I suspect the next time we see a $90 Assassin’s Creed it will be something significantly larger in breadth of world and play. Until then, Assassin’s Creed Mirage serves as an excellent stopgap, a historical adventure that proves entertaining and edifying in equal measure while leaving time to enjoy some of the other great games releasing this fall.

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.

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

Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a fun game skillfully made. But families on a budget (just about all of us these days) would be better served spending their gaming dollars on something a little more substantial.

It feels like the developers at Techland did a little soul searching on this new game trying to come up with ways to creatively tell players are story, not cover up a poor narrative with swearing and racial stereotypes.

Despite it’s narrative strength, Freedom Cry somehow lacks the polish and teleological glue of the game upon which it builds.

Rave in the Redwoods is only the best part of an all-around solid bit of DLC. If Infinity Ward can keep it up for three more instalments it ought to have no trouble retaining fans’ attention all the way through to the next Call of Duty this fall.

It may not be what everyone wanted, but it happens to be almost exactly the sort of Assassin’s Creed game for which I’ve been pining now for a few years.

as it turns out, Yo-Kai Watch is pretty fun. Weird. But also fun.

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.

Don’t even bother registering your Amiibo. That way you won’t be tempted to use them. And you’ll be able to play the game the way it was meant to be played for people who have to muddle through without any Amiibo. Do that, and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam has potential to prove as satisfying as just about every other game in this great series.

If you’ve ever wanted to play an RPG/RISK/Real-time-strategy/third-person-shooting hybrid, Divinity: Dragon Commander is your best choice. It’s also your only choice. And despite how unwieldy that sounds, it actually kind of works.

I’ve been a die-hard Star Wars guy for decades, so I’m always happy to get a new movie, book, or game. I just wish this one turned out a tad better.

I don’t know where the series goes from here – perhaps a lone astronaut crashing on an inhospitable planet filled with alien animals who think he looks pretty tasty? – but after Primal I’m suddenly excited again to see what Ubisoft Montreal’s Far Cry team comes up with.

This seeming brevity will undoubtedly miff some customers. The question you’ll need to ask yourself before making the spend is this: What do I want from a Mario game? If it’s simply to jam through courses, Super Mario Run‘s value proposition probably won’t make sense. You’d be better off with the virtually limitless array of courses available in a Super Mario Maker game, even though it costs five times as much. But if you’re looking to play the way kids did back in the day – repeating courses again and again until thoroughly mastered, every secret found and every trick jump carved into your grey matter like grooves on a record – then Super Mario Run becomes infinitely more appealing....It is, in fact, designed to make players want to play this way.

Thanks to this brisk pace of play, a constant stream of skill points used to unlock new abilities, and a steady deluge of new equipment and armour that you can use, sell, or disassemble for crafting resources, the sense of progression is both real and satisfying. Once I was on the train, I didn’t want to get off. Still, it does feel like a game with unrealized potential. Players have been spoiled for choice over the last year when it comes to visually breathtaking, narratively rich games with huge and interesting open worlds. Rise of the Ronin is on the outskirts of that conversation rather than in the middle of it. Worth considering, especially for fans of historical epics and solid action, but the competition is stiff.

What’s here is cleverly crafted, well-balanced, and capable of generating moments of authentic mirth.

Longtime fans of Harvest Moon or those looking to reconnect with the series, Story of Seasons takes it back to the basics.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War does very more-of-the-same in places — it’s the franchise’s 17th instalment, after all — but when a formula has been so fine-tuned, it’s hard to expect the developers to monkey around with it too much.

Evolve remains an ambitious, daringly original, and largely successful undertaking in four-versus-one play. It’s certainly worth a look for fans of cooperative, class-based games. And if you don’t mind its limiting quirks it could well become your go-to team play.

Everything about it oozes with callbacks and fanservice that Zelda fans will be overjoyed with, but unable to contain the potent mix of Nintendo nostalgia and ludicrous action without tearing at the seams.

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.

Ultimately, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel was designed as a game for people who liked the first two Borderlands and want more of that.

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is, in other words, an entertaining toy that can spark the imaginations of Mario fans young and old, but it’s not necessarily a great game. Proceed accordingly.

If Mario Tennis Aces is a herald of what’s to come in sports games for Nintendo Switch, then fans of golf, baseball, soccer, and other sports have reason to get excited.

However, if you skipped Saints Row IV when it originally landed there’s no reason not to dive in now. Saints Row IV: Re-Elected is an easy recommendation for adventurous players with a taste for the bizarre – especially at the bargain price of just $30.

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.

But once I had the sense that there were specific things to be done in order to achieve goals, that became my focus, and the magic of the experience suffered for it. The sense of wonder I had with each new discovery was tempered by the logical part of my brain, which began looking for problems to solve and working out plans.