Don’t expect to get hours of interesting play here, but so long as you know what you’re in for, it can be a pretty enjoyable break from more seriously-minded games that provides some reasonably-priced fun.

State of Mind stands as the most ambitious brainchild of award-winning German game writer/designer Martin Ganteföhr and it executes its purpose as a satisfactory narrative-driven experience despite it uninspired setting and disappointing main character.

Fighting game players who are into the genre for the sake of going toe-to-toe with other players will have far more to look forward to than those who are attracted to game’s overall presentation or alternative game modes. So in the midst of quite a few missteps and mediocrity, you can’t deny that at its very base Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite did at least offer some solid improvements to gameplay while still keeping the overall pace and feel of the franchise. Unfortunately, the game struggled to achieve much else outside of that.

The best way that I can think to say it is that if you’re looking for something that’s slow, calm, and without any pressure to accomplish concrete goals, it’s almost certainly worth a look; the graphics are solid, the music is fantastic, and the lack of difficult objectives or enemies to overcome lends itself to losing yourself in the simple act of discovery.

If you’re not willing to simply sign up for more of the same Sonic with the same problems and not enough meaningful innovation, Sonic Forces will easily lose your interest and leave you frustrated with its many shortcomings.

When it comes down to it, Last Stop is an entertaining journey that just goes completely off the rails in its final half, failing to execute on the interesting ideas it comes up with at the start. I know that endings shouldn’t take away from the ride, but when you’re playing a title that is almost completely narrative and character-driven, I just couldn’t help but feel a letdown when credits rolled.

If you’re into Dynasty Warriors levels of mass combat and are a huge fan of One Piece then this game is absolutely perfect for you. If you’ve been a fan of this particular series since the beginning, the new additions are nice but the game as a whole may feel too similar.

Nintendo Switch Sports attempts to capture the magic of the first two games in the series. Its efforts in doing so are not bad per se, but they are extremely basic and do not build upon the previous concepts in any revolutionary way.

With dashes of humor thrown in through some of the titles and works of art, there’s also a good amount of light-hearted fun surrounding the whole thing. Paint it Back may not break any entirely new ground, but it’s a cute and enjoyable experience for those who enjoy using their brains for leisure.

When looking at #KillAllZombies as nothing but a time waster, the game stands up as “ok.” If you have 10 or 15 minutes to spare and want to play a video game but don’t have time to really become immersed into a game’s world, there are worse choices out there. The problem is, the complete lack of story and lack of maps makes this title feel pretty shallow.

If you’ve got no problem delving into some of the darker corners of the human mind, this is a solid pick-up.

While the core experience of Super Mario Maker stays the same on 3DS, the exclusion of certain aspects definitely hurts the game. Not being able to upload and share your courses is incredibly disappointing, and somewhat defeats the purpose. The overall presentation is great, but the exclusion of features like a course search and amiibo support also feel like strange decisions.

What’s here isn’t bad at all; it’s by no means best in class, but it does deliver on its premise. There is satisfaction to be gleaned from the battles if you buy into the strategy and tactics; there’s a lot to take in here (well upwards of 30 hours); and it’s dressed up in sumptuous art. If you’re a sucker for a dungeon-crawler or for JRPGs, then this will sate your thirst two times over. There isn’t much here to recommend to the uninitiated though.

200% Mixed Juice is an easy recommendation for fans of prior Orange_Juice games, but it fails to bring much to the table outside of that.

A deceptively complex game that may not offer much replay value, but has that certain quality that’s able to captivate attention for some time. It may get repetitive, and there are definitely moments of frustration, but it’s innovative and enjoyable in small doses.

There is enough variance to make sure for a large majority of story battles you have a way of coming in with a fresh look, but the battles kind of always play out the same way, so it’s frustrating when the build you brought isn’t good enough and you struggle to get through what you were clearing before without any problems.

Its gameplay loop is easy to understand but hard to master, throwing new obstacles at your around every corner, it just doesn’t have the chaotic magic that made the Overcooked games special.

The Ascent is a tough game to recommend for solo players in its current state. Its buggy, tedious at its best and utterly frustrating at its worst. While I’m sure playing with friends will resolve some of my chief complaints, more fundamental issues like a rather boring overworld can’t be fixed with a few laughs with friends.

It can be downright crushing, and more than a few people will probably be turned off by it. For those who stick with it though, or go into the experience fully prepared for a challenging experience, there are elements seeing and getting lost in.

Beyond playful visuals, Fullbright's game doesn't do anything that Gone Home did as well or better over a decade ago. I hoped Open Roads might feature a more expansive story or more varied gameplay because, as it is, it's a short and serviceable adventure game rather than a particularly memorable experience.

