The Journey Down: Chapter Three is the sort of title that leaves me saddened by its completion, but eager to see what the crew at SkyGoblin will do next. The Journey Down feels like a love letter to the genre, and its legacy – there are elements of LucasArts, Sierra On-Line, and other industry giants present here. But it manages to stand alone as a memorable trilogy that only improved with each new chapter. It is a worthy addition to any puzzle-loving, soundtrack-blasting, humor-embracing point-&-click fan's library, and Chapter Three is a conclusion to the tale that's just what the doctor ordered.

Echo proves that innovation can truly be limitless as long as there are people willing to push boundaries and explore new ideas. With a stunningly flawless trifecta of gameplay, storyline, and visuals, Ultra Ultra has knocked it out of the park with their first foray into indie gaming. Regardless of your tastes, styles, or interests, this adventure is sure to satisfy nearly all of your cravings. The only craving that you will be left with is for more and more game to play.

The austere elegance of winemaking has a broad and timeless appeal, and the austerity and elegance of the craft is captured beautifully with the minimal aesthetic of Terroir. Unfortunately, the drawn-out text and lack of interactive gameplay leave a sour aftertaste, much like strong tannins. Terroir delivers, but with thin appeal.

Once you figure out how to upgrade your heroes, customize your knights’ spells, spend gold and gems, and place puzzle pieces, Onion Knights is addicting. The Stage rounds (Easy and Hard) are short, so you can play a few rounds if you only have a small pocket of time for games. However, it’s easy to play round after round as you try to level yourself, earn enough gold for knight upgrades, and obtain the gems to buy more hero cards to upgrade your favorite hero, and progress far enough to beat the Hard Stage map. Gameplay is easy to understand but is more challenging as you progress through the map as Curry enemies get stronger and there are more waves to survive through — typical of the genre.

Last Day of June is unique and story-driven, suited for those who appreciate a slower-paced journey. The reward is an artful experience that stands a chance of resonating with your heart.

Accel World VS. Sword Art Online Deluxe Edition Review is a superb JRPG that features a wide array of characters, depth of customization and leveling, and fairly smooth combat. You might feel overwhelmed at first with all of the controls and skills this has to offer, but it’s worth it. If you’re unfamiliar with either series, you might not be able to enjoy the story as much, but the RPG mechanics offset this; if you like RPGs, or the series which this title covers, Accel World VS. Sword Art Online is a must.

Vaporum shows promise but still, has ways to go. The art style is finely tuned, but time spent polishing the look should’ve been invested in more various assets. I enjoyed playing it but still felt bored and uninterested at times, and it would’ve benefited from a larger variety of enemies and weapons. That being said, it’s not half bad, and one of the better games you’ll play this year; a sequel with some more attention to certain details would be an instant buy.

If you’re looking for crazy flashy combos and special moves, Absolver isn’t the title for you. Good times are few and far in between, because of repetitious fights and long periods of grinding out moves and experience. Glitches are also numerous, although Sloclap is aware of these problems and is releasing patches to help eliminate them, while also adding new features. While a fighting game, Absolver is a far cry from the likes of Street Fighter, TEKKEN, or Injustice.

Hob is made for gamers who love to explore, tinker, and problem-solve. Combat is present, but not as a central element. Gameplay consists, by a considerable margin more, of looking for ways to inventively raise, lower, move, open up, or interact with the environment. While, some puzzles are clumsy puzzles, each has a logical solution – though it reaching this point might require a temporal investment.

Tooth and Tail, also known as the Angry Russian Mouse Arcade RTS Partygame, is an innovation in perhaps the most stagnant (and one of my personal favorite) genres in gaming. It's an RTS you can play on a console, and it rewrites the RTS rulebook to force fast, ferocious partygame-style matches that still play like a strategy game. And if that weren't enough, it's beautiful and has a killer story to boot. No detail is left unpolished in this one; definitively one of the most unique and successful experiments in gaming this year, and just a good time, period.

