Dropsy‘s resolve to bring back the old school point n’ clicker is a success, though it’s perhaps a bit too successful, given the overreaching ambiguity in certain areas. Even in spite of its tendency to obstruct the player, it’s a beautiful, bewildering, unforgettable game of hugs, love, and hollowing sadness.

It's okay. It's pretty much more Pokémon, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. However, it's quite clear the game needs a proper overhaul, something to drag into the modern day. Or at least the modern century.

Avowed ought to have been a more linear action game. Combat is good enough that a streamlined and direct experience could serve it well, but as an RPG there’s simply not enough of anything. It feels like vast chunks are missing, with an initial promise of adventure that rapidly shaves off expectations until you’re left with a toothless story and a frustrating dearth of material...It’s fun to create a snowstorm and jab lizard men with spears, but the shallow trudgery between fights is consistently disappointing. I don’t think it’s unfair to have expected far more from Obsidian. Thanks to Avowed, I know I can expect far less.

A superb game in a not quite as superb package.

RiME is certainly one of those games that prove how ridiculous it is to rail against linearity considering how a well paced, smartly designed corridor can be as enchanting, if not more so, than any massive open world on the market.

I had fun going back to Crash Bandicoot, even if I found myself wanting to toss my controller at certain points and that notorious sky bridge level is still one of the absolute worst pieces of interactive crap you could ever suffer.

It’s six Mega Man games and something that takes all those games to create a far more interesting prospect. Mega Man fans deserve better than this, but it’s the best they’re apparently getting, and it’s pretty good for what it is.

Gravity Rush 2 is a bigger sequel, but not necessarily a better one. While it offers more to play with and in greater variety, the lack of improvements to core features – as well as graphics that are far from impressive – hold it back from being something truly great.

For all its visual appeal, however, Far Cry 4 remains a shallow experience. It has loads of things in it, but having a lot of things is not the same thing as having depth. With a vapid story, activities that rely more on regurgitation than anything else, and a campaign that is exciting only for as long as you can ignore how insincere it all is, this is a game that affects a meaningful experience, rather than manage to be one.

It's okay. It's pretty much more Pokémon, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. However, it's quite clear the game needs a proper overhaul, something to drag into the modern day. Or at least the modern century.

It’s not going to be for everyone, but I must confess I’ve not been this into a Pokémon game since Pokémon Red, way back when I was a ruddy boy. Just a shame the motion controls Nintendo forced in wreck it for a lot of people.

While not a thoroughly outstanding game, BOXBOY! is an eminently pleasant, breezy little puzzle-platformer that offers some moderate challenge and focuses more on just having a nice time. A fuss-free, no-pressure adventure that takes a plain gimmick and showcases just how versatile it can be.

Guitar Hero Live is a bold new step forward for the series, as well as peripheral-based music games overall. While Rock Band 4 stuck more rigidly to tradition and provided a solid party game, Live delivers a more personal game, albeit one with a lot more going on under the hood.

I love Lies of P until I don’t, but those less adoring moments are always followed by something that ropes me right back in. A slickly directed, beautifully presented game that takes the absurd concept of marrying Bloodborne to Pinocchio and commits so earnestly that it transcends the silly and just plain works. Difficulty spikes and dodgy pacing undermine it at key points, and some systems aren’t as useful as they should be, but none of that takes away from the high quality and the amount of imagination poured into what could’ve been just another Soulslike...Even at its most exasperating, I wouldn’t let it lie.

Tom Clancy’s The Division is a “playable” game in the same way Anaconda is a “watchable” movie. As adequate as entertainment gets, it’s capable of providing solid amusement while it lasts, but it’s not something worth remembering beyond the scope of the time spent actively utilizing it. It’s something you can use to waste time, and it’s good at that, but it’s not particularly brilliant at anything else.

It’s really quite nice. Completely inoffensive rhythm-based fun. At the very least, it’s something your kids will dig, if you happen to own any of those little freaks.

While most of this generation’s avalanche of double-dips have felt cynical and unwarranted, Gravity Rush truly benefits from a change of system and a chance to reach a comparatively huge audience. It is, simply put, a better game than it used to be, and I can’t complain about that.

The game has been affected by the loot box system...The game is compulsively playable.

Judgment is Yakuza with a hardboiled twist, which unfortunately means the addition of tailing missions and lockpicking minigames. When it's not doing that, however, it's brilliant as always...With all the usual punching, nightlife, and bizarre side missions, Judgment continues Sega and RGG's winning streak. More faults than usual, but nonetheless fun as heck.

A truly excellent game, Children of Morta is like a checklist of my favorite things. Hack n' slash gameplay, dungeon crawling, roguelike elements, constant rewards, charming narrative, gorgeous visuals. Children of Morta has what I need.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order feels like a throwback for Electronic Arts, a nod to a time when the publisher let its studios simply make and sell honest videogames...While it's deeply flawed in several aspects, Fallen Order is pretty fun, and it's nice to finally see a mainstream story-driven Star Wars game. Shame about the glitches and the frequent annoyances, but when it's good, it's really quite good.

Yeah, it’s alright. It’s not Yooka-Laylee, and that’s better than being Yooka-Laylee.

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe is a great time. The remake is faithful in the ways that count and adds enough new content to be well worth revisiting, even if that content isn’t universally brilliant. I could take or leave the theme park conceit, and I wish the Mecha ability was as good as Sand, but with an enjoyable epilogue campaign and a bunch of unlockable masks that I couldn’t stop thinking about, there’s no denying this is a remake that puts the work in to justify itself. I like it when things do that. Did I mention the game has masks? I can’t emphasize enough how important that is.

Yoshi's Crafted World is a chill little platformer. So relaxing is this game that I heartily recommend it as Sekiro's ultimate companion piece.

It's really good. I recommend it.

Dynasty Warriors: Origins is one of the best disappointments I’ve ever played. The groundwork it lays could’ve been the basis of a genuinely amazing Dynasty Warriors game, but this one is so obvious about its corner cutting, and conflates “realism” with a lack of personality. The huge battles are impressive, general combat’s rather fun, and the parrying system works way better than I thought it would, so there’s a good wad of stuff to enjoy. I just wish Origins was an actual Dynasty Warriors game and not something so flavorless.

That’s Prey all over. It works, it’s well made, and polished, and all those things we expect “AAA” games to be. What it is not is exciting. At all...It’s an also-ran that I was quite frankly happy to see the back of once I was blessedly finished.

Until Dawn is everything that Quantic Dream games have tried to be – unsuccessfully – for the past decade. It emulates horror movies while demonstrating a clear understanding of what makes those movies work, its focus on consequence is nervewracking and intricate, and its story is silly but strongly delivered. It’s the best David Cage game not made by David Cage, and it’s the best interactive horror flick you’ll play.