Some people may view Doggins as a lovely piece of childlike art-gaming. Others may view Doggins as a pretentious piece of "hipster" art-gaming.

If you hate South Park, you won't like this. If you're in the middle or love the show, this is the RPG for you.

Although Episode 2 struggles in terms of pacing, a strong Act 2 to this brief entry makes for a worthwhile venture.

Erica Reed is an engaging character: flawed but good-hearted, and learning as she goes along — much like the game named for her. This was a trip I'm glad I went on, and one I advise any fan of adventure games to take for a spin.

For visual novel and turn-based RPG lovers.

Lightning Returns is a game that tries so hard to reinvent itself that it loses some of what made its forebearers special. For every step the game takes forward in an effort to innovate, it takes two back by failing on another (usually technical) level.

One of the best visual novels available in English, despite some hiccups.

The content is fantastic, though the timing between episodes holds the game back.

A messy, bland RPG that might attract some for its nostalgic powers.

An experience I advise no one to miss.

A classic adventure story built on a solid table-top RPG framework.

One of the most cognitive, strategic gaming experiences available now.

Worth checking out if you're a fan of darkly twisted JRPGs like Shadow Hearts.

Despite its shortcomings, Shivah is a worthwhile exploration into religion and one's convictions.

A worthy contender to Diablo and Torchlight as the premium hack 'n' slash experience.

This isn't the next big JRPG, but it'll certainly take you a long time to complete.

At its core, Gomo is best suited for young adventurers who lack the experience to take on badder aliens and higher ransoms.

A decent RPG that could have been great.

George Stobbart and Nico Collard are sleuthing again, and it feels pretty good.

If you liked Season 1, give Telltale more of your money.

The Novelist is made with heart and good intentions, but its general clumsiness makes it imperfect, if not unrecommendable.

Not a bad game, just one that fails to grab you and keep your attention.

An above-average action RPG, but not the best the Ys series has to offer.

Amazing old-school mechanics meet modern conventions.

On the surface, The Stanley Parable can be enjoyed for its personality, jokes, and references. If this rambling review has whetted your interest, then this brief game is worth the experience, but not at full price.

A quick and beautifully executed point and click (or tap) adventure.

A story that will move some and alienate others.

Exactly what we've come to expect from Spiderweb Software, however that makes you feel.

A daringly ambiguous piece of storytelling with some scary moments.

Only an absolute die hard of the genre or the series will enjoy this.

Demonicon is ugly, awkward, and unknown, but it's still an average action RPG.

A new Zelda that will set the standard for years to come.

A story every Playstation owner should experience.

An excellent opportunity for those who loved the original to play it again, but newbies will need the patience of a saint to survive the complexity of its gameplay.

Authentically unique take on the hack 'n' slash genre that demands a romp with friends.

Perfect for classic point-and-click lovers who can't stop randomly combining items.

A broken 3D graphic adventure.

An atypical roguelike that subverts expectations but still falls flat in some areas.

A must play for SRPG fans and wistfully nostalgic D&D enthusiasts.

Proves that well-written adventure games still have a place on any system.

Often, even if a game is flawed, there will still be an audience who can appreciate what it has to offer and look past its flaws. I would be hard-pressed to identify any such audience for Agarest: Generations of War.

With Pokémon X and Y, Nintendo may have become their worst enemy; they've outdone themselves so much that it's difficult to see how the series could get any better.

With Pokémon X and Y, Nintendo may have become their worst enemy; they've outdone themselves so much that it's difficult to see how the series could get any better.

Goodbye Deponia succeeds as the weakest entry in the franchise, with moments that rival the best. In many ways, this third entry has taken some tumbles, with neither puzzles nor characters as imaginative and challenging as the watermark left by its predecessor.

With gripping choices and authentic characters, I care about what happens to this dark, tragic world.

Despite its solid production values, Lost Echo is a bit of a lost cause. Playing it felt like going on a date with a reasonably attractive girl with a characterless personality and mundane attire. Conversation with her held potential, but there were too many awkward stumbles throughout the date. All in all, it was not a bad way to spend a weekend, but I certainly won't be calling her back for a second date.

Legend of Dungeon is fun to play, but it's a game that you're unlikely to actually finish without trying a great number of times. And since you can't save your game, each attempt is a fresh start. The question is whether you'll continue to enjoy the game's randomness long enough to attempt it that many times.

Thanks to the Swift Sail, the bar for water-based exploration has been raised so high that I'll never be able to play Suikoden IV again. Not that I was planning to, of course.

Rune Factory 4 is a game I did not expect to like as much as I did, proving that it's nice to be wrong about things from time to time. Its addictive blend of farming, fighting, and friend-ing makes for a fun, lighthearted experience that's easy to get lost in for hours at a time.

Aethereus isn't about the story, the graphics, or the music; it's about gameplay. I won't fault Aethereus for not being something other than what it tries to be, but with questing this anonymous and combat this dysfunctional, I can't recommend it to anyone.

