For fans, there are plenty of surprises to uncover and tons of references to even the most obscure episodes of the show. Thanks to a strong level of personalization coupled with South Park’s distinct atmosphere, The Fractured But Whole makes wandering around the faithfully recreated and detailed map of the town a constant delight.

Uprising succeeds in putting gamers at an exciting point on the Star Wars timeline, and it’s easy to get attached to your character. However, it doesn’t offer much in the way of information about what’s happening in the galaxy at large, which might be a disappointment to fans who had hoped for more.

A game of inconsistent highs and lows. The simple joy of interacting with a colorful, childish world serves to remind us of a different time for video games. But when stuttering camera angles send you plummeting off a high platform, the lack of polish is painfully obvious.

It turned out that the plot was one giant misdirect whose resolution felt disappointing. Firewatch's ending also failed to lend any emotional weight to Henry and Delilah’s relationship. That made me question whether Henry had forged a relationship with her at all—which made me wonder why it was worth talking to her for six hours.

It’s designed for people who want to whoop and holler because, “We’re playing a Star Wars game!” Which is fine, of course. But dedicated shooter fans need to understand that the average Battlefront match has all the sophistication of two blunt rocks bashing into one another for a 10-minute stretch.

I wish the makers of Detective Pikachu made more bold choices, especially early on. I wish they would have infused every scene with even more personality. But when the plot works, it works. Reading-age kids will probably enjoy it, as will Pokémon diehards. But for everyone else, other games offer more pleasures more quickly and more often. Sorry, Detective. Maybe your story will turn out better on the big screen.

Anthem wants to be the kind of game you and your friends log in to every day. The foundation is laid in a way to track weekly objectives, discover new sights, and build toward significant unlocks. The problem is, despite the undeniably beautiful vistas it offers, almost nothing in Anthem is exciting. The flight mechanics and character mobility are a joy to control, but so is Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Just like a show, the second season has to contend with the apparent success of its predecessor, and it’s clear that the writers on Yakuza 2 may not have known how to extend that deeply personal tale for another 40 hours.

Abzu is clearly a labor of love, but its heart is missing. It has all the trappings of a universe that we long to inhabit, which makes the lack of depth all the more bewildering. By introducing intriguing images and wonderfully strange encounters, we are invited into a fascinating world. The problem is that it's never clear what we are there to accomplish. Plunging into Abzu is ideal if you're there for the scenery, but not so much if you're looking for more.

This isn’t the most expansive or intense game you can play on the Switch, but brings great local multiplayer features and enough innovative mechanics to justify the price of admission.

It’s a shame that the central narrative of Mass Effect Andromeda is deflated by this burdensome gameplay, because the crew of the Tempest is worth meeting. The mystery of the Kett is a fresh spin on the apocalyptic war of the original trilogy, and following the stories of people in the Heleus cluster often leads to surprising developments with tough decisions waiting at the end. Ryder’s tale and the thrill of colonizing a new star system set Andromeda apart from other Mass Effect games, but it often plays worse than a game from five years ago.

The game’s multiplayer foundation is undoubtedly solid, but it lacks supporting elements that would compel esports enthusiasts, let alone Rainbow Six fans, from investing time in Siege many months from now. Whatever time you do manage to spend, there are rewards to be found through tactical planning and execution that you can’t find in any other shooter.

As it stands now, Battlefield V is a beautiful depiction of an ugly war that offers only a few fleeting chances to reflect on what it meant...And then the bullets start flying.

State of Decay 2 is simply so full of bugs that it would make even Bethesda on a bad day blush, and it routinely puts a damper on its players’ investment, whether it be through architectural glitches, poor A.I. (like in the case of Mandy), or just a failure to load the appropriate materials to finish an objective.

The most damning thing I can say is I felt like Crackdown 3 knew I didn’t care about what I was doing—and never went out its way to even try pulling me back in.

I have a lot of patience for VR control schemes with wonky elements. Developers are still figuring out how best to create games for VR. But there has to be a valuable experience to balance out the frustration those control schemes can create, and other than a single moment of empathy for a suffering animal that I don’t think would have been possible without VR, The Assembly failed to deliver that experience.

This lack of confidence is the ultimate undoing of Survive’s story. For every unique idea the game presents, it almost immediately backpedals into a generic, played-out conceit.

Generations Ultimate is a greatest-hits collection that doesn’t go out of the way to re-contextualize why the hits are so great in the first place. While it still provides the thrills that made Monster Hunter huge, it’s hard to argue the series isn’t ready for something else.

Koi may be a beautiful game, but its gameplay is about as deep as a puddle.

The game is far from unplayable, but the persistent problems make it impossible to recommend for people who plan to play alone.

With beautiful maps and strong shooting gameplay at its core, there was potential for this experience to be fantastic. But without serious work and a fundamental relaunch of the progression system, Star Wars Battlefront 2 is an incredible disappointment.

There is no denying that Days Gone is visually impressive, heightened by expressive motion capture and a lifelike wilderness. The signs of life that should make for a great experience are all there. But in every shining sunset, detailed human face, and open clearing, I couldn’t find any shred of soul.

Amplitude is a let down. I really wasn’t sure what to expect when jumping in, but it did not live up to its PS2 predecessor. I’m genuinely a fan of rhythm games, and I have yet to play a rhythm game that I did not like. Amplitude sadly missed the mark. It feels bare, awkward, and incomplete. There isn’t a ton of content and the song selection won’t keep players hooked.

Unfortunately, the act of doing all this research and genetic splicing amounts to the same level of involvement as a mobile clicker game. It’s just plain tedious. No one is saying that science has to be exhilarating, but it should at least feel more fulfilling than snoozing your morning alarm clock.

As an odd, seemingly disconnected but nonsensically intertwined chapter in this franchise, it just falls flat. To play Darksiders III is to engage with a relic of a bygone era, when stiff mechanics and empty space defined the action-adventure genre.