What Ni no Kuni lacks in finesse it more than makes up for in quantity and packaging - there's tons to do and every single moment in the game is a visual delight. It can be extremely frustrating and makes some choices that don't quite work, but offers enough charm to ultimately win you over.

Yo-Kai Watch is a good variation on the monster collection genre of RPGs that will definitely please fans and earn a few new fans, but has just enough tiresome elements to keep it from being great.

Burial At Sea tells an interesting tale with plenty of twists, but it doesn't have enough substance on the gameplay side of things to back it up.

The Political Machine 2016 is a fun simulation game to play despite its serious subject matter and repetitiveness. On the plus-side, the game requires no real understanding of US politics to play - Robotic Elvis proved that.

Nidhogg is a strange, unholy pastiche of lo-fi aesthetics and surprisingly deep, albeit minimal play; taking cues from decades of arcade-style 1v1 fighting games and modern indie darlings.

If you're willing to really delve into all the facets of Dust 514, and a few technical issues, there's a satisfying shooter with some stakes for you and your corporation mates to be found. If you'd rather not get that invested, then Dust 514 might not be for you.

A fun action platformer that remains incredibly frustrating by taking a few too many cues from Castlevania's jerkiest moments, Shovel Knight is satisfying and infuriating in equal measure. It's also a damn fine callback to the days of yore in a world where callbacks are a dime a dozen, and rarely this well done.

Energy Cycle manages to hold itself up on the concept. There were moments of frustration at some of the more challenging puzzles. But the premise of the game makes it clear that there was always a solution possible. What sets the game's strengths back is a distracting aesthetic choice. The soundtrack and background that gameplay uses made strategy difficult rather than complimenting it.

Anarchy Reigns may not have an incredibly in-depth story and also has some nagging flaws that detract from its otherwise entertaining gameplay, but it's enjoyable enough to warrant a playthrough.

The Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy isn't worth rebuying if you already have the iOS versions or still have your DS copies in rotation. However, all three games are as great now as they were upon release, and it's hard to complain about getting more of a good thing.

The thrilling gameplay that attracts fans is still here, although it's a bit obscured by too many mini-games that are less fun than or relevant to the core experience. The story is finally ended but we're still left wondering what's next for Desmond. Multiplayer is, as expected, awesome.

Regardless of which thief you prefer to use, or if you'd rather tackle the game solo or with other players, you're going to need a great deal of patience, luck and skill in order to handle Monaco's complex missions.

With Garden Warfare 2, PopCap builds upon the success of the original Garden Warfare by adding much needed meat to its bare bones in the form a new solo campaign and 6 new character classes, but fails to evolve the actual gameplay in any meaningful way.

Magicka 2 is Magicka refined - the same wizard-killing simulator co-op fans love with the fixes and improvements players craved. While it doesn't break new ground or surpass the original, it's a blast to play with friends.

My Recommendation, then, is clear/ But so I don't deprive/ You any longer, here it is: / You'll love it if you strive/ To overcome the boring bits.

Woolfe: The Red Hood Diaries is a short, yet enjoyable platformer, offering little difficulty, but tons of story, which lets you immerse yourself into the grittier side of fairy tales.

Achron will probably be the most unique RTS you'll play this year. The implementation of free-form time manipulation really takes the genre in some new and interesting directions, but only if you're willing to work through some flaws.

The combat in Devil May Cry gets to be repetitive when you play for too long in one sitting, but the missions are well designed for playing in short bursts and picking it back up later.

Absolutely bonkers, but untangling its many secrets is an addictive enterprise. There's tons of plot to discover, and the many storylines cross and reference each other in subtle ways that reward the diligent player.

The best in the series to date, inFAMOUS: Second Son tells an amazing story and gives players a ton of relishable power to play with. It's held back by some outdated and formulaic ideas, but overall it'll keep players happy.

Strike Suit Zero is a decent space combat sim but the strike suit angle feels forced and ungainly, and the game misses on a few too many important points to be a true contender for the crown.

Despite the unstable camera, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One is a hilarious action-adventure with a lot of variety between the platforming, environmental puzzles and hack-and-blast action, but unless you're a hardcore Ratchet & Clank fan, you won't get the full experience playing it by yourself.

A pleasant surprise. I was just expecting a solid little platformer, but I was floored by Yoshi’s Crafted World’s sophisticated imagery, abundant heart, and charmingly fun level design.

This latest entry into the beloved Wolfenstein series accomplishes pretty much what it sets out to do - deliver a fuss-free roller coaster of setpieces and guiltless butchery. It's not exactly the most impressive of goals, but it's not without merit!

Star Ruler 2 delivers a unique, fascinating experience despite its reliance on sometimes obtuse systems.

