirkman’s world, humans.

The modes and minigames are quite good, but I think the need to use Joy-Cons rather than traditional controllers could prove a little frustrating for people who only have two Joy-Cons and prefer using a bigger gamepad.

Even with lacklustre combat, Paper Mario Color Splash’s gorgeous art style, lush music, and great writing make it a pretty easy recommendation, at least for fans of family-friendly single-player adventures.

Just seems kind of small and limited to me. I think people might expect a little more from an Animal Crossing game.

PGA Tour 2K21 delivers an excellent simulation of my favourite physical pastime, and I expect I’ll continue to come back to it whenever I’m blocked from the real thing by weather, winter, or a pandemic. However, I’m also anxious for this new series to blossom into a more polished and full-featured golf experience. And, given HB Studios’ provenance, I can’t help but hope one day to see a Canadian course or two (perhaps Inverness’ famed Cabot Cliffs?) make the official course roster.

While all the elements are in place for a traditional and memorable Resident Evil experience, Revelations 2 is – at least through this first chapter – missing a spark.

Just be aware that it can also be a bit intense.

A minor entry in a major series. A footnote in a story that’s already been told. An artificial extension of a series made to fill the tail-end void created by a console cycle stretched too long and too thin...Franchise fans will have some fun here, no doubt. I’m one of them. But I’m also more interested in seeing what Epic has been prepping for the next-generation.

Befriending (and perhaps even falling in love) with artificial humans is not an entirely novel premise for a story, but Benjamin Rivers approaches the idea thoughtfully and with tact, avoiding obvious pitfalls. What he has to say on the subject is worth a few dollars and few hours of any sci-fi aficionado’s time.

Something much more tame, a word that should be the antithesis of the series...Game developers won’t fix what isn’t broken and to do so is taking a huge risk, but Bayonetta is a series of firsts and this game feels like it’s playing on repeat.

I suspect most of my qualms wouldn’t exist had République been designed from the ground up for PlayStation 4, which is perhaps a point in favour of the hardcore crowd who raise their noses at mobile games. However, these problems are too minor to greatly distract from a game with a compelling dystopian story and stealth action that’s both pleasantly reverential and legitimately innovative.

While I’ve had plenty of fun with Fallout 4 and, to a slightly lesser extent, its DLC, I’m feeling pretty ready at this point to wait a few years for the fifth numbered entry in the series – a game that, hopefully, will receive a little more of a buffing than its predecessor.

Rollers of the Realm aimed for the big points and, while it might not be dead centre, they’re mostly on target.

So Dungeon Rushers isn’t the most polished or finely balanced game you’ll play on your phone. But the combat and exploration is challenging, the characters’ banter sometimes made me snicker out loud, and – most importantly – it’s fair. That’s enough to earn my five bucks.

Nuka-World doesn’t constitute the best time I’ve had playing Fallout. The action and mild role-playing don’t grow the core experience in any meaningful ways. But it did remind me why this epic post-apocalyptic adventure has kept my attention for nearly two decades, and it has everything to do with the series’ setting, culture, and mythology, all of which echo our own in ways familiar and sometimes uncomfortable.

I can’t deny that I enjoyed it. It proved a fun little distraction perfectly timed to kill a drying cycle in the laundry room on a Sunday afternoon. And I’ll gladly play the next episode, whenever it arrives.

Call of Duty: Black Ops III isn’t the best game in the series by any stretch, but it provides some safe and familiar shooting action and plenty of bang for your buck. So long as you aren’t a franchise hater, you’re probably not going to go wrong.

Perhaps most importantly, you’ll earn all of your victories through skill and strategy without being prompted to pay to win. It’s strange that such a simple thing ought to earn praise, but such is the current state of mobile gaming.

The few hours I spent with Everything were far from wasted. It is a one-of-a-kind interactive experience that will lead most players to think long and hard about the universe and their place in it. Any game that can do that – and especially one that does it with such panache and fearless ambition – earns my stamp of approval.

What really would have brought the game over the top would have been a Robert A. Heinlein-style narrative carrying you through the campaign. Sure, there’s some hints of political corruption within the upper ranks, but like many games it feels throwaway compared to everything else.