Learning to Manage Chaos serves as an introduction to what should be a brilliant story. It introduces the main characters and the setting, but leaves out more in-depth explanations and details. It's backed by terrific art and an emotive soundtrack, but its short length holds it back. I look forward to playing episode two when it is released, but you may want to hold out on a purchase until Dysfunctional Systems is released in its entirety.

Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness is by no means a bad game; it just happens to be an uninteresting one. Five games into the series, it's become far too predictable.

I didn't love this chapter quite as much as I loved the first, but I'd still happily recommend it to anyone who likes point 'n' click adventure games.

Great mysteries are hard to write, and there are many more failures in the genre than there are successes. Despite some stumbles in the final chapter, I still consider The Raven to be a success.

As of this writing, the price is the same on PC and Vita, so if you've got a computer that can handle it, that's how I'd recommend playing it. But if you don't, grab this one on Vita and look past its issues to the great game lying underneath.

The people at Muteki Corp. made a game they and their fans would enjoy and there is definitely an audience for it. Unfortunately for anyone else, Dragon Fantasy Book II is often broken, and when it does work, it never transcends being derivative.

Thoughtful in execution, The Dream Machine avoids falling for clichéd pitfalls oft seen in point-and-clicks.

As I said before, The Millennium Girl offers a fantastic opportunity for new players to dip their toes into Etrian Odyssey, as it provides the familiar sorts of characters we have grown to love in JRPGs while keeping intact the extremely strong foundations of the original game.

Many who pick up Epic Quest for the 4 Crystals will have to put far more into the game than they’ll ever get back out of it.

Fortunately, Square Enix hasn't merely cashed in on the nostalgia, and has fired on all cylinders to provide these games with a loving upgrade at a outstanding price point.

I had a wonderful time playing Valdis Story. Time and time again it exceeded my expectations, and it's a privilege that I was able to play and review it. Just when I thought I had seen the greatest boss or most intense challenge, it threw another one at me.

The console version is the definitive, Director's Cut edition of this game, and if the online requirements or auction houses on the PC version held you back from buying that version or enjoying it, you can rejoice along with me that they are gone this time around.

If you've enjoyed the Mario & Luigi series in the past, buying this entry is a no-brainer, and if you've never played the series, now's a great time to start.

Everlove: Rose may have its issues, but my time with it left positive thoughts. It doesn't do anything clever or groundbreaking with the visual novel formula or its own storyline and lore, but I enjoyed my time with it. The different ways the story plays out held my interest as I explored the possibilities, and that is worthy praise as for any choice-driven visual novel.

Sweet Fuse is not the most emotionally arresting visual novel I've played, but it executes on everything it promises to deliver.

Don't let the game's lengthy localization period deter you from experiencing the latest chapter in the Tales universe. Xillia's likeable cast, frenetic combat, and enjoyable storyline make this one of the best entries in the franchise, though its emaciated side content leaves something to be desired.

It's not a terrible game per se, but it regrettably uses the veneer of 16-bit nostalgia as a license to simply not care.

Muramasa Rebirth is a gorgeous, action-packed, fairly lengthy adventure that looks, sounds, and plays better than ever.

Layton Brothers: Mystery Room wants to be a point-and-click adventure game, but since you can never do anything incorrectly, it feels less like an adventure and more like a hidden object game.

Dragon's Crown is an amazing co-op experienced slightly hampered by a rather nasty UI and baffling obfuscation of its best feature.

I could not have dreamed of a game like Dragon's Crown in my younger years, mostly because it could not have existed on anything but modern hardware. It's a little odd that the game hides its best features under an inconspicuous, slow-paced introductory period, but everything beyond the first few hours is excellent.

Face Noir is a game I can easily recommend. It executes well on every level (save the voice acting), and offers great puzzles, enjoyable characters, fabulous art design, and a fun (if pulpy) noir plotline. If you're interested in the Depression-era setting and enjoy a solid point-and-click adventure, you should absolutely check this one out.

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing has several highs and lows. Although certainly of a breed with Diablo and others, it offers a genuinely unique experience that isn't entirely meaty, but will keep players entertained for ten hours or so, save the disheartening final bits. I'm glad I played Van Helsing, and I'd recommend it to any fan of the hack-n-slash sub-genre if they've exhausted other entries. Unfortunately, with such polished and well-designed champions in the ring, this quality contender may only be recognized for its hat.

Given all of that, if you enjoy point & click adventures, it's easy for me to suggest that you'd like this game. If you are also the type of person who watches shows like Castle or Rosemary & Thyme, "easy" changes to "no-brainer." The only thing about it that I don't like is that the other two chapters haven't already been released.

At this point, my feelings on the game should be clear. Shin Megami Tensei IV is not only one of the best RPGs to come out this year, it's also proof that Atlus has not lost its touch with the main Shin Megami Tensei series. Despite how radically different it is from the Persona series, this post-apocalyptic adventure is no less engrossing. Strap on your gauntlet and hop to it, Samurai.

