As a complete package, Aphelion mostly lands, especially when it comes to the story. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep you engaged, and it’s one of those games whose story cleverly combines a variety of emotions. You will be scared, happy, and also curious to see where everything goes. I enjoyed the game’s ending, but I can see some people will dislike where we leave these characters. The planet Persephone was amazing to explore, although the linearity of the story does bring the game down a little bit. It also doesn’t help that the climbing feels outdated at times, and the stealth parts don’t land, or they just get downright boring towards the end of the game. I still enjoyed my time with the game and felt satisfied with the story and overall experience. Plus, as someone who enjoyed all games from Don’t Nod, especially Vampyr and Banishers, I am excited to see them attempt new things. Yes, not everything sticks, but Aphelion is a journey worth embarking on.

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia ends the trilogy on a higher note, managing to add a few new things and improvements over the last two installments. Unfortunately, it still falls of short of really impressing fans. The exploration is still a bit stiff, the combat is clunky while the timed sections are a pain to get through.

Empyreal is a game built with care and ambition, but one that doesn't quite know what it wants to be. It aims to balance a carefully curated single-player story with the replayability and variety of a multiplayer RPG, and in doing so, it falls short on all fronts. The result is a product that plays it safe in too many areas, delivering an experience that’s competent but rarely compelling. For players who thrive on loot grinding and don’t mind completing familiar gameplay loops over and over again, there’s value to be found in Empyreal. But for those seeking a bold, story-rich action RPG that breaks the mold, this is one expedition that is worth skipping.

As a long-time fan, I was excited about Torchlight III. I hoped for a hidden gem that would scratch my co-op itching, offering moments of laughter and fun all around. After giving the game several chances, just to have my hopes go unfulfilled with each new patch, I have to admit defeat: this game should have not been released, at least not now, and not like this. The bugs can be corrected, even though the patches seem to not really deal with them. But the main problem is the peculiar concept choices, the serious lack of variety, and the feeling that you are investing time and effort in a free-to-play game still in development. As such, I cannot recommend Torchlight III, not even to long-time fans of the series.

Despite the fact that I’m not a big fan of the Adventure Time series, I enjoyed the game. It has some flaws, and there is way too much grinding, but it’s a nice change from what we usually play. If you enjoy some witty conversations and a little bit of mindless gameplay, then you should give Adventure Time Pirates of the Enchiridion a try.

Saints Row raises mixed emotions: on the one hand it has its moments when it is fun and manages to engage you in its criminal empire building fantasy. But for each high you have at least one low, that turns the game into a technical mess and makes you feel like you are playing a not so pretty GTA clone. The new direction, both visually and gameplay wise show a lot of promise, but the execution is severely lacking. With the so necessary bug fixes and some quality-of-live improvements, the new Saints Row can be a nice experience that won't innovate upon the formula, but at least it will offer fun moments.

Although World of Warriors wants to be more than a time-waster, it falls short to its own ambitions. It's true that it greatly improves on the mobile version, especially when it comes to controls, but there is not enough interesting content to justify the high price.

Tharsis offers some interesting mechanics, a story with little innovation but plenty of space for the player to create his narrative, and a lot of replayability, but all of that comes at a price: the difficulty level that can make players abandon the title before they see everything it has to offer.

Nitro Kid doesn’t deliver anything entirely original, in terms of ideas or implementation, but the final experience is more than the sum of its parts. The battles are solid and require good planning to get through with minimal HP loss. The rogue layer is decent but could use a little more variety. Discovering floor layouts and boss designs is exciting, as is working solutions to overcome them. Make sure to play a run or two at a time, enough to allow the soundtrack to wash over you and make a little progress. Nitro Kid is quick, fun, and varied, a great experience for players who love card-driven titles that focus on close-quarters engagements. Saving kids from an evil corporation never felt better.

If you're a dedicated fan of the Shadowrun setting and enjoy your games a little on the complex side, you will be disappointed in the lack of depth in Shadowrun Chronicles. If, however, you enjoy turn-based tactical action and cooperative multiplayer, you might have a blast with the game.

Ashwalkers has a few good ideas that it executes well. The problem is that the development team wants to make the game seem to be more than it actually is. If everything moved faster and with clearer decisions then it would be worth an extended time investment. As it stands after a first completed expedition I had no desire to try another. The characters stay the same and the management element never adds new twists. The end screen for each playthrough shows quite a few possible conclusions to work towards but the world never feels interesting enough to try and get them all. Unless you truly love slow, moody stories and choice-focused titles avoid Ashwalkers unless updates deliver a tighter, faster version of the experience.

Daydream: Forgotten Sorrow is part of a very crowded genre, that of the action platformer driven by the relationship between two unlikely characters. There are some interesting narrative bears and the presentation is decent if not spectacular. Most of the featured mechanics are good, with some challenging puzzle designs. But nothing in the experience aims to push the limits and deliver something entirely new. I wanted Griffin to have more ways to engage with the world. Using Birly should have been easier. Daydream: Forgotten Sorrow isn’t polished or innovative enough to become a classic of its genre but will engage anyone interested in the premise of the core mechanics.

Monster Jam Steel Titans 2 is fun, at least for a couple of hours. After that, you will not be inclined to run the game again, because you will already have figured out everything it has to offer. It feels like even the developers designed the game as a temporary distraction, aware that the magic quickly fades out. It is only a small improvement compared to the first Monster Jam Steel Titans and even with a more modest price tag and online multiplayer, it is hard to recommend for someone. Monster Jam Steel Titans 2 is way too arcade for the fans of the sport and offers very little to anyone else.