Unfortunately, this game does have its fair share of issues, particularly in the control department.

Miaou Moon is a unique and challenging game that has a surprisingly complex approach. Much of the play can feel haphazard, yet you’re still able to interact and guide the chaos towards an eventual goal. Hidden items, secret exits, and plenty more await those who take the time to really dive into this deep-space adventure.

Ultimately, Nidhogg 2 is a unique game that is filled with charming quirks and strategic challenges. It’s only real mistake is not trusting in its original formula and undercutting its own successes with added fluff that just wasn’t necessary.

Yes, she gets her own area that’s larger than the other DLC stories, but it’s devoid of anything that makes this add-on unique. A re-skinned Batman is not what fans need, nor deserve.

Windbound is full of inspired ideas, especially when it comes to the potentially open world sea exportation. Those aspirations fall considerably short, though, as a lack of depth and creativity in its world gameplay sap the wind from its sails, leaving it adrift amidst a sea of better survival games...That being said, if you like survival games with a good atmosphere, you might want to give Windbound a try. Just be sure to temper your expectations. Anyone going into it thinking this will be a Breath of the Wild level survival title will be immensely disappointed.

If you have some people to play The Dark Pictures: Little Hope with, it’s definitely a fun way to past the time, especially around Halloween. If you’re planning on going at it alone, though, it’s not a bad experience but you may be left feeling a bit unfulfilled.

The gameplay mechanics and open world that felt fresh and fun in 2017 now feel outdated and stale. Combine this with levels that lack interesting vantage points or unique ways to kill enemies, and it wasn’t long before my immersion into the wacky world of Sniper Elite 5 went up in smoke.

Ultimately, the boiled-down approach of 0rbitalis, both in interactivity and aesthetic, works out pretty well. While struggling through the same level for extended periods gets wearisome, the variety as more levels unlock means plenty of new things to try. Still, I’m not sure the bare visual and audio design are doing the title many favors.

Though it drags a little during the middle, episode four did manage to hook me back in by the end. I’m intrigued to see exactly how the series pans out considering the state of the Guardians by the episode’s close. In that sense, Telltale has succeeded in setting the stage for its finale, and I’ve now learned enough about most of its leading characters to really care and get behind their cause in episode five.

As it stands, this is a tough one to recommend as long as the bugs persist, but it may be worth checking out after a patch or two to resolve the more blatant issues.

Its story is creepy and unpredictable, with the variety in gameplay keeping you engaged, even if it drags towards the end.

We got kind of a simplified version of a pirate game, with limited options on what to do outside your ship. Maybe some of these things will be fixed and improved in future updates, but for now, all that remains is to explore the vast map and strengthen your ship as much as possible.

It has a whimsy to it all the same that makes it worth trying, at least for a while. You may get hooked, you may not. It’s no bigger a gamble than a park full of carnivores, and in the worst case scenario, far less messy.

The interior of the tenement building is a fantastic nest of voyeurism, and the game injects the awful things you’re doing with a sense of tongue-in-cheek wickedness. It may not be beauty that lives in the eye of this one, but Beholder does have some intelligent moral conundrums to levy at you. Unfortunately, the repetition and dull play leave a big hole in the middle where the game’s heart should beat.

Given the amount of detail that lies under Sword and Sorcery’s remarkably basic look and feel, nostalgic fans of that period in gaming history are sure to be pleased. It may be an acquired taste, but if you’re willing to look beyond the presentation and into the real meat of it, there’s plenty of time to be spent exploring, fighting, and thinking your way through the Underworld.

Though I spent a lot of this review highlighting what wasn’t all that good about the game, I will still say I had some fun with it, but just not enough for me to really call it much more than average when considering all its issues. I can recommend Coffee Crisis to people looking for a cheap game to have fun with, as well as rabid beat-em-up enthusiasts and dedicated retro collectors, but not too many people outside of those niches.

Digimon World: Next Order is definitely a game for fans who are looking for a challenge. If you’ve always felt you had it in you to take your own Digimon partner and save the digital world, this is certainly a game you should check out. But, if you’re just looking for a new RPG that lets you fight with trained monsters, there are other options available that don’t require long hours before the payoff.

Shovel Knight Showdown is a rare misstep from a developer known for pixel-perfection. It’s a fun diversion for a few dozen minutes but falls short of the base game, and the brilliant single-player expansions that came afterward.

Gryphon Knight Epic doesn’t bring a lot of innovation to the table. That said, with its relatively free movement and exploration, secrets to uncover, and several weapons to upgrade and master, it delivers well on what it does offer.