Regardless of the complaints, Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite proves to earn its place in the powerful series laid out before it. Furthermore, the genre of 2D fighters is a very familiar concept, with a rich history and a dense family of games taking after it. Often, these games can seem too generic to stand out or to feel worthy of any time given, but conversely, many of these games try too hard to make something of themselves, and result in a game far too complex and clunky to be enjoyed in any way. Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite, however, treads this line perfectly and offers an engaging experience born out of a classic style.

The uniqueness of this title carries it to the end, and is ready to go for a couple episodes more, leaving you intrigued about the conspiracies and ground-breaking truths you have discovered: a solid couple hours invested in a protagonist you care about, wanting to see it to its end, and then twice over.

Dreamy yet disturbing, Cherrymochi’s Tokyo Dark keeps its crosshair leveled at a sweet spot between Japanese visual novel and point-and-click adventure. Backed by beautifully illustrated environments and an eclectic soundtrack, Tokyo Dark gives the impression of having been carefully crafted; the creators were thoughtful in how they integrated different elements to evoke a striking ambiance. Featuring supernatural cults, dark family secrets, kawaii cat maids that wax existential and a protagonist who speaks primarily in ellipses, the game nails narrative but misses the mark on a pointless stat system.

Niche – a genetics survival game is a species sim with roguelike progression, played in turns on a hex grid. It includes enough novelty to charm fans still searching for the children of Creatures or Spore, but gambles with repetitive and predictable gameplay. It's as likely to frustrate you as it is to relax you, and small annoyances tip the scale in favor of the prior. Approach with reasonable expectations about its depth and variety, and you'll raise your chances of garnering an enjoyable experience.

Oriental Empires shall surely frustrate some players, though that really boils down to his or her shortcomings, not the any of the title. You shouldn’t be upset about historical accuracy: plagues happened, bandits are terrible, and — who would have thought — peasants hate building things for their oppressive overlords because they’d rather be with their families. Sitting down and learning how to be a sovereign to the people and not just field marshal to armies will open players up to a superb experience in the genre. The foundations of other efforts in the genre may show, but ultimately, Oriental Empires builds upon them anew, just like real life.

A Robot Named Fight truly makes a name for itself with everything it does. While not an overly plot-driven title, the story behind it all is a fascinating and fun take on a classic, which is then delivered in such a beautifully retro vessel that it is hard to believe you are playing it on a PC in your own room and not a coin-operated console at your local penny arcade. A Robot Named Fight is fast fun, a perfect way to spend five minutes or an hour and a half, and a perfect staple for anyone’s gaming library.

Project CARS 2 sets the benchmark for what a true racing sim release should be. With exquisite graphics, exceptional realism, and palpable thrill, the gauntlets have been thrown down, and it’s up to every other developer to try and get close to this masterpiece of its genre. Now for a fresh dose of caffeine… it’s time to shave some time off my split.

Another Lost Phone is truly a masterpiece of its kind, setting a bar in both creativity and meaning that will be hard for future installments in the genre to match. In addition to being one of the most innovative vehicles for a puzzle-based story to be released in a long time, the story is immensely engaging from the moment you unlock the phone. Accidental Queens have now issued a challenge to game designers everywhere: use your art to tell stories that need to be told.

With Divinity: Original Sin 2, Larian Studios creates a title that brings together the best aspects of table-top and classic roleplaying games. The graphics, along with the score and voice acting, are painstakingly detailed and are truly awe-inspiring. Every decision you make, from character creation to dialogue, will affect your experience, giving you a slightly different playthrough every time. This is not a game for the casual player, however. The sheer size of the game and the difficulty of some battles will require dozens of hours and have you loading quicksaves time and again. Divinity: Original Sin 2 is primed to be on many all-time favorites lists; few, if any, have succeeded to this degree.