Orwell is a thought-provoking interactive debate about the politics of privacy and security. It's the kind of game that never actually feels like a game, and it manages to do it well.

The Journey Down: Chapter One combines an intuitive control scheme, HD graphics, and classic point-and-click adventure gameplay to set up an intriguing story. The first episode lags a bit, and the voice acting doesn't add nearly as much as the improved visuals, but still shows a lot of promise for a potentially great series.

Utterly stupid and often frustrating, Deception IV: Blood Ties is one of those games that manages to be enjoyable in spite of itself. It's a "bad" game, by most standards, but it's good in that "not good" way.

Gunfire Games should be proud of making a game where literally fighting Pride feels as silly and awesome as the painted cover of a vintage Ozzy Osbourne LP. Toss the horns and bring on the next horseman’s ride.

A good little story with a bleak atmosphere that nonetheless provides some relaxing puzzle solving.

The Darkness II is fun while it lasts, but sadly doesn't last very long.

Arrowhead made a very true-to-source Gauntlet game, no doubt, but the source is 30 years old, and could use some modern accouterments. Gauntlet is as much fun as it has ever been, but it'll get old fast for those who still remember slogging through the original.

Despite a few control hiccups, Gravity Rush succeeds on the strength of its excellent movement system and endearing protagonist.

Steve Jackson's Sorcery! Is an interesting digital implementation of a pencil and paper gamebook.

Puzzle fanatics will enjoy it, even in solo mode. Players looking for some widely-appealing games to play with non-gamer family and friends will definitely find value here, and may discover they're no longer the best player in the room.

A hot mess of gibberish that still manages to be vastly amusing, Drakengard 3 is as close to Deadly Premonition as a hack n' slash game gets. It's bizarre and it's disheveled to the point of downright idiocy, but it knows what it is and it goes the whole hog. I laughed, anyway.

Ultimate Chicken Horse does everything it tries to do very well, but a few quibbles keep it from greatness.

An episode full of setup, A House Divided trades in its intensity for a bit more action, and a touch of intrigue.

For anyone exhausted by endless upgrade systems, infinite unlockables, new skins and every other contrivance meant to ensnare the contemporary player, Spyro’s uncynical good time is a worthy escape. This is one that shouldn’t be put away.

The merits and flaws of Persona Q2 are exactly what you’d expect from the series. It’s delivering the same mechanics which are alternately tedious, punishing and strategically exciting and the chance to have a host of dysfunctional heroes tease, flirt and ultimately fight alongside each other. Like Endgame, Q2 is both a fitting finale but also a look forward. So long as people love watching larger than life figures pummeling each other on the big screen, there will be Marvel movies. So long as people love spending dozens of hours building parties and exploring dungeons, Atlus will keep making Nintendo handheld games. This era is over, but the genre lives on.

Mafia: Definitive Edition is a curiosity. Newcomers to the game will find here a soft landing via a strong narrative and gameplay that will readily welcome them. Meanwhile, veterans will find enough changes to make another visit to Lost Heaven worth their while, though whether they will be pleased with the modernization is a separate question entirely. With one eye on the past and one on the present, Mafia: Definitive Edition is less dated than Destroy All Humans!, though it never feels as distinctive or necessary as Resident Evil 2. Whether that’s enough to coax you back will be up to you.

I was grateful that Observation lets players take their time.

It's brilliantly wacky and unique, with awesome basic gameplay, but The Wonderful 101 doesn't quite live up to its potential.

TERA is a game caught between MMO past and MMO future. Its action-based combat is a breath of fresh air for the genre, and makes tackling its giant enemy monsters all the more thrilling, but its quests are formulaic and repetitious, serving no real purpose other than to move you through zones while anticipating the next giant boss fight.

Mass Effect: Andromeda is a game that takes few risks and pushes few boundaries. It's a Mass Effect game designed to make fans of the series feel at home, but technical issues and lackluster writing leave it feeling like a missed opportunity to regain the prestige the franchise once enjoyed.

While The Medium’s design stumbles are disappointing, its human characters and gorgeous world are ultimately the things that stuck with me. Once I finally made it to the end of the road, I immediately restarted the campaign to experience all of the narrative breadcrumbs with the newfound clarity of the ending in mind, which is the sign of an effective story. And the game’s day one availability on Xbox Game Pass is just another in a long line of reasons why the service is a must-have. It might not reach the unforgettable highs of James Sutherland’s time in the town of Silent Hill, but The Medium carves out its own corner of the genre that’s worth losing a bit of sleep over.

Super Chibi Knight is an absolutely charming retro RPG that will engage you from beginning to end. The campaign is on the short side - much like its hero - and the difficulty curve is through the roof at times. But it's satisfying all the same, and will draw you in through both of its story paths.

