In the music industry, there is a thing called ‘second album syndrome’. Dylan Fitterer could not avoid it, too. He removed all the obvious thorns of the original Audiosurf, but added just a handful of new things, like integration with Steam Workshop and SoundCloud, new color schemes and a new gameplay mode. It’s not enough to entice me to switch from the original game to the sequel.

Just like Re;Birth 1, Sisters Generation is a solid port of a budget JRPG that lacks in variety.

It’s a spectacular summer blockbuster, and it keeps you entertained until you notice that as far as creativity goes, it’s been running on fumes the whole time.

The only tangible addition to this iteration is the boring, half-baked Pro Cyclist mode.

Why do we need Hatred anyway when we have GTA?

This Frankenstein’s monster disguised as an adventure game is a clear example of how its creators do not understand what humor, storytelling or gameplay is. At first, you blame the cultural barrier between Japan and the Western world. Then you think that Access Games is trolling us. Finally, you realize that this is just interactive gibberish created by talentless hacks.

This awful strategy game is not worthy of even a single playthrough neither on PC, nor on tablets.

Spirits of Xanadu promises lots of cool things, but never delivers. The concept is original, and the hallucinations are quite frightening, but in the end, it’s just an unfinished game with shoddy combat mechanics and a weak narrative.

There is no tactics, no strategy, no diversity, and, unfortunately, almost no similarities with the brilliant FTL.

Finally, a successor to Dungeon Keeper 2 that is actually fun to play.

Portal was stylish. The Talos Principle let us enjoy its scenery. Magnetic is dark, dull and unfriendly.

Lemma is a good showcase for VR devices. There is very little in terms of good story or deep gameplay mechanics, but it offers accessible, action-packed parkour in an abstract futuristic setting. Add more meat to these bare bones, please!

IMR is just too short to be enjoyable. It desperately needs online multiplayer and at least a simple level editor.

There is just one notable flaw in Invisible, Inc., but it is so huge that it may overweigh all its merits — the campaign is incredibly short. There is also an ‘endless’ mode, but it is rather pointless. I’m sure that someone will get the kick of exploring randomly generated maps, but I feel that Klei could have done so much more with this awesome gameplay concept.

Whatever its original concept was, Albedo fails as both shooter and adventure.

A combination of a decent role-playing game and a so-so platformer — not the best result after four years of development.

An attempt to pass a mediocre platformer as a work of art that has a deep meaning.

By betting everything on just one gameplay feature, Acid Nerve eschewed the story and role-playing elements, so the resulting game is just a string of 19 boss fights, awkwardly crammed into the game's world.

A true gem for the fans of old-school RPGs.

Neocore should have billed this one as an expansion, as it looks very short and weak compared to the two previous offerings. It seems as if the developers were in a hurry to wrap things up.

Story is the worst nightmare in Kholat. I expected supernatural stuff, maybe dark sci-fi, or some evil KGB agenda… But the writers took all these three plot ideas, then added parallel worlds, secret objects and cruel science experiments. This is the most absurd and eclectic mishmash of themes I have ever seen in a horror game that tries to look serious.

Stardock built a sturdy 4X platform to build upon in future expansions.

Even the Halo brand can’t save Spartan Strike with its short linear levels, long boring shootouts with dumb enemies and a silly story.

It’s not fire, but just a spark. It’s funny and clever at times, but this collection of absurdist sketches is just as close to a good adventure game as a cave painting of an antelope — to an actual animal.

I wish there were fewer bugs, bigger worlds and smarter puzzles.

Originality, tactical depth, variety — you’ll find them plenty in Crypt of the NecroDancer. ‘90’ is not only a score but the minimum amount of hours you’ll spend obsessing over this game.

Badly-designed action scenes make it so difficult to enjoy the story which is good enough for a cool visual novel.

It seems that there are very few reasons to come back to Magicka 2 after having beaten the short campaign. Well, there is a bunch of customizable challenges that use the same 9 maps… and that’s it. Though, I’m sure the publisher already has a multi-year DLC plan written down.