War of the Chosen adds so favorably to the original XCOM 2 experience that fans should consider it near-perfect as well as essential. Although some features in XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, such as soldier bonds and propaganda, are inadequately manifested, most new features blend seamlessly with the base title and solve predictability and stagnation issues that once plagued early game. The titular Chosen adversaries enrich your gameplay with increased risk and challenge, even as resistance faction allies offer diversity in how you may combat them.

Ys SEVEN is packed with content -- over 30 hours of gameplay, a deep storyline, and a catchy soundtrack. Though the plot retreads the ‘hero tasked with saving humanity’ story arc, it does so in an original manner through a rich cast of characters. However, the default configuration is a hassle, which seems odd, considering that this title was first developed for the PSP — although if you had no idea that this entry originally came out on PSP, you’d never think that it wasn’t developed for PC. You’ll want to love this game, but problems with the controls might keep you from considering it one your favorites.

As you familiarize yourself with Sine Mora EX, difficulty declines: bosses and normal enemies have predetermined flight and attack patterns, the structure of the map doesn’t change. But avoiding a barrage of incoming missiles is nevertheless a tantalizing pursuit. One piece of advice: Know your target and its trajectory, then concentrate on your ship. Concentration and quick reflexes are a must, but if you’re up for a challenge and enjoy this genre, you’ll enjoy Sine Mora EX without a doubt.

With deadly bugs that prevent key gameplay mechanics, zero replayability, and an astonishingly small amount of content (<30 minutes to complete), Beat the Game is a visual masterpiece more akin to a brief bad trip at a Tomorrowland than an actual game. If you’re into audio or music production and are looking for something that will let you develop and explore it in a different light, you will be disappointed. However, when it comes to cinematography, BtG is a high nine. With a bit more care and effort from solid game and sound designers, this novelty release could have been great. And if you need drugs to enjoy music, you’re doing it wrong.

If you loved the first Cook, Serve, Delicious!, then you'll probably love Cook 2, as well. While there are major bugs for the Mac version right now, there are only minor bugs for Windows. I feel like using a mouse and keyboard will always feel somewhat constraining, however, although improvements to the gameplay could alleviate that feeling somewhat. As Cook 2 stands now, it is compelling, with plenty to enjoy in it, although ultimately the dish feels a bit stale.

Neofeud's futuristic, Bladerunner-like world, its thoughtful dialogue that's entirely voice acted, and its fresh point-and-click puzzles make it a title worth trying — as long as you're aware that it has some annoying flaws along the way. After a slow start, Neofeud develops into a complex tale that approaches profound ideas about what it means to be sentient, what it means to care about someone who may or may not be alive, and how it could be a big problem our society could face someday soon.

Suicide Guy caters to the underserved demographic of people who enjoy 3D puzzle platformers, except this serving is more of a home-cooked meal from Grandma’s house after she had gotten dementia. It’s made with love, and is good at certain parts, but in the end, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Graphics and level design can be clever at times, but are essentially ruined by the frustrating physics and collision, lack of any good music, repetitive sound effects, half-finished animations, and stale platforming. I want to love Suicide Guy, and I do, in a way -- I appreciate the effort that was made, but when I was done I felt unsatisfied and dead inside.

Blood Bowl 2 - Legendary Edition is a brilliant iteration of a quality, fully-realized tabletop title with tons of replayability. Expensive? Yes. Niche? For sure; some people will be like “WTF? Fantasy football, but like, fantasy fantasy?” Worth it for the fans? Hell yeah. This is the bloodiest, funniest damn sports game that has or likely will ever be made, and if you dig the IP, like strategy and have the cash, I say grab it like a mad chainsaw-wielding Goblin going for the spike-covered pigskin.

Solstice Chronicles: MIA comes to the table with a compelling horde-onslaught management experience, solid technical and audiovisual fundamentals, and a passable story. What it might lack in graphical splendor it makes up for in raw, mechanical fun, and emergent desperation as you fight to stay one step ahead of the endless mutant tide. Bring a friend if you can, and buckle up, because it’s a hectic ride.