Toren is a short but sweet game about growing up, climbing towers, and fighting dragons, all shrouded in symbolism and cosmic metaphors. While it has its flaws - including a noticeably limited playtime - it's an incredibly unique outing from Swordtales that's well worth playing.

Screencheat is undeniably fun, party/shooter hybrid which brings back fond memories of the good old days of split-screen.

Enter the Gungeon is an exhilarating experience, but the difficulty often comes from the game refusing to provide you the necessary tools, which offers its own unique challenges.

Spider-Man's landed himself in one more somewhat cockamamie story that doesn't quite work, but a slick movement system and a fun combat scheme do a lot to make up for it.

Lords of the Fallen, a shameless and sloppy copy of Dark Souls, shouldn't be as enjoyable as it is. Somehow, through all its imbalance and oddity, it remains a surprising amount of fun, even if its propensity to make the player laugh is a sheer accident.

It is the difference between The Godfather Part 1 and Part 2, between Inglorious Basterds and Triumph of the Will, and between Just Cause 2 and JFK Reloaded. In the former examples, the audience can get behind the anti-heroes depicted for whatever reason and condone their admittedly awful actions, but in the latter group, the subject matter or the protagonist's morals are skewed too far from the norm to be comfortably witnessed. That's what it's like to play Grand Theft Auto V. The three men you take control of throughout the game aren't even anti-heroes. They're just scumbags.

Sunless Sea is a dark game combining Lovecraft-themed exploration with Victorian Gothic visual novels in exciting (and chilling) ways. The end result isn't perfect, but its sense of terror and wonder makes it a worthy follow-up to Failbetter's Fallen London.

The vampire powers are a nice game changer and the overall story is engaging. The game still suffers from the typical Elder Scrolls quirkiness, but that's not necessarily a bad thing depending on your point of view.

Good for a quick and fun diversion, Hunted is far from the perfect coop game or fantasy dungeon crawl, but the storytelling almost makes up for it. Almost.

As a world-building exercise, The Witcher 2 succeeds masterfully but there are deep flaws in its game design.

Mortal Kombat 11 is a very good game that could have been great.

Anyone who’s invested time into playing the previous games in the Trails series will know exactly what they’re in for. Satisfying combat, impressive world-building, and deep characters are all part of the package. It does have pacing issues, and players may get lost if they didn’t experience the arcs in Liberl and Crossbell. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV is still a solid game though, despite the stumble in the second act, and is a viable option for those itching to play an epic, immersive JRPG.

Spirit of Justice, the sixth game in the Ace Attorney series, is really starting to show some franchise fatigue. The puzzles and the technical systems behind it have improved, but the writing has begun to suffer.

Life on the frontier wasn't pretty and neither is Banished, but it does provide an interesting city-building simulation with an excellently designed user interface.

It's almost as though Ubisoft wasn't confident enough in Liberation's story and gameplay to let it stand on its own. The result is a game that is fun to play, but in spite of itself. It's an Assassin's Creed game through and through, and fans of the franchise will find the key elements very much intact. But brace yourself to deal with useless gimmicks and a patchwork story that ultimately holds Liberation back from greatness.

Blood Bowl 2's dry humor, colorful visuals, explosive brutality, and over-the-top fantasy characters will appeal to die-hard Warhammer fans.

The Escapists: The Walking Dead is a clever puzzle game that brilliantly utilizes its strengths - but the strengths aren't powerful enough to outweigh some of the game's flaws.

While the game is certainly not perfect, for the developers’ second attempt at an RTS, Iron Harvest has a lot of potential. Once the multiplayer, competitive, and co-op features are added, Iron Harvest is sure to become a staple of the RTS genre.

It could have done with being ten dollars cheaper and two hours shorter, but Betrayer is a beautiful looking title with a compelling atmosphere and enjoyably tense combat.

Prototype 2 is a decent action-adventure with fun combat, but gets a little too samey here and there.

Steamworld Heist is an absorbing world wrapped around a decent game whose technical bits take away from a stellar personality.

This is as close as I’ve ever come to the action Picard experience. The rush of breaking orbit, discovering ancient ruins; these are the surface pleasures of the sci-fi daydream. This game does not offer up the spiritual majesty of truly great science fiction, the full Picard diplomat uncovering new truths about life, but it doesn’t have to. It’s precisely what I’ve been searching for for a long, long time.

Shadow Warrior isn't free of some design flaws that can take away from the experience, but as an action game, its combat is solidly put together. While not the easiest to use, the various weapons and sword fighting combos you have really make you feel like a badass warrior whenever you pull off a gruesome decapitation.

Ryse: Son of Rome tells its story well. It has amazingly enjoyable and ruthlessly violent combat, which pairs incredibly well with the stellar graphics quality. Sadly, the experience is over all too quickly, and you'll be left wondering where the rest of your game is.