At the end of the day, I’d still recommend Dislyte to anyone looking for a truly unique gacha game with striking character designs and a cool aesthetic. The team-building aspect is on point, and the entire vibe of the game just oozes charm and style. Just keep your wallets closed until we see some tangible improvements in those pull rates.

These points make playing Cities: Skylines 2 much more challenging than anticipated. On the one hand, there is much to admire about the simulation work and building options available to players from the start, but the many issues mean having to wait and see if things get better down the line. The original game benefited from years of community mods and prolonged support, but the sequel simply cannot wait for the same situation to develop, especially not with an experienced team at the helm. At this point, jumping into the game feels like knowingly driving towards a holiday destination, knowing there’s a pile-up somewhere in the distance. The end goal might be attractive, but getting there will be a pain.

Days Gone is an alright first step for Bend Studio. It's a competent open world game with massive, diverse environments for you to explore, even if there aren't actually a lot of interesting things to do. It's also very vanilla, and there just isn't much substance beneath its glossy surface.

I would recommend Wildfrost to anyone who enjoys deck-building battle games like it, but it’s probably not a great introduction for newer players to the genre.

This journey takes you across the beautiful steampunk city of Watchtower, which is a joy to behold. Sadly, the annoying gibberish voice acting does damage the emotional experience to some degree, but you’ll be far too busy scratching your head solving one of Clockwork’s enjoyable puzzles with the use of its largely functional time-bending puzzle mechanics.

The story kept me interested, and as mentioned before, the art direction and characters, as well as their voice actors, made cut-scenes and just generally exploration a treat. As for the mechanics and meat of the game, I felt like there was a lot to be desired. I wanted more of everything presented here, and I felt like almost everything outside of the story, and art really needed an extra layer of pizazz.

Exist Archive may test your time and patience, but if you’re willing to make that commitment, you should find a worthwhile experience.

Far Cry New Dawn is a standalone sequel to Far Cry 5, but it adds nothing of meaning or value to the original story. If you just want more Far Cry, this is worth checking out. Otherwise, you're not really missing much here.

If you are a fan of Lord of the Rings and survival games, then you should definitely pick up Return to Moria. It offers a new side to the franchise that establishes a cozier take to these combat-heavy games using its entertaining building mechanics. I look forward to seeing how this unique aspect evolves the series, especially with the upcoming Tales of the Shire.

Long-time fans of the series might be disappointed, but it is at least check the same boxes that all of the other titles in this niche genre do. More casual players will probably just want to pass on this entirely, as the pros won’t outweigh the cons.

With its touching story and surreal qualities, Bliss creates a calming change of pace from more action-oriented gaming. While it’s certainly not for those who like their games fast and loud, it has a particular charm that makes it worthwhile.

Even with some questionable combat choices and the odd spikes in difficulty, Deadlight is a game that breathes new life into the zombie genre.

Redfall feels like a victim of the great, Game Pass machine. A game with heaps of style and potential that ultimately falls short in core areas like story, mission variety and technical performance. I can’t help shake the feeling development may have been rushed in order to fill a gap in the subscription service’s exclusives release schedule. It’s fun in parts and its wider potential occasionally manages to shine through, but it ultimately serves as another reminder that Microsoft’s first-party offerings still lag behind the best the industry has to offer.

By the time the game is asking to take a fifth lap around its gameplay loop, we weren’t looking forward to the boss fights or the rudimentary puzzle solving. Jotun had become a slog — a very beautiful, heavily flawed, hand-drawn slog.

Ultimately, Instant Dungeon! feels like a game that would benefit from more gameplay variation. I was disappointed as it became apparent that the characters were essentially just ‘skins’, but there’s so little to the overall mechanics of the game that I’m not even sure what could be made unique about them. The good news is, though, that what’s there is pretty enjoyable for what it is.

If you picked up the expansion pass hoping for a lengthy and interesting story, or some new gameplay then you’ll probably find Isle of Armor a little lacking as I did. That said, the price of $15 isn’t overwhelmingly prohibitive so if you’re a fan of Sword and Shield, you’ll probably be OK with another similar helping.

Like Deadly Premonition before it D4 suffers from awkward controls, and some frustrating nonsensical mechanics. Fortunately D4’s strange and hilarious story and characters more than make up for what it lacks, while its soundtrack is a joy to listen to.

Not a bad game. It clearly has ideas it wants to bring to the table, and with some patience, players can find those ideas and have a blast seeing how they can be applied to a fighter. Overall though, its flaws make it hard for those ideas to shine, and hold the game back from being anything other than an offering for die-hard “One Punch Man” fans to dig their teeth into.

