While the art and effects are certainly cool, the lack of gameplay depth and penalty for not ‘buying in’ to the game are huge turn-offs.

Monster Hunter will always rule the roost in these areas. What Toukiden Kiwami strives to do though is supplant the giant by focusing upon nail-biting action and tactical formation rather than grinding. In this way, Toukiden Kiwami succeeds in being a game that any fan of taking down immense challenges should keep a close eye upon.

It brings back the old-school charm of the series while experimenting with various new mechanics with a good degree of success.

It is more than a well crafted homage though; it is a game that links the past to the present in grand fashion and is definitely something you should pick up to pass the time.

Smooth, intuitive controls make getting the hang of playing a snap, and the relative ease of early goings make it an ideal for those interested in something new, with enough challenge in its latter stages to delight puzzle players of all ages and skill levels.

For those who like to get something different out of their games, Shelter 2 offers a fresh take that successfully builds on the formula of the earlier title without tangling it up in new or difficult features.

Castle in the Darkness proves itself to be worth way more than the price of admission with hours of good ‘ol fashioned platforming action for only $5.99 on Steam.

True to Revelations 2’s nature of throwing more questions than answers at you since its debut episode, the player is still left with too many mysteries even at the very end.

By all means many may enjoy the experience to be had in 199X, however don’t expect a lengthy nor particularly engaging gameplay experience. You’re there to push the story along with your directional keys and space bar and little else.

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.

With an unimpressive overall aesthetic, floundering controls, and skimpy level design, I’d say your money is better spent on something with a bit more meat to it.

If you want a wonderful, head-nodding score to keep you in tune with your inner psychopath, look no further. This game is outrun music at its finest.

After completing three episodes with three equally gripping cliffhanger endings, I’m all prepared for one hell of a finale when the final episode releases next week.

Sid Meier’s Starships does away with all of the research tree and diplomatic hard work that often comes with a 4X title, replacing them with some brilliant turn-based strategy combat and just enough world conquering to keep any evil genius happy. This is the sort of game the Romulan Empire would love.

Downfall’s six chapters may seem short when compared to Dante’s 20, but they feel more padded out here than some of the missions do in the original game.

Ori and the Blind Forest is proof that those who want a game with a deep story and top-notch gameplay can have their cake and eat it to.

While the simple look and chiptune soundtrack may make players think that there’s not much to this title, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The sheer number of story quests, side missions, and loot, combined with a vast variety of character possibilities, establish far more than enough content to justify the $7.99 price.

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.

If Homeworld Remastered Collection were to be released now as a totally new title rather than a classic game with a polished sheen, it would be a complete revolution in strategy gaming. As it is now, Homeworld 1 & 2 stand up incredibly well to their modern contemporaries thanks to a little elbow grease and a lot of fiddling. Yes it may not be as great as it used to be, but it’s definitely a more cohesive experience.

Aaru’s Awakening is a phenomenal piece of art, and a solidly built game to boot.

The game executes everything extremely well. Agarest: Generations of War 2 is absolutely the best game of the franchise and one of the greatest JRPGs of its time.

Contemplation certainly doesn’t let up in terms of action and horror. The increased variety in enemy types and game mechanics is certainly welcome, and with the story picking now too, it will be exciting to see how the mystery unfolds.

While other games may offer a laborious grind to the end, OlliOlli 2: Welcome to Olliwood brings you a new kind of grinding that never gets old and keeps the sparks flying for hours to come.

While War of the Human Tanks: ALTeR probably isn’t in-depth enough for hardcore strategy fans, it’s got a certain charm and the novel-style story and human drama inserted through it add a wonderful depth to the experience.

Oblitus puts a whole lot of content into a small, tightly-made package. The overall aesthetic and backing music are great, and the constant threat of death taking all of your accomplishments away drives play very well.

Actively making the zone worse by radically changing how Zora Link functioned seems like a huge step back in comparison with the rest of the small positive changes that the game made.