Ultimately, Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel is easy to pick up and fun to play, but generally lacks in distinction. The co-op centered gameplay is a neat trick, but it doesn't do enough with the co-op mechanics to really set itself apart.

It's cute. And while it is aimed at a younger audience, it's not completely without appeal for Pokémon fans in general.

Starhawk's an average shooter with an engaging multiplayer element and a unique sci-fi western theme, but the single player is forgettable.

While the story is good fun, and the mechanical conceits awesome, Contrast's puzzles just aren't as hard as they need to be.

A tense, challenging, and addictive strategy game with strong atmosphere, weakened by excessive randomness that too often pushes things past "hard" into "hopeless."

The enhancements aren't quite ready for prime-time, but Baldur's Gate II remains one of the greatest RPGs of all time and an unsurpassed D&D experience. The improvements to the interface are fantastic, and if the new content gets the final wax-and-polish it deserves, it will be too.

It's quite possibly the best looking next-gen title. Hardcore fans will enjoy it to its full extent, but it's fairly forgiving to newcomers as well. There's just not a ton of middle ground, you'll either really love it or not be interested at all.

Batman: Arkham Origins is a flawed, but enjoyable game that fails to improve on a winning formula. This is still great core gameplay, solid graphics, great voice acting, and a plot that's a good ride while it lasts. Just don't expect anything new.

At first impression, From Dust might look and play more like a tech demo than an actual game, but there is some enjoyment to be dug out of the experience. From Dust combines some fun mechanics, with great visuals and some satisfying puzzle inspired gameplay.

War of the Roses is shallow and unrefined, but if you want what it's got then you'll have a great time with it.

Easy on the eyes and the ears, this game is fun to see and listen to. It could have had more gameplay content though - the journey just ended too soon.

A beautiful, charming, humbling, and difficult experience that's a good fit for shoot 'em up fans, but perhaps strange and unwelcoming to newcomers.

Sometimes frustrating in terms of both gameplay and narrative, Transistor manages to be a redolent title with a ton of imagination. While not quite as clever as its presentation suggests, it's a pretty little title that ends on a beautifully bittersweet note.

By nature of its very premise, Infinity Runner is an addling game that ought not work. It succeeds far better than it should, however, and surprises in how fun it can be.

Bedlam serves as an homage to the first-person shooter genre. It's not quite as polished as the games it emulates, and its nature as an imperfect replica should be quite apparent to any FPS veteran. In spite of its shortcomings, Bedlam is highly entertaining and well worth your time.

For the short time it lasts, Pale Echoes has an interesting and creative battle system, a compelling story to tell, and an interesting world to explore.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is beautiful and packed with tons of tiny details that will keep you interested even when you've run into your umpteenth random battle. It misses a few opportunities and at times bogs down with its story, but overall provides a satisfying adventure.

It's a true open-world RPG with an engaging combat system and neat pawn mechanic, but Dragon's Dogma has some flaws you have to overlook to enjoy.

Don't Starve is a gorgeous, terrifying, often funny game, albeit one that can chew away at the player's morale with its constant demands and willingness to undo hard work. Provided you go in willing to work hard and take punches on the nose, there's plenty of reward to be had.

A Link Between Worlds is a sentimental game that skates off its predecessor's successes, but is so good at doing so one hardly minds. A few neat new tricks and a beautiful visual style help make up for the game's more frustrating hurdles.

While some more star power in the soundtrack would have went a long way, and the way Harmonix artificially pads the game's length with its song unlock requirements is ridiculous, Amplitude remains an exciting blend of rhythm action and electronica that does well by its predecessors.

A nice experiment with some genuinely fun moments, and a great showcase for what Kinect can accomplish, but unless you have young kids or like to play with simple toys, Happy Action Theater won't do much for you.

Not as good as the original, Hotline Miami 2 delivers a flawed dose of the high speed ultra violence that's fun but not essential.

Here Be Dragons is a fun, if modest and repetitive expansion that stays true to the gameplay of Knights of Pen & Paper 2.

The Division is a game that demands to be played with other people. It's biggest gameplay flaws are forgivable once you add a friend into the mix, but as a solo experience it can be an exhausting grind with little in the way of rewards or satisfaction.

The improved passing game is the real star here and the other small improvements help sell the overall experience. Heisman is an enjoyable addition, but creates balance problems.

Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes doesn’t invite you in. If you’re unfamiliar with the huge swatch of game history, Grasshopper’s catalog, or even games industry business gossip referenced within, this will come off as a less entertaining surrealist action game overshadowed by Suda51’s old work like Killer7 or even No More Heroes. Anyone that can actually speak the language of this game will be richly rewarded by the promise that there may, in fact, still be heroes out there.