The Weaponographist delivers pretty well on the pitched idea: a frantic arena battler that keeps things in constant motion. While it’s far from perfect, the interesting mechanics and decent all-around design make it fun, if a bit repetitive.

Cuphead ultimately leaves me at an impasse. I absolutely love the style of the game, and when the game works well it’s a truly rewarding experience that overcomes the seemingly impossible difficulty. Every time I beat a boss I felt re-energized, ready to tackle the next (and there are quite a few of them). But randomness and all too frequent bugs are rotten apples that spoil what could be a damn near perfect barrel of fruit.

If you’re someone who has not played a Mystery Dungeon game before and are looking for a chill and passive dungeon-crawler to sit back and relax while listening to a podcast or watching a television show, this will work wonders for you. Just don’t expect a deep Pokemon RPG with meaningful progression or impressive visuals.

If you’re looking for an Avengers campaign and nothing more, you may enjoy what Marvel’s Avengers has to offer, especially if the performance and be polished up with post-launch patches. But if you’re looking for another persistent world looter shooter, there are far, far better options out there right now. Marvel’s Avengers is only just starting its journey with plenty of content due to release in the future, but right now it’s a tough sell.

Revelations 2 is a consistently fun game that will keep you hooked on its plot all the way to the conclusion. But be aware that the port is full of little grievances that can test your patience.

The potential was certainly there, with the unique Mesoamerican inspirations, beautiful art, and top-notch animations, so it’s unfortunate that I’m left feeling like this was somewhat of a missed opportunity.

It’s more of the same, only this time you get to have Yoda narrate the whole ordeal.

Small Radios Big Televisions isn’t a bad game by any means, its beautifully animated style, coupled with a synth led soundtrack, creates an amazing environment in which to explore its well-thought-out puzzles and interesting level design. At times though, it just lacks direction.

It has a weak supporting cast, a forgettable story, and it simply doesn’t know how to engage its players on a narrative level. It’s a real pity, especially since this is a refreshing game that has such a uniquely designed world that you won’t soon forget, and it’s proof that DICE has the potential to create something truly special here.

Despite all the fun I was having though, it is evidently clear that NBA 2K20 really doesn’t do anything groundbreaking in any of its modes.

An extremely polished game that throws players directly into the world of Gensokyo, delivering a well-crafted translation from the series’ 2D-roots to a 3D-setting. While it definitely didn’t have the highest budget — a fact made apparent by the utter lack of voice acting or music during the pre-fight dialogue sequences — the music that is present during the dungeon exploration is actually quite fascinating even if it does get repetitive the more time you spend playing.

Sadly, the title sometimes seems to crumble under itself. There is really no excuse for a game of this size to suffer from framerate issues and problems with the core mechanics, and these complications ultimately bring the game down.

The lack of threat aside, Endless Ocean Luminous is pretty average. The graphics are fine, the mass multiplayer is cool, and the creatures are interesting. If you like to have a list to complete and a love of the ocean, then this game is perfect. If, however, you are looking for something that offers more than just a peaceful swim and a slow-moving story, then it may not be worth your time.

There’s certainly a lack of polish to it, but with the right competition and some practice, it could be worth it for those interested in quick, easy arcade-style play.

BiT Evolution offers a pretty solid, classic platformer game with just enough to it to make it interesting and plenty of tongue-in-cheek wit to be amusing. Play definitely gets frustrating, and the light story isn’t much to chew on, but there’s still flashes of inspiration and plenty of fun.

Scars Above offers a rather condensed third-person shooter adventure. While I was surprised at how quickly I breezed through the game, considering the other titles it was borrowing ideas from, it was still an interesting journey. I wouldn’t say there’s anything refreshing about the game, but there’s enough there for those wanting a jaunt through an alien world.

If you can overlook its unsatisfying combat and floaty controls, Prey’s freedom and multiple endings provide a game that’s worth experiencing.

If you plan on having your friends over to experience the game with you, it’s absolutely worth it — if not, this game might be better left off and unplugged.

It’s frustrating that Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker isn’t better, because the elements it needs to be a great game are all there.

Ultimately, PeriAreion does a number of things well enough to be playable but is lacking the polish and attention to detail that would get it to the next level.

There is a lot for you to do in Portal Knights. Exploring the well-designed and colorful worlds while taking on groups of challenging and unique enemies is consistently fun but the shallow and repetitive quests and almost unnecessary crafting system make the game frequently tedious to play.

I have no doubt that a lot of people are going to love that the game is super difficult, especially if you enjoyed Absolver, but I am just not one of those people.

