I really want to play Knack 2...Not because Knack – a cartoonish and linear fantasy brawling adventure for kids – is an amazing game that left me dying for more of the same, but rather because it had the potential to be an amazing game.

It will dazzle players with its next-generation visuals and give them fun things to do with Sony’s newfangled controller...But when the launch hubbub dies down and you’ve played through your day one bundle of games, this probably isn’t the game you’re going to come back to for seconds.

Mario Party fans will likely find themselves wishing for something more.

With Call of Duty: Ghosts, Infinity Ward has done some of its best work yet, delivering thrill-a-minute escapades in the campaign, deep and surprisingly nuanced competitive multiplayer, and highly varied solo and co-operative play in Squads and Extinction modes.

In closing, single player is quaint, the online experience is a work in process, but once they get the bugs out of that delicious apple pie… it will be well worth the wait.

It’s not so much what has been added that makes Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag good — but rather, what it lacks. Assassin’s Creed III was a grim game. The world was grim, and its protagonist grimmer. Strip away the environment, and you’re left with the sea. Strip away the American Revolution, and you’re left with humour and plunder of a lawless pirate war. It’s a welcome change — but it also deviates a little too far from the Assassin’s Creed DNA. The core mechanics are there, yes, but after ACIII, it’s been hard not to wonder how much is left to say?

It may not be the best or most innovative game within the series, but it definitely feels like it fits with the two games made by Rocksteady Studios.

I’m also a bit disappointed in how the open world elements in these games remain something less than fully formed.

Why are all of these old generation Pokémon appearing in the game? Where are all of the new Pokémon we were teased and promised? Sure, they’re there, but why are they so rare?

Why there are so few new Pokémon and such an emphasis on the old ones is really up to speculation, but all I know is that there’s a Chespin out there who needs a pet.

A sloppy camera, meanwhile, adds frustration to the proceedings. Players rarely have a good handle on distances involved in jumps to swinging platforms or teleports through 3D mazes or any of the other dangerous maneuvers frequently required. Expect plenty of aggravating deaths.

If my daughter’s reactions while playing are any indication it seems safe to say most kids will love this Skylanders adventure at least as much as its predecessors. The new magnetically joined toys are unquestionably cool and there’s more to do within the game and keep them coming back than ever before.

Taken on its own merits, Beyond: Two Souls is a triumph of interactive storytelling, betrayed only perhaps by not quite living up to its lofty narrative ambitions in its latter third.

It’s one of the best MMOs on the PC and basically the only game of its type on the console. The company has made the game it promised when it when back and rebuilt FFXIV 1.0.

Much like when it was first released, Wind Waker is a visual and auditory feast and it works brilliantly for its first few hours.

It’s still the only place where you’ll find cutting edge development in a sports game, and that alone is worth the price of admission.

Of course, the fun that players have with Scribblenauts Unmasked‘s activities will correspond directly to their creativity.

Rovio has done well with the hand they’ve had to work with.

That’s also part of the problem: It’s merely reminiscent of greater works. It doesn’t have a voice of its own. Its hesitant, wavering tale of a boy and girl struggling together to dispel the dark doesn’t carry the weight of other poetic adventures. Like a frivolous pop ballad filled with vague notions of love and heartbreak, Rain left me in want of clarity, resolution, and a more distinct message.

Alien Rage suffers from its lack of world building and its inability to go beyond genre conventions, but it’s backed up by competent design, great use of the Unreal Engine, and a story that keeps players driven until the end. The gameplay is frantic and varied, but slowly becomes repetitive and monotonous.

When you’re dealing with disturbing subjects ranging from life-destroying drug addiction to creepy cult organizations to legitimately psychopathic behaviour, the jokes go down a little easier if you get the sense that the writers penned their quips with an aim to make you think about why you’re laughing...True satire happens in Grand Theft Auto V, just not nearly as often as I’d like.

An inventive game with plenty of potential and some truly original concepts that somehow failed materialize into something that can be fairly described as entertaining.

When a video game like Dead or Alive 5 throws around words like “sensual design” they’re really covering up for its appeal to the lowest common denominator of who they think are playing the games: Men who stare at boobs. Let’s be honest because the game’s producers certainly won’t be.

But overall, NHL 14 captures the spirit of that revolutionary 94 game. The gameplay is fast, the moves are sweet and the hits are thundering. It feels fun, like the very best wide-open hockey games, but it doesn’t sacrifice realism either.

Some of the cameras appear to be operated by drunks. The replay footage usually consists of extreme close ups of some player’s jersey, and it never offers any explanation as to what just happened.

Arguably the main theme of the game is revenge, like many of the games in the Kill The Past Series, but it’s wrapped in an incomprehensible package.

Impressive as some aspects of the level design and interface might be, Guerrilla hasn’t quite delivered the whole package. This isn’t going to be a massive system seller with wide, mainstream appeal. Still, one can’t discount that Killzone: Mercenary may well be the most playable handheld first-person shooter yet made. That’s no small accomplishment.

Perhaps the most useful Wii U feature (at least for a family guy like me) is that it as a GamePad-only mode. Should your better half, roommate, brother, sister, mom, or dad wrest control of the TV from you the game will keep running on your controller’s screen.