If Arcania: The Complete Tale is a product, then it's a worthless one, the sort of game a hundred monkeys sitting at a hundred PCs might create if given enough time. I've rarely encountered a game with such disregard for the power of the human imagination, and I hope no one encourages this by playing Arcania: The Complete Tale.

If you're looking for something new in your RPGs, then give 99 Spirits a shot. The puzzle-style battles are fun and interesting and allow you to forgive the less interesting aspects of the game.

It's difficult to know whether to recommend it or not. The core mechanics of the game are all there, and they are fantastic — good enough that if I didn't have to grind the same darn dungeons over and over again just to get enough gold to use my experience points, this would be Editor's Choice stuff. But the design decision to cater to In-App Purchases simply has to be taken into account, and it hurts this game — hurts it badly, in my opinion.

I had never played these games before, and it's possible that those darn kids we all hear about these days might not enjoy the decidedly retro gameplay and so-bad-it's-good translation. On the other hand, if you've got an eye for classics that have aged better than fine wine and been given the premium porting treatment, I see no way you could go wrong picking this one up.

In the end, Penny Arcade Episode 4 is similar to the final chapter in many things. If you've gotten this far, you should probably buy it and finish the thing. As of this writing, it's only $5, and while it's short, you will get your money's worth as well as closure on a story that we weren't sure would get any kind of ending at all. If you enjoyed Episode 3, you're likely to feel the same way about Episode 4, but the reverse is equally true.

Time & Eternity is by far one of the worst RPGs I have ever played, and even when accounting for different tastes, I cannot recommend it to anyone. At best, a select few may enjoy the game's sense of humor, but I'm convinced that the gameplay is so broken that almost anyone will regret purchasing this game.

This remains a game that everyone who loves RPGs should play, and I'm pleased to say that the iPad version is as good a platform as any to experience it.

Whether or not Class of Heroes 2 is for you depends almost entirely on how much you enjoy dungeon crawlers. It has its warts, but for twenty-five clams, you're still getting an overall solid package with hours and hours of gameplay.

There's great gameplay, graphics, music, and heart here, and I have no reservations whatsoever in wholeheartedly recommending it to anyone that enjoys these kinds of games.

It's enjoyable through and through, and the introspective nature of the storyline will leave you thinking about what effect a more positive attitude could have on your own life. It's easy for me to recommend this game to any Pokéfan, regardless of whether they've played prior Mystery Dungeon entries.

Although their intentions may have been to reach a wider audience, Daedalic has created a children's game, and there's nothing wrong with that. Most children's games are far too innocent and insultingly dull — commercial characters giving teacherly instructions for inane tasks involving 1-2-3 and A-B-C — but The Night of the Rabbit teaches curiosity, the benefits of exploration, environmentalism, and the importance of stories: all virtuous lessons.

However, the game never really delivers much of anything. It feels more like an experiment in narrative presentation than an actual video game, and while I think there is no inherent problem with the design philosophy of The Starship Damrey, the reality is that it just isn't very exciting to play.

The Oracle has shown me that Phoenix Online is in it to win it, and is working to make this series something special. Therefore, I feel no compunction whatsoever in recommending it to any discerning adventure fan.

For players who have been on hiatus from the game for the last few years (like me), Seekers of Adoulin is a fantastic re-entry point to Final Fantasy XI. It marries convenient travel to fun new gameplay systems that provide equipment varying in potency from good to outrageous. I was intimidated when I started playing again, but before long, I settled into a groove and have come to enjoy the pioneer's life. You don't need a shovel or a machete to brave these wilds.

The worst thing you can say about Sorcery! is that this first book feels short. But when you are enjoying a thing, that often tends to be the case. The best thing is that if it stays true to the books, it is only going to get better.

Much like Elena in the throes of disfiguration, Pandora's Tower is imperfect, but begging to be loved.

BRS is not actually broken, but there's nothing about it that will make you glad you put even 10 hours into it.

Sacred Citadel should best be treated as a light romp while waiting for friends to log on to play something multiplayer.

That said, if you like graphic adventures and poor controls are not generally a dealbreaker for you, don't let that one issue stop you from trying Gemini Rue. It's got logical puzzles that require thought but don't have a lot of red herrings to guide you away from the correct path, great voice acting that complements a worthwhile story from start to finish, and just the right atmosphere.

Soul Sacrifice is what you'd get if you smashed Phantom Dust and Monster Hunter together and added a meaningful plot, and it does what it sets out to do with aplomb.

Mars: War Logs is derivative, underdeveloped, and features one of the briefest, most rushed final chapters I've seen, but it's also completely playable and even charming in a B-movie kind of way.

Dragon Fantasy is an unimaginative and dull adventure from days when we only imagine games were better. Even fans of retro JRPGs should put Dragon Fantasy pretty low on their to-play lists.

The game's sound isn't going to knock your socks off, but it takes care of business, at least for a while.