It is fan service at its best and there is absolutely no harm in that. Unfortunately it is slightly bogged down by the weight of one of its largest features. The hub world of Toki-Toki city is a great idea that serves its purpose but adds a bit of clunkiness that makes getting to the fun bits a bit of a chore. And fun is something that should never feel like a chore.

Penal Colony provided just the right amount of backstory and twists to leave the player wanting to find out what’s next in the story. Survival horror makes a triumphant return with Revelations 2 and this is another significant step in the right direction for the decade-old series.

Since there’s no online play, and the single-player options are very limited, it’s tough to see most of today’s gamers getting their money’s worth out of this one.

It’s just a massive disappointment that failed to break new ground. It’s a shame because you can tell that a great deal of effort went into building this alternate version of 19th century London, and boy is it gorgeous. But are the beautiful visuals enough to justify the purchase of a game with a clichéd story, uninspired gameplay, and boring werewolves? I don’t think so.

With its improved accessibility, vast amount of activities to engage in, and intensely compelling gameplay, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is a title that could make Capcom incredibly rich.

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.

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.

Song of the Myrne: What Lies Beneath‘s most damning shortfall is probably in length of story. Taking around 3 to 5 hours to complete once you’ve got your bearings, it falls well short of what RPG fans might expect.

Evolve is great now, but it will only make its way to incredible if the players keep on playing. Should they get bored or be distracted by another game, Evolve stands to suffer a great deal.

While it’s still relatively short — experienced gamers could likely speed through in one or two hours — there’s still enough to recommend.

Intense, punishing, and filled with a ton of great content and fun, over-the-top upgrades and enemies, Roche Fusion brings so much to the table that I can’t possibly think it’s not worth the price of admission.

With a solid cast of characters, nonstop action, and solid 16-bit look and sound design, it’s a treat for those of us who recall the SNES/Genesis era with nostalgia.

Every single piece of Grim Fandango Remastered fits with each other in order to form this perfect gaming puzzle. Amazing art direction, top-notch writing, superb adventure gameplay, and a wonderful sense of atmosphere often lost in modern games.

Life is Strange is another remarkable entry among its peers, and if Episode 1 is any indication of the direction Dontnod is taking their future games, they only have earned praise in their beautiful, touching, and engrossing release.

On the surface Dying Light may be nothing more than your average run-of-the-mill zombie game complete with predictable story and tons of flesh eating monstrosities. But, beneath the very pretty surface lies a game with some excellent ideas that, when combined with some tried and true mechanics, create one of the best zombie games in recent years.

Hyperdimension Neptunia Rebirth;2 has a lot of heart, but it lacks finesse in its attempt to get players to see the ‘bigger picture’ in the game.

With all its technical upgrades and incredible attention to every little bloody detail, the mansion looks magnificent and the game fulfills its purpose in reminding fans why we fell in love with this series in the first place.

Grey Goo is a symphony of strategy games. The rhythm of base building roots your spine with the amazing soundtrack and visuals providing a solid melody from the wind instruments. Sharp, aggressive strings scream into life with the combat as epic units crescendo in the brass section’s apocalyptic fury.

All told, Pushcat presents a very well-polished design and some rather creative, outside-the-box puzzles that can keep the play interesting even without mechanical complexity.

Seasons of the Wolf is a solid RPG. With excellent art, fun strategic combat, visual novel storytelling methods, and interesting characters it checks all the boxes required for a solid experience. Some might be turned away initially by the presentation, but Seasons of the Wolf is a must-play for fans of the RPG genre.

The first new city since Saints Row: The Third, great characters, hilarious writing, awesome weapons, and a much more refined focus on gameplay all lend to the overall sense of fun that permeates every aspect of the game.

A must buy for any fan of RPGs, games to make you smile, or just a downright fun experience at a fraction of the cost [of] most AAA titles.

It is not for the faint of heart, nor those who struggle with depictions of depression. For those who are up to the task, it is a brilliant and cold struggle that will challenge you both as a human and as a gamer, and I’d call it one of the best arguments I’ve seen for games as an art form.