Broken Roads is a video game that shows how quickly the ambitions of a development team can outrun its ability to deliver. The Outback setting is great, but the narrative threads can interact in weird ways. The Moral Compass is impressive as a concept but can feel restrictive in practice. Combat is just stiff enough to feel like a chore. Bugs and glitches sometimes interfere with quest progress. I love the sections where the focus is on talking to people, clicking on the environment for some extra lore, and thinking about where to source things people need to improve their lives. The narrator greatly enhances emotional moments. Broken Roads has heart and good systems. Players who like the setting and the RPG genre should play it if they are comfortable with some jank, while others should wait for a few patches before buying it.

Curse of Osiris feels more like a cash grab rather than a true expansion. It most certainly does nothing to stop the fanbase of players from leaving the game in favor of other titles. There is simply not enough content to improve the base game to the point that would keep players engaged for a longer time. The uninteresting campaign story and unexciting end game activities that rarely offer any challenge, makes Curse of Osiris a really weak expansion. If not for the new Raid Lair and the new Adventures, I wouldn't be able to say anything good about the new DLC.

At the end of the day, Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires is a bit of a letdown for those who expected the same great gameplay they’ve been provided with in DW8 Empires. In many regards, the game feels like a step backward from its predecessor, and this is why so many fans are disappointed. On the other hand, it’s still an exciting release for an average player. The combat system is nice, though it takes time to get used to it, and the more time you spend on the little things, such as friendship with officers, finding a sword sibling, and things like that, the better the whole experience is getting.

Traverser is an intriguing game. While it doesn't do that many great things with its gravity glove, it makes up for it with the clever story, novel premise, and the emphasis on sneaking around. However, some ambiguous moments and the presence of a few awkward boss fights weigh it down.

Farm Manager 2022 is a fascinating title that has just one problem: it doesn’t necessarily play well with consoles. I’m not talking about graphics or gameplay but about the controlling system, as this genre makes more sense on a PC where the mouse input is much more natural. But at the end of the day, Farm Manager is, as I said, not only a major upgrade over its predecessor but also a great way to see what the life of a farmer is all about. And since you end up learning a lot by simply playing it, no matter if we’re talking about crops, animals, logistics, or machinery, Farm Manager 22 is definitely worth trying out.

Scathe is a good first-person shooter for anyone who loves the genre and appreciates a challenge. The story is good enough and the combat feels visceral. Moving through the same rooms can become repetitive but the FPS mechanics are good enough to keep players engaged. I would have liked for the game to offer at least another difficulty level. Frustration can also appear if the re-spawn puts the player in the middle of a big fight, with no way out. But, overall, Scathe understands what makes an FPS tick and adds enough new ideas to keep fans engaged.

Override2: Super Mech League is a game that has a good foundation but fails to take it anywhere exciting. The actual battles, even against computer bots, are initially fun and satisfying and become less so the more one plays. There’s plenty of character variety but once one or two are mastered there’s little drive to get to understand more. The lack of human players to battle online is an even bigger issue. The game needed to have cross-platform play between most if not all its launch platforms to maintain a community. It might also have been better to launch the game as free-to-play with a smaller roster and to then deliver paid extra options, once a group of players became fans. Maybe a future title in the series can focus on creating a community first, to make the mech fighting concept the successful brawler it can be.

Ravenlok is a great introductory experience for players who might be interested in the action-adventure genre but don’t want to take on the bigger titles in the genre. The story is familiar but mostly works, with some nice characters. The voxel graphics are a big initial draw. The biggest problem for me is the very shallow combat system. But, again, this might actually draw in players who want to battle bosses without encountering any annoying setbacks. Ravenlock is a collection of good ideas and weird choices that fails to deliver on its initial promise.

Ultimately, Redemption Reapers is a mixed bag that probably can’t redeem itself even after a few patches. For all its faults, diehard turn-based strategy fans will find something to enjoy playing this.

If you're looking for something similar to Sid Meier's Pirates, you will find Windward to be frustrating and boring, running in circles around the map and around enemy ships, with random gear upgrades and dull content...As long as you don't expect a rebirth of the high seas adventuring genre, Windward can provide quite a few fun hours.

The unique look, atmospheric sound, and everything else come together to create an experience that, in the end, is more than the sum of its parts, and makes trying out the game worthwhile, especially if you're a fan of old horror games.

In its current state Blightbound is nothing else but disappointment. There is a lot of potential in the game, but it is squandered not only by technical issues, but also by some very bad design choices. This is far from a finished game, and the people on the forums complain that in many aspects it is even worse than what they saw during the Early Access phase. Blightbound does not need only bug fixes, but a complete overhaul, because it is not a fun experience by any means. It tried to walk in the footsteps of the great classics, but it fell on its face in the most embarrassing way.

Overall, the game’s remaster is average at best, and the only demographic that will truly be interested in it is the one that grew up with the original and want to relive their glory days sniping Nazis, zombies, and Nazi zombies.

Magic 2015 provides a neat and polished experience for those who are new to the entire concept, but unfortunately does not have enough of its big brother’s allure to warrant attention from more serious Planeswalkers.

I am a fan of interactive dramas, but Fort Solis proved to be a hard sell even for me. Despite its potential, the game just feels empty and despite the effort of Troy Baker and his colleagues it fails to create an emotional connection with the players. It is not even a popcorn movie you might enjoy when you are terribly bored. It is an experience that does not look bad but does not really offer anything to make it worthy of your time.