Instead of forcing story-based planet missions into a game that doesn’t have an interesting story, Starlink should have doubled down on space combat. If it did, the flaws in the story would have been outshined by the constant joy experienced while dogfighting in space.

What RIVE does well is in its design of levels and enemies.

A mixed bag. There are plenty of points where it fails to utilize its potential, and leans back into unfortunate pitfalls in order to pad it’s runtime. However, it’s still a worthwhile experience for fans of the series, and shows that introducing new characters and ideas into the series’ framework could lead to an outstanding game in the future.

Hand of Fate has been made to appeal to many players quickly, and that it does. The only concern that sticks between your teeth is one that this desire to make people feel like their being forced to work hard without actually pulling any work out of them will hamper Hand of Fate‘s scale for replayability.

Everything in the game, from the bad humor to the kinda fun combat, coalesced into a mess that I wanted to continue exploring, if only out of morbid curiosity and my love of loot. Unless you are a die-hard dungeon crawler, I don’t see this game holding your interest.

SaGa Frontier Remastered is a good remaster of a classic JRPG. No one will argue that it does its job admirably, and adds in features which help the better aspects of the original game shine. However, there’s only so much it can do to make up for elements of the original game which have aged terribly. Those who aren’t established fans of the original, or who haven’t learned how to navigate older JRPGs, should be prepared for a fair number of headaches if they want to experience this title’s strengths.

There’s a lot to like about Still Wakes the Deep. It’s not the sort of game that ties everything up in a neat little bow, and some of the mechanics could have seen more exploration. It doesn’t quite live up to its potential, but if you have six hours to spend, a strong stomach, and don’t mind a lot of unanswered questions, you could do a lot worse.

Axiom Verge has its moments. Exploration is fun to an extent, and the cavalcade of powerups and weaponry to acquire allows for an ever evolving way to interact with the environment and its hostiles. The graphics consistently impress, and the soundtrack is wonderful. However, backtracking gets old fast and the game frustrates at times with its difficulty and often archaic navigation.

An impressive, creative, and inventive game on paper. In practice, it ends up being a rather middle-of-the-road experience, with unfulfilled promised of potential greatness. If you’re looking for an inventive new take on the Metroidvania genre, Carrion might be what you’re looking for –but don’t go into it expecting it to be Super Meat-troid.

Even with the horrid framerate, I couldn’t help but press on. Fighting a growing roster of more powerful beasts as I tested my skills against any Aragami that crossed my path is difficult to resist. The boss gauntlet that God Eater 2: Rage Burst eventually becomes is quite satisfying in ways that I wouldn’t have imagined.

What you are instead left with is something that departs a bit too much from what fans probably wanted. Instead of fixing the few issues The Evil Within had, they introduced something completely new with a whole new bag of troubles. Fortunately enough, the story is interesting enough and holds up pretty well, and for some that may just be worth the price of entry.

Lemma shines just as bright as its contemporaries but doesn’t have that one special mark that makes it a game you have to buy.

Shiftlings is a fun game. It’s rare when a game can nail fart humor and also have it be completely in context. The puzzles are fun, and there is really some fantastic level design that never gets in the way of the game. Unfortunately all of this may be hard to realize when all you can see is a sometimes frustrating single player experience.

Franchise Hockey Manager is by no means an all-audiences game. You’ve got to be a certain sort of fan to enjoy any management sim, I think, and slogging through FHM3’s difficult interface is likely to turn away even those who would otherwise serve as its core audience. Still, if you’ve yearned for a title that expands on the paltry offering built into EA’s ongoing NHL series — and you don’t mind a steep learning curve — this is probably exactly what you’re looking for.

When Yoshi’s Woolly World gets it right, it smashes it out of the park. Creative levels that tried different things such as transforming Yoshi into a plane, mermaid, or a racecar, is when that Nintendo sparkle shined its brightest. However, these moments of brilliance were overshadowed by a large amount of bland and unimaginative levels too focused on collecting.

Blackwood Crossing is not a universal recommendation. There are those among us who prefer fast-paced action or daring adventures to the calm and introspective nature of this kind of game. However, for those of us who appreciate getting lost in a good story and taking in gorgeous scenery, it’s a no-brainer.

FIFA 21 is a mash up of incremental steps forward, baffling design choices, and seemingly ignored issues. It simply doesn’t do enough to make the overall experience significantly more enjoyable than it was last year.

While SickBrick may not bring a ton of complexity to the table, the responsive controls, ease of play, and mix of weapons still make for a good play.

If you’re after a big dumb shark game, Maneater will scratch that itch. The quality of the gameplay and some of its RPG mechanics might make you wish there was some more depth and variety to it all though.