Gunslugs 2 just hits that sweet spot to keep fans of arcade shooters happy for many dark nights to come.

With Aronsson asking a mere $2.99 for the game on Steam, I can’t emphasize enough how worth the price of admission this one is if you’re into things that capture the look and feel of the 8-bit days. If you were raised with, and pine for, that style of game, you owe Dr. Green a try.

Blackguard 2 manages to exist as a game that feels like a classic strategy role playing game, and as so much more at the same time. A deep story with great characters, varied quests, deep customization, and great battles make for a must have game. It may be a bit daunting for those new to the genre, but the payoff after the challenge is more than worth it.

The Depths of Tolagal has a near-unmatched ability to take you in, turning minutes into hours and hours into days with gameplay mechanics that punch well above this small indie title’s weight.

Fight the Dragon offers a quick, approachable play with a nice element of customization and community involvement that keeps things interesting.

If you have an interest in a slot machine style game with an added bit of strategy, then definitely give this one a spin. It’s a slick game that will certainly keep your attention. But, if you dislike repetitive gameplay, which is more random than not, it’s probably best to pass.

In all honesty, Potatoman Seeks the Troof seems to do very well at being what it’s set out to be: a difficult, surreal, and innovative adaptation of classic gameplay and aesthetic.

The game could benefit greatly from better in-game communication, but as it stands, Vainglory shows it is not only possible to make a MOBA game perfected for touch screens, but that it can be astoundingly fun to play.

By the end of Iron from Ice, Telltale proves they are worthy of telling a tale in Westeros. It makes sense to me now that Telltale wanted six episodes for Game of Thrones – the amount of time they need to explain why they are here demands it, and it will give the rest of the season room to breathe.

One of the best all-around games I’ve played all year. A crisp, consistent atmosphere, intuitive gameplay, and surprising depth create a fantastic experience.

I think the problem with Enforcer: Police Crime Action is that it seems to take itself seriously in a way that the gameplay just can’t support. Shift hours, stress, hunger, gasoline for the cruiser – these are all realistic concerns, but the game comes off as such a parody of itself that managing these is a near-impossible task.

With plentiful bonuses to unlock and challenges to complete, there’s more than enough here to pack in several hours of family-friendly fun with a side of educational value for the youngsters.

It adds focus to the core gameplay that just wasn’t found in Destiny beforehand. From vastly improved mission structure to challenges that feel worthwhile, it is a huge testament to what a bit of time can accomplish for a new IP.

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.

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 series is over a decade old now, but you’ll find that the story and dialogue are still as witty and charming as ever.

Rollers of the Realm gets points for its unique play style and responsive, approachable play. It’s definitely not an easily mastered mix of genres, but it’s well-done enough that it takes more skill and concentration than it does luck.

I, Zombie creates a fun, approachable setting that’s still plenty challenging. With simple yet effective visuals and sound, decent controls, and a heavy bend towards simple strategy, there’s enough here for veteran and casual gamers alike.

If you’re a fan of unique, interesting physics-based puzzles, you should be trying iO.

With its one-of-a-kind art and play, BasketBelle creates a fantastical, strange, and touching story. While it’s very short, taking under an hour from start to finish, the $4.99 price on Steam and Desura includes the game, soundtrack, digital sketchbook, and a making-of featurette by developer Bean.

Littlewitch Romanesque is a pretty solid visual novel. It can be easily praised for its art and its gameplay, but the lack of a manual isn’t overcome by the in-game tutorials. Yet the game is fun and easy to learn, making it a probably “cult” classic among the JRPG crowd.

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.

Where Dungeonmans falls short is in a lack of polish or detail to its various facets. Play is stiff, and the controls aren’t particularly intuitive or easy to master for more skill-heavy characters such as Wizardmans. It almost feels like the design is a part of the joke, but I’m not entirely sure

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX offers up a plethora of new content, along with beautiful audio and visual upgrades, making it a shining example of what HD collections should be like.

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.