Clearly, The Legend of Zelda: TriForce Heroes isn’t going to stand among the greatest Zelda games. Instead, it will go down as one of the more experimental entries Nintendo’s decades-old series. And without much of a story, franchise fans who opt to skip it really won’t be missing much.

Warzone is actually the first Halo multiplayer mode I can see myself jumping into with strangers more than a few weeks after the game comes out. In the past, Halo multiplayer got so competitive so quickly after launch that it simply became no fun unless you had enough friends to fill out the teams.

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.

So while I can’t really recommend Minecraft: Story Mode to adults casually acquainted with Mojang’s hit game (like me), or even those who generally tend to enjoy most Telltale adventures (also me), I suspect just about any tween with a passion for Minecraft will have a fine time (like my kid).

It’s a breath of fresh air. A true next-generation rhythm game...But it’s not going to be for everyone.

The best example of this incremental improvement is in the game’s new raid.

Co-op play isn’t as much fun as we might have hoped, and it’d be nice if the designers could find a way around Yoshi’s outmoded aiming mechanic, but the abundance of delightfully creative levels ought to sate casual Wii U gamers and the considerable challenge of tracking down every last collectible on each stage should appeal to Nintendo’s hardcore platformer fans.

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

If you never played Uncharted 2 and don’t have a PS3, this collection is a good buy on PS4. Otherwise, your mileage will vary.

Even a bit of appealing Amiibo functionality isn’t enough to make Zip Lash a must-have for anyone, save perhaps the little guy’s biggest fans. If you want to play a platformer, plenty of better options exist on 3DS. And if you want to know what Chibi-Robo is really all about, best go back into his quirky past and do a few household chores or give life to some park plants.

The story is interesting enough to drag you through the game’s lengthily campaign and it has some funny moments too, but in between the cutscenes is a whole lot of button pressing.

Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth – Rising Tide isn’t an entirely new game, but it’s not far off. It gives fans of the original game plenty of reason to dive back in for not just one, but hundreds or thousands more turns.

TT Games, Warner Bros., and Lego have decided the price should be prohibitively steep.

As a spiritual successor to The Neverhood, the game succeeds on all levels, but somehow I don’t think it will gain the same kind of cult following this time.

So there’s definitely no shortage of stuff to do. The campaigns alone will fill at minimum a few weeks of nightly play...The question is whether it’s any fun.

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

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.

Traverser is a game with a few alluring elements that never manage to fuse into the sort of smart and memorable 3D physics puzzler Gatling Goat Studios intended.

SOMA is made so much better if the player hasn’t the slightest idea of what’s in store before booting it up.

I’d be remiss if I recommended Whispering Willows to anyone without letting them know that, though it tells a nice little story, it comes up mightily short as an entertaining game.

For a game where no one utters a word, Dropsy can be powerful.

Skylanders SuperChargers has great toys and loads of fun stuff to do. Better still, it isn’t (necessarily) going to break the bank.

Success feels amazing. Exhilarating, even. Primarily, I have to believe, because of the co-op aspect of the experience. I’ve probably performed more victory high fives in the last few days than I have in the last year.

The real story is the one you make yourself as you play through each mission, making new decisions each time and writing an action thriller of your own making. That’s what makes Metal Gear Solid V brilliant, and that’s why people will still be talking about it years from now.

It has an unrestrainedly upbeat vibe that just makes you feel happy all over, and it’s still bursting with imagination. There are few other games on PS4 – or, indeed, any console – to which it can properly be compared.

With four maps that only vary in looks, two characters who are without character, no online multiplayer, and four traps out of twelve that are actually fun, Knight & Damsel makes for a fun diversion, but little more.

Mad Max, despite his propensity for violence and vengeance, represents a flicker of hope that humanity’s best will always work to endure and survive its worst. And that, I think I finally understand, is what has kept me returning the Avalanche’s wasteland night after night.

The sixth iteration in Turn 10’s reliably polished series capably lives up to the franchise’s revered name, but doesn’